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Civil Rights, Victoria

Civil Rights: Charles Moore

I was really drawn to this photograph because of the blatant abuse and brutality by the firemen. This image was taken by Charles Moore, a white, Southern journalist who took many pictures capturing the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s. Moore said that he wanted to fight against discrimination not with his fists but with his camera. The firemen on the left are spraying down peaceful protestors with a high-pressure hose. The protestors are sitting on the ground, and we can see one of them putting his hands behind his head, indicating that they are not resisting the law enforcers and that they were protesting nonviolently. This type of abuse was prevalent back in the Civil Rights Movement as firemen often hosed protestors of the Jim Crow laws. This image is still relevant today as it brings up the conversation about the current police brutality black people face today. This image shows that, in a sense, not much has changed about how law enforcement approach protestors and black people in America.

Moore, Charles. Fireman hose demonstrators with high-pressure jets of water. 1963. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2010/03/charles_moore.html/

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