NAACP and Mawekma Ohlone Tribal Council Call to Remove Racist Mural in Palo Alto Court

To: Judge Thomas Kuhnle

From: San Jose/Silicon Valley NAACP

Re: Racist Mural in Palo Alto Court

Dear Judge Thomas Kuhnle,

The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's (NAACP) is to eliminate discrimination and ensure equal rights for all people. We are rooted in culture and diversity.The NAACP was created in response to the 1908 Springfield race riot in Illinois, where a white mob burned down homes and murdered two Black men. Advocating against the systematic oppression of the historically marginalized populations here in the United States has been the foundation in which the NAACP stands on. Our focus locally has been protecting the rights of those who are subject to discrimination. 

In that spirit, we acknowledge the systemic oppression that the indigenous of this land have endured. We at the NAACP understand that devastation that colonialism has had on a variety of cultures. As such, we strongly oppose any tribute to that colonization, and consequently are calling for the removal of mural currently in the Palo Alto branch of the Superior Court.

Scrawled across the hallway walls of the Santa Clara County  Palo Alto Branch of the Superior Court (between department  84 and 85)  is a large mural that acts as a reminder to the community that flows through it, that they are subjected to the same power that decimated the native population that once called those grounds home to a point of near extinction. The depiction is of a ship on the horizon bringing with it nothing but trauma and chaos, a clear reminder of the first slaves kidnapped just to be  kept in bondage, to be bought and sold, just so they can build on a land that didn’t belong to them. These reminders act to trigger the trauma of colonization and slavery.. 

This mural depicts natives as subservient beings, scantly clad, while a woman and child are kneeling before their oppressors. This mural depicts a clear colonization of the natives. Let us not forget the Muwekma Ohlone people who’s called the land that is now the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, most of Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, and portions of Napa, Santa Cruz, Solano and San Joaquin their original home. This mural is dehumanizing to all who walk the halls, especially those whose ancestors have been depicted in such a dehumanizing fashion.

For these reasons, the San Jose/ Silicon Valley Chapter of the NAACP requests that this mural be removed immediately.

Raymond Lee Goins 

Legal Redress/ Executive Committee 

San Jose/ Silicon Valley NAACP

Sean Allen

President