Or I'm overthinking it. That's what was so powerful about this exhibit for me: it provoked so many feelings at once that it became difficult to separate what I was feeling and why. In that space with that exhibit at that time, everything I thought and felt became so mish-mashed that I'm still not sure if I'll ever straighten it out.
Let's be clear, though--this was a very large piece of art that required vision, craftsmanship, and planning. The fact that it could be constructed and maintained over several weeks of stifling New York City heat was amazing. Additionally, she ingeniously combined some of the most iconic and upsetting imagery in African and African-American history into a single, biting statement piece, something in which all of us could instantly recognize the powerful contradictions. I was (and still am) in awe of Walker's artistry and ability to incorporate so many visual signals into a cohesive symbol.
But then, those signals did exactly what they were supposed to do. They brought to mind the exploitation, violence, misplaced contempt, and brutality that African-Americans and other people of color have suffered throughout the history of the United States in the name of profit, superiority, and divine directive. Slavery, Jim Crow, The Trail of Tears, "Assimilation", Yellow Terror, Nativism, anti-Union, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, etc.--people of color have never not been a target of hatred and paranoia by the majority and establishment. And it's not just "white people" (a term so vague and fluid that quotation marks are necessary) that are guilty of these acts; people of color have committed hate crimes against each other, too. We're all guilty, just some more so than others and with some attempting to make amends more than others. It's tragic. It's traumatic. It's a part of our shared history.
And it was on display before us, her white, sugary skin glimmering in the sunlight.