On the same weekend eBay allowed George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, to sell his painting for $100,099, they removed a painting by an artist named Michael D'Antuono who was depicting his artistic opinion of the Zimmerman case, RawStory.com reported.
According to D'Antuono, his oil-based painting which depicts a KKK hooded man wearing a police uniform pointing a gun at a young African American boy in a white hoodie who is pointing a bag of skittles back at him, is his artistic opinion of an "injustice," and he is now critisizing eBay on misunderstanding the meaning behind the anti-racist painting for being racist, RawStory.com reported.
On Dec. 21, Zimmerman sold an 18 by 24 inch painting under the eBay name "therealgeorgez" and also said in the section which gives more information about the item being sold that "whoever wins within the Continental United States, will receive this painting deliver by me personally," according to RawStory.com.
The section also informed the buyer that Zimmerman's painting was made from "regular household latex paint," and that he "needed to put these visions onto the blank canvas as soon as possible," according to RawStory, which added he currently owes his lawyers $2.5 million.
D'Antuono's painting, titled "A Tale of Two Hoodies," was on it's second day of a seven day auction in which half of the proceeds would go to the Trayvon Martin Foundation. The current bid amount was at $25,000, Raw Story reported.
In an email sent by eBay to D'Antuono, the online bidding company stated the painting violated the websites rules which states "[i]tems promoting or glorifying hatred, violence, or racial or religious intolerance aren't allowed. Items that promote organizations with these views are also prohibited," according to RawStory.
The email was posted on D'Antuono's blog, Art and Response, where he shared his thoughts on why "Zimmerman was allowed to capitalize on his ill-gotten notoriety, [whereas] I was denied the opportunity to raise funds to help the very foundation named in honor of Zimmerman's victim," RawStory reported.
The email from eBay also stated that "[t]he painting you listed appears to contain images or icons associated with the KKK which are not allowed to be listed on our site as they represent an organization that glorifies hate and violence," RawStory reported.
D'Antuono also posted on his blog the numerous postings that appear when a buyer types in KKK into the eBay search box, shining light on an inconsistent policy.
The artist who states he was merely expressing his opinion on the matter was "outraged" eBay would consider his criticisms of a hate-group and racism as a piece of art which is promoting what he is outraged against, according to RawStory.
He also said he will continue to sell the piece on his own and will still donate half the proceeds to the Trayvon Martin Foundation.
