Telling Stories- Who Has The Right?

Objective check: Identify and respond to real world contexts for writing

This was the first writing assignment that I completed for English 104, and is in response to a question posed by Teju Cole. Cole, and American writer, art historian and photographer, questions who has the right to tell a certain story. I use Cole's article to help me determine whether a white artist (Dana Schutz) was justified in painting a photo of Emmett Till in his open casket. By discussing relevant and tangible issues such as cultural appropriation and the limitations on freedom of speech, I illustrate my ability to use real world contexts as a frame of reference for my writing.

You can read Cole's article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/13/magazine/getting-others-right.html

and view the painting here: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/dana-schutz-painting-emmett-till-whitney-biennial-protest-897929

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‘Can the truth of a given community only be delivered by an insider?’ With these words, Teju Cole poses a very heavy question for our contemplation. In the case of Dana Schutz’s Open Casket and whether exhibiting it at this year’s Whitney Biennial was justified, various points of opposition and defense have been voiced, initiating heated discourse around the contentious topic of telling another’s story.

Hannah Baker, in her protest against the painting, asserts that the hardships and suffering endured by the black race should never be taken lightly. Emmett Till’s lynching is one of the many horrific incidents that defines years of persecution against African Americans. By portraying this story in a painting that utilizes vibrant and pleasant tones and colours, Schutz creates the impression that she is insensitive to the black community and to those who still have feelings of pain and injustice surrounding Till’s tragic fate. Additionally, Baker reinforces the idea that even as we try our best to understand people’s stories, we must realize that we will never have their exact experience: ‘…Till was made available to Black people as an inspiration and warning. Non-Black people must accept that they will never embody and cannot understand this gesture.’

In her defense, Schutz attempts to justify the painting by citing empathy with Till’s mother as her motivation behind it, being a mother herself. Whilst this reason may hold some merit, it is irrelevant to the real issue at hand: cultural appropriation. Another important idea brought up in defense of Open Casket is that art can help to create dialogue around different societal issues. However, artists should respect boundaries when their subject matter sits on the border of controversial topics such as race.

The dangerous mistake Schutz made was in thinking that Till’s story was open to her own interpretation, when in fact, it was not; thus, she met the expected opposition. Keeping in mind the importance of freedom of speech, I believe that artists (and by extension, anyone) should be allowed to try to understand and tell the story of groups characteristically different from their own, but in doing so must understand their limitations.