About Me

America’s attitude towards racism has evolved extensively throughout its history. Although an obvious presence of racial bigotry has faded within American culture, a more complacent reliance on stereotyping still survives today. Similarities between crimes committed against African-Americans of pre-integrated times and those of the present are easily observed in terms of motivation and verdict. The post-mortem photographs of Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin tragically prove that racism has taken the lives of Black youth throughout our history and will continue to do so until a united front is formed against prejudice and racial profiling.

Our story as a group begins as individuals, who particularly want the American youth to question what they perceive as their reality and how they would like to create their future. Will it be a future of continued racial tension and violence or will it be a future where everyone is seen as more than the amount of melanin their DNA contains? Throughout our lives we have grown up studying slavery and the Civil Rights Era. We’ve seen that racial profiling and discrimination still exist today through the more recent shootings of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.  We chose to analyze the photographs of Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin in our blog, because although there is little overt racism in America, it still lurks in the fabric of American culture.

We began our blog by establishing a time sequence based on what the viewer perceived first while looking at the photos. The initial reaction of the viewer to the photos was one of shock, hence our decision to begin with pathos. A closely related rhetorical appeal was Kairos, which established why the images are relevant to the viewer today. Logos came next. After moving our reader with the initial shock value of the photographs, the reader next questions how could this have logically occurred. Appeals to Logos, along with Pathos, can account for why this image moved millions of people of all races to rally for racial equality. Style quickly followed because we wanted the reader to see past the photographs, and provide the boys with a concrete identity. After the viewer’s analysis of pathos, kairos, and logos, they can form an opinion of what these two pictures are actually about. They have been provided with enough information to form a valid opinion, leading them to unconsciously consider the stases. Our blog concluded by analyzing both photo’s appeal to ethos. After thoroughly observing the image the viewer now questions its credibility. That being established, the viewer has formed a concrete and credited opinion on the message of the photographs.

These photos are relevant to people in modern day America, who may have assumed racism is no longer a major issue in our culture. Although the death of Trayvon Martin occurred two years ago, the death of Michael Brown occurred only a few months ago, stressing this need to continue conversation on the value of Black youth. Though conversations about racial violence occur after a tragedy, nothing is done to stop these events from happening in the first place. Inevitably the discussion dies down and we wait for another murder to occur before stirring fruitless conversation once more.  We expect readers to pause and reflect on their own lives and how they, as individuals, can perpetuate the discussion of racism in America.

Our blog, ‘A Picture of Injustice’, aims to show the recurring theme of both Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin being victimized children. They were perceived as a menace to society because of the stereotypes and accepted ignorance of the times. Although, people may not wish to accept this reality, it is true that anyone can be a victim of prejudice and racism. You can be Trayvon. Your child can be Emmett. The effect of racism is a disease that no one is immune to.

The post-mortem photographs of the two boys claim that the issues that the Civil Rights Movement sought to solve haven’t been eradicated at the root. The images are a call to action. They command the reader to examine how these murders could have occurred, and what must be done to prevent their reoccurrence. Our blog argues that racism spans through time, and is a current issue in America. Discussion of racism has been swept to the side for far too long, and only erupts momentarily, after a tragedy occurs. Soon afterwards, the American people push aside their grievances, and settle back on their complacent attitudes.

American citizens in the present day have access to unlimited channels of information. They need to be aware of current events and take more action against injustice than just “liking” an article on facebook. These posts and images are important because they show the necessity of ending racism at the root. As much as people would like to believe that racism has ended, Trayvon Martin’s murder proves that we are still living in an America where racism is socially acceptable. The 1960’s spirit of protest needs to be revived in order for America to become a nation, where every person is judged not by the “color of their skin, but by the content of their character”.

Would you believe the photo of Trayvon if you knew a witness had taken it?

Who knows about the sources of photographs these days? With the wealth of the internet, and the millions of photographs circulating the web, how does one know who took what? Well, in the case of Trayvon Martin, the prosecutor's office would be a good place to start. 

Florida prosecutors accidentally released this photo of Trayvon Martin's corpse to a variety of media sources. 

