Pictured with President Obama are Ruby Bridges (the subject of the painting) and two reps of the Norman Rockwell Museum
In July 2011, President Obama hung Norman Rockwell’s iconic painting “The Problem We All Live With” in a hallway near the Oval Office. As a result, a debate has started as to President Obama's motives for hanging the painting. Some view it as a political move meant to quiet the criticism the president has faced for his failure to address problems in the black community. On the other hand, there are people who feel there's no agenda behind the hanging of the painting (which reportedly will remain there until October 2011).
Last Friday, The Young Turks had an interesting debate on the topic. I side with Michael Shure. In addition to not thinking putting the painting up is political, I also don't believe President Obama is naive enough to think such a gesture would appease those disappointed because he hasn't fixed problems such as the high unemployment rate among African-Americans. Also, according to an article on Politico.com, President Obama keeps other emblems of the civil rights movement near him so the hanging of the Rockwell painting isn't an isolated incident.
One last thing, I also disagree with Cenk Uygur's assessment that the hanging of the painting is safe from criticism by the "Fox News of the world". Please! Cenk should know better than practically anyone how the right-wing noise machine operates.
What do you think... was the hanging of the painting a political move or not?
17 comments:
To paraphrase Freud, "sometimes a painting is just a painting." But it is doubtful that the right-winger will allow it to be so.
Is it just me or has President Obama been basically kneecapped by everyone in politics? So far he's been one of the most ineffective Presidents I can remember, as almost none of the legislation and changes he's proposed have been delivered on. And I see a lot of people jumping on him for things they wouldn't even consider for any other President, such as the debt-ceiling debacle.
I guess once you get an African-American in the highest office in the land, it gives you a LOT more possibilities to practice the institutionalized racism that our country was founded on, and which still unfortunately is proliferate around the country. When you hear a sitting Senator use the word "tarbaby" on the radio like it was no big deal, one has to wonder if the events of the sixties were just a facade, staged like some of those conspiracy theorists think the Moon landings were.
At this rate, I'd hate to see what's going to happen if a Native American or a Hispanic-American is elected President.
First off, it's a Norman Rockwell, f'the love of god! Whitest freaking painter ever! The fact that NR recognized that the problem existed should actually say something.
On the other hand, there's really two forces at work here. There's the people who strain to find anything about Obama to complain about - they don't care whether he's actually racist, they just want to be able to claim that he's guilty of something. Loyal WND readers exhibiting Obama derangement syndrome.
And then there are those who actively seek out any evidence of other races (usually black, but they'll jump on claims of "La Raza," too) being racist, because that makes their own bigotry so much better. ("See! They're just as bad as we are!")
It's all crap. So, to almost answer your question, it doesn't matter whether the picture was a political move or not. It becomes one in the eyes of the bigots and haters.
Obama might as well hang up a Huey Newton poster. That's how they'll see it anyway.
Malcolm,
I blogged about this subject as well, and then "you-know-who" put up a post on it claiming the NR painting depicted Mr. Obama's racism.
Totally predictable and idiotic.
One of the things I give Obama credit for in his presidency is not addressing the black community as a separate community. At least he hasn't made it a goal to separate Americans by race.
Other than the "police acted stupidly" bit, Obama's done a good job at avoiding race while in the White House.
Although I'm not Obama's biggest fan, I believe that this is one promise he's trying to hold to.
It probably doesn't sit well with some, but equality in America means that unemployment needs to be addressed as a country, not specific communities.
Now, of course, what he has or hasn't done for unemployment is another debate.
And as far as a painting goes, I don't really care.
As a cynic, however, it's a bit difficult for me to view anything Obama does as apolitical.
From the same light-blue, rolled-up shirt when speaking to the "people" to the list of overused hot-button words and phrases like "corporate jet owners," President Obama is always on the campaign and always thinking politically. Love him or hate him, I think it's very difficult to argue against that.
But it's just a painting. Even if it were somehow political, so what?
Rich: The presidency of Barack Obama has shown we aren't anywhere close to living in a post-racial America. As for your thoughts about what would happen if a Native American or a Hispanic-American becomes POTUS, I feel the same way. The same goes for if a woman assumes the presidency.
Nameless: Excellent points. You are right about the anti-Obama crowd taking a benign incident and distorting it into something racist. As Shaw stated below, crazy right-wingers have already turned the hanging of the NR paining into a racist move by the president.
Shaw: Thanks for letting me know about the post you wrote. I plan on commenting on it tonight. As for “you know who”, I don’t know what he would do if he didn’t have someone/something to hate irrationally.
Josh: You’re not Obama’s biggest fan?! Who knew?!
I won’t go into detail about the silly reactions from Obama’s detractors over his “police acted stupidly” comment because we debated that ad nauseam two summers ago.
To accuse President Obama of doing things for political reasons is redundant. After all, he is a politician. You’d be hard pressed to find a politician who hasn’t done things similar to what you listed about President Obama in order to score political points.
Malcolm:
My point exactly.
The whole "hope and change" and no more "politics as usual" bit was a scam of epic proportions.
Another politician being nothing more than a politician.
How sad for America.
Josh: To me, "Hope and change" and no more "politics as usual" are promises unfulfilled. That's different than doing something for political reasons.
Maybe we also have different standards and meanings on what being "political" is.
I just personally have no clue who Obama is. Still! After nearly 3 years! That sorta bothers me. He seems overly political, and that comes across to me as more selfish than selfless.
I can't tell if he's the guy who says he wants balance while the camera is on, or the guy who storms out of meetings behind closed doors when the other side doesn't cave. You can't be both.
I have no clue. But the man seems to have a political angle working for dang near everything.
I don't think that about the painting, though, to bring it back to topic.
Josh: Given your stance on President Obama, your feelings about the painting are surprising. Thanks for finally answering the question I posed in the post.
Finally?
I addressed the painting in my original response.
Josh: My apologies. Because you made it abundantly clear how hard it is for you to view anything President Obama does as apolitical, I wasn't exactly sure where you stood on the painting until Friday.
Norman Rockwell was a illustrator ...some believe he only was able to make ART -only a few times in his carrer.
STAGG
Stagg: That's a good point of distinction.
I have this print hanging in my bedroom. It was Norman Rockwell's way of pointing out the impact of racism. I am surprised that this is an issue, but then again, why not? Obama cannot catch a break. Any little thing he does is scrutinized to the nth degree.
Pjazzy: I couldn't agree with you more about the way in which President Obama is scrutinized. The same goes for First Lady Michelle Obama. This past week, the far right got into the business of reading the lips/mind of Michelle. Crazy!
That's one of my favorite American paintings ever.
While I will criticize Obama for some things (such as inviting a racist hate-rapper who loves to spew the N-word to the White House.... far worse than Rick Perry's N*****head Rock problem), I will do nothing but applaud him for this.
Dmarks: It's cool to hear you praise President Obama for hanging the painting. However, I think you probably should have left it at that. When you say "racist hate rapper", are you referring to Common? If so, you are way off the mark. I wrote about the "Common" controversy at the link below. Feel free to share your thoughts on it.
http://diversityink.blogspot.com/2011/05/fox-news-once-again-exhibits-common.html
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