I recently listened to a Ted talk with Titus Kaphar and I was in absolute awe of this artist’s knowledge and wisdom. While this talk was given back in August it speaks on ideas that are currently impacting us more than ever.
Titus Kaphar is a painter and an artist. In plain terms he would be categorized as an “artist”, but the work he is doing stretches so much further. With each piece of his artwork he attempts to wrestle America’s long history with racism. He takes historically famous paintings and alters them in ways to bring light to the untold themes with the artwork.
In this specific Ted talk Titus speaks about amending sculptures and monuments that are perpetuating the stigma of racism. He states that the answer is not to eradicate the existence of these structures. They were built in a time period where their purpose felt important, and we cannot go back and simply erase the things we now know to be incorrect. Titus states this history is real and we have to know it. However the impact these structures have on the way vulnerable populations view themselves is immense.
Titus says that we should amend these sculptures they same way we have amended the constitution. We add to it, so that it can more accurately represent our nations population. We do not erase the previous law that we now know to be unjust we keep, and instead place the new law alongside it. Titus believes that the sculptures that used to represent America’s values but no longer do should be treated in the same way. We should place accompanying sculptures next to the prior ones to draw attention to their discrimination and injustice. Titus states we need something that says “this is where we were, but this is where we are right now”.
If we can make these amendments we can better see the places America wishes to go in the future. It will also alter the way our most vulnerable populations see themselves depicted, in a positive way. This is not just a suggestion, but a necessary step that must be taken to brighten America’s future.