This was previously defined as confidential material and as exempt from disclosure during the trial proceedings.



Over fifty, yes, fifty magazine publications requested access to the photographs and details of Trayvon Martin's trial. This added a layer of accountability between the media and the readers, as multiple sources would cover and screen any potential information and photographs released from the trial of Trayvon.

Now I would say that it would be reasonable to trust in a photograph that was declared legitimate enough to use in court proceedings and published in the media, but what if this photograph also happened to be taken by an unnamed witness, who was present at the crime scene at the time of the murder? The ethos of this post-mortem photograph of Trayvon Martin is established through the validity of it's source, a witness who documented the tragic end to the life of a seventeen-year-old African-American boy 56 years after the brutal murder of Emmett Till. 

The Ethos of Emmett Till's Photograph

I don’t know if the first question you ask yourself as you view the picture of Emmett Till’s gruesomely distorted face is who took this photo? But it certainly should be.  I don't know that I'd trust a photograph taken just by your average Joe. 

Jet magazine's 1955 publication of the photograph of Emmett Till's brutal murder gave the picture the foundation it needed to make the claim that future inhumane murders of African-American children could only be prevented through the passage of American legislation and the appearence of a much-needed change in the attitudes of complacent Americans. His body was photographed at the funeral, where at the request of Emmett's mother, Mamie Till Bradley, the casket was left open for the world to see the disfigured face of Emmett Till.

After Emmett Till's photograph was published by Jet magazine, it then was circulated around the country in various news publications. It was meant for the eyes of American readers across the country.  Jet magazine was known as a credible source for coverage of Civil Rights issues, as it chronicled the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s. This photograph achieves a sense of ethos as Jet magazine was a magazine marketed toward African-American readers. This in and of itself reflects that the initial publisher of this photo likely did believe in the values expressed by leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. 

  This was a photograph published to enlighten the majority of Americans, who chose not to get involved in the Civil Rights Movement, that the effects of racism were gruesomely lethal, and who would come to see in the mutilated face of Emmett Till the suffering of his black predecessors and the ongoing  problem of racism in America. 

- Lina Bauer

Just Stop...

There are so many question marks still associated with Trayvon Martin's muder. However, the facts that we do know for sure are:
(1) Trayvon is dead
AND
(2) George Zimmerman killed him.
I will never understand how people continue to allow history to repeat itself. Perhaps it's because I have a short attention span or more so because I'm just the type of person who prefers for tragedy to be a one time thing. Who knows?  I personally don't know if racism will ever be permanently exterminated out of any culture because as we can see racism has been killing millions throughout history and still continues to take lives today. Sure, we know that Zimmerman killed Trayvon. But, a plethora of other concepts, such as prejudice, insecurity, and stereotypes, slayed the teenage boy as well. I think many people can agree that the taking of life is never justified (unless referring to rapists, serial killers, ax murderers, etc which leads into a whole other debate.) The taking of a teenage boy's life is so despicably pitiful on Zimmerman's behalf and although he was found not guilty in the trial, the American people's response of outrage at his sentencing surely shows how the majority truly feels. So what do we do about this? We stop killing each other.

We obviously know not to kill each other. We obviously know that we shouldn't judge people based on the color of their skin. We obviously know that we shouldn't follow a hooded Black boy  a hooded ANYBODY from a convenience store and proceed to take their life because they seemed suspicious to us. Have you ever heard the of the saying "don't bring a knife to a gun fight?" Well how about don't bring a bag of skittles and Arizona Watermelon cocktail to a gun fight that you didn't initiate/ weren't even aware of. So what's the main idea of the Trayvon Martin Case? We must stop racism from taking the lives of our Black youth? That's something that we already know. So when the hell are we 'the people' actually going to listen to our common sense and stop taking the lives of others.

-Ashley McNeill

Emmett Till-What's the big idea?

All revolutions require a trigger. The case of Emmett Till provided that trigger for many people comfortable with the status quo or only willing to make slow progress. Seeing the picture of Till's mutilated body, his head swollen, his skin bruised and his cheeks drooping, force people to confront their own views on racism. All people willing to ignore the crime or blame the victim, are just as responsible for the pain Emmett Till endured as are the men the hurt him. The picture serves as a reminder that complacency is dangerous. When injustices occur, people must call them out. Emmett Till's funeral photo must be seen and it should make people angry. Racism has existed long before Emmett Till, and it persists till this day but his case, placed an innocent face to the destructive force of hatred. This photo was so outrageous that many people still know the details of Emmett Till's murder. He has become synonymous with racism of the 50's and 60's. Teenagers murdered in present day America, such as Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin, often get compared to Emmett Till. If we do not actively fight injustice, we are insinuating that these kids do not matter-and that is a dangerous assumption to make.

-Lindsey Wright

How Style Gave Trayvon his Identity Back

Similarly to the disturbing picture of Emmett Till, the viral ‘hoodie’ photograph of Trayvon Martin was a close up of the now deceased child. Although this picture did not possess the same type of shock value, it still formed a deeply emotional relationship with the audience. By providing a picture of Trayvon before his death the viewer was still forced to acknowledge that this was a person. Choosing a youthful picture of Trayvon stressed this idea of childhood even further. The composition of the photo tells any 21^st century viewer that this is a selfie, perhaps a picture of posted by Trayvon himself on something like Facebook or Instagram. You can imagine him taking the picture, awkwardly holding the camera at a lower angle to capture his good side. You can imagine how many pictures he took before picking this one to post on his profile for everyone to like and comment on. At this time it was a simple selfie of a boy in his hoodie, but this photo had transformed into a campaign against injustice. This photo encompasses the idea that this was a boy, a child whose life had been stolen. The grayscale composition adds a more sullen tone to the photograph, emphasizing the grim nature the picture now holds. Nonetheless, this photo of Trayvon makes him more human to the world. It provided Trayvon with an identity that had been stolen by news broadcasters, ‘nay-sayers’ and let’s not forget George Zimmerman.

-Ashley McNeill

The Face of Logic

One would think it would not take the proof of a picture like this to finally make a logical appeal to mid-century Americans that racist ideals permeate our soil, and that they are a gross distortion of American values. Why was it not enough that stories were told of the conditions African-Americans faced for years and years? The answer is simply because a picture is worth a thousand words. This photo proved to long-pondering Americans that couldn't be bothered to act that the next logical and immediate step was to introduce new legislation. These later enacted provisions attempted to protect the rights of African - Americans and enabled them to vote, have fair employment and be "free men" as all men, women and children are meant to be.

This photograph achieved what hundreds of stories of cruelty towards African-Americans failed to do. That is because a photo can't be ignored. The glaring evidence of Emmett Till's brutal murder demanded attention and concern over the welfare of millions young such Emmett Tills across the country.

This was the evidence of the dangerous effects of racism that Americans couldn't turn a blind eye to. The mutilated face of Emmett Till was staring them in the eyes from newspaper articles. The logical appeal of this photograph proved to be so significant that it provided the platform leaders of the Civil Rights Movement needed to show the world evidence of the injustice faced by blacks not only in the south, but across the United States. This photograph portraying the death of Emmett Till became the catalyst that pushed white Americans to stand with members of the Civil Rights Movement in their fight for equality for African-Americans. This photograph of Emmett Till was a powerful appeal to the cause of equal rights for African-Americans, as it was testimony to the cruelty and racism against African-Americans, which were ubiquitous in 1950's and 1960's America.




