Consigning racism to the dustbin of history

Sir, – I think I speak on behalf of most of the good people in the Tayside region that the defacing of the George Floyd mural in Dundee was appalling and absolutely abhorrent.

It is very good that local councillors including council leader John Alexander and Phil Scott have condemned this disgusting act.

The mural, which was a fantastic piece of art by Symon Mathieson (aka Sykes), was done to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

This was defaced by cowards who thought it would be appropriate to put a white supremacist symbol on the mural along with George’s face being the target of a sniper rifle.

The same vandals also painted over the word “Black” with white paint so that it only read “Lives Matter”.

This completely misses the point of the movement that black people have been systematically oppressed for centuries and that racism needs to be defeated and consigned to the dustbin of history where it belongs.

It is very good that local people in the area last night turned up to redo the damage done by the racist scum who had defaced the original mural.

However, as the mural is in a very secluded area of Dundee on the Hilltown, it is easy for opportunistic racists to deface it without getting caught.

I think it may be a good idea for the council to facilitate an area in the city centre where Sykes could do another (perhaps bigger) mural on the issue where more people could see it and so that it was in an area where the chances of it being defaced would be reduced.

Kyle Rourke. Stand Up To Racism Tayside.