Removal of student mural is decried

Thuan Tran's mural was painted over last week at Lawrence High School. The superintendent says the image, which he likened to "ghetto art," was not approved before it was painted. (JOSH REYNOLDS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

LAWRENCE - When the janitors walked into the lobby of the principal's office at Lawrence High School last week with buckets of white paint, 15-year-old Thuan Tran stood in front of his half-finished mural of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, pleading with them not to erase it.

"I asked them, 'Why do you got to do this?' " Tran said yesterday, pointing to the newly painted white wall.

They were under orders from the school's superintendent, Wilfredo T. Laboy, who said yesterday that the mural looked like "ghetto art."

Laboy said yesterday that he was trying to protect taxpayers' investment in the $110 million 4-month-old school and said the new principal of the school's Humanities and Leadership Development Academy had made a mistake in granting Tran permission to paint the mural.

"There was a fundamental breakdown in communication," he said. "The adults didn't communicate."

He added that he had a "fundamental problem" with the mural depicting Malcolm X, "because he promoted violence."

"If that went up there, what kind of uproar would there have been?" he said. "In my humble opinion, it looked like urban art, ghetto art . . . I did what I had to do."

Michael Fiato, the academy's principal, did not return calls. Thomas Sharkey, headmaster of Lawrence High School, declined to comment and told a reporter accompanying Tran to leave the building.

Lawrence's mayor, Michael J. Sullivan, agreed with Laboy's decision.

"The fact that this school is brand-new is why I don't think any part of the building should be touched, unless there's a real, firm decision from the top," Sullivan said. "Everyone should feel comfortable with this."

Other school officials, teachers, and students criticized the superintendent, arguing that he acted heavy handedly, did not talk to Tran before ordering the mural painted over, and squelched free expression in a school where the vast majority of students are of color.

"He reacted harshly," said James Vittorioso, one of seven School Committee members for Lawrence Public Schools. "His actions give Lawrence Public Schools another black eye. There's supposed to be freedom of expression here. It's not right."

Eric Allshouse, Tran's art teacher, called Laboy's decision "an act of censorship."

"I think it's just about control," Allshouse said. "He wanted to oversee it."

Tran's friends said they couldn't understand how the school would destroy a student's work. They said it was unfair that the superintendent ordered his mural painted over but allowed a mural depicting global warming to remain.

"He worked so hard on it," said Joanne Trinh, 15. "It's so wrong."

Freddy Garcia, 15, added, "They could have at least given him a chance to finish it."

Yesterday morning, after local media reported on the situation, Laboy invited Tran to talk to one of his aides about submitting a new rendering of the mural, which the superintendent said he would consider with the school's art teachers.

"If I'm a tyrant, I'm certainly living in the wrong country," Laboy said. "I embrace consensus, but I acted as I needed to act."

Tran said he agreed to submit a new sketch of the mural that didn't include Malcolm X or his quote about seizing justice.

The revised mural would retain King and his quote: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Standing in front of the school, his hair spiked and his anger soothed, Tran said he didn't want any more conflict.

"I can compromise," he said.

David Abel can be reached at dabel@globe.com.