The Fabric of America exhibit at the Flomenhaft Gallery had many exquisite pieces of art, but I found the most attention grabbing artwork to be Roger Shimomura’s American vs. Disney Stereotypes. Shimomura, a Japanese Immigrant, uses this painting as an outlet for the discrimination he encountered during World War 2 when Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps. This painting is phenomenal in the way that it is relatable to all, not just Japanese Americans, because it features stereotypes of all races.

At first glance, this painting appears to be a happy, lively cartoon drawing. Familiar cartoon characters from Disney movies like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck are depicted using bright colors and are highly animated. I smiled when first viewing this painting because I was familiar with these characters and it looked like a fun, upbeat painting. A closer look reveals this painting is anything but happy with the realization that every character is stereotypically depicted. The Native American characters have skin that is colored a bright red and are depicted either smoking peace pipes or wearing feathered headpieces. The black characters are depicted with afros, big lips, and eating watermelon. The Asian woman has bright yellow skin.

After noticing the racist depictions of the characters, my attention was drawn to the center of the picture. The center figure is an Asian man that appears white in skin tone. He has a nervous look on his face and is cowering in fear due to all the stereotypes that are surrounding him. I remember thinking that the man must be Shimomura, and he must have felt so scared in the internment camps when all Japanese were viewed as stereotypically dangerous following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The real genius in this painting is that Shimomura was able to take a personal experience, and present it in a way that is familiar and personally appealing to people of all races, while still making the connection to his own life clear.