“Segregation and the Purple Heart” (1994)
in this autobiographical scene from 1944/45, Ybor City-born artist Ferdie Pacheco provides a reminder of the Jim Crow era of petty racial segregation that applied throughout the Southern US states. Despite being a recipient of the Purple Heart for bravery, this wounded soldier is obliged to sit in the Coloureds section of the TECO streetcar. The young Ferdie, in baseball gear, shows solidarity by sitting with him, but an irate trolley conductor demands that Ferdie takes his place in his own designated section.
“Segregation and the Purple Heart” (1994)
in this autobiographical scene from 1944/45, Ybor City-born artist Ferdie Pacheco provides a reminder of the Jim Crow era of petty racial segregation that applied throughout the Southern US states. Despite being a recipient of the Purple Heart for bravery, this wounded soldier is obliged to sit in the Coloureds section of the TECO streetcar. The young Ferdie, in baseball gear, shows solidarity by sitting with him, but an irate trolley conductor demands that Ferdie takes his place in his own designated section.