SEPTEMBER 2019 422business.com and 422bizmag.com ROUTE 422 BUSINESS ADVISOR49

OPINION

THE CULTURE OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND AESTHETIC

CONSIDERATIONS CHANGEBy Barry Cassidy

While in Rome last week I had an opportunity to visit theColiseum which was kind of an adventure to me. Afterstanding in line for 45 minutes we got to see the artifactsand some of the narratives that went along with the

impressive ruins. There was one part of the tour that stuck in my mind. There were random statues and busts

that were defaced through the theory of“Damnatio memoriae” which roughlytranslates to “commendation to oblivion”.The Roman Senate voted on imposing thissentence which involved the “destructionand cancellation of every visible trace ofthe name and image of the condemned”as the translation of the practice noted.

I have to think about what is happeningin America today. The latest attempt torewrite history is a mural of George Wash-ington. “The Life of Washington” waspainted by Victor Arnautoff, a leftist muralpainter in the San Francisco area during theDepression. The mural is a representationof President George Washington as a sol-dier, surveyor and statesman. The 1,600-square-foot mural depicts white pioneersstanding over the body of a Native Amer-ican and slaves while working at Washing-ton’s Mount Vernon estate in Virginia.

Portraying facts of U.S. history, that thetextbooks had always sought to obscure,Arnautoff was the man ahead of his time.The McCarthy hearings featured testi-mony by Victor Arnautoff, then a profes-

sor at Stanford and avowed Communist,as he was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).

Today people are upset that it depictsthe early life in a brand-new America. Themural related to the days of legal slaveryand subjugation of Native Americans. It isnot a pretty mural as it shows the pain andanguish of the time to minority popula-tions. The mural was funded through oneof the great social programs offered byFranklin Roosevelt. The Works ProgressAdministration (WPA) put many to workdoing public improvements during thedepression. Along with the Civil Conser-vation Corps, the National Labor RelationsAct (which recognized unions’ right toexist, organize, bargain, and strike) and theSocial Security Act, I consider it a great leapforward for the average person in theUnited States.

People have painted response muralsto make emphasizes to better times. Nowit will not be painted over, but it will behidden. I would think that it will remainin place because it is painted on a wall.

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CHANGE(Continued from page 49)

It can’t be carted away to the warehousethat has the Kate Smith Statue, maybeeven Robert E. Lee Statue, because it ispart of the building.

The argument that got the mural cov-ered was that there was a minoritywoman who proved that the mural in-flicted harm, claiming showing the im-ages of subjugation traumatized herchildren. Perhaps that is correct, that thechildren should be shielded from thestark reality of early America. You hearso much about people saying they werenot told the truth about the country. Thismural seems like it should be somethingwe keep.

I believe that it is symptomatic of a cultural change within the United Statesthat emphasizes the individual at the ex-clusion of all other issues. If it is offensiveto you, you want it changed to suit youroutlook. It is now that way with gender.Gender has become a spectrum and nowother issues have taken on a level of flu-idity as they relate to the way things havehappened in America up to this point.

Issues like taking down murals andstatues in the ever-changing world ofnew pronouns seems now to apply tomarginalization of the individuals. Peo-ple may not actually be marginalized,but they could consider themselves mar-

ginalized based upon their perception ofthemselves. In other words, you onlyneed to perceive injustice rather than ex-perience it. There are greater goods,which in this case is a valuable piece ofdepression art, which at the time of cre-ation made a lot of white people uncom-fortable. Enough to get Arnautoff a tripto DC to see if he was American enough.

Then there is a song that Kate Smithsang that was considered satire whichwas also sung by the outspoken and leftleaning Paul Robeson who, during theMcCarthy era, ended up being blacklisted for his views. Some unknownpeople complained about the song. Thepeople were not impacted directly by thesong because as it is not a regular on anykind of music channel or radio station. Itwas that some people were impacted bythe song because they perceived injus-tice, even if the song is satire.

This is a significant change in Ameri-can culture that is happening. It featuresthe will of the individual versus any aes-thetic or symbolic considerations. Thiswill significantly impact our perceptionof freedom as a country as well as a citi-zen living in the country. “Damnatiomemoriae” is now about the ideas aswell as people.