“A Tale of Two Hoodies” (2012) is an oil painting by Michael D’Antuono, a White American artist. It shows a white policeman in a Klan hood holding a gun on a little black boy in a white hoodie while he holds up a bag of Sweeties that looks like a bag of Skittles. On the wall behind them a dirty American flag is partly peeled away to show the Confederate flag that whites fought under to defend slavery.
D’Antuono says of the painting:
Inspired by the Trayvon Martin case, this painting symbolizes the travesty of racially profiling innocent children and how present day prejudices affect policy.
The important word here is “inspired”. That means he was thinking about the Trayvon Martin case when he painted it, not that it is a painting of the Trayvon Martin case. It is not a piece of news reporting like this picture from the Vietnam War of a suspected traitor being shot in the head on the street:
Instead, like most of his pictures, it is about the state of America, much like Norman Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With” (1964):
“A Tale of Two Hoodies”, whether intended or not, shows at least three truths about race in America not seen through the white lens:
- The asymmetry of racism – Many whites see blacks and whites as being equally racist and equally powerful. Yet blacks are outnumbered by whites by more than 5 to 1. Whites have a hundred times more wealth. They run most of the institutions of society. That would not matter if they were not racist, but they are, so it does. The picture shows that imbalance: not only does the white person hold the gun, he is older and bigger and is pointing the gun down at the black person, making it even more asymmetric than the Vietnam War picture. The picture can also be read as “stealing candy from a baby” – which pretty much sums up the relationship that whites have had with blacks from that moment some 500 years ago when they arrived in Africa with – guns.
- The Klan with the badge – That might seem over the top but it is not. The police and the Klan have a common root in the slave patrols. So much so that my picture of the police was pretty much that of a slave patrol – before I even knew what a slave patrol was! The police get away with murder, racially profile, act above the law and see blacks more as some kind of threat than as people to protect.
- Whites have not changed deep down – as shown by how the Confederate flag was right there behind the American flag the whole time. Most white people are like that. You can tell because they are more upset at being called a racist than at being a racist.
In that he painted about race in a Rockwellian style, it brings to mind “The Problem We All Live With” and how little progress has been made.
See also:
Abagond 
Good stuff, Ab!
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Abagond,
WOW!
This is powerful stuff.
It shows all of us, including the whites that outright deny racism, that our nation was and is evil.
America has a stain so deeply embedded in our history, that no amount of whitewashing can erase it.
I love the dirty American flag.
How symbolic that a flag used to represent Puritan values is soiled by the blood of my ancestors. America’s shame is seen deep within the eyes of white America as they look upon our brown faces. We remind them that their lives are a lie, a sham. Part of the hatred of black America stemms from the shame of black America.
Can anyone honestly look at this raw honest painting and deny that we are still enslaved? All of us, black and white bear the burden of our past.
This is raw.
And very poignant.
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Whoa! That is a powerful picture. This summer, I’ll teach my students about the power of art like this.
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Ah, the halcyon days of late February, when everyone was so sure that Zimmerman was a fat white racist and Martin an innocent schoolboy who in no way could have borne any responsibility for the tragic unfolding of events.
I can’t wait to see his painting of the beating of Matt Owens conducted by 20 or so black “youths” wielding chairs, pipes and paint cans who shouted “Justice for Trayvon”.
Oh, some of you hadn’t heard about that incident? Curious…
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That is a powerful painting and a exceptional commentary of the truth of America that many whites cannot or will not see.
I always liked the Norman Rockwell painting. His way of painting the little girl dressed all in white and symbolizing her purity.
““A painting like this depicting this subject matter, done by somebody who is embraced by the most conservative elements in our country would make these people stop and think that maybe there is a problem. And the problem is racism. Purely and simply.”-Murray Tinkelman, Chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee, Society of Illustrators”
Norman did this painting at a time when it could have cost him his career. Especially since he was embraced by conservatives.
Wow at the picture again. That is very moving.
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Very good post. “But two things, how ‘Blacks’ are portrayed as ‘children’ or ‘childlike’, and, noble. I suppose that at the hands of the big(get) bully with all of the power, that expresses the power dynamic, but it is unsettling….for me.
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I’m wondering how this will be interpreted by our resident racists, er…I mean race realists.
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Excellent analysis Abagond!
@Oyan: astute observation of paternalistic imagery- yet, if one believes as I do that we are under plutocratic rule, I imagine that’s how the ‘powers that be’ view the masses or ‘little people’. Just some of us I are more minute than others….Ahhhh reminds me of George Orwell’s classic “Animal Farm”.
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Very powerful, and feels too creepily real
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See, Makode Linde, this is art. Feel free to disagree with the message, but the message is clear
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Art, like beauty, is interpreted/appreciated in the eye of the beholder.
Racism via the legal system is killing/murdering our black youth.
Some of us see today’s law enforcement as the modern day representation/extension/continuation of the Klan.
Kudos/Props to Michael D’Antuon for getting this right.
*Blacks can’t be racists anymore than an 6 month old baby can be a child-molester. We can discuss whether blacks are “racists” AFTER four hundred years of being the “dominant oppressors.”*
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You can’t get any clearer than that. The pic pretty much says it all.
