Artist Asked to Paint Children's Faces 'A Lighter Color' in Arizona School Mural?

I wonder how City Councilman Steve Blair if he was told to darken the face of the white kids if he would follow through with it????

This is blatantly Racist!!!!

Way back in the 1910s into the 1920s it was frequent practice to have white actors portray black characters by blackening their faces with burnt cork, maybe in Arizona in 2011 area residents can be made happy if it explained that the child in the mural is actually white but wearing black face make up? Did ya know that the practice of wearing make-up by many women was to achieve a more pasty white complexion because of the fear that people would suspect that they had anything but pure 'white' Christian blood ( many times Jews are said to have 'high' color: this is even more complex, some Jews of Spanish heritage had Moorish ancestors).

I understand prejudice and racism and strive to move forward and to purge my own self of any such feelings but unfortunately I see a return to racism in America as being a trend. Saf, very sad.

Peace//////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

I think you're going to be seeing more and more of this type of thing. Like it or not, WASPs (White, Anglo-Saxon Protestants) are fast becoming the minority in America. Whereas the Latino, black, and Muslim populations are exploding, WASPs are having fewer and fewer children and their numbers are steadily diminishing. Artistic depictions of defined populations, such as this elementary school student body, are going to start reflecting those changing demographics. And like other minorities before them, the WASPs are now going to have to start fighting for fair representation. This is a public school in Prescott, AZ. This is probably a "white" community, i.e., most property owners, business owners, tax payers are white, that has seen a huge influx of blacks and latinos, most of who are on public assistance. These people are now not real pleased to see the school they are paying for being depicted as a "minority" school.. And rightly so - nobody likes someone else taking credit for their work, especially someone who does no work at all. As the WASP population falls in numbers, we're going to see more of this.

To depict the biggest picture on that building as a black person -- I would have to ask the question why, he said on The Steve Blair Show on KYCA.

Why Not?????

This is simple minded racism plain and simple.

jesus, wtf is wrong with arizona...

if you're going to be racist everyone knows you at least have to be subtle about it.