Why Did Google Ban Winslow Homer?
The artist's sketches of Confederate soldiers aren't “dangerous or derogatory content"—they're historical evidence.
Claudia Strauss-Schulson has been running Schulson Autographs, which sells historical documents like letters signed by presidents or a doodle by Marlon Brando, for around 15 years. Strauss-Schulson, speaking to me from Millburn, Ne…
Mickel Knight
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7d
I was given a month's suspension from Facebook for posting unacceptable things. The post? A meme posted on D-day with two pictures. On one side Hitler doing his open-handed salute. The other Churchill holding up the peace sign. The caption was "Scissors beats paper".
Thinking my post must have been flagged by a bot, I appealed. My appeal was denied just a few minutes later. Either my post was never seen by a human, or said human was a complete idiot. I tried elevating the issue but that went nowhere. I was given a month-long suspension. I personally gave Facebook a lifetime suspension.
James Radebaugh
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6d
One of Winslow Homer’s most famous paintings depicts a lone black man lying on the deck of a sailboat with a broken mast. The wind and the waves are kicking up, and the boat is surrounded by sharks. The symbolism is obvious. Homer’s sympathy for black Americans is obvious. Winslow Homer is an artist for all Americans to cherish.
If any of the Google coders responsible for Homer’s digital denunciation happen to see these words, know that we see you for what you are. You are small. You don’t understand art. And truth be told, you don’t really like humanity very much, do you?