I thought this was somewhat relevant due to the fact that we are reading Dreams from My Father. In what we have read so far, Barack has been struggling with his race and society and how to mesh the two together. The difficulties of this, I cannot fathom. Now, take a look at this. The epitome of irony, innocence, bigotry. Call it what you may, sorry for the cliche, but no amount of words can put this photo into perspective. Absolutely stunning.
I have provided the link, if you would like to read the whole article. It's about a family's choice to adopt a child from Ethiopia and the questions they ask themselves before going through with it. The following is from the link:
"To the [left] is one of my favorite pictures. Here is a Georgia State Trooper in riot gear at a KKK protest in a north Georgia city back in the 80s. The Trooper is black. Standing in front of him and touching his shield is a curious little boy dressed in a Klan hood and robe. I have stared at this picture and wondered what must have been going through that Trooper’s mind. Before the Trooper is an innocent child who is being taught to hate him because of the color of his skin. The child doesn’t understand what he is being taught, and at this point he doesn’t seem to care. Like any other child his curiosity takes hold and he wants to explore this new thing that this man is holding probably because he can see his reflection in it and that’s a neat thing and he wants to check it out. In this picture I see innocence mixed with hate, the irony of a black man protecting the right of white people to assemble in protest against him, temperance in the face of ignorance, and hope that racism can be broken because this young boy may remember that a black man smiled at him once and he didn’t seem so bad after all."
When I first look at this picture after read the article, I feel speachless. As a man of color, the trooper shows his infinited generosity to the kid stand in front of him who may have extreamly high possibility to become a racist to against him. KKK was guilty but not the kid--I believe the trooper, at that time, was thinking about this which made him ignore the outfit that the kid wore which really impressed me.
ReplyDeleteThis photo is absolutely stunning. It just shows that anyone can become victim of being taught to hate another human being and this child has no idea what he is going through. I think the trooper was doing his best to not overreact when he saw the little kid. He saw that the kid didn't know what he was wearing so i was impressed with how the trooper handled it.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a very disturbing photo because it shows that children are innocent when it comes down to racism. Racism is taught by people who the child lives with and in a way this photo is touching because even though the child is dressed in a kkk cloak the guard is still letting the child be curious and touch his shield. I think that the trooper handled this situation a lot better then most would.
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect example, just as Chelsea brought out, that racism is taught. No one is born a racist. As a child one does not care what anothers skin tone might be. In his book, Dreams From My Father, Obama said he never thought skin color mattered until he saw the picture of a man in Life magazine who had tried to change the color of his skin.
ReplyDeleteI saw this picture and my immediate reaction was shock. A poor innocent boy does not even know the image he is portraying, and he approached a man of color in uniform. This is truly sad that this little boy had to go throught this. I agree with Chelsea racism is taught and this is a perfect example to prove that statement.
ReplyDeleteWOW!!!! this picture really touched me. It blows my mind mind to think of the what was going on in there minds. the picture has so much to say and the audactiy of some one to teach children somthing they can barley understand. then at that you have blacks who are risking there lives to protect someone who hates them it sounds biblical.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone. this is a prime example of the innocent being taught racism. racism is taught, and it's a shame there are people who would love to keep this hatred going. this picture speaks a thousand words with a general meaning. I'm glad you shared this picture, and I appreciate the good in people today when we can all collaborate and realize issues like this in our society is wrong and will only tear us apart.
ReplyDeleteI can not believe what i just saw, this is absolutly stunning. It is amazing that this trooper is strong enough to stand there despite having a future racist in front of him. It is absolutly stunning that racism can be taught how it is to kids especailly now. I am very glad that i have seen this picture, i now know how bad things really are. I believe that this picture should be shared all over the news in order to create awareness of brainwashing like this. This picture also makes me very thankful for public schools because they provide a slight glimps of hope that this boy can be changed.
ReplyDeleteThis photo is disturbing but amazing at the same time. Its disturbing because such a young child is being forced to wear this outfit. He is not old enough to choose in what he believes in and has to take on the beliefs of his parents. Its amazing though because the trooper still accepts this child because he knows that the child did not choose to wear the outfit.
ReplyDeleteThis shows the problems of american, and why racism still exists in our society. that little boy does not know anything about life yet he is still looking up to mom, and dad to tell him whats wrong and right and if his parents tell him that being african american is a crime and you should hate all african americans then shame on those parents that is an awful thing to do. I belive every one should be looked at for who they are not who you think they are because f there skin color, and thats one of the things that i have alwys thought and hope this class gives me the motivation to get out there and fight racism. Its people like that little kids parents that will hinder the termination of racism.
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