Posted on 03/17/2007 4:30:38 PM PDT by groanup
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — When artist John Sims sees the Confederate flag, he sees "visual terrorism," and a symbol of a racist past. When Robert Hurst sees the flag, he is filled with pride as the descendant of a soldier who fought for the South during the Civil War.
Their differences have flared into a war of words, catching a local museum in the middle.
An art exhibit by artist John Sims, entitled 'The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag,' is show on display at the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science, Friday, March 16, 2007, in Tallahassee, Fla. The exhibit has sparked controversy with the local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and they have asked the museum to remove it.
Hurst walked into the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science this past week and saw an exhibit by Sims, including a Confederate flag hung from a noose on a 13-foot gallows in a display titled "The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag."
Hurst asked the museum to remove the display, along with 13 other pieces by Sims.
The museum, however, announced Friday it is standing by Sims' work, on display since Feb. 26, because it wants to inspire dialogue in the community about a symbol that engenders a diversity of strong responses.
"There's a balance between the nature of the art that we show and the outcome that we seek, which is to promote dialogue and conversation, and have you maybe think of something in a slightly different way," said Chucha Barber, the museum's executive director.
Hurst, commander of the local Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter, said Friday he has lost respect for the museum, calling the display of Sims' work "offensive, objectionable and tasteless."
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
I think that was Voltaire, originally.
Commander Hurst is a Great PR Agent for the Artist and Muesuem.
Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of Republicans eat a similar diet.
No way it survives a court challenge. There's a legit public safety interest in limiting when, where and how much stuff you can burn -- but once you ban an act purely because of its expressive content, you're treading into first amendment territory.
Lest you forget, slavery did just fine under the stars and stripes for decades. It only existed in the vicinity of the Confederate flag for four.
When things settled down he bought himself back.
Not all slaves were black. Not all owners were white, and not all owners treated their slaves like the fictional accounts in the abolitionist novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.
So I reckon if you were a slave four years was 1461 days, much like it was for anyone else, anywhere else.
The grand myth is that somehow most Southern slaves were treated any worse than Northern ones.
The war was over taxes, not slavery.
The Klan used it far longer. The reason some folks find the Confederate Battle Flag offensive has a lot less to do with Jeff Davis than with Jim Crow. The folks claiming that the flag's symbolism is being tarred today would be a lot more convincing if they complained about it being abused then.
I, personally, do not find the CBF offensive, but I understand why others do. And I don't think it is a suitable emblem for any of the 50 states, because it represents only some of our people and only a sliver of our history. I'm from and in Georgia, so I've spent a lot more time on the issue than other folks likely have. I won't rehash the interminable flag mess down here.
On the other hand, I believe it is perfectly appropriate on the graves of Confederate dead, including several of my ancestors, and on war memorials, including those on courthouse or capitol grounds. Where it is a historical symbol in historical context.
All that said, some other observations:
1) My dad went to grad school at FSU. Tallahassee isn't exactly bursting with culture. Dad jokes (at least I think he's joking) that he and my mom used to road-trip across the state line to Dothan for the nightlife.
B) The exhibit in question (according to the museum's site here) is part of an exhibit titled "AfroProvocations." The name pretty much speaks for itself. It's designed to be a sharp poke n the ribs, and Hurst is giving the artist exactly what he wants.
III) The museum is hyping the upcoming 5th annual Florida wine festival. I'm hoping that means a wine festival held in Florida, and not a festival for Florida wines. I've spent a lot of time in Florida, and most of its tap water is undrinkable on the best day.
Yup. Where the work in question might have been simply gimmicky, now it's officially "controversial." If you want to get folks off their butts and into a museum, that's the word to use.
Oh puleez.
Yeah but the confederates were the ones willing to launch a rebellion to protect it.
Not always. There's the cultural phenomenon of the "glorious defeat." There are still Russians who fly the hammer and sickle, and Germans who fly the swastika -- there would be far more of the latter if it weren't illegal, a law pretty tightly enforced.
Texas has the Alamo, Jews have Masada, and Serbs hold Kosovo sacred because they were defeated there a few hundred years ago. The top-grossing movie in the country is about the Spartans' glorious defeat at Thermopylae.
I don't know if you're from the South, but a whole lot of mental and emotional energy around here went into promoting the mythology of the "Glorious [sometimes "Lost"] Cause" from about 1865 to 1965 and, to a lesser degree, to the present day.
I've driven a lot of Georgia two-lane highways, been in and through a lot of towns, and I have yet to find a county seat without a prominent Confederate memorial on the courthouse square. Some of those have been adapted in later years to be memorials to the county's veterans of all wars.
The largest relief carving in the world -- bigger than Rushmore -- depicts Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. And their horses.
The problem was that the occupying Union army was ham-handed during Reconstruction, and then turned and walked out one day. They created the conditions for a backlash, and then turned tail and let it happen. It took another century, and many, many lives lost, before black people actually came to be treated kind of like people.
"As a Texan, I could destroy someone's work of art that offends my heritage."
If you are a Texan the rest of us are embarassed to have
you associated with us. Thanks for not displaying the Texas flag.
"As a Texan, I could destroy someone's work of art that offends my heritage." ......................As many people in Texas would say; "QUE?"
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