StarTribune.com | User comments

NJ library drawing of slave having sex with white man, previously shrouded, displayed again

Article by: Associated Press
Updated: January 20, 2013 - 5:49 PM

6
Comments

Newest first
Oldest first

1 - 6 of 6

jtriceJan. 21, 1311:27 AM

It would be nice to know if this was a historical drawing or if it is a modern work.

atavisticJan. 21, 13 3:07 PM

It is a modern work. Kara Walker was born in 1969.

JRHasbro21Jan. 21, 13 3:13 PM

@jtrice - well since the library plans to invite the artist to speak at the library I would assume that it is a modern work.

maggierockyJan. 21, 13 4:40 PM

I haven't seen the art, but I think the description of "the slave having sex" implies consensual sex, and it's difficult for me to believe that most (if any) sexual contact between slaveholders and slaves was truly consensual.

bobblumenfelJan. 21, 13 7:13 PM

"A library that covered up a drawing of a black female slave having sex with a white man after workers found it inappropriate is displaying it again." The ordering in the phrase "a black female slave having sex with a white man" implies at least consent on her part. Given the usual relationship between masters and slaves, I feel this should have read "a white man having sex with a black female slave." I doubt she had much say in the matter.

holmescity49Jan. 22, 13 9:38 AM

The article states the drawing "shows the horrors many blacks faced after the Civil War" followed by "a depiction of a slave performing oral sex". If it was after the Civil War, slavery was already abolished. Interpetations should be left to the artist because this one is not logical.