In my opinion the murals and monuments are indeed open to the interpretation of the viewer and for them to expand their own knowledge because this type of historic monuments, textbooks and in this case murals tend to be for explaining purposes so they may teach every detail in the history even if it is ugly and although many facts in it are bad seen today you cannot erase history because it makes us what we are and teaches us about our failures and how to change the world to be a better place, but when we erase or try to hide some things in history we are not telling the truth and are falling into the same failures; we can’t please everybody because that is not how history is, and what we need to do is accept our history even the darkest bits to change those things and make the world better. For example here in Colombia recently many statues of Spanish conquistadors have been vandalized because they were the ones who conquered us and killed the indigenous people in our country but damaging those statues that represent many of the founders of those cities will not change anything; we can’t change the past and those horrible actions but we can make a better future and even present where we respect everyone.
@Juan Pablo That is why I think the school should keep the murals because at the end they are just teaching the real history and at least they are telling the truth because in many cases even though the truth is hidden in history and it is important to know the history of your country from all perspectives. Another example, regarding Colombian history, is the fact that the two greatest generals that liberated our country from the Spaniards, Simon Bolivar and Francisco de Paula Santander, ordered many spanish prisoners to be executed and some could argue it is justified because the spanish were very bad in their colonies it is not true, and everybody deserves mercy no matter what side they were fighting for because they are just following the ideals they think are the best and those type of teachings are the ones history leaves us with to reflect and ponder about to make a better future.
I love history and it can`t be erased there is still more to learn about it.
@Dave You might have a point about history and what about our kids how will the learn about the past if history is going to be erased.
I believe that any history (whether it be portrayed as ugly or not) is still considered history and plays a crucial part in all of our lives. In my opinion, we should be able to keep them up as a reminder of what America was and how much we have grown as a nation as a whole. These murals and monuments are a part of our history and are crucial to us, what are we supposed to tell our kids when they ask us what American history was? They do not boast about the times America was in a time of error and did wrong, it shows what not to do and how we can learn from it.
Can you imagine a part of the history being wiped out? Some people suggest that school murals depicting ugly history should be removed. From my perspective, however, thee murals should be maintained.
Firstly, the murals represents history remaining. It depicts no only historical figures, but also reveals their lives. As the murals shows, the native Americans were facing discrimination. It is the right choice to show the public the cruel, difficult and important conditions that people endured in the past.
Additionally, the remove of the murals can lead to misunderstanding of history. Take the Japanese education system as an example, their government refuse to show the history of Japan conquering and slaughtering Chinese people in the past, so many Japanese citizens gained misinterpretation from the history. However, it was a famous historical event that the whole world is being acknowledged, so the Japanese citizens did not benefit from not studying those events.
To sum up, the murals were rings in the chain of history, it depicts considerably important culture and events in the past which should be further research and study by the students.The teachers in the school should use those murals as resources to better interpret their students about history. It is not a shame to know the ugly past, it is about knowing the mistakes that the ancestors had made and use them to improve for the future.
@Kelly I agree with you. Even though some murals are ugly, that is our history. A lot of history is ugly but we cannot pretend it didn't happen. You gave a great example of the negative effects of not being fully aware of history.
I also agree that we can use our ugly past mistakes to help us improve for the future. There is a learning curve in life; we have to make mistakes and go through hard things in order to be successful.
History, no matter how ugly, will never be changeable, but will always be useful. Filtering history based on the so called pain caused not only takes away from the historical lessons that can be taught but also perpetrates the false ideal that just because something is offensive to someone it should be abolished. The fact that this topic is even debated shows the extent to which progressives are attacking American exceptionalism and the four pillars that under gird it.
My first reaction to the murals was that they corresponded well with their history: as ugly as the events that took place where, so were the murals.
I don't believe in sacrificing the value of learning, or simply recognizing, deeply unjust history to cushion children growing up, but I do believe that these murals aren't making the school a better place. They seem to be insensitive, painting dead bodies in such a manner it unsettled me, and if they were meant to bring light to these horrible events, the artist made sure to make the viewer understand they weren't trying to be subtle.
As a minority, I understand the importance of feeling like you belong. Without that sense of community, you feel isolated and it can truly be something that makes you lose traction. If I were to go to school and see such violent murals of people that looked just like me, and being taught by people that looked exactly like those who initiated that violence, the sense of community would be shattered.
Instead of murals that depict this "ugly history," it would be better to respect those who were done an injustice through tributes and memorials of the events. Instead of bland colors, the school should use a rainbow of colors to salute the vibrancy of the Native American culture. Instead of scenes of injustice, include one of inspiration, like Martin Luther King and his fight against everything that happened in the murals.
Ugly history is the driving force that calls for change. Anything from bad songs to world wars, every thing has some kind of a bad history. On the topic of murals in schools that depict social injustice , the murals should be taken down. In a learning environment, students are easily susceptible to anything and any kind of opinions. One may think that slavery depicted in a mural is aimed at students of color in the sense of discrimination. This causes an outburst within the student body and makes the school experience students are supposed to have into a controversy that defines a persons high school years. Murals that paint a more positive message are often ignored, but they decorate the walls with such color, people see them and compliment them. Murals that depict a dark history will distract from learning , and murals should only depict a encouraging message.
I think that the school should definitely get rid of the murals. It was very shocking for me to look at some of the murals, to see those pictures of African Americans and native Americans. The most shocking part, was seeing a native American dead next to Washington.
I don’t go to Great Washington High School, but I can just imagine how those kids feel in that school, seeing those murals almost everyday for the school year. Especially the African American students and Native American students. I think that Ms. Anderson’s son should not ever have to put his head down in an environment that is supposed to be a friendly and educational place. He should be able to be eager to come to school, and walk around the school like any other student would.
For the sake of the students, the murals should go. America went through lots of ugly times in history. We shouldn’t let all of the horrible history make its way back in the present. Leaving those murals in the school, is simply inviting the horrible history into an educational place. It is appropriate to learn about the history, but it just isn’t appropriate to have that history in the form of murals around the school, where students visually see it everyday.
@Dante I see what you're saying, but these students that are activists to get rid of these murals are not looking at the bigger picture. These murals not only depict how Washington treated slaves or American Indians, but also during the time of the Great Depression when the government set up public work jobs in an attempt to boost the economy. Students shouldn't be offended when seeing these images, they should see it as an opportunity to keep living the dream of that America is a great place to live in and be thankful that it doesn't look like that anymore. If they are still angered by this than it should motivate them to become social workers and make sure that these events never happen again.
Schools like “ George Washington High School” should keep these horrific murals as a way to show students and adults just how far our country has come. I do believe these murals should never have been put up, but i do not think taking them down after almost 9 years will do anything. Students with these cultures should embrace what happened to their people and use it to their advantage, let people know you cannot change the past but you can change how people feel about it. I think the school should make a mural for the people that feel offended , show a painting that recognizes what has happened and how we have changed as a nation since then. Where would we be if we didn't learn about the monstrosities that races,genders,and cultures have been and survived through… I think these murals should make people proud of how we’ve changed and make us disgusted of how people were treated. I agree with Mr.Haney about changing the schools name to praise Maya Angelou rather than George Washington, she has been a role model to many people - including myself. She was not only a poet or singer but a civil rights activist and fighter.
I think schools such as George Washington high school with controversial murals should leave them be. Its important to show Americas past and the history that follows with it. It educates kids on our past. While some may find it offensive, its history that has already occured. We cannot change history. We can simply move forward and appreaciate how far we have come as a country.
I think the school should leave them up. The artist was not glorifying the acts of Washington, but rather condemning them. showing the 'great' founding father was not the perfect man that some history books can show him as.
The artist being socialist does nothing to change my opinion of them - they are still a representation and condemnation of what a lot of history taught in class doesn't even mention
I disagree with the writer, since it's very clear that the art is condemning Washington's slave owning and the native killings caused directly and indirectly. As opposed to confederate monuments, which were made simply to honor generals and war "heroes" who fought to keep the right to have other human beings be considered only as property. this does not change my opinion on what the school should do about the paintings.
I think it matters a lot, since students of all different backgrounds can see what our founding fathers had done. people who idolize Washington might see his darker side. if the murals were in a different place than a school, I'd still say they should be up - but I don't think it'd be as important because adults are old enough to do basic research about Washington
History is history. We cannot go back and change it but we can learn from the past in order to not recreate it again. Each specific thing that happened during history has made America what it is today.
Just because history may have been messy or ugly, it is still very important to who we are and what we have been through. Sure, there was discrimination against other races which people nowadays deem to be wrong but it was in the past and we have since learned from our mistakes.
The George Washington High School in San Francisco has murals and paintings depicting historical events, that some people are arguing should be removed. They are basically arguing against history. In high school, you have to take American History and World History where you will learn about some awful things that happened in order to prevent them from repeating. The students are going to learn about it anyway and it is wrong to try to shelter them from what truly happened.
I agree that erasing history is bad, and also that the school shouldn't get rid of the artwork - however I don't think the school getting rid of the artwork is quite on the same level as erasing history. As long as students are still taught that Washington wasn't the best, most perfect person ever because he was the first president. Which they can still learn even without the artwork.
However, I still think getting rid of it is a bad idea
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When tragic events occur, there is no way to simply erase them. We feel the effects of terrorist attacks, natural disasters and overruling dictators for a long period of time. Although, we try as nations and individuals to move past these events, they can’t just be permanently removed. This is the same for events that happened decades and even centuries ago. We are vastly aware of the history of slaves, struggles with discrimination and the nation’s economy crashing. That is because these events have shaped the world we live in today, extremely. They are depressing times in our past but, they have shown us what to do if it repeats and how to prevent it in the years to come.
If George Washington High School removes these storytelling murals, it is teaching us that it is okay to forget the offensive, grim and tragic events that occur. I agree that these events bring great hardship and heartache but, they teach us lessons that will forever be useful. There will always be major problems in this world and we will always have to face awful events that will shake us but, to prevent these events to happen again, we need to keep them on the pages of our history books and on the walls of George Washington High.
The school is named after George Washington, So what it has murals depicting the ugly side of what we did. This is history, we need to remember, it may hurt some people but we can't just hide our shame by erasing it. Then it may happen again, most can learn from their mistakes but if we completely get rid of it then the following generations will not know that some people had to suffer in order to make our country what we are today.
