Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders has issued a firm “no” to a D.C. group’s request that chalk artwork featuring a Latin cross be removed from the entrance to the Governor’s Mansion.
The artwork, created by Mrs. Sanders’ children and posted online last week, was rebuked by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which sent a four-page letter decrying the display after social media posts featured the chalk drawing.
The large artwork shows a cross at the center of various colors drawn to resemble a stained glass window.
“I have received your letter and my answer is no,” Mrs. Sanders wrote Friday in a missive posted to her Twitter account. “I will not erase the beautiful cross my kids drew in chalk on the driveway of the Governor’s Mansion or remove my post on social media, and I will not now or ever hide that I am a Christian, saved by Christ.”
Attorneys Kalli Joslin and Alex Luchenitser of Americans United had sent a letter to the Republican governor on Wednesday, saying: “While you and your family members are free to create and display religious imagery in private areas of your Mansion and its grounds, displaying a cross at an entrance ‘to welcome people into the Governor’s mansion’ violates the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”
In her pointed response, Mrs. Sanders said: “You are wrong to claim that our Constitution prevents public officials, let alone their families, from making earnest expressions of religious faith. Our founding documents are riddled with religious language - stating plainly that the very rights you claim to defend are ‘endowed by our Creator.’ You are asking me to ignore that truth and hide a crucial part of my identity and the identity of my kids. That, I will not do.”
“In Arkansas, we stand up to bullying liberals. We won’t let you power-wash our kids’ chalk drawings off our front steps. … We don’t live our lives in fear of strongly worded letters coming down from Washington,” she said.
“I am offended by the implication that, just because I am a Christian, I am somehow a bigot,” she added.
Liz Hayes, associate vice president for communications at Americans United, told The Washington Times via email the group has “no comment at this time beyond what was in our original letter.”
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.