The Segregation Series:
"Recently The Gordon Parks Foundation discovered over 70 unpublished photographs by Parks at the bottom of an old storage box wrapped in paper and marked as “Segregation Series.” These never before series of images not only give us a glimpse into the everyday life of African Americans during the 50′s but are also in full color, something that is uncommon for photographs from that era.
Today...some fascinating photos from the 1950’s. I love the colors in the pictures. I think we think of that time in black and white but of course the real world was in color." (Take a look below - talk about CRAY-ZY!)
Imagine living in a world where 'Blacks' did everything in a separate place to 'Whites'. Imagine stopping for food - you're hungry, famished, no wait - you're starving and you get told to leave a restaurant because the 'don't serve 'Blacks'. Or queuing beneath a 'Coloured Only' sign. Talk about dystopian, and strange, degrading and real.
It's no alien topic, segregation. It existed and thankfully the segregation Law was abolished, I believe, in 1964, or something close to that time. What does segregation tell you? What does it say, preach and dictate? Inequality. It's such a contradiction to suggest that a person has 'equal rights' when they are being forced to use a separate exit to you, a separate playground and a separate toilet. Is it just me or does every human being, lower, middle or upper class, Black, White or Coloured digest their food and have to excrete it in the same way? I think so!
As far as I'm aware, anyone who thinks that separating the human race is a good thing is completely out of their minds. What good can come with not being exposed to different types of people? It's how we learn. I couldn't imagine being forced to operate with one type of of person. How on earth do you grow?
Through something as simply as these photos (see below), we can see that people were pushing for change back then. Merely photographing the situations seen below is pushing a boundary and questioning the socalled norms of society. How normal is segregation today? Change is inevitable, if there's anything I've learned, it is that. So, carry on pushing for change. Change what isn't right in your life. Morality and conscience are things that are supposedly innate and tell us when something's fishy or not right. You're slacking? Not working to the best of your ability? Falling out with friends and family? If something's wrong in your life, correct it. It's cliché, yeah, but life really is too short. You many never wake up again after tomorrow.
Yours,
EACS
x
Photos courtesy of blackhistoryeveryday.tumblr.com
