Protesters on Beale Street in Memphis in 1968 walk quietly past a row of National Guard riflemen with bayonets, wearing signs that say simply, "I am a man." Tanks skirt the marchers on the other side. Photo: Corbis-Bettmann
The picture is barely 40 years old yet there you see it, an American tragedy that continues. What are those Guardsmen thinking one might wonder. Do the marchers even have the look of danger about them? Don't say things are different now than they were then. Little has changed. We've all become, with the encouragement of the mass media, far too complacent about life in this country. Skin color may no longer be the focus of attention. There is less hope in what the future holds for working stiffs, so we all begin to acquiesce to the insults of today's inequalities. Maybe the only change is the focus on economic, rather than racial, differences.
But we're still seeing the tanks roll out. The military man is still fixed and at the ready. He's suffering for his current complicity, but he still plays his roll.
I was on the University of Wisconsin campus when MLK, Jr. was assassinated. The demonstrations that erupted were the first to bring the National Guard onto campus, although they would be back, more than once, for antiwar demos. But it was that first one that produced a famous photo many of you may have seen, with them standing in front of a building that had "Education" written over its doorway.
4 comments:
I love this photo. I wish I had a poster sized version of it. Does the picture have a name?
From the caption:
Protesters on Beale Street in Memphis in 1968 walk quietly past a row of National Guard riflemen with bayonets, wearing signs that say simply, "I am a man." Tanks skirt the marchers on the other side. Photo: Corbis-Bettmann
The picture is barely 40 years old yet there you see it, an American tragedy that continues. What are those Guardsmen thinking one might wonder. Do the marchers even have the look of danger about them? Don't say things are different now than they were then. Little has changed. We've all become, with the encouragement of the mass media, far too complacent about life in this country. Skin color may no longer be the focus of attention. There is less hope in what the future holds for working stiffs, so we all begin to acquiesce to the insults of today's inequalities. Maybe the only change is the focus on economic, rather than racial, differences.
But we're still seeing the tanks roll out. The military man is still fixed and at the ready. He's suffering for his current complicity, but he still plays his roll.
I was on the University of Wisconsin campus when MLK, Jr. was assassinated. The demonstrations that erupted were the first to bring the National Guard onto campus, although they would be back, more than once, for antiwar demos. But it was that first one that produced a famous photo many of you may have seen, with them standing in front of a building that had "Education" written over its doorway.
Barkley
Post a Comment