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Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - I. The Approach - 2. Encountering the Negro Problem - 4. Explorations in Escape
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Chapter 2. Encountering the Negro Problem 35
do, that an attempt is made to canalize them safely. An unstable equilib-
rium is retained and actually believed to be stable.
I once visited an art exhibition In one of the cultural centers of the Old South
where everything from the city plan to the interests and manners of the people
carries the cherished memories of the romantic, glorious past. Among other exhibits
was a man-sized sculpture In terra cotta called “Soldier in Rain,” representing a
Negro man lynched by hanging. The piece was forcefully done; and, as I thought,
a real masterpiece. The hanging man was clothed only in a shirt and a pair of trousers
tightly stretched around the body by the rain. On the chest there was a medal affixed
to the shirt; a raindrop was suspended under the medal. 1 was absorbed in admiring
the sculpture with two ladies who were supervising the exhibition. They were true
experts in art appreciation and had kindly followed me around and told me many
things which I could not otherwise have seen for myself.
Quite unintentionally I happened to refer to the sculpture as representing a
lynching. My hostesses immediately reacted as to a shock and explained eagerly that
I was totally mistaken. The sculpture represented a soldier being hanged, probably
behind the front for some offense, a soldier in abstractor “just any soldier.” It had
nothing to do with the Negro problem. They were bent on convincing me that I
was wrong; they mentioned that none of all the thousands of visitors to the exhibi-
tion had ever hinted at the possibility that the sculpture represented a lynched Negro
and eagerly showed me newspaper clippings with reviews where the sculpture was
discussed in terms of “a soldier,” “a simple soldier,” “a soldier behind the line.”
I answered that soldiers were never anywhere executed by hanging either at or behind
the line, and that in the whole world hanging was, in the popular conception, which
is the important thing for an artist, usually associated with the English custom of
hanging petty thieves and with American lynching parties. I was even brought to
point out that the sculptor had endowed the hanged man with the long limbs and
facial characteristics commonly ascribed to the Negro race. But no arguments had
any weight, I am convinced that they sincerely believed they were right, and I
preposterously wrong. The visit ended with some mutually felt embarrassment.
As my curiosity was awakened, I went to see the sculptor. He is an immigrant
from one of the republics of Latin America and is of nearly pure Indian descent. I was
told later that because of his slightly dark color, he sometimes had met some
difficulties when he was not personally recognized. On one occasion, quite recently,
he had been beaten by the police when he had appeared on the street one night with
a white woman. I now told him about my experience at the exhibition and asked
him to clear up the matter for me. His first answer was that there was nothing to
clear up: his sculpture was an abstract piece of art and represented a soldier being
hanged, “any soldier.” We discussed the matter for a while on this line. But grad-
ually, I must confess, I came to feel slightly exasperated, and I said, “If you, the
artist, do not know what you have created, I know it as an art spectator. You have
depicted a lynching, and, more particularly, a lynching of a Negro.” The sculptor
then suddenly changed personality, became intimate and open, and said: “I believe
you are right. And I have intended it all the time.” I asked, “Don’t you think
everybody must know It?” He said, “Yes, in a way, but they don’t want to know it.”
I asked again, “Why have you spent your time in producing this piece? You under-
stand as well as I that, even if it is admirable and is also being greatly admired by
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