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School officials back down, apologize for plan to 'lighten' face of student in mural
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Mon Jun 7,
School officials have apologized for <span style="font-weight: bold">telling an artist to lighten the face of a Hispanic boy in a mural </span>on the wall of an elementary school in Prescott, Ariz.
The mural, which depicts four students at the school, some of them minorities, was the subject of a heated local debate over diversity, with a city councilman and prominent radio talk-show host leading the charge to have the mural removed.
That campaign evidently prompted the school's principal, Jeff Lane, to ask the mural's artist, R.E. Wall, to lighten the face of one of the painted children.<span style="font-weight: bold"> Wall told the Prescott Daily Courier that people drove by and shouted racial slurs for two months while he and several students of the school were painting the mural</span>.
Prescott Schools Superintendent Kevin Kapp apologized to a group of several hundred protesters on Saturday, writes Ken Hedler of the Daily Courier. "We made a mistake and we're sorry," he said. <span style="font-weight: bold">Lane told the paper he asked the artist to repaint the child only for aesthetic reasons — to improve the shading.</span>
"It will take a few days to put him back to his original skin tone and make him look more Hispanic," Wall told the protesters.
Meanwhile, city councilman and local radio personality Steve Blair has been fired from his job at local station KYCA for his comments about the mural. He led a campaign to have it removed on his radio show, objecting to its celebration of ethnic diversity.
"I am not a racist individual, but I will tell you depicting a black guy in the middle of that mural, based upon who's president of the United States today and based upon the history of this community when I grew up, we had four black families — who I have been very good friends with for years — to depict the biggest picture on that building as a black person, I would have to ask the question, 'Why?'" he said on his May 21 radio program, according to this transcript from Prescott ENews. Blair didn't mention that the children in the mural were based on actual students in the elementary school.
On KYCA today, Blair said he would not resign from the city council, and did not back down from his criticisms, saying the mural was "defacing" a public building and was "too in your face."
The mural celebrates the environment and green transportation. You can view photos of it here.
— Liz Goodwin is a national affairs writer for Yahoo! News.
.
Mon Jun 7,
School officials have apologized for <span style="font-weight: bold">telling an artist to lighten the face of a Hispanic boy in a mural </span>on the wall of an elementary school in Prescott, Ariz.
The mural, which depicts four students at the school, some of them minorities, was the subject of a heated local debate over diversity, with a city councilman and prominent radio talk-show host leading the charge to have the mural removed.
That campaign evidently prompted the school's principal, Jeff Lane, to ask the mural's artist, R.E. Wall, to lighten the face of one of the painted children.<span style="font-weight: bold"> Wall told the Prescott Daily Courier that people drove by and shouted racial slurs for two months while he and several students of the school were painting the mural</span>.
Prescott Schools Superintendent Kevin Kapp apologized to a group of several hundred protesters on Saturday, writes Ken Hedler of the Daily Courier. "We made a mistake and we're sorry," he said. <span style="font-weight: bold">Lane told the paper he asked the artist to repaint the child only for aesthetic reasons — to improve the shading.</span>
"It will take a few days to put him back to his original skin tone and make him look more Hispanic," Wall told the protesters.
Meanwhile, city councilman and local radio personality Steve Blair has been fired from his job at local station KYCA for his comments about the mural. He led a campaign to have it removed on his radio show, objecting to its celebration of ethnic diversity.
"I am not a racist individual, but I will tell you depicting a black guy in the middle of that mural, based upon who's president of the United States today and based upon the history of this community when I grew up, we had four black families — who I have been very good friends with for years — to depict the biggest picture on that building as a black person, I would have to ask the question, 'Why?'" he said on his May 21 radio program, according to this transcript from Prescott ENews. Blair didn't mention that the children in the mural were based on actual students in the elementary school.
On KYCA today, Blair said he would not resign from the city council, and did not back down from his criticisms, saying the mural was "defacing" a public building and was "too in your face."
The mural celebrates the environment and green transportation. You can view photos of it here.
— Liz Goodwin is a national affairs writer for Yahoo! News.