The Great Migration: panel 19 - "There had Always been Discrimination"

     In Jacob Lawrence's collection, the Great Migration Series, I thought the picture "There had Always been Discrimination" was particularly impactful. The image of a river separating a black woman, with her child drinking from a water fountain, and a white woman, drinking at a different fountain, was largely based upon actual segregation present in public facilities in the 1930s. During this time, the wish for racial purity among whites led to the segregation of not only water fountains but also beaches and pools. A specific event that was created by this paranoia led to the death of a black teenager in the summer of 1919, and can show how serious the segregation of public facilities was. The painting also shows the white woman above the river, which could represent the North, with plentiful grass and blue skies, and the black mother and child below, with little greenery. This describes north of the river as a plentiful and beautiful place, and allows the viewer to see why blacks would want to migrate there eventhough there was racial segregation.