The appearance of anti-Semitic and pro-terrorist graffiti in a New York neighborhood could be greeted with any number of reactions. There are those who would apply paint-remover, others who’d ignore it and move on. But residents of the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx last night took a more constructive tack. They used the daubing of swastikas and of the symbol of the Greek terrorist organization November 17 on neighborhood buildings as the reason to launch a unity walk led by a Jewish activist group, the Coalition for Jewish Concerns, and a Hispanic politician, the City Council majority leader, Joel Rivera.

More than 150 persons of various races and religions turned out in 20-degree weather to demonstrate a united front against this vandalism. There were blacks and Hispanics, Orthodox Jews, the Guardian Angels, and the gospel choir for the Green Pastures Baptist Church. “The community is not going to stand for this kind of hate,” said Theresa Anderson of northwest Bronx. Marchers held candles and carried signs that said, “All people are equal.”

The executive director of The Coalition for Jewish Concerns, Joshua Chadajo, described the event as an “appropriate tribute to Dr. King.” Indeed, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that if Martin Luther King could have spent part of his Martin Luther King Day yesterday evening in Riverdale, in the Bronx, he would have been pleased that his spirit of civil rights activism endures, decades after his death, to motivate marchers to brave the cold to join their brothers and sisters in speaking out against hatred and bigotry.