Doubts about America; #Ferguson

This image above is very disturbing, and was written about and discussed in, #Ferguson : My Thoughts on an American Flashpoint.

It is an image of Michael Brown as he lay dead in the street following being shot six times in the back. As you can see, accompanying Michael Brown is food and drink that is racially linked with people of an African-American descent, how anyone could have put this image together and thought it to be either acceptable or comical is far beyond me. This says a lot about the country it was published in which was undoubtedly the USA, and does this take the 'freedom of speech' too far? Is this the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant American Dream? Or is it simply (though sadly) that this has become the norm for America?

Michael W. Twitty does give critical analysis of aspects of these (and other) questions about America today, dealing directly with the shooting in Ferguson, Missouri. One part of Twitty's blog stood out to me most and it is this;

"The same country where some white folk are celebrating their “right,” to bear firearms in Targets and Starbucks and pointing rifles at Federal agents (a la Cliven Bundy) without reproach, dares lecture Black America about the legalized lynchings of its sons for petty theft or perceived slights against police and governmental authority.  The same country where people are thrilled by movies about white collar crime on Wall Street and the theft of millions on the same, has robbed people of their savings is the same country where “stop and frisk” jukes the stats uptown while the real crooks downtown go wild and unrestrained after their rape of the American dream."

Read that last part again, "Their RAPE of the American Dream" this is a powerful statement to make, and the American Dream has unfortunately become something that changes with race when it truly shouldn't. A WASP should not simply want for himself and other white folk like him, he should want the true American Dream for everyone, no matter what race, religion or ethnicity they are but sadly that just doesn't happen. The American dream now is instead something that has left people with the freedom and ability to create disturbing images like the one above. I am by no means saying that all white men are pro-white, WASP, elites, but it isn't a hard fact to prove that very often white men are hired by white men rathe than hiring black men with equal if not better qualifications for the role, simply based on the colour of their skin. This denies, disturbs and destroys the American Dream, that is not equality, in their eyes not all men are created equal so they 'rape' the black man's American Dream to better their own and to better their white counterparts.

Regrettably what we have seen in Ferguson and many other places across America, be it intentional or not on the police officers part, is undermining the American Dream. He did shoot-to-kill a young black man with no matter how you look at it, excessive force. Did the officer really need to shoot him six times in the back? If he was white I'm sure it would have been a completely different story, their probably wouldn't even have been a 'story' at all.

Earlier on in the text Twitty also refers to this as an "American Tragedy" but is this simply an American tragedy or is this more of a tragedy for the contemporary world? I believe what happens in America now isn't just American anymore, America has become so influential on geo-politics that for something like this to happen in America, 'The Land of the Free', sends the wrong message to almost every other country on this planet. In contrast to this though, I do agree with Twitty that it is still an American tragedy at heart, and something desperately needs to be done about modern racial segregation within present-day America.

sources;
Blog by Michael W. Twitty; http://afroculinaria.com/2014/08/18/ferguson-my-thoughts-on-an-american-flashpoint/
Image; https://afroculinaria.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/img_20140818_001814.jpg


EDIT: I found this video after posting my blog and would like to discuss in relevance to doubts in America.

Pro-gun control and anti-gun control

Anti-gun control website (Listverse) click here.
This website discusses ten arguments against gun control and against stricter laws preventing civilian weapon possession. Two of the ten arguments stood out to me most, the first being argument number three.

Argument three discusses how something like a gun prohibition law would be similar to the 18th amendment (January 17, 1920) which prohibited the production, transportation and sale of alcohol within the United States. This Amendment was wildly un-popular with the public even though it was very popular in congress and lead to a phenomenal increase in crime rates, (because people simply carried on producing and selling alcohol) as well as an increase of deaths from people brewing their own moonshines and poisoning themselves. Not to mention the gang related crimes increasing, as the website mentioned gangsters such as Al Capone thrived on controlling the importation to entire cities and became extremely rich very quickly. I agree that if guns were prohibited or stricter laws were put in place we would see an extremely similar situation, and a definite increase in gang wars related to weapons trade.

The next argument that stood out to me was argument two and it was entitled 'Laws do not apply to criminals'. In the argument it states 'Laws against murder and violence do not apply to those who intend to die whilst killing as many people as they can.' This is the simplest way to put it, criminals do not care, a criminal will always break the law but a civilian (otherwise known as law-abiding citizen) will not which leaves the civilians without protection for their homes and families. I am not saying that every criminal owns a weapon but they are easy to obtain in America and if gun control laws were brought in I believe the black market for weapons would increase to almost wholesale size making it even easier for criminals to obtain weapons.


