Adrienne Rich - Letter Declining the National Medal of Arts lyrics

Dear Jane Alexander

I just spoke with a young
Man from your office
Who informed me that I had been chosen
To be one of twelve recipients
Of the National Medal for the Arts
At a ceremony at the
White House in the fall i told him at once
That I could not accept such an award
From President Clinton or this
White House because the
Very meaning of art, as I understand it
Is incompatible with the cynical politics
Of this administration i want
To clarify to you what I meant by my refusal

Anyone familiar with my work
From the early Sixties
On knows that I believe in art’s
Social presence as breaker
Of official silences, as
Voice for those whose voices are disregarded
And as a human birthright

In my lifetime I have seen the space for
The arts opened by movements
For social justice
The power of art to break despair over
The past two decades I have
Witnessed the increasingly brutal
Impact of racial
And economic injustice in our country

There is no simple formula for the
Relationship of art to justice but
I do know that art in my own case
The art of poetry means nothing if
It simply decorates the dinner table of power
Which holds it hostage the radical
Disparities of wealth and power
In America are
Widening at a devastating rate a President
Cannot meaningfully honor certain token
Artists while the
People at large are so dishonored

I know you have been engaged in a serious
And disheartening struggle to save
Government funding for the arts
Against those whose fear and suspicion of
Art is nakedly repressive in the end
I don’t think we can separate
Art from overall human dignity
And hope my concern for my
Country is inextricable from
My concerns as an artist i
Could not participate in
A ritual which would feel
So hypocritical to me

Sincerely, adrienne Rich
Cc: President Clinton