Graffiti

            By Amya Edmonds

          

The government says that graffiti is illegal because it’s vandalism, but it should be legal because when people do graffiti they are expressing themselves. Most graffiti artist prefer to be called “ writers” and each have their own unique “tag”. Graffiti can be very artistic and colorful, or as simple as writing your name in black paint.

Graffiti is a type of art and a form to express yourself in a neighborhood or a community. There are different types of graffiti such as art, public displays, art murals, and tagging. Graffiti can be found in subway stations, New York streets, warehouses and public open areas. Graffiti is highly known as vandalism to many people.  If you look at google to find out what does vandalism means it will say it is a act of fake art of purposeful damage/ destruction on public or private property. People do graffiti because they want to express themselves and to claim their property/ territory. Some people think that graffiti is vandalism and other people think that graffiti is art/ creative.

Graffiti has a positive and negative effects. One positive effect is that it brightens a neighborhood and it’s a way that artists express themselves. Nia White, a BCS student says “ it’s beautiful in my definition because I like drawing and it’s a way that people express their emotions”. For example people draw/ paint graffiti in subways, public areas, warehouses and any public areas. This benefits the community because it makes people more aware of the cause. One negative effect is gang related and it’s used in disrespectful ways and on private properties. For example, according to The Miami Herald, “ Felipe Diego Becerra was shot because he was spray painting on the bridge and the police thought that his spray paint can was a gun so they shot him in his back”.

“Graffiti is a constant battle” says Bill Bratton, NYPD Police Commissioner, “One of the issue’s that I am going to be focused on, I’ve already spoken to the mayor about my sense that graffiti is growing in the city now again” (VICE News). They say this because they don’t support artist that do it . A lot of people got arrested “According to the first 8 months of 2014, Graffiti arrest rose 4 percent, to 1,080”.  There was only 1 place that people knew that they could do graffiti which was “5 pointz.” Where graffiti writers of all ages could spray paint in New York. “ City without being subject to arrest. “ Since September of 2013 there had just been zero tolerance, after that they just closed the places so now artist can’t do graffiti because if they do then it would be named as “Vandalism”. The city could fix the problem of graffiti being illegal because “It’s important for people to have legal outlet for their art. What could happen in the future if graffiti was still illegal is “Kids would be very upset if they can’t do anything with their art, they’re gonna get pissed off and they’re gonna start vandalism, then you’ll just see more and more.” I think that they should make graffiti legal because i see graffiti as art and a way to express yourself and your emotions. I think that if they make graffiti legal that they should just make it legal in certain places and let the artist know where to do it so they won’t break any laws.