More Racist Vandalism Appears In Edina

July 27, 2022-Written by SJ

Yesterday, a noose was reported hanging from an apparatus at the Edina Community Center, not far from the site of racist and homophobic graffiti which was found last week.

Dr. Stacie Stanley, the district’s superintendent, said of the incident, “A noose is a heinous symbol long known for its intimidation, harm, and violence against Black/African Americans and more recently toward other non-dominant groups. We stand against racism and condemn hate.”

Last week another act of racist and homophobic vandalism was reported by Edina Public Schools. According to police, on the morning of July 18th, a building supervisor discovered graffiti scrawled across the tennis courts adjacent Kuhlman Field in Edina. 

The graffiti, which was written in chalk, featured sexual images as well as statements against the Black, Asian and LGBTQ+ communities. Security footage did not catch the vandals in action, but the supervisor explained cameras detected a black automobile that may have been part of the crime. The graffiti was immediately removed. 

In a written statement given to 5 Eyewitness News, a representative for the public school system expressed school leaders were “saddened and deeply disappointed to learn that this has taken place within our community and on our property.” They continued, “Edina Public Schools does not tolerate behaviors and actions that target members of protected class groups. The messages expressed do not reflect our school district nor the values we uphold.”

The statement concluded by encouraging concerned community members to attend the system’s ongoing One Town, One Family conversation later this year. According to a promotional video for one such event, which took place this spring, One Town, One Family conversations aim to create an inclusive city and school district. 

Dr. Stacie Stanley, Superintendent for Edina Public Schools states in the video, "Imagine a community where every child comes to school feeling included, accepted and with a sense of belonging and psychological safety.”

Dr. Stanley, who is Black, earned her EdD in Educational Leadership from Bethel University and has previously worked as the Assistant Superintendent in Eden Prairie’s school district. She continued, urging the community to imagine a city "where every family feels welcome, free to enjoy the opportunities our Edina community has to offer, a town where everyone feels like family, one Edina.” 

Unfortunately, it appears that the One Town, One Family townhalls aren’t enough to discourage the scrawling of racist and homophobic sentiments in Edina, as last week’s vandalism was only the most recent in a string of incidents dating back years. 

Earlier this year a video surfaced on social media depicting Edina High School students speaking with fake accents, mocking members of the Asian community, while others can be seen in the video doing a Nazi salute. Edina students even participated in a walkout in reaction to the district's lack of action regarding the video and matters of racial discrimination.

In 2020 the N-word was spray painted across a fence in an Edina neighborhood. The hate speech, which was discovered by a Black woman and her young daughter, was visible to the community for nearly the entire day before a tarp was eventually placed over the fence. 

In 2019 the N-word was painted on a tree, along with other derogatory phrases and images, in Edina’s Pamela Park. Pamela Park is the same park where swastikas were found painted on trees, and racist phrases written in chalk, in two separate instances in 2018. 

Earlier in 2019, swastikas were found depicted across an Edina Elementary School building, along with other problematic imagery. The culprit was apprehended and turned out to be a juvenile. No charges were pressed. 

According to Edina’s 2020 Census results, almost 86% of the city’s population identifies as white. Less than 7% of Edina’s 53,000 residents identify as Asian, about 3% identify as Latinx, and less than 3% identify as Black. 

Edina, which was formed as a Minneapolis suburb in the 1860s, has a history of racial covenants, restricting people of color from owning property and aiding in the problematic practice of redlining in the 1920s-1940s. Even though the practice has since been outlawed, Edina continues to be an overwhelmingly white city to this day. The city has also been accused of participating in historically racist anti-loitering laws which, at one time, allegedly perpetuated its status as a “sundown town.”

The latest acts of vandalism in Edina are further proof that the city has ignored its racist and exclusionary past for far too long. Now the city’s younger generation is involved, some as vandals and others as activists. Edina owes it to their community of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community to take swift action against hatred and discrimination.