Letters
to the Editor
Ad played on words
As
an art gallery owner and Cal State Long
Beach alumnus, I am writing in response
to the reaction to the Graphic Design Junior
Art Show poster with a picture of a noose.
Why
do many people cry out about anything that
can, in any slight way, be depicted as racist?
Maybe because there are black leaders such
as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton who are
themselves racist and think only negatively
about their own race.
This
is art, not terrorism. This is free speech,
not judgment day. It was a play on words,
hello! Can minorities stop thinking so negatively
and start thinking creatively as just humans?
Forget
race, gender and class and think of moving
forward as people. The race card has to
stop being played in order to move ahead.
Do
you honestly think these young talented
artists sat down and said, “Let’s use a
noose, that will show the blacks.” Get a
life.
This
wasn’t about hanging people; it was about
hanging art. I suppose a glass, half-empty
of water, could be depicted as racist if
members of that race died of thirst. Can’t
we look at the glass as half-full?
—
Ron Sesco
The Distinctive Edge
Noose
compared to swastika
As
a student of African decent, I found the
black poster bearing a noose appalling.
However, what was more disturbing was the
reaction of individuals who refused to understand
the significance or the reason for the reaction.
The
fact that Tanya Cummings would not apologize,
and that students hung a disclaimer stating
“No students were harmed in the making of
this poster,” just lets me know the ideas
supported on this campus.
It
brings me to the realization that no matter
how far we have come in the matter of cultural
awareness, we still have a long way to go.
Public
hangings, lynchings and racial discrimination
are not subjects that should stir laughter
in the hearts of people who believe in freedom.
However, the students of the design department
decided not only to make this a topic to
jest, but also refused to apologize for
doing such a thing.
I
am whole-heartedly sure that if the poster
depicted a swastika with the phrase “Join
our brotherhood,” it would incite the same
reaction or even worse from other students
on this campus, and this school would bend
over backwards to express its apologies.
However,
since it was a noose with the words “Our
first hang,” an issue, which is primarily
pertaining to African-Americans, is pushed
aside.
Cummings
and the students who tacked on the disclaimer,
as well as the design department and the
entire Associated Students Inc., owe the
student body a great and humble apology
for contributing to the ignorance of our
school.
My
reaction to this kind of ignorance is one
of great sadness. This should have
been seen as an insult to every human being
from all walks of life, for it is not only
African-Americans who are oppressed and
demeaned in this way.
My
thoughts go to the many women who are victims
of domestic violence, the individuals of
every race who take their lives because
they do not feel the love that they deserve
from this world, and the thousands of activists
who lost their lives fighting for what this
nation perceives to be freedom.
My
only hope is that, one day, we as a people
will be able to realize the impact that
this degrading epithet has on us all, instead
of reserving it for one race of people.
Sincerely,
Vanessa Niki Davis
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