Controversial Norman Rockwell Painting Hangs Outside Oval Office

Is it appropriate for this Norman Rockwell painting to be hanging in the White House?


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Mustang

Gold Member
Jan 15, 2010
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The painting is "The Problem We All Live With." It is the most requested work at the Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Note the racial epithet that is written on the wall behind the young girl.



"The Problem We All Live With" - The Truth About Rockwell's Painting

Video below

Norman Rockwell Civil Rights Painting, 'The Problem We All Live With', Hung Outside Oval Office (VIDEO)

Is it appropriate for this Norman Rockwell painting to be hanging in the White House? Why or why not?
 
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I have better things to worry about than what painting hangs in the White House...

like the fact that TM and I actually agree about the fact that that painting is hanging in the White House.

I'm scared.
 
I like the fact that some old fogey like Norman Rockwell captured the spirit of those fighting the fight and did so in simple brushstrokes that captured (for example) the dignity of the little girl against the backdrop of the hateful word scrawled on a wall.

I actually do like that painting more and more each time I see it.

And I have absolutely no problem with it being hung up in the White House.
 
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I think it is a wonderful painting depicting the struggle of the era from the perspective of a little girl. She is obviously nonthreatening to anyone yet requires guards
 
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I like the fact that some old fogey like Norman Rockwell captured the spirit of those fighting the fight and did so in simple brushstrokes that captured (for example) the dignity of the little girl against the backdrop of the hateful word scrawled on a wall.

I actually do like that painting more and more each time I see it.
You like George Bush.......and!!...that painting!?!?......whubuhwhoo?....
 
The painting is "The Problem We All Live With." It is the most requested work at the Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Note the racial epithet that is written on the wall behind the young girl.



"The Problem We All Live With" - The Truth About Rockwell's Painting

Video below

Norman Rockwell Civil Rights Painting, 'The Problem We All Live With', Hung Outside Oval Office (VIDEO)

Is it appropriate for this Norman Rockwell painting to be hanging in the White House? Why or why not?

no better palce to hang a painting of such a strong message than outside the office of the leader of the free world.
Kudos to whoever decided to put it there.
 
The painting is "The Problem We All Live With." It is the most requested work at the Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Note the racial epithet that is written on the wall behind the young girl.



"The Problem We All Live With" - The Truth About Rockwell's Painting

Video below

Norman Rockwell Civil Rights Painting, 'The Problem We All Live With', Hung Outside Oval Office (VIDEO)

Is it appropriate for this Norman Rockwell painting to be hanging in the White House? Why or why not?

no better palce to hang a painting of such a strong message than outside the office of the leader of the free world.
Kudos to whoever decided to put it there.

Obama decided it.
 
The painting is "The Problem We All Live With." It is the most requested work at the Norman Rockwell museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Note the racial epithet that is written on the wall behind the young girl.



"The Problem We All Live With" - The Truth About Rockwell's Painting

Video below

Norman Rockwell Civil Rights Painting, 'The Problem We All Live With', Hung Outside Oval Office (VIDEO)

Is it appropriate for this Norman Rockwell painting to be hanging in the White House? Why or why not?

I voted yes before I even saw the picture. I still vote yes.

Obama, like me, has the first ammendment right to the freedom of expression...so i support him hanging whatever art he, as a free american, wants to.
 
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I like the fact that some old fogey like Norman Rockwell captured the spirit of those fighting the fight and did so in simple brushstrokes that captured (for example) the dignity of the little girl against the backdrop of the hateful word scrawled on a wall.

I actually do like that painting more and more each time I see it.
You like George Bush.......and!!...that painting!?!?......whubuhwhoo?....

It's a new york thing.

You have to be from new york to get it. :eusa_shhh:
 
All his stuff was great, back when being an artist meant you had talent.

Fast forward to today and all you have to do is be a liberal

Then make complete works of crap and brag about what an artist you are.
 
It's a great painting and NR is a national treasure.

However I don't think it's appropriate to highlight such a time in our history in the WH.

We have far to many other things to concern ourselves with and at this point the painting is more appropriate for an activist to use.
 
It's a great painting and NR is a national treasure.

However I don't think it's appropriate to highlight such a time in our history in the WH.

We have far to many other things to concern ourselves with and at this point the painting is more appropriate for an activist to use.

I think that the painting hanging outside the Oval Office would be a great teachable moment for any guests (particularly national leaders) from other countries who are at the WH on official business. You wanna know what America is about? It's about overcoming adversity. It's about forming a more perfect Union just like the preamble to the Constitution states. They're not just nice-sounding words. We live by those words.
 
I like the fact that some old fogey like Norman Rockwell captured the spirit of those fighting the fight and did so in simple brushstrokes that captured (for example) the dignity of the little girl against the backdrop of the hateful word scrawled on a wall.

I actually do like that painting more and more each time I see it.
You like George Bush.......and!!...that painting!?!?......whubuhwhoo?....

There is no contradiction there. I bet President Bush likes that painting, too.
 
It's a great painting and NR is a national treasure.

However I don't think it's appropriate to highlight such a time in our history in the WH.

We have far to many other things to concern ourselves with and at this point the painting is more appropriate for an activist to use.

If you think about it, President Kennedy USED the power of the Presidency to get black kids INTO schools, using the Federal authorities significant power to accomplish it.

In June 1963, Alabama’s governor, George Wallace, tried to block two black students from entering the University of Alabama by standing in front of the registration building door. Kennedy used the army to let the two Blacks enroll in the school. President Kennedy used this situation to address civil rights as a "moral issue." He said: "It is as old as the scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution. The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated. If an American, because his skin is dark, cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, if he cannot send his children to the best school available, if he cannot vote for the public officials who represent him, if, in short, he cannot enjoy the full and free life which all of us want, then who among us would be content to have the color of his skin changed and stand in his place? Who among us would then be content with the counsels of patience and delay?"
John F. Kennedy

Granted: the confrontation with Wallace over some college students is not exactly the same as the picture of that little girl, but the principle is the same.

President Obama is paying homage to the power of the Presidency as a force for justice in this realm. The tip of the hat appears to go to President Kennedy.

The White House is thus a perfectly good place to hang that picture. Or this one, perhaps?

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It's a great painting and NR is a national treasure.

However I don't think it's appropriate to highlight such a time in our history in the WH.

We have far to many other things to concern ourselves with and at this point the painting is more appropriate for an activist to use.

I think that the painting hanging outside the Oval Office would be a great teachable moment for any guests (particularly national leaders) from other countries who are at the WH on official business. You wanna know what America is about? It's about overcoming adversity. It's about forming a more perfect Union just like the preamble to the Constitution states. They're not just nice-sounding words. We live by those words.

I see your point and it's a good one.

Thing is, most people look at that and see a black girl walking by grafitti that says ******.

and think; "oh what a brave child" which is true

what's missed is the 4 white men guarding her with thier lives. men, who when done, must go live with the same people they are protecting the girl from.

there's other symbolism that's missed.
notice everyone has clenched hands. That's a fear tell
Everyone is in lock step
The men are faceless

There's a lot going on in that painting that will be missed by the casual observer.
Most will see it as a reminder that at one time we were assholes to black people and that the Pres hasn't gotten over it yet.

Sorry, if you want to put out a symbol that will overcome adversity; Washington crossing the Delaware would be far better. or [can't recall the name] The one that shows the men freezing over a small camp fire.
 

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