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@Oyan
They are portrayed as being children, innocent and noble to help get a point across.
We can always come up with reasons for what we do to adults but a lot of those fall flat when it comes to children, unless your the most hardcore kind of bigot out there.
If you look at black people as adults that gives them some level of free agency and power but if your trying to cast them as victims thats the last thing you ever want to do.
Of course I suppose it could be some kind of left over racism, coming about even in a piece of art of this kind.
1. Asymmetry
I doubt most people see black people as having the same amount of power as white people; the difference is one side believes its impossible to be racist if your poor.
The other side looks at it not from a power angle but a mental/moral angle, its not just about power, its about it being morally wrong to be racist “period” and to be so is to be a bad person or at least morally deficient in some way.
Basically to say black people can’t be racist is not really that far away from saying nothing black people can do will ever be morally wrong.
That being said; that really only applies to whites there has to be other even smaller , weaker minorities out that could be oppressed.
2. Police as the Klan
Can’t honestly disagree with this statement.
3. Whites haven’t changed
Thats why there is no affirmitive action, no civil war was ever fought, the bussing etc….were all unable to affect change on any level, we don’t have a black president and the majority of black people’s economy hasn’t gone up every decade to the point that the vast majority of them are actually middle class now.
Plenty of racism still left, be delusional to say there wasn’t but it would also be delusional to say it hasn’t changed on any level.
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“A Tale of Two Hoodies”
It’s a painting, so the artist just attempting to get a reaction out of the viewer, whatever that might me. Different people will have different reactions.
My reaction – disgust. It portrays police as Klansman pulling a gun on a child. Not very realistic. I’m sure many of you think it’s just peachy and realistic, because it strokes your internal anti-whiteism and victimhood.
To me, the artist is purposely attempting to inflame. Associating a policeman with the Klan and the Confederacy. The child is very young, much younger than Treyvon. The child is actually offering the Skittles to the officier. Very inflammatory and not realistic.
Most police and black interactions are between professional police officiers and black teenagers or twenty somethings that need to be confronted. And they are not armed with Skittles.
The asymmetry of racism Racism has always been a moral offense. It has never been about power relationships until recently. As a moral offense, everybody is racist is equally guilty, regardless of social class or rank. Racism is more akin to a Christian sin, kings can be as sinful as a peasant.
Recently, racism has been re-defined as about power relationships. This corrupt notion now allows blacks to be racist and claim that they’re not because they don’t have the power. The corrupting nature of this attitude is as obvious as a peasant claiming they can sin, commit a crime, whatever, because they are just a peasant.
The Klan with the badge
So all police are slave patrols, as if all police enforcement is just another version of slave patrols. There are no legit police actions, its all just like the slave patrols – racist, harrassing.
The police get away with murder, racially profile, act above the law and see blacks more as some kind of threat than as people to protect.
Correction – this can and does happen, because the police have potentially corrupting power. This statement is way too blatant. True only in the narrowest of contexts – perhaps a high crime, black inter-city environment. And of course, the blacks have nothing to do with it – they are the perfect gangbanging angels.
Whites have not changed deep down
Abagond’s overriding myth – Whites have been racist since slavery days in order to justify keeping blacks as slaves, when less than 15% of White Americans owned slaves and the rest were against slavery, some vehemently so, and they will just never change.
Well, you know nothing of white people, Abagond. Whites ‘attitudes since the 1960s have changed dramatically; I am a rarity in white society nowadays with my race realism. It’s the blacks who have lagged behind; they don’t get America. They would rather play the race card.
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That is an intense painting.
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This is a powerful post. One of the major complaints (among many others) of ‘racial realists’ on other blogs, websites etc. is that the portrayal or picture that has been posted of Trayvon Martin, is dishonest, as he is being posted as at least five years younger than his actual age. They cry, show him as the 17 year old man and thug that he really was, because as a 17 year old, they say, no one will have sympathy for him…..then. I totally get the use of the image of children in these pictures. I read the ‘study’ which determined that non-whites have little to no empathy for blacks, when observing them in crisis; however, if you post images of suffering black children in Ethiopia, or in the ‘hood’ maybe that will get to them.
I always wondered why Disney cartoons, and Broadway plays rarely if ever, showed actual African/black people, in its stores taking place in Africa, but had no problem with showing animals, with people characteristics. One of my favorite animated movies is Tarzan, which came out about 10 to 15 years ago; there are practically no Africans/adults ever shown, just the English, Tarzan, and animal characters.
So, it stands to reason, that presenting black children will makes its point. I get it. I don’t have to like it.
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@abagond, I get it………I really do. I understand the sadness , the shock, the marching, and the anger.
But……….. I don’t hear the national reporting on interracial assaults (on innocent white victims) that have come in the aftermath.
You once told me that you didn’t need to post about hate crimes the other way around, because that on the local and national level, black perps are shown on the news at a disproportionate rate. So you will never post about the other side of the coin because you don’t feel the need to.
So I’m puzzled when we have had local and national coverage for over a month now on the Trayvon Murder, (Yes , my opinion is that he is guilty) that you still feel the need to have your blog centered on the subject almost daily since this appalling tragedy happened. It seems a little too unbalanced on your part. There have been at least 5 incidents, which could be interpreted as revenge, where white people were beat senseless, and the perps commented on Trayvon as they beat up people who have nothing to do with this.
