SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — A sign at Chicano Park with a slogan considered by some to be antisemitic is stirring up controversy.
The sign has been up for more than week. The City of San Diego has been made aware, but as of Monday, had not made any moves to take it down.
This is where the story gets complicated.
Chicano Park has a unique place in San Diego governance. It’s historically designated and considered a city treasure, but through an agreement with the city, it is managed by a local “steering committee” to which the city has mostly stayed out of its business.
But now the lack of action has some residents demanding answers.
“My kids were with me. My whole family, my husband, my kids and myself were very upset to see this on the street corner. It was very prominently displayed,” said Kerry Schlossberg.
“From the river to the sea” is a slogan some have become familiar with since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. The phrase has different meanings to different groups of people.
This sign, prominently displayed on the corner of Logan Heights and Cesar Chavez Parkway in Chicano Park, is drawing controversy.
“There was a nonpartisan congressional resolution passed confirming that it is antisemitic because it is genocidal. It’s calling for the elimination of the world’s only Jewish nation,” said Schlossberg.
Schlossberg and her family were driving home from their Mother’s Day celebration when they noticed the sign. She said she immediately called the city to get it removed, but nothing has been done in the week since.
“They said they’ll get back to me and they haven’t done it. It’s just still there. It’s sitting on that street corner, prominently displayed, not being removed,” said Schlossberg.
A FOX 5/KUSI crew went to Chicano Park Monday morning to try to find out more about the sign and its placement, but were met by a group who claims to be representatives of the Chicano Park Steering Committee – a security team, if you will.
They said the land and the park are not public, and in fact, claim to own the land by way of an agreement with the city made in the 1970s.
“They have special permission from the city, which can be revoked, to manage it to the extent of granting certain permits for people to come to the park and things like that, to maintain the murals, the art displays, but they do not own that park. It is public property. It is a city park,” said Schlossberg.
FOX 5/KUSI reached out to Mayor Todd Gloria’s office as well as the city’s Parks and Rec department, but had not yet heard back.
Schlossberg, who is a director at the House of Israel but speaking to FOX 5/KUSI as a private citizen, says while the agreement to manage the park is legitimate, it is still public land and the city has a duty to remove anything that promotes hate.
“I think that the city needs to take immediate action. There’s no question that any other minority group that had a hate message on display in a public park on an official display sign would have it removed within an hour or less. We do not want to embolden antisemites in the city of San Diego,” said Schlossberg.
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