The Etownian >> Features
THEM exhibition opens, shows “us vs. them” mentality
Thursday February 21 2008
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”These words, spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr., are the basis for THEM: Images of Separation. The exhibit opened in the High Libray Tuesday, Feb. 19. It is accessible to everyone from the Elizabethtown campus and community, as well as the public.
At Tuesday’s opening, the night started with Elizabethtown’s own Fully Devoted Gospel Choir, directed by Rachel Hadrick, Coordinator of Multicultural Programs and Residential Communities in the Office of Diversity.
The gospel choir, Fully Devoted, gave a moving performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” the national Negro anthem. The audience received lyric sheets so they could sing along with Fully Devoted. As the song continued and interests were aroused, more seats began to fill, totaling about three dozen attendees.
After the performance, Louise Hyder-Darlington, Access Services Librarian of High Library, addressed the audience by welcoming them and explaining a bit about the exhibit. THEM is a traveling exhibit of the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University in Michigan, and it is currently on loan to Elizabethtown through the joint sponsorship of the Office of Diversity and of the Provost. THEM utilizes stereotypes and negative imagery found in everyday items to provoke thought and ultimately, change.
Hyder-Darlington went on to invite the attendees to help themselves to chocolate-covered strawberries, drinks and other catered treats, saying with a laugh, “This is a rare event; you can carry food around the library!”
She also explained that handouts about the exhibit are available at the library’s circulation desk. In addition, the library is keeping a guestbook of THEM patrons in which those who view the exhibit can write about their thoughts and experience.
Following this welcome, Dean of Students Marianne Calenda stood up to speak. She asked audience members to share why they decided to come to the exhibit’s opening. One woman from Hershey was intrigued by an advertisement in her local paper, while others came for one of their classes. Several members of the Residence Life staff attended, citing the exhibit’s importance.
Calenda also acknowledged that some of the images in the exhibit may be controversial or spark conversation on campus, and she welcomed this forum for debate and discussion.
“Consider times when you yourself have felt like the ‘other,’” Calenda said. “The kinds of images [in this exhibit] help us understand ourselves, and therefore, we can better relate to other people.”
Before the audience was officially invited to explore the exhibit, Provost Susan Traverso also welcomed the crowd and spoke briefly. She thanked Diane Elliott, Director of Diversity, for her initiative and perseverance in bringing THEM to Elizabethtown.
Immediately following, the audience began to view the different images and artifacts that comprise THEM. Each panel of the exhibit shows how material objects in everyday popular culture encourage and justify an “us vs. them” mentality.
This mindset involves seeing differences as inferiorities and putting people into categories of us (good) and them (bad).
Throughout the evening, Fully Devoted continued to fill High Library with spiritual and moving music.
Some of the more powerful displays in THEM involved very simple posters or magazine ads that clearly promote racial stereotypes. One panel showed the Tokio Kid, a Japanese character of 1940s magazines that reflected — and fueled — the anti-Asian sentiments of World War II.
While it can be easy to write this and other older memorabilia off as mistakes of the past, another poster — one from 2005 — is not so easily dismissed. This display, purchased from www.whitehouse.org, depicted an Arab man and read, “Die, Raghead, Die!”
THEM will be on display in the library until next Tuesday, Feb. 26. Additional information about the Jim Crow Museum and its mission can be found online at www.ferris.edu/jimcrow.
Traverso believes that THEM is an important exhibit for many reasons, but high among these is its existence as a catalyst for change.
“In a nation that prides itself on diversity, we put people in boxes and call them ‘other,’” she said. “It’s part of our history — but undoing it is also part of our history.”
The Etownian >> Features