I, TOO
I too sing America
I am the darker brother
They send me to eat in the kitchen
when company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.Tomorrow, I'll be at the table
when company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,'
Then.Besides,
they'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed-
I, too, am America.
Langston Hughes
Introduction
In today's multi-cultural society, many of the institutions which have previously maintained Eurocentrism as the universal ideal are undergoing evaluation. The questions scholars are posing are who has set the standard and what ideals or people in society does this standard reflect. The literary canon, that body of literature which the "well-educated are supposed to know, has been under fire for quite some time. Critics have found the canon to be the production of mostly men of European descent whose writing espouses values of superiority and exploitation. Although the arena of literature has currently garnered much attention, the realm of art is not exempt from the propagation of the same exclusionary and elitist values. According to Staniszewski, "Art historians, unlike literary historians and critics, have been relatively remiss in questioning the canon as a viable concept, remiss, that is, in questioning the very existence of a canon rather than questioning the specific nature of its contents" (Staniszewski 13).
Visual as well as literary art must be re-evaluated in terms of its contribution to the production of the myths, stereotypes, and misunderstanding which plague American institutions and our society at large. Images are the reflections of ideologies, perceptions, and beliefs of the artists and the society they represent. If the presentation of these images is limited to a certain segment of our population, only their visions, their perceptions are seen. Unfortunately, this situation of exclusion is the present structure of the Art Establishment.
African, Latino, Asian and Native Americans are excluded from the definition of what constitutes American culture and who constitutes American people. They are viewed as being something "other," different, something which Americans can choose to acknowledge but are not obligated to respect. As Patricia Failing states in her article "Black Artists: A Case of Exclusion," "Black artists can't escape the mainstream because they are surrounded by it, but the mainstream can choose not to look at black art" (Failing 126). The question of why African American artists are excluded has been addressed most prominently by Failing and art curator, Lowery Stokes Sims. Failing believes the exclusion to be a result of "outmoded definitions of 'black art' and racial exclusionism disguised as artistic judgment" (125). With regard to the former, she believes art curators and professors have a stereotypical view of what should constitute black art. Therefore, it is not seen as being universal, but as being merely "black". As a result this misconception, black art is not included in the permanent collections of many museums or included in art history textbooks. It is seen not only as different but also as inferior to the art championed by the Establishment. In addition, Failing charges the true motivation behind the exclusion of black art is masked behind claims by critics about "aesthetic taste." They merely use this label as an excuse to turn the attention away from their true motives: racism. Sims agrees with Failing on this latter contention; she states that the exclusion of black artists is the result of something she calls "double edged discrimination." As she is quoted in Failing's article, Sims argues "that curatorial decision making is 'the act of discrimination, making choices which are the expression of our eye, our taste, our sense and standard of quality'," but she notes, "'discrimination can also mean to exclude, and both meanings exclusionary and choosy, have determined how non white artists have fared in the art world"' (126). However, both Failing and Sims address the symptoms and not the root of the problem: "Artmaking is an extension of social mirroring by the creation of images thus the rejection of African American artists as fine artists, is directly tied to how they are received in this culture" (Sims 201). This important point is the key to understanding not only the invisibility of African Americans in American art history, but in the general history of our country as well. How can African Americans be accepted and revered for their contributions to American art, when they are not even seen as being part of American culture?
Institutional Exclusion
American institutions perpetuate the notion of western superiority through a method of exclusion which in effect amounts to cultural strangulation. They create a false portrayal of American culture by letting only the voices of those in power be heard, while the voices of everyone else remains muffled and silenced. The art world perpetuates this practice of institutional racism.
Universities and museums around the country still omit African American subjects, artists and art from their collections and teachings. This exclusion is not coincidental; it is a direct result of the miseducation of our people and the perpetuative cycle this inscribes .
The exclusion of African Americans from institutions which create the definition of American art is not only problematic, but frightening. What will be the future for African American culture if it is constantly overlooked and unappreciated? What will be the future for African American people if they grow up in a situation such as this? More importantly, what will be the fate of American society and American people if we leave the definition of ourselves to others to decide?
This exclusion is not limited to a certain geographic location or economic community; it is manifested through our society at large. Even in Syracuse, we can find examples of the kind of ignorance and miseducation which create the background for the practice of racial exclusion.
THE MUSEUM
The Everson Museum of Art, the largest museum in the Syracuse area, is an ideal example of the perpetuation of misinformation and stereotype created by American institutions. When I entered the museum and asked to be directed to the African American art section, the guides looked at me with bewildered expressions on their faces and then directed me to an exhibition of sculpture downstairs. As I approached the exhibition, I looked with dismay at the title, "African Art from the Permanent Collection." I was certain I had asked to be directed to the African American art section, so I again approached a different guide, and he again directed me to the same exhibition. So I did some wandering on my own. I entered the painting section of the museum and found an exhibition titled "250 Years of American Art." I looked through each painting and noted with dismay that there was no work by an African American or any other artist of color. Finally upon leaving I noticed a piece which had silhouettes of the African American woman as the primary subject, "Southern Souvenir", by an African American artist, Elozier Cortor.
I went downstairs in the museum and was greeted by an elaborate display of sculpture and ceramics by artists of all cultures. Then I saw a section on American art; again, I did not see one work by an African American sculptor in this section or even a separate area devoted to African American sculptors. The only depiction of an African American I saw was a reproduction of a Sambo waiter, dark skinned, big red lips, teeth wide in smile serving as a testament not only to the racism which existed then but also that which faces us now.
