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| {{Display censorship incident | | {{Display censorship incident |
| |ongoing=no | | |ongoing=no |
| |year=1934 | | |year=2006, |
| |region=North America | | |region=North America |
| |artist=Ann Rice O’Hanlon, | | |artist=Paul Gravett |
| |subject=Political/Economic/Social Opinion | | |subject=Nudity |
| |confronting_bodies=University of Kentucky | | |confronting_bodies=San Bernardino District Supervisor Bill Postmus |
| |medium=Painting, Public Art | | |medium=Literature, Textbook |
| |date_of_action=November 25, 2015 | | |date_of_action=April 2006 |
| |location=Lexington, Kentucky, United States of America | | |location=Victorville, California |
| |description_of_content=Ann Rice O'Hanlon was a 20th-century American visual artist who painted murals. An alumna of the University of Kentucky, O'Hanlon painted a wall-length mural (fresco) inside the university's Memorial Hall in 1934 as part of the Treasury Relief Art Project with funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The 11 x 38 foot fresco depicts the history of Kentucky through a series of vignettes, including explorers on the frontier, horse racing and scenes of downtown Lexington, the construction of log cabins, fishing off a bridge, passengers riding in a train, and horse training. It includes depictions of African-Americans picking tobacco in the fields, white people dancing to music played by black musicians, and a Native American peering from the woods at a white woman gathering water from a stream. | | |description_of_content=The book chronicled the history of Japanese manga, from World War II to the present day. It included a section on hentai, or erotic manga, which included artistic depictions of sexual acts. |
| |description_of_incident=Students of color at the University of Kentucky objected to the mural. In a November 23 statement issued two weeks after a meeting with two dozen African-American students, University President Eli Capilouto related this comment: | | |description_of_incident=13 copies of the book were in place in San Bernardino county when one of them was taken out by Matt Jones, a 16-year-old boy. When Jones told his mother, Cynthia Jones, about the erotic art section of the book, she wrote a letter to the county library system asking that the book be removed. A story was featured about the incident in local newspapers the Desert Dispatch and the Daily Press, and the next day San Bernardino District Supervisor Bill Postmus ordered that the book be removed from all branches of the county's library system. |
| | | |description_of_result=Barstow College placed copies of the book on display following the incident, in protest against the move. The book is still not available in the San Bernardino libraries, although there is a link on the library's website where it is made available for purchase. |
| "One African American student recently told me that each time he walks into class at Memorial Hall he looks at the black men and women toiling in tobacco fields and receives the terrible reminder that his ancestors were enslaved, subjugated by his fellow humans. Worse still, the mural provides a sanitized image of that history."
| | |image=Manga main.jpg |
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| On November 25, 2015, the administration covered the entire fresco in white fabric. Capiluoto referred to the shrouding as an interim action, as a "long-term answer will take some time." Capilouto also created a task force made up of faculty, staff and students.
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| |description_of_result=In response to the incident, the American poet, novelist, and activist Wendell Berry wrote an op-ed in the Lexington Herald-Leader denouncing the University of Kentucky’s decision:
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| "The president...objects to the fresco on the grounds that it reminds 'one black student... that his ancestors were slaves.' That statement has at least two arresting implications: (1) that black students should not ever be reminded that their ancestors were slaves, and (2) that white students should not ever be reminded that their ancestors were slave owners. Do students, then, study history at our 'flagship university' in order to forget it?"
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| In April 2017, the administration removed the drapery and the mural was once again visible; after nearly two years under wraps, the task force had concluded that the mural should be displayed, but with accompanying wall text to give historical context to the work. Signage describing its history, including the concerns voiced about it over the years, was added nearby.
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| In a blog post, UK President Capilouto stated:
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| “Against that backdrop, the concern, for many, is that the mural does not adequately reflect the violence and inhumanity that many experienced through subjugation and slavery,” he said. “Those questions of intent, context and perception have become part of a larger conversation at UK about racial climate. And, as is so often the case, we’ve been led by students.”
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| |image=UKentucky.jpg | |
| |source=http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/editorials/article100481602.html
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| }} | | }} |
| [http://ncac.org/blog/shrouding-history-or-protecting-students-university-of-kentucky-covers-1930s-mural Victory: A Year On, University of Kentucky Uncovers Controversial Mural Depicting Slaves, NCAC, BY SVETLANA MINTCHEVA, orig. post Dec 3, 2015; Update: Apr 21, 2017] | | [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-05-04/la-area-college-to-display-banned-manga-book LA Area College to Display Banned Manga Book] posted on 2006-05-04 |
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| [http://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article140580518.html Controversial UK mural uncovered, this time with context, BY LINDA BLACKFORD, March 24, 2017]
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| [http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/wendell-berry-vs-political-correctness Wendell Berry vs. Political Correctness, By ROD DREHER, December 1, 2015]
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| [http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article47230635.html Op-Ed: Censors on the flagship, BY WENDELL BERRY, November 30, 2015]
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| [http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/editorials/article100481602.html Moral of UK mural debate: mutual respect: Kudos for uncovering a work of art and unveiling a new commitment to a diverse, inclusive campus, Sept 7, 2016] | | [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2006-04-14/suburban-la-county-pulls-manga-textbook Suburban LA County Pulls Manga Textbook] posted on 2006-04-14 |
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| http://ukcc.uky.edu/cgi-bin/dynamo?maps.391+campus+0049
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