Culture Wars

Controversy.

The conservative climate of the United States during the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush set the stage for a series of controversies over the place of art in American culture. Many of these battles pitted members of the religious right against artists whose work they considered indecent, subversive, or blasphemous. Others were fought over issues of racism and patriotism, and some involved works of art long viewed as classics by the public at large. Inevitably most of these "culture wars" became political struggles, with proponents of "decency" and "moral values" butting heads with defenders of artistic expression and the right to free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Helms versus the NEA.

When the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) came up for a five-year budget review in 1989, it came under fire from Sen. Jesse Helms, a conservative...

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