Many people have said that to prevent repeating history, we should know our history. Everyone knows what happened in George Washington's time. Their idea of a human being back then was slanted and wrong, but it's history. In order to not repeat this horrible view of another race, we need to know how bad it became when we did think these things. If these murals are "offensive" to you, they're doing their job. The acts and poses in the murals are meant to show you the brutality of our past. Instead of cowering over these images, you should be proud of how far we've come since then.
For years, the United States has had murals, statues, and pictures that depicted our history and no one has said one thing; but as soon as it "dehumanizes" someone, we have to get rid of it to protect their fragile minds. The world isn't all sunshine and rainbows, and people need to know that they can't sit in a bubble with nothing controversial in it.
Overall, I think people need to grow up and stop trying to destroy our history from existence. What if someone purposely got rid of the marches, elections, and wars that we've been through? How would you feel?
I think the school should remove the mural because if can be offensive to students, staff, and faculty of different races. If people believed that the murals shouldn't be removed then this story would have never made to the the New York Times. Also this mural should be removed because it has provocative depictions that can upset those of certain ethnic backgrounds. Such as the dead Native American at George Washington's feet or George Washington's African Slave.
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@Anthony Pegram
I think that the mural should be removed. It is very offensive, and the school needs to consider the feelings and thoughts of the children seeing the murals rather than considering how the children "needs to learn about the awful history." They can still learn about the bad history, but they shouldn't have to learn about it from offensive paintings they see everyday. The school should sell the murals for money that they can better benefit from, than the murals.
I think schools such as George Washington High School in San Francisco should keep the murals for educational purposes. I believe historical topics that can be controversial should not be ignored, but used as a reminder of tragic times and that they must not be repeated.
In recent years, people have been questioning historical representations in public monuments and statues. Some choosing to dismantle the art due to its oblique message. "But the Washington High frescoes present a different issue. What they symbolize is open to interpretation. Some see a subversive message about Washington’s failings; others see his glorification."
I think as long as the intention of why the art is there in the first place is enough gratification for keeping the murals. It's all about interpretation. Many might feel offended by the murals, but history is history. Use it not to dwell on the past but as a strong motivation to peacefully move forward.
I think that it's there moral for a reason and obviously, it was put up for a reason. I mean why take it down NOW? What makes it so important that it needs to go down now. Life is full of good and bad things but to just teach all the good is downplaying the world we live in. We have ancestor's who have been put through these things to sacrifice for us whether these things were good or bad as I see it. So NO they shouldn't take it down, keep it and even if you can make more to show that the world IS the world and they should NEVER have to hide it.
The End~ Thank You
In my opinion, I think school murals that depict and ugly history should not be removed. In this instance, with the school’s murals depicting the Great Depression, and George Washington. Some of these murals show an ugly side of history: slaves, hunched over, toiling in fields, and a dead Native American lying near Washington’s feet. I can why people may not want these murals in their school, they might feel it as looking lowly upon their culture but in my opinion, these murals show how far our nation has come. Children shouldn't be shielded from our past. I wish murals like this were held up in our school because they bring light to topics that are not talked about frequently. Topics like the cold hard truth that our 1st president; proudly standing on our one dollar bills was a slave owner. These murals show us our history without sugarcoating it which is something people love to do. This mural was painted for a specific reason and it should be kept on the wall. Only showing the “happy” part of history will make us think that our country perfect. When this mural is seen by others who have a different race and background, they should see this as an inspiration to move forward and change the world. I understand that the images may be offensive, especially those in the races depicted, but history is history. It shouldn't be changed nor be altered. People should learn to accept our horrible past and be grateful us as a country were able to grow from it in some aspects.
@Darlene M.
I agree
History is history, if they take it down it will be forgotten and we would be doomed to repeat it
@Logan Planet Earth...I agree
History is not something kids and adults of any generations should be hidden from. They should realize the brutality and punishments from these tragic events that occurred and learn how to prevent in the present day. Since this mural is very controversial, I personally believe that the murals should not be taken down. The mural on the wall shows the history of the US without any sugarcoating. It shows the real event that occurred in our history and how the US came to be. Even though the picture might display "an ugly truth", it is nice to reflect on this. This mural was painted for a specific reason by the artist and it is right to keep it on the wall. Only showing the beautiful part of history will make us think that we were always perfect with no flaws. When this mural is seen by others who have a different race and background, they should see this as an inspiration to move forward and change the world. I think seeing this mural in another building would not be a surprise because I have seen many murals that depict an ugly history of America and no one seems to mind it. Keeping a mural in this is school is preserving history and giving the right to every future generation to know the truth about America's founding and the past.
Yes, definitely. If they depict racism, that's not okay. These murals could be replaced with something better, maybe something depicting unity, love or friendship. That would be much better.
I believe that the school should keep the murals but, during a history class or other time, the murals be brought up and discussed in class. They should be used as an example of the way that the teller of a story affects the tale, and as a way to emphasize the biases of our history. They depict a story that is not perfect, and they can be used to remind students that not all heroes are heroic, and that all the stories we know are told from only one point of view. I believe that this could lead to valuable dialogue on dealing with inherent bias in education and the importance of acknowledging our problematic history in order to succeed in the future.
I believe that the murals should not be removed and instead should be accepted as a part of the school's namesake. They are especially important as a portrayal of George Washington that we rarely see: a slave-owning man who was the arguably one of many perpetrators of genocide against the Native American population. I understand that the images may be offensive to some students, especially those in the populations depicted, but I would counter that point by saying that history is history. It shouldn't be changed nor be altered to look better for Washington. To display this at a school with his name is important because it acknowledges that they know he wasn't perfect and that he did awful things. To remove this might accidentally aid the image of Washington being a perfect figure of history who did no wrong which I assume both groups would rather avoid. In a space of education especially it is important to remember and learn about what America was built on.
Should School Murals That Depict Ugly History Be Removed?
History is fascinating. It explains and displays the mistakes and advances man has made since we evolved from the ape. History cannot be changed once it has been written. We should be able to remember our past mistakes and advances with as much as we can. The fact that people would get sensitive over an event in HISTORY is ridiculous.
First of all, the murals did not direct insults at anyone. No one was meant to be hurt in the mural. All the mural did was state events from history and show man’s ugly truth. People should not get angry about something that has passed and abolished. Slavery was a horrible mistake, but it did get abolished and African-Americans were freed. You can’t get mad at history for displaying cruel acts. History is just a topic about what happened in the past, you can’t blame it for horrible mistakes.
Secondly, all the murals do is display surprising events in history. The murals show and reveal that George Washington was not the president you thought he was. They show embarrassing moments of his life. That’s all the mural does. The mural does not show any offense to any race groups.
Finally, it is the audience’s fault. We must not be sensitive about history. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the expression of feelings, much more the expression of the history the country of origin the document was made for.
This topic has many different sides, some think the murals are a good representation of our history some find it offensive. I am pretty much in the middle. I am in the middle because it really shows what people went through to make us where we are today, the hardships they went through, how much they had to sacrifice and much more. These murals do a great job of that even though there a little graphic to some people. On the other hand, some people may find this offensive and hard to look at because there possible deep ancestors went through something like that and it is not easy to go back to that time. I am a person that believes that kids should learn young so they are more aware, even if it happened in the past, but again this is coming from someone who doesn’t have a history with these kind of things as far as my knowledge. These murals are very horrific especially in a high school but I do think it is a eye-opener for what some people went through. All in all, this was a hard period of time for our country, but it is our history and we can’t simply run away from it, instead we can learn how we got pass it and got here.
I do not think that the Murals should be removed. Even though they show a history that many people want to forget, it opends of the students at George Washington High School to what has happened and how racism was a huge issue in the past. This is important for all students to learn about because then they are not shielded from what has happened in U.S history and can figure out ways to make sure that events like the ones shown in the murals do not happen again. I believe that if you protect a child from a reality, it only makes matters worse when they are exposed to the truth. I do not think that the murals at George Washington High School should be removed just because they show America’s brutal past, in fact, I think that they educate the students on America’s history.
Personally, if I was in the position I wouldn’t know what to do with the murals. The murals do represent a hard time, but they represent history. Again, it was not a bright time but it still was part of history. The murals contain images of slavery which can be very offensive for the students or teachers. I would personally get the murals changed to something that is not offensive for anyone. I just wonder why the people painting this during the Great Depression, chose to paint about George Washington’s bad side. I mean they could have painted something more peaceful and less offensive. So you shouldn’t remove the idea of a mural but you should change what it is showing. It should highlight George Washington’s accomplishments and personal highs not the bad side of him. I do think that is matters a lot that students from many different backgrounds go to the school or any school in general. The schools should be a safe and accepting place. There should not be any discrimination towards the students or teachers. This also stands for every other place. I wouldn’t want a hospital, government office, or any place where people from many backgrounds come, to have any sort of offensive art or things like that. They should feel safe.
In my opinion, I am on both sides. Even though it doesn’t show a good part of our history, it is still part of our history. Some people would get offended by it and so in that sense, it would make a good reason to take it down. On the other hand, we shouldn’t erase a part of our history because it could hurt some people. Not everyone has to like it, but you can’t just pretend that this piece of history never happened. It is OK to not like this mural, but just because it is offensive to some people doesn’t mean it should just go away. Therefore, I am on both sides. Even though it tells a part of our history, it still could affect some people. Maybe if the teachers would explain what is going on in the murals, then more people would understand. In the end, our history shouldn’t be erased, no matter how bad it affects some of us. The only thing that we could do, is to make sure that our world now is a better place than before.
I really don't think that they should be removed for a few reasons and mainly because it would be a waste of money to remove the murals and replace them with something else that could be related to George Washington or not. This is because even though the purpose of the mural is to honor George Washington and his life it shows such things which are offensive, which creates a teaching atmosphere that shows us that atrocities against people aren't acceptable and no one should ever do things like this again. To remove it says that you don't believe it happened and that life is perfect yet catering to sugarcoat everything will never help anyone learn about these things. History is important and you can compare such things to mistakes. We learn from mistakes just as we learn from history as both give us examples of what not to do. Learning is important and we must learn from mistakes and from pain and cruelty as all of these influence us to make correct or at least different decisions.
