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The California Dream of Cultural Unity
![Rivera_CCSF_famous-slavery-abolishers-and-indian-crafts1919[1]](http://www.freetowrite.com/.a/6a00d834515d3569e201675f167bcb970b-320wi "Rivera_CCSF_famous-slavery-abolishers-and-indian-crafts1919[1]")
![Pan-american-unity-1940[1]](http://www.freetowrite.com/.a/6a00d834515d3569e20162fe2255a7970d-320wi "Pan-american-unity-1940[1]")
Diego Rivera’s, San Francisco mural Pan-American Unity undercuts the dream of cultural unitys while exposing the paradox of expectation. The mural victimizes women slumped over engaging in tedious industrial work. Blue collar workers in California endured great finical struggle and generational deaths because of oppression. Unraveling the idea that if California does not become culturally united a culture will suffer, white men are painted holding an abomination of slavery documents while standing over the tombstone of native Californians. The Californians “failure to live up to expectations” (Rawls 41)of the dream of cultural unity can be seen through the depiction of native Californian faces gradually turning into dead faces that ironically transform to the rocks that American congressmen stand over to discuss liberation. The paradox of expectation is dramatically exposed in Diego Rivera’s Pan-American Unity mural California by the depiction of the words liberty tree written in ethnic blood. Because California is a diverse community many cultures have had to died for Americans today to experience unity not. Many suffering Californians believed that coming to California would bring financial wealth and cultural unity but instead their culturally crucified and labeled as “Undocumented Worker”. This mural visually confronts the history of a diverse culture dying for the dream of culture unity in California to become alive. California is home to exploited workers and Native American slaves that have fought for generations by holding on their expectation to change California from cultural oppression to cultural unity.
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Work Citied
Rawls, James A. “California: A people, A place, A Dream.” California: A People, A Place, A Dream. Eds. Claudia K. Jurmain and James j. Rawls. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1986. 141-151. Print.
DIEGO RIVERA'S LAST BAY AREA FRESCO: PAN-AMERICAN UNITY (True fresco mounted on portable steel frames; 6.74 X 22.5 m.; 1940. Painted at Treasure Island; moved to City College of San Francisco)
