Voters want to keep mural, poll says
San Francisco voters overwhelmingly oppose plans to paint over the historic and controversial mural at Washington High School, according to a recent poll commissioned by the mural’s supporters.
The poll of 300 likely voters by Tulchin Research, whose clients include Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and various labor unions and civil rights groups, found that more than 76% of those surveyed opposed the San Francisco Unified school board’s vote to spend $600,000 to cover the mural.
Only 12% of those surveyed supported destroying the painting, which consists of 13 frescoes.
A poll breakdown found that voters of color — all nonwhite voters — oppose the school board’s decision, 72% to 12%.
Critics say the scenes from the life of George Washington are traumatic and racist because they depict African Americans as slaves at Washington’s Mount Vernon planta
tion and white settlers killing American Indians.
The poll was commissioned by the Coalition to Protect Public Art, whose supporters include former progressive Mayor Art Agnos, former Board of Supervisors President Matt Gonzalez, former executive director of Chinese for Affirmative Action Henry Der and Lope Yap Jr., vice president of the George Washington High School Alumni Association.
“It shows that every part of the city and every demographic values public art and that the way to address the issues that have been raised — and that are valid — is through education and not destruction,” coalition spokesman Jon Golinger said.
The poll also found that threequarters of those polled favored a ballot measure the coalition is proposing to require citywide voter approval before any mural could be destroyed.
School board President Stevon Cook said he wasn’t surprised by the poll results.
“I think the public is reacting to the price, but they haven’t really heard why we made the decision,” Cook said. “Most of the ‘click bait’ has been triggered by the words ‘whitewashing over,’ ‘destroying’ and ‘spending over a half a million dollars.’
“What has been lost, is that we made this unanimous vote in service of our students, especially those from communities negatively portrayed in the mural, to have a safe learning environment,” Cook said.
The board’s 60 vote on June 25 has been widely criticized in both the local and national press.
Golinger said the group has raised “just over $40,000” in donations from 250 donors nationwide. Some of that money helped pay for the poll.
The money could also be used to collect the 9,485 valid voter signatures needed by the Nov. 4 deadline to qualify a measure for the March 2020 ballot.
“Right now we are treating it like a battle, but we are still looking for a negotiated settlement,” Golinger said.
Cook said he was open to negotiations about painting over the mural, but that “in all likelihood” the school board would still order the murals covered over with new art.
“But I’m open for looking for an area, not in a school where the murals could be displayed digitally,” Cook said.
The online survey was conducted July 1926 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.66%.
Go north: Gov. Gavin Newsom has tapped political veteran Elmy Bermejo, 64, of San Francisco to be his $140,000ayear Northern California regional director for the Office of the Governor.
Bermejo has done stints in both state and federal service over the years, including working as the West Coast representative for the U.S. Department of Labor under the Obama administration. She was also deputy secretary of external affairs for the California State Consumer Services Agency.
From 2004 to 2010, she was a field representative for thenCalifornia state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata and field representative for Senate President Pro Tem John Burton from 1995 to 2004.
Most recently Bermejo was outreach director for Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis’ 2018 campaign.
Given her history, working for Newsom should be a walk in the park.
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Phillip Matier appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIXTV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call 4157778815, or email pmatier@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @philmatier