On Tuesday, Pittsburgh leaders and community groups denounced racist and anti-Semitic graffiti on the city’s South Side. The graffiti was found on Monday on a concession stand at Quarry Field, which is home to the South Side Bears, a mostly Black youth football team.
“The South Side is not for hate," said Kevin Alton, president of the South Side Bears. He hoped kids will still spend time at the field.
"We are for the children. We’re going to protect our children, our children will have a safe place to be, and we’re going to continue this, we’re going to keep going. We’re going to rise above the hate.”
The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police launched an investigation into the vandalism, and Mayor Bill Peduto pledged that the city will support the clean up effort. Public works crews removed the graffiti on Monday, and are expected to continue work at the field through this week.
“We’ll put together the funds in order to be able to improve this entire area, and we’ll send a message to anybody who wants to talk in hate that we’ll come back stronger,” Peduto said.
Peduto said the city will fully restore the concession stand, including commissioning a mural artist to repaint the team’s mural.
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