Until Trump became President, I had never conflated nostalgia with racism. I, too, find appealing the stereotypical Norman Rockwell image of the little kids playing with the puppies and growing up and marrying their high school sweethearts (can you tell I listen to a lot of country music?). But now I realize that a big chunk of this country would be really upset if a few kids in that Norman Rockwell image were black or brown or Asian. Why is that? Does it really change anything besides the visuals?
It occurred to me that in Rockwell's time, there were nonwhite people in America, too. They were just hidden and not allowed access to education and desirable jobs. "My people" build the railroads and grew the food on the coast. But no-one wanted to see their faces. I wondered what Rockwell thought of them. Did he want them to "go back to where they came from"?
So I put "Norman Rockwell" into google images, and the above was one of the first to pop up. The back story (and website from which I stole it) is here. (The link goes to the Norman Rockwell Museum.) He seemed like a lovely man. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment