Is it true “Civil Rights” era photos/videos were intentionally published in black & white to make it not seem recent?

[ThrobbingHood]

Can’t remember who said this, but apparently in most textbooks, archive footage etc, they made sure it wasn’t in color, to psychologically make it seem like the racism in the experienced during the 60s was long ago.

And how if it was in color, the optics would make America look much worse. I know “tin foil hats”… but I do notice all the highlights of the 60s seems to be in color: rock bands, models, Hollywood etc.

But anytime you see pictures of dogs and water canons being set on black folk, it all happens to be in black and white. Including MLK’s speech, sit ins etc

It’s only recently these photos have been digitally “restored” to their full color.

 

[Ineedmoney504]

Bruh shut ya dumbass up

 

[TEH]

In the 60’s:

Most people had black and white televisions or only radio. Most people could only afford black and white newspapers not full color magazines.

 

[ORDER_66]

You make no sense OP... you think these newspapers had technicolor technology back in the 60's like that???

 

[Adeptus Astartes]

I have heard this too, that they only put b&w pics in documentaries for that purpose.

 

[LuuqMaan]

 

[MasterThought]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if color technology existed back in the 1800s. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if PlayStations and Xbox's existed back then too

Once you learn that we're only told a fraction of the truth about basically EVERYTHING , it makes you question everything.

 

[CHICAGO]

In the 60’s:

Most people had black and white televisions or only radio. Most people could only afford black and white newspapers not full color magazines.

You make no sense OP... you think these newspapers had technicolor technology back in the 60's like that???

I ASSUME HES TALKING
ABOUT THE STUFF WEVE SEEN
WITHIN THE LAST 30 YRS...

IT CAN ALL BE PUBLISHED
IN COLOR.


​

 

[Pull Up the Roots]

The source of that claim was a random person on twitter.

Fact check: Civil rights-era images weren't intentionally made black and white

Color photographs of the civil rights movement have surfaced in recent years, but photographers and experts agree that they are rare.

www.usatoday.com

Black-and-white versus color photography in the 1960s​

Color photographs of the civil rights movement have surfaced in recent years, but photographers and experts agree that they are rare.

From a reverse-image search, USA TODAY found very few instances of the four specific photos in the post appearing in black and white (there were about seven such instances). In the vast majority of the hundreds of times these particular photos appear on the internet, they are in color.

David Haberstich, a curator of photography at the National Museum of American History, said the dearth of color photographs from the era in general is in part due to economic constraints. In the 1960s, color film cost significantly more than black-and-white film.

Not only was the color film more expensive, but printing color images was, too. Haberstich said he could “certainly imagine a newspaper being forced by economics and their technology to reproduce color photographs as black and white.”

Most newspapers did not start printing in color until decades after the civil rights movement. In 1979, 12% of newspapers printed some of their photos in color. In 1993, that number increased to more than 97%, according to the New York Times. Magazines were similarly slow to adapt color. Publishers would only print select images in color due to the high cost of printing an entire magazine in color.

A lack of time also restricted photographers from shooting with color film.

Short deadlines meant photojournalists working for newspapers or magazines didn’t have time to wait for color film to process, a lengthier and more technically difficult endeavor than for black-and-white film.

David Burnett, a longtime photojournalist who covered news ranging from the Vietnam War to the fall of the Berlin Wall, said being able to quickly submit photos to editors was essential to getting your work published.

The majority of photographers at the time worked for newspapers, magazines or wire services, Burnett said, so if photographers wanted their photos to be used in these publications, they usually could not wait for the lengthier color film development process.

“Almost no newspapers were able to publish color in the same day that something happened,” Burnett said. “Color … needed what amounted to an extra week to be able to get everything plated right.”

 

[Wildhundreds]

Breh them CACs still alive TODAY..

I have a picture of my 87 year old great grandmother holding me in 1982, she was the daughter of a slave.. Regardless of how CACs try to say slavery was a long time ago, it really wasn't..

 

[ThrobbingHood]

The source of that claim was a random person on twitter.

Fact check: Civil rights-era images weren't intentionally made black and white

Color photographs of the civil rights movement have surfaced in recent years, but photographers and experts agree that they are rare.

www.usatoday.com

We're generally taught that the civil rights movement happened long ago, equality was achieved, and things are better. Pictures appear in textbooks in black and white, even though color photography existed by then.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is most often depicted in history classes in black and white photos. It's more comfortable for the white people in charge of preparing most education materials to think of his struggle and the movement he helped lead as something ancient and over. But in color, it's clear this wasn't our past. This is our present.

The simple act of colorizing photos from that time period proves that it wasn't so long ago after all and not much has actually changed. Jordan J. Lloyd took famous photos from the civil rights movement, photos that are always shown in black and white, and colorized them. The effect is a stark reminder that The United States of America has a fraught history and present with race. The civil rights movement, in actuality, wasn't that long ago. Many of its leaders still live and fight the exact same fight today.

Colorized Civil Rights Photos Provide New Perspective on Well-Known Events

The simple act of colorizing photos from the civil rights movement proves that it wasn't so long ago after all and not much has actually changed.

www.distractify.com

 

[Fiji Water]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if color technology existed back in the 1800s. Hell I wouldn't be surprised if PlayStations and Xbox's existed back then too

Once you learn that we're only told a fraction of the truth about basically EVERYTHING , it makes you question everything.

They had playstation in the 1800s? PlayStation and slavery at the same time??? What games were they playing?

 

[boskey]

The source of that claim was a random person on twitter.

I've seen it posted a couple times. People cooking up conspiracy theories to cover their own ignorance

 

[Black Hans]

Honestly, the B&W photos made them more powerful in imagery. That was a good idea to publish them that way

 

[Dr. Acula]

During the 60s colorized photography and video was starting to gain popularity Depending on what equipment was used you'll either get the b&w or color. Others have already posted colored photos from the era and they have been around

This is just the period of transition in tech so you saw a mix. No conspiracy. It's not just with civil rights photos this occurred with. I remember watching shows like I Dream of Jeannie on Nick at Nite and some of the earlier episodes were black and white while later episodes were in color. Just like when HD TV first came out, it was a while before everything went fully HD and there was still SD media around.