Norman Rockwell's America

Norman Rockwell is famous for painting traditional American scenes in countless issues of The Saturday Evening Post. His series titled, "The Four Freedoms" was based upon President Franklin Roosevelt's famous State of the Union address in 1941 in which he outlined the four freedoms that America stands for:

Image from History Tech

Of course, Rockwell painted many hundreds of iconic images of Americana for The Saturday Evening Post. Some may not be aware that Norman Rockwell, observer and chronicler of American life, saw the problem of racism and wanted to help America see its own struggle. To do that effectively, he had to leave The Saturday Evening Post, which once had him remove a black person from one of his paintings because the magazine only wanted to portray blacks in servant roles. Rockwell went to Look Magazine which allowed him the freedom to express his social and political views.

Last week I shared his painting, "The Problem We All Live With," which depicted the first elementary school integration in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1964. 

In 1965, after reading a newspaper article about the killing of civil rights workers in Mississippi, he painted, "Southern Justice."

In 1967, when America was beginning to experience equal housing opportunity allowing blacks to move into previously all-white neighborhoods, he gave us "New Kids in the Neighborhood."

With "equal opportunity" in the 1960s, American neighborhoods countered with white flight. The result is that today, we continue to see inequality, injustice, and re-segregated schools and neighborhoods. Thankfully, with groups like Black Lives Matter and Rev. William Barber's Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for a Moral Revival, we continue to be confronted with who we are and where we need to set our sights for a more equitable society.


For Further Reading about Norman Rockwell:

• Norman Rockwell and Race: Complicating Rockwell's Legacy
• Why Norman Rockwell Matters
• Facing Hard Realities: Rockwell's Hope for a Compassionate Society

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