Highland Park is one of he more progressive communities in New Jersey. It prides itself on this notion — so much so, in fact, that it commissioned a mural to proclaim its openness to and acceptance of all.
The mural, "Home Is Where We Make It” by Amrisa Niranjan, was designed to highlight the borough’s diversity. Painted on the side of 75 Raritan Ave., it depicts three refugee faces amid their home landscape and under open skies that offer a glimpse at the heavens that might be seen from their home regions. The theme, according to the Shelter Project, which sponsored the mural, was "radical hospitality,” which it describes as a “willingness to challenge one's own comfort for the sake of another’s” and was developed through interviews and community work with refugee and immigrant greoups.
Niranjin, in a statement issued when the mural was unveiled in March, described it as an invitation, a signal to all that “you are welcome to create a home here and 'we' the community will support you making your home here with us.”
Not everyone appears to agree. The mural was defaced twice recently, first by the words USA and then with a pair of Jewish stars marring the image of the Muslim woman. The graffiti is being investigated as a hate crime and, as of now, it is unclear who sprayed it and what the motivations were.
The impact, however, seems clear. — as does the harassment that apparently occurred as Niranjan worked to complete the mural. The use of the Jewish stars feels like a threat, an act of division, at a time when too many falsely believe that Jews and Muslims are natural enemies, and undercuts the efforts to create not just a more welcoming sense of community for Highland Park, but a better America.
The vandalism —the harassment of the artist — are acts of exclusion and hate. They are “not mere public comment.”
Highland Park has a large Jewish minority — some estimates place Jews at 40% of the population. It is home to a significant Muslim minority, along with others of all religions and ethnicities. Middlesex County, where Highland Park is located, is equally diverse, with one of the oldest synagogues in the state and several large Muslim congregations.
Highland Park — through the work of the Reformed Church of Highland Park and various local and regional organizations, such as Interfaith-RISE, and DIRE — also is known for its work with refugees, the homeless, and other marginal or vulnerable groups. Allowing these groups to speak for themselves and see themselves in public art is important not just for them but for all of us.
The mural, Shelter writes, was designed “to convey that hospitality demands recognition of the many places, cultures, and homes elsewhere that together inform our experience” and to acknowledge Highland Park’s aspiration “to grow as an antiracist community, to extend safety and comfort to all people, and to welcome and honor our neighbors.”
The defacing of the mural comes at a time of heightened political fragmentation and the aggressive attempts being made to exclude and demonize the other. We have witnessed a shocking increase in bias incidents and bias crimes against Asians, Jews, Muslims, and others nationally, often generated by right-wing political leaders. The election campaign and presidency of Donald Trump created a charged and hateful atmosphere, and the conservative firebrands who won office in his wake — like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matthew Cawthorn, Lauren Boebert, Matthew Gaetz — have not been shy about voicing their bigoted and deranged conspiracies, while Republican-controlled state legislatures are passing bills that purport to give parents new rights but are instead just veiled efforts at suppressing discussion of historic racism or turn gays, lesbians, and trans individuals into bogeymen to be feared and loathed.
We have to be careful not to assume we know the vandals’ motivation at this point. This kind of vandalism often is perpetrated by bored teens — though, in this case, the use of the Jewish star and the targeting of a Muslim image seem to point toward this being more than a simple prank.
Still, we must take it seriously. Regardless of the motivation or intent, the impact is a clear, and the vandalism ultimately stands as an implied challenge to the legitimacy of Muslims’ “Americanness” and threatens to worse the existing wedge that has hampered Muslim-Jewish relations in many areas.
The location is important, as well.
As Borough Councilman Matthew Hersh told me, Highland Park’s commitment as a community, its “united front against racism, bigotry, and Muslim and Jewish hate,” does not “mean that those things don't exist here; they do.”
“But it means when they manifest themselves, we need to stand up against it. It also means that as a community we need to know and act on the warning signs that lead up to this.”
The fact that something like this can happen in a town like Highland Park is a reminder just how far we need to go to create the kind of welcoming and tolerant society necessary for each of us to have a chance to thrive.