Ms. Walker , who is also a poet and activist, criticized the stance that the images traumatize young people. Her daughter went to Washington High School and was not traumatized, she said. “This feeling that everybody now is so tenderhearted that they can’t bear to know their history is ridiculous.”

In her sharpest comment, she said, “It’s very ignorant and backward to think that you can erase history, erase reality by destroying art.”

Ms. Walker recommended that explanations be added putting the paintings in context: “If you cover things up, the danger is that you will end up in the same place again, and you won’t even recognize it.”

Steve Zeltzer , the video journalist who conducted the interview, specializes in labor issues and is making a film about the preservation of the murals. His credits include the documentary “Halfway to Hell, the Workers and Unions That Built the Golden Gate Bridge.”