We Want Beer
Admin took away our beer. On Wednesday, October 14 our freedom of expression was taken when our watercolor mug drawing that read in big black letters “I like Beer -Brett Kavanaugh” was brought down.
The presence of our painting was an improbable one. We both take an online math class during period 5, but the flexibility of the course and the permission of Ms. Castañeda is why you can find us in A203 Art Painting. The purpose of “I Like Beer” was to mock the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s appalling behavior at the Senate Judiciary hearings in which he answered against allegations of sexual assault.
The poster hung over the whiteboards of the main hallway between the A and B wings for one week. School officials took the watercolor down because it “promoted alcohol” to students who did not get the political reference. This was probably due to the “I Like Beer” list beside it that was made as a joke by students who wanted to report those who agreed with Kavanaugh’s statement.
On the bottom half of the whiteboard, there was a different story. Ms. Ward left us comments, and we were engaging in an academic conversation about the nature of our piece. This is exactly what we wanted to happen with our art. We wanted to bring attention to an issue that ASFM students might not be familiar with, and we also wanted to see what others thought of the controversial political event.
As high schoolers, we don't believe that seeing a beer painting at school will turn us into alcoholics, nor promote any additional risky behaviors, and if the school thinks otherwise then we would think there is a bigger problem at hand.