Photography and civil rights essays

Photography and civil rights essays During the past 40 years, black Americans have endured the painful process of having to fight for what has been considered the rights of every man since our nation's founding. The right to be considered equal with person's of a different skin color, the right to have access to the same facilities, and to be treated with respect are elements of American life which are the cornerstone of what we consider our national identity, yet only a generation ago, one group of American's were denies these building blocks of personal identity. For the African American, the journey has been Only a generation ago, the unjust principle of separate but equal' was the best white Americans were willing to do. After the war, when Americans of all nationalities fought and died along side of each other, black Americans were given a measure of personal freedom and recognition. Bit the separate but equal approach was still just another way of telling the black man that he was not welcome to join white American life. White America was only willing to let the darker skinned brothers so close, and give them access to only a limited amount of personal freedom. These policies were unjust, and taught black American's to consider themselves as less than or in some way inferior to the white Americans. In 1963, social forces, legal efforts and a handful of charismatic leaders all arose from within the black community at the same time and together brought in lasting change. The discrimination which the black American felt did not end in 1963, not by any measurement. Separate but equal, and the centuries of legalized discrimination which occurred prior had left a deep wound in the heart, soul, and personal identity of the American black community. But due to the courageous work of men like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, all of whom gave their lives in the pursuit of a dream of equa...