Lets move onto the pro-gun control website (The Progressive Cynic), click here.
The second amendment is this websites first port-of-call. The second amendment is said to be the gun lovers 'catch-all defense to their right to carry any weapon that they can get their hands on'. Now I understand the point that the pro-gun control side is trying to make but it just seems a bit of a feeble argument, it is used as a catch-all defence but that is no reason to impose stricter laws. The website goes on to discuss the fact that in it's most literal and law-abiding sense the second amendment does not allow the 'individual, un-attached American' to bare arms. Though surely as time progresses the constitution has to be taken literally within modern limits and factors as now their is a national military rather than separate militias for each state, the second amendment says that the members these militias have the right to bare arms, but whose to say that everyone cannot be part of the militia within their state as in it is almost an open militia.

To sum this blog up, for me gun control laws are adequate and are what they should be. I don't believe that any form of further gun restrictions or prohibitions should be enforced but I certainly do not believe that gun laws should lessen, though it wouldn't hurt for schools to introduce gun education talks and/or compulsory weapons training for anyone holding certain weapons.

Sources:
http://listverse.com/2013/12/12/10-arguments-against-gun-control/
http://theprogressivecynic.com/debunking-right-wing-talking-points/refuting-gun-enthusiasts-anti-gun-control-arguments/
http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/600x3691.jpg

American Liberty; Common Core

This video is about the threat to American liberty that 'Common Core' is creating, but the reason I chose this as an expression of American liberty is that, Dr. Pesta has the freedom of speech and the liberty to debate and argue against federal decisions and projects without being oppressed by the government.

So what is Common Core?

"The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA). These learning goals outline what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each grade. The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live."

Dr. Pesta argues that these standards are not high enough, and that they are actually impeding the children's learning.  Throughout the video he always has the American flag behind him which to me is extremely powerful as it shows me that even though he doesn't agree with the federal government he still has a love for America, which begs the question, does freedom come from government or is it a part of the American ideal that the government can't tamper with?

Furthermore Dr. Pesta quotes many statistics particularly of education and this also shows liberty and the freedom of information that all Americans have access to. Dr. Pesta is also the Academic Director of the FreedomProject Education (FPEUSA.org) again the ability to create and direct a project specifically designed to question and negate a federal scheme shows a specific liberty that many countries don't have, even countries that claim to have such freedoms and liberties.

Sources;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeY6529g7ck

http://www.corestandards.org/about-the-standards/

https://fpeusa.org

Oprah Winfrey

Who is Oprah Winfrey?
Biography.com says "Billionaire Oprah Winfrey is best known for hosting her own internationally popular talk show from 1986 to 2011. She is also an actress, philanthropist, publisher and producer."
Oprah Winfrey is a household name in the US, and even in England. Even if someone doesn't really know what Oprah does they usually know she is a African-American woman. It is this link that Oprah has with race which adds such significance to her success.

Forbes have given Oprah a 'self-made score' of 10 (10 being absolutely self-made with no wealth coming from her family inheritance) and as of 1/11/2014 her net worth is at $3 billion. 

Oprah was born 10 years before the Civil Rights act of 1964 took place, this act made it illegal to discriminate based on race and gender as well as other factors, so for the first 10 years of her life as an African-American female discrimination was more than legal, it was the done thing. Following the Civil Rights movements through the mid-sixties this opened a huge number of opportunities for black people and women and it meant that Oprah was able to go onto University which is an option that just 20 years before she may not have had or it would have been a black-only University.

From University Oprah gained recognition on a Radio show from which she was asked to host A.M. Chicago for 8 years and she then went on to host her own TV show, The Oprah Winfrey Show. So why does Oprah have an influence on race in the USA? It's possibly because she has proved to so many African-American's that not only has an African-Americn 'made it to the big leagues' but she is a woman also which shows that this white male dominance is a thing of the past. Anyone who says that problems in race haven't changed much in the past 60 years I would ask them to look at Oprah Winfrey and tell me that racial equality hasn't changed dramatically for the better.

Another question to ask is has Oprah contributed to racial equality?
Yes I believe she has, Oprah is one of the most influential women in the USA and just because she hasn't been the leader of any political parties against racism does not mean she hasn't changed peoples views on race. In fact she has managed to change views on race right in their living rooms on their TV sets.

Race issues are ever changing but it is easy to say that someone like Oprah has had a positive impact on the way race is viewed and dealt with in popular culture and society.

Sources;
Image; http://www.achievement.org/homepage/images/slideshow/owinfrey.jpg
http://www.biography.com/people/oprah-winfrey-9534419#synopsis
http://www.forbes.com/profile/oprah-winfrey/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964

12 Years a Slave

It is hard to say that 12 years a slave is 'brilliant film' because that is not what it is attempting to be. It isn't trying to be a film that people can watch time and time again and it shouldn't be, what the film is doing is educating and portraying the U.S' past sin. You only have to watch this film once to understand the intent of the film and the director Steve McQueen -who is also African-American- does it so justly.

