Our View: Wrong message

Vexed by a controversial Depression-era mural in Boise, a legislative task force in Idaho could have picked from several courses of action. It picked inaction.

And that was the worst option of all.

Within the mural – 26 murals, actually – one scene shows an American Indian about to be lynched. It was an event out of the artist’s imagination, but it likely had roots in fact. The paintings were done in the 1930s under the Works Progress Administration and became part of the interior decor of the old Ada County Courthouse.

Now that the Idaho Statehouse is to be remodeled and the old courthouse is to serve as the Legislature’s temporary quarters, the state is in an awkward position on account of that unsettling image on walls that thousands of Idahoans and other legislative visitors will be streaming past next January.

The murals have historic significance, so there’s resistance to the idea of painting over them. They’re glued to the walls and therefore at risk of damage if they were to be removed and stored elsewhere.

A state judge once ordered that U.S. and state flags be positioned to hide the objectionable scene, but the court no longer meets there. Some have suggested erecting a false wall that would screen the murals from the public.

When leaders of Idaho’s Indian tribes viewed the paintings and offered their suggestions, the consensus was that they be preserved but moved to another location. In lieu of that, an interpretive sign should be put in place to explain the historic context.

But the legislative task force has decided to do nothing. The murals will stay in place. No screening. No interpretive sign.

Those who come and go on official business, or as sightseers, or as student groups on field trips, or for whatever purpose, will see this portrayal of racial conflict in much the same way the painter saw it. Just a piece of history, like logging and mining and plowing, that helped shape Idaho.

Like people, cultures must mature. They make mistakes, learn from them and become more responsible. Attitudes about different cultures provide one arena for that kind of growth.

If the seat of state government – even if it’s a temporary seat – affords visitors an unapologetic and unexplained depiction of some of the worst of the region’s past misconduct, it risks sending a message that attitudes haven’t changed all that much.

The murals that WPA artists painted on government buildings throughout the West were known for celebrating the accomplishments of the pioneers who settled the region. Today’s Idaho knows what the WPA muralist of the 1930s didn’t – that racist brutality was nothing to celebrate.

The legislative task force should reconsider its decision and take steps to either conceal the insensitive mural or explain it. To do nothing at this point would be widely interpreted as having learned nothing.