Free Education Should Be a Right, Not a Privilege: Argumentative Essay

The first thing that comes to mind when the word ‘privileged’ is mentioned, you normally would think of an advantage that individuals have that others do not. An example of privileged is the money to afford an expensive education. In this case, education should not be considered a privilege nor should it be earned. Free education may not be a ‘fundamental right’ listed in the Constitution, but the 14th Amendment states that no child living in that state may be denied equal access to schooling. Access to free education not only would be beneficial to the youth but also to the United States with their later contribution of knowledge. Thus, the general public obtaining access to education would decrease poverty levels since individuals would have equal opportunities as the wealthy.

At a young age, you are told that the key to success is education for future opportunities. Despite that, many individuals around the world are denied access to free education due to their financial issues or simply because of their settings. Numerous individuals do not come from wealthy privileged families to pay for their education. Yearly, almost 1.2 million students drop out of high school due to their financial issues and trying to provide for their families. Many of them get jobs or tackle having more than one job that pays minimum wage. The chances of getting a well-paid job without proper education are extremely low, but with the proper education, you will have a higher level of getting a well-paid job that provides you to have a stable salary. It is only fair if everyone is entitled to have the same available resources in order to educate not only themselves but others without having to pay a tremendous amount of money.

How does the old saying go? “Knowledge is power”. But if that is so, then why should education be a privilege? Ahhhh, it is only true to a certain extent for individuals such as the white and wealthy. It is ridiculous that we as a society are questioning if education should be a right or a privilege. We should learn from our past mistakes instead of trying to repeat history and only allowing certain individuals access to education. The United States promotes ‘diversity’, but what is so diverse about privileged education? The consequences of privileged learning are that students will be surrounded by the same brainwashed mentality. As a result, it will lead to racism, segregation, prejudice, and so on. Without free education, students would obtain knowledge from their surroundings, just like their parents. On the contrary, public schooling allows students to be exposed to different types of ethnicities and leads to a more open-minded mentality.

One might subject here that education should be a privilege, and it is and also will be a controversial issue. In particular, some individuals think that students will thrive to work harder knowing that not everyone will have that same privilege. That is not the case here since there will be students with either mentality where ever you may go. For instance, there could be a negligent in a school that you may call privileged, but there could also be a student in a not-so-fortunate school who is thriving to succeed with the free education that they are provided with.

In conclusion, education shall remain a right. If it were not, there would be many complications in many different aspects. Some complications would be prejudiced since the poor will be excluded. The side effect that would be caused by that would be the poor acting out and rebelling causing issues between all social classes. Also, issues in the country would not be as functional since individuals would not be properly well-educated. Any good pay job will require some level of education in order to complete the tasks they are asking you to do and correctly. Education is a right since it is given to you, but a job is something you earned. The United States would only go downhill due to the lack of education because of money.

Analysis Of The Article ‘Through My Eyes’ By Ruby Bridges

Introduction

In the article ‘Through My Eyes,’ written by Ruby Bridges, the remarkable story of her experience as the first African American child to integrate an all-white elementary school in the South is vividly portrayed. Bridges’ account provides a unique perspective on the challenges, triumphs, and lessons learned during a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement. This literary criticism essay analyzes the powerful narrative, themes, and literary devices employed by Bridges to convey her journey and inspire readers.

Body

Personal Narrative and Authenticity

Ruby Bridges’ personal narrative forms the backbone of ‘Through My Eyes.’ As the protagonist and narrator, she offers a first-hand account of her experiences, thoughts, and emotions. Bridges’ use of a conversational and intimate writing style allows readers to connect with her on a deeper level, evoking empathy and understanding. Her authentic voice lends credibility and power to the story, making it a compelling and insightful read.

Themes of Courage and Resilience

One of the central themes in ‘Through My Eyes’ is the extraordinary courage and resilience demonstrated by Bridges throughout her journey. As a six-year-old child, she faced immense adversity, including racial slurs, threats, and isolation. However, Bridges’ unwavering determination and the support of her family and community enabled her to persevere. The theme of courage resonates deeply with readers, inspiring them to confront their own challenges with strength and determination.

The Power of Education

Education emerges as a significant theme in ‘Through My Eyes.’ Bridges’ pursuit of education symbolizes the fight for equal access and opportunities for African American children during the Civil Rights era. Through her experiences at William Frantz Elementary School, Bridges sheds light on the transformative power of education in breaking down barriers and fostering understanding. She emphasizes the importance of education as a catalyst for social change and empowerment.

Symbolism and Imagery

Bridges employs symbolism and vivid imagery to enhance the reader’s understanding of her experiences. The image of the white mobs outside the school represents the resistance to change and the persistence of racism. Bridges’ description of her daily walks through the crowd of protesters creates a haunting image that encapsulates the hostility and prejudice she encountered. By using powerful and evocative language, Bridges invites readers to visualize and empathize with her journey.

Empathy and Tolerance

‘Through My Eyes’ promotes empathy and tolerance as crucial values in fostering understanding and dismantling prejudice. Bridges encourages readers to see beyond differences and embrace diversity. She reflects on the importance of empathy in overcoming fear and ignorance, emphasizing the need for compassion and open-mindedness in creating a more inclusive society. Bridges’ message of unity and acceptance serves as a powerful call to action for readers.

