A University of Miami art professor has sparked outrage with her latest piece of art: three American flags fashioned into Ku Klux Klan hoods.
The display, which associate professor Billie Grace Lynn calls “American Mask,” has the hoods sitting on 6-foot, 5-inch poles with bases shaped like swastikas. Eye holes are burnt into the fabric.
The controversial artwork is on display until Nov. 12 at the University of Miami’s annual faculty art show.
According to Lynn’s personal website, her artwork suggests “that bigotry and racism are hiding behind our American flag.”
She claims to “point to our sad history of intolerance and violence” by using the shape of KKK hoods made from the American flags. Lynn hopes to “awaken citizens to the danger of confusing bigotry with patriotism.”
In the past, Lynn created a large, flying “Obama Kite.”
According to a UM News and Events site, Lynn explains her art is “addressing what’s going on in this country with how racists, the alt-right, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other bigots at large are using the American flag as a mask for their own beliefs.”
Lynn says that as a former girl scout who was taught to never let the flag touch the ground, she found it very painful to cut the flag and fashion KKK hoods.
“I consider myself a patriot, and I love this country. It was very painful for me to cut the flag to make it into that shape. But I think that’s what’s happening, the country is in pain,” she said.
“We’re being torn apart by believing that somehow having nationalistic pride is connected to being of a certain race, the white race, and the real truth of this country is that we’re a melting pot, people from all over the world with different beliefs, different orientations, different ideas. That’s what makes America great. And I don’t want the American flag to be taken as a symbol for white supremacy, and I think that is what’s happening and that’s a dark path to go down.”
