Last week someone purchased George Zimmerman's artwork for over $100,000. That same day, artist Michael D'Antuono received an email from eBay notifying him that his A Tale of Two Hoodies painting had violated the website's "Hateful or Discriminatory policy" and had been removed. In an email to Raw Story, D'Antuono explained that the art was removed because eBay felt it was "promoting or glorifying hatred, violence, or racial or religious intolerance" and because of the KKK imagery.
D'Antuono did not appreciate the hypocrisy, writing on his "Art and Response" blog: "While Zimmerman was allowed to capitalize on his ill-gotten notoriety, I was denied the opportunity to raise funds to help the very foundation named in honor of Zimmerman's victim... I feel ebay failed to see the forest from the trees on this one. In my opinion, any policy that allows a murderer to profit from his crime, but deems art that speaks out against racial injustice and benefits it's victims 'hateful and discriminatory' needs to be reevaluated."
The artist is now accepting direct bids for the piece and will give 50% of the proceeds going toward the Trayvon Martin Foundation.
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[via HyperAllergic]
