PHOENIX -- As debate over Confederate monuments fired up across the country last week in response to violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Rebecca McHood got crafty.
The activist drove downtown last Tuesday and turned a Confederate memorial into a second-place trophy of sorts with banners and ribbons, one of which read, “You lost. Get over it.”
“As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more aware of inequality, my own white privilege and the disadvantages that other people have,” McHood told the Huffington Post. “And I’ve come to recognize that whether it’s the tone of my voice, color of my skin or my confidence that people listen to me. Government leaders will set appointments with me where they won’t with others.”
By Thursday, the same monument had been spray-painted white and a cross was painted below. The vandalism was quickly removed.
UPDATE "2nd place" Confederate monument (left) at #Arizona Capitol spray-painted white last night (right) by vandals. #12News pic.twitter.com/tKFvrbhfNS
— BrahmResnik (@brahmresnik) August 17, 2017
McHood said she does not condone vandalism, but she added that she calls on Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey to remove the monument.
That same day, somebody also defaced a stone plaque off U.S. Route 80 in Gold Canyon, Arizona, with a colonial-style tar-and-feathering.
"Somebody had to put a little thought into it, but this is going to cost a lot of money to clean up," a local resident told news station KSAZ.
Closeup of tar and feathers on vandalized Jefferson Davis Confederate monument east of Phoenix. #Fox10Phoenix pic.twitter.com/7ltfxYPyPB
— Steve Krafft Fox 10 (@SKrafftFox10) August 17, 2017
