He shows a young, black girl walking to school surrounded by U.S. marshals, and a tomato is smashed on the wall behind her. This is only one of the many paintings that Norman Rockwell used to make a statement about the racism and segregation that was going on at that time. Norman Rockwell felt that the vulnerability and innocence of children in his paintings sent a much stronger point as well as appealing to a much larger audience. .
Freedom was something that Norman Rockwell was very passionate about. He did not only focus on the problem with racism, but he inspired our nation with Franklin D. Roosevelt's Four Freedoms. Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear were some of Rockwell's most propelling works. This set of four masterpieces was created during the mid-forties at the peak of World War II. They personified four major issues that were not being dealt with at the time, and he felt should be brought to the attention of all Americans. "They are the freedoms for which we fought; they are the words inscribed in the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; they are the fundamental values of the world we would leave to our children" (Heuvel 107). This was the attitude towards the freedoms that Norman Rockwell illustrated so perfectly. .
The Golden Rule painted in 1961 sums up all of Norman Rockwell's paintings with an encouraging subject matter into one. Illustrating a mixture of people off all different ages, races, religions, and cultures Rockwell paints a picture of an ideal setting while making a point by writing the actual Golden Rule on the center of the picture. It was paintings such as these which gave Norman Rockwell the reputation of a peacemaker. "Rockwell viewed the U.N. as the best hope for peace in the world" (Murray 49). He painted paintings such as this for the sake of the United Nations and for the purpose of improving our nation.