A policeman rips the American flag away from 5-year-old Anthony Quinn, having already confiscated his ‘No More Police Brutality’ sign. Jackson, Mississippi; ca. 1965

The guy in the background looks justifiably shocked. And yet is doing nothing.

In the South during the civil rights movement, the American flag was a potent symbol of support for racial integration (and support for federal law). Southerners who believed in racial segregation displayed Confederate flags instead. People were pulled from their cars by policemen and beaten simply for displaying an American flag on their license plates. So the simple act of a small child carrying an American flag represented defiance of Mississippi law and custom.

Anthony and his mother were arrested and hauled off to jail, which was a cattle stockade at the county fairground, since the city jails were already full of protesters. The Quinn protest was organized by COFO (Council of Federated Organizations), an umbrella organization responsible for most civil rights activities in the state. Today Anthony lives in Florida. I believe he is a lawyer. His mother died recently, and when Patrolman Kohler died a number of years ago, his obituary in the Jackson Daily News referred to this photograph and mentioned how Kohler regretted that moment ‘for the rest of his life’.”

August 17, 2014 | Categories: American History, History, Human History, Images of History, Life under siege, Photography, Pursuit of Happiness, The Drama Of It All, The Politics of Cultural Destruction, U.S. Politics | Tags: AMERICA, American, american flag, American History, Americans, civil rights, civil rights movement, Civil War, Confederate flag, Confederate flags, flags, Historical, History, human history, law, mississippi confederate, Patrolman Kohler, police, police brutality, Protest, racial integration, racial segregation, Racism, south | 1 Comment