|
POLITICS & COMMUNITY
People For the American Way
Artsave Project
2000 M Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
http://www.pfaw.org/artsave.htm
by Laurie Ouellette
Read more non-profit Profiles
on Tripod.
|
Freedom of Expression is about as American as Apple Pie--but you wouldn't
know by the upsurge of censorship and threats of censorship in recent
years. Caught in the middle of the "culture wars," popular culture and
the arts have increasingly come under attack by protest groups seeking to
stamp out anything they find "offensive" says People for the American
Way, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization tracking censorship in
communities across America. While the attacks have come from both the
Left and the Right, the greatest threat to freedom of expression today is
the extreme Religious Right and its "family values" agenda.
Consider, for instance, the following typical examples from People for the
American Way's Artistic Freedom Under Attack, a hefty document
chronicling censorship cases in the past year:
- Six weeks into production, a high school principal and a school
superintendent in Chehalis, Washington decided to cancel a previously
approved plan to stage Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream on the
grounds that it contained "adult themes" that might prompt controversy.
- Stores and newsstands throughout the nation, including Wal-Mart,
removed copies of Guitar magazine from their shelves upon discovering
that the cover was a photograph of two members of the Red Hot Chili
Peppers, a popular rock band, kissing. Because both band members are
male, stores removed the magazine claiming the photograph "promotes"
homosexuality.
- The chairman of the local Christian Coalition chapter in Hayward,
Wisconsin wrote school board members and a school superintendent,
requesting that they remove Native American artwork from a middle school
claiming it is religious and violates the Establishment clause. The
Chairman wrote, "This type of education fast approaches the line between
education and indoctrination."
- "Each challenge to the freedom of artistic expression sends a powerful
and devastating message to Americans, and particularly to our children:
that the way to address "disagreeable" speech is to squelch it - demand
its removal,deny its funding, cover it up, or make it inaccessible," say the
organizers of People for the American Way's Art Save Project, a coalition
of lawyers, activists and volunteers fighting censorship through
documentation, letter writing campaigns, and legal action. "That message
is plainly at odds with a founding principle of this nation, namely that
freedom of expression is a value to be cherished and respected both because it
is aninalienable right and because its preservation protects our democratic
form of government."
The issues driving the explosion of censorship and other challenges to
cultural expression show no signs of abating. If anything, the culture
wars will probably intensify if the Democrats win the White House as
expected. Volunteers can help People for the American Way preserve
freedom of expression by monitoring censorship in their own communities,
responding to attacks with the Art Save Action Kit, and helping out at
regional offices in New York, Boston, Atlanta and other cities. For more
information call 1-800-743-6768 or e-mail at [email protected].
Laurie Ouellette writes about media and culture and teaches at the New
School in New York City. Her work has appeared in "Utne Reader,"
"Afterimage," "Women's Review of Books," "Independent Film and Video Monthly,"
and various books and journals.
© 1996 Laurie Ouellette. All Rights Reserved.
|
