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Over a dozen gravestones at historical Black cemetery in Texas defaced with blue paint

by Brooke Seipel - 09/21/20 9:53 PM ET

More than a dozen headstones at a historic cemetery for Black Americans in Austin, Texas, were vandalized sometime over the weekend with blue spray paint, according to local reports.

“At the end of the day, the Black community is all damaged. We’re all damaged because of this,” East Austin resident Victor Reed told local station KVUE. “We got them disgracing our dead. That’s just a sad sight, what’s going on in this city. It’s not only tombstones, it’s the behavior that’s been brought to this city — and it’s a sore. This is another assault on the Black person in this city and no one seems like they want to address these issues and I’m wondering why.”

More than a dozen Evergreen Cemetery headstones were vandalized in East ATX. This cemetery was the city’s first major municipal graveyard dedicated to black Austinites. I talked to a few families who believe this is an attack on the black community in East ATX. @KVUE pic.twitter.com/KUxlxiytIY

— Mari Salazar (@MariSalazarTV) September 21, 2020

At least 15 headstones at Evergreen Cemetery were tagged with blue paint, according to local officials. The cemetery is the city’s first major municipal graveyard for Black residents, established in 1926.

“This is sad and heartbreaking. I have a lot of loved ones buried here, so I think it’s very disrespectful, it’s evil, it’s calculated and they’re going to hell for what they did,” Rebecca More, who also has relatives buried at the site, told The Statesman. “There is no reason why somebody should have nothing better to do with their lives than to come here and disrespect people who are gone.”

It’s unclear what the vandals’ intentions were with the spray paint. The messages appeared to include the names of biblical angels as well as symbols.

The local police department told reporters it is investigating the vandalism.

Tags Austin Black history Texas Vandalism