Newsweek published an article called “Rebranding Hate in the Age of Obama.” Is this seriously a thing? The KKK is back in business? Sometimes I can’t believe that such division exists in this one country. Truly this was a thought provoking article. But wowsa did the photo editor do a lousy job.

This photo by Bruce Gilden took up nearly two full pages of the four page article:

The photographer will probably win some award, but if I’m quickly flipping through the magazine, I’m thinking this photo belongs with an article about a new WWII documentary. The images do not in any way communicate the immediacy and horror of learning that despite that we have an overwhelmingly popular black president there are still folks out there who would rather see him dead than respect our democracy.

Here’s the letter I wrote:

Eve Conant’s article about the resurgence of white supremacists was shocking and terrifying. The accompanying photos did not, however, serve the story well. The choice to print the photos in black and white, rather than in color, served to give them a nostalgic feel. The black and white photo of a boy with military-style shirt and a buzz cut looks like a shot from a history book. Color would have better demonstrated that this is a current problem with urgent consequences.

Really, is it just me?