The race-related rioting and unrest that occurred in the days after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri was one of the first events that sparked a new generation of racial unrest in our country.  The image taken by Dickenson, “Ferguson, Uncensored” goes to show more than the result of the hostile race-relations in that quiet small town. The photo unleashed racial unrest that had gone unnoticed across the entire country. The photo depicts the armed, almost militarized presence of police in the small town. The men are equipped with military-grade combat gear and machine guns, and are seen approaching a single, unarmed, African American individual. The story this photo tells is one that not only concerns the murder of an unarmed African American by a police officer in a small town in Missouri, but it depicts the relationship of two different races with a history of unrest and violence in our country.

The image was directed to the people of the United States, coming out of an area where media coverage was very censored and suppressed by police and law enforcement efforts. This image served as a conduit to show the people of the United States what was going on in such a place that was held in a racial secrecy. It served to reveal, and exploit the racism and violence that the city was suffering and trying to hide within itself.

The written text represents the values associated with the photo; specifically the content and context of it. It explains the symbols in the African American individual with their hands up, surrendering. It provides an explanation to the “horrifying, militarized police response” (Dickinson, 173). The image’s written text not only describes what it is we are seeing, but it sets the stage for the story this particular image is telling. 

The design of the image is specific to the events transpiring in Ferguson. Mainly with the fatal shooting of the unarmed young man that sparked this national unrest. This image represents the fear that African American people in the United States had at this time. The image depicts the young man with his hands raised high, obviously unarmed and not a threat to the officers approaching him. The image portrays an unarmed civilian in the streets being approached and threatened by  a detachment of policemen who are armed more like soldiers pushing towards him. The effect of this image is rich with symbolism, depicting to the rest of the world both metaphorically and literally the relationship between the white police officers, who were viewed as the militarized oppressors, and the African American population as the innocent victims being unfairly oppressed. The image serves as a manifestation of the racial tension that followed the shooting in Ferguson. It symbolizes a white, tyrannical government taking a militarized stance against the people of color in this country. 

The symbolism of the image plays directly to our emotions because it shows the relationship between the two parties that were so obviously engaged in racial tension that for many days, gripped a nation. This image was one of only a select few that were widely publicized during the Ferguson riots, and therefore shaped the way the world witnessed this event. The image plays very directly to the emotion of the viewer because like the rioting in Ferguson, it depicts the acts of unwarranted aggression committed by police officers and the stark innocence of the African American citizens living the city.

The unstated assumptions within this image depict the aggressive, oppressive nature of police officers seen in the wide eye of the media as ‘racist’ and wrong. The photo was taken amidst the national media coverage of the Ferguson riots, and the large, militarized police presence. The image subtly assumes that the police are an extension of a racist, oppressive society that serve to target black people in communities like Ferguson. These underlying assumptions are made clear by the way the photo was shot and the environment this photo was released into.  Most media coming out of Ferguson was suppressed and press were not allowed to be in many areas outside of designated press zones dictated by police. The image defends these grounds as it shows the innocent African American with his hands raised in surrender, standing in the path of ten or so armed police officers with weapons raised at the individual, who was seemingly doing nothing in the image to warrant the treatment they received by the oncoming officers, with their weapons raised as if they were in combat. This act is blatantly construed as racist on the part of the police officers in the image because they are targeting and threatening the civilian in the image for no clear reason other than the color of his skin. This is blatant because the police officers are clear in the image, moving forward in formation with their weapons poised on the young man, as if he was a direct threat to them, when in the image we see him standing starkly with his hands raised above his head, offering no threat whatsoever. This is viewed as racist because a white man walking on the same street would not have received the same display of hostility that the young man in the photo faced.

This image presents the story in a more personal and more impactful way than it would if it was a traditional article because the readers would not be able to see a real life example of what was going on and they wouldn’t be forced to bear witness to and accept the truth affiliated with the relationship between the police and the citizens of Ferguson, Missouri. The image is more raw, and personal than traditional words in an article thus makings the image’s impact and effect on the reader more amplified.

In conclusion, this image is very effective at displaying the race relations within the United States at the time of the Ferguson riots. We get to witness first hand the militarization of the police in Missouri and get to understand through this visual the reality and the severity of the situation that was developing within this small city. 