I generally enjoy my walk to and from work in Chapel Hill, particularly this time of year.
However, over the last month or so I’ve noticed an increasing amount of public and private property marred by large blotches of brown or black spray paint. Upon closer inspection, I found that each of these ugly paint clouds are only covering up fliers that denounce the new Greenbridge condominium development. Plenty of other fliers publicizing everything from concerts to bars remain in all sorts of places all over Carrboro and Chapel Hill; opposition to Greenbridge seems to be singled out for such treatment.
I wondered who could be doing this, until one day on my walk I saw an older, bald gentleman in a nice button-down shirt walking in front of me, brazenly spraypainting a town street sign in broad daylight. Who is this guy? Is the Town of Chapel Hill hiring someone to selectively cover up fliers they find politically inconvenient? Or is Greenbridge privately paying this man to protect their image by vandalizing public property? Why are they using spray paint instead of tearing them down?
I understand that these condominiums have a lot of money invested in them, that they have been and continue to be an extremely controversial project. But it is unacceptable to debase our town and cover up the free expression of others just to protect your image.
Charles Ramsey
Carrboro
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I sympathize with this. I too have been frustrated at the spray paint blotches all over town. Posters declaring greenbridge to be “racist” have a right to exist, whether or not the Town or the company agree with them. How would they feel if residents started spraypainting over their signs?
If I put up posters that said bad things about you, would that be okay too?? Or would you take them down? Wouldn’t you be taking away my right to free speech if you did?
The right to free speech does not include the right to slander. Public posting are generally used for promotion; attack posters are inappropriate and in this particular case uninformed.
Glad to see Greenbridge is taking matters into their own hands, then. To be called racist because they are building Condos adjacent an African American neighborhood is hardly what a reasonable person would call racist.
Shame on those who are so closed minded to post such terrible things. Hardly what one would expect from such a progressive community, or is it?
Happy Fourth of July- Independence day!
Can someone explain the signs? My husband and I were flabberghasted by all of the racist signs about Greenbridge. If you go through all of the efforts of printing fancy sings slandering someone, shouldn’t you explain the reasons a little better or provide a website or something?
Having lived in Carrboro for 31 years I have seen quite a few changes in the area where Greenbridge is going up — mostly detrimental to the folks who live in the neighborhoods: drugs, drunks and deteriorating houses foremost among the problems I’ve found troublesome. The sentiments expressed in these posters (and other postings from whomever is behind them)are ugly and uninformed, and I’m thrilled that someone is spraying over them. I wanted to do it myself and I have NOTHING to do with Greenbridge! The posters would be more useful to all of us if they stated more clearly real objections to Greenbridge instead of being merely divisive and paranoia inspiring.