Photo Analysis Essay

1. William Spiegelberg
Herold
FYS 212
March 06 2016
This picture illustrates just how bad life in America could sometimes be for black people.
Despite how obviously fake this picture is, the fact that you can tell it is fake only serves to help
draw your attention to the main point of the picture even more. The main point of the picture is
the black man hanging himself on the Statue of Liberty. When I first looked at this picture, I was
a little disturbed; unfortunately, that was quickly replaced by skepticism toward how realistic the
picture was. I was aware of the main point the picture was trying to make, the message being

2. that in the supposed “Land of Freedom and Equality,” black people are better off hanging
themselves than living with the inequality and injustice they had to at the time.
Looking at the picture for a little longer, I took note of the size of the black man hanging
from the Statue of Liberty. I thought about it and realized that the size of the man could be a
metaphor. The man could be seen as a representation of the number of black people who felt the
same way about inequality. Other than that and the original message, there was nothing else I
found that was of any significance. Considering the both the message in the picture and the
quality of the picture, and the fact that the picture is black and white, I could tell that the picture
was most likely taken either during or before the black civil rights movement.