Spec shouldn’t have published this opinion

RE: In defence of free artistic expression (May 18)

That a naive, ill informed writer writes in defence of a naive, ignorant and entitled white artist, is maybe not so surprising.

That the newspaper of a fairly major metropolitan centre (whose buildings rest on Anishinaabe lands), chose to disseminate this whitesplaining, is wrong and inappropriate for so many reasons. That the Hamilton Spectator would publish this opinion piece, on the heels of, and in light of, all of that’s been rightly (and wrongly) said on the topic of cultural appropriation in the last several days, is mind boggling.

This piece, guided as “in defence of freedom expression” and written in defence of an artist, who clearly appropriated and copied the work of Norval Morrisseau, highlights and perpetuates an all too common editorial view that supports the ongoing white colonialist appropriation of Canada’s indigenous culture.

I’m embarrassed/ashamed to be white and an artist living in Hamilton. Svava Juliusson, Hamilton