I feel that there are many sides to the mural controversy and I can’t see a clear cut answer. While I understand how the murals can be seen as offensive and upsetting, they also depict important parts of America’s history that we can’t just push away and try to forget. The authors original intent was to show the bad and not so heroic parts of Washington’s presidency, so while looking at the paintings in this light, it seems they should stay in the school. This being said, not everybody may interpret the murals to have this meaning and in a diverse school with students from many different ethnicities and cultures, it is important to be aware of how things are perceived. While the paintings may not be affecting the high schoolers academically, they may make them uncomfortable or upset. Because schools are meant to help and support the students, they should always put the students feelings before proving points about history. While I have covered several different varying points of view, I think overall the paintings should stay in the school. They provide a way for students to learn more about our past and understand different sides of the same story. These paintings were created by a talented artist in another very hard time in America’s history, so we should respect them and appreciate them for what they are.
I personally do not believe that the murals should be disposed of. Yes, it can be very disturbing if you are a minority and you see a mural of your ancestors being treated like animals, but you should never neglect your history. This mural is a great way of showing what it was like during the time and it is a great way to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself. I think the main reason of this was to make people feel uneasy, so that they grow up knowing how wrong it was and so they won't do it. I feel like it also has some good information hidden within the painting. When I first saw the mural of the dead Native American, I noticed there were no wounds or anything of the sort, so I could only come to the conclusion that the Europeans brought all of their new diseases to them and that's how the Native American died. Also, the mural was painted back in the 1930, so it is a very unique and historical piece that the school has to offer that many other schools don't. Taking it down is completely disrespecting the artist's point of view, and he can't even defend himself. People who stand strong and really want the mural to be taken down want to run away from their past. They can't stand looking at reality. I know it's easier to sit hear and type about this topic than to actually be at the school and experience it, but after all of the years that the staff and students have been there, they should have came to this realization.
I don’t think that the murals that depict an ugly history should be taken down. They may show a sad and unfortunate part of our history but it is still a part of our history, which cannot be erased. It is also a piece of art that effort was put into. It was meant to show the different perspectives and conflicts in George Washington’s life. Rather than hide the past from these high schoolers they should show them so that we can work to prevent these types of situations in the future.
I think that the past is harsh and everyone should accept the fact that our history was harsh. Lots of people think we should ignore it, but if we ignore the past we cannot make a better future. It’s like getting a test back and not checking your mistakes so you can do better next test. I feel like the school murals are beautifully painted, but if people look closer it gets really dark and harsh. I feel like that this is similar to the fact that some people believe in sugar coating topics to make them harder to digest. For example, the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. In first grade, I was taught about the friendly and happy encounters of them both. When I was older, I finally found out the real story behind them, and it was so shocking for me. I am really against sugar coating. I feel like for some times it is okay to sugar coat stuff, but for many things, it is unnecessary to do so. Although I don’t really believe in sugar coating, I think that the mural might be a little scarring depending on the students that are there. They should keep that there, but also maybe put in a different mural that focuses on the good parts of our history.
Although it is not a pretty thought, this is the roots of America and what actually happened. Therefore, I think the murals should remain at the George Washington High School. We do not like to think about it, but America is where it is now from stealing land which was not ours and enslaving innocent people. We cannot go around trying to make history not sound as bad as it was because it truly was as bad as depicted in the murals. The murals remind us of where we come from and a reminder to not follow the same footsteps as we did before. This would also be the same if it was in a courthouse for the same exact reasons if it were shown anywhere else.
I think that keeping the murals in the high school just because of their historic value is outrageous. I understand that the murals are historic, but that doesn’t mean they belong in hallways where people are reminded of our country’s horrible past everyday. They should either be removed or relocated to another part of the school, where students can only see the murals if they wish to. I understand that it shows our history, but these murals can be extremely offensive to a lot of people. Do we really want to preserve these dehumanizing moments in history for all to see? And just because students are learning about the past- which is an excellent thing as we get to learn from our mistakes- doesn’t mean we need to shove the past in students' faces. Why can't history stay in history class? These murals are not reflective of the diverse and socially-just society that we wish to have today.
Victor Arnautoff’s intention for creating the murals doesn’t change my opinion about them. Although I do agree that the symbolization of the murals is up for interpretation, these murals are still not fair to students. It's clear that people are offended by them. Do we really want this in a school environment? A place of education where many people from all different backgrounds come together? Yes, they are interpreted in many different ways, but it’s more than likely that some students will be offended one way or another. There's no need to destroy the murals, but don't keep them in schools.
@Brian E. How to you recommend "relocating" a mural? I'm curious
I do not think that the murals should be removed. America’s past is ugly and there are still huge problems with our country today. We can’t just shove it under the rug and not talk about it just because it’s a sensitive topic. When we “protect” children from learning (in either a textbook or in a painting) about the evil and injustice the world can contain, we are doing a huge disservice to them and to the progression of the world population’s views on these matters. I do not think that Victor Arnautoff was praising Washington in his murals. The murals simply represent the horrible truth of our country. America is not an amazing place where everyone is treated equally and whether you learn that through an artists mural or in the classroom, you have to learn it sometime. We should not just take the murals down. When you try to protect young minds from learning about the truth of America’s history, it is like you are trying to erase history itself. It is already happened and the best we can do about it is to understand that it was wrong and to not let it happen again.
I believe that the school should keep the murals. I can relate to both sides of the argument, but I don't feel that taking the murals out of the school would be a good idea. I understand that the murals are very disturbing and upsetting. However, it is our history. If we shield our history and try to hide it, no one will know our story. Yes, the murals should not just be casually in a school. But the murals shouldn't just casually disappear. The mastermind behind the murals spent much effort and time into them. To take them down to not be seen is not only offensive to the artist, but to our history. As I said, shielding history could make future generations be completely clueless of the past. The murals are a big part of the school and I do not think to take them down will do anything for the better. I do not think it really matters that these murals are in a high school who educate many students from many backgrounds. The only thing that would interfere with these murals is if someone is very offended, scared, surprised, or upset that the murals are in the school. I am white, and seeing how horrible George Washington was treating the Native Americans and slaves made me feel uncomfortable. I can't imagine the ideas and thoughts of people from other backgrounds and races about these murals. But, I do believe that we have to accept our past and teach future generations to learn from it.
Although these paintings are very controversial when it comes to being “offensive” I strongly believe that they should stay up on the walls of that school. They do no harm and portray our very horrid history the way it really was. Not the story we’re told about how the europeans had a good relationship with the Native Americans, and that they just gave up their land for them and had a feast in the end. No it shows the true horrid background about how this country came to be and it’s with all its reason to stay up. Nothing says that it’s illegal to show true history. People are going to say it’s offensive when they don’t know the full truth. Some may thinks it’s a lie, because of all the other stories put into their head. These murals are beautiful works of art that exposes America for the wrong it has done in the past.
I think the murals should stay up. I understand that they can be taken the wrong way but I just feel that they have an important meaning behind them. These types of murals depict an ugly time in our history, but it’s still our history. We can’t just get rid of it. I do agree when people say it could be a little graphic for a high school setting, but people deserve to know the truth- even if it’s not always nice. The artist really does vividly point out some of Washington’s flaws, including his slaves and his feelings toward the Native Americans. I can honestly say that the art is an expression of the artist’s personal points of view, as well as fact. These paintings can mean many different ways, it just depends on how it looks to the individual. Some could be offended by this but others could take this art as a chance to learn and find out what really happened in history. We just need to look deeper. The artist is laying out such an important message, it just needs a closer look. All of these paintings depict some sort of flaw that George Washington had. For me, it really shines a light on the truth. Some of these facts, I never would have imagined. The murals should stay up. There is no need to take them down.
I think that the mural should stay in the school because you can’t cherry pick history. You have to know what happened in the past so that you won’t repeat those mistakes in the future. They tell a story about George Washington’s past that doesn’t get talked about a lot, which is fitting since it is literally named George Washington High School. We have to expose young adults to the horrors of history because what happens when they go into the real world, where there aren’t any warnings for sensitive subjects. The mural isn’t glorifying what happened, and the artist who created the work was being critical or our founding father, not condoning his actions. We can’t censor art we don’t like because that isn’t right. We can’t silence people just because we don’t agree with what they are doing
I believe that ugly and offensive art that depicts offensive history should be removed. Even though the artist, Victor Arnautoff was very critical of George Washington in the murals,(such as depicting slaves in his plantation), some of his murals must go because they offend some people, such as the Native Americans. I believe this because even though the murals are history, it offends people and offending people is worse than hiding history. But we shouldn’t take the murals down completely, only the parts that are offensive because these murals are part of history too.
I am sort of in the middle when it comes to this argument. I feel like the murals depict a time in our history, but not a good time in our history. We should always remember our history, but then again we should not make kids feel shameful because of their race’s history. One teacher’s child puts his head down every time he passes the mural. The murals are ugly and cruel, but the time was a very important time in our history. From then to now, we can see how far we have come when it has come to equality with race and gender, though we still have ways to go. There were no super-duper offensive murals like showing slaves getting whipped, or a Native Americans getting shot, but they still show white power. We still need to fight for more equality and justice for not only race, but for things like gender and people identifying as LGBTQ.
These murals shouldn't be taken out of the school. It's crucial for citizens of this country, especially young ones, to learn about the ugly history of how the United States came into place. European settlers did terrible things to the native peoples of the Americas, who were living in peace for hundreds and hundreds of years. If we don't face the ugly side of history, we'll make the same mistakes again. That's why I believe racism is an ideology only for the ignorant. No sane person that's educated about the atrocities that people have committed to others based on what they come from would ever be discriminatory. That's why we all need to be educated about the awful history of our nation. If we turn a blind eye to it, we'll never learn.
I don't really know which side to take on this issue. On one side, this can be extremely offensive to all of the students walking by during school. They come from all different backgrounds and some of them might be hurt by the way that their race is represented in the mural. On the other hand, we need to face the fact that this was our history and we just need to learn from it. I think that this artist was trying to do something very different in showing history in a different way and it shows the diverse opinions about these events. I don't think that this is quite as extreme as confederate statues because those statues were made to literally praise the Confederate soldiers. These murals aren't necessarily leaning toward one side and not praising any, one particular side or person. I believe that the school should take it down because it can be interpreted by someone in the wrong way and they might be offended.
I think that the school shouldn’t remove the murals because even though it shows a dark past, it is still history that everyone should know. It shows that there are two sides to every great leader, for example, George Washington was both the man who led America to independence and the man who killed Native Americans and kept slaves. It shows the troubled past of America, where before it became the land of hope, liberty, and opportunities. If we teach the next generations only the good things in our history, they won’t know where things went wrong, and they may make the same mistakes again. I suggest the school does a talk on the murals, and maybe take a vote on it. If they decide to take them off, then they shouldn’t destroy it, but somehow put it in a museum.
