
Tension between protestors and police in Ferguson, Missouri was at its peak after the death of Michael Brown. In “Ferguson, Uncensored” by Tim Dickinson, Dickinson enhances the visual text provided by Scott Olson in that the Ferguson community is filled with hostility, violence, and fear. Olson’s picture relates to the much larger message that the police are responding to protests about police violence with even more police violence and overreaction. Dickinson’s writing is contributing to the visual text through his descriptions of unarmed protestors being met with unnecessary force. This force the police are deploying is being described as having “no justification on civilian streets” (The Carolina Reader 174). The violence shown in the visual text is clarified more in depth through the text. The text supports the image and does not contradict it once. The text is there to provide a further analysis and back up Olson’s image arguing that police are constantly overstepping their boundaries. Without the image, the main theme of the text that it is violence vs. peace would never fully be taken in by the reader. The image is an aid so the reader can put oneself there and attempt to imagine the fear the protestors are going through when they are being met with a barrage of police tactics to break them up. 

Scott Olson’s picture shows one black male with his hands up with roughly ten or so heavily armed police officers pointing their guns at him. This visual text is clearly depicting the hostility between the two groups: African Americans and police officers. More specifically, the African American male has his hands raised above his head showing a sign of peace while the police have full body armor on including masks and helmets pointing assault rifles at the man. Also, on the mailbox shown in the picture, “fuck the police” is written very clearly to depict the relationship currently between the two groups. This additional element harps more on the point of violence in Ferguson. The violence is not fair and is unjust. The written text is functioning all throughout the visual text by showing through proof of what life is like in Ferguson at the moment. Police are said to be “trampling the first amendment freedoms of protestors” (The Carolina Reader 174). Protestor’s freedoms are vividly being taken away in Olson’s image. Pieces of writings can only go so far to prove a point, but pictures are worth 1000 words. 

The setting of the image allows the argument to further hit home. This individual is peacefully walking the streets posing no threat but then officers bombard him. This image appeals to everyone’s emotions who have compassion. That is what the point of it is; to gain awareness and open people’s eyes to what is really going on. With this image, it is asking of the reader to truly feel compassion and to understand the severity of the situation. You cannot truly take in and absorb the deeper meaning of the visual text without analyzing it and feeling compassion towards the people of Ferguson. The visual text employs gun and body armor as a symbol of hostility. It is a sign of violence and terror. The guns and body armor is extremely unnecessary due to the fact that the man’s hands are raised which is another symbol. His hands raised symbolizes peace. He is there being as peaceful as possible not causing any problems at all. His hands raised also symbolize the movement Hands up, Don’t shoot. The unstated arguments from the text and visual text is that African Americans are treated much more different to that compared of whites. The world we live in is not fair. Everyone knows this use of force towards protestors would not be used against whites. This argument is supported through the image due to the fact of the numerous heavily armed police officers. It is also backed through current events only further proving the unjust ways everyone is treated. This visual text in a different context can function in multiple ways. It shows the oppression towards African Americans and also the use of unnecessary force used by police officers. The image can be looked at two different ways in multiple different contexts. 

These small, subtle elements of the picture greatly relate to its larger message: the unjust treatment towards African Americans. Most importantly, the writing on the mailbox intentionally captured in the photograph for an added effect. It depicts the tenuous relationship between the African Americans and law enforcement. Dickinson clearly illustrates throughout his writing what society is like in Ferguson and Olson portrays his it in his photograph. Without Olson’s image, “Ferguson, Uncensored” would never have had the same effect as it would have been with the hard-hitting image. 
