RED HOOK – A mural depicting what some perceive to be a black woman harvesting a field is causing a stir in Red Hook.
The painting, which has been on the side of a privately-owned building in the village for 24 years, is offensive to the Northern Dutchess NAACP and others.
“It is clear to me that the barefoot woman it depicts is a slave who most likely was owned by Dutch settlers of Red Hook,” wrote Eloise Maxey, Northern Dutchess NAACP president in letters to Red Hook Village Mayor Ed Blundell and Town Supervisor Robert McKeon.
“On June 19, 1865 Union general Gordon Granger read federal orders in Galveston, TX that all previously enslaved people in Texas were now free,” Maxey. “I am asking you to remove the mural in honor of Juneteenth and set free the people of color and others who are constantly reminded of a painful time. Please replace it with something inclusive because there are many nationalities in Red Hook.”
Mayor Blundell spoke with the two artists who painted the mural in 1996 and they said their intention was not to portray black people in a negative light. One of the artists, Gloria De Pietro, wrote on Facebook that “I meant to paint a Dutch immigrant who left Europe because of religious persecutions.”
She said the painting “darkened over the years; it is all 24 years old.”
De Pietro said the problem could be solved “by perhaps repainting her skin tone to look lighter. I never intended to hurt anyone’s feelings; I only wanted to bring attention to the rural farm community and its history.”
Given the racial divide in the nation in recent times, Mayor Blundell said it is being seen “with a new sensibility.”
He said a committee including Bard College has been formed to discuss the issue. “We do believe in dialogue.”
The mayor said Red Hook has “a strong commitment to diversity and public art” and he labeled his administration “forward thinking.”
A petition on Facebook is calling for the “racist mural” to be repainted. The mural, at the intersection of routes 199 and 9 “is one of several that depict harmful imagery that negatively affects the people of color in our community on a daily basis. We are not asking for a blank wall. We are asking the people in power to let the future take us forward by supporting and sponsoring the partial redesigning and repainting of the mural.”
NEWS STORY PROVIDED BY: Mid Hudson News -www.midhudsonnews.com