Don’t Dignify Vandals by Calling Them Artists

* Could the Los Angeles Times please, please adopt a blanket editorial policy forbidding any writer from using the term “graffiti artist?” This term is a first-class oxymoron. Using this definition raises the stature of these scofflaws and tacitly validates their vandalism. By the same token, the phrase is a put-down to people who are motivated to bring beauty to the world.

Graffiti vandals are egomaniacal lawbreakers who deface private and public property with their ugly scrawls, which cause public outrage and require thousands of dollars of cleanup costs. Please do not dignify their illegal activities with the complimentary term “artist.”

ADELAIDE TATTO

Pacoima