Did the Fire go out?

“BFD-Birmingham Fire Department”
Life Magazine, May 17th, 1963, Pg. 27

“Razzle Dazzle Threads,”
Life Magazine, September 1981, Pg. 103

People often use the phrase: “a picture can tell a thousand words.” That ideology certainly held true for my findings in this particular media project. As I browsed through the magazines from the 1960’s to 1980’s the images told a compelling story of the social atmosphere at the time as well as of the radical changes that were taking place as it relates to race, gender and even civil rights.
During the 60’s, America had on its hands the cancer of the race issue. Simply put, the feeling around the time was one that pictured White Americans as superior to African-Americans and it resulted in a battle for equality and civil rights. A few weeks ago, we read Martin Luther King Jr’s letter from the Birmingham jail that was written on April 16, 1963. In the letter, King had emphasized the constant struggles for African Americans in Birmingham as well as in other parts of the nation and he urged for authorities and the law to make a change. In the first image which was captured a month after King’s letter, we can see African Americans being sprayed with water by firefighters from the Birmingham Fire Department. Certainly these people weren’t a fire, so the image speaks volumes to how low African-Americans were viewed in society. On a broader scale the implications from the image can be represented in areas of life that King had touched on, whether it is segregated restaurants, motels, water fountains and even education etc.
During the 80’s there was a radical difference in the way African-Americans were viewed and treated as it relates to civil rights. They were able to attend the same schools, eat at the same restaurants, drink from the same water fountains and as we can see from the second image, model for the same companies. This is particularly significant because, just a decade before, African-Americans were fighting for equality and to be able to model for the same company as a White person was a huge progress. When I first saw the image, for me it represented a level of acceptance. Though changes in the law might only influence external acceptance, it was a stepping-stone for a calmer society with less racial tensions. The point that I’m trying to make is that, though the law will not be able to change the hearts of people, it can change their actions. It is evident that maybe just maybe the second image represents that the fire might have gone out.