I understand Obama looking at this clean cut kid and saying “he could have been my son”. But he isn’t going on youtube to see if there has been any response, and the media is ignoring the response as are you. If the national news would report on these assaults then maybe Obama could tell people to remain calm. But no one seems to care. It’s like people have said here that a white life is worth more than a black one. But most of the white victims in the aftermath are probably poor whites and nobody seems to care about them at all. Even other whites.
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@TBT:
And so are your words.
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continued…………….. I will say this, there have been some video responses youtube from black people commenting on the crimes I mentioned, and they seem to care about these white victims more than most white people do.
I can’t make you be one of them. But whether you know it or not you are respected, shite I respect you, despite our conflicting views. I’ll quote Spider man as cheesy as that is “With great power , comes great responsibility”
It makes me wonder if you are afraid of being called an Uncle Tom if you call your own peops out.
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I dont get this painting is about the Martin case specificly. Where it uses some referances, there are other referances about a much bigger thing going on in the USA. The undercurrant coming from the Faux News crowd, the way there are code word rationalisations that are just cloaked racism…what is going on in the minds of some police mentalities, because it is undeniable that there are some cases of racial profiling and inarmed blacks killed by police just because they are black and touched on a stereotype that that police officer had.
Its much bigger than the Martin case
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Matari:
What an ethically bankrupt belief.
I’ll bet that the 20 or so black folks who beat Matt Owens into a coma while shouting “Justice for Trayvon” would probably feel relieved to hear that pronouncement in case any of them happened to feel guilty over the incident.
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Powerful painting. Two hoods representing two different outlooks. The history of the past, history repeating itself via racial profiling. Definitely a lot of food for thought.
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Randy,
Nice try at a straw-man!
You gotta come at me better than that.. lol
Reactions to racism will often (maybe invariably) include some *distasteful* REACTIONS – even wrong and evil ones. But reactions and racism ARE two DIFFERENT things. Just like cause and effect, planting and harvesting, sowing and reaping.
Answer this defender of Whiteness. Were black slaves ever deemed racists?
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@ Randy
“I’ll bet that the 20 or so black folks who beat Matt Owens into a coma while shouting “Justice for Trayvon” would probably feel relieved to hear that pronouncement in case any of them happened to feel guilty over the incident.”
I live in Alabama, you know, the place where that happened. Your facts are off. There was not 20 youths. They were adults. Matt Owens made some racist comments to a group of youth who were outside playing basketball. They went home and told their parents and their parent went after him. True enough they jumped him and I don’t condone violence in anyway. They should have just called the police and reported that he was embarrassing their kids. Also, it was only one person that said something about Trayvon; one person out of a group of twenty and all of a sudden it was a Trayvon honor beating. The people who really want justice for Trayvon are against these kinds of violent actions because it is the belief that POCs are dangerous and violent that lead to Trayvon being profiled in the first place. Get your facts straight. Everybody here is upset that this happened. Everybody.
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@ Truthbetold
“I’m wondering how this will be interpreted by our resident racists, er…I mean race realists.”
They won’t interpret it; they will just derail as Randy has done. Watch. LOL!
OAN: That is one powerful picture! Our “resident racist, er…I mean race realist”, love to say how the KKK is a thing of the past but clearly this shows what I brought up in a previous blog about the KKK actually having jobs that put them in direct positions to perpetuate their agenda. They didn’t disappears, they just don’t wear the uniform. Gives new meaning to a picture saying a thousand words.
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@ Cleonette
Even with this obvious painting that speaks the truth, racist whites still can’t give an objective response.
@ the world we live in
Thanks.
@ Randolph
One cannot deny, not even you, the link between the KKK, NRA and the police.
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Charles Murray is the Ron L. Hubbard of Race Realism
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@truthbetold
We remind them that their lives are a lie, a sham.
No, I look upon this sham painting and see a sham. It really says nothing to be about my life. I’ll go and play golf tonight, like I usually do. Seeing the painting does not change that. Now, my golf game may be a sham….
Can anyone honestly look at this raw honest painting and deny that we are still enslaved?
I think you see it only if you want to. It’s call projection. Sorry, I don’t see it. It’s just a painting.
All of us, black and white bear the burden of our past.
And you deal with the past by forgetting about it. Since the past you are talking about was not experienced by anyone living today, the forgetting should be very easy….if you have the courage.
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Randy
Whiteness would have us all erroneously believing that everyone can be racist – because that belief would take the heat off of whiteness itself by deflecting its primary modes of operation onto everyone and everything else – instead everyone focusing on the glaringly obvious truth that is right in front of us all.
Racism is an ever (subtly) changing, but never ending institutional system that BENEFITS the people/group that practice it.
Black people do not derive any benefits/profit/privileges whatsoever from this system.
By calling non-whites racists, whiteness obfuscates what racism truly is and what whiteness/white supremacy does while it remains largely unseen and unexamined as the demonic negative force it is.
RACISM:
Marginalizes
Oppresses
Favors
Privileges
Controls
Rewards
Stigmatizes
and so forth ..
