Chalk message in place of vandalized KC lynching memorial calls out ‘hateful actions’
Days after Kansas City park officials discovered that a memorial to a Black man lynched by a white mob in 1882 had been thrown off a cliff, chalk art has been drawn in its place calling out the vandalism as “hateful actions.”
The chalk, which is in West Terrace Park near 10th and Summit Streets where the memorial stood, depicts the silhouette of a Black person hanging from a noose inside a colorful fruit. Beneath it a message is written, referencing the Billie Holiday song “Strange Fruit,” which is about lynching in the South.
“The strange fruit you made us into out of fear, with no care for understanding turned into hate,” the message says. “Those hateful actions made us stronger than you anticipated, capitalizing on that fear.”
“Aren’t you tired of that cycle?”
The vandalism to the marker, which was erected in 2018 as a memorial to 23-year-old Levi Harrington, was discovered Monday.
The Community Remembrance Project of Missouri said Monday the memorial was part of an effort to rectify a lack of recognition of lynching and racial conflict in Kansas City.
The marker was placed in West Terrace Park because of its proximity to the location of Harrington’s death on April 3, 1882.
That night, Police Officer Patrick Jones was fatally shot while chasing two men who were believed to have been stealing butter from a nearby shipping yard. Harrington happened to have been in the area and a group chased him and turned him over to police.
As Harrington was being transferred to the main jail, a mob of several hundred people overpowered the policemen and seized Harrington. They wrapped a rope around his neck and hurled him over the side of Fifth Street cable car bridge. Someone shot Harrington several times.
The Community Remembrance Project said Monday it is in discussions with the Kansas City Parks Department to take steps to reinstall the memorial and enhance its security and protection.
The Star’s Bob Cronkleton contributed to this report.