The Great Divide

They Also Found Discrimination by Jacob Lawrence

from the series The Migration of the Negro

Panel 49. 1940-41. Washington DC

 Shortly following World War I, many African Americans traveled northward in search of employment. Early migrators were capableof finding jobs, but many found out that the issues faced in the South were prevalent in the North. The African American population was faced with injustice, racism and poor living conditions. Because of this large movement of a population and the mistreatment, Jacob Lawrence, an African American painter created a series reflecting the occurences. The Migration of the Negro is a depiction of the hardships African Americans were faced with during this time.

In They Also Found Discrimination the viewer can see the physical divide between the white population and the African Americans. Not only does it symbolize social segregation, but it is representative of the troubles every African American faced. Jacob Lawrence left the African American subjects faceless in order to depict anyone African American. It was a way for the oppressed to feel recognized, as well as for the white man to realize this was happening to all African Americans.

I mostly enjoy this painting because is a bold creation to show physically and symbolically what the African American population were faced with. In an effort to “fit” into America’s population and survive, they were cast to the side and separated from everyone else. It is through the actions of people such as Jacob Lawrence that brought about awareness of the African American discrimination.

source: Benton, Janetta Rebold and Robert DiYanni. Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. Third Edition. Volume 2. 2008.

Add a comment November 4, 2009