,,, by direct, indirect violence or force, de-jure or de facto laws, culture, traditions, customs, framing, STATISTICS (sic) and much more.
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@ Truthbetold
Like I always say, the war on ignorance is the unending, most difficult war to fight in this world. Especially the willfully ignorant. Book sense and no common sense… On a much deeper level, it isn’t hard for me to see the light. I trust no government; right, left, democratic, nor republican. Being employed with the “justice” system, I see what really happens. People don’t have names, just a file folder and a dollar sign. I have figuratively SEEN this painting happen.
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Matari
That opinion is trivially falsifiable.
Anyone who has any agency whatsoever can be discriminatory.
This includes everyone who makes economic decisions as a business or as a consumer, anyone who has the capacity to communicate an opinion, and anyone with the physical capacity to take action.
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@ Abagond
Food for thought…
Whites appear to want to get rid of us, no? Segregation, lynching, etc. What would happen to them as a collective group if that came to fruition?
I find it funny that the painting poses as a paternal/child symbolism. Whites are not the “Father Figure” that they want to believe they are. In fact, it is blacks that provide much comfort for the weak, feeble white mind. Whites have proven time and time again that without the sweat, blood and tears of our ancestors, Native and African, they would perish. So aren’t we the paternal ones? They feed off us, like cannibals to nourish themselves. They live comfortably while we suffer in ghettos, yet we thrive. They create institutions to enable their spawn to suceed in the employment world, yet they are depressed, anxiety stricken and angry. We fight to get education, and sometimes fail, yet we still find a way to persevere. If anyone has a handicap, it’s them.
Whites need blacks to prove that they are white.
Whites need blacks to prove that they are superior.
Without us, there would be no them.
The social construct of racism was a damn good invention. If EVERYONE in society is equal, then the elite would not exist.
By continuing this destruction of their souls, they gain more wealth and power but lose out on humanity.
Yet, still, we are seen as inferior.
Envy of our strong will has always been the preponderance for racism.
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@ Randy,
Matari’s “opinion” isn’t an “opinion”, it’s a fact that you choose to ignore.
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What an excellent illustration!
It clearly provides a typical depict of our society-at-large; ESPECIALLY AMERICAN SOCIETY.
D’Antuono says of the painting:
“Inspired by the Trayvon Martin case, this painting symbolizes the travesty of racially profiling innocent children and how present day prejudices affect policy”
I think, he should be blessed for saying that”!
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_ truthbetold
@ Abagond
“Food for thought…
Whites appear to want to get rid of us, no? Segregation, lynching, etc. What would happen to them as a collective group if that came to fruition?
I find it funny that the painting poses as a paternal/child symbolism. Whites are not the “Father Figure” that they want to believe they are. In fact, it is blacks that provide much comfort for the weak, feeble white mind. Whites have proven time and time again that without the sweat, blood and tears of our ancestors, Native and African, they would perish. So aren’t we the paternal ones? They feed off us, like cannibals to nourish themselves. They live comfortably while we suffer in ghettos, yet we thrive. They create institutions to enable their spawn to suceed in the employment world, yet they are depressed, anxiety stricken and angry. We fight to get education, and sometimes fail, yet we still find a way to persevere. If anyone has a handicap, it’s them.
Whites need blacks to prove that they are white.
Whites need blacks to prove that they are superior.
Without us, there would be no them.
The social construct of racism was a damn good invention. If EVERYONE in society is equal, then the elite would not exist.
By continuing this destruction of their souls, they gain more wealth and power but lose out on humanity.
Yet, still, we are seen as inferior.
Envy of our strong will has always been the preponderance for racism”
WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY THAN A BIG ” AMEN” TO THESE VERACIOUS WORDS OF YOURS!
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To Me, The Artist Is Purposely Attempting To Inflame.
That is what art does doesn’t it, evoke all kinds of reactions? Besides, who are you to talk about inflaming? Your a hoot, I’ll give you that!
I Am A Rarity In White Society Nowadays With My Race Realism.
Thank goodness for small mercies! Don’t flatter yourself, you are one of the rare few who are dumb enough to verbalize your racism that’s all.
They Would Rather Play The Race Card.
That’s because you whites (except the hillbillies and meth heads), are holding all the aces. Tell me, how many quarts of liquor have you had today? You’re on a roll.
What An Ethically Bankrupt Belief.
Yes and your beliefs are ‘rich’ in compassion and love! I’m selling the London bridge, interested Randy?
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@ Herneith
LOL!
Where was Randy with the Clitoris Cake?
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He couldn’t make a argument for such a practice from the white high and holy vantage point so has refrained. Otherwise, he is probably cleaning up after the bums where he lives or is busy thinking! Ssssh!
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truthbetold
Here’s a trivial example to prove a trivial truth: A non-white landlord can discriminate against lease applicants based upon race.
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@ Randy,
What is your point because all I am seeing from you is circular logic.
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@JT:
He doesn’t have one.
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@ dave
I feel that somewhere in your post was a heartfelt message. Why did you have to mention white victimhood as a way to derail this raw painting? Why not comment on it and it alone?
