I Am Who I Am

The Anti-Vagrancy Act (Greaser Act) of 1855 was a law implemented in California designed to restrict the movement of Mexicans.

Following the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848 and the accompanying Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States acquired land it would split into Wyoming, Utah, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, and California. In order the solidify White power in their new land, the government passed a number of racist laws.

The Act made legal the arrest of persons who were 'vagrants', people including those unemployed, prostitutes, and "Greasers...who go armed and are not peaceable and quiet persons." (Section 2) This was a derogatory term for those of "Spanish and Indian blood", so it specifically targets the Mexicans who already lived on the land that had suddenly changed hands.

This law served to criminalize ethnic minority groups doing everyday behavior and, though the prison system, force them into unpaid labor. It also allowed for extra-legal "justice", authorizing local militias to terrorize Mexicans, confiscate their property, and seize their land.

Within a year, the statue had sustained so much damage that it was unrecognizable and the lettering unreadable, so eventually the council came and took it down. Also apparently, the person in the Hi-Vis vest didn't even work for the council. They were supposedly just some 'good samaritan' who cleaned it, often before the council even discovered it needed cleaning, so they just let them do it and ignored the problem. They didn't bother putting the statue up again.