Governor gives resolute response to demands she remove kids’ cross chalk drawing
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Children pose with their chalk artwork in front of the Arkansas governor’s mansion in June 2023 (Courtesy Facebook / Sarah Huckabee Sanders)
(FAITHWIRE) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) is rebuffing an organization’s demands she remove a cross-inspired chalk design her children placed on the grounds of the governor’s mansion.
Sanders, daughter of former pastor and Arkansas politician Mike Huckabee, also said she has no plans to hide her Christian faith.
The debate kicked off June 26, when the governor shared a photo on her Facebook page showing a colorful cross her kids designed with chalk.
“New artwork to welcome people into the governor’s mansion!” Sanders wrote. “So proud of how hard the kids worked and how well their masterpiece turned out!”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FSarahHuckabeeSanders%2Fposts%2Fpfbid031TVmkDLx2BaSz3FuSq7dqwnK2LLFM7ixDKvYXGZy4g76gmFzHVrrHFTZ8w1YXZcWl&show_text=true&width=500
The children’s artwork was met with much praise. However, some — including activists at Americans United For Separation of Church and State (AU) — were less-than-enthralled and expressed concerns over a perceived violation of the First Amendment.
“We have received a complaint regarding a large depiction of a Latin cross at an entrance to the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion,” AU wrote in a June 28 letter to Sanders, citing her Facebook post. “As a government building, the Governor’s Mansion exists to welcome guests regardless of faith or belief.”
AU went on to proclaim the promotion of “one religion over others through a religious display at an entrance to the Mansion sends the impermissible message that those who do not share the favored faith are unwelcome and will be treated differently.”
The organization said Sanders and her family are free to create “religious imagery” in private areas throughout the home, but the grounds and an entrance are not places where such images should be permitted.
AU believes the chalk display violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.
“We therefore ask that you remove the display and refrain from placing similar displays in public
areas of the Mansion in the future,” AU wrote.