Once again, you have proven that whites believe they are the center of the universe.
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@JT:
Shouldn’t you be studying?
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@ Randy
I don’t want to get into a pi**ing match with you. You are intentionally avoiding this thread at hand due to the fact that its honesty makes you uncomfortable.
That’s why you came here to derail and said very little about the Clitoris Cake.
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truthbetold:
This thread doesn’t make me feel uncomfortable, just disappointed.
The painting appears to be standard inflammatory race-baiting agitprop, probably begun back when the media had so victoriously promulgated the mythological narrative that Zimmerman was a fat racist southern redneck (of course!) and Martin a completely non-culpable naif.
As for the cake, I said this:
On the contrary, I think it’s absolutely racist and in terrible taste. Same thing with using FGM as the basis for a humorous art installation. My point was that political correctness argues against that type of non-relative judgment being applied.
Under the paradigm of deep political correctness, a white person isn’t granted the moral agency to judge a black artist’s creation as being “racist”.
Oddly enough, sam appears to hold roughly the same opinion.
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@Cleonette
You may want to post your comment about the response to the Trayvon attacks on the thread – ‘Should George Zimmerman be arrested’.
There is one individual in particular who is hyping up that particular incident, where it has been perceived as ‘lynch mobs’ wanting revenge.
I suspect it will do nothing to dispel the fear that is probably pervading in the minds of some who have been waiting expectant for the longest time for some kind of black uprising *SMH*
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@ Randy
Anything that invites deep thought to the racist system in this country will be considered race-baiting. Whites will do just about anything to remain willfully blind to their disease.
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@ Truthbetold,
^^^^^^ Very well said.
@ Herneith,
Lol. i’m back. =)
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Seventeen year old Trayvon was a child?
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@ Brahms
People like you kill me saying seventeen is not a child. I bet your head would explode if a 28 year old was screwing your daughter if she was 17. A teenager is a teenager is a teenager. Get over it already.
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@ B.R.
I didn’t specifically think Trayvon, though there are some things that are very clearly inspired by the murder. I thought the painting represented the truth of race relations in America. The flag (something used to represent freedom) is clearly peeled back to reveal the racist society that was hidden underneath that facade, again brought to the surface with situations like the Trayvon Martin killing.
The “two hoodies” shows the genuinely dangerous hood of the KKK versus the harmless hoodie of a young black youth. An out of shape man in a cop uniform clearly represents (in my mind) the mindset that many racists in our society have, that they are there to police black people and put them down if need be . I also think that the hood serves the purpose of giving this white man something to hide behind as he aims at the kid. There’s cowardice in someone who is unable to lift the hood and see beyond his racist viewpoints.
The relative age difference is the power, I think. White people are way more powerful in this society, and yet feel threatened enough by black people that they feel violence is always an excusable option to take.
@ Brahms,
According to his family, and our society (at least in reference to white people’s kids) yes. He was someone’s child.
Your point?
@ Abagond,
I love this painting. And I also love that the artist didn’t go through lengths to exaggerated the features of the black kid
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Ace, thanks for pointing out the “two hoodiess” comparison, I missed that
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@ Abagond
Another comparison comes to mind when I look at this painting.
The young boy is a Little Red Riding Hood sort…innocent and trusting with a wide, doe-eyed gaze.
The Klan member has a covered face, except his eyes which are squinty and “hard” looking. It gives off an ominous feeling, peeking from the outside looking in…
His stance is cowardly while the boy’s stance is brave, looking UP into the eyes of his attacker without blinking.
Notice how rotund the attacker is? Could this be another symbol of the fat, ignorant, white, male American oppressor? I believe so.
The stained American flag reveals another stained flag underneath.
I love all the symbolism here. Very raw. Very honest.
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@ dave
Tell me what incident you would like me to write about and I will do a post on it. I cannot promise you will like what I say about it.
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@ dave
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2012/04/02/selective-outrage/
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@truthbetold
Could this be another symbol of the fat, ignorant, white, male American oppressor?
You are every bit as racist as the white “racists” you like to attack.
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I would reserve the term “child” for those who are prepubescent. In my view of things, Trayvon was a “teenager”, in the transition zone between childhood and adulthood. Teens can be quite dangerous.
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And the semantics begins…..
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[…] Michael D. Antuono: A Tale of Two Hoodies […]
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Okay, we’ll go ahead and reveal the glaring errors in the painting.
1) Trayvon Martin wasn’t shot by a cop or the Klan, he was shot by a Latino mortgage processor. Latinos are not allowed in the Klan.
2) Trayvon Martin was 17 in 2012. If someone can let me know when a prepubescent Black kid was shot by a cop who was a member of the Klan outside of the Deep South pre-1965, then by all means let me know.
3) The case is an outlier. It is. White-on-Black shootings happen so rarely the gulit-ridden liberals and the poverty pimps had to settle for a Peruvian-on-Black killing and then claim it was somehow whitey’s fault. Except when the Temple student shot back at the 15-year old mugger and the Black community go so enraged City Council passed a bill banning white people from living around Temple University.
4) Cops are too tough on Blacks? Okay, then why not have the cops just STOP patrolling in Black neighborhoods? Problem solved!
Blacks just a year or two older than Trayvon Martin who were incarcerated for murderer told me they would put a bullet in MY head and rape my wife. But I’M the evil one because I was keeping them from escaping. That shows the logic of this crowd.Truth is, young Black men are killed by young Black men about 7 times a day and the Black community defends the murderers because of “Stop Snitchin”.
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@Jay from Philly
The picture had some inspiration from the Martin case but isn’t a representation of the actual confrontation (The child is not Martin, the cop isn’t Zimmerman). The artist mentioned that and abagond quoted it above. So I would have to disagree on any inaccuracies from the painting. Remember that art can be a representation of the artist’s reality or actual reality.
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Should I, or shouldn’t I? Oh, what the hell…
Jay from Philly,
1. If you can’t see the true message this painting is trying to convey, you are severely sheltered from reality.
2. If you continue to rely on information given to you by the news media, you will forever have a demonized image of black men if you choose to live by it.
3. White-on-black crimes should not be seen as any less significant than black-on-white or black-on-white just because you THINK it’s so rare.
4. Most importantly, the black community detest crime in their neighborhoods like anyone else. We are human after all. However, we are also aware that this nation’s justice system is shadier than a used car salesman. We know that it’s mostly about control than justice, something you would probably go for seeing as how you believe black men are violent abominations. We are also aware of how quick this system is to finding as many “suspicious” looking black men and women as possible and criminalize them for the sake of putting them in their place. Not all black people belong in prison. Some, and this is a shock to you, are actually innocent, but end up punished anyway. A perfect example was the late Troy Davis.
In conclusion your justice system is not so just.
Jay, seriously, you’re trolling around is as useful as a dictionary to George W. Bush. It’s more than obvious that you have a sheltered and racist view of black men, and that is nothing–absolutely nothing to be proud of.
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I hate to tell you people but Jay is giving you some harsh truth. You can change. But you have to stop blaming random white people you don’t know. It’s kind of like you don’t WANT to accept that there is no Santa Claus so you go into denial. You need to start pointing the finger at yourselves FIRST and stop blaming random white people that you don’t even know for the problems in your race . Or that there must be some giant conspiracy as to why the news has more black perpetrators then whites.
Sooner or later you have to realize it’s not the local news coverage fault.
and the statement “STOP BLACK ON BLACK CRIME” isn’t good either. How about “STOP HURTING OTHER HUMANS” . I’ll give you this that would be alot better than “KONY2012”
I don’t think you can put Jay into the category that you want. As a person who doesn’t have first hand experience, and is bitter for no reason. HES TELLING YOU WHAT HE ACTUALLY BELIEVES is the absolute truth……..and I agree with him
“stop snitchin”
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@dave
You’re digging your own grave you know. It might just make them think like me.
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Dave, are you a racist?
Anyway, I’ll stop blaming random white people when white people stop blaming the black races for all problems in society. It is symbolized within this painting how much white hatred of blacks can go.
Also, there is documentation and books explaining that the white racial frame is at play when it comes to news coverage. Black people are more likely seen as poor people and/or criminals way more often than they are seen as heroes, positive community builders, or middle and upper class people. Of course, your reasoning is that black people don’t do anything positive or heroic.
For that matter, what does news coverage have to do with this post? And yet, you wonder why I called you “Derailing Dave”.
Lastly, and I’m going to stop helping you derail this thread, don’t assume that the ‘stop snitchin’ thing is exclusive to the black community. All communities have similar policies. The U.S. government has that policy of stop snitchin as well. Only they refer to it as ‘national security.’
After all, why should black people trust the police which is illustrated in this painting as being the bastard children of the KKK?
You and Jay from Philly need to learn to stop derailing threads for your own gain, especially if you repeat the same lame statements over and over again. We know you have a problem with black people. We know Jay has a serious problem with black men. So, why not vent over at threads that cater to your unsound fears and hatred?
This post is about a painting that eloquently describes the white racial mindset that can become so destructive it can lead to death. The victim in this case is the black boy in a hood with candy. To him, as demonstrated by you and Jay, he is cosmically guilty–of being black as with the case with Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, and countless other black people.
So, again, why should black people trust the police?
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The photo from Vietnam War doesn’t depict an innocent suspected traitor but a hell of a scumbag who deserved his comeuppance:
http://failuremag.com/index.php/feature/article/saigon_execution/
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My uncle was a city police officer. He says that out of 50 white teenagers arrested only about 5 are processed and added into the system. Out of 50 teen POCs only about 2 are not processed and added into the system. He said he noticed they they would call the white kids parents and tell them to come and pick them up. They would get maybe 3 or 4 arrest before they gained their first official charge and even then would get a slap on the wrist because it was their “first”. He said black teens would get charged and sentenced harder as well, even on their first offence. He doesn’t work there anymore.
He now heads the campus police at a university and makes more money doing it. I interviewed him for my juvenile delinquency class as well as other officers. Even the white officers I interviewed felt they “had to be harder on black teens because they are more likely to be criminals”. They felt that the white teens were just making stupid mistakes but the black teens were just flat out criminals even though they were arrested for the same charges. It took everything in my being to do those interviews without stepping outside of my unbiased interviewer role.
