The Little Free Library went up a week after the inauguration, its wooden walls painted to evoke the White House eight blocks away. But if the book box coincided with President Trump taking office, its tiny plaque pined for the previous administration.
“In Honor of Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama,” it said. “Lawyer, writer, and First Lady of the United States.” [snip]
But then the library began attracting more attention for what was written on its outside than what was contained within.
First someone wrote “eyesore” on it, although it wasn’t clear if the word was meant as criticism or merely a tagger’s moniker. Then came the broken window and the missing plaque. [snip]
One neighbor swept out the glass and painted over the graffiti. Another covered the library in patriotic decorations for Election Day, including a smiling portrait of Michelle Obama above an American flag.
But the vandal — or vandals — struck again, tearing it all down.
“Help restore the book exchange,” someone wrote on the broken window.
So someone did, replacing the window with a new one. “Michelle Robinson Obama” appeared again in bronze painted lettering.
Yet it was only a few days before a vandal crossed out her name and christened the library for Trump.Here's the library with the original plaque and the glass broken out:
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| (Photo: Michael E. Miller/ Washington Post) |
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| (Photo: Michael E. Miller/ Washington Post) |
This happened in a neighborhood where only 4% of voters went for Trump, mind you. But it doesn't matter; like the neo- Nazis who marched in Charlottesville and the "Proud Boys" Nazi street fighters, they feel empowered to wreck anything anywhere they see as a threat or a challenge to their white supremacy. This library was a right- wing snowflake's trifecta: Democrat, woman, African- American.
By their actions small and large, they've given us permission to hate them. And we do.
