ENC 2135

Rough Draft 2

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"Quickly, throw that load of laundry in the wash before the power goes out, sweetheart. If you need to blow dry your hair, you have 2 hours," followed by the sound of a faded *boom* "That’s just the sound of the bombs from the army." Skyping with my cousin in Syria, six thousand miles away I am afraid through a phone screen, and she is fearless. Syrian citizens have become accustomed to a lifestyle that modern day American's only witness through mainstream media outlets. A hurricane taking 80% of Tallahassee's power had people driving down every corner to find warm water and a working outlet to charge their phone. Meanwhile, I could not help but wonder that this is what people in other countries experience daily, and they would be laughing at us. The average everyday life of an American is what many may wish to experience, however also cannot even see the light at the end of the tunnel (covered by the debris of fallen buildings that were once homes). Families fleeing by foot, attempting to find an escape route and new place to call home, do not know where to begin. America, a country founded by pilgrims fleeing persecution, is now engaged in one of the largest religious persecutions in history. Muslims today face hate, ignorance and bigotry from many Americans and others around the world who stereotype all Muslims based on the actions of Islamic extremist groups, such as Al-Qaeda and The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). While America is considered a free country for all people, current immigration reforms has created questionability and controversy due to the standing history with African Americans, Jews, Hispanics, and Asians. Proceeding the 2016 election and Trump's administration taking office, executive orders have been made that have people protesting civil rights, reminding people of the first civil rights movement and our long lasting history. 

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"The US is home to 5% of the world's population, but to 25% of the world's prisoners," Obama stated in an interview for the Weekly Address. What dawns people about America's mass incarceration statistics is that we hold high value to being The Land of the Free. Dating back to when the 13th amendment addressed the issue on slavery back in 1864 and 1865, the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. So while Africans Americans saw an end to an era of slavery, between the fine lines /except as punishment for a crime/ started an entirely new era, which still exists today. Loophole after loophole, the south continued to battle for slavery, taking advantage of those words and thus these African Americans began getting arrested in masses. From that point, the value of what it meant to be a criminal had entirely changed. As blacks migrated to cities in northern states, such as Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, it was almost ignored that these African Americans were not migrating for economic opportunity, but were actually refugees of terror from their home cities in the south.  

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Due to the mass incarcerations and continuously reducing number of options, the approach changed on the attempt of getting everyone to be seen as human, so wantful arrest began with the rise of protests and riots to sensitize people. Whether the acts of social change were effective was questionable. Just as the amendment had a loophole, so did how politicians reached out to the American people. America's presidential elections for decades have incorporated the relationship of social and economic change efficiency. In order to sway a certain group, a pathos affect of something familiar had to be targeted with nonracist rhetoric. With a distinct play on words, notoriously ineffective policies were voted under presidents who used language such as "law and order" to combat the minority communities; the idea of law and order was a war on crime, but ultimately was just another way to lawfully arrest black people. When that tactic was clear, the movement into the war on drugs was rose and as the justice system was expanded, more police were put on the streets, and the police brutality rates skyrocketed and are still present today.  

 

From 1917 to 1924 a series of legislative acts reduced immigration to the United States by 85 per- cent.; the year 1924 marks the passage of the capstone immigration act, the Johnson- Reed Immigration Act, which limited the number of immigrants permitted entry from specific countries, thereby drastically reducing the entry of southern and eastern Europeans (mostly Jews), who were deemed inferior breeds.  In addition, for the most part, Mexicans did not try to become citizens. Mexican labor was also controllable. Mexicans toiled in the lowest sectors of a segmented labor market with limited rights for little pay; if they did protest, unionize, or even try to leave a job, violence and terror were common tactics used against them by employers, law enforcement, and the border patrol. The modern day issues with the Muslim ban has gotten people looking more closely our comparable comparative seeing how immigrants struggled getting to the states, then analyzing how they were treated. While America preaches being a free state, immigrants were never really "welcome" or "free".   

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When Trump's campaign continued, the generalization of groups such as Mexicans being druggies and rapists, and Muslims being terrorist, he put forth a new generation of hate towards a newly targeted group. Although minorities have always struggled between being told by fellow neighbors "go back to your country," and "they are taking our jobs," something was brought forth that was made clear to not be new. While it’s a new era, the racial slurs and violence are a simple repeat of history; the Trump era ignited a settling anger/racism that the we thought the constitution protected us against. America never ended the racial caste, but only continued to redesign it over the centuries.  

 

Sit-ins, a movement tactic used by labor groups in the early 20th century, forced industrial plants to cease operations until their demands were met. Other social movements chose less direct methods. For example, the early 20th century women's suffrage movement tried to influence state legislatures through the use of marches, rallies and publicity. Rallies were an attempt to change public opinion so that state legislatures and other political bureaucracies would approve and enforce women's right to vote. Suffragists did not try to disrupt legislators' daily routines through sit-ins or riots. Gamson argued ([1975] 1990) that violent social movements are more likely to achieve their goals than nonviolent movements. Analyzing data on American social movements in the 19th and 20th centuries, Gamson argued that movements employing strikes, violence and other disruptive techniques are more able to draw attention to their goals, impose costs on political incumbents, and ultimately achieve their goals than movements using non-disruptive techniques 

(struggling on how to get in with analyzing protest signs!!) 
 

Generation after generation, voices wave on the issue at hand. While the loopholes unravel on one issue to the next, the right to protest is practiced. Social movements targeting organizations employ a variety of tactics. Some movements use disruptive tactics that prevent the target organization from completing its tasks.  

"No justice, no peace! No racist police!" -- "Say it loud say it clear: Refugees are welcome hear!" -- "Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!" 

In the middle of the mass of thousands of people, walking 2 miles, --  

With a second executive order on ban of entry from six predominately muslim countries made and "liberal social media" being restricted, more days pass on under the Trump era that have even his voters worried. More importantly, people who were affected under previous order on immigration, or racist attacks have stood in solidarity. Due to a pre-established mind set put forth by conservative officials, its difficult to reach out to the more closed off. And while aggression is noticeable, retaliation is more than likely. Our two party system has established a barrier between opposing beliefs in a competitive mind set that has made it difficult to produce progress as a nation. While racism still targets minority groups the difference between now and the time of reconstruction is not protests, not police brutality, but that we are forced to communicate and have the whole world involved. With news going viral through a bystanders simple tap of the red record button, so little can be covered up by the press. The truth quickly is revealed.  

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