Why do Visuals of Violence Fail to Move the Needle In The Fight For Racial Justice

Why is an Instagram post the correct source here?

However, this is not a new phenomenon, in fact in the history of racial equality, images have consistently served as a catalyst for public response and, on occasion, legal progress. For example, the violence caught on film toward peaceful protesters on Bloody Sunday triggered a pivotal turning point in the Civil Rights Movement as global attention was captured, resulting in the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

What does "resulting in" mean? That but for some particular images Lyndon Johnson would not have been able to move the Voting Righta Act through the US Congress? Is there a source for this interpretation of the history?

In 1991, the videotaped beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police sparked the notorious LA race riots motivating reforms to address excessive force in the department’s policing practices through measures including discipline reports and the diversification of LAPD leadership.

I think we would say that the riots followed the acquittal of the officers who beat King, correct?

I witnessed this personally as a student following the events of August 2017 in Charlottesville, as steps to address remnants of racism at the University of Virginia were set in motion by the jarring front-page image of white supremacists brandishing tiki torches on Grounds and national response to this display of hatred. More than reading or hearing about these instances, images seem to capture our attention as they depict truth in an undeniable capacity.

And yet the video of the police beating Rodney King were not "undeniable," because the jury acquitted.

It would follow then that bearing witness to injustice presents a unique challenge to respond and engage. Yet, we are trapped in a cycle which has provided no relief to the systemic effects of racial violence and discrimination in our country.

If this is primarily an essay about the social effects of photographs, it would improve the next draft to put it in touch with some of the not-insubstantial literature on the subject. I think I might want to start with Susan Sontag. If, on the other hand, this is primarily about the history of civil rights struggle since 1960, I think it would be good to use the historical literature to gain context about, for example, the King riots and the passage of the Voting Rights Act. If the current "Subjectivity" and "Time" discussions are not digressions, then the subject seems to be less how power is distributed in society than how mass attention is paid, which would require a tighter connection between the ebb and flow of individual attention and the political effect of social unrest than this draft presents. Tighter focus and more use of other sources to learn from look like the right path to improvement in any event.