University Painters Obliterate Controversial Malcolm X Mural : Public art: Riot police accompany cleanup crew overnight. School rejects students’ protests, saying that the removal of emblems of bigotry is not an infringement on free speech.

In the dead of night early Thursday, San Francisco State University painters escorted by riot police obliterated a controversial mural of Malcolm X because it contained symbols considered by university officials to be anti-Semitic.

Arguing that it was not an infringement of free speech to remove emblems of bigotry on artwork the university itself had commissioned, President Robert A. Corrigan ordered the mural removed after student leaders failed to take action themselves.

The mural, painted on a university building and unveiled last week, included Stars of David inset with dollar signs--outraging Jewish students and highlighting ethnic divisions on the multicultural campus.

“This university absolutely will not tolerate expressions of hate,” Corrigan said. “Intolerance and prejudice are abhorrent to our deepest values as individuals and as a community.”

Some African American students fought to keep the mural, twice rescuing it from campus paint crews before it was finally sanded off the wall of the student union.

Defending the depiction of the assassinated leader, members of the Pan African Student Union said the symbols were not anti-Jewish, but a reflection of Malcolm’s anti-Zionist views.

“Our intentions were not to hurt anyone,” said Troy Nkrumah, a student from Inglewood who is coordinator of the Pan African Student Union. “All art is open to interpretation.”

But Jewish students and community members disagreed. “This is a state-funded university and state funds should not be used to portray hateful images,” said Eloise Magenheim, a recent graduate who stood with a protest sign near the site of the mural.

Removal of the mural raised the thorny question of whether racist or bigoted statements are protected under the 1st Amendment right of free speech.

But legal experts and scholars echoed the view of university officials that, in this case, the constitutional right to free expression did not apply because the mural was commissioned and paid for by the university.

“This is not a situation where university officials went into an artist’s studio and painted over his work,” said Albert Elsen, a professor of art law and art history at Stanford University.

Instead, Thomas Grey, a Stanford professor of constitutional law, likened it to “hiring someone to write a brochure about the university and then editing what was said.”

“You might not like the fact that they edited your message, but they have the legal right to decide what picture of the university they want to project. There’s no 1st Amendment issue there.”

ACLU lawyers seconded that legal interpretation, but Northern California director Dorothy Ehrlich said she was disturbed by the university’s conduct.

“This controversy has exposed a great deal of tension and intolerance on campus, and it seems to me that simply painting over the offending remarks in the dead of night is not good enough,” Ehrlich said. “It seems the lesson given here (by the university) is that the way to avoid controversy is to not allow any provocative expression.”

The controversy began a week ago Thursday when the mural by painter Senay Dennis was unveiled on what would have been Malcolm X’s 69th birthday. The artwork, placed near a mural of Cesar Chavez on the wall of the student union, cost the university $1,500--but the final design had not been approved.

Dominated by the face of Malcolm X, the 10-foot-tall mural included a yellow Star of David near the words “African blood,” as well as the stars with dollar signs and skulls and crossbones along the border.

The first attack on the mural came the following day, when English professor Lois Lyles protested by trying to paint the words “Stop Fascism” in red next to the mural.

Before she could finish, she was stopped by supporters of the mural, and, in the ensuing fracas, paint was splattered on Malcolm’s face. The professor was arrested and charged with vandalism and battery.

“I wanted to write on that wall, ‘Stop Fascism,’ to protest the anti-Semitic content of the mural,” explained Lyles, who is African American. “Anti-Semitism is an insult to the black political movement.”

Lyles said the anti-Jewish expressions were only the latest example of tension between African American and Jewish students. She said anti-Semitic remarks are common on campus; some Jewish students have said they feel unwelcome at the university.

This week, Corrigan had hoped the Student Union Governing Board would take action to remove the offending symbols. But three times the panel was unable to muster a quorum amid charges that some members had been intimidated into not showing up.

By Tuesday, Corrigan had had enough and ordered the mural removed. But by that time, members of the Pan African Student Union had taken up a vigil in front of the mural. Backers of the artwork had also tethered the doors of the student union from the outside so they could not be opened.

About 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, several dozen riot police broke through the glass door of the building from inside and cordoned off the mural so that university workers could paint over it.

But supporters of the mural, who had remained through the night, washed off the first coat of paint with water and Malcolm’s face reappeared. The painters came back and covered it a second time. On Wednesday afternoon, students scrubbed off the paint and restored the mural yet again.

The police and painters returned Thursday at 4 a.m. This time, they were armed with sanders, paint thinner and scrapers. They removed the mural and covered the space with a coat of gray paint.

Throughout the day Thursday, students gathered at the site and debated the merits of the mural and its destruction. Soon, the gray space was covered with pictures and handwritten signs taped to the wall, including a photograph of the mural with the words “CENSORED by Administration” placed over Malcolm’s lips.