I don’t think it matters in a high school, because you are learning about history, and what happened. You are more likely to understand what those murals mean, rather than when you are in a public place. If bullying or protesting due to the murals occur, I think the high school should either have a talk about it, or they should have a poll for whether or not they should keep the murals. You really shouldn’t have the murals in public places such as an office building, hospital, or courthouse, because those places are can be ‘sensitive’ in a way.
Despite the history lesson that the paintings at George Washington High School are teaching students, I believe that a public high school is an inappropriate place for a painting that depict such mistreatment and prejudice. There is no doubt that the paintings have a lesson behind them. I looked at each for a few minutes, and I learned quite a few things about the man that George Washington actually was. However, I just don’t think that a high school is the place for this controversial topic. If this were in a museum for relics dedicated to the American Revolution, or a museum to give facts about how past presidents lived, I would see nothing wrong with it. I do not think it is fair to keep them up in a school where students have to walk by them every day on their way to class and be reminded of the struggles and bigotry of the past in the country where they live.
I can’t really decide what side I am on. I don’t feel like I agree with keeping it or disagree. It is apart of history that can’t be hidden. You can’t ignore history and pretend it never happened, but I still don’t really like the murals. It seems to upset people and make them feel uncomfortable. Matt Haney said, “If you’re a Native American student and you walk into the lobby and see your ancestors being murdered in art, that feels dehumanizing”. Other people seem to feel upset by the murals like Ms. Anderson's son who “keeps his head down when he passes the murals,” and Virginia Marshall, who says the murals remind her of her “great-great-grandfather and great-great-grandmother who were beaten and hung from trees and told they were less than human”. Yes, this is apart of history, but I don’t think showing the history painted on the wall of a public school and making people unhappy is the best way to have people learn about the past. Students pass this mural every day and if they have to feel upset every day, that’s not a good thing, but it is still an important part of history, even if it was ugly. That’s why I can’t decide if the murals should be taken down or not.
I think that the school should not remove the paintings. The painter painted them there for a reason, so why remove them? The painter had something to say about the topic, so why remove them? The paintings had slaves, invasion, and a dead Native American in them, that was how our country was created, and that’s how our founding fathers were as well (pure evil). The murals are facts and a sum up of a portion of this country's history. As the article said, “There are no cherry trees.”
I don’t see why people are scared (in a way) of our history, so much so that they want to shield it from kids, and not them/us know the whole truth. But in the end, this is a very insensitive topic, and there are many opinions on it. The murals can represent the unwanted history of Americans.
I don't really know which side to take on this issue. On one side, this can be extremely offensive to all of the students walking by during school. They come from all different backgrounds and some of them might be hurt by the way that their race is represented in the mural. On the other hand, we need to face the fact that this was our history and we just need to learn from it. I think that this artist was trying to do something very different in showing history in a different way and it shows the diverse opinions about these events. I don't think that this is quite as extreme as confederate statues because those statues were made to literally praise the Confederate soldiers. These murals aren't necessarily leaning toward one side and not praising any, one particular side or person. I believe that the school should take it down because it can be interpreted by someone in the wrong way and they might be offended.
I think these murals have a big part of history and shouldn't be taken down. These students learn about these type of things in school and don’t get shamed for it. People have to know about America's history somehow. I don’t think it’s disrespectful to have these murals up and they are iconic for the school. The artist took time and effort to create these, just so that they would be taken down. These murals represent what our people have done in the past, and show how we got where we are today. These murals shouldn’t be shamed. I think the artist had his intentions. It’s not going to affect how I see these murals. They resemble how this country has fought. Especially since it was made during the Great Depression, a hard time in society. Yes, these show an ugly part of history, but it’s an important part too. I feel like it’s in the perfect spot. It’s in the faces of our future people. They need to see what our home had been. They need to see that they can be the one to see a change in the world. I feel like if I went to this school I wouldn’t pay enough attention to the murals to even realize what they symbolize. I feel like if they were in a government, not many people would want them to be removed. Just because it’s in a school doesn’t mean it’s much different. These teens are
Honestly, the murals shouldn't be taken down at all. Sure, they show some serious things about bad times in the past, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing if its in a school. A school is a place for learning, and if there are murals teaching people about bad times in history, then we should be able to discuss why those times were bad and how far we’ve gotten. For example, segregation. The black people were treated unfairly because of their skin color, and now it’s barely brought up anymore. We’re past these times, and we have to acknowledge how far we’ve gotten, and stop running away from those old, “ugly” times. It doesn’t matter if we like it or not, it’s still history and it still informs many people about how everything used to be.
I think the murals should not be taken down. Even though they may seem offensive to many people, it is an important part of our history that we should not forget. I can see why many people would want to have them taken down, but doing so would be very rude to the painter of these murals, who had most likely spend lots and hours creating them. Some people will find these pieces of art disturbing, which is totally understandable considering the fact that these pictures show how cruel humans can be. They express George Washington's life, and show how he may not have been as good of a person that everyone assumes. Many people will often times not make the best decisions, and from these murals, we can tell that our first president wasn't always the best person either. I know I just gave some reasons as to why these murals should be taken down, but that is just like trying to forget the times in our history when people have made pretty bad mistakes. We shouldn't be forgetting about the flaws in our country's history and repeating them, we should make sure they are well remembered so we don't make the same mistakes.
I would recommend that the school takes away those murals and replace them for something more positive. Something that would represent the good that came from it. Personally, I think the murals clearly depicted the events that happened in history but not in a positive way. The murals show the horrific things that people have done to each other. Some examples shown in the murals would be the white europeans and a dead native american, also who appeared to be George Washington and his slaves. The way I interpreted the mural was that I thought it was just represen of the past and how most of us have come together and to be more accepting of everyone no matter what. (Some people still have trouble with accepting people especially because of their identity or race but, that is a different topic.) Although that is how I interpreted it people would have interpreted it other ways. For example, they would have thought it was a racist representation of what the white people put the native americans and black people (or people who didn’t look like them) through. Especially because the school was named after him though it wouldn’t have made an impact. (I don’t think.) They could’ve interpreted that way and that wouldn’t have been good for the school because it would be promoting the racism and discrimination.
I see a lot of murals especially in my city which is Philadelphia but I have never really seen anything that has had so much meaning behind it. I think that the school should take down these murals because they show way to much about bad history and racism that they shouldn’t be up on the wall for students and really anyone who walks into the building to look at. They should paint the walls a different color or hire someone else to do a new mural, because keeping these murals up is a huge mistake. I think that it does have something behind it because of the fact that the painter who made the mural wanted to show what a bad person George Washington really was, and I think that this was a good idea but without anyone having any context it seems like a work of evil. I don’t think that it matters if the murals are in a high school or college they still aren’t right and should be up because they discuss very controversial topics over the ages.
No. I do not think these murals should be removed. It’s true these murals reflect a very dark part of our history, but I think this whole situation kind of goes along with the saying “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. It’s basically saying that if people forget what has happened in the past, it will happen again, because they have not learned from past experiences. I think this relates to this situation because, people are basically trying to get rid of this mural, that depicts horrible aspects of our past. I’m not trying to say that if we take down this mural that the exact same thing will happen today that has happened in the past, but if we attempt to get rid of things that show this part of our history, it won’t be as easy to learn from our mistakes. I understand that this mural may offend some people, but I think that most people understand it is not something against them personally, but just a reflection of our history.
I don't think that the murals should be covered up or destroyed. If we try to suppress or hide our history were not helping anybody. Even though the murals portray provocative and inappropriate things it's our history. As a U.S. citizen you should need to know our country's history, the bad and the good. In the murals, there are acts of horrible neglect and racism towards American Indians and African Americans. A substantial amount of U.S. history is Europeans and white people completely discriminating against other races and ethnicities. This is the horrible truth and illustrating it isn't necessarily a problem, especially in a high school. A high school is a place of learning and growth, and one of the best things to learn from is the past. However, if this was in a modern government office building it would be different. Then it would seem like the government or whoever works in the building wants to preserve these things. If the building was older such as Independence Hall, it wouldn't be less offending or problematic. In the end, everybody in America needs to be aware of their history and the highs and lows of it.
I don't think that the murals should be taken out of the school. They depict an important part of our nation's history. An ugly part of history, but our history none the less. We can't just censor any form of art that we don't like. Art provides an interesting insight into society and history. You are allowed to be upset by it, I am not denying anyone their right to an opinion, but there are some things that you just have to accept. The truth is, the beginning of our nation was a dark time, with things like slavery, taking advantage of Native Americans, etc. These works of art tell us the truth. The murals don't sugarcoat anything, they tell us the truth and that is important. If we take them down, it would be like trying to deny that this part of history ever happened. Kids should especially learn about our history. There are important lessons that everyone should learn about, especially at a young age, and at what better place than a school.
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@Sam Doyle I agree with this 100%. I think that although it shows a horrible part of our past, it's still very important to keep because it gives people an insight to our past, and teaches students about our history, beyond just the classroom.
@Sam Doyle
I agree with you that we should not hide this history from the children because they will teach them about the horrible past and prevent more of these types of events in the future. These parts of history will always be there and no matter how inappropriate and offensive they are, that is one thing that will never change.
@Sam Doyle I completely agree. We shouldn’t hide things that happened, no matter how ugly or horrific the effects were. Like the saying, you learn from your mistakes, if you don’t care to look at the past and acknowledge it then you will never really learn from it.
I think that the school should keep the murals up. The students have a right to know what happened in George Washington’s life. Especially since their school is NAMED AFTER HIM. The school board should decide what to do with them though, but, it is history. People say that they are inappropriate and offensive. But so is history, throughout time, there is plenty of stuff people should not talk about it, but it should be forgotten, in case something happens like that. In the article it says, “ ‘The Jews never want what happened to them to be forgotten,’ he said. “That’s why they have so many memorials.’ ” I completely an utterly disagree with that. First of all, he should not be talking about such a terrible thing that happened to another religion. Second, it is true that they never want what happened to them to be forgotten for different reasons. It is because it is when almost half of your religion was killed, many of them being children and women. Finally, no one wanted this to happen(Except Hitler) and the reason there are so many memorials is that the Holocaust was a major event in history. Just like why there are so many 9/11 memorials or other things like George Washington Statues is because they were very important.
