Art, Isms and Equity

Here I am, a Judge for an Art Exhibition. I have over a thousand entries to view and decide their fate. Especially in the last five years I’ve seen a lot of discrimination that was based on “isms” – like Sexism, Racism, Ageism, etc.

So, I am looking a these entries and what I have to say is that I will only judge them based on the ART or PHOTGRAPHY in the entry. I don’t care if the person is green or blue; old or new, with or without gender. I only care about the ART!

Some will say (and have) “but such and such groups have been discriminated against in the past”. Yeah, I’ve heard, seen and had my own experiences with that.

My solution – in this moment and with the duties I have right now – is not to discriminate on any basis other than the quality of the work submitted.

Fair enough?

Southern Statue Removal is Wrong: Here is a much better idea!

Confederate flags, nazis, white “supremacists”, statues of the Civil War losers – these are all things we could do without. But removing symbols and statues, fighting, killing or being killed to do so is completely wrong.

What is needed – BADLY NEEDED – is the legal REPLACEMENT of the statues. The Southern States should never have been allowed to erect statues to losers, or to display the disgusting symbol of racism – the confederate flag. They SHOULD have been taught in school that the Confederacy lost, slavery was abolished and now it is time to think right and move on. But they weren’t educated at all. Instead, they put on white robes and carried on with their lost cause.

So now there is an opportunity to start things on the right course. Replace the statues of losers with the statues of winners – of real heroes who fought heroically to do away with slavery. (I also include one person who stood up proudly to the Nazis on behalf of the United States.)

I have ten suggestions to start with. (1) Frederick Douglas; (2) William A. Jackson; (3) Robert Smalls; (4) Rosa Parks; (5) Harriet Tubman; (6) James Daniel Gardner; (7) Martin Luther King; (8) Miles James; (9) Abe Lincoln; (10) Jesse Owens.

That is just a beginning of great replacements for the statues of losers from the Civil War. There are MANY MORE possibilities.

It takes patience, planning and financing to replace statues. But it can be done. Crowdfunding would be a quick and strong way to do it.

What got me thinking about all this?  The news, of course,  and an email the other day, asking me to contribute to a “Silent March on DC”. The organiser wants to raise $400,000 for the March. I would rather put my money towards something that will make a lasting difference – like a statue of Harriet Tubman replacing Robert E. Lee. That’s where my money is going.

This is an opportunity for the people who want to end discrimination and racism. Plant good seeds in the South. It will take time to reap the rewards – but it will be worth it!