Rollins, Orlando Weekly Promote Racist Art Exhibit

Orlando Weekly's latest cover cover once again proves that the publication remains out of touch with the majority of Orlando area residents, including many moderates and conservatives living in greater Central Florida communities.

Rollins recently sponsored the "Common Ground" exhibit featuring many anti-American and anit-white works. One such exhibit, A Pack of Lies, attacks alleged "white privilege advantages" and so-called cultural fallacies.

A simple look at American sports' teams, Rollins' own campus and even late night television disbands this idea completely.

Recently black comedian JB Smoove, filling in for Jimmy Kimmel, engaged in overt anti-white racism on live television: "When I'm hosting, Black people don’t sit in the back, they sit in the front," Smoove said as he then proceeded to move a white couple to the back of the audience.

We dare not imagine the backlash from the media were Kimmel to state the opposite on his show: "When I'm hosting, White people don’t sit in the back, they sit in the front."

But what's even more egregious is the exhibit's lopsided approach to analyzing the American experience in World War II. The shame of Japanese internment in the United States during the war has long been recognized, and Keiko Ichi does well in accomplishing just that. But on the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, instead of honoring the heroes of that day, or the far more brutal experience American POWs underwent in Japanese concentration camps, the college (and by extension Orlando Weekly), decided to reprimand and disparage our nation's legacy and achievements, emphasizing a darker moment during a time many consider to be the country's finest hour.

All mediums and demographics of art deserve representation at our museums and there's no shortage of local artists of color to for Rollins to choose from. Dozens of great African American artists, musicians and writers such as Zora Neale Hurston have called the Central Florida community home both in the past and present. With such a rich arts community in our area, it is truly outrageous for the college to praise and promote such a political and divisive exhibit.

Orlando Weekly's demagoguery is to be expected. But with many members of the Rollins Board of Trustees aligning with the conservative column, students and the community demand greater respect and representation.