One-Inch Swastika Discovered At Suburban Chicago High School
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
A small sketch of a swastika was discovered on a window ledge in the lobby of a suburban Chicago high school and later removed, according to a Monday letter sent by the school’s superintendent.
A parent noticed the drawing at Oak Park and River Forest High School in Oak Park, Illinois and alerted a security staff member, who reported it to the buildings and grounds staff, according to a follow-up statement issued by the school on Tuesday.
Staff removed the “deeply offensive symbol of oppression and genocide,” school superintendent Dr. Joylynn Pruitt-Adams wrote in the Monday letter.
Even though there was a security camera nearby, the lobby is often crowded and the swastika was too small — roughly one inch — to discern when it was drawn, according to the Tuesday statement.
“Let us be clear: Hate has no place at Oak Park and River Forest High School,” Pruitt-Adams wrote in the letter. “We, as a school community, stand for respect and inclusion.”
Contact Erica Snow at [email protected] or on Twitter @ericasnoww.
"Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief"
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
