For Stanley Forman, a photographer of the Herald American news, it was unlike any other day heading to work. News in Boston, which had been going on for months, stated that the protest over a “court-ordered school desecration” was still being held as active. Assigned the task, Forman’s job was to take photos at the City Hall Plaza, where a couple of high school students would demonstrate to the crowd. It seems that Forman wasn’t in such a hurry; however, what came next soon baffled a life as the “agitated” students made their way to a well-dressed black man and attacked as he was walking to City Hall. As the man tried to flee, he found himself about to be assaulted with an American flag by one of the protestors. Forman, who had already snapped over a dozen photos at the scene, caught the image (Sullivan). Although the photo taken was nearly three decades ago, The Soiling of Old Glory caused shock towards the entire nation, which stirred emotions and confusion. It caused a wide range of effects, which drastically changed the lives of the photographer and two main people in the photo. However, because of Boston’s negative view from the public made the photo unnecessary to publish. …show more content…
It was right after the publication of the photograph that stirred up emotions and tensions all around the world.
Beatty, reviewer of the book The Soiling of Old Glory, said it was shortly after the release of Forman’s shocking photo that made the public well aware of who Forman was for quite a while afterwards (Beatty). Moreover, without using any words, Forman was able to express these societal conflicts through his photograph as well as stir American emotions regarding the event (Belisle). At one point, photographer Forman said, “I don’t want to say I was lucky to get it because I knew what I was doing, but I was lucky to get it.” He ended up winning his second Pulitzer Prize within two years
(Wren). Things did not go so smoothly for everyone who had been affected, though. When Forman’s photo was released, Rakes made himself known to Boston. According to Kingsbury, an author of the U.S. news, said when Rakes took a bus heading to work the following day, he noticed a man beside him with a newspaper in his hand; it had the photo on the front page that Forman had taken. During an interview, Rakes said, “I saw the image and thought, ‘who is that lunatic with the flag?’ Then I realized it was me.” (Kingsbury). Now living in Maine, he continues to remember the “blind anger” that had motivated him to demonstrate his rage at the “urban policies” that seemed to ruin his neighborhood growing up (Wren). Rakes told the news, "For the kids that were my age, it always just seemed so one-sided." (Sullivan). It may have been a mistake for Rakes to rile up his anger and frustration because Beatty, who wrote a review on The Soiling of Old Glory book, mentions Rakes questioning if his life would have been much different if he had not decided to nearly hit Landsmark with the American flag. According to Sullivan, Rakes even told the author of the book that he regretted “his conviction was based on the implication that the blow had landed.” (Sullivan). Because of the shocking incident that had happened nearly three decades ago, he still seems to be “resigned” (Beatty). “Life goes on,” Rakes said (Sullivan). Despite the fact that Landsmark was the main victim who was assaulted by teenagers and the American flag, he was more than the person viewed in Rakes’s perspective. As reported by Beatty, because of the photo taken, Landsmark ended up becoming a hero in Forman’s image and became “an aide” for two mayors who lived in Boston (Beatty). He remarked, "My life has been a lot more interesting than the twenty-second moment captured in that picture,”. As much as he wanted to move on from the photograph, Landsmark eventually accepted it (Sullivan). Kingsbury clearly states that someone came to change both Landsmark’s perception, meaning and the “possibilities of reconciliation” in the photograph and in present day, he is known now as a “committed activist, a mayoral appointee” and “president of the Boston Architectural College” (Sullivan). Regardless of most “positivity” shown to the people who have been affected, this famous photograph not only made society well known of the crisis; it also had its negativities and shocks that happened throughout the nation, which seriously put Boston on edge. It was only a matter of time before reviews and comments spread as if it was wildfire based upon Forman’s image. Grundburg, who wrote a review of The Soiling of Old Glory book states that once Forman snapped the photo, it published immediately on the front page of newspapers such as Boston Herald American, the place Landsmark worked in and in magazines around the world (Grundburg). Forman’s The Soiling of Old Glory had shocked the entire nation, starting with the place it originated from- Boston. Sullivan remarks that Bostonians, past and present, are all too familiar with the resulting photograph, which ran on the Herald American's front-page the next day (Sullivan). Not only has it successfully made the public well aware of the issues, but it also addressed the issues of busing (Belisle). This included a different comeback of Boston’s busing debate in which the opponents who were known to do “forced busing”. They tried to defend themselves by denying that racism was not a part of their resistance (Grundburg). Aside from the busing, Kingsbury had said this photograph ultimately “epitomized the frustrations and grievances of a city on edge”. Despite the photograph “inflaming existing racial tensions”, it helped show society that the problem was not just a “Southern phenomenon” but also an American one (Kingsbury). People, assuming mostly Bostonians, instantly understood what the photograph portrayed. Flamehorse said it summed up the event with anger and Kingsbury stated that this