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“Even the white officers I interviewed felt they “had to be harder on black teens because they are more likely to be criminals”. They felt that the white teens were just making stupid mistakes but the black teens were just flat out criminals even though they were arrested for the same charges. It took everything in my being to do those interviews without stepping outside of my unbiased interviewer role.”
**********************
Cleonette
THIS is (in part) exactly why I know actual crime rate numbers/statistics are not a reliable indicator of true black/white crime rates! I refuse to believe their compilations because of ALL the implicit white bias in the legal/slave labor system.
I commend you for doing your interviewing job – staying within your role. I’m somewhat doubtful that I could have done so.
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@ Martari
It was so hard. When they saw that I wasn’t “threatening”, they became so open with their opinions. Other officers were joining in that were not included in the interview. How I wish I had a tape recorder that day! I just nodded encouraging them to speak freely but I think they took it as me agreeing with their words. I started to sweat and my pen broke through my paper a few times. They really believed they had to treat black people more harshly! One even outright said when white kids break and enter its because they are trying to impress their friends but when black kids do it, its because they are trying to get money and their crime had more purpose to it. It was sick. One of the officers talked about how his parents had to come get him from the police station 4 times for driving drunk when he was in high school! Can you imagine a drunk, POC high schooler getting arrested even once for that? Story would be quite different.
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“Even the white officers I interviewed felt they “had to be harder on black teens because they are more likely to be criminals”
Perception is very often based on reality or at least based on the reality that one is exposed to. Did you bother to ask them what experiences they had gone through to make them feel this way? its likely that their feelings were molded by years of experience rather than any inherent systematic racism.
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As far as the painting goes, I would say that it is extremely misleading. Its hyperbolic to the point of portraying an outright falsehood. It is profound only in the extent it goes to paint a completely inaccurate picture. A klan cop holding a gun on a completely innocent extremely young black boy; that simply does not happen in this country at all, the painting is not an accurate portrayal of…anything really, its pure fiction. The systematic racism portrayed in the painting simply does not exist in any actual manifestation in this country today because police do not point guns at 10-11 year old black boys doing absolutely nothing wrong. Im not saying there arent white people that hate blacks (just as there are plenty of blacks that absolutely hate white people) but the actual manifestation of that hatred doesnt exist as it is portrayed in the painting. Sure there have been cases of police brutality against black males but the cases where a white cop has done something severely egregious to a completely innocent black male are extremely rare in recent history. Im not saying it hasnt happened, but it is very rare. It says something when you have to go to such extremes of hyperbole to make a point. Yet blacks gunning down other blacks is literally a daily occurrence and I dont see anyone painting any profound portraits that mirror that reality.
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Aaron, spare me. Perception is often screwed. Your statement gives me too much incite on your perception since you automatically jumped in to defend the officers instead of the youth that received harsher punishment just because they were black. Exactly what experience could they have told me that would justify arresting a white kid five times with no charges and arresting a black kid the first time with charges for the same offence? Please answer me that.
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I wasnt speaking to that specifically because that is ridiculous. I was speaking to the point you made that they felt they had to be harder on black teens because they are more likely to become criminals. I was asking if you asked them what experiences they had been through to make them feel that way. But yes if they arrested a particular white kid 5 times and didnt file charges but arrested a black kid one time for the same offense and charged him then that is plain racist and wrong but I have doubts that this is what they actually told you. I find it unlikely that they actually admitted to you that they arrested a white kid five times and didnt charge him but charged a black kid after a single arrest for the same offense. I find it hard to believe that any cop would just admit to something that ridiculous, and particularly to a black lady.
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@Aaron
I find it hard to believe that any cop would just admit to something that ridiculous, and particularly to a black lady.
What. You cant believe that some bigoted person would want to rub cleonnete’s nose in it? Remind her that there are different rules for black and white and, that they can and probably will get away with it because it is the word of a black person against a white. Really? Think about it. What better way to demonstrate ‘power’ and ‘superiority’ than hiding behind the law?
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Yeah, i find that hard to believe. They dont know her or what she would do with the information so youd have to be a pretty big idiot to just openly admit to blatant racism to a random black lady asking questions and not knowing who she would take this information to or what she would do with it.
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Aaron, I clearly stated that I was there for unbiased research purposes. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Combine what the white officers said to what the black officers said. Do I really have to spell it out to you like that? Who was I supposed to leak the information to? Back to the racist cops? Back to the racist judges? To the racist media? And yes he was an idiot. Racist are not usually geniuses you know. And like Demerera said, what kind of power do I hold when the black officers who work alongside theses guys can’t even stop it? Open you eyes!
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The point is, that people dont go around just admitting blatant misconduct to complete strangers just because they claim they are doing unbiased research. If a random lady came around claiming she was doing unbiased research and asked a bunch of guys if they had ever cheated on their wives/girlfriends, its not likely that those who had would just admit to it just because that lady claimed to be doing unbiased research. Who were you to leak the information to? The NAACP maybe? You could have leaked it to any number of sources just like you are doing right now. The fact is these guys did not know you so its unlikely that they would admit to severe misconduct that could jeopardize their jobs and livelihoods. The media is not racist, (most of it is controlled by Jewish, not White people) all they care about mostly are ratings which equals money. Was the media being racist when they devoted weeks to the Duke lacrosse rape scandal on the word of a black stripper? If the media thinks something will give them good ratings then they will devote time to it plain and simple.
