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Civil Rights Movement In The 1960s

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The 1960s was a captivating time of radical political, social, and scientific change in the United States culture and was accurately captured in photography. In particular, the Bay Area saw large amounts of free-speech activism. Berkeley was a major proponent of this activism and was home to several large protests against the Vietnam War. The other major movement of the 1960s was the fight for civil rights legislation which had a large following in the Bay Area and San Francisco. The year this photo was taken (1969) was also an exceptionally significant one due to the success of Apollo 11 and subsequent moral victory of the United States against the Soviet Union. The photograph is credited to Stan Creighton and it depicts around twenty children …show more content…
At the center of the photograph there is an older white gentleman pushing away some of the kids so the girl with the bat can take a swing at the piñata. His facial expression is one of caution, however there is also a sense of joy and excitement in his eyes which contrasts with the aloof looks of disinterest shown on the faces of the non-white children. This ceremonial tradition of beating a piñata can be viewed as analogous to the inherent violence of American society and in combination with the title of the photo contrasts the optimism whites have for the future with the realistic pessimism of blacks, who grew up experiencing discrimination and violence from the U.S. government solely due to their skin color. From the perspective of the African American kids in the 1960s, this ceremonial beating would not seem amusing. Given America’s history of racism against Black people combined with the widespread practice of lynching at the time, to a Black child, the symbolism of hanging the piñata might connote horrifying images of racism. A great example of the contrasting facial expressions is the two girls on the far right side of the photo: the white girl is smiling like she is looking forward to getting a turn to hit the piñata and the African American girl looks uncomfortable and

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