An Exorcism of Hate, or an Exercise in Hate?

At first, nothing seems terribly out of the ordinary. Two of the University Museum’s galleries house the works of Alabama artist William Christenberry. One is filled with his renderings of trees. The other contains only a few larger pieces.

Two guards keep watch outside a section of the gallery cordoned off by a black and red curtain. The only real preview of what stands behind the curtain is an enormous painting on the wall near the entrance: angry white-clad figures splashed across a brilliant yellow background.

There are plaques, and handouts, and warnings. After reading them, this no longer seems like an ordinary art exhibit. One gets the sense that no one should ever step behind that curtain alone.

On the other side is Christenberry’s installation piece, the Klan Room Tableau. Visitors are surrounded by life-size drawings of hooded faces and miniature Klan dolls being lynched, tarred and stabbed with pins. These voodoo figures stare out of miniature jails and tiny coffins.

Holly Bethune, the museum’s curator of education, said she has never heard people use the word “creepy” as much as she has since the exhibit opened.

The project is based off Christenberry’s encounter with a fully robed and hooded Klansman more than 40 years ago. The artist refers to his work as an “exorcism,” a cleansing of the Old South’s racial injustice.

The artist’s violent hatred of the Klan is blatantly obvious in his work. While he is trying to dispel the Klan’s doctrine of hate, he is perpetuating hatred toward that group. In effect, he is saying that while it is not OK to hate minorities, it is perfectly acceptable to hate the people who hate minorities. 

In no way do I support the Klan. Those white-sheeted ghosts haunt my past along with that of any other white Southerner. The Klan hates without reason, while Christenberry has just cause to hate the Klan. They have perpetuated unspeakable crimes against African-Americans and other minorities for decades.

What I'm asking is this: is it logical to battle hate with hate? 

The answer I have reached, after much internal debate, is no. Christenberry's figures are tortured in effigy, and I cannot help but wonder if he would like to see real Klansmen subjected to the same treatment. Violence is still violence and hatred is still hatred, no matter who it is directed toward.