Mural gripe costs Prescott official radio job

[The Straight Story]

Mural gripe costs Prescott official radio job


A Prescott city councilman who publicly ridiculed a mural depicting minority students at a local elementary school has been fired from his radio talk-show job and now faces a recall campaign.

And the mural artists, who last week were ordered to lighten the features of the minority students, have been told to restore the original tone of the children's faces.

The moves come just days after an Arizona Republic story about the mural went viral, generating worldwide media coverage and criticism.

The "Go on Green" mural on two walls outside Miller Valley Elementary School depicts four students promoting environmentally friendly transportation. A Hispanic boy is the most prominent in the painting.

Councilman Steve Blair complained last week that the minorities in the mural were creating racial controversy where none existed before.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/06/09/20100609prescott-councilman-loses-job-over-mural.html#ixzz0qO95zrFh

[T Wolf]

1. For every DUer that reacts to this by saying that censoring this "person" is wrong and something

our side should not promote or celebrate -

When did you stop paying attention to the assaults that happen every day to our side?

To think at this stage of the war with the reich that there are any tactics that should be off-limits is just plain stupid.

[Go2Peace]

3. It was racist, but I don't agree with seeing everything through a partisan lens

I want to add that the fight is much deeper than that. If we make the mistake of seeing everything as "Democratic Party" against "Republican Party" we miss the more subtle elements.

It's not a "war against the "reich", it's a fight against the regression of a society into more dark age thinking using emotion over intellect, propaganda over truth, and it is a struggle that is going on even in our own party, and throughout all components of society.

[Go2Peace]

2. Here is the quote

I hate it when articles don't include the quotes in question.

"I am not a racist individual," City Councilman Steve Blair said on a his radio show last month, "but I will tell you depicting a black guy in the middle of that mural, based upon who's President of the United States today and based upon the history of this community, when I grew up we had four black families - who I have been very good friends with for years - to depict the biggest picture on that building as a black person, I would have to ask the question, 'Why?'"

Sounds racist to me.

If anyone can find a full picture of the mural it would complete the information. From the clip it looks pretty cool.

[pinboy3niner]

5. Here is the mural

(Partial view)




More photos here (thanks to Judi Lynn):
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4412683&mesg_id=4412797

[Ezlivin]

4. The Mural Majority

Win!