'Erradica el Racismo:' Latino artists paint anti-racism mural in downtown Raleigh
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Members of the Latino community gathered in downtown Raleigh on Sunday to paint a colorful mural in Spanish that says "Erradica el Racismo" or "Eradicate Racism."
The mural is located on Davie Street between Blount and Blake Streets.
"What we want to do is just remind people in a beautiful way that there's a problem in our communities," said community organizer Pepe Caudillo.
Some 50 volunteers and Latino artists worked on the mural.
"We realize that it's an opportunity to allow our community to support the African-American community," said artist Pedro Marin.
While acknowledging racism against African-Americans, those working on the mural say members of the Latino community face their own unique challenges.
"As an immigrant myself, I've seen the devastation of bias and judgment and racism towards my community almost on a daily basis," Marin said
"There's also a conversation that an immigrant parent needs to have with their kids about immigration officers, about the police officers," Caudillo said.
The mural was supported by organizations, such as the Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh and Artspace. It was approved by Raleigh mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin, who visited artists working on the mural.
Caudillo said Baldwin helped ensure they had a safe space to work on the mural.
"I have six or seven Latino artists that are local here," Caudillo said. "Sometimes it's not easy to have these guys all together.. In that regard, this is just a historic moment to have this many Latino artists in one place."
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