Good news from Prescott, AZ
I'm glad I didn't react to this when I first heard about it. Actually, when I first heard about it I thought it was fake. It wasn't.
An elementary school in Prescott, AZ, had a mural painted on its wall facing a busy street. Promoting good health and going green, the mural depicts children playing outside and riding bikes. The children on the mural reflect the children in the school -- predominantly Hispanic. White townspeople, led by one of their city councilmen who also has a talk radio program, are outraged. The believe all the children on the mural should be white (to reflect their understanding of the town's "heritage.") White motorists have been hurling racial epithets at the mural artists throughout the process and a police car is in the school parking lot to prevent vandalism.
The nadir came when the school caved to the outpouring of hate -- and real danger to their students -- and asked the artisit to "lighten" the faces of the Hispanic children. The artist started to comply, but as he began work he "got a bad feeling" and stopped, refusing to whitewash the children. That's when I heard the story and made the decision not to rant.
The good news, as reported in the Daily Kos, is the school principal has admitted he "made a mistake" in asking that the children be lightened and has asked the artist to restore the mural to "its original theme." There has also been a strong outpouring of support for the mural's diversity. And the councilman -- while still in office -- has been fired from his talk radio show.
Good for the folks of Prescott.
An elementary school in Prescott, AZ, had a mural painted on its wall facing a busy street. Promoting good health and going green, the mural depicts children playing outside and riding bikes. The children on the mural reflect the children in the school -- predominantly Hispanic. White townspeople, led by one of their city councilmen who also has a talk radio program, are outraged. The believe all the children on the mural should be white (to reflect their understanding of the town's "heritage.") White motorists have been hurling racial epithets at the mural artists throughout the process and a police car is in the school parking lot to prevent vandalism.
The nadir came when the school caved to the outpouring of hate -- and real danger to their students -- and asked the artisit to "lighten" the faces of the Hispanic children. The artist started to comply, but as he began work he "got a bad feeling" and stopped, refusing to whitewash the children. That's when I heard the story and made the decision not to rant.
The good news, as reported in the Daily Kos, is the school principal has admitted he "made a mistake" in asking that the children be lightened and has asked the artist to restore the mural to "its original theme." There has also been a strong outpouring of support for the mural's diversity. And the councilman -- while still in office -- has been fired from his talk radio show.
Good for the folks of Prescott.