Carter, Robert L., 1988-1989
Scope and Contents
Includes a 1989 letter from Robert Lee Carter, civil rights activist and judge for the Southern District of New York, who became a trustee of The New School in 1988, expressing his dismay at how New School board members and faculty reacted to a controversy in which a racist depiction became part of an exhibition of logos and pop cultural images by Japanese designer Shin Matsunaga at Parsons School of Design. Carter details that board members and faculty believed that removing the piece would encourage censorship, and instead of removing the piece the board had discussed punishing poet and New School faculty member, Sekou Sundiata, who had expressed his dissent by drawing an “X” directly onto the Matsunaga image. Carter suggests that the board and faculty members undergo racial sensitivity awareness training.
Dates
- 1988-1989