A Parade of Sympathies

In “A Parade of Sympathies,” Washington depicts a traditional Civil Rights era protest scene, which could have taken place in many southern cities during the mid 20th century.  All of the protesters in this scene are fighting for the same overarching goal -- equal rights irrespective of race, color, or creed.

However, as evidenced by Washington’s painstakingly detailed rendering of each protester’s face, the deprivation of equal rights has affected each protester’s life in its own independent way. As the line of protesters stretches backwards to what seems like a distant vanishing point, each of the protester’s facial expressions evidence a different emotion.  In this respect, the totality of the protest line represents a “parade of sympathies” for the viewer to experience and take in as their own.