Flutterby™! : separate and not equal 2004-12-13 17:48:53.776488+00

separate and not equal

2004-12-13 17:48:53.776488+00 by Dan Lyke 2 comments

Photographs of Signs Enforcing Racial Discrimination: Documentation by Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Photographers, a fascinating look back to not as long as we'd like to think ago.

This reference aid includes all the known images of discrimination signs found in the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information file of photographic prints. This list was compiled in response to frequent patron requests for such images. The list is updated as additional images are discovered.

Growing up in the south in the sixties I saw a number of examples of this. I remember there was a laundrymat at the end of the street I grew up on with "Whites Only" stenciled on the door. I thought it was referring to laundry you were allowed to wash there, not people. By the time I was old enough to understand the sign was scrapped away.

Recently the facade of an old building in Chattanooga was removed in an effort to restore the building to it's original architecture. They uncovered a painting of a hooded man on a horse. This building was on the corner of Main St. and Market St. and across from the old train station that is now the Chattanooga Choo Choo. At one time this was the center of commerce in Chattanooga. A lot of people were shocked at the finding and at least one person was wanting an inquiry into who was responsible. The image was quickly sandblasted from the building.

While a local hot-dog place (Coney Island, on 4th St in St Pete, for those who care) no longer has the *sign*, it has the little window out to the parking lot which was utilized by "coloreds" since they weren't permitted in the building.