While painting and writing on buildings has a millennial history graffiti in late twentiethcentury America faced two contradictory evaluations. An explosion of extensive stylized words and pictures in vivid colors associated with particular artists on New York subways in the 1970s focused debate on graffiti as popular art, associated with hip-hop culture and urban vitality Generally these paintings are not seen in terms of political issues, although race and ethnicity underpin graffiti wars. Yet, while museums, art galleries and universities have championed this viewpoint, urban officials have identified graffiti with vandalism, danger, gangs and quality-of-life issues. Hence, cities have adopted zero-tolerance policies to remove graffiti immediately (especially in downtown areas), or to prevent it through design or alternatives like active public mural programs (Philadelphia, PA, for example, has covered nearly 2,000 walls in this fashion)