Racial Prejudice In 'Separate But Equal'

Racial prejudice is portrayed in the still image, ‘Separate but Equal,’ which was taken in the 1940’s, through the use of composition and props. The still image uses these conventions to show how 1940’s America was racist; like how they segregated black people from whites. Public toilets, schools, drink fountains and housing estates were all segregated, which is portrayed in ‘separated but equal’. Composition portrays racial prejudice by using the rule of thirds and background. The Rule of Thirds uses the margins to symbolise segregation, because when the main elements of the image aren’t in the centre of the grid, this symbolises the segregation in the image. The sinks also show the differences in races. The white sink looks significantly
bigger than the black one. This symbolises the superiority of the white people in the 1940s. Another way racial prejudice was conveyed in the image was through the use of props. The sinks helped symbolise discrimination as the ‘coloured’ sink is not as appealing as the white’s sink. The positioning of the ‘coloured’ sink also portrays segregation. This is because the sink is in the corner of the building. The pipe portrays the connection between the black and whites, which is in the title ‘Separate But Equal’. Prejudice is portrayed in the image through the use of composition and props which convey the ‘Separate but Equal’ idea of the image.