''The Problem We All Live With '' is a painting by

Norman Rockwell Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of the country's culture. Rockwell is most famous for the ...

that is considered an iconic image of the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It depicts

Ruby Bridges Ruby Nell Bridges Hall (born September 8, 1954) is an American civil rights activist. She was the first African-American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegreg ...

, a six-year-old

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

girl, on her way to William Frantz Elementary School, an all-white public school, on November 14, 1960, during the

New Orleans school desegregation crisis The New Orleans school desegregation crisis was a period of intense public resistance in New Orleans following the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in ''Brown v. Board of Education'' that racial segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. ...

. Because of threats of violence against her, she is escorted by four deputy U.S. marshals; the painting is framed so that the marshals' heads are cropped at the shoulders. On the wall behind her are written the racial slur "

nigger In the English language, the word ''nigger'' is an ethnic slur used against black people, especially African Americans. Starting in the late 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been progressively replaced by the euphemism , notably in cases ...

" and the letters "

KKK The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cath ...

"; a smashed and splattered tomato thrown against the wall is also visible. The white protesters are not visible, as the viewer is looking at the scene from their point of view. The painting is oil on canvas and measures high by wide.

History

US Marshals with Young Ruby Bridges on School Steps

The painting was originally published as a centerfold in the January 14, 1964, issue of '' Look''. Rockwell had ended his contract with the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'' the previous year due to frustration with the limits the magazine placed on his expression of political themes, and ''Look'' offered him a forum for his social interests, including civil rights and racial integration. Rockwell explored similar themes in Southern Justice (Murder in Mississippi) and ''New Kids in the Neighborhood''; unlike his previous works for the ''Post'', ''The Problem We All Live With'' and these others place black people as sole protagonists, instead of as observers, part of group scenes, or in servile roles. Like ''New Kids in the Neighborhood'', ''The Problem We All Live With'' depicts a black child protagonist; like ''Southern Justice'', it uses strong light-dark contrasts to further its racial theme. While the subject of the painting was inspired by Ruby Bridges, Rockwell used a local girl, Lynda Gunn, as the model for his painting; her cousin, Anita Gunn, was also used. One of the marshals was modelled by

William Obanhein William J. Obanhein (October 19, 1924 – September 11, 1994), also known as Officer Obie, was the chief of police for the town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. He was a member of the police force there for 34 years, 1951 to 1985. He is fairly ...

. After the work was published, Rockwell received "sacks of disapproving mail", one example accusing him of being a

race traitor Race traitor is a pejorative reference to a person who is perceived as supporting attitudes or positions thought to be against the supposed interests or well-being of that person's own race. The term is the source of the name of a quarterly magaz ...

Legacy

At Bridges' suggestion, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

had the painting installed in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

, in a hallway outside the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped roo ...

, from July to October 2011. Art historian William Kloss stated, "The N-word there – it sure stops you. There's a realistic reason for having the graffiti as a slur, utit's also right in the middle of the painting. It's a painting that could not be hung even for a brief time in the public spaces f the White House I'm pretty sure of that." Bridges and Obama viewed the painting together on July 15, 2011, and he told her, "I think it's fair to say that if it hadn't been for you guys, I might not be here and we wouldn't be looking at this together." A copy of the painting was used to "

dress A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice (or a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment). It consists of a top piece that co ...

" O. J. Simpson's house during his 1995 murder trial by defense attorney

Johnnie Cochran Johnnie Lee Cochran Jr.Adam Bernstei ''The Washington Post'', March 30, 2005; retrieved April 17, 2006. (; October 2, 1937 – March 29, 2005) was an American lawyer best known for his leadership role in the defense and criminal acquittal ...

. Cochran hoped to evoke the sympathy of visiting jurors, who were mostly black, by including "something depicting African-American history."Bernstein, Richard
"Shedding Light on How Simpson's Lawyers Won"
''The New York Times'', October 16, 1996.

References

External links

*
President Obama talking with Ruby Bridges, ''The Problem We All Live With'' painting
(YouTube.com-The White House channel)
Detailed record of the painting via the Norman Rockwell Museum website

2020 Vox.com article about Rockwell and the painting
{{DEFAULTSORT:Problem We All Live With, The Paintings by Norman Rockwell School segregation in the United States Art based on actual events Black people in art Works originally published in Look (American magazine) 1964 paintings Civil rights movement in popular culture Art in the White House

History

Legacy

See also

References

External links