Going back to the murals, people can’t forget the time period they were painted in, it was a time when a lot of people did not really care about colored people, Native Americans, and other identities such as LGBTQ+. They just cared about themselves.
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@Jonnah Berger, I agree with these statements forsure. The murals are history, no matter how dark and twisted they are.
@Jonnah Berger I completely agree with your stance on this issue. Since the school was named after George Washington the murals should be there. I also really liked the point of how people in that time period only cared about themselves. We need murals and paintings to teach and remind us what we did right and wrong in history.
I think that it is okay for them to leave the paintings up, but I think that it should be the choice of the school board. We should not completely ignore what happened in the past regardless of how bad or not nice it was.
I don't think the murals should be taken down. They represent an important part of history and provide different perspectives on historical figures. It's important for students to understand all the different perspectives of history. These things actually happened in the past, so they shouldn't be hidden from view or ignored. Perhaps it's a bit harsh to have these murals in a high school where many different types of students come with many different backgrounds, but history shouldn't just be ignored or forgotten. The murals are both educational, and valuable because they were painted a long time ago which provides them with even more historical importance
I think there isn’t a giant reason for alarm since I would think schools would teach this stuff. Yes, it is very inappropriate, but do you know what else is inappropriate? HISTORY ITSELF. It’s not even like 6 year olds are going to see these murals since it is a high school. If they are in high school, they should even be learning this stuff. I think it would be much more appropriate at a museum or historical art gallery but it does fit, at least a little, in a school named around the person in these pictures.
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@Liam S.
I agree with you fully, it is history and we cannot change what happened in the past. We just need to make sure things like this don't happen again in the future.
The murals are made to learn and they have a real history, which actually happened. I do not think they are made with the intent to offend, it is something that was lived, that each person should know, the people who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it.
Although the murals at George Washington High School show inappropriate paintings one of which includes a dead Native American, people should not take it down and get rid of it. I understand that it is offensive to a lot of people, but I believe that we should accept it. This was something that happened in the past, and I don’t think we should just ignore it or cover it up. We need to learn about our mistakes to make sure that we don’t repeat it. Having these types of murals in a school might be a little harsh especially because teenagers are just developing. Instead of just having a mural, it would be nice to have a little excerpt somewhere explaining what is happening in the mural. During history, students should learn about the murals, too and discuss their views.
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@Jessica H.
I agree with you. We should not try to cover up history's mistakes. We should try to learn from them.
@Jessica H.
I totally agree. We can't just ignore these things, no matter how hard they are to accept. Also, having extra information about the murals is an excellent idea. It is important for the students to understand what they are seeing and why it was created.
@Jessica H.
I agree with your statement although i said something different. I understand your point and it is good for people to connect over history. This would also be good to keep to show the progress that people have made in accepting each other for who they are. We aren’t perfect but this is an improvement, being able to respect differences.
I believe the murals should stay. There are few reasons for this. The first and most obvious one is that they have historical importance. They were painted a long time ago and lots of other buildings and art from the past are still being protected today. Another reason is that it is educational. Lots of teachers and textbooks make George Washington out to be a great person, but learning about the bad things he did is also very important because no one is perfect and we all have our mistakes. The final reason is that we shouldn't sugarcoat history. No matter what happened, we should still learn about it. These murals are in a high school. They are for sure old enough to realize that this is what happened in the world. That's why they should keep the murals.
@Tierra G. I couldn't stress that point enough. I agree with you when you say that these murals carry so much historical importance. This is such an important part of our history and we can't just tear it down. The students need to be able to learn from these paintings and censoring the past won't make it easier. Keeping these pictures up will help us from ever backtracking into our old ways.
Murals with an ugly history is a gateway to historical events that we have overcome, we’re learning about so we should take this opportunity to create a society that won’t encounter those problems later in life. Although people might take offense from the sensitive topics relating to their ancestors, these topics are those that they might have to interact with for other reasons, like schoolwork and conversations. You can’t avoid these topics since their such a big part of history. They might have been originally painted as a memorial for white history or as a part of daily life but now they depict they eventful despair that was present for slaves and Native Americans. The depictions may not be particularly harmful but the effect that’s there is present but we can’t constantly think of the past and instead think of the future.
@Janey L. I really agree with this, as the topic of history repeating itself was also in my comment. I think that we shouldn't neglect the past and really know what the people went through, in order to not let history repeat itself.
I personally feel as though I can see both sides of the story but am not sure what I would do if this issue was presented to me. On one hand, being native american or african american and walking into school to see your ancestors depicted as less than human can be extremely harmful. But, on the other hand I feel as though it is a first-hand experience and lesson on how America came to be. In the article one woman, Paloma Flores makes an argument of how her ancestors were tortured and how we don’t need to relive it especially in high school. But, I think that being able to see this kind of history can open up students eyes. They can correctly learn the kind of pain and torture people went through to get where we are today.
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It's a very big part of history I don't really know if it should stay or not. Americans shouldn't Forget about the ugly past of America, but it shouldn't be shown through murals it should be taught in class which it is. People shouldn't think the murals were good but a reminder of the Ugly past of America.
I recommend that the school remove the murals from the school. I think they should paint a new mural showing different aspects of George Washington's life that aren't as offensive.
@Christian
I can see where you are going and it is a good line of thinking yet it still honors George Washington, and to honor a person you must honor them entirely in all that they have done, don't you agree? Really, in my opinion, it would just end up with the same result as Washington was a slave owner and a man who oppressed many people and you can't really ignore that. Still, your point is valid as the murals depict a cruel and offensive part of Washington's life and evoke emotions amongst the people who are members of the groups he oppressed so it makes sense to immediately want to get rid of it, yet history is history and it is important to acknowledge atrocities done by people whom we honor and revere. I hope my response is well fitted and reflects my views adequately in response to your suggestion.
@Christian
History is fascinating. It explains and displays the mistakes and advances man has made since we evolved from the ape. History cannot be changed once it has been written. We should be able to remember our past mistakes and advances with as much as we can. The fact that people would get sensitive over an event in HISTORY is ridiculous. First of all, the murals did not direct insults at anyone. No one was meant to be hurt in the mural. All the mural did was state events from history and show man’s ugly truth. People should not get angry about something that has passed and abolished. Slavery was a horrible mistake, but it did get abolished and African-Americans were freed. You can’t get mad at history for displaying cruel acts. History is just a topic about what happened in the past, you can’t blame it for horrible mistakes.
Secondly, all the murals do is display surprising events in history. The murals show and reveal that George Washington was not the president you thought he was. They show embarrassing moments of his life. That’s all the mural does.
Finally, it is the audience’s fault. We must not be sensitive about history. Has our species taken history to be offensive? Or has the racism and actually offensive insults gone too far? I don’t know. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects the expression of feelings, much more the expression of the history the country of origin the document was made for.
@Christian
I respect your opinion but if you want to glorify a person such as George Washington, you should know his entire personality/beliefs and what he did in his lifetime. By just showing the aspects of Washington's life that cutting out how he harshly treated others, a false understanding of his personality can be interpreted with his heroic side showing only.
I think they should keep it up because it shows the past and what will happen if we dont learn about it. We need to learn and respect what happened because the past was very important and big.
- I don’t really know which “side” I am on. I can see both sides of the argument, and I can agree with both. On one hand, the murals are extremely offensive to some people who see them. Like the article said, if you are from the race or religion depicted in the mural, then you may be offended by what you see, because your race or religion may be getting killed, like the Native Americans. I understand how offensive this can be, and how this could really hurt somebody from the culture. These murals are showing times from the past that a lot of people do not want to relive. For the people who are offended by these murals, they should not just have to come to school every day and see a person of their culture lying dead on the ground. They should not have to accept that that is just what happens, rather they should be able to learn about it more, and feel safe in the environment they are in.
- On the other hand, the murals show what happened in our history. I do not think that the schools should just leave the murals there and not do anything with them, but I think that the schools should teach more about what is happening in the murals. Also, the murals are not actually promoting the acts that are shown, they are just showing what happened. The statues are actually promoting and celebrating the people who had slaves or killed Native Americans. I feel that the murals are just informing people about what actually happened, while the statues are promoting the people.
@Rhoslyn Kersten
I agree with you. I am on both sides too considering that the murals could affect some people, but also it tells a part of our history. Not everything in the past was perfect. People should teach the students about that mural, so they will get a better understanding of it.
Although these murals are showing a horrible time in history it is necessary to keep these up and keep telling the story of our first president and his life. This argument is good to have because maybe this isn't something that should be in a school but it should be somewhere to tell the story for the next generation.
I am sort of divided on whether or not the murals should be removed. I don’t think they should be removed because they are historical and have part in our history. However, these murals represent bad parts in our history, in which we discriminated and cheated other races. This is just like when people wanted to remove the Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia because he was a confederate commander.
I do think the artist’s intentions of the mural actually do change my perspective to lean more into keeping them. The artist says it was used to show that Washington, some great hero, was not perfect and had slaves himself.
I also agree with the writer that the morals portray whatever the person sees. There is no specific meaning to the mural. It is what the person desires to see.
I do think that these murals could affect the students and teach them bad ideas. But, in all I do not think that the mural is that bad.
If this mural had been painted yesterday, I would understand the desire to take it down, for the depiction of dead Native Americans is, while accurate, not necessarily something productive to have adorning the walls of a high school.
However, these murals were painted close to one hundred years ago which alone gives them a significant amount of historical context that would be a shame to erase, putting the controversy of what they show aside.
The problem that I have with the argument to remove the murals is that it offends people. The general definition of offended is "resentful or annoyed, typically as a result of a perceived insult". These murals do not show insult. If there was a little line of script saying "slavery is for the best" or "Native Americans deserve death" I would absolutely 100% agree that it is offensive because that is without a doubt insulting. However, the murals only show non-gory, truthful depictions of America's non-perfect history that are no worse than anything a kid can see by simply googling "slavery" (for real, try it). And frankly, as a high school student, I can firsthand say that we are not taught the wrongdoings of George Washington, our esteemed first president. It is quickly mentioned that he owned slaves, but it does not go beyond that. I don't believe that seeing a historical, non-gory depiction of it is any different that hearing it or reading, nor that the mural will 'confuse kids' and make them think that slavery is acceptable
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@Zoe
I agree. I think that the murals do not really insult anyone directly because they do not have anything written on them, directed at someone in particular or a group of people. Also, I agree that the murals are not gory, so therefore it is just what you learn about in school, and maybe even less gory than what you are learning. I also agree with how the mural is not saying that slavery was good, and it is not saying that slavery is good, it is just showing what actually happened in our country's history.
