Intersectionality proved a problem in a historically black Virginia neighborhood after a mural choosing sides in a Middle Eastern conflict smacked of Jim Crow “ridicule.”
(Video Credit: WWBT)
Recent years have shown time and again how the left’s hodgepodge of radicals will assemble and support causes antithetical to their own beliefs, adopting the enemy of my enemy is my friend policy. While Hamas-sympathizing “Gays for Palestine” had already experienced a touch of the disparate agenda with disrupted parades, the completion of a mural utilizing symbology instead of a flag proved troubling to members of the black community over the depiction of a watermelon.
The mural in Richmond, Virginia’s Northside, a historically black neighborhood, depicts a woman holding a slice of watermelon with seeds spelling “FREE PALESTINE.”
“I was taken aback because of the imagery that it represents, a watermelon up to the mouth of a black woman, former president of the Richmond Crusade for Voters, Jonathan Davis told WWBT. “So to me, understanding the history of our people and what happened during the Jim Crow era and how those images were used to demean us and make fun of us and ridicule us and run us out of the business, it really bothered me.”
Likewise, William McGee, Richmond chapter president of Southern Christian Leadership Conference, expressed to the outlet, “The history of the watermelon is a positive thing in the black community, but it was used to denigrate other people, and that’s why we’re saying the image as it stands could be modified and would help the cause for both African-American freedom and justice and for the Palestinian cause.”
Referencing visits by black leaders and organizations to the Middle East including Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, the Black Panthers and Rev. Jesse Jackson who met with Palestinian Liberation Organization Chair Yasser Arafat, Gary Flowers similarly contended, “We think that in order to commemorate that alliance, that 60-year alliance, we should remove the watermelon and replace it with the black liberation flag and the Palestinian flag that will symbolize that unity of aspirational liberation.”
Virginia Commonwealth University professor Dr. Faedah Totah spoke with WWBT about the symbolism of the watermelon, explaining, “The Palestinian flag has four colors, red, white, black, and green, which also happens to be the color of a slice of watermelon. So, what ends up happening when you ban the flag is that people become creative in finding different ways to express their national identity.”
“I have to say here that the watermelon is only one of the many symbols that Palestinians use to express their identity, to express their national belonging,” added Totah who made note of uses of the olive tree, the cartoon character Handala and the Dome of the Rock, which was built atop the Temple Mount in Jerusalem where the Jewish Temple once stood.
Others who made headlines over the use of watermelons included Disney, which denied the appearance of a sticker in an advertisement was a “political statement,” and Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen who deliberately chose to create a watermelon sorbet for his Ben’s Best brand to address the “scale of suffering of the Palestinian people” amid Israel’s counteroffensive in response to the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack.
Flowers also said at a press conference with Davis, McGee, and the NAACP that the owner of the building had failed the community on several fronts regarding the mural, including by not meeting with them beforehand and then being dismissive of concerns.
For her part, Lauren, the artist, told WWBT in a statement, “I, as an activist, would never intentionally put my time, money, and energy into creating something racist or harmful to any community, rather the opposite. These points have also already been communicated to the community, as far as I know. The character is meant to be Palestinian. Any similarities to harmful imagery are completely unintentional.”
Meanwhile, the Internet took pleasure in the latest example of “when leftists turn on each other. They always do.”
I love it when leftists turn on each other. They always do.
— ralphie wigs (@RalphieWigs) March 7, 2026
“From the rind to the seed Palestine will be feee!!!”
— Old Ozempic Eyes (@notWarrenBuffe2) March 8, 2026
Should I laugh or cry?
If were to do this as a white guy, all hell would break loose.
I wish Black folks could see that Leftists are using them.— nunya beeswax (@cynic_be_me) March 7, 2026
Tone deaf left.
— Bluefly (@BlueflyFU) March 8, 2026
— asuhdude (@asuhdude336) March 8, 2026
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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