The image above is of Anna's (Ashley Dyke) back following Burch (Christopher Berry) having made Solomon (Chiwetel Ejiofor) whip Anna, as this image came on the screen it made people cringe, that reaction is far from surprising. Rather than talking about the reaction of the audience it's the reaction of the characters that is most important. Solomon struggles to beat Anna and you can see the pain it causes him whereas Burch and his wife have no problem watching this unfold and of course are forcing it to be done, even though Burch was in fact in a sexual relationship with Anna.

It is apparent that the beautiful scenery completely contradicts the deadly sin that is taking part within it. As well as the presence of religion which has an almost hallowing influence on the film especially on the plantations.

This image above has 4 parts to it; the righteous white man standing up front speaking gospel, the gorgeous scenery and arch-way sprouting life, the black people sat down looking up to the white man and finally something that is only in the audio of the film, the whaling cries of Eliza for her children.
This scene is most of the film wrapped into a space of about 2 minutes, white ignorance, black oppression and fear, religion and scenery.

The film truly does make the audience think about the problems being addressed but the sad truth is that this film is the truth. It is not fiction, fake, fable or a fantasy. It is the truth and yes there will have been areas where slavery wasn't as brutal (careful to not say as 'bad') but there are places it would have been more brutal, harsh or otherwise.

To bring this review to a close, 12 years a slave is not a 'brilliant film' it is a film that does the world a justice, there is not yet a word -that I can think of- that describes how and what the film does, not just the U.S, but for the world. It is an eye-opener for any viewer and is a must-watch before you die.

Source;
Image 1: http://spotongossip.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/12_Years_Screenshot07-1024x469.png
Image 2:http://www.thegit.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/12-years-a-slave-benedict-cumberbatch.jpg
Image 3: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews_61/12_years_a_slave_blu-ray_/large/large_12_years_a_slave_06_blu-ray_.jpg
Cast and Crew: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2024544/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast

Virginia Sims

I chose the person, Virginia Sims, as the name intrigued me. I thought if this women was born into slavery the chance is that Virginia is the name of the state she was born in, funnily enough I was correct.

The narrative opens "I was born in 1844. I was twenty when peace was declared. I was born in Virginia." Now I don't know for sure who named Virginia, but if it was her mother the likelihood is that she had little or no education so named her after the state as she didn't know many other names to call her. Though if she was named by the family that owned her at the time they probably didn't care enough to think of a name for her.

What strikes me about this opening is that she knows her exact age when 'peace' was declared even though at the time of the interview Virginia was 93. This was most probably the biggest thing that happened to her throughout her entire life after having been born into slavery.

Though Virginia was born in Virginia she wasn't there very long as she goes on to say "but I was sold, put up on a stump like you sell hogs to the highest speculator". This was a sad but true fact of slavery people were being sold and auctioned as if they were simply cattle. For someone of such a young age at the time it sounds disturbing to us now but it was completely acceptable at the time in states such as Virginia.

On the following page Virginia recalls a meeting she had "I member they was a white man called Dunk Hill and he said, 'Virginia, who free'd the niggers?' I said 'God free'd the niggers.'" This small recollection tells me a lot about Virginia as just from her grammar 'they' instead of 'there' shows me that she didn't have much of an education from a young age and continuing into her later life she will have been around a lot of people who weren't educated as a young age as well because then her grammar would have most likely improved, this was probably due to the segregation that followed the liberation from slavery. Just as well she refers to her peers as 'niggers' when responding to the 'white man' this is most probably because she didn't know any better. If this poor women had been born into slavery she would have been referred to as a 'nigger' from an extremely young age.

A surprisingly small amount of people know where the term 'nigger' comes from and this is because it tends to be a very taboo word especially for the 'white man' it comes form the Spanish word Negro which descends from the Latin word Niger. This meant either 'colour black' or 'to blacken'. It is the way the term was used which built it's offensiveness as it was supposed to refer to the 'extremely unsophisticated'.

"Old master whipped me with a little peach stick because I let Frankie"..."go up the ladder." This is the only mention of brutality from her master and Virginia says she was "always treated good". What is strange to me about this is that she doesn't seem have any problem with the fact she was whipped, it's almost as if she had been brainwashed into thinking that it was acceptable behaviour, but if you were born into it surely that's what's normal?

