Tyler artist reminds white people to ‘do something’
She placed an elephant in the room that no one can ignore
At Temple University, there are many reasons to love our school. One of the great perks of being an Owl is being surrounded with students who aren’t afraid to use their voice to spark conversations about social issues. From the Stadium Stompers to the Black Student Union not participating in the National Anthem in protest of police brutality, we are surrounded by students standing up for what they believe in.
The most recent example of Temple’s active student body is Tyler School of Art graduate student Kara Springer, who’s using her art to tackle the reality of white privilege.
White privilege is a touchy subject. The idea doesn’t deny individual hardships. Instead, it’s the things that are automatically in your favor due to being white – a societal advantage that’s a byproduct of this country being built on a one-race perspective.
Visual artist Kara Springer, a sculpture graduate student at Tyler School of Art, was fed up with the unavoidable discrimination that plagues our media today. She decided the best way to spark a much-needed conversation about race was through the classic method of bluntness. Her chosen soapbox? A billboard installed in Tyler’s courtyard. It reads “white people. do something.”
People have been commenting on the sculpture through social media, boasting over 700 likes on Tyler’s official Instagram, and first hand throughout the halls of the school.
Tyler student Katherine Galvin, graphic and interactive design ’18, says the power of the message lies in its provocativeness.
“It clearly addresses white people, there’s no ignoring it. To me, it’s about acknowledging privilege and using it to combat racism in a helpful way. Don’t sit back and do nothing. I think it’s incredibly important for people to see, and I think in an art school we are used to seeing things that might make someone feel uncomfortable, and that exact reaction is powerful.”
Jermaine Ollivierre, Kara’s assistant in installing the piece, says the location of Tyler is imperative.
“The location is perfect because of the platform provided, an opportunity to be very direct with a message to White people. The minority has become the majority within this context. Kara has successfully spoken to the Black community on campus and disrupted the cozy and comfortable idea of how things are in America.” – Jermaine Ollivierre, sculpture and painting, Tyler 2017.
Photo by Sara Doubleday
The sign has successfully sparked a much needed conversation about white people’s role in fighting against the institution of racism. You don’t get a gold star for simply acknowledging that white privilege exists.
Our country is sitting on over two hundred years of karmic debt so standing up against racism is as much a white person’s job as a black person’s. Why? Because no matter black, white, tan, brown, green or purple, we are humans and we need to stand up for something that is very, very wrong. There is no place for ignorance or intolerance on Temple’s campus – or anywhere else in this world.