Free Republic

SAN FRANCISCO — The black and yellow signs were hard to miss, their message spelled out in English and Cantonese: “Vote YES to Recall the School Board.” Volunteers with the Chinese American Democratic Club urged shoppers to get registered for the Feb. 15 election, telling them why three members of the city’s school board — all Democrats — needed to be removed from office. Yung Chen, 73, was already convinced. “Martin Luther King’s speech, I believe in that: Don’t judge people by racers ,” he said. His grandson, he explained, nearly missed out on a spot at the high school...

The San Francisco school board unanimously voted Tuesday to destroy a controversial school mural featuring slaves and a dead Native American, saying the removal equates to necessary reparations for historic wrongs. The board voted to paint over the mural at Washington High School but added a caveat, leaving the door open to the possibility of obscuring the mural with panels if painting it results in long delays from legal challenges or other issues. The preference, however, is to destroy it, board members said. “It might be art and it can also be racist; it can be both,” said board member...