The untitled picture above presents a scene of peaceful African American protestors being apprehended by police officials. Despite the obvious unfairness surrounding the nature of the laws of the time, these protestors are still willing to face both physical and verbal abuse as well as the possibility of jail time in the pursuit of equal rights for African Americans in the South. The theme presented in the untitled picture above is courage in the face of injustice. This theme is supported by the gaze, shot, setting, and action presented in the image. In addition to these supporting elements, the theme is further bolstered by the motif of human beings. 

The setting of the photograph is unknown, but it is safe to presume that the image was captured somewhere in the South during the heat of the Civil Rights Movement. The foreground of the photograph captures the focus of the image, which is a unit of police officers converging on a group of African American protestors. Standing up to law enforcement through a peaceful protest requires massive amounts of courage, especially when considering the protestors had strict orders not to fight back when beaten or called terrible things. The background of the image is comprised of onlookers who are waiting to see what will become of the protestors. Both the foreground and the background contain the motif of human beings. When examining this motif, one must consider how humans are one in the same, and that it is highly unjust of one group to put down another through profiling laws and segregation. These protestors have the courage to fight this injustice despite being subject to violence and verbal abuse. 

The action captured in the photograph is that of police engaging peaceful African American protestors. According to laws at the time, it was illegal for African Americans to be certain places or use certain services that were designated for whites only. In protest of these unfair laws, African Americans would perform “stand ins” at establishments or in places where they were technically forbidden to be. For those who dared to execute such protests, it often ended in the protestors being both verbally and physically abused by police officers who were called in to remove the protestors, and then the possibility of jail time and fines were additional consequences the protestors could expect for demonstrating peacefully against the unfair laws in place. As is likely the case, the African American protestors were likely detained, beaten, and verbally abused by the police officers moments after this photograph was taken. The protestors were fully aware that this was the fate that they would ultimately meet taking on the protest, but they chose to demonstrate anyway in the pursuit equal justice for all races. The courage to knowingly accept physical and verbal abuse by law enforcement with the additional likelihood of jail time and fines in the quest to liberate the South of unjust laws is something all should admire when observing this photograph. The gravity of these protestors’ actions eventually led to Civil Rights Act, which terminated most laws profiling African Americans in the South. Without exemplary courage in the face of blatant injustice, such changes would not have come for a long time.

The gaze of the observer is drawn toward the central divide between the two groups. The area between the two groups appears to be the split between two different realities. On one hand there is the power of the law, while on the other hand there are those who are put down by the law. This contact point is the center of the picture, and entails one of the greatest struggles citizens of the United States ever went through in order to obtain equality in society. Beyond the gaze of the observer lies the gaze of the subjects of the photograph. The gaze between the two groups in the photograph exemplifies an incredibly high level of tension. Examining the stern looks of the African American protestors allow the observer to understand how angry the protestors are to have to suffer so much in order to gain the basic rights of freedom and equality, the founding principles that the country was founded upon. The shot of the photograph captures the subjects in the foreground with the observers in the background. Having the point of contact between the two groups so close to where the picture was taken allows the observer to grasp the power of the moment in which police are taking action against peaceful protestors. The placement also gives the observer a sense of how scary this situation could potentially be for the protestors. Being engaged by law enforcement could be a potentially scaring encounter, and the courage of the protestors in this hectic situation cannot be understated. 

The photograph above captures the essence of the Civil Rights movement, courage in the face of injustice. African Americans in this time period were subject to unfair segregation laws, and this image perfectly captures the courage necessary to undertake the challenge of protesting against unfair laws through the setting, human motif, gaze, shot, and action of the picture.