This body is assigned to develop "decency standards" for determining how public funds should or should not be spent in support of art exhibitions that the Catholic Church or others might find offensive.

The works of Latino, gay and lesbian artists also stand out as frequent targets. Given the variety of stories and themes explored in the works involved, the perception, "racially offensive," can be based on only one thing: The authors and their subject matter are Black.

Art, by its very nature, is challenging. It challenges the artist to construct, refine and communicate a vision of the world and of experience.

It challenges the viewer or reader to enter into, and decipher the terms of, that vision.

In a racialized climate where Euro-American perceptions, interpretations, judgments and versions of history are assumed to be the only norms and standards against which all things should be measured, Black artists' expressions pose enormous challenges to the likes of Rudolph Giuliani.

Failing to rise to the challenge in a constructive way, the Mayor has been inspired, instead, to create another tool for perpetuating institutional racism, as well as a tool for unwarranted government intrusion into the realms of morality and taste.

Let the record show that when we call for Black liberation, the Black Radical Congress is also calling for freedom for Black artists -- and all artists -- from the narrow-minded impositions of would-be tyrants and their sycophants.

Talk show host Jay Leno, according to an April 10 report on CBS News radio 88, allegedly labeled the Mayor a "fascist" for establishing the decency panel, and a group called the National Ethnic Coalition is supposedly leading a letter- writing campaign to wring an apology from Leno.

Since when, we would like to know, is the term fascist considered an ethnic slur? It is a legitimate, historically -based political characterization of someone who is anti-democratic, authoritarian and dictatorial.

It is an apt description of a Mayor who has more than once indicated his appreciation for the use of racist police-state tactics against New Yorkers of color.

As for the Mayor's assaults on New York's cultural institutions, the language and form of those assaults - and this is what Leno most likely had in mind -- invite direct comparison with Adolph Hitler's condemnations of some of Germany's finest art and artists, culminating in the infamous "Degenerate Art" show that the Nazis staged in Berlin in 1933. Consistent with Nazism's major theme, artists of Jewish background were prominent among those whose work was stamped "degenerate."

A few years ago, at a SoHo art gallery opening, one of the featured works was supposed to include, with other elements, two live lesbians conversing and fondling one another.

Just before Showtime, the women slated to appear in that work backed out. Desperate but thinking quickly, the curator rushed outside to address a long line of art lovers waiting for the doors to open.

"We have a problem," said the curator, "and we wonder if any of you can help." Hearing that substitutes were needed for the live exhibit, two young women stepped out of the line to volunteer their services.

Get it, Rudy? THAT'S WHY we love New York.

Black Radical Congress National Office Columbia University Station P.O. Box 250791 New York, NY 10025-1509 Phone: (212) 969-0348 Email: blackradicalcongress@email.com Web: www.blackradicalcongress.org

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