became a symbol of racial discrimination by society, the resistance to racial equality and proof that back in the 1960’s, the civil rights movement just may haven’t accomplished its goals yet (Flamehorse). Altogether, the opposition in Boston began to die down. However, violent roles have switched for both races as an uproar of blacks began to beat up whites and a man by the name of Howard Hughes, a victim who suffered, was killed that very same day because of the photo that had made it on the front of newspaper page. Until this day, photographer Forman is still agitated because of the death of Hughes (Kingsbury). In addition to the tension beyond statement, because of the release of the photo, the views of Boston also became negative and Bostonians tried to cope with the spreading of the story across the nation. Sullivan commented, Appalling in its unmistakable symbolism, it immediately came to define - and simplify - all of the complex values, principles, and antagonisms that had been roiling in the city for years. Boston, the rest of the world was now convinced, was an indescribably racist town (Sullivan). It appears Kingsbury could not agree more with Sullivan’s statement, as he noted how Boston (which could have been in a similar situation to Birmingham, Alabama), was a complete shock. Society was convinced that victory had taken place and the civil rights movement was a complete success by 1976 until the photo released said otherwise. He said, “The image doesn’t invent the idea that Boston was a racist city; it crystallizes and epitomizes it”. Sadly, for the past three decades, Boston is still trying to defeat the “legacy” of this well-known photo. “People [will] still see this image as the benchmark against which Boston and the rest of the nation will be measured in terms of race relations,” Kingsbury said. Ever since it had been published, the image of the Boston massacre had swayed emotions of all sorts for people. Kingsbury clearly states that the image itself would have been “analyzed and dissected”, for it greatly affected the views of civilians. People would still view Boston as having its racial tensions grow forth and as Sullivan said, the author of the book was to “describe the incident and its surrounding circumstances and to treat the photograph as a symbolic artifact” (Sullivan). Looking at past photographs, people have said events like this have not continued since the Boston Massacre occurred. This statement could not be true, for people cannot simply look at that event captured as a photo and say a similar event like that can never happen again. This image also has important values in it, such as the valued flag. It also appears as an important symbol towards today’s society. The Boston massacre had its connections to the tragic events that have happened throughout the country; the image taken at the time not only made it memorable, but it also gave it power. In 1976, the image of Iwo Jima was also powerful; the marines who planted the flag in the dirt at the scene showed the “element” and “desecration” of the flag. Both these images showed the nation just how far this country had fallen ever since (Kingsbury). Although the crisis in Boston happened around three decades ago, it is not a dead debate in today’s society. Connections continue to arise from history and continue to play a role in current day events. A photograph such as this can easily show power and convey a message, signaling a stop to it. Boston is still being viewed as negative and racist, all because of a stunning image that had shocked the people worldwide.
Reynolds, Larry. “Patriot and Criminals, Criminal and Patriots.” South Central Review. Vol 9, No. 1.
The American Civil war is considered to be one of the most defining moments in American history. It is the war that shaped the social, political and economic structure with a broader prospect of unifying the states and hence leading to this ideal nation of unified states as it is today. In the book “Confederates in the Attic”, the author Tony Horwitz gives an account of his year long exploration through the places where the U.S. Civil War was fought. He took his childhood interest in the Civil War to a new level by traveling around the South in search of Civil War relics, battle fields, and most importantly stories. The title “Confederates in the Attic”: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War carries two meanings in Tony Horwitz’s thoughtful and entertaining exploration of the role of the American Civil War in the modern world of the South. The first meaning alludes to Horwitz’s personal interest in the war. As the grandson of a Russian Jew, Horwitz was raised in the North but early in his childhood developed a fascination with the South’s myth and history. He tells readers that as a child he wrote about the war and even constructed a mural of significant battles in the attic of his own home. The second meaning refers to regional memory, the importance or lack thereof yet attached to this momentous national event. As Horwitz visits the sites throughout the South, he encounters unreconstructed rebels who still hold to outdated beliefs. He also meets groups of “re-enactors,” devotees who attempt to relive the experience of the soldier’s life and death. One of his most disheartening and yet unsurprising realizations is that attitudes towards the war divide along racial lines. Too many whites wrap the memory in nostalgia, refusing...
Gordon S. Wood. The Radicalism of the American Revolution. Vintage; Reprint edition. March 2, 1993
Formisano is persuasive in his arguments that the Boston anti-busing movement was a led by “grass-root insurgents” from the dominate Irish-Catholic working-class neighborhoods in South Boston. These protesters felt that their tight knit existence was being threatened by the rich, suburban liberals whose children were not effected by the enforcement of the busing.
