Town Destroyer | Trailer
Preview: Season 11 Episode 8 | 1m 23sVideo has Closed Captions
In an era of racial reckoning, a George Washington mural ignites a public art debate.
TOWN DESTROYER probes a passionate dispute over historic murals at a public high school depicting the life of George Washington: slaveowner, General, land speculator, President, and a man Seneca leaders called “town destroyer.” The controversy becomes a touchstone for a national debate over public art and historic memory in a time of racial reckoning.
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Major funding for America ReFramed provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding provided by Open Society Foundations,...
Town Destroyer | Trailer
Preview: Season 11 Episode 8 | 1m 23sVideo has Closed Captions
TOWN DESTROYER probes a passionate dispute over historic murals at a public high school depicting the life of George Washington: slaveowner, General, land speculator, President, and a man Seneca leaders called “town destroyer.” The controversy becomes a touchstone for a national debate over public art and historic memory in a time of racial reckoning.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- My son always tells me when we go into the school, "Mom, don't tell them I'm Native."
- [Natasha] This high school in San Francisco is home to a remarkable series of murals dating back to the 1930s.
- This mural is not historic.
It is a relic.
It is a remnant from a bygone era.
- We Indigenous people are not exotic people of paint and feathers to be ogled at.
- [Student] Students should never have to hear, "I'll meet you at the dead Indian."
- [Natasha] Now, it seems to have incited a heated debate about America's founders and the destruction of native peoples.
- Don't cover them up.
Let people see them.
Let's build an educational curriculum that responds to it.
- You censure these murals, where do we stop?
- [Parent] Our children deserve to come to a school where they feel honored and respected, and they feel safe.
- Because the trauma is real!
Why don't you believe the trauma is real?
- Art is a extraordinary, extraordinary and powerful instrument.
Art gets in the mind.
It deals with the mind.
- [Natasha] Town Destroyer on America ReFramed, watch on World Channel and in the PBS app.
Town Destroyer | Cultural Appropriation
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S11 Ep8 | 48s | What is America's secret obsession with Native Americans? (48s)
Town Destroyer | History's Impact: Trauma vs. Catalyst
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S11 Ep8 | 2m 32s | Whether it be a name or a monument, what harm can it bring? Or does it empower? (2m 32s)
Video has Closed Captions
Preview: S11 Ep8 | 30s | In an era of racial reckoning, a George Washington mural ignites a public art debate. (30s)
Town Destroyer | Reframing George Washington and History
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S11 Ep8 | 2m 3s | A mural exposes George Washington's ties to violence towards Native Americans and slaves. (2m 3s)
Town Destroyer | The Argument For & Against Art's Removal
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S11 Ep8 | 1m 27s | A San Francisco community testifies for & against the removal of murals in a high school. (1m 27s)
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Major funding for America ReFramed provided by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding provided by Open Society Foundations,...