MYTHS & HEROES : THE AMERICAN DREAM

This cartoon has been published in 2008 in the newspaper Rocky Mountain News, drawn by Edstein.

There are three characters, which are a father and his children. The scene takes place in the living-room. The father is sitting on a armchair. Next to him, there is a table with a lamp on top of it. A framed picture is hung on the wall as well. That's a african-american family and the father is telling his son and his daughter that in America, they can grow up to be anything they want and that this time, it's true. 

The last sentence refers to the 2008 presidential election, won by Barack Obama, who is the first black president of the United State. The latter proves that it's possible for black people to be anything they want, even president. 

During the 1960's, there was the Civil Rights Movement, with its famous leader Martin Luther King trying to end the racial segregation. But even if they fought for it, the defacto segregation in North and de jure segregation in South were still existing.

Nowadays, de jure segregation has disappeared completely and the defacto segregation has been reduced a lot. 

It is a very positive and optimistic cartoon because the father's words are full of hope. He dreams about the end of the discrimination.

This one has been done in 2014 by a cartoonist who is named Andy Marlette. Published in the News Journal, this cartoon is composed of four frames. 

In each one, a black boy is showing his father the headline of a newspaper. In the first frame, the headline is about Trayvon and the father answers he is sorry but that's just Sanford. In the second one, it's about Jordan Davis and the man says the same thing except for the last word "Florida". On the third one, Eric Garner is related to New York and in the last one, Michael Brown, he says "America".

Why the last name, Michael Brown, represents America ? This man was the last victim in a long series of police brutality and did up in murder against black people and he was the last traw that breaks the camel's back. Therefore, this issue has been extended little by little in the whole country which is still plagued by the race question. 

Whereas the fist cartoon was optimistic, this one is the opposite because it shows that discrimination and violence against black people still exists in every state of North America. 

The shooting of Michael Brown occurred on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, a northern suburb of St. Louis. Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, 28, a white Ferguson police officer. The disputed circumstances of the shooting of the unarmed man sparked existing tensions in the predominantly black city, where protests and civil unrest erupted. The events received considerable attention in the U.S. and elsewhere, attracted protesters from outside the region, and generated a vigorous debate about the relationship between law enforcement and African Americans as well as created a national dialogue about police use of force doctrine in Missouri and nationwide.

This cartoon, made by Steve Sack and published in Star Tribune in 2014, is an echo of the latter picture because it deals with the same issue : the series of police brutality and murders. 

We can see three groups of people. On the left, there is a cameraman  with a bag where is written "MEDIA"who is shooting a scene. In the middle, there's a policeman of Ferguson, (the city's name appears on his bulletproof vest) who is pointing the third group, composed of black people, with his gun. Both of these two latter groups are screaming "DON'T SHOOT". 

Actually, the word "shoot" has a doble meaning in this picture. The policeman says it refearing to filming whereas the "shoot" said by black people means "fire a bullet". 

The criticism is about policemen who allow themself to be violent and do not respect laws that they are supposed to represent. 

Of course, they don't want to be on camera while they put their autority to a bad use. Therefore it's quite clear that in this issue, the media plays a big part because it exposes them and informs the population.

Unlike the other cartoon which is very negative, this one uses a play on words and a certain situation comedy in order to make people aware of what happens. Even if they illustrate the same problem, this one is more comprehensible and in my opinion, more effective.

"You don’t want to die in a matter of seconds because of cops.” This has fueled the Black Lives Matter movement across the country and has put the American Dream for our younger generations into better perspective.

Contrary to all the others, this time it's a photograph taken in 2016. It tackles the same issue of the Ferguson case but less with a criticism than with a protest march. We can notice a large number of citizens and in the middle, a placard catches our attention : "Black Lives Matter" is the slogan. We can also make out another catchword which is "We Want Justice". 

All of them deprecate brutality against black people in which police men are involved. They gather so as to fight for all victims and to end the racial discrimination. For them, black lives matter as much as white lives. This protest march must approve the idea of equality and they definitely believe that black people need to be respected just as any other citizen. Indeed they deserve to be considered equal to white people, since we are all the same inside. Martin Luther King said once that "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that; hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that". And it is precisely what we can see in this photograph, white people reunited to fight for black people's rights and equality.