Anti-War Protest, Essay Example

Protesting is a major factor in how Americans gain recognition throughout the nation, as well as tries to project their voice in order to change current policies, situations, and controversial issues occurring within the government or around the world. This method has been used for both anti- and pro- causes. Two of the most famous protesting events that have occurred in United States History dealt with the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-War Movement against the Vietnam War in the 1960s. In the current paper, Figure 1 is described and analyzed. Figure 1 represents a photo of an anti-war protest from the 1960’s Vietnam War. The Vietnam War protest had people from different backgrounds protesting, such as college students, suburban middle-class citizens, labor unions and government institutes. Therefore, the movement brought in other types of interests from groups, such as Civil Rights protests. (Barringer)

In the photo (Figure 1), the image shows hundreds of individuals showing enthusiasm, some holding flags and others just yelling. There are no messages or direct indications that this photo is an Anti-War protest; however, there are several hints that suggest this is an Anti-War protest. For instance, the first thing that jumps out is the black and white illustration. This immediately indicates that this is an older photo from the 60s or 70s. In addition, the style of clothing that the individuals are wearing is from the 60s or 70s. Furthermore, towards the bottom of the photo, there is an individual holding an American flag with a peace symbol in place of the stars. The peace symbol is unique to the Vietnam War. For instance, when the anti-war movement began many musicians and celebrities, such as Jefferson Airplane and Jane Fonda were speaking out against the war in speeches and music, as well as wearing peace symbols on the clothing.

Another indication that this was an Anti-War movement against the Vietnam War is the flag in photo adjacent to the American flag in the top center of the picture. This flag’s symbol is “Tye-Dye”. Tye-Dye was part of the Hippie movement which was prominent in the 1960s. In addition, Hippies were one of the major groups that were protesting the war, as well as wearing Tye Dye and peace symbols in the clothing and on their cars. In fact, most people associate Tye-Dye and peace symbols with Hippies from the 1960s and 1970s. In addition, the photo shows a diverse group of people protesting. There are men, women, white men, white women, black men and black women represented in the photo. This further indicates that the protest had to do with the war because other protests during that decade were anti-Civil rights, in which you would not see peace symbols or Tye-Dye or they were pro-Civil right protests in which the majority of the individuals would have been of African American descent.

Last but not least, one of the major indicators that the photo was anti-protest against the Vietnam War was the flag directly in the center that illustrates the word, “Death”. Initially when the war began, only a small amount of Americans opposed the war; however, as the war progressed, more Americans began to oppose it because the use of chemical warfare, such as Agent Orange. Many American families were losing loved ones to the war and it became a question of whether Americans were dying for a good cause or not. In addition, there were rumors of the United States, itself, torturing the Vietnamese and capturing prisoners. (Spartacus Educational) Therefore, the Vietnam War is associated with many Deaths that individuals were not happy about and were protesting for their loved ones to come home and end the War in which they felt was unjustifiable.

Figure 1.

 Works Cited

Barringer, M. The Anti-War Movement in the United States. (1999). The Oxford Companion to

Military History. Web. Retrieved on June 2, 2012 from: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/vietnam/antiwar.html.

Spartacus Educational. Vietnamese Protest Movement. (2012). Retrieved on June 2, 2012 from http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/VNprotest.htm