In Your Face: Dread Scott “Welcome to America”

Political artist Dread Scott’s latest exhibition, “Welcome to America,” has been the source of controversy since its opening February 28 at the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) in Brooklyn. The exhibit, which spans almost 20 years of Scott’s work, points to the continuing racial violence perpetrated by the United States: the effects of the “War on Terror” at home and abroad; the devastation of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and police brutality.

One piece in particular, “The Blue Wall of Violence,” has garnered attacks by both the mainstream media and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA). On the wall are six shooting targets with outstretched arms holding actual objects, such as a wallet or house keys, that the NYP D allegedly mistook for a weapon in various police shootings of black males. Originally created in the late 1990s in response to the numerous killings of unarmed black men by the NYP D, “The Blue Wall of Violence” is, unfortunately, as relevant as ever: the exhibit began the same week as the Sean Bell murder trial. [MORE]