Racist, antisemitic graffiti scrawled outside Roxborough High School
School administrators and community members gathered Sunday to chalk positive messages onto the school sidewalk to counter the racist messages graffitied at Roxborough High.
Vandals scrawled racist and antisemitic graffiti outside Roxborough High School over the weekend.
Philadelphia Police Department officials and State Rep. Tarik Khan (D., Phila.) confirmed the existence of the graffiti, which included a swastika and a racial epithet written multiple times.
After officials painted over the messages on Sunday, school administrators and community members gathered to counter the hate, chalking positive messages onto the sidewalk.
“Welcome. Peace. Love. RHS,” people wrote in blue and yellow chalk Sunday afternoon. “Strong. Brilliant. Beautiful. Capable.”
Several members of the group said they also plan to be outside Roxborough High on Monday morning, welcoming students back to school after a long winter break.
“Let me be clear: targeting students in the middle of the night is cowardice, and it does not define us,” Khan wrote in a message shared on social media Sunday. He also came to the school to chalk messages. “Our community is bigger than a racist. ... Our students are bigger. ... Every student deserves to feel safe and respected when they walk into school, not have to deal with hate meant to scare and intimidate them.”
Kristin Williams Smalley, Roxborough’s principal, informed the school community about the graffiti in a letter sent Sunday afternoon.
“We are deeply disappointed by these actions,” Williams Smalley wrote. “We wish to remind everyone that we have a zero-tolerance policy for harassment or hate speech of any kind, and we will investigate all matters involving racist remarks and other hate speech.”
Roxborough — and the district — are diverse communities, and that’s a point of pride, Williams Smalley said.
“We all play a role in supporting a positive and supportive school culture. We encourage you to speak with your children and have conversations about the seriousness and potential consequences of these unacceptable behaviors.”
Students — whether alleged victims or not — should report bullying, harassment or discrimination, the principal said.
“Please keep in mind that the young people around you are watching and listening,” Williams Smalley wrote. “We encourage all of us to be the role models they deserve. Words are powerful and we truly believe that if you work to build bridges of empathy and understanding, and demonstrate respect, our young people will follow and will create a community where everyone feels valued, seen and heard.”
‘No person needs to see that’
Marge LaRue, whose grandson, Nicholas Elizalde, was shot and killed outside Roxborough in 2022, was also among the group that gathered. She and her daughter Meredith Elizalde, Nicholas’ mother, have remained involved with Roxborough staff and students since Nick’s murder.
LaRue and Elizalde’s immediate concern was making sure the mural, memorial garden, and scoreboard dedicated to Nick were not defaced — they were not.
But they also wanted to show up for the students and staff.
“That’s Nick’s community, the Roxborough community,” said LaRue. “Those hateful messages — I don’t know where they came from. No school, no person needs to see that, on their school, in their community.”
Police responded to the vandalism Sunday, a spokesperson confirmed, but no further information was available. School officials said city police and the district’s school safety office were investigating the incident.