The 1960s civil rights movement influenced his work deeply, and he made artworks expressing feelings related to inequality and race relations in the United States. One of his few religious artworks was "Christ Head" (1960), which had an angular "Modiglianiesque" portrait of Jesus Christ. Seven years later he created "You never really meant it, did you, Mr. Charlie?" which, in a similar style as "Christ Head", shows a black man standing against a red sky "looking as frustrated as any individual can look", according to Alston.