Sign of the Times

This morning I walked past this sign on Glen Drive, just south of Kingsway.

What is it? Well, it's a for sale sign, erected by the realtor, Sutton Westcoast Realty, on behalf of the seller.  But not a single seller -- "land assembly" implies the sale of multiple properties, usually towards their reconfiguration into a larger, multiple dwelling development. Sellers are told they can receive more money if they band together, given that the profits from a subsequent development are greater than those achieved from the re-sale of the individual (adjacent) properties.

Below the words LAND ASSEMBLY is a text in Chinese characters. I am not sure what these characters say, but it could be a combination of "land assembly" and the English text below:

"Call for details and Call for free evaluation."

Spray painted across the Chinese characters are two black lines.

What to make of this defacement?

To me, the lines across these characters read not as a redaction of the content but an attack on what these characters signify -- those who speak and read Chinese, but specifically those of ethnic Chinese descent. Like the assigned realtor, Melissa Wu, who, though her hair is brown, her eyes green and her skin a pinkish white, carries a surname that is, in the Pinyin transliteration of its Chinese character, the tenth most common surname in Mainland China.

Equally disturbing is the line underneath Melissa's eye, which reads to me like a bruise, the result of a punch.

I am upset by this sign. I am upset by this sign because it, too, is a punch, a punch that carries with it the injuries of class, but also violence against woman and racism. Much of what ails me about this city -- and indeed our global culture -- is present in this sign.