Can white artists understand the racial traumas people of color undergo in America enough to apply them to their work? Creating art about cultures other than your own — especially of populations that have been marginalized or oppressed — has once again come under fire. The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis decided to dismantle a sculpture that proved particularly offensive and painful to the Native community in that city. The installation "Scaffold" by artist Sam Durant depicts parts of actual scaffolds and gallows used in government-sanctioned executions of Native Americans, including the hanging of 38 Dakota men in 1862. That was a federally ordered execution by President Abraham Lincoln. A very different reaction happened when the celebrated Whitney Biennial featured a painting of Emmett Till in his open casket. Although there was significant blowback , the Whitney kept "Open Casket" on display because the Biennial's co-curators, Christopher Y. Lew and Mia Locks, said artist Dana
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