Nope. No. You’re wrong. Color photos have been around since the late 1800s there are a bunch of full color photos of MLK. The us govt and educational system just doesn’t show us because they want us to push back the civil rights movement and distance institutionalized racism from today’s society.
Here are just a few of many photos of MLK in FULL color. This wasn’t that long ago. This is RECENT history. Segregation, the terrorizing of black communities, the brutality isn’t old - it is still present.
When my dad was a little boy, my grandfather was one of the ministers who marched with MLK on Washington. He grew up hearing stories about the great Dr. king and the differences he made BUT he still saw the blatant discrimination against black folks and other people of color (hell he experienced it himself). My dad was a kid watching MLK. My DAD. My grandfather who only passed away about six years ago MARCHED with him. This isn’t twelve generations ago. THIS IS RECENT HISTORY.
I’m a millennial and my parents were both in middle school when he was murdered. This really wasn’t that long ago.
I’m Gen z and my grandmother went to segregated schools for a few years before they became illegal
Seeing photos like this in full color with nice, crisp lines and in relatively high definition really does a lot to remind you that this really WASN’T all that long ago. No wonder people tend to think of the days of MLK as ancient history, if we mostly see black and white and grainy pictures!
I’m a millennial.
My father was in college when MLK was assassinated. He was born a year after WWII ended; 1946
My grandmother was born in 1911. HER NANNY WAS A FREED SLAVE.
The US isn’t even 250 years old, if you assume the average life span is 60 years that’s only a little more than 4 generations; and I’m being generous with my math.
Don’t let black and white photography fool you into thinking that the Civil Rights movement was THAT long ago; it wasn’t.
B&W photography is used in text books to convey the importance of the moment. It’s believed that it’ll cause the subject to appear more majestic, powerful, and historic. But the down side is that it dates the subject so we perceive as being longer ago then it really was. 50 years ago is very recent history. The fact is that many of the people who were against the civil rights in the 60′s are still alive today further drives this point home.
I'll end with this; a colored photo of FDR and Churchill from 1943.
