The family of famed artist Norman Rockwell is not happy with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
That is because DHS has been using Rockwell’s work in social media posts “for the cause of persecution toward immigrant communities and people of color,” according to The Hill.
The family — including Rockwell’s son, grandchildren and great-grandchildren — wrote an opinion piece in “USA Today” stating the artist would be “devastated” that his work was being used that way.
The family noted three of Rockwell’s paintings “appeared without authorization” in posts from the department.
“Protect our American way of life,” was a DHS post on Facebook in August. It included an image of Rockwell’s 1971 painting “Salute the Flag.”
In another post, an image of Rockwell’s work is shown with a quote from former President Calvin Coolidge — “Those who do not want to be partakers of the American spirit ought not to settle in America.”
Rockwell painted “more than 4,000 works during his career, many of them depicting what are considered classic scenes from 20th century American life: Boy Scouts, doctor visits, squabbling couples, soda shops, soldiers returning from war, linemen and so much more,” the family said.
“From 1916 to 1963, he regularly painted covers for the Saturday Evening Post, which by and large depicted only White people,” the family wrote.
“The scarcity of people of color in Rockwell’s paintings has led those who are not familiar with his entire oeuvre to draw the conclusion that his vision was of a White America, free of immigrants and people of color. But nothing could have been further from the truth,” it continued.
Rockwell, according to the family, was “profoundly shaken by the injustices toward Black Americans that were brought to the forefront during the Civil Rights Movement” and “felt an urgent need to raise his voice against the racism and injustice he witnessed all around him.”
A DHS spokesperson said it “will continue using every tool at its disposal to keep the American people informed as our agents work to Make America Safe Again.”
Rockwell died in 1978.
“If Norman Rockwell were alive today, he would be devastated to see that not only does the problem Ruby Bridges confronted 65 years ago still plague us as a society, but that his own work has been marshalled for the cause of persecution toward immigrant communities and people of color,” the family wrote.
“We — as his eldest son, grandchildren and great-grandchildren — believe that now is the time to follow in his footsteps and stand for the values he truly wished to share with us and all Americans: compassion, inclusiveness and justice for all,” the family stated.
