Hate Scrawled on Walls, Love Chalked on Sidewalk: Roxborough High Community Stands Tall
There are moments when a community is tested, and its true character is revealed not by the offense, but by the response. That moment arrived for Philadelphia’s Roxborough High School community this week after a cowardly act of vandalism sought to strike at the heart of the school’s diverse environment. Racist and antisemitic graffiti, including swastikas and hateful slurs, were spray-painted on the exterior of the building over the weekend.
The discovery, made just as students were preparing to return from break, was a devastating sight for parents, educators, and neighbors alike. The hateful messages were a clear attempt to intimidate and isolate students. However, the school’s response was immediate and resolute. By Sunday morning, school staff and district workers were already on-site, scrubbing away the ugly scrawls and repainting the affected areas.
But the true counter-attack didn’t come with a scrub brush; it came with colorful chalk. While the school administration and Philadelphia Police launched a full investigation, the community mobilized for a different kind of cleanup. Parents, teachers, local leaders, and neighbors who have no direct connection to the school gathered outside on Sunday afternoon. Their mission was to drown out the message of hate with a tidal wave of affirmation.
Sidewalks surrounding the school were quickly filled with brightly colored messages of “love,” “inclusion,” and “belonging.” These powerful, encouraging words were a deliberate effort to ensure that when students returned to class on Monday morning, the first thing they saw would be a warm welcome, not a painful symbol of division. State Representative Tarik Khan, who represents the area, captured the sentiment perfectly, condemning the perpetrator as a “coward” who acted under the cover of night.
“Our community is bigger than a racist, and one who cannot even spell at that,” Khan stated, underscoring the unity of Roxborough. Principal Kristin Williams Smalley echoed the strong stance in a letter to families, reiterating the school’s zero-tolerance policy for all forms of hate speech and harassment. She reminded the community that the school district and Roxborough High are diverse communities—a point of pride and celebration.
This isn’t the first time the Roxborough community has had to lean on its resilience. Just a few years ago, the school was rocked by a fatal shooting outside an athletic scrimmage, a tragedy that prompted an outpouring of community support. Once again, faced with adversity, the neighbors have demonstrated that their commitment to their students and to one another is unwavering. The hateful act was meant to shake the community and instill fear, but as Senator Vincent Hughes noted, it will instead serve as a reminder that Roxborough High School stands united.
It’s a powerful lesson for the students—a reminder that a single act of intolerance doesn’t define a whole community. As investigators work to track down the vandal, the chalked messages stand as a much more enduring sign of what the Roxborough community truly represents: solidarity, strength, and a clear, loud rejection of hate.