Saturday, March 17, 2007
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Confederate flag hanging from a noose on a 13-foot gallows will remain on display despite protests from the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who call it an affront to Southern heritage.
“The Proper Way to Hang a Confederate Flag” by black artist John Sims is “offensive, objectionable and tasteless,” Robert Hurst, commander of the local camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said Friday.
But the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science said it stands by Sims’ work, part of a larger exhibit called “AfroProvocations,” because it wants to inspire dialogue.
The debates dates to the Civil War in the 1860s, when southern U.S. states broke away from the United States and formed the Confederacy for several reasons, including their support of slavery. The question of how to remember that era remains a sensitive one today.
Black slavery in the early part of American history is not a unique phenomona in the world’s history as portrayals such as this like to pretend. Every civilization and people on the face of the planet have practiced slavery. African slaves were rounded up in Africa by Africans and sold to merchants. Today the people of the Dark Continent still practice slavery, along with cannibalism and female circumcision.