@Zoe,
I completely agree with what you are saying. I agree that the murals should not be taken down, because it's not like the murals were painted yesterday. Yesterday and a hundred years is a really big difference. Also, to your point, they are not insulting anything or anybody. I would absolutely want the murals to be done with and gone if they were insulting Native Americans or showing any pro-slavery vibes. However, because the murals are doing nothing like that, I feel it is right to keep them in the school. Who knows who can learn from them- future generations, students, and more. We shouldn't just shield our history.
I don’t like to get into historian things and things around this topic very much but i do have an in between opinion on this. I do not completely feel as if it should be taken down because this is our history no matter how much we try to hide it. We can’t change what happened in the past but at least we are changing now, that is all that matters. You can't push or history under a rug and pretend it never happened. Of course we made horrible decision in the past and did horrible things.
All though I do feel if this offends some people for their own personal reasons then we could take down them. I just don’t want us to take down the murals to try to hide our past because it happened and there is nothing we can do about it. This kids seeing the mural in high school might see what we did in our past and make sure no one is ever treated like that again. Like the saying they might have to see it to believe it and that could make a whole new generation stick up for what's right.
I believe murals that depict an ugly history should be removed. Although some may argue that we should just accept history and be done with it, I disagree; removing the murals does not mean we are abandoning our history. In classes we are still taught about the cruelty of slavery and past mistreatment and abuse parts of humanity has endured. I don’t believe that removing the murals will change this fact. It’s also not just “sugar coating” the past too. People find these murals to be offensive. In the George Washington High School murals, there was a dead Native American and depictions of white people having slaves. The offense given is a reason as to why murals depicting an ugly history should be removed. In addition, I feel that it’s unjustifiable to say people should just “deal with it”. Most of the ideology of those who say that “ugly” murals should be kept is similar to that of “you can’t evolve to become better if you don’t move on”. Isn’t that just evolutionary stasis though? In terms of technicality, evolutionary stasis is when a species does not evolve or change over periods of time. How can we evolve if we just abandon our problems? People find these murals to be offensive; they shouldn’t just deal with it. The only way to evolve is to combat these problems. Acception is not always going to solve our problems. After all, if we decided to accept everything, the human race would be nonexistent today.
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@G Jap
Yes, I absolutely agree. Why do we need to have murals on walls that literally offend people when we have history classes that teach students valuable information? It’s not like we are abandoning our history if we are just removing some offensive murals. And just accepting and dealing with our ugly past is not the only thing we should do. We shouldn’t be telling people to just accept history because it’s history. We should instead be asking ourselves how we can learn from our history so that we are not doomed to repeat it. But I don’t see how you can effectively learn from history when you are reminded and offended by it every single day.
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I think that the school should dispose of the murals. Although they may be from the past, where racism and other racial controversies may be acceptable, it is not permissible today. The murals show a dead Native American at the feet of the first president George Washington. Murals also depict slavery on George Washington’s estate. To many students, these murals might be offensive. Personally, if I went to this school, I would complain, and switch schools. I mean how would you feel if you walked into school, a “safe place” might I add, and see something offensive against your race or religion? These murals depict white supremacy and superiority, this is not okay. Light needs to be brought to still prominent racial conflicts. Times have changed, and these murals should change too.
I believe that these murals that depict ‘ugly’ history should be removed. A mural will always have some kind of hidden meaning within the painting itself. That meaning isn’t necessarily always good which I believe is the reason why we are having this debate in the first place. People fail to understand the fact that history was not all good, we were racist and sexist, but I feel as though people need to know about it. We need to teach kids that things weren’t always the way they are now. However, these murals are highly offensive to certain groups of people. We can teach the faults of George Washington in a classroom, without having to keep a mural that kids are looking at every day. If these murals were to be painted at my diverse school I would be highly disappointed. I wouldn’t mind learning about what happened no matter how horrible it was, but having a mural that shows George Washington with dead Native Americans at his feet is inappropriate. These murals could be leading kids to have wrong interpretations such as white people are better which is most certainly not the case. I am a firm believer in equality and these murals are promoting ideas that don’t always mean that. I understand the fact that they were painted in the 1930s but it isn’t the 1930s anymore. We should be able to have students learn from the dark history but it shouldn’t be in a way that makes them feel lesser.
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I am with taking down these offensive murals. They do no good in these schools. They are only there for design, and nobody likes them, so why should we have them. They represent the sad history of the Native Americans. We always celebrate Thanksgiving, how the Native Americans and the Europeans got along. And then the Europeans turn them into slaves. It is horrible. As for the statues, I think some should stay up, and some should be removed. I believe the people who owned slaves are horrible people, however, we can’t just forget our history. Some of these people are horrible people that did nothing for our history. They should be taken down. And then there are the people who had a huge impact on America. They should stay. They should take all the credit they receive, but they shouldn’t be loved because of how they treated the Native Americans.
I think that the murals should stay in the high schools because the past is the past and there is nothing we can do about it. Not all of history is good, and we need to learn how to accept that. Of course some of these murals may not honor or have a positive purpose, but history was not smooth and either should these murals be. If the artist wanted to create something that depicts a darker time in history, so be it. We cannot sugar coat the past, for it happened. Some people might interpret these murals as offensive, but are we just suppose to forget about what happened? There is a reason for everything, and there was a reason that these murals were painted. In the painter's mind, they may have not been trying to come off as offensive, but they painted the situation and for some it did. These murals should stay because whether people interpret these murals as offensive, they can’t change the past, so it happened and it is a way to remember to not make these mistakes again.
@Sophia
It's not about changing the past...We are still taught history in our classes after all. I think we should view the situation through scientific point of view. For example, if we just accepted the murals even if people found this offensive, would not this be evolutionary stasis? We wouldn't evolve or gain anything by acceptance which would leave us in stasis. However, if were to remove the murals, we would evolve in a way of intelligence. We would be more intolerant of racism and the such. Yeah it seems small to remove one mural, but what about the kids who go that school? It probably would affect them to some degree at least. Remember the Galapagos islands? It was only one minor change; a drought. To the world, this drought in the Galapagos was nothing. However, to the finches living there, it sure was a big deal! Accepting the drought was not an option. It was a matter of life and death for the birds. Now, you may argue, that the birds who couldn't adapt died, and those who cannot accept anything today should be left behind. However, that's like saying we should abandon people with mental illnesses. Humans are no longer primitive anymore. I don't think we are dealing with issues of physical evolution anymore, but instead evolution regarding intelligence. It was the treatment of the mentally ill that made great strides in medicine after all; even the human genome project.
I recommend that the schools explain the morals, like what is happening in them and their significance. I do not think the morals should not be removed since they are showing a time in history. History is full of positive and negative events, and all of these events should be taught. This is why I think these schools should explain the murals since they are insulting some people. While the writer contends that the murals are different from the Confederate statues and monuments that have been dismantled in recent years because what the murals symbolize is open to interpretation, I do not believe that this is true. I don't believe that is true because what the murals represent are not open to interpretation, they are showing a specific thing and it cannot be seen another way. However, the Confederate statues are somewhat related to the murals, the statues and indirectly representing slavery and aren't really hurting anyone from my knowledge, while some of the murals, on the other hand, are directly showing slavery which is offending people which is understandable. No, my answer does not affect my opinion on what should be done about the murals.
@Benjamin Chiem
You make a good point when you describe how this is all part of our history, but maybe our history is not that great. Some murals can be really offensive to some people, and we have to respect that they feel that way. These murals were painted a long time ago during the great depression, and the way of thinking was different then. Today, those murals can be very hurtful to some people, and if students don't feel comfortable, the school needs to do something.
I believe that certain murals should be kept and others schools not. Children need to see the truth behind what actually occurred during the time period, but it might be too graphic. Murals should not be in schools especially if there is a low grade like kindergarten or 1st grade present in the building. Young eyes should not be exposed to the detailed murals however, children need to know what happens in reality. I fell as though there could be offensive images that might make people feel uncomfortable and not welcome to that school, so that is another factor. Overall, I think that the murals should be sugar coated a little bit so that people don’t take offense and children don’t have to see violence painted on their walls at school.
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In my opinion, these murals absolutely shouldn’t be re They are very significant because they depict events that have occurred in our history. Why would we try to hide ourselves from something as important. These are real, true events we can learn from ourselves. It is actually good to have these morals around schools and other places because it helps us kids know more about events from previous times. The more we know about them, the better we can help terminate the growth of a similar situation. I understand the controversy against these murals because everyone has a different background and beliefs. School is a place you come to for an education, but the past is part of our education, and part of the knowledge we should build up on. If these murals were in a government office, courthouse, hospital or any other public location, I would feel exactly the same. We should take the realistic events we learn about our past into heart, instead of hiding it. What has happened in the past has happened, and the best we can do is to learn from it and make a change.
I believe that the school murals, although revealing an “ugly history”, should NOT be removed, since they are, after all, history. The article might have described these murals as harsh and “offensive” to certain groups, but if you really think about it, it is just our history. It is reality. It is the truth. It should not be sugar-coated and the mural should remain where it is. It really provides a powerful message to students to teach them not to allow this to happen again. Also, this past is quite important to America, no matter how purely offensive it is. People need to know about this, and partly so that they disallow this to occur once more. It is valued evidence that this indeed happened, and that this is how things were back then. In fact, this is very valuable since it really gives that area character, and it must have meant a lot back then, so perhaps it should still be up to demonstrate the meaning and significance, as well as to uncover a door into the past.
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I believe that while a piece of art will forever be the same physically, how that art piece is received will change therefore changing the art. For example, if the George Washington murals are supposed to highlight and be critical of the terrible things that George Washington did than I think it is ok. On the other hand, if the murals are supposed to idolize Washington than I don’t deem this ok. A solution that I believe would work is putting up placards that say something along the lines “This mural is here to expose the darker side of former president Washington, not to glorify him.” This strategy would work solely because it gives a definitive reason for the murals being there. If people are not given a precise answer, they differ to the worst possible option. For instance, somebody might assume that the murals are theirs to idolize Washington and promote all the terrible things that he did. All in all, I believe that the solution to the question of how the murals should be dealt with is that they should state that they are just trying to reveal the darker side of George Washington.
