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...Exactly what I want is that when I say dignity and when I say truth and when I say beauty. I want,these are universal kinds of things that all men aspire to, that are within all men. So that I'm addressing myself to people. For instance I relate, what I relate is difficult for white people to quite see it in this universal character. I can see, I mean I can understand say that somebody saw it purely, and they do. I get this sense of dignity. I don't always get it because somebody's always asking me, "Why don't you paint white people? Don't you paint anybody other than Negroes?" Which to me indicates that they show lack of understanding or perceptiveness about this. But the point is that I have, as a Negro in America, I've related to images that had broader symbolic meaning, in spite of the fact that the image may be white. So, for instance you know that the Statue of Liberty is a nationally known symbol. We know what that Statue of Liberty symbolizes. We know exactly what it means.

...No but it's a white...it certainly has Caucasian features on it, you know. But I can accept the image as a symbol of what the intent is without saying "Why can't it be a black face?" You know, there are thousands of images we have.

...Well, so since I always feel, I think that an artists does meaningful painting when he draws upon that which is closest to him. And to use that as a springboard to deal with a more broadened, all-encompassing...

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