When the government started a contest a few months ago, they asked people around the country to contribute artwork that acted as a social commentary on the country. But because the student painting that won depicts police as animals, it has sparked controversy over free speech and whether people should be allowed to express unhappiness toward the police force.
Ever since Ferguson, Missouri became a hotbed for civil unrest back in 2014, the debate about police brutality has raged. Now this painting adds another log to the fire. And House Republicans don’t like it one bit…
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Bystanders in the painting are holding signs like “Stop Killing”, “Racism Kills” and “History”. The road is filled with people marching against the police.
This painting has hung in the hallways of the Capitol for months. And no one really took notice. But at the end of 2016, the Independent Journal Review, caught wind of the painting and published an article called “Painting of Cops as Pigs Hung Proudly in US Capitol.”
Do you think the Republican Congress should allow this painting to represent America?
This past Thursday, Paul Ryan spoke up against the painting on “The Mike Gallagher Show” saying, “This is disgusting, and it’s not befitting the Capitol.”
Because the House Republicans don’t like it, they are asserting their power and taking the painting down, Joe Kasper, spokesperson for Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of California said.
Although judges picked the painting from the Congressional Arts Completion, the government is challenging that student’s right to free speech by removing the painting named “Untiled #1” by a Midwestern student David Pulphus, a boy from a Missouri high school.
Pulphus resides in the district that includes Ferguson, Missouri. He painted it after the police shooting of Michael Brown in 2014, which sparked much of the discussion of race relations and police misconduct in the years and months since.
Readers of the IJR article are outraged by the painting. Lawmakers took notice since they don’t want to have unhappy constituents.
The California representative tore the painting off the wall and left it at the office of Rep. William Lacy Clay, a Democrat from Missouri.
Kasper, Hunter’s spokesman, told Patch, “The Capitol is not a modern art museum and the painting clearly violates the competition rules.”
He continued: “But this was far less about a painting and more about how the House—as an institution—shows its respect and appreciation for police officers that stand on the thin blue line every day, especially in light of recent, targeted cop killings. The painting can hang in a million other places, but it should not hang in the U.S. Capitol.”
But Clay and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus defied the Republican’s power play and hung the painting back up. And they can’t do anything about it…
“This is really not about a student art competition anymore. It’s about defending the Constitution.”
Republicans took it down again. Then Clay put it back up.
The main reason the painting is disturbing is because it depicts the cops as “pigs” which is a derogatory term for a police officer.
Do you think this painting should stay up or be taken down?
Please SHARE YOUR OPINION in the comments below now!
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Here’s The Painting Being Displayed In Capitol Building That Has Thousands Absolutely Livid
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