And Justice for All by Khalil Bendib

At first, all you see is a two faced person but upon further examination you make out the symbols that the artist uses.  The lighter side of the picture depicts a blindfolded person with a sword in his hand turned down.  Symbolizing life is a more difficult task than symbolizing death, but with the white background and the white robes the illustrator is definitely using the white man’s version of life.  The right hand side of the picture is dark and gloomy, quite obviously the death side.  It contains the grim reaper bearing his scythe and the term “death row.”  Of course, after noticing all of the symbols then you start to see the writing on the side.  The lighter side is labeled “WHITES” and the darker side is labeled “COLORED.”  The illustrator wants the viewer to see how the justice system works.  He indicates that the prisoners were sentenced to death based on the color of their skin.  By opening up this window to the world he expands the thinking on racial bias.  It still exists today especially when there is judgment involved.  The problem with this bias is that it would save guilty lives and end innocent ones. 

Also, the vast contrast between black and white in the drawing already makes your mind associate with the illustrator’s point.  When you see black, you think of death and consequently also of the black culture.  Before you even read the words in the picture you already have an idea of what the cartoon is about.  This is a major problem for everyone involved if the mind already has an unknown racial bias.