Each person can made different opinion about Should School Murals That Depict an Ugly History Be Removed. I think that the murals are very interesting and educational where the artistic paintings reflect in this case the history of our nation. I understand that these murals should not be eliminated because they are a social contribution and provide future generations with the diversity of historical events that are part of our past. The murals are informative media that provide through their colors a more picturesque form of visual communication that serves as a great help in communication processes also play a role of decorating and beautifying the places.
I think we should keep these murals up. Just as a disclaimer, I think there is a major difference between murals and statues. Statues are usually of someone
the general public looks up to and admires while murals can be images of really anything. In this case, they are depicting the truth that gives our country it's rich history. Keep in mind rich doesn't always mean perfect. Slave ownership made America what it was, and although it seems vulgar and horrible now, without slavery in America, there would have been been no Civil Rights movement, which might have led to our country never fully excepting others, since they wouldn't think we did anything truly wrong in the first place. I don't get offended by history, no matter how unfair it may seem, because history is there for us to learn from, realize and correct our mistakes, and never repeat the negative parts of the past. Does this mean I would feel comfortable knowing an eight year old, for example, walks past a mural depicting a dead native American on their way to class every day? No. But think about how hard all of these artists worked. Days, weeks, maybe. And people are going to paint over them just like that? Doesn't seem very fair to me. In the curriculum so many schools have, it always highlights the perfect characteristics of our leaders, for example, George Washington. Yes he was noble and admirable. However, he also owned slaves, and dehumanized humans. That's not something to just skim over and forget about.
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I think that the school should not take down the murals because they depict history. Even though history can be dark at sometimes, it shows how time was back then and this is used to educate people. To take down Victor Arnautoff work will offend him as if you were the person who painted the painting, you would be offended as well.
Back when these murals were painted, things like slavery and the killing of Native Americans were not considered as atrocious as they are today. Black and Native American people were still not valued as whites’ equals during the great depression, and how art by white people affected these people was not necessarily considered. However, society has changed since then, and today it is a much bigger deal that these murals are offensive to certain racial or ethnic groups. While they may be an important piece of history, they also offend students of color that walk by them every day. It is true that history should be preserved, but a high school that serves a diverse range of kids is not necessarily the right place to do that, especially if the history brings down members of certain racial groups. Thus, I do believe that these murals should be removed from George Washington high school in one way or another. If it were possible for recreations of the paintings to be displayed in a museum, I think that would be optimal, as they are an important piece of history that should not be overlooked, but making students feel comfortable in school should be the top priority, and no history can come before that.
School is a place for learning, right? So why does it matter if what we learn in a learning environment is either ugly or pretty? With our American history, we definitely can’t say it was the best, but that shouldn’t degrade the fact that people actually deserve the right to learn about it, because history is history. We can take, for example, the George Washington High School in San Francisco. The murals on the walls illustrate the veracity of our past, and although it may come off as offensive to some, it shows the truth of our actions. For a school to be named after someone so significant in our country and to be expected not to represent him in anyway that isn’t ugly is plain ugly itself. Denying the fact that people in general have done many things that aren’t completely substantial, along with hiding that fact away from the many students is just like giving a child a book with no words. You are giving the students information without the full back story, which may just leave them blindsided. I recognize the certainty that people may not want their children exposed to some things, but that doesn’t mean we should conceal shining factors in history that are needed to be heard. All things considered, I just feel that we should put more effort into learning more about our history because it does, in fact, make up what our country stands for and how we have arose from our doings before, and turning that into hopefully a better country now.
All around the United States murals, statues, and paintings are being taken down because of the horrific meaning and truth behind them. These pictures portray something we as a country look down upon, and I would not want to see these examples while in my school. It's inappropriate to have a mural of a man we are supposed to be proud of, but with a dead Indian at his feet. I would be completely offended if murals of my ancestors were not depicted as brave, strongwilled, and important, but as slaves and dead. I get that it is important to remember history, but it seems the murals depict these awful slave owners as greater than. The article does say that the artist did not mean to be rude, but show the side of Washington that we don’t always see. This may sway my opinion a little bit but at first glance, it would seem like my school was honoring him for these horrible actions. These murals remain ill-suited for a high school because of the effect they could have on a student, but I think it would be considerably worse to have these murals anywhere else. As a citizen, If I saw these murals in a government office, hospital, or courthouse I would not be proud of the office for what appears to be praising George Washington for his faulty behavior. Overall, admiring a historical figure like George Washington for the amazing actions he completed in his life is ok, but once he is illustrated as a terrible, you can’t celebrate (or what appears to be celebrating) that side of him.
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@Molly Flaxman I never read anything more real and pure
Just because something seemed okay at one time does not mean that it is in another. True, art from the past should not be discarded but if it is offensive, why should it stay? What I wonder is why the painter did not realize that this would bring a great deal of anger from certain groups. I think the school should definitely remove the murals. Like with the case of the Confederate statues and flags being taken down, how is it fair for a person of Native American descent to walk under a mural depicting his or her ancestors slaughtered or enslaved? How is it fair to lower someone’s self esteem or to portray them in some of the worst lights possible? I am of Mexican descent and I am sure that if I had to walk under a mural depicting enslaved Mexicans working for Spanish Conquistadores, my self esteem would be close to nothing.
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@Tino K. very well said
@Tino K.
Why would you self esteem be close to nothing? I don't think it's portraying them, or their ancestors in the worst light. If anything it should make them feel proud that their ancestors struggled to give them the privileged life they have, and proved all the slave ownership wrong. Yes, it can sometimes be a little disturbing to walk past it every day, but sooner or later, everyone's going to learn about this history, so I don't see why should take down someone else's hard work. This is my opinion, and I respect yours.
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@Tino K.
Maybe the painter didn't realize the murals would bring a great deal of anger from certain groups because he thought the practices they had back then would stay the same and would never change so he assumed that these people who are now offended would stay powerless in the position their ancestors were in.
I think that the murals should get taken down if people are actually getting offended. Some people might say that kids need to learn about these events, which is true. But they can just learn about them in class. If nobody cared about the murals the if would be different because no one would be harmed by them. But people are feeling dehumanized by the murals and that's not right. So I think that since people really care about these murals and are offended by them then they should be gotten rid of.
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@Sabrina Mintz
While I agree they should be taught about in class, they can't be taught and forgotten about, the events need to be acknowledged and remembered. History is history and it cannot be changed, the best we can do today is learn from them and that's a reason the murals should stay, it's so we can remember the events and not repeat them.
@Sabrina Mintz I also agree, the murals are still a part of history no matter how the events are described. It's better to learn about history, compared to just hiding from it and trying to forget about it. People need to be aware of how it used to be, and how far we've gotten in our present time.
What is being shown is pure American history, and is really what happened in America's rugged birth. Having to cover up Victor Arnautoff hard work also would be very offensive to the painting, which must have taken many hours to complete, and due to its time period during the depression, He probably was not paid enough for his art. I believe the George Washington High school should be proud to have these murals. They may be a little dated, however, I believe that having this history remain with the youth of today is as important as ever. Now with phones kids don’t read books and are forgetting the past. Also Victor Arnautoff had intended to show other sides of Washington, such as him being a slave owner, which does not give only one side, like “George was such a great guy,” but also showed his flaws as a person by including “then-rarely-acknowledged details like Washington being a slave owner.” The murals show our history, which was ugly, which is true, but needs to never be forgotten, in fear of it happening again. I believe the school should not paint over it the murals, but instead have a plaque explaining the history behind these photos. Example, “This picture explains how, though he was a valiant general, George also kept slaves…” or “ this dead native american shows the hardships the natives have faces and still face to this very day from the white people.” I think the murals should stay, and continues to show our ugly but very true american history.
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@George Siokos
George, but is it worth having to walk under murals of dead kin everyday. Is it worth being reminded everyday that your ancestors were not even considered human. I respect your opinion, but I believe that history can be taught without bringing people's self esteem down.
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@George Siokos
I think you make a very fair point that these are pieces of history and they definitely had a lot of effort put into them, and that is something that should not be overlooked. This is a very hard question, and I can definitely see how one could take either side. You certainly shouldn't just get rid of something that someone put a lot of work into, especially if it is historically valuable, but is that really more important than making students feel safe and not discriminated against at school, which is supposed to be one of the safest places in a kid's life? It would be nice if there were a compromise, a way to preserve the art while also upholding students' self confidence. Of course, you're certainly entitled to your own opinion, but in the end, I feel that it is more important that all students feel equal than it is to save paintings that degrade certain racial groups.
@George Siokos Very powerful and true. I completely agree.
When I first saw the pictures of the murals, I thought, “Who had the bright idea to put murals of dead people, slaves, and the idea of white supremacy into a high school?” Of all the places to put murals, this placement was not a very good idea. There are other places to have painted this, where people probably would have enjoyed the mural way more, like in museums, where people would've gone just to see these murals. Even more, some students could be, or are, probably be offended by the art they have to walk past every day. The art can give the idea that “slavery is good” or that “only white people can be in charge”, and those are not ideas people would want to be spreading around all the time, especially not in a high school.
On the other hand, I understand that this art is old, and is a representation of history. It shows, in a way, how our country used to be and how much better it has gotten since then. The mural is an accurate representation of how we are today, while also reminding us to keep our peace and not discriminate, which is very important nowadays, with the all the controversy around the world. If somebody told me to decide to remove the murals or not, I would say that it’s not up me, and to take a vote at the school among the teachers, alumni, and among the current - and rising - students at the school. Every voice counts, so it’s not up to one person to decide.
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These murals should stay, whether they have an “ugly history” or not. The murals depict what truly happened in our history, and they are evidence that these events occurred. Some were painted during the time of the event, which makes them even more valuable. Kids need to learn about the history, and even though they may be offensive to others, it is what really happened. Kids need to be exposed to this, and I honestly wish we had paintings like this at my school. The truth hits kids harder when they learn about it themselves, rather than going to a museum or having a teacher show you a slideshow of it. I personally believe that sometimes certain things, especially gory history, really interests me when I learn about them on my own. I become very invested in it, and there should be more murals like that around schools. They shouldn’t be taken off the walls, there should be more awareness spread about them.
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mural is a drawing that show people and education in different places. I think mural show good or bad but mural show education and art history. but i think they should remove because they are putting art that are violence. but they should not put a art that are violence.
I feel like school murals that depict the ugly history should not be removed from the schools because history is history no matter how harsh it is. History isn’t always good, it can be bad in some cases. The students should not be hiding under a rock their whole life thinking that everything in this world is great and happy and positive. That history that happens makes the United States what it is today. If the murals are not offensive to any race then it should fine. For example, under the mural there could be a description about it so if it is offensive and bias then it should not be up in schools. So it all depends on what the description of the mural. But if there is not description then I feel like the murals should stay in the schools.
