Altered mural fuels racial debate in Prescott

[meegbear]

Source: azcentral.com

A group of artists has been asked to lighten the faces of children depicted in a giant public mural at a Prescott school. The project's leader says he was ordered to lighten the skin tone after complaints about the children's ethnicity. But the school's principal says the request was only to fix shading and had nothing to do with political pressure.

The "Go on Green" mural, which covers two walls outside Miller Valley Elementary School, was designed to advertise a campaign for environmentally friendly transportation. It features portraits of four children, with a Hispanic boy as the dominant figure.

R.E. Wall, director of Prescott's Downtown Mural Project, said he and other artists were subjected to slurs from motorists as they worked on the painting at one of the town's most prominent intersections.

"We consistently, for two months, had people shouting racial slander from their cars," Wall said. "We had children painting with us, and here come these yells of (epithet for Blacks) and (epithet for Hispanics)."



Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/06/04/20100604arizona-mural-sparks-racial-debate.html

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City Councilman Steve Blair spearheaded a public campaign on his talk show at Prescott radio station KYCA-AM (1490) to remove the mural.

In a broadcast last month, according to the Daily Courier in Prescott, Blair mistakenly complained that the most prominent child in the painting is African-American, saying: "To depict the biggest picture on the building as a Black person, I would have to ask the question: Why?"

Blair could not be reached for comment Thursday. In audio archives of his radio show, Blair discusses the mural. He insists the controversy isn't about racism but says the mural is intended to create racial controversy where none existed before.

"Personally, I think it's pathetic," he says. "You have changed the ambience of that building to excite some kind of diversity power struggle that doesn't exist in Prescott, Arizona. And I'm ashamed of that."

[Ian David]

1. They should oblige. Here are some mural ideas to give the town what they want.

[RedRoses323]

6. +1

[Odin2005]

2. Disgusting. F***ing bigots!

[hyphenate]

3. I'm not surprised

All you have to do is look at the events taking place in AZ already and you can see how bigoted tools have taken over the state. The one thing that interests me, on one level, is that religion, for once, isn't high on the list of traits in the offenders.

Joe Arpaio has free reign, the voters want to close the border, John McCain is covering his ass for the next election, and Jan Brewer is using force to harm innocents, who are trying to find a better life than in third world parts of Mexico.

[Tansy_Gold]

4. There would be no controversy at all if all them faces was white!!!

:sarcasm: and :cry:



Everyone should be ashamed of Steve Blair. What an asshole.

[Gman]

5. Reminds me of that movie where everything was black and white

And shades of gray and they liked it like that:

You have changed the ambience of that building to excite some kind of diversity power struggle that doesn't exist in Prescott, Arizona. And I'm ashamed of that."

[defendandprotect]

7. k

[Judi Lynn]

8. Here's a photo of part of the mural:

Arizona Councilman Forces School To Whitewash Mural…of Attending Students (they are DARKIES, people!)
June 4, 2010

http://dcskeptic.wordpress.com/2010/06/04/arizona-councilman-forces-school-to-whitewash-mural-of-attending-students-they-are-darkies-people/

~~~~~
6/3/2010 10:01:00 PM
Editorial: Mural comments shock citizenry

The Prescott Downtown Mural Project recently completed its latest mural at Miller Valley School with the help of the Mural Mice and Miller Valley School students. The Daily Courier Staff Photographer Matt Hinshaw attended the dedication program, parade, and play on Friday May 21, 2010 and captured the festivities.

The Daily Courier



More photos at link.
http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubSectionID=1118&ArticleID=81766

[meegbear]

9. Thanks!

:hi:

[Lilyeye]

10. No Steve Blair, you're a pathetic piece of shit. Not that beautiful mural.

[City Lights]

11. Ugh. I'm so glad I'm no longer a resident of Arizona.

Five years was more than enough for me. I'll never set foot in that state again.

:thumbsdown:

[L. Coyote]

12. Likewise. And, I'm pulling my art out of AZ. BOYCOTT ARIZONA.

[G. L. Herter]

13. Well, he's wrong about the mural, but he does have a point.

The mural in question is within walking distance of my home, and I have been by it several times. As the photos above show, it's a "celebrate life" kind of thing, not a "racial struggle kill whitey" kind of thing. I don't think it's supposed to somehow represent the local population in any specific way, and it doesn't-- the 2000 census showed a 0.5% African-American contingent here (according to http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/popInfo.php?locIndex=11279), and a Hispanic/Latino total of 8.2%. The rest of us are all Serbians, oddly enough. ;-)

Prescott is a great town, despite the occasional idiocy of members of local and state governments. We have an eclectic mix of cowboys, college students, hippies, artists, and outdoorsies. Don't be fooled by Steve Blair.

[Posteritatis]

14. Should they have all been white, since no other ethnic group is at least 25%? (nt)

[Mendocino]

15. Isn't this just part of his agenda?

If I remember correctly he held a contest on his radio program where the winning entry, picked by him, was to refer to Latinos as "taco flippers".

I'm sure that Prescott is a wonderful place, but it seems someone like this has no business being on City Council or being part of the local media.