This image confronts "race in the race" straight on with no shame. The controversial undertones of this piece titled "Let the Issues be the Issue" sparked reacitons everywhere. The artist, Tor Myhren, was fearless in addressing an issue that so many wouldn't openly talk about. An issue that was merely danced around is some cases.
The artist of this piece really wants his audience to see past race, religion, etc. in favor of what is best for our country. Although the artist's message is that we as voters need to look past race and only consider the issues at hand, I believe he brings the issue of race to the forefront and addresses it with pure confidence.
I was almost in disbelif the first time I saw this image. Seeing Obama as a white man and Mccain as a black man struck a nerve in me. It made me think about how different the presidential race, and even this whole world would be without these classificaitons and categories such as race and the heavy connotations that each carry. This then brought me to the tremendous idea presented by Stuart Hall; that it is human nature to classify objects. He stated that by breaking up humans or other objects into catergories, we are able to generate meanings. Each object or person carrying their own meaning or connotation. This then leads to classificaitons of superiority verses inferiority and plays with the role of power. These ideas presented by Hall are still extremely relevent today especially considering the fact that the artist of this piece feels it necessary to ask us to look past such classifications.
Overall, this piece forces the audience to confront such a hard issue. Although race may be nearly invisible to some, it is not for many others. Think for a moment... What would the result of the election have been if the roles of these candidates were switched? Was race really that big of a factor in determining our president? Is it that big of a factor in all aspects of our lives? Or is it simply something our individual cultures have stressed; our own creation?
By bringing such attention to this already obvious, yet hushed matter, the artist sends a very strong message. That it is time to put our vast differences aside for the greater good of all.
I remember listening to Minnesota Public Radio during the race and hearing an interview with a very conservative African American man. He said something about not agreeing with any of Obama's political beliefs, but thinking that he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he didn't vote for an African American president. I thought that was really interesting. Racial issues affected a lot of voters in the race; some voted for Obama because he was black and some for McCain because he was NOT black.
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking about this the other day, how race effects literally every aspect of our lives, even if we choose not to notice it. And when you think about it even more, it becomes even more ridiculous how such a minor and petty detail that "separates" each individual from one another can dictate our values that determine how we live. It's universally know that races are much more accepted nowadays than they were 30 years ago, and I believe that to be true, to an extent. It's still woven into every piece of media that we're given on a daily basis. I mean, asking what race the man was that's running as a presidential candidate is as relevant as asking what race the man was that just ordered pizza hut. It really doesn't matter.
ReplyDeleteI find it so interesting on how you asked if race is the product of our own creation. I've never thought of it that way, but now that you mentioned it, I feel it's a very logical possibility, that I can definitely agree with.