Wed May 13, 2009 at 23:21:53 PM EDT
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There was some minor buzz on Wednesday about Tuesday night’s White House poetry jam. (See, for example, this post on the New York Times’ blog, the Caucus.) This was just the latest in a string of arts events the Obamas have brought to their new home. It’s certainly noteworthy that the voices of Americans from diverse backgrounds were heard in the White House’s East Room. And it feels fitting: a president who literally embodies American diversity in a way no previous president has, the hip young vibe — another Camelot, some have called it — surrounding him and his wife. White House social secretary Desiree Rogers summed it up well, as quoted in the Caucus post:
“Our goal really is to bring the house alive,’’ said Desiree Rogers, the White House social secretary. “We’re all American, but all of us come from different backgrounds. We want to expose Americans to other Americans that are doing brilliant work.’’
Exposing Americans to each others’ stories and cultures, utilizing the arts to break down barriers. What could be better? And what more fitting for a president who told us repeatedly during the campaign that there is no red America, no blue America, no White America, no Black America, but only one United States of America? But wait a minute. Just which Americans exactly are being exposed to their fellow Americans’ brilliance? George Stephanopoulos and Spike Lee? Not that they should be denied the privilege, but what about the rest of us? Don’t we deserve it, too? |
| Jeffrey Sharlein :: "That side was made for you and me" |
Yes, this really is exciting, but not if the story stops there. A White House poetry jam is a powerful symbol, not to mention a fun evening for those in attendance. Yet we also need to go beyond symbols, we need a national policy towards the arts that respects them, elevates them. Art in its myriad forms does have the power to break down barriers. We — as in “We the people” — need to put resources towards the work and truly public exposure of writers, musicians, dancers, painters, sculptors, actors, all those who make it their work to hold up both mirrors and windows to society. What if the next White House poetry jam wasn’t in the White House at all, but on the National Mall, where anyone could stop by and soak in the goings on? Of course that wouldn’t be enough, either, though; if nothing else, only a small fraction of the country lives in DC and its environs. How, for example, will the National Endowment for the Arts fare under the Obama administration?
At the inaugural concert, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springstein, et al., sang Woody Guthrie’s oft-omitted verse (transcribed here as best I could):
There was a great high wall there that tried to stop me,
by a great big sign there, said private property.
But on the other side, it didn't say nothing -
That side was made for you and me.
In the children’s book based on “This Land is Your Land” (an excellent book, by the way), the page with this verse (in slightly different form) features a dark desolate immaculate estate on one side of the street, and a bright vibrant public park on the other. This celebration of the public is certainly Obama’s attitude, or at least the image he wants to cultivate. And while the White House may technically belong to the public, and serve as a public symbol, it isn’t really public property where anyone can just stop in. Let’s hope — and act as we can to ensure — that this administration’s arts legacy includes plenty of support for the arts on the other side of the walls. |
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