Norman Rockwell – Closet Bigot?

by Peter S. Saucier

In the world of fine arts, Norman Rockwell generates sniffs as a "populist." Most of his paintings evidence a commitment to American values that are almost sappy. One of his popular pieces from 1964 entitled The Problem We All Live With portrays a young African- American girl going to school in the accompaniment of four male adult escorts. On the wall behind her is the graffiti scrawled word n-----r. It is a powerful piece that plainly skewers bigotry, right?

Not so fast! According to Judge Martin J. Jenkins of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, an employee's "problem" with that painting was a factor that created a triable issue of fact. The employee, a clerk in the Human Resources office of Marin County, did not survive her probationary period, in part because she spent excessive work time on personal calls and writing in her "talking to God" notebook. Apparently, she also interpreted Rockwell's work somewhat differently than one might expect, complaining that it is an offensive piece. Judge Jenkins agreed that could be evidence in a discrimination case.

By a rhetorical show of hands, how many of you would believe that a Human Resources Officer was creating evidence of race discrimination by posting the Rockwell masterpiece?

You may see a copy of the offensive work at: http://www.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/past_exhibitions/rockwell/problem.html

November 2006

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