Irvin Weathersby Jr., "In Open Contempt: Confronting White Supremacy in Art and Public Space" (Viking, 2025)

Episode overview: confronting white supremacy in public art

In this episode Irvin Weathersby Jr. unpacks how monuments, plantation tourism, and public sculpture shape American memory and racial hierarchy. He blends memoir, art criticism, and Atlantic history to show why symbols are not static and how public spaces reproduce or resist white supremacy.

How to read Confederate memorials and public sculptures

Weathersby encourages listeners to treat Confederate monuments, Mount Rushmore, and other public sculptures as aesthetic systems that carry deliberate narratives. He explains the role of scale, location, and design in communicating power, and why the question "take down or contextualize?" matters for long-term civic education and restorative justice.

Plantations, visibility, and plantation tourism history context

The conversation examines plantation visitations like Monticello, Whitney, and Nottoway Plantation, and considers the complexities of destruction, reclamation, and spiritual meaning. Weathersby critiques the commodified "plantation as wedding venue" industry, urging a reframing of these sites as places for memory, accountability, and reparative practice.

Scale, absence, and the politics of visibility

Listeners learn about the twin dynamics of hypervisibility and invisibility: the monumental visibility of Confederate statues versus the near-invisibility of memorials for victims like Breonna Taylor. Weathersby uses the metaphor of an amputated pedestal to describe Monument Avenue’s ghostly presence and argues for thoughtful interventions—both removal and added context—that promote learning rather than erasure.

Personal lens: memoir, teaching, and public engagement

Rooted in New Orleans memory and shaped by living in Brooklyn, Weathersby describes his own encounters with white supremacy, near-police stops, and spiritual visitations at historic sites. He explains why he chose a hybrid form—memoir plus cultural analysis—over a strictly academic text, to reach readers who need emotional access to history.

Why this episode matters: It offers practical ways to question public memory, evaluate monuments' design and placement, and consider reparations and visual reparation as pathways to collective healing. Ideal for educators, local leaders, museum professionals, and people curious about how public art shapes social narratives.