Racial slur put up on pedestrian bridge in northeast Rochester sparks outrage

Apr. 15—ROCHESTER — A racial slur spelled out in the chainlink fence of the bridge going over East Circle Drive caused outrage over the weekend, as well as a call for action.

Although it appears it was quickly removed, the racial epithet was visible to anyone driving northbound on the street below early Sunday morning. It's unclear how long the message was up.

The pedestrian bridge, while not on school district property, is often used by Century High School to display encouraging messages and school pride.

Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Kent Pekel commented on social media that the school district sent staff out as soon as they heard about the situation but by the time they arrived nothing was there — he did not include what time it happened. As of Monday afternoon, April 15, there were no messages on the bridge.

"We understand and share the hurt this has caused to people in our community, especially to our Black and brown students. We want to reiterate that hate language, in any form, has no place within our RPS community," a statement on RPS' website reads. "Though this incident did not occur on RPS property, we believe that it is the collective responsibility of the RPS community to be actively and intentionally anti-racist, both individually and collectively."

The post continued, noting that "combating racism will take a collaborative effort with members of the school district working with families and the community to address the root causes of prejudice, bias and discrimination."

The district called on the community to "continue to work together to create an environment where all people feel valued and included and an environment where people not only feel they belong but where they would also want to live."

Rochester Police Department spokesperson Amanda Grayson said there was a report filed on the incident. The Post Bulletin has submitted a request for that report.

The Rochester branch of the

NAACP posted on Facebook that it would pursue legal action

if anyone is found responsible.

"The NAACP Rochester Branch MN will be prosecuting any individuals that are doing this," the organization said in its post. "This #hatecrime will not stand in our community!"

Wale Elegbede, president of the Rochester NAACP, said the organization is also in the early stages of planning a community event in response to the situation. He emphasized the seriousness of the incident.

"There has to be a response," he said. "This is not just people goofing around. It sends a message about what kind of community this is."

Although outraged over the word on the bridge, multiple leaders in the community feel that it's not surprising, even in a city hailed as being multicultural and diverse.

"We recognize the incident that occurred over the weekend on the pedestrian bridge over East Circle Drive near Century High School reinforces historical and ongoing harm experienced by our community, particularly those who are Black and brown," the city of Rochester said in a statement Monday evening. "As a City organization, we strongly condemn this action. Racism, language that perpetuates hate and all prejudice contradicts the values the City holds. The Rochester Police Department is investigating the matter and we recognize this is just one piece of the work that needs to be done to support the members of our community who are impacted by this and similar actions."

Will Ruffin II, director of diversity, equity and inclusion for Rochester Public Schools, was at his son's basketball game when he first heard about what had happened. Ruffin expressed he was not shocked by the news.

"My first reaction was, 'sadly, another day in America,'" Ruffin said. "And Rochester is not exempt from being a microcosm of America."

As frustrating as the actual message was, Ruffin added it was also disappointing to see the lack of outrage from the broader community in a city of more than 100,000 people.

Tawonda Burks, a Rochester-area consultant, was among those to speak out about the situation on social media. She described two Black-owned businesses in that area of the city that are less than a year old.

"It's not just specific to Rochester; this is everywhere," Burks said. "And for me personally, it's just really sad that in 2024, we're still here fighting simple things."

Pekel also posted about the situation on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Thankfully, the word was taken down quickly," Pekel said in the post. "But the fact that it was there shows how much work we have to do."

The incident stands in stark contrast to the inspirational messages that have become associated with the bridge in recent years. The late Century High School teacher Maggie Hongerholt

started a tradition of using red plastic cups to spell out messages

to the students of the nearby school.