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@Teddy Santos
I definitely agree that kids should learn to face the grim reality that some of history's greatest "heroes" weren't actually such great people. However, is walking down a hallway and seeing a painting of someone of your race lying down dead the right way to do it? School is an environment where students should feel safe, not degraded based on their race. Imagine hardly being able to bear walking down a school hallway because it depicts members of your racial or ethnic group being treated horribly. Would you really want to feel that way on a daily basis? I definitely respect your point, and I agree with you to a certain extent. These murals, and the history that comes with them, need to be displayed, but I simply believe a racially diverse high school is not the right place to do so.
If people aren’t going to teach these “hard” topics in the classroom, then you might as well put it in the hallways and stairwells. This is the perfect idea for kids to enrich their knowledge on the topic of this “ugly history”! I don’t understand why people want to take these down, after a while, the kids get used to the fact that there are these murals on their school walls, and start not paying attention. Half the kids are probably preoccupied with something else and don’t notice or care! This isn’t as big a deal as people make it to be, and to will cost extra money, time, and effort that the school might not even have to take down the murals! Kids need to learn this side of history, and if it is not going to be taught in classrooms, then this is the perfect way for kids to learn about it outside the classroom! Also, in my opinion, the murals are beautiful and have clearly been painted by a talented artist or team of artists! Please keep the murals up!
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I think that this is a very heated controversy, with no possible great solution. I personally believe that removing or keeping these kind of murals is all depending on circumstances just like many debates of the 21 century. On one side, if this is a school in the South with a almost 100 percent white population persuading no racist propaganda, they shouldn’t remove it. Most of these murals were painted almost a century ago having a much different meaning then, than today. It would be removing history for no reason. However if this was a diverse school in a city like Los Angeles, this would be a different story. I can imagine many people would be offended by these murals, and believe they are offensive, which is totally understandable. But the main message is times have changed our history is dark and horrible but we must acknowledge and learn from our mistakes. Facts don’t care about feelings.
In my opinion, if something happened, there is no point in trying to cover it up under the wraps of time. For example, in the case of the murals, George Washington did fight in (what I believe to be) the 7 Years War, and did command Native Americans, who were, at the time, employed by both the British and French forces. Also, George Washington did own slaves, as did many of his contemporaries, it was just a product of the times. A good example of why we should not try to shield past blemishes from the people of the youth is the Armenian genocide of 1915 to 1917. Adolf Hitler used the reasoning that, if no one remembered the Armenian Genocide, (which they hadn’t) no one will remember the Holocaust. He said “After all, who today remembers the genocide of the Armenians?” All in all, those are my thoughts on why we should not try to get rid of the mistakes of the past, because if we do, history is bound to repeat itself.
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@Jonah A.This is a wonderful comment
@Jonah A. I agree with how you related the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust to this issue. As with both genocides, genocides with these natives should not be forgotten, and it being placed on the walls of the high school, should not be removed to never forget what early Americans did to natives.
@Jonah A. I strongly agree. The past isn't something we should hide and keep in the shadows. It is something we should always pay attention to and grow from. Without knowledge of historical events, we may repeat the same mistakes, which wouldn't have a great result on the later future
For me, The murals remain us a part of the history and help us to be stronger. That remind us to understand how difficult it was for the ancestors to g fought to enjoy the privilege. Together we are strong.
@Dorrotie 3A I agree with you all the way because history makes up what we are now and does make us stronger. True statement.
I think it is not wrong for schools to have murals because they show our history as art and as a symbol of everything we have overcome. When we know the bad events, our history prevents these events from happening again, since we know that it is not favorable to repeat them. While it is true, an image lends itself to many interpretations, but schools are a place where one learns to persuade a positive message.
@keyri 3A Very true. People need to understand that the murals show the world what we have achieved and the bad things we can fix. We can become better, not as a person, but as a country.
@keyri3A I agree that history is a very important part of our lives, but even though the past may be brutal, we need to gather this knowledge to change our own future for the better.
In that article can teaches us, a mural is important that can put in any institution because we can learn and know the history of our past , but it is depend because the education should not be exposed with violence and , and not give a bad image to the students because the children are like a sponge that everything learns. Therefore we should learn positive thing. I believe the murals should be taken down in this school because this mural sees very strong for student.
@Roxana 3A I disagree because I don't think that the murals should be taken down, but I do see where you are coming from. You say that children are like a sponge because they learn everything, but it could also be beneficial if they learned about the violence in these murals because it would teach them to not take part in violence in general. In addition, it is stated that the "mural can be strong for the student." I feel that everyday life situations are tough, so they should be able to handle it and learn what is wrong and what is right.
with respect to these murals I do not think they should be removed, this is part of the past and they wanted to reflect the story that's all, I do not believe that mural that kids can change their minds knowing that they already have their idea about that, no I believe that this influences the life of them and taking into account that this has many years there
In my opinion, I think that even when murals can be strong for children, their proposal is to show the reality with which the ancestors had to deal, so I think that these murals should not be eliminated because otherwise the murals will be forgotten by the new generation. In addition, the murals are a brief history of what happened in the United States before we were born, so it is important that we all know the reality that the ancestors had to survive to be what we are today.
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@Melany 3A
I agree. We have to face it instead of hide it.
@Melany 3A I agree with your statement. I just believe that the murals should be a little bit sugar coated for the eyes of young children who wonder the halls in their school.
In my opinion, I think that the murals that are in the school do not affect the new generations at all but are symbols of how our society has been evolving as the years have passed and at the same time. I think that these murals are the meaning of the sacrifice that had to pass several people so that our society was much better at this time and without so much oppression. We know that the history that has been present over the years cannot be change, therefore I do not think this will influence badly for the students.
@Lessly 3A I disagree. I think the violence in American history is not getting enough attention. People were getting killed just because they weren't a certain color. And you think that is okay to have on a school mural?
In my opinion, wallpaper wall murals and wall graphics from murals are the ultimate way to bring school spirit and impactful learning to your school. i think that custom murals are created according to your specifications and are installed with a simple peel and stick process. Everyone can build a sense of community and instill pride at your school. And while you're at it, they can bring you lessons to life with educational murals of world maps, geography, local and global places of interest, historic events, and more. In my point of view the students need to know the story of the country that they live.
@Gladys 3A
I love how you infused art in with history. Without history, where would we all be today? Would we still have our schools? Our arts? Would we still be learning about all of this? The mural is bringing us all lessons of how far we've gotten in today's world, and to keep it and pass it on through the generations.
The murals are made to learn and they have a real history, which actually happened. I do not think they are made with the intent to offend, it is something that was lived, that each person should know, the people who do not know their history are condemned to repeat it.
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@Lisanet 3A
Exactly! It definitely is real, and if we actually want people to learn about it, making these murals is actually a good step towards it. I do also feel that we as people, together, should also put an effort to teaching our youth on our history because it makes up what our country is and used to be, and we deserve to know.
I feel like the mural should stay in the schools and maybe even be bigger.Murals tell the history of our country and the hardships that we faced to get here today,so removing it from the schools is like not teaching about the offensive stuff in history and only teaching the positive, but you can't do that because then the historical value is non existent because you are teaching something that is historically incorrect because there are always going to be offensive or hurtful things in history and murals, but they are there to show the journey that our country took through the good and the bad.
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@Hank
I agree with your statement, and believe that these murals should be highlighted, as they do portray some of the darker times in history, which are equally as important as the brighter times.
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@Jonah A. Yes I agree as well.
@Hank I also can see your point that you can't deny our history, but could you walk under an offensive mural every day, at school, where you should feel safe?
Even though we can’t deny history, because our history makes up who we are as a people, not all of our history needs to be blasted out in front of everyone’s face. Every bit of our history will be taken offensively by someone out there, because there is just too many people with too many opinions, and not everyone can be satisfied. While George Washington is an important figure in American history, everyone, even him, has both a dark and a light side. Most people try to only look at the bright side of things, because it makes our Founding Fathers seem less like criminals that deal in human trafficking, but you can’t deny facts. I believe the murals should be taken down because slavery is such a dark time in our history. For children to see a mural every day that reminds them of what life used to be like and what it could have been now is just horrendous. People wouldn’t tell an African American child that they could have been a slave directly to their face, so why paint a mural that basically says the exact same thing? The murals are purely offensive to the African American and Native American populations of the George Washington High School in San Francisco. Even though the murals and the Confederate statues might be a bit different, in that a statue could be interpreted into worshipping them, the murals are just public art that can be taken a lot of ways. In conclusion, I believe the murals should be taken down because they are offensive to some of the American people.
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I think that every student should know the history of their country regardless of whether it is good or bad, because it covers our roots and relevant events such as our independence and constitution. That mural represents part of the history of that country.
A mural serves to expose and make visible all kinds of information texts, drawings, images, photographs and even real elements. Creating a mural is very simple and you can start to introduce it in the last stages of early childhood education since the tools to be used are very basic, I think they should be eliminated because an educational mural is to educate and teach a lived history with images. Schools should choose important stories from the past to keep alive those people who fought in our country or in the world.
@Karisleidy 3A I completely agree. These images show such a faulty past that should not be remembered by with offensive paintings. We have to keep our history alive with important figures, not looked down upon actions.
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i believe that the picture should stay in the school
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@jessica Very interesting. Very interesting response and interesting point of view...
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@jessica Interesting comment, but try to extend your opinion more next time!
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@jessica This is the best comment in the whole entire comment section. I completely agree.
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I feel like it really does matter that these murals are in high school. We are intended to learn a lot in high school so if we do see murals that depict such bad actions then the students will be influenced more then they are already. As a student i understand that our minds are still developing and very easily manipulated. If these murals would be anywhere else like in a government office building, hospital or a courthouse the adults that are in those places already know right from wrong, they already have a formed opinion of their own. Unlike the teenagers that walk the halls of this school.
@Ciarah Torres
I agree for the most part, but I believe that if these murals are thought of as offensive it doesn't matter where they are. I also believe that it doesn't matter what your age is, you can still be manipulated or convinced of something if you're exposed to it enough. Besides these minor details I agree with your comment.
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@Ciarah Torres
I agree with you but you also have to take into account the other points of view. They can be seen as a first hand account of what our country came from.