In Audre Lorde’s bildungsroman essay “The Fourth of July” (1997), she recalls her family’s trip to the nation’s capital that represented the end of her childhood ignorance by being exposed to the harsh reality of racialization in the mid 1900s. Lorde explains that her parents are to blame for shaping her skewed perception of America by shamefully dismissing frequent acts of racism. Utilizing copious examples of her family being negatively affected by racism, Lorde expresses her anger towards her parents’ refusal to address the blatant, humiliating acts of discrimination in order to emphasize her confusion as to why objecting to racism is a taboo. Lorde’s use of a transformational tone of excitement to anger, and dramatic irony allows those
Finkelman, Paul. His Soul Goes Marching On: Responses to John Brown and the Harpers Ferry Raid. Virginia: University of Virginia, 1995. Print.
The American Revolution has too often been dominated by the narrative of the founding fathers and has since been remembered as a “glorified cause.” However, the American Revolution was not a unified war but a civil war with many internal disputes that wreaked havoc and chaos throughout America. In his book, The Unknown American Resvolution, Gary B. Nash attempts to unveil the chaos that the American Revolution really was through the eyes of the people not in power, including women, African American slaves, and Native Americans. In his book, Gary B. Nash emphasizes their significance in history to recount the tale of the American Revolution not through the eyes of the privileged elite but through the eyes of the people who sacrificed and struggled the most, but were left forgotten, in their endeavors to reinvent America.
“The Star Spangled Banner” emphasizes America’s perseverance and its unwillingness to surrender to adversity. The prime example of this “American attitude” traces back to the dawn of America. Harsh European laws during the Colonial Period allot little to no rights to its own subjects in America. American colonists’ penurious lives are in constant peril of taxation through means such as the mercantilist system and selfish laws like the Navigation Acts. However, American colonists refuse to remain under control of such an oppressive government. In the eyes of the Europeans, they are rapacious rebels who are oblivious of the supremacy of their mother country. Yet, in the eyes of the colonists, they are merely humans asking, and eventually fighting, for simple rights that–according to their tenets–belong to everyone. Although their adversary is the seemingly invincible England, the colonists are able to endure and emerge as the victor. “The Star Spangled Banner” clearly demonstrates the perseverance and audacity in this cl...
Henretta, James A and David* Brody. America: A concise History . Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. Document.
Erik Larson’s novel is to be considered “new” because he offers the public two completely different stories of events that each occurred during the years 1891-1894 in the White City; Chicago, Illinois.
Kaplan, Sidney. The Black Presence in the Era of the American Revolution, 1770-1800. Greenwich, Conn: New York Graphic Society, 1973.
New York City at the time of the Civil War can be explained as a small roaming forest fire with the potential to cause an exponential amount of damage, not only to the city but the Union. The city, in a state of constant turmoil over a great many things; race, class, politics, and a constantly diminishing amount of available employment opportunities for it’s 800,000 citizens. The riots, which took place in New York between July 13 and July 17, 1863, are called by most, the “New York City Draft Riots.” When in all actuality the enactment of the draft was simply the catalyst to the already engulfing issues that had plagued and divided the city among lines of every distinction. The events over these five days are still widely viewed as the most destructive civil upheaval in terms of loss of life and the “official” number of those who gave their lives in those five days is estimated around 119.
This insulated environment of race-based protection helps to build white expectations for some sort of racial comfort, leading to what the author calls White Fragility. The concept of White Fragility refers to a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, inducing defensive moves, that might include violence as happened in the context of Marlow’s photograph (DiAngelo 56). The protester in the photo was manifesting his desire for an equal society, where blacks and white could have equal treatment and opportunities, but he was oppressed with violence. By using DiAngelo’s lens, it is possible to affirm that the white cops felt threatened by the possibility of having to face a society where their race was no longer the dominant, and therefore they reacted with violence. The “racial stress” in which the white people are usually protected by the environment of the American society came up and the consequence was the intolerance with which the cops reacted. Besides violence, the reactions might include the display of emotions like fear, guilt, and anger, and behaviors such as silence, argumentation and leaving the situation that induces stress (DiAngelo58). This explains the lack of action of the cops that surrounded the police officer that assaulted the black man, since they acted with silence, another consequence of the racial stress. Therefore, it is now clear that the photograph, which was taken in London and at first glance seems to address a British issue, expands its representation to an American problem, and perfectly reflects the racism that is still present in American popular culture. Clearly, this racism is a consequence of the threat which racial equality would bring for white
Handlin, Oscar and Lilian. A Restless People; Americans in Rebellion 1770-1787. New York: Anchor Press, 1982.
Jasper, James M. The Art of Moral Protest Culture: Biography, and Creativity in Social Movements. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. Print.