George Washington mural 'traumatizes' San Fran students; high school may remove art

A San Francisco school district may remove an 83-year-old mural of President George Washington from, ironically, George Washington High School because it “traumatizes students and community members.”

The work of artist Victor Arnautoff, a communist, may no longer be progressive enough for “Fog City.” His 13 panels for the high school, created in 1936, have been deemed problematic by the San Francisco Unified School District.

Officials say some of the artist’s historical depictions are offensive to Native Americans and blacks.

Laura Dudnick, a spokeswoman for the district, told educational watchdog the College Fix via email Thursday that Mr. Arnautoff’s work was debated by a “‘Reflection and Action Working Group’ that was comprised of members of the local Native American community, students, school representatives, district representatives, local artists, and historians.”

Four public meetings were held on the matter between December 2018 and February 2019.


https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/may/2/george-washington-mural-traumatizes-san-fran-stude/

phildidge wrote:A San Francisco school district may remove an 83-year-old mural of President George Washington from, ironically, George Washington High School because it “traumatizes students and community members.”

The work of artist Victor Arnautoff, a communist, may no longer be progressive enough for “Fog City.” His 13 panels for the high school, created in 1936, have been deemed problematic by the San Francisco Unified School District.

Officials say some of the artist’s historical depictions are offensive to Native Americans and blacks.

Laura Dudnick, a spokeswoman for the district, told educational watchdog the College Fix via email Thursday that Mr. Arnautoff’s work was debated by a “‘Reflection and Action Working Group’ that was comprised of members of the local Native American community, students, school representatives, district representatives, local artists, and historians.”

Four public meetings were held on the matter between December 2018 and February 2019.


https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/may/2/george-washington-mural-traumatizes-san-fran-stude/

They should give me all of their pieces of paper with dead presidents on them.

Maddog wrote:

phildidge wrote:A San Francisco school district may remove an 83-year-old mural of President George Washington from, ironically, George Washington High School because it “traumatizes students and community members.”

The work of artist Victor Arnautoff, a communist, may no longer be progressive enough for “Fog City.” His 13 panels for the high school, created in 1936, have been deemed problematic by the San Francisco Unified School District.

Officials say some of the artist’s historical depictions are offensive to Native Americans and blacks.

Laura Dudnick, a spokeswoman for the district, told educational watchdog the College Fix via email Thursday that Mr. Arnautoff’s work was debated by a “‘Reflection and Action Working Group’ that was comprised of members of the local Native American community, students, school representatives, district representatives, local artists, and historians.”

Four public meetings were held on the matter between December 2018 and February 2019.


https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/may/2/george-washington-mural-traumatizes-san-fran-stude/

They should give me all of their pieces of paper with dead presidents on them.  

Excellent point

What gets me more than anything is these leftist students are selective in who they are outraged with

I mean, for example, are they ever outraged by the minor tribal warrior Muhammad, that endorsed sex slavery and executed prisoners?

I very much doubt, they would be vocal against this revered person in history, as it does not fit the leftist regressive plan

What ever the wrongs of George Washington, they were for the time, but he should never be removed, based on how we see wrongs today, when he fought for American independence.

Its nothing more than leftist dummy throwing

I would like to know just  how many  of these supposedly poor li'l "traumatized" snowflake students there really are at that school  ???

20, 30, 40  ?  Or was it simply one whinging to an over-sensitive parent, who then complained to the school board  --  as it is only a small cluster of loopy adults who seem to be creating the actual issue..

With some American schools having as many as 2 or 3,000 students,  without polling the student body itself,  this nonsense could well be a case of a few troublemakers creating a "tail wagging the dog" situation.

WhoseYourWolfie wrote:

I would like to know just  how many  of these supposedly poor li'l "traumatized" snowflake students there really are at that school  ???

20, 30, 40  ?  Or was it simply one whinging to an over-sensitive parent, who then complained to the school board  --  as it is only a small cluster of loopy adults who seem to be creating the actual issue..

With some American schools having as many as 2 or 3,000 students,  without polling the student body itself,  this nonsense could well be a case of a few troublemakers creating a "tail wagging the dog" situation.

The discussion leading to the decision was by something called “Reflection and Action Working Group".  This group is comprised of "members of the local Native American community, students, school representatives, district representatives, local artists, and historians.”  They are selected students, not the whole student body.

The “Reflection and Action Working Group".has only 13-members and is...

Convened by the school district, the Reflection and Action Working Group held four public meetings; its recommendation, and the fate of the mural, are now in the hands of the school district’s Board of Education and superintendent Vincent Matthews.

The objection is not to George Washington himself.  The objectionable part is:

Two parts of the mural — African American slaves working on Washington’s Mount Vernon property and white men stepping over the body of a Native American — sparked protests nearly 50 years ago. Now, the entire 1936 mural is a step closer to being removed altogether after a 13-person committee recommended by a 10 to 1 vote with two abstentions to whitewash it (literally).

President and General Washington is not even the focus of the complaint:

At the center of the mural was George Washington himself, not as glorified father of the country, but as complicit in the country’s foundation upon the enslavement and genocide of black and brown people.

The mural depicts, not Washington as a president and general, but as a slave holder.  The mural was controversial and objectionable to people when it was completed in 1936.  The ironic thing is that it was intended by the artist as a sub rosa criticism of the US.

So it's not students, but most likely your fathers and mothers who found it offensive.  Not that this changes any of the conservatives responding to this thread, but you'll be surprised to know that many of the students y'all are castigating probably join you.

https://thefrisc.com/at-sfs-washington-high-an-83-year-old-mural-depicting-slaves-and-a-dead-native-american-is-again-b2b576bdf5da