Three Art Pieces - Racism, Homophobia, and Sexism

by Wendy G. Turner, PhD, MSW

The School to Prison Pipeline

     This artpiece, created in 2018, addresses the disproportionate incarceration of Black youth. 

     Schools are charged with educating our youth; however, zero tolerance policies are removing hundreds of thousands of youth from school settings and feeding them directly into the criminal justice system. African American and Latino youth are disproportionately affected by these policies and procedures. This practice, dubbed the school-to-prison pipeline, criminalizes students of color and fosters the behavior it is intended to prevent.

     This assemblage art uses two boxes connected by galvanized pipe, representing the classroom and the jail cell. The apple, a symbol of the education system, also represents the nurturance schools should provide. However, as the artifact from segregation states, persons of color are only served “to go.”  Another symbol of racism, the Sambo character, is eating in the prison, having taken his food through the Pipeline.

Lavender Scare

     This artpiece, created in 2019, represents the discrimination against LGBTQ persons by the U.S. government.

     Shrouded in fears of Communism, in 1953, U.S. President Eisenhower enacted Executive Order 10450, which barred homosexuals from federal employment. This led to the mass firing of more than 5,000 LGBTQ+ persons, including members of the military. This was dubbed the “Lavender Scare,” as it was a branch of the “Red Scare” taking place at the time. Government officials feared that persons who were homosexual would be easily blackmailed by Communists and should not have access to top-secret government or military information, as they may become spies. This discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons overtly continued until 1995, when Eisenhower’s order was overturned by then President Bill Clinton. In 2009, then President Barack Obama issued a memorandum to government departments and agencies, offering further non-discrimination benefits to federal employees that are LGBTQ+.

     The piece illustrates the United States and its policy literally dumping its “lavender” military members, while enveloped in the red box of Communism.

The 79 Cent Epiphany

     This piece, created in 2016, illustrates the gender wage inequality in the United States.

     The gender pay gap is the average difference in pay for men and women. When this piece was created, women earned 79 cents for every $1.00 earned by a man. Many factors create this disparity, including discrimination, undervaluing of women’s work, occupational segregation, and the motherhood penalty.

     An old divided tray houses the vintage wedding toppers, perched on stacks of pennies representing their pay difference. The light bulb represents the epiphany of society as it is recognizing this systemic marginalization of women.

Wendy G. Turner is an Associate Professor and the Director of the BSW Program at the University of Southern Indiana. In her free time, she uses her assemblage art to further discussion and awareness of issues involving social, economic, and environmental injustices.