Free expression seems to be top of mind in the Bay Area these days. Ive been thinking about it, too but not in the context of how one should respond to a decadent disrupter whos chosen to threaten vulnerable people as part of his personal brand.

No, Ive been thinking not about Berkeley but about a quieter case in San Jose.

Thats where the Rev. Jeff Moore, a counselor at Independence High School in San Jose and president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley branch of the NAACP, was putting together the annual Black History Month display for the district office of East Side Union High School District.

Moore had seen and liked the work of Mark Harris, 47, a San Francisco painter and mixed-media artist. So he asked Harris to pull together a small exhibit of his work. Harris agreed. He drove down to San Jose and installed the work in the districts display cases on Jan. 30.

On Jan. 31, Harris woke up to a two-line email from Moore, saying that his work had been taken down.

So began a local censorship controversy thats stretched into a third week. Multiple media outlets have covered the story, and the National Coalition Against Censorship has taken an interest.

I should mention that Harris was an acquaintance of mine before any of this happened.

"Immigration Theory," a mixed-media piece by Mark Harris

"Immigration Theory," a mixed-media piece by Mark Harris

But my hunch is that Id probably have the same response even if I didnt know him: oh, no.

Pretty much, Harris said, Ive never had this happen before. Its disappointing because we have to tackle these issues if were going to come together as a country. And what better place to start this conversation than a school district?

Moore said hed hung Black History Month displays at the district for several years in a row, with no problems. Previous displays had been portraits of civil rights leaders, libraries of slave narratives and other pieces from Moores home.

This year, I thought these paintings were educational and gave us a chance to be in a dialogue with what America is talking about, Moore said.

The paintings are definitely political, verging on agit-prop: They juxtapose wholesome, 1950s-era kitsch images of white America with images of slavery, the Confederate flag and anti-police-brutality protests. These are certainly ideas that are in the public conversation.

I called Chris Funk, the superintendent who removed the paintings. He described the incident as a big misunderstanding.

This was an unfortunate incident that had nothing to do with Mark Harris, Funk said. It was about an employee who didnt have permission to display that work.

Moore didnt receive district approval for the contents of the display before inviting Harris to install his work, Funk said. After Harris left, Funk said he was called out of a meeting because parents and staff members had complained about the works content.

So he took all of it down.

When the public comes into the district office, they have an expectation that they shouldnt be surprised by provocative or political artwork, Funk said. Our responsibility is to provide a safe place for discussion, not to push an agenda.

Den of Iniquity, a mixed-media piece by Mark Harris.

Den of Iniquity, a mixed-media piece by Mark Harris.

I didnt find this convincing, for a few reasons. The first and most obvious reason is that children watch adults in classrooms push agendas each and every day.

The idea of a neutral, idea-free education may be a comforting one for adults, but no child would be naive enough to believe it, and theyre right.

The second reason I found Funks argument unconvincing is the matter of providing the specific students at East Side Union High School District with a safe place for discussion. East Side Union is a majority-minority school district 46 percent of the students are Latino, 34 percent are Asian. Only 8 percent of students are white, as is Funk.

How in the world, I asked him, can you say youre providing those students with a safe place for discussion if the political viewpoints of people of color African Americans, in this case are considered to be too controversial to be admitted?

Funk returned to the idea of a process that hadnt been followed.

The good news is that all of the attention inspired Harris and Funk to sit down and hammer out a solution. At 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15, the districts office will host a workshop with Harris, the students and their parents.

The workshop is open to all of the districts students, parents and with an RSVP the public. Harris plans to lead the students through a discussion of his work and ask them to talk about their own reactions.

Its a great moment to talk about these issues, and I want the kids to feel empowered to do so, Harris said. Weve been ingrained to not discuss this stuff, and its not healthy.

Tell me about it. If the district officials had been a little more comfortable talking about difficult issues, this entire mess could have been prevented.

Caille Millner is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cmillner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @caillemillner

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Censorship versus free speech at a very local level - San Francisco ... - San Francisco Chronicle