America has gone through serious hardships with different race groups, including African- Americans, Hispanics, Middle-Eastern’s and even women. In the graphic adaptation “The Constitution” created by Jonathan Hennessy and Aaron McConnell, there are two panels of substantial importance. Through these two panels the reader can note the difference in color scheme as well as the symbols chosen by Hennessy and McConnell. Through the use of several colors and distinct symbols, this graphic adaptation depicts the inequalities that have been seen throughout American history; as well as the development of America.

The two panels chosen have a difference in color scheme. This difference serves the purpose of portraying the inequalities that existed in America before. On the first panel, it shows two groups of people. On its left side America’s minorities are depicted in a red-orange color scheme and is made up of African American slaves, poor people, and women. This group is being led by an elder man holding an hourglass and a scythe. On the right side of this same panel, a homogenous group of white and wealthy men are depicted in a blue-green scheme. This group of men is standing in front of the vault with the American flag enclosed inside of it. The color scheme is important here because there is a clear image of two different groups. These groups tells us who are the minorities(left) and who are the wealthy(right). Thus, color is important because it marks the differences between the two, therefore, showing inequality. If the panel were to show both groups with the same exact color scheme, then the image would be implying unity or sameness. However, the image is portraying contrast between the two groups with different color schemes. On the second panel, on its left side, is this same vault shown opened with two American officials proudly marching the American flag out of it. Off to the right side of the second panel is a small crowd made up of women, children, as well as men. This small crowd also depicts an Arabic man pledging to the American flag. The color used for the crowd and the American officials is also important in this panel. The creator of this graphic made sure to represent unity among the onlooking crowd with a uniform purple color scheme. While illustrating unity among the American people with a purple, the illustrator also marks a difference between the crowd and the officials through the use of color. This difference is illustrated through the crowd being in a purple color scheme and the American officials in green.The fact that the officials are in a different color is due to their rank in the American society.

Another element of this graphic is symbolism. Symbolism is heavily used, for instance; the American flag inside the vault in the first chosen panel depicting a division among the American society. This separation between the minorities and the majorities and the fact that the majority has taken ownership of the flag shows that the minorities were denied their rights as Americans. The depiction of the American flag inside the vault could also symbolize that America was shamefully hiding its identity because of the inequalities among society. Another symbolism of the way the flag is put away is the fact that at the moment denying minorities their rights does not matter. The fact that these people have a right to it does not matter. Once the flag is out of the vault its appearance is much more different. Once it is out, as shown in the second panel, it is neatly depicted. This neat representation of the flag symbolizes that the rights of all the people matters. It then stands for liberty and freedom for all. This panel is symbolized as rather unified, they are illustrated peacefully. The previous panel depicted tension and division among American people.

In final analysis, the two panels previously examined in “The Constitution” shows the hardships African Americans, women, the poor, and middle-Eastern’s experienced. These minority groups were oppressed by white Americans. Gradually, prejudice and discrimination has been terminated which has aided America to become a unified country.
