SF School Board Rules 'Offensive' George Washington Mural To Be 'Covered' Up
4-3 by the San Francisco school board to cover up mural
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A 'controversial' 1936 George Washington mural that allegedly traumatized students was voted to be covered up but preserved following a vote of 4-3 by the San Francisco school board on Tuesday.
Also covered will be images of slavery and the killing of Native Americans, according to reports.
The 13-panel “Life of Washington” will be covered but preserved.
It will be covered by panels that show "the heroism of people of color in America, how we have fought against, and continue to battle discrimination, racism, hatred, and poverty," according to a proposal by the board president.
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The removal of the 1,600-square-foot mural at George Washington High School was voted to be removed by the board after it was deemed racist and offensive.
But those in favor of keeping the mural argued that removing it was historical and artistic censorship.
Critics of the imagery argue that two of the murals “traumatize students."
A report by Richmond District Blog reveals that, despite existing in the hallways of George Washington High School in San Francisco, California, for the past 83 years, two of the murals have now come under scrutiny following objections from millennial students.
New! Actor Danny Glover, a grad of SF's George Washington High, has signed on to campaign to save the New Deal era mural, "Life of Washington." (SF School Board has voted to paint it over at a cost of $600,000.) Glover says mural is "a reminder of the horrors of human bondage." pic.twitter.com/pv1vazOpEq
— Carla Marinucci (@cmarinucci) August 13, 2019
Woman Born in Hitler's Germany Says Liberals Remind Her of Nazis | Neon Nettle https://t.co/SPBLPZSjN8
— Ex-Democrat to IncredibleDeplorable (@LLLibertee) July 18, 2019
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Community members first began calling for the removal of the murals in the late 1960s, after taking offense to the depictions of black and Native Americans.
But the school had reacted by installing new murals, portraying more positive imagery, likely in an attempt to offset the other murals in question.
Now, the calls to have the murals removed have returned to George Washington High School.
Laura Dudnick, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Unified School District [SFUSD], told The College Fix that SFUSD held several meetings for a “Reflection and Action Working Group,” in which members of the community discussed what should be done with the murals.
“At its conclusion, the group voted, and the majority recommended that the ‘Life of Washington’ mural be archived and removed because the mural does not represent SFUSD values,” said Dudnick.
