Nigger Update. (If you think that is bad, kiddies, just wait until the next time I have to deal with the word nazis.)

Lancaster Ignorancer-Urinal: Downtown storefront art is fueling friction

A display in a downtown shop window has some city residents angry and offended.

But Sharyn Lesher, who has operated her vintage shop, Pop Deluxe, at 6 N. Prince St., for 14 years, said removing the art from her window would be censorship — even if that art makes her a little uncomfortable, too.

At issue is a piece by Lancaster artist Nikki Evans — specifically, a 40-ounce booze bottle with a red label that reads, "Nigga Killa, 33.3% mo crack." Under the writing is a sprawled-out figure.

Lesher said Evans, who could not be reached for comment Friday, is a friend who asked to display her art in the store window.

"It's been in there since First Friday," Lesher said. "I like to have art in the window. I don't particularly like the word either, but I wanted to believe people would have the ability to see past the word and think about what (Evans) was trying to get them to think about. I try not to suppress anyone's self-expression."

On Friday, Lancaster resident Tracy Lewis saw the display and was so upset by it that she called city police and confronted Lesher, who told her the artist is black.

What? She doesn't get a free pass because of her Melanin-American status?

"(Lesher) did explain that the artist is a black woman," Lewis said. "I said, 'I don't care who put it in there — it's wrong,' especially in this day and age. The word 'n-----' is not intelligent, no matter what color you are. That is very offensive. I was appalled."

Oh, right. She is not a famous Melanin-American like Snoop or Chris Rock. Only colored folks who rake in millions for white corporations can use "nigger" with impunity.

Dennis Johnson, an acquaintance of Lewis, said he also was outraged by the display, which includes several other pieces of Evans' work that reference black stereotypes.

"I'm probably taking it to the extreme, but I know racism is alive and well and living and breathing and walking amongst us in Lancaster," Johnson said. "And for it to be living and breathing and walking amongst us in Lancaster really gets me going."

"Probably"?

Lesher said some customers who "expressed concern" about the display were placated when she identified the artist as a black person.

See, kiddies? Many of us have internalized the double standard.

Friday, police took comments from Lewis and Lesher, but Lesher was not charged with any crime. Still, Lesher decided to add a note of explanation to the display after police left rather than remove Evans' art.

I wonder how many rapists and child abusers got away with it while Lancaster's finest were playing Word Police?

The sign quotes Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., chairman of African-American Studies at Harvard University: "Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice."

EEK! He referred to lynching! Racist.

Lesher added a few words of her own to Gates' quote: "Art should never be allowed to be censored; words only have the power we give them. Look past the word and contemplate the message."

Always remember, kiddies: "FEAR NO ART EXCEPT THAT WHICH IS FUNDED BY MONEY COERCED FROM TAXPAYERS" .

"In deference to taking the art down, I put a sign up," said Lesher, who is white. "Taking it down would have been censorship. That would have been letting the small minds win. I believe in self-expression, and (Evans) is making a statement about the use of words."


Johnson and Lewis are black. Both said they don't condone use of the word in any context, regardless of what race the speaker is.


However, both qualified that statement, saying use of the word among African Americans has a less cutting effect than it has when spoken by whites. And both questioned Lesher's actions, although, when asked, they said Evans also was to blame.

"It's not about self-expression. It's disrespectful to black people for a white woman to have that in her window," Lewis said. "I understand (Lesher) was trying to drum up controversy, but you do it in a way that doesn't show you're racist."

Racist. How do you know that window is white? White people can't own windows of color?

Johnson said he contacted Mayor Rick Gray's office Friday. Gray could not be reached for comment by the Intelligencer Journal.

That is the smartest thing Mayor Bow Tie has ever done.

Johnson said what he finds most offensive is that Lesher offered no apology and is ignoring complaints from the community she offended by not removing Evans' art. "(Lesher) has had it up for weeks, and she's done nothing about the complaints? She's the small-minded one," Johnson said.

"Don't blow it off as art. It may be art, but it's offensive art. If you've offended your community and your community is upset about it, what are you going to do about it?"

While Lesher said the point of art is to generate open discussion, [HOLY CRAP! Talk about the Death of the West! - F.G.] Lewis and Johnson said they are concerned about other possible fallout from the display. "(Mayor Gray) needs to be aware of this, and what he's going to do about it is the question," Johnson said.