FYS Photo Analysis Essay

1. Zachary Pauley
FYS 100-210
Harold Blanco
7 March 2016
How a Picture Depicts a Society
The Civil Rights Movement was something that changed America forever and for the
better. Imagine looking at a photograph of a man getting his clothes ripped apart by attack dogs
and the Police being the ones instructing the dogs. You may think that the man was involved in
something illegal and they were trying to catch him. Now Imagine the same photograph but the
man being attacked is black and the policemen are white and this photo is from around the
1960s. Did your view change? The photograph described is one that shows our history and how
much our society has changed for the better by depicting the brutal ways blacks were treated in
America.
In this photograph, a crowd of African Americans are seen are the side of the road while
one African American is in the road being attacked by two police dogs. What is definitely
observed from the photo is that the police dogs were instructed to attack the man as police dogs
are highly trained and only do what their trainer or policeman instructs them to do. This
concludes that police wanted the group of African Americans to stay off to the side. This brings
up the question of why the man in the middle is separate and how he got into the positon of being
targeted and attacked. Some possibilities may be that he lashed out against the police’s orders or
he tried to engage the police in a threatening manner, but by the looks of the rest of the crowd of

2. African Americans, the group seems calm and peaceful. This shows how police brutality was
often based on the race of a person and this was not uncommon in this time period.
Also in this photograph is the assumptions that this was taken during a march or protest
of the civil rights movement. This is assumed because the police weren’t usually out with police
dogs unless something was going on. With this being during a march, this brings up how a strong
police presence was used for any protests that were part of the movement no matter how peaceful
they were. This shows how the police were given authority over the African Americans because
of race and brutality was a way for the police to show their authority. Often if a white man
provoked a black man enough to snap on the white man, then the black man was the one who
was punished and guilty. Police brutality was harsh and you can easily see that from any picture
of violence during the Civil Rights Movement.
The group on the side of the road is looking on to the man in the street being attacked
because they couldn’t do anything about it. They probably felt helpless because they knew that if
they tried to help the man being attacked, then they would have the same fate. Often if an
African American tried to show adversity to the police, then they were punished inhumanely and
convicted of a crime. The people on the side of the road felt helpless because they have probably
seen what has happened to people before when they would try to help someone and show
resistance to the police.
To conclude, the photograph shows how brutal the Civil Rights Movement was at times
and how much our society has changed from them. This photo also shows how brave African
Americans were at that time for peacefully protesting for what was right against adversity and
the law. This photo is important to our history because of how it depicts an imperfect American
society in the 1960s that would change our society and people forever.