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Robin DiAngelo and other critical race scholars consistently cite the fact that intent does not mitigate impact. Because we are a product of our times and our socialization, we may do and say things that are horribly racist and not understand why.
Folks invoke “intent” to negate the harm that individual and structural racism causes. Sorta like, “I didn’t mean to run over your cat, I was just pulling out of the driveway.” E.g. “get over it.”
Based on DiAngelo’s work, talking about “intent” is also a way of shifting the focus onto the folks who are identifying racist acts and away from taking responsibility for one’s participation in upholding white supremacy. givingcompass.org/article/white-…
I want to add ALL of us participate in this. It is embarrassing to admit, but I have said & done racist, homophobic, transphobic things, without intending to cause harm.
Instead of putting our energy into defending our behaviors by explaining our intentions, we must work on receiving feedback from those who are courageous enough to share it with us. Then we must take action.
I also want to add, we need to move past thinking about racism in simplistic “good/bad” binary ways. Human interactions are complex. I can be a good mom, a feminist and an ally to immigrants, and can still behave in problematic ways where it concerns the LGBT community.
Summing it up: I don’t think Arnautoff had a malicious intent in creating the murals. I don’t think he was a “bad” person. Nonetheless, his “Life of Washington” Murals have caused harm for decades.
A former Washington Alum shared stories of racism from teachers he experienced as a Black student at Washington HS during the 60’s. For example, a PE coach asked if he was fast because he had practice “running from police.” 😕
He expressed a view that the murals contributed to a toxic culture for Black students at the school. He said they reinforced negative stereotypes that were detrimental to his experience and well-being as a student.
What was most poignant for me was he brought this clipping mounted on cardboard as a reminder for the Board of Education that the murals had been a source of pain for Black students for a long time. The fact that he had obviously saved this clipping for over 40 years is telling. 
It is hard to listen when other say our actions (or things we enjoy, like art) cause others pain. It conflicts w/ our ideas about ourselves as “good people”. It’s imp. for all of us to consistently work on our own defensiveness so we can listen and take action to repair harm.
I encourage all of us to do this work. For anyone interested, I’d suggest reading “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo. You can learn a bit more about what she has to say on this topic in this interview on #whitefragility : blinkist.com/magazine/posts…
Another example of deflection. This article was published over 50 years ago. This is another way folks reject feedback from Black and Brown folks. It ignore the context of this conversation. For example bussing in SF didn’t start until the 70’s.
