OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The n-word is on display in an art exhibit at The Union for Contemporary Art in North Omaha. It’s part of a excerpt from the book “Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison.
Tuesday morning, dozens of people got heated when debating whether the quote should have been posted on an exterior window.
“If its an entire book why choose this excerpt?”
“Read the book!” People shouted at each other.
“If we tolerate this, they're going to do it to us,” Ernie Chambers, State Senator said. “This window should not be there”
Vanessa German's exhibition called “Sometimes. We. Cannot. Be. With. Our. Bodies.”has been at the gallery since September. But only recently people noticed the n-word visible from the sidewalk and got upset.
“Vanessa German is a black artist who has created this work as a testament to speak out against the violence that has been wrapped around black, brown and native people in America,” Brigitte McQueen Shew, Executive Director, The Union for Contemporary Art said. “The text people are getting upset about is meant to prepare you for the rest of the exhibit when you get inside which speaks to that violence.”
“I saw the exhibit,” Barber, a local artist said. “I'm giving the artist the benefit of the doubt which is why I didn't get offended in the first place. After seeing the exhibit it put it all in context and it created a narrative for me.”
Jay Myers thinks that kind of language belongs inside with the rest of the art.
“You make a decision to go indoors to see the exhibit,” Myers said. “You don't make that decision with it being displayed to the public on the sidewalk.”
“North Omaha, which is a predominantly African American community, has experienced traumatic experiences with the n-word,” Steven Abraham, concerned citizen said. “So for that to be on the facade of a building I don't think that is the correct way to be artistic.”
Chambers agrees and said he would do everything in his power to get the word taken down.
“When they come down here with this trash and take the worst word,” Chambers said. “It is a horrible word, it is a fighting word, and sometimes it is a killing word.”
McQueen Shew said this is the third time the exhibition has been on display in the country. She said the artist calls for the quote to be on an outward facing window, if one is available.
“Ms. German felt it was important for us to stand in the face of that word,” McQueen Shew said. “As it is important for us to stand in the reckoning of violence that word holds for black and brown people.
To blur that word, to remove that word, to pretend that word is not what it is what it is a direct affront to Ms. German and the message she is trying to convey through that exhibition.”
After meeting with Abraham, McQueen Shew agreed to put a sign on the facade of the building, warning the quote displayed in the window may be offensive and a trigger for some people.
They will not take the exhibit down early or blur the word because she feels that is censorship. The exhibition is scheduled until November 30.
