In an April 11 opinion letter to The Post, a heated opinion was offered on the issue of graffiti here in Athens. The opinion can be found by typing this: thepost.ohiou.edu/content/post-letter-grafitti-column-values-vandalism-around-athens into the internets.
To summarize, it was by the CEO of The Athens News, and it was very belittling of the writer of a previous article in support of graffiti.
First, it is a general human understanding that belittling another person solves no issue you have with that person, yet it drives a pretty spike twixt each individual.
Second, I hold the opinion that graffiti is important to a culture because it is freedom of speech.
Yes, I know, your white picket fence is no longer as white and pristine as you’d like, but it never will be. There are meaningless tags about, but graffiti is illegal because it defies a purpose of an authority.
That authority holds a mold and standard of the ways things should be, and those standards are no longer relevant when a message, more often an artistic and cryptic one, is scribbled on the walls.
This continues when universities and generations no longer value relevant issues of well-being, as graffiti can hold a message of guidance. Whether it is valued by everyone or not, it is part of our culture, just like the attempts to remain as unbiased as possible are valued in newspapers.
This particular issue really is a very dense one simply for the fact that it brings up the topic of problems that possibly everyone may have with the entire systemic operation of a given city, state or nation.
Where this delivers an individual, when every route to mitigation or solving of a problem seems corrupt, art (real art), as Thoreau states, becomes extremely relevant.
As an attempt to mitigate these graffiti problems though, the following are some points for newspapers: In my opinion, The Athens News is too unbiased on some issues and too conservative (I want to paint over your sexist advertisements).
In my opinion, The Post has a very chaotic way of editing, and of misguiding well-to-do writers and photographers.
In my opinion, The Messenger is The Columbus Dispatch, only more conservative.
So there you go ladies and gentlemen. Maybe if we all try being a helpful community of humans, we can work all these problems out.
Brandon LaBonte resides in Athens.