To end her interview Virginia says "I never went to school a day. After we was free'd we stayed right on the Murphy place. They paid us and we worked on the shares. That's the reason I say I done better when I was a slave." That final sentence sums up Virginia's entire experience of being a slave, it was fine, possibly even good. She had food, a bed, a roof over her head, she didn't have to worrying about making rent, she just worked, ate, socialised and slept. Virginia was very fortunate to have been treated well, a lot of other slaves weren't so lucky but to me it seems as if Virginia put it down to one thing, "I always been easy controlled"

Sources;
http://americanrtl.org/files/images/slaves-persons-not-property.jpg
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mesn&fileName=026/mesn026.db&recNum=167&itemLink=S?ammem/mesnbib:@field(AUTHOR+@od1(Sims,+Virginia))
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger

Kansas

Kansas State (KS) is right in the heart of the United States as well as being sat in the heart of the Great Plains, specifically in the mid-grass prairie.  The (2,893,957) inhabitants of  Kansas live within the middle of Tornado Alley, almost the entire state is classified as being in Tornado which is more than any other state. This means that the entirety of the inhabitants within the state of Kansas have to prepare every year for the hurricane season, for example building, fixing or restocking storm shelters.

Kansas seems to be 'typified' by it's large agricultural industry, it is even part of the state flag which contains the state seal depicting an idyllic scene of farming the land;

The main agriculture that takes place is wheat and other grains.

Kansas has a climate which if you situate yourself properly allows you to farm all year round (near enough) as it sits in three different climate classifications; it has humid continental semi-arid steppe and humid subtropical. Though having these three climate classifications can be beneficial to the state it is also the cause of the severe storms and hurricanes. "Despite the frequent sunshine throughout much of the state"..." the state is vulnerable to strong and severe thunderstorms. Some of these storms become supercell thunderstorms; these can spawn tornadoes, occasionally of EF3 strength or higher." 

Since 2010 the state of Kansas has seen a net loss of people at just under 66,000, there are many reasons speculated as to why there has been this net loss of population. It is thought to be that a lot of the younger generations aren't  happy with the rural, farming lifestyle and move to the more urban areas and cities, though there is still migration into the state which is typically of older generations wanting the more relaxed and quiet life for retirement. This state give the older generations who have been stuck in the urban or sub-urban areas most their lives an opportunity to be with nature. 

Sources;

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/kansas/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas#Climate

http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/flags/ks_flag.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Kansas

Image 1; https://www.baklavaking.com/skin/frontend/default/default/images/baklava-kansas.gif

Image 2; http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Flag_of_Kansas.svg

Space and Place

This map shows us that there is heavy percentages of people aged 65 and over speaking English "Less than very well" in metropolises such as Chicago, New York and Los Angeles due to high immigrant populations in those areas. Immigration in these areas has been going on for a long time especially early to mid 20th century which contributes to this age of 65 and over.

More over there are extremely high percentages in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, the 'Amexica' states as there are high levels of migrant workers coming from Mexico and South America to these states. Florida also receives many Cuban refugees which pushes rates up, particularly in Miami and Orlando.

Alaska also has a high percentage but this is mainly due to the Alaska Natives and Native Americans as the older generations do not speak English as fluently as the younger generations do. There is also a small percentage of Spanish migrants there that constitute to the high percentage.

source;
http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_aged_englishlessverywell.gif
http://www.cdc.gov/minorityhealth/populations/REMP/aian.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska

Yellowstone National Park

Hey guys, I just thought I'd post a few images of Yellowstone for those of you who didn't know what it was.

The Nat Geo website has a bit more info about it, click here

And a quick Google images search kicks out a bounty of stunning pictures, click here

Not sure if I am supposed to post this kind of stuff here but i thought you might be interested!

Bald Eagle vs. The Ghettos

This is an iconic image due to the reason the bald eagle was chosen to be America's emblem which is it's long life and strength not to mention the almost 'pure' beauty of the bird. Often the Bald Eagle and the Stars and Stripes are combined to form an emotive illustration of freedom and power, the eagle also gives a sense of domination that it seems America believes it has over other countries and cultures. This belief gives the American people a sense of liberty which is powered by the Government and they believe almost anyone is therefore able to achieve greatness.

When I look at this picture I don't think 'that must be what liberty is' I ask myself 'how could a government allow someone to live like that?' The idea of liberty is freedom from oppression mainly from a place of authority, that authority could be the bus driver who picks you up, to your employer or predominantly the government. This image is iconic because when you think of an American ghetto you don't think of a middle aged white male, you think of a young black male as seen in this picture, ask yourself why that is and for me it's because you know there is still oppression and racism in America no matter how much they try to deny it which completely negates the idea of liberty.


Sources;
Image 1: http://www.akphotograph.com/Alaska%20Blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/cefdbec.jpeg
Image 2: http://muhammadhakeem.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/sept2katrinapaytonldf.jpg