City scrubs “Its OK 2 B white” graffiti from East Long Beach wall
Cameron Pullano said he was outraged when he spotted the graffiti on a wall along Bellflower Boulevard between Conant and Carson streets.
He quickly reported it to the city and took to Twitter, calling the message a dog whistle posted by cowards.
“Things like this really make you question how many people around you would have been on the right side of the civil rights movement,” he said.
The phrase “It’s okay to be white” was written specifically to provoke people, experts say.
Last November, flyers with the message were posted on campuses across the country, including at UC Davis, whose chancellor. wrote an op-ed in response.
Chancellor Gary S. May tried to convey a message that white people were under attack in the United States.
He called the planes a coordinated stunt to provoke racial division.
“Their goal was to provoke a reaction and show it as evidence of growing discrimination against whites on college campuses.”
The campaign was organized on 4Chan and other online forums in an attempt to pressure people into overreacting, according to the fight against defamation.
“The idea was to create a paper that contained an (apparently) offensive phrase that would nevertheless be treated as racist by people who viewed it, particularly liberals or members of the media,” the ADL said on its website.
It appears Tuesday may have been the first time someone reported such messages popping up in Long Beach, according to city spokesman Kevin Lee.
Cal State Long Beach spokesman Jeff Bliss said he was not aware of any reports of similar messages being posted on campus, but was looking into it.