Violence against Civil Rights

Hosing down peaceful protestors, sending in the dogs, police brutality; sounds familiar doesn't it? However I do not believe that we have seen such violence against peaceful protestors since the Civil Rights Movement. Hate is the root of discrimination and hate is what you see when you look at the pictures.

Elizabeth Eckford

I found this image on Wikipedia.

This photo seen in the chapter on the Civil Rights Movement stood out in particular to me. You can see the hatred on the white girls face who is screaming right behind Elizabeth. I have never really understood discrimination and it is absolutely shocking to see such hatred. What really caught my attention was the absolute calmness Elizabeth carries as she walks holding her books, not letting the cameras capture any emotion in response to such hatred.

Violence in Birmingham

I found this image at the Civil Rights Movement Veterans website.

I chose this chapter because I think it is important for todays generation to understand how important equal rights are. My generation was not alive during the Civil Rights Movement and we were not there to see the violence against colored people who simply wanted the right to vote. This is a right we all have; we cannot imagine having to fight for this. Although voting rights were given to African Americans after the civil war, most African Americans were denied this right by things such as poll taxes and the grandfather clause.

This chapter is also extremely important because it really emphasizes the impact that television had on Americans. A picture is worth a thousand words and it is the images that were shown at the time that really spoke to the people. 

Violence during the Civil Rights Movement

This image can be found at http://www.euro-webonline.com/world_cultures/images/civil_rights.jpg

Violence during the Occupy Wall Street Movement

I found this image on the ABC News website.

These two images look eerily similar. The police force is responding to the Occupy Wall Street Movement in almost the exact same way as they did to the Civil Rights Movement. It is the looks on the faces of the observers that really get me. The look of complete indifference, or perhaps even interest is utterly shocking! When are they going to learn that violence is not the answer? It wasn't the answer back then, and it isn't the answer today!!

Rosie the Riveter: an image that changed minds.

We have all seen this image: in textbooks, in magazines, maybe even in our own homes. She is Rosie the Riveter and this one photograph changed the American citizens' minds of what a woman should be doing during World War 2. This is a photo that changed biases about the woman's role during the time.

Rosie the Riveter

This photograph was taken from Wikipedia.

I chose this chapter because I believe that the Rosie image is important, especially for women, to how society views a working woman. Even when I was a child many of my friends moms were stay at home moms. My mother never was and never had any interest in being a stay at home mom. She was a role model; not only did she work full-time as an RN at Westchester Medical Center, but she also went to school full-time at Mercy College. All of this on top of taking care of two daughters. But, the working woman wasn't always allowed. At one point in time this was a taboo.

A typical housewife

This photo was taken from flickrCC.

Newspapers, Magazines, Radio shows, etc. took Rosie the Riveter and used her image, plus many more, to get women out into the workforce. The government used Rosie the Riveter as propaganda to fill jobs in order to help the war effort. I believe that the Rosie image is one of the most famous images of all time that had such an impact on changing how we viewed working women during that time.



NOH8

 Photo taken from the NOH8 Website.

Today there are many images that come with a message. My personal favorite is the NOH8 campaign. With duct tape across the mouth and NOH8 written on the cheek, the message is clear. The NOH8 campaign is a photographic silent protest that began in direct response to the passing of Proposition 8 in California which amended the state constitution to ban gay marriage. There are thousands of faces to choose from on the NOH8 website, from celebrities to common citizens. I chose the Kardashian sisters because out of the "familiar faces" the three of them are someone that most people would immediately recognize. I also chose this particular photo because they are depicting the Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil statement. You may not be a Kardashian fan, but when it comes to standing up for a cause they believe in, they do it well.



Meghan McCain

 Taken from NOH8 Website.

Another face on the website is that of Meghan McCain, Republican Senator John McCain's daughter. I love the irony in this picture because she is holding the elephant (the symbol of the Republican party) and is supporting gay marriage at the same time. 

The NOH8 Campaign has gained many supporters over the past few years, however it has not had the same impact as Rosie the Riveter. Rosie the Riveter was being backed by the U.S. government and was featured all over the media. However, I believe both images have a similar goal: to change minds and break biases. If there was a bias you could break using an image, what would it be?