More Arizona Racism: Paint Kids on Mural White
Read Time:4 Minute, 35 Second
Arizona has been receiving some well-deserved bad press lately. Now there is a flap over a mural painted on an elementary school by local artists, and some children. Originally covered in The Arizona Republic.
The painting in question is one of two ecologically themed murals being chosen and also partially painted by the students at Miller Valley Elementary School to advertise a campaign for environmentally friendly transportation. It features portraits of four children from the school, with a Hispanic boy as the dominant figure.
Since Miller Valley is the most racially diverse of any of Prescott’s schools, naturally many of the kids featured are not white.
There are many murals in Prescott Arizona, but people seemed to be targeting this particular one, with hateful racial slurs being shouted at the painters by people driving by. Remember, this is an elementary school, not a Junior College.
Kids aged 10 and under were helping to paint it. Given the obnoxious anti-immigration law recently passed, it is doubtless not the first or the last time they will hear themselves called this.
The mural might have gone unremarked upon were it not for the vigorous attempts by Councilman Steve Blair(R) to rally the local citizens against the painting. Blair has a radio show in which he advocated the removal of the mural, stating it was “graffiti” that didn’t belong on a public building.
In a broadcast last month, he complained about the featured child: “To depict the biggest picture on the building as a Black person, I would have to ask the question: Why?”
“Personally, I think it’s pathetic,” he says. “You have changed the ambiance of that building to excite some kind of diversity power struggle that doesn’t exist in Prescott, Arizona. And I’m ashamed of that.”
Personally I’m ashamed that the people of Prescott would elect a bigoted councilman like Blair in the first place. To their credit, the radio station (KYCA-AM (1490) has c
anceled Blair’s show.
Pressure from some of the citizens riled up by Blair’s agitation led to the mural’s artists being asked to paint over the children’s faces with lighter skin tones. Jeff Lane, principal of Miller Valley, claims this is to “correct shading.” The parents and kids of Miller Valley are happy with the painting.
After embarrassing national attention focused on the issue, Lane and the Miller Valley district apologized to parents and students for altering the mural, promising to restore the painting to its original state. Youtube video apology here.
Remember the Time cover depicting a more dark and sinister OJ Simpson? A rather lame argument could have been made that it was “shadows added for effect” ignoring the fact that shadowing a face already tan without adjusting for highlights just makes that face look like one with a darker skin tone.
Increasing “contrast” for effect or visibility means just that- it can’t be accomplished by adding only more light tones, or only more dark tones. Did the darker face make OJ look more guilty? No, but it made him look much much blacker.
Advertisers have a long history of depicting darkness as evil/filth and lightness with good/cleanliness. But it is only because that is what the people want to hear. If it didn’t sell, they wouldn’t do it. As the nation grew more tolerant of race over time, advertisers began to adapt. We no longer see ads like the one above, though I think a few Prescott racists could benefit from having their mouths washed out with Fairy Soap.
I have a background in art and advertising design, and I might even buy into the idea that maybe the kid’s faces needed a highlight or two. If the change had been advocated by other artists, complaining about artistic integrity it would be different than a non-artist caving to pressure from bigots. Without seeing “before and after” photos, I can’t be certain. I do know that to scream hate at children goes way beyond the threshold for acceptable civilized behavior, cementing Arizona’s dubious position at the top of the stinking pile of racist states.
Roger Ebert had this to say about the controversy:
I began up above by imagining I was a student in Prescott, Arizona, with my face being painted over. That was easy for me. What I cannot imagine is what it would be like to be one of those people driving past in their cars day after day and screaming hateful things out of the window. How do you get to that place in your life? Were you raised as a racist, or become one on your own?…The hard-won social struggles of the 1960s and before have fundamentally altered the feelings most of us breathe, and we have evolved, and that is how America will survive. We are all in this together.
But what about the people in those cars? They don’t breathe that air. They don’t think of the feelings of the kids on the mural. They don’t like those kids in the school. It’s not as if they have reasons. They simply hate. Why would they do that? What have they shut down inside? Why do they resent the rights of others? Our rights must come first before our fears. And our rights are their rights, whoever “they” are.
Couldn’t have said it better.
Join Facebook’s fanpage calling for Steve Blair’s resignation.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/06/04/20100604arizona-mural-sparks-racial-debate.html#ixzz0q58ZN9MK
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FD, how? Provincialism and the American myth. We continually shift our “Other” onto the next group of imagined threats, we reinforce the whole ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ crap and when an “Other” meets those two (as in the case of the children of poor Mexicans, legal or illegal, doesn’t matter), voilà. Plus we simply have a lot of crackers here, and many of these crackers, when they get old, move to Arizona.
It’s slightly difficult to comment from the perspective of an Englishman in England.
America is a nation of immigrants and, as such, I’m bewildered how racism can flourish in certain parts.
England on the other hand, had immigration thrust upon it regardless of the English, generally, being at best unsupportive of it.
I could certainly understand displeasure over here at a mural with a muslim child dominating but over here is a very very different scenario.
In fact, whilst such a mural would be unpopular, most English would mutter amongst themselves in order to avoid upsetting the children – on the reasonable grounds that the children are the future and harmony between races will shortly be in their hands rather than the hands of old farts like me.
As a ‘nation of immigrants’ how the hell did any part of the USA succumb to this sort of attitude? I am very bewildered.
This whole thing is just getting worse and worse. Here is an article from Raw Story about a young Mexican kid being killed, 14 yrs old. The US Border patrol is saying he was throwing rocks so they shot him. The picture I am seeing, he would have had to throw those rocks a pretty far distance to hit anyone. I hope beyond hope we can start an immigration policy that works and more people are not ending up dead.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0608/border-agent-shoots-kills-14yearold-boy-side-international-bridge-report/
The principal caved and now the mural is going back to normal. But the real problem is more that councilman who had an agenda to get rid of the mural from the start, encouraging listeners to racist action. I’d like to see his ass get fired, but no doubt they’d elect another just like him.
I truly wish minorities would get out and vote- the Repukes managed to motivate the white trash and rednecks (redundant?)to vote against their best interests, surely the Dems can inspire legal immigrant votes?
I sent that principal a nice little picture postcard last week, with my picture glued on front of it. Show them that lily white is not the only beautiful in this world. Put a scathing note on the back of it, and I’m guessing I won’t get a love note back from him after writing what I did expressing my disgust. I read Ebert’s piece this morning and if you all have the time to, read the whole thing it is a great piece.
you could have whitened the pic Jess.
I could have, but then I would be generic white girl and not exotic mutt girl. I know Tom H emailed the principial too.
What a A-Hole. Should be ousted from his office.
Just when you think this country has made some progress in the past 50 years, there is always an example to make you wonder.
Mother Hen,
People may not realize how hurtful this can be to children.Or maybe they just don’t care. Children are very impressionable.
Years ago we were watching a PBS show about California Indians. Very gentle people, some settlers used to hunt them. My youngest, maybe 9 at the time began sobbing uncontrollably. The fact that Americans would kill another race for sport was knowledge she couldn’t cope with.
WTF!? I hadn’t heard about that! I am pissed at the very idea! I used to have to leave the room when National Geographic was on showing people and animals suffering a drought. I imagine my reaction as a kid would have been the same as your daughter’s.
There would have likely been no hateful shouting had that A-hole councilman not advocated against the mural in the first place. Join the FB page to oust him from office!