Oscar De La Torre’s parents hailed from Jalisco, México. But he was born and bred in Santa Monica, California, a city he has now served as an elected school board member and more recently as a city councilor. In that service, De La Torre has never pulled his punches, especially when it comes to naming white supremacist practices and demanding they be ended.
For nearly 80 years now, a mural has been the first thing anyone entering the Santa Monica City Hall sees. What does that mural depict?
The mural depicts Santa Monica’s historical starting point in 1769, when the conquistadors arrived to colonize at sword point what was then still a part of México. We see a Spanish priest, with an armored soldier holding a sword standing next to him. The priest is pointing at two naked Native Americans kneeling at his feet next to some water.
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Opposite the mural of Santa Monica’s founding is another mural intended to offer a vision of the city’s future. The people in this image are all white — even the dog is blond! — and they’re playing tennis and polo, sports of the rich.
You campaigned to take down the historical mural. Were you influenced by African Americans in the South demanding the removal of monuments to Confederate leaders?
Yes, the demands to take down statues of those who had terrorized black people helped inspire us. We held our first protest in 2015. Santa Monica has a history of racial segregation. The city now stands 23 percent non-white, with most people of color living in the Pico neighborhood. That same year, the City Council defunded the Pico Youth and Family Center, while defending the mural and funding the Police Activities Leagues, even though PAL had come under investigation for child abuse. And our City Council members mostly identify as liberal Democrats!
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What arguments pro and con the mural did people make?
My opponents said that we were misinterpreting a work of art. In their view, the mural represents a positive depiction of Native Americans. They’re showing the Spaniards where to get water. But if that really was the mural’s message, the Native Americans would be the ones standing and they’d be pointing at kneeling Spaniards.
The arguments for the mural mainly emphasized First Amendment rights, claiming that the mural reflected free speech. My response: We’re not saying the mural should be destroyed. We’re saying the mural’s rightful place would be in a museum.
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Some wanted to keep the mural because they saw it as their own story. They wanted non-whites to be in charge of art only in Pico. But City Hall is everyone’s hall. Santa Monica residents of color seeing that mural get the idea that this government is not for them, that they are inferior.
Debate on the mural opened up a conversation on racism. A good thing?
I believe it was. The process of taking down an image of white supremacy meant taking up the conversation on racism. People who hadn’t thought about race in public art before called me to ask for more information. Our city was finally able to talk directly about how white supremacy operates, the first time the City Council ever had those conversations. The public learned that being anti-racist demands doing more that celebrating MLK. We need to be examining policies as well. The work of educating the public on systemic racism has started, and I see a new awakening on these issues on the horizon.
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The discussion in Santa Monica widened to become a debate on public art. What viewpoints came out on that?
One criticism we heard went “Why are you always taking things down?” We said: “We’ll put up something new.” Public space can become places of unity and solidarity. One of our ideas: putting up a statue of Nick Gabaldon, the legendary Latino/African American surfer who broke surfing’s color line. As a kid, Gabaldon could only swim at a segregated beach south of the Santa Monica pier called “The Inkwell.”
How has your struggle turned out? Has it changed Santa Monica's future?
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I won a seat on the City Council in 2020 and introduced a motion to remove the mural. But because that would cost $300,000, amid Covid and budget problems, we reached a compromise to cover the mural with another image. The vote went 6 to 1 in favor. Actual removal can wait another day. For now, we’ve made some progress.
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