Hi
The public debate continues. Please read the following article.
Greg Koos
Bloomington Illinois
p.s. The racist reaction to this new work of art/ history is a type of debate.
From: "Mike Alewitz", INTERNET:[log in to unmask]
TO: (unknown), INTERNET:[log in to unmask]
DATE: 20/07/2000 9:55 PM
RE: [laborheritage] Tubman Mural Defaced
Tubman mural defaced at Harford County middle school
Racial epithets and swastikas found on mural depicting Underground
Railroad leader
--------------------------------------------------
----------------------
By Daniel Cusick
Associated Press
BALTIMORE--A mural of Harriet Tubman, who led slaves to freedom
before the Civil War, has been defaced with
racial epithets and swastikas at a suburban middle school in Harford
County, officials said Thursday.
The painting on the facade of Magnolia Middle School, one of five
works of Tubman commissioned for public
buildings around the state, was covered with spray-painted epithets.
Don Morrison, director of public affairs for the Harford County
School System, said a custodian discovered the
defaced mural about 5:30 a.m. Thursday. The painting covers an
18-foot by 50-foot wall on the front of the school
building.
The Harford County Sheriff's Department was investigating the
incident as a possible hate crime. "Sometimes, it's
hard to tell whether someone is acting out of maliciousness or out of
hate. But given the nature of the defacing, we
clearly feel that the remarks were inflammatory, and therefore, are
investigating it as a hate crime," said
spokesman Lt. Ed Hopkins. He said authorities have no suspects.
Officers were immediately dispatched to canvas the
area.
The mural, by artist Mike Alewitz, depicted the founder of the
Underground Railroad inside a computer terminal
screen, her hands outstretched across the pages of a book. The
central image is surrounded by a swirling red sea,
depicting Tubman's similarity to the biblical figure Moses, who
lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt by
parting the Red Sea.
"It wasn't finished, but they may have thought it was," said
Alewitz, who has been working on the mural since
early July.
Enrollment at Magnolia Middle School--which teaches grades 6, 7 and
8--is 864. Twenty-five percent of its
students are black. The surrounding neighborhood is closer to 50
percent black, Morrison said. The town is about
20 miles northeast of Baltimore.
Officials said the mural would be repaired, probably by painting over
the defaced portions.
Alewitz said this was not the first setback he has faced since he
began work on a series of five murals--called "The
Dreams of Harriet Tubman"--to be installed in Maryland as part of a
Mid-Atlantic Arts Council project.
Another mural by Alewitz sparked controversy last month because of
its depiction of Tubman carrying a musket.
The ceramic mural was to have been displayed outside the Baltimore
headquarters of the Associated Black Charities.
The group rejected the mural, however, as historically inaccurate and
condoning gun violence.
Alewitz, who teaches at Central Connecticut State University in New
Britain, Conn., and Baltimore Clayworks,
which commissioned the work, said they intended to search for
"appropriately visible" sites in the city to hang the
work.
Originally published on 07/20/2000
Mural at Magnolia Middle School, Magnolia Maryland, Defaced by Racist
Graffiti
Statement by Mike Alewitz, Muralist, 7.18.00
Harriet Tubman was an educator of the first order. She educated
thousands
about racism and the evils of slavery. She educated about the rights
of
women. She taught about the rights of working people and the
elderly.
Education was an important component of her amazing life.
And yet she was illiterate. The slave system from which she escaped
was
based on keeping African-Americans ignorant of their own great
culture and
history.
Here at the Magnolia Middle School, the workers, administration and
faculty
are dedicated to continuing the educational traditions of Harriet
Tubman. I
am here to give visual expression to that effort. This mural, part
of a
series of murals called "The Dreams of Harriet Tubman," is entitled
"Education for All." It is an effort of many individuals and groups,
including the Mid-Atlantic Art Foundation and Baltimore Clayworks.
Slavers and northern industrialists alike feared Harriet. She waged
an
uncompromising struggle against slavery, racism and social injustice.
The
slave catchers and northern racists could not stop her, and she will
certainly not be stopped by misspelled graffiti from a handful of
cowards.
The destruction that you see here cannot be blamed solely on a few
racists.
They are products of growing up in a society that too often tolerates
racism
- that celebrates the execution of poor black people - that condones
inequality in education and employment.
When these criminals are found, it is my fervent hope they will be
sentenced
to join me on the scaffold to help paint this mural. There, we will
discuss
and learn about Harriet Tubman, John Brown and Frederick Douglass.
We will
examine the great civilizations of Africa that gave so much of modern
civilization to the world, and the history of African-Americans here.
We
will look at how the wealth of this country was based on slave labor.
And
we will discuss the inequality that exists in society today, what
that means
for working people, and how we can organize to change it.
We are going to repair the damage. We are going to complete "The
Dreams of
Harriet Tubman." We will continue to paint murals that illuminate
the
historic events of the past and the problems that facing working
people
today.
=========================================================
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