101 - Colored



Canon 5DmkII, 16-35mm at 16mm, iso200, .7, 3 & 10 sec at f/13.0, Combined in Photomatix

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. Mark Twain

This car is unique in that it is one of the few remaining examples of a "Jim Crow" car. In the segregated South, the Seaboard Airline Railway was mandated by law to provide "separate but equal" facilities. The coach section of the car is divided into two, identical sections; one for white patrons and one for blacks. A small, "flip-over" sign, mounted on either side of the bulkhead separating the two sections, reads "WHITE" and "COLORED." In the convoluted thinking of the times, this sign made the accommodations of the car suitable for white passengers. Few realized that at the end of a run, the car was not turned around; only the signs were flipped over. The seats that were "good enough for blacks" now became perfectly acceptable for whites.

Comments

Unknown said…
Simply incredible is all I can say. Well spotted and that piece of information on flipping of the signs is just too good
myonlyphoto said…
Mike this is incredible image, it isn't that easy to photograph insides. Excellent, Anna :)
Marka said…
Great photo! A good history lesson as well.

'tis a shame, methinks, that even in this day and age, subtler forms of prejudice and bigotry are more prevalent than the more obvious forms of the past; and yet many, if not most, fail to realize this.
yogadiane said…
What a meaningful shot. The colors are shocking as is the flip over sign.

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