American Model addresses the reality that white supremacy, woven into the United States enterprise since its founding, is tearing the country apart, once again. After witnessing the January 6th attack on the Capitol I was struck by the similarities between historic racist ideologies and versions wielded by those in power today. Jim Crow Laws in America and the Nuremberg Laws originating in Germany—the latter directly inspired by the United States—simultaneously stripped childhood from my parents, though they lived worlds apart in Boston and Warsaw (Poland). Likewise, large swaths of Americans and immigrants, including countless children, are suffering under dehumanizing political tactics that deny their right to belong, develop and prosper.
Every family narrative is rooted in history. The artifacts in these works dissolve the boundary between past and present. American Model exists to bring people together in order to share and learn from each other’s American stories and to stand in solidarity with the ever-growing populations under attack. Our country’s spectrum of faiths, cultures and blended future is not a vulnerability—it is Americas superpower. I cling to the hope that our country is not frayed beyond repair and that our shared humanity will ultimately stabilize and fulfill the American Experiment.