- Lina Bauer

Emmett Till: A Picture Worth Much More than a Thousand Words

Focusing on the gruesome photo of a lynched Emmett Till, style served a tremendous role in establishing shock value for viewers. The close up of an unrecognizable face truly emphasized how horrifying racism had become. Moreover, Emmett's face served as a physical representation that encompassed the true evils of physical brutality against the Black race within the South. We must realize that Emmett's entire body had been mutilated, but the photographer chose to focus on his face. Filling the photograph with a  mutilated child's distorted facial features forces the viewer to acknowledge that this was a person, a similar concept to the photograph of Trayvon Martin. Another factor that played to Emmett's youth was the setting in which the picture was taken: his funeral. The image of a child in a coffin serves as disturbing in itself. The image of a mutilated child in a coffin makes the viewer speechless. To see the gruesome corps in a suit and tie furthers the main point that this is actually a person. Lynching had become a way to kill and torture Blacks, keeping them in fear that they may leave their house in the morning and end the night hanging from a tree or floating down a river. Does the fact that this photo was taken in gray scale impair its effective at all? No, in retrospect the black and white color composition points to the time period, giving viewers an idea that this occurred during the Civil Rights Era. In no way does it take away the discoloration of his skin or the distortion of his facial features. Till had been disfigured to the point where one may even question: is this really a person? How can someone do this to another human being? How can someone do this to a child? Racism is the blemish upon America's history, a blemish that many wish to forget. However, we must always keep the memory of those whose lives have been stolen as a result of prejudice. We must always remember Emmett Till.

-Ashley McNeill

The Logical Reason Young Boys Ought not be Shot to Death

Kel-Tec PF-9, the same gun used to kill Trayvon Martin

It seems just a little bit weird when a 30 year old man follows a 17 year old boy down a street at night. Especially weird, when the boy looks as innocent as the picture shows. A 30 year old man must be very worked up to think that an innocent boy is at all a threat.




Logic was considered a lot in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin because unlike the case of Emmett Till, people who kill nowadays do get some level of  dissection in their trials. Since only one person can speak about what happened that night, the logic George Zimmerman uses to defend his killing of Trayvon, has to be examined. That is where the photo comes in. Trayvon Martin is wearing a hoodie in the picture. Although the hoodie is not the same one he wore on the day of his death, it is what the man with the gun was afraid of. By looking at the photograph people can see how visually un-intimidating Trayvon Martin looks. Most news outlets and people who reference Trayvon Martin use this picture because it shows a young innocent kid. There is nothing offensive  or unsettling about an image of a boy in a white hood. Despite any preconceived notions someone might have about Trayvon, whether they want to call him a thug or a bully, it all pails in comparison to the fact that before his death, Trayvon Martin was just an innocent kid in a sweatshirt. This opposes any logic of fear George Zimmerman claims prompted his pulling of the trigger. The supposed power struggle is void when someone sees the picture after Trayvon has died, his legs crossed, and his eyes rolled back. A gun versus a 17 year old boy has only one outcome, and it is the one sadly displayed in the photo. If there needs to be a reason not to shoot random black boys on the street, it is because they have done nothing wrong. They are the unfortunate victim to a dangerous stereotype that exists about the motives of all black men. Trayvon Martin was not a bad person. He was just as innocent when the picture was taken as he was when the trigger was pulled. Therefore, Zimmerman's defense is a shock to anyone who sees what these photos have to say.

-Lindsey Wright

Pathos: One Image, One Child, One Innocent Flame Extinguished

If I asked you about what your mind conjures up when I say the word "Innocence"? I would wager something along the lines of this image first comes to mind. But this should not make a difference in the outcome of your life, and whether or not you get to live past the age of fourteen. Unfortunately, being born an African-American in the era of Jim Crow laws led to Emmett Till becoming just one more story without an ending due to the pervasiveness of racial injustice in 1950's America. This photo of Emmett Till at his funeral should not be examined impartially.  I believe, that it simply cannot. This picture appeals to the very essence of what it means to be human. The innocence of children is considered to be sacred in our society. The mutilation of a shockingly young boy portrayed so vividly in this image became a call to action to implement new laws, which would protect the rights of African-Americans in America. The image of the distorted  face of Emmett Till would permeate into the consciousness of Americans through exposure in the media. This picture became a symbol of every black child who was ever injured, killed or suffered under the racist ideals prevalent in 20th century America.

This picture so deeply affected the American populace of the 1950's and 1960's that it gave the Civil Rights Movement the momentum it needed to finally take off. This picture provided undeniable proof that racism was a parasite eating away at the fibers of mid-century America.

When examining this photograph and remembering the racism that was prevalent in 1960's American values and the continued injustices committed against African Americans, I think Macklemore says it best, "It's human rights for everybody, there is no difference!"

-Lina Bauer