quote=copake ham
I have to agree with Paul.
The "we are all together, we are one" shots stopped being newsworthy in the 1960s
I took this one in 1979 on a visit to SF - and it was then, and is now, quite banal.
BTW: Wasn't the K-chrome 64 great? I scanned this a year ago (so almost a thirty year old slide) in RAW. I had to downsize it and convert to web-based JPEG to post here - but still the K-chrome quality remains!
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Copake-Ham.
I take it you've never lived in the South?
Also, if your assumption were true, then tell me why the United States of America is in an uproar due to the fact that is seems as though for the first time their is a legitimate chance of a black man being the president of our country?
Are those images newsworthy? What are their significance?
Jamusu
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Well, first off, you are correct. I have never lived in The South. However, my wife is a Greek-American from Memphis, so I've visited The South many times.
Second of all, my late father-in-law was a city councilman in Memphis and once ran for Congress. He lost to Harold Ford, Sr. when Ford was first elected. My f-in-law NEVER played the race card in that election. In fact, as a councilman at large - he used to bring his family to various black churches on Sundays. Despite the fact he was fiscally very conservative - he actively sought and obtained the black vote. He served on council from the late 1960's to the early-1990's a period during which Memphis went from majority white to majority black. He was never defeated in any council election.
Third of all, I do not detect any "uproar" in the US about the fact that Barak Obama is a viable candidate for President. Hell, the man just raised $12 million for his campaign in the last 9 days and this afternoon received an endorsement from a major labor union!
In fact, as a lifelong Democrat and Hillary Clinton supporter, I am quite concerned that Obama may actually get nominated. Only to be "shredded" in the General Election. Not because he's black - but because he's inexperienced and just too damned "nice".
If the Republicans were able to "swift boat" a war hero like John Kerry - imagine what they can do to an ingenue like Obama! One "incident" in the Strait of Hormuz in October and Obama's inexperience will scare the voters straight to the Republican candidate. [And don't doubt that Bush can "create" such an incident - the "October surprise" is an well-known political tactic.]
Frankly, it seems to me that you are still stuck in the 20th C. and trying to create images of a time now past.
If you really want to chronicle change in The South right now - focus on the rising Hispanic population. And deal with the fact that many Southern blacks are antagonistic toward the influx of Hispanics. Show us Southern blacks overcoming their prejudices against immigrant Hispanics - that's a story if it's there.
To put things into a photographic metaphor - you are still looking at society in "black and white". But these days, it's a colorful mosaic. And as society becomes increasingly diverse - you need a more complex scorecard than the one you've been using.