So again, I find it doubtful that a bunch of white cops admitted to misconduct, that could cost them their jobs, to a random black lady just because she claimed she was doing unbiased research. A white cop claiming that he felt he needed to be harder on black kids because they are more likely to become criminals is just begging to bring about an internal investigation and the loss of his job in the process.
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@ Aaron:
You’re a typical white man, that’s either blind to his own racism or that is just playing like you are blind but in actuality, is a racist and your only purpose here is to troll for entertainment, purposes.
Its obvious that you are calling, cleonette a liar. You refuse to believe anything she says, regarding her results of the interview.
“A klan cop holding a gun on a completely innocent extremely young black boy; that simply does not happen in this country at all, the painting is not an accurate portrayal of…anything really, its pure fiction.”
How would “YOU” as a white man, even know this? Its not like you have a black child and witnessed the police, racially profiling your child and either pulled a gun on him or just cuffed him, for no reason other than he “fit the description” and later found out, he is innocent and isn’t the man, the police was looking for. ( notice how police always confuse a black child for a black man)
Case and point, this is just one our of thousands of examples, that happens every single day in every states in America.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/21/opinion/greenwell-son-profiling/index.html?iphoneemail
I find it so ridiculous, when white people feel, they are an expert on how police treat, black people and other minorities as if they have had years of first hand accounts and experiences, where they are able to form an accurate view of wither or not, cops racially profile, black youth and adults, despite the fact that they have very limited if not, no experience at all with the police.
Its not uncommon for a white person in America, to have never had a run in with law enforcement, other than a speeding ticket or moving violation, in the event that they do have any serious run ins with the law, they are met with leniency and mercy and get off with warnings and small sentences.
“The systematic racism portrayed in the painting simply does not exist in any actual manifestation in this country today because police do not point guns at 10-11 year old black boys doing absolutely nothing wrong.”
You are a poster child, for white people that look at the world, through a white lens, you don’t see things as a black person or another minority sees, things.
Because you are not effected by Racism, you do not to see it. I want to be completely clear about this statement…white people are not blind to racism, they see it plain and clear as black people and other minorities, see it.
Its just they “choose” to ignore it, even though they know its there, so they turn an blind eye to racism. Because if white people, validated racism, they would in effect, admit that society in America is unequal, between white and black people, then white guilt will set in ever more, among white people, then how then, would they be able to enjoy their, white privilege?
You can see it in their body language, whenever you look a white person in the eyes, they always seem to turn their heads or as you walk by them, they point their heads down as to not make eye contact, with a black person. Its like they are ashamed or guilty of something.
You also see it, when white people are around black people, they seem to come off very “uncomfortable” like they can’t be themselves around black people, like they are so afraid that their racist, characteristics will come out, if they are around a black person, for a long period of time.
This is just one of the reasons, why most white people in charge of hiring at an employer, don’t hire black people, because they just don’t feel “comfortable” around black people and other people that don’t look like them.
Aaron, one more thing, ignorants is bliss, eh?
I apologize about going so far off topic, friends.
Sondis
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you generalize and speak of a huge population of mankind and categorize them not by religion, historic background, gender but the all too shallow color of their skin. Go analyze yourself. The change starts in you. By defining people as “whites” and “blacks” you are just as bad as the worse. God sees no color. He created us all in his image and loves us all irregardless of color. If everyone would take a step back and realize that we are all brothers and sisters, help each other and love each other this would be a wonderful world. Unfortunately we can change no one other than ourselves BUT by doing that we can start a chain reaction influencing the ones around us. The answer is love through Christ people. But instead everyone reads these negative things, lets there emotions control them and they say harmful things. you need no know my color, race or gender, those are all shallow facts, just the earthly body i inhibit. Get away from all these biased one sided comments and live your life. Everyone is too involved in the internet. The internet is not real life, get out there live and be the difference you want to see. Had it not been for a paper I’m writing for a college project i would have never stumbled upon this image, it leaves me deeply disappointed. I pray that this has planted a seed and maybe from this the act of kindness can be spread. -God Bless.
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LOL. The picture should depict a black man with a gun on a white kid. Black on white crime especially rape is rampant. Blacks go nuts when they see a lone white woman and go berserk when they see a helpless white kid. in typical white lefty culture we see selective outrage. of course lefty whites live in the suburbs in gate communities and go to private schools far away from the hood and have no real clue what the real world in all about. Having never gone to a black majority school or lived in black majority school where they would have rec’d a real education on racism, White leftys are in no position to brand a particular group of people.
Blacks are the cause of racism in the USA.
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@ lindajam
Why, hello drive-by racist! You seem to be under the delusion that this blog is written by a “white lefty” instead of a middle-class black man. I’m always amused by you idiots who can’t read well enough to figure that one out.
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@lindajam
“Black on white crime especially rape is rampant.”
Can you prove those statements with some real numbers or are you just “adult movie” fantasizing again?
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He/she is probably masturbating as the write that.
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