While the artists go to great lengths to demonstrate their ‘wokeness,’ the actual research going into the piece itself and the text explanation is cringeworthy in what it lacks in awareness of the historic meaning of these symbols and the inflammatory nature of placing them next to each other. Particularly as white people in this time of calling for accountability of police for their role in brutalizing Black and Brown peoples — and our system which sanctions that brutality — this work is paving the road with good intentions that are actually dangerous symbols.
The Black Power fist is a strong and righteous symbol — and one that some say white people don’t need to use to express anything as it’s not theirs to use — so I won’t go there to examine its presence in this installation because I too am white. If someone else wants to take up that issue of its presence in the lineup of fists, please do as it feels like explaining a level of disrespect that I can’t own well enough to do it justice.
The red fist has been used historically by Communist-affiliated labour movements as well as Indigenous peoples reclaiming the term ‘red’ (in owning what has been used as a slur) to echo the raised fist of Black Power. Again, this is not my territory to speak to except as a white person responding to art by a white person. What I would say is the use of a red fist that is linked in the text to Indigenous peoples’ issues is out of bounds and in poor taste especially considering its neighbor, the raised white fist. This one is a perhaps unwitting provocateur masquerading as an ally.
In terms of the white fist, I do have something to say. This symbol cannot be used to mean anything except “white power” as it’s been claimed as the Aryan Fist for decades. It was co-opted from the Black Power fist as a mockery and has been used to terrorize non-white people around the world. Whereas one could say that as an artist one can repurpose these symbols to mean something new and inspiring — that is as tone-deaf and potentially dangerous as those who wish that the Nazis hadn’t made an ancient symbol into their flag of genocide. Alas, they did and now it carries that meaning, just as a white raised fist means overt and violent white supremacy. Trying to equate it with anything else is willful ignorance and a lack of compassion and understanding that holds the hand of racist mascots and suburban hate crimes while presenting an ally face at the local potluck. It just doesn’t wash. The white fist is a symbol of hate, period.
A blue fist in these times where people try to hoist “blue lives matter” as a valid response to a nation that condones the murdering Black and Brown lives as status quo is not “radical solidarity.” The blue raised fist has been used in labour and socialist movements, but the artists’ statements make it clear that this is not the historical reference they’ve put on display. No, in this moment of social demand for justice in terms of the police being accountable for their legacy as a posse for wealthy white interests, the blue fist is not an innocent symbol. Especially in line with the white, red, and black fists and their histories domineering high above this small town intersection, this blue fist is at best tone-deaf and at worst a rallying point for what this small town has already struggled against with the presence of white supremacists on their own streets.
While it’s apparent that the artists care and have put some thought into their design and explanations, did they consider the impact it would have on the residents of the town before installing it? Are their good intentions as white people paving their reasoning to this racially inflammatory set of symbols — reasoning but not an excuse? Most importantly, what can they do now to recognize their faulty logic, lay aside their intentions in favor of recognizing the harm they’ve done, and instead of being defensive perhaps listen to understand. While there’s not a single BIPoC monolithic perspective and therefore many voices to consider, this piece of art at this time in this place is not helping the cause they seem to think they’re supporting.
If the artists are trying to evoke the red, white, and blue of the flag of this government which has enslaved, occupied, and oppressed in order to hold its power over the people, then they’re missing the point even more as this regime does not uphold liberty or justice for all. If the intention of their ‘revolutionary art’ is to spark conversation of this nation’s flaws, then their first step would be to learn the histories of the symbols they’ve used and what they mean when placed side-by-side overlooking the streets of this town at this time. If they took it down, took their time, took in the perspectives of many people who don’t look like themselves and who may not agree, and took themselves to task to create art for the people of their town instead of their own agenda, a possibility for the redemption of their project could present itself in sharing their learning curve as a way to ally themselves to the cause they seem to want to join, but haven’t quite done the work.
Until then, whether it’s a symbol of well-intended ignorance and unintentional hate or not, and it needs to come down.
