Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Racial segregation

 
Original - An African-American child at a segregated drinking fountain on a courthouse lawn. Halifax, North Carolina, 1938.
Reason
A child, a sunny day, a bright lawn, and a drinking fountain--a fine sight ruined by the sign on the tree and the courthouse in the background. Still it's an important subject and (I was surprised to discover) not an easy one to locate high resolution public domain photography for. So I'll have to ask leniency for the grain of the somewhat high speed film (it may have been necessary to get exposure in the shadows) and the soft focus on the boy who appears to be pushing away from the fountain and turning to leave at the sight of a strange photographer. The poignancy of this one does it for me. Restored version of Image:Segregation 1938.jpg.
Articles this image appears in
Discrimination, Jim Crow laws, Separate but equal, State racism
Creator
John Vachon

Promoted Image:Segregation 1938b.jpg MER-C 10:01, 2 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]