Blacks... in my pool... Let's pour acid on them!

This image is from 1964 during the Civil Rights movement, and I thought it was pretty powerful. This white man is pouring what is said to be acid or a pool cleaning chemical onto these black people in his pool. The black people where in his pool because they were attempting to integrate the pool. This was considered a normal action to take.


Reading the picture you can see the pain on the black woman's face in the pool so we know that it must hurt. People swimming away from where he is pouring this chemical. We can see the white man's obvious dominance above these people because he is physically above them in the photo. We can see the other white man in the pool, and he as well is getting this chemical poured on him. The white man deemed the other white man as a black lover and he would be considered like one of them.

The white man pouring the chemical is a Raced Body who is influenced by Racial Belief systems. He fits our ideology of a raced body. He seems to be wealthy (he owns a pool and a hotel), he is dapper (with his tie and suit, maybe those sunglasses are Ray Ban Wayfarers that he has on), and all of this points to a privileged white man. As our Racial belief system pegs him as white, while his Racial Belief system pegs the people in the pool as disgusting blacks.

This image sets the tone for the civil rights movement and the cruelty and abhorrent racism that was going on. When this picture came out though, by many people this white man (James Brock) would have been seen as a "hero" or doing right.This asks you to take a position, are you white and hate blacks, or are you white and like blacks if so we will treat you all alike.