"Open to all people": upholding radical tolerance in commemorative spaces. Issue 1 (2nd January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Costantini, Rebecca A.
• Is Part Of: Communication and critical/cultural studies. Volume 19:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 37
• Page End: 53
• Publication Date: 2022-01-02
• Subjects: Hate incident -- tolerance -- radical tolerance -- commemorative space -- vandalism; Communication and culture -- Periodicals; Communication -- Periodicals; 302.205
• DOI: 10.1080/14791420.2022.2029514
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1479-1420

Abstract

ABSTRACT: On Friday, May 18, 2018, the grounds of Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas were splashed with white acrylic paint and littered with flyers containing a brief, targeted manifesto: "It's okay to be white." Through interviews with Rothko Chapel staff members, I explore the various tensions that arise from a commemorative space that upholds a policy of radical tolerance—that is, an elevated human virtue that attempts to transcend the limitations of mere tolerance by requiring a deeper reflexivity toward acts of hate and violence—becoming the subject of an intolerant, violent act that challenged the central values of its mission.