PILSEN — A Pilsen church was again tagged with racist graffiti this week, the church's pastor said in a passionate Facebook post Friday.
The doors of Lincoln United Methodist Church, 2009 W. 22nd Place, were defaced with messages in white paint that read: "Rape and Kill Mexico," said Rev. Emma Lozano, Lincoln United pastor. Known as a safe haven for immigrants, the latest message marks the third time the church has been tagged with racist graffiti in recent months.
The latest messages also read: "KKK" and "Trump Rules." It's unknown who wrote the messages.
In a Facebook post that included photos of the vandalism, Lozano wrote that she is "alarmed by the audacity of the person" who is sharing the hate-filled message.
"As the pastor of two majority Latino congregations and as a Mexican woman who is a mother and grandmother I am alarmed by the audacity of the person who would send my humble loving congregation such a hateful threatening message for the third time," she wrote. "I pray for love to conquer hate and for the Lord to protect us from our enemies and to change the hearts of those who hate because we are brown and speak Spanish."
Lozano called on the anonymous tagger to "stand up for equality, not supremacy."
"God sees me and you and loves us both please look through his eyes," she wrote.
In March, the church was twice tagged with messages that read "Rape Mexico" and included a swastika.
Lincoln United Methodist is the sister church of Adalberto United Methodist in Humboldt Park, where Elvira Arellano, an undocumented Mexican woman, made headlines as she fought deportation and sought asylum with her child in 2006.
The graffiti comes after escalating tensions led Trump to cancel his presidential rally at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago this year. Lozano was among those who vowed to protest Trump's appearance.
Lozano, sister of labor activist and community organizer Rudy Lozano, is also founder of Centro Sin Fronteras, a Chicago-based organization that has fought for adequate schools, housing and against deportations.
Pilsen's library and a bilingual alternative school are named for Rudy Lozano, who was murdered in 1983.
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
