A Study Of Impatient Patience

In “A Study of Impatient Patience,” Washington depicts a group of African Americans assembled for voter registration at a local county registrar that could have been anywhere in the South during the segregation years. They have arrived early, prior to the registrar’s opening.  Blatant and unobstructed attempts at violence often accompanied such registration campaigns.  These prospective voters proudly stand resolutely one after the other, stoically bracing themselves for whatever obstacle may arise as they attempt to exercise their constitutional right to vote.