NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - In a story April 1 about complaints spurring changes to a Derek Mason mural, The Associated Press reported erroneously the last name of the Vanderbilt University NAACP chapter president. Her name is Akailah Jenkins, not Harris.
A corrected version of the story is below:
Derek Mason mural to be changed after complaints
Derek Mason mural to be changed after NAACP complaints about portrayal of Vanderbilt coach
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - After complaints from the Vanderbilt University chapter of the NAACP, a mural of football coach Derek Mason will be retouched.
Vanderbilt chapter president Akailah Jenkins told The Tennessean (https://tnne.ws/1jQ3To2) members started a petition because they feel the portrait is “reminiscent of the minstrelsy era in which black people’s skin was darkened and their lips were made whiter in order to exaggerate their race.”
Muralist Michael Cooper said he was working off of a very dark photograph. He said he painted what was in the photo, but he has since seen other photographs of Mason.
He told the paper, “I would sign the petition based just on that difference.”
Vanderbilt fans Fant Smith and Craig Savage commissioned the $2,500 mural. They confirmed that Cooper will make alterations to the work.
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