Late on Thursday February 19, California’s Buddhist Church of Sacramento was vandalized with what Capradio reporter Ruth Finch characterizes as white nationalist graffiti, noting that the church “has a large population of Japanese American members, and February 19 marks the date in 1942 that then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which authorized the internment of over 100,000 Japanese citizens and immigrants during World War II.”
The BCS has noted the outpouring of support from their local community, “especially from Congregation Beth Shalom and our neighbor Congregation B’nai Israel — both of whom have also experienced acts of hate” and that by Tuesday sangha members had covered the vandalism.
BCS’s Rev. Yuki has shared a video message of gratitude for all the support. “What was meant to divide,” he says, “instead revealed connection. What was meant to wound, instead uncovered compassion.” Watch the full video here.