For the answers to the questions that this dearth of African Americans had created, I decided to seek from the curator of the Everson, Tom Jones. I asked him what is the percentage of works by African American artists as opposed to the percentage of European American artists in the museum. He told me he didn't have the estimates, but later he said he was sure it wasn't a very high figure. I then pointed out that in his exhibition, "250 Years of American Art," there was only one picture by an African American artist. Mr. Jones stated he didn't feel that he was under any obligation to purchase or display something, simply on the basis of race. My question is: What is he under obligation to do? By titling the exhibition "250 years of American Art" and then omitting African American artists, he was simultaneously both rendering a false picture of American history and erasing the contributions and the existence of Africans in the foundations of American society.
He stated his choice of what to place in the show was in line with the show's purpose, to survey the history of American art using the strongest pieces in their collection. This could mean either one of two things: he believes African American art to be of lesser quality than European American art or he didn't have any artistic portrayals by African Americans in his collection. He then stated he wasn't really aware if there were that many works of merit by African Americans in that period anyhow. Again his ignorance of the contributions of African Americans showed. The time period the show attempted to document was 1740-1955. There were scores of African American artists in this time period, Joshua Johnson, Henry 0. Tanner, Archibald Motley, Halle Woodruff, Romare Bearden, Horace Pippin, to name a few. The written purpose of the Everson museum is to ." . . document the history of American art . . . ." It was obvious to me after visiting the Everson that the history maintained is that which serves to reinforce notions of European American superiority and the inferiority of all other cultures.
THE UNIVERSITY
Even though the year is 1992, American universities are also far from being free of racist ideals and practices. In Syracuse University, although the English Department has recently undergone a revision because of its previous politics of inclusion and exclusion, canonization and marginalization, similar departments who have maintained those same politics remain intact, one of these being the Fine Arts Department.
Eboni Dowtin, a student in FIA 206, the introductory art history class required by all art history majors, agreed to answer some questions about the representation of African Americans in her class. Below is a reproduction of this interview.
After this interview with Eboni, I sat and considered the implications of the exclusion of African Americans in this course. That FIA 206, the introductory art history which surveys art from the High Renaissance (seventeenth century) to the present, only mentions one African American artist creates a false picture in the student's minds of the reality of the art history of African Americans. There are innumerable African American artists all the way from the eighteenth century until the present day. The fact that the writers of the textbook and professor of the course only found one African American artist to be relevant enough to discuss seems particularly problematic in light of the fact that many people refuse to believe that the academy perpetuates racism.
The problem I believe takes root in ignorance. African American art history has never been incorporated into the general art history of America, so the professors and textbook writers are merely perpetuating what they learned. In addition, there is a lack of representation of African Americans on the Fine Arts faculty. Therefore, even in the university environment there is a lack of opportunity for new scholarship and insight from the African American perspective. To further illustrate the complexity of the problem out of 35 discussion sections, there is not one African American teaching assistant. One has to question why there is such a dearth of African American art scholars in academia, is it due to the hiring practices of universities or due to the lack of African Americans who have interest in pursuing a graduate degree in a field which has excluded them for centuries? Whatever the reason, it is the university which creates this situation through maintaining the notion of European American dominance.
In the university catalog, there is no mention of even one African American artist in any of the art history course descriptions, and although there is a course offering in "Women in Art", there is no such reference to a course in African or African American art. When I telephoned the Fine Arts Department, the secretary could not give me the name of any professor who had extensive knowledge in this field and suggested I contact the African American Studies Department. This is not only unacceptable but appalling. They are using the African American Studies Department, a department created to combat this same institutional racism, to throw the burden off their shoulders and duck from their responsibilities as art historians and human beings.
Conclusion
The question we must ask is what created the mind set of European American curators, textbook writers and professors, and how can this be changed? The politics of exclusion and inclusion which have determined the fate of African Americans not only in the realm of art but throughout all of society, must be understood, critiqued and revised if the art history of our country is to be based on reality instead of myth and distortion. The first step comes in the realization that art and society are not separate but are inextricably bound to each other. "Art, art history, and all the institutions within which meaning and the value of art are constituted - museums, aesthetics, criticism, art magazines, galleries-are configurations of the modern world (Staniszewski 24). Therefore, art history must chart the course of all of society. To exclude African, Latino, Native, or Asian American art from the equation of what constitutes American art is to make a commentary on how you view these people in relation to American culture.
Today's view of American society is not one which reflects reality. How can art proclaim to be "American" when it leaves out some of the very principles on which America was supposedly built: freedom, democracy, fair play. How can African Americans ever hope to be free when institutions maintain the conditions which perpetuate their bondage, conditions which erase their significance in our history, and thereby enslave them to a history which is not their own? How can we proclaim we are a democratic society, a place where the interests of the people are valued and promoted, when the interests of the totality of American people are not being met? How can we claim to promote justice and fair play, when almost 150 years have passed since the emancipation of African Americans, and they are still subject to the same devaluation of their culture? It is obvious there must be a change. There needs to be a revolution in the way not only art is taught and exhibited, but also the way our history is taught.
The change must take place in the university curriculum. We must not tolerate the exclusion of African Americans or any other under-represented group, when they have been and remain an integral part of our society. There can be no true understanding of American culture, without understanding or at least learning about the history and development of African Americans. All courses must be critiqued and re-evaluated in terms of their role in perpetuating myths and creating illusions, those that perpetuate this fiction must be dismantled or at least revised. Input must be sought from not only faculty, but also from the students on what they feel are the current problems with the curriculum or if they even see a problem, why or why not?
This is the first step. The reason for racism and exclusion is ignorance; this can be changed through a movement to create an American history which reflects the reality and not the illusion. Although the process of change and growth is a slow and sometimes agonizing one, the end results can be beautiful. America, no longer the self-proclaimed melting pot where people must give up their identities in order to belong, but America, the beautiful, where all cultures - African, European, Native, Latino - are valued and cherished, speaking to each other in a dialogue to define the American collective.