Conclusion

Ruby Bridges’ ‘Through My Eyes’ is a poignant and thought-provoking account that captures the spirit of resilience, courage, and hope in the face of adversity. Through her personal narrative, Bridges invites readers to witness the challenges and triumphs of her historic journey. The themes of courage, education, empathy, and tolerance resonate deeply, inspiring readers to reflect on their own beliefs and actions. By sharing her story, Bridges not only sheds light on a pivotal moment in history but also encourages readers to actively contribute to a more equitable and compassionate world. ‘Through My Eyes’ is a testament to the power of storytelling and its ability to ignite change.

Research Essay on Native American Civil Rights

The Native Americans have long fought the battle to retain ownership of land they consider sacred. Bergmann has produced an admirable ethnographic work that demonstrates the unique relationship that links the peoples to the geographical landscape and the culturally relevant stories of which these sites were permanent reminders. Two periods of treaty-making occurred, during late 1850 to 1851, and 1884 to 1885, and concessions were made by the US government above what they had previously envisaged. The war of 1855-1856 saw more negotiations and additional granting of land or access to sacred sites. However, the displacement from culturally meaningful sites was disruptive of deeply held moral lessons connected to specific landmarks; Native Americans were spiritually and culturally uprooted too, not only physically.

The tribes’ links to topographical features are associated with moral stories and deeply held and shared values. The landscape itself was a permanent reinforcement of its tales handed down from one generation to the next, making continued interaction with the land a cultural imperative. Among the lessons involved in these stories were warnings about taboos (e.g. incest and infidelity, explanations of bounty and plentiful fish, game and foods for gathering, cautions about evil places to avoid, obligations to family, marriage requirements, interrelationships with other tribes, creation legends, and shaming, isolation and exile of those not adhering to cultural norms as these were the greatest penalties that could be imposed. Wrongdoers were often turned to stone and remained visible as a constant reminder of tribal responsibilities. Hence the attachment to land. Even when confronted with material evidence of scientific reasons for natural phenomena, Native Americans continued to see it as proof of their belief in an unseen spirituality reflected in the landscape.

Despite the wealth of culture that the Native Americans brought with them, they were influenced by and likewise influenced the European American settlers. As Boorn puts it, “a transnational cross-pollination of cultures enriched and became rooted in United States history”3. Native Americans tanned hides and produced beadwork, quillwork, clothing, baskets, pictograph paintings, and oral stories. Material culture is a facet of spiritual life. Nevertheless, Native Americans may be consulted, but do not play a key role in the museum presentation of their cultural forms and their interpretation, indicating that despite a desire for empathy, European Americans continue to portray this culture through their own understandings and under their control.

The European American self-image is based on four pillars: “Protestant Christianity, American Republicanism and capitalism” and financial independence. Any other culture is typically and collectively viewed as being able to benefit from these ‘advantages’ by adopting the American ‘way of life’. Territorial expansion is inherent in this paradigm, and so the settlers began to advance across the continent of North America, fencing off land and claiming it for themselves without consideration of the impact on other peoples who already had their homes and cultures embedded in the soil. The dream of financial freedom was a core reason for land ownership on which to practice agriculture and achieve self-support and independence.

President James Madison was to phrase these ingrained views and the rationalization of expansion as “The whole continent of North America appears to be destined by Divine Providence to be peopled by one nation, speaking one language, professing one general system of religious and political principles, and accustomed to one general tenor of social usage and customs.”

Continuing in this vein, further land was appropriated, increasing US territory by 1,200,000 square miles to include Texas, Oregon, and Mexican territory from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, with the Gadsden Purchase added in 1853. It was not only barbed wire but railroads, the gold rush, traveling, and farming practices, particularly ranching, that impacted Native American land rights.

Historians generally view farmers as being the first users of barbed wire but cattlemen on ranches were the original handlers of this new invention. Open grazing was practiced by Native Americans too, and along with branding and protection of herds by owners, natural landscape barriers such as rivers and canyons were natural barriers to cattle. Several ranchers combined their resources on rounding up all the cattle to drive either back home in the fall or to the market in winter. In the 1880s ranchers jointly installed fencing 175 miles long between the Indian Territory border on the west and New Mexico. During a blizzard, thousands of cattle died when they could not cross over. During the late 1870s and 1880s fences became the way to keep cattle from wandering and other cattle from using one’s grazing land. This prevented outbreaks of cattle disease from spreading across ranches. Both groups were using fencing and experiencing the hazards it brought.

The Cherokee Strip Live Stock Association obtained permission to lease and fence land from the Cherokee Nation for five years provided they lived on and worked the land. This was limited to 640 acres each. Despite short lengths of fencing, the Native Americans initially continued to follow mostly free-ranging, although this gradually filled up with fencing. Ranches were typically fenced by all new European American settlers. This produced better, stronger breeds of cattle.

Two factors played a significant role in the way in which barbed wire was to take over the American landscape. The first was the Homestead Act of 1862, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, allowing anyone (man, woman, or freed slave) to own 160 acres in the western territories provided they lived on and farmed their land for five years. The second aspect was the invention of Joseph Glidden’s barbed wire. Thorn bushes took too long to grow and cover the required distance, and smooth wire was no deterrent to cattle. But this new wire did the job and soon took over everywhere. The fact of land ownership became the bedrock of civilization.

Much of the difference between the way Native Americans and European Americans saw the right to land ownership was in how it was developed. In 1874 when Glidden produced barbed wire he received orders for 32 miles worth of the product. Six years later 263,000 miles of barbed wire were sold, “enough to fence the world ten times over”. Onion views barbed wire and its history as a “violent enclosure, permanent control” that started in the days of cowