NO ONE IS BORN A RACIST (1992)
Hate isn't a natural born instinct. Hate is taught.
KKK Standing outside a church
Human compassion shows no boundaries
Children
Love and acceptance is something you're born with
This picture was taken in a community in northeast Georgia, a little town called Gainesville. The Ku Klux Klan were holding a rally in this town in the year 1992, as a revival campaign, hoping that this would allow them to teach others about their beliefs and help them gain supporters after integration was made legal and racism began to decline. They preached about white supremacy and other races, especially African Americans inferiority. The white supremacists holding this rally were from out of town, and had no real recognition or support from the community. Many people who participated in these rallies were not from the town of Gainesville. The Local Daily, which was the local Gainesville newspaper, hired a backup photographer for this event, his name was Tom Robinson. At this particular Rally, there wasn't much exciting information for Tom to record as, (according to news reports for that day) there were 66 Ku Klux Klan representatives, and three times as many law enforcement personnel surrounding the group. The photographer chose to follow a mother and her two young sons, all dressed in the iconic uniforms of the group. One of the young boys approached an African American state trooper, who’s riot shield was resting on the ground. upon seeing his own reflection in the shield, the young boy went up and started to trace his reflection, regardless of the events happening around him. Tom instinctively took the picture, noticing how powerful it could be. Almost immediately, the young boy’s mother snatched the boy away from the state trooper. No one noticed what happened, but it was captured on Tom’s camera.
If I were there in that moment, I would ask the state trooper what he was feeling in that moment, besides the comment he made to the reporters “ I didn’t even see the kid. I was just looking down to see what was bumping on my shield. and when I looked down, there was this little kid in a Klan uniform. He saw his reflection in the riot shield. He was tracing his outline. The child was oblivious to what was going on around him.” I feel like he would say it really hit him hard emotionally. That after he was forced to be their by state troopers to protect the very people who wanted to degrade him and possibly bring harm to him, he felt a sense of love and disappointment for the boy who was forced to be there and was being taught hate that he wasn't born with.
I feel like this picture is extremely important to history. In this very moment that was captured, it shows innocence and how a young child, who is sweet and full of love and acceptance can be taught to hate. I shows that there is hope for equality for all races, and that “No One Is Born A Racist”. The lesson that can be learned from this picture is that no one is born with hate and that hating and degrading someone who is different from you isn't human nature. This picture gives so many people hope for a brighter future.
i feel this picture is the most important because it speaks, especially to me. It shows innocence and ignorance in its purest form. How this young boy is completely oblivious to what is happening around him and what it means, and how he doesn’t see a difference in skin color or race and isn't afraid or wary of the state trooper. This child's pure curiosity and innocence allow him to freely interact with the officer. Sadly, what this picture doesn’t depict is how the mother of the child is teaching him this hate, but thankfully, it hadn’t had an effect on his natural born instincts of kindness and acceptance.
(http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/kkk-child-black-state-trooper-meet-1992/)