Word: racists
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...resident Mellody R. Hayes '99 issued a complaint about a poster hanging in the serving area of her dining hall. Hayes and some members of the dining hall staff found the poster, which depicts several black figures carrying watermelon and other fruit above their heads, offensive. "The poster was racist," Hayes said. "It was building on stereotypes of black people enjoying watermelon...
Lowell House's removal of the poster was certainly a sensitive response, and arguably the right one because, perhaps, the context in which the print was displayed was inappropriate. But it is more difficult to argue, as Hayes and others do, that the poster's content is racist, particularly without considering the identity of the artist...
Fritzner's background is an important factor in this controversy. Can one argue that the poster is racist, if the artist was depicting scenes from his own life in Haiti? Though it is more likely that Fritzner's work is honest and meaningful rather than a portrayal of blacks as watermelon-eaters, given the loaded image of this poster and the stereotype it evokes of Southern blacks, the Lowell House dining hall may be an inappropriate place to hang it, particularly because it was purchased by the former dining hall manager as a nice piece of decoration. Nonetheless, these issues...
...possible that Fritzner's print was hanging in an inappropriate location, that it belongs in a museum rather than next to steaming tray of General Wong's Chicken. But this is not an obvious conclusion; so before the poster is branded "racist" and permanently removed from the dining hall, the issues should be debated. In what ways can this print be read? Was Lowell House too hasty in its decision to remove the poster? Would a plaque providing information about the artist and his history be enough to allay fears of racism? And the crux of the matter, is Lowell...
...poster was racist," said Hayes, who is black. "It was building on stereotypes of black people enjoying watermelon...