ROCKY MOUNT, VA. – The town of Rocky Mount pressure washed chalk messages left behind by activists over the weekend, saying it did so in the order of fairness.
A few dozen people came out for the Chalk About It for racial justice over the weekend. With the town’s blessing, they wrote messages on a bridge such as “when hate is loud, love must be louder” and “Black Lives Matter.”
But the town said a number of people complained about it.
And even though the town approved it, officials say it’s technically graffiti and that’s why it was removed Tuesday.
“The message is that we want to be accepted, we want to have equal rights, we want to feel like we’re being respected and them erasing it just let us know that they do not really care about how we feel,” co-organizer Bridgette Craighead said.
Rocky Mount town manager James Ervin did not return multiple requests for comment.
But on Facebook, the town posted a lengthy statement asking for tolerance of the original messages, and tolerance for its decision to remove them.
The Town has gotten several calls and emails about the recent “Chalk it Up” event. Some say it is vandalism or...
Posted by Town of Rocky Mount, Virginia on Wednesday, July 8, 2020