Free Speech organizations condemn Daytona State College over alleged censorship of photo exhibit on police violence

---

Months after a photography exhibition at Daytona State College was canceled because of alleged HVAC issues, anonymous claims revealed that the true motive was the show’s content, which addressed racialized police violence in the United States.

Key Players

Jon Henry is a Black photographer and visual artist based in New York City. The central themes of his artwork revolve around family, sociopolitical issues, grief, trauma, and healing within the Black community. 

Daytona State College (DSC) is a public institution in Daytona Beach, Florida, approximately 55 miles north of Orlando. Daytona State has six regional campuses located throughout the surrounding counties.

The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) are nonprofit and nonpartisan organizations that advocate for civil liberties, particularly freedom of expression.

Further Details

From 2014 to 2021, Henry compiled his photographic series “Stranger Fruit” in response to the “senseless murders of black men across the nation by police violence.” Through his collection, Henry sought to embody the perspective of grieving mothers who had to endure the loss of their sons, with inspiration from Michelangelo’s “La Pieta,” depicting Mary holding the body of Jesus in her arms. In 2020, Henry won the Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture for this work. 

“Stranger Fruit” was scheduled to be displayed at DSC’s Southeast Museum of Photography (SMP) from Jan. 11 to April 15, 2023. Eric Gordon, former director of SMP, had begun coordinating the exhibition in 2021. The museum helped facilitate its funding from a Florida Division of Arts and Culture Grant. 

But on Dec. 16, 2022, SMP notified Henry they were experiencing HVAC malfunctions that had caused leaks in the building. As a result, his exhibition was to be postponed indefinitely.

Outcome 

Former SMP employees expose the actual reasons for the exhibit’s cancellation  

On Aug. 17, 2023, Henry uploaded an anonymous letter he had received on his Instagram – written by a former SMP employee who claimed the exhibition was canceled because the administration at DSC did not approve of it. 

The letter alleges that Thomas LoBlasso, the president of DSC, thought the content of “Stranger Fruit,” “especially the essence of what makes it so important . . . did not align with the school’s values.” The letter revealed that the college’s police academy factored into LoBlasso’s decision, as he “thought the show would call negative attention to the college and conflict with their educational program on training future police officers.”

“I believe administration would welcome an exhibition about police violence and racism on this level, but they would want it filtered to carefully follow the narrative they desire,” the letter continued. 

Henry captioned his post, saying, “This is the real cancel culture. Banning books, exhibitions, anything that goes against these fascist, white supremacist, police propaganda views. A complete joke. Not even a chance to represent my work and views. Everything just ignored to further maintain their narrative and rewrite of history.”

On Aug. 21, Hyperallergic, an online arts publication, published a report about the incident, citing an interview with another employee who attested that the letter was accurate. “[The museum leadership] told us the administration wanted us to tell anyone who was asking — visitors or employees of the college — that it was a flooding issue because of recent hurricanes, but that wasn’t the truth,” the employee said. 

In a request for comment, Chris Thomes, DSC’s marketing and communications director, told Hyperallergic that the SMP was experiencing water damage exacerbated by Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Nicole. 

“Repairs to the museum required portions of the facility, including the gallery where Mr. Henry’s works were to be shown, to be closed,” Thomes said. “Some of those repairs are ongoing to this day.” 

Thomes said that the museum paid Henry his retainer and covered the cost of shipping back his works, but reportedly, despite multiple inquiries, did not address whether the content of Henry’s exhibition factored into the cancellation. 

In a statement, Gordon indicated that, “If, as I suspect, the reason is simply that they did not want to upset Governor DeSantis and risk having funding withheld — a prevalent threat among Florida’s public institutions — that is, in my view, both an act of cowardice and censorship, something the Florida Governor claims he is adamant about protecting students from.”

Civil liberties coalition calls Daytona State College to action

On Sept. 11, the NCAC, the ACLU of Florida, and FIRE sent a joint letter to LoBlasso condemning the university for taking no further action after canceling the exhibition, suggesting that its lack of initiative supported the allegations that their real issue was the exhibit’s content.

The letter asserted that “as a public university bound by the First Amendment, Daytona State College may not censor artistic expression on campus, particularly where it sends a political message or addresses matters of public concern,” and urged the college to reschedule the exhibition at the earliest possible date, if its cancellation was in fact temporary and due to logistical reasons. 

“Henry’s exhibition should be considered relevant for DSC students – and especially those enrolled in the college’s police academy – precisely because it grapples with ongoing issues that plague the field of policing and society at large,” the letter said.

On Sep. 15, FIRE wrote an additional letter to LoBlasso and DSC, elaborating on its specific objections to the situation, and reminding them of their legal obligation to uphold free expression. 

“To censor this exhibit for its views concerning police violence represents impermissible viewpoint-based discrimination, which the Supreme Court has called an ‘egregious’ act of ‘censorship in its purest form,” FIRE wrote. “While DSC may advocate its own values and beliefs on contested social issues, it cannot restrict expression based on viewpoint,” it said, especially on a college campus where diversity of perspective should be encouraged. 

FIRE requested that DSC respond to its letter within two weeks, with confirmation that it would commit to upholding freedom of expression, avoid engaging in future viewpoint-based censorship, and reschedule Henry’s exhibit.