'32 MURAL TIMELIER THAN EVER.

Byline: MICHAEL BARADI Local View

WITHIN a year after ``La America Tropical,'' the mural on Olvera Street, was unveiled in 1932, it was painted out.

The mural's main image, according to Olvera-street.com, is an Indian peon, ``representing oppression by U.S. imperialism,'' crucified on a double cross capped by an American eagle.

An armed peasant and a farmer ``sit on a wall in the upper right corner, ready to defend themselves.''

The mural's vision of struggle against imperialism was inappropriate for downtown Los Angeles' bustling commercial energy. But more significantly, the mural's communist sensibilities appeared to alienate L.A. from America's self-image then as a growing imperial power.

On the other hand, what exactly did the mural's matron, Christine Sterling, expect from that mural's artist, who was a member of the Mexican Communist Party? The mural's artist, David Alfaro Siqueiros, was expelled from Mexico in 1932 for his militant political beliefs.

The paint over the mural began to peel in the 1960s.

The peeling appeared like an unpredicted but timely reappearance and metaphor for a time when political movements aggressively questioned the powers of ``the establishment'' to peel and change the abusive politics of its structure.

Sixty-seven years after this mural was covered, the city of Los Angeles, with $3.75 million, and the Getty Foundation, with $3.95 million, will share financial resources to restore the mural within two years. It's a very expensive project, but this might be an appropriate price for a city always in search of diverse historical landmarks.

``The mural, while controversial in its time, will allow adults and children of all ages to learn about and appreciate the diverse history of this city, the importance of freedom of artistic expression and the origins of the muralist movement in this city,'' said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Indeed, the mural's intended visual statement may have long ago lost its power to provoke anger. These days, open discussion about and against American imperialism is not only part of any history curriculum, but hip-hop artists rap and rhyme about it to sell albums and to give hip-hop imperial reign among young people worldwide.

In some sense, Siqueiros' crucified Indian peon and the eagle can represent the relationship between border crossers and George W. Bush's newly implemented Operation Jump Start along the U.S.-Mexican border, which is 6,000 soldiers strong.

But the image of oppression represented is too weak for this particular political situation and may even have flaws in its use of symbolism in the first place.

The eagle is a symbol of political strength and national pride not only for the United States, but for other countries as well.

If the mural and its restoration have some political significance these days, the significance is not only in appreciating the diverse history of Los Angeles, as the mayor might say, but also in illustrating a dark and complicated relationship between terrorism and the fear that lurks in America's diverse cultural landscape.

Americans are crucified by fear of terrorist threats -- a double threat, coming from inside and outside America.

Thus, diverse America is crucified on the double cross.

And the two armed persons on the mural are symbolic of America's constant double alert against this threat.

If mural art has any political function, it is to refuse to depict and relate a complicated political reality to seemingly snobbish, conceptual art, but rather to translate and invite popular understanding of that reality.

And if its message is alarming and universal enough, mural art can inspire people to be militant and be political.

Siqueiros may have understood this too well -- for his art to be censored in his own time and showcased again beyond that time.

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Photo:

``La America Tropical,'' a 1932 mural covered with paint after it appeared on the side of the Italian Hall on Olvera Street, is being restored.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer