'Black humanity now:' City-sanctioned mural the talk of the town in Racine

RACINE - The latest work from an artist in Racine is creating a lot of buzz because its controversial location - was intentional.

“Black people are human and over the course of the history of America, we've forgotten that,” Scott Terry said.

Scott Terry

It's this line of thinking for artist Scott Terry that propelled him into creating his latest work.

“I wanted to do something different that’s unique to Racine. So I came up with the term, ‘Black humanity now!’" he said.

A street mural, in the city of Racine, that's about half a block in length simply says that phrase.

“This is my hometown. This is a city I'm passionate about and we wanted to create some change,” he said.

Words spilled out of a brush, have created quite a stir.

Not necessarily for what it says - but rather - where it was written.

“It just so happens to be right in front of the Racine County Courthouse and the Racine County Jail, and there's a lot of significance to that,” Terry said.

Significant placement isn't lost on one of the city leaders who unanimously passed it the other week.

“Two places where many people’s humanity can be taken away when they're determined to be called criminals or inmates - or whatever name that ultimately decides that they are no longer a person they’re something else,” said Racine Council President John Tate II.

Something that also makes this mural stand out from the rest. Because it was city-sanctioned - it’s defended with city muscle.

“So now, one of the things that protects it is if someone comes along and tries to vandalize it there would be consequences for that because this is here with the sanction of the city. And to do something that’s not that would ultimately be against the law,” Tate said.

As with other masterpieces before its time - major works are controversial.

But as far as this artist is concerned, if it gets you talking about black humanity - it worked.

Terry adds that the mural isn’t finished just yet. He is in talks with city leaders, trying to figure out a time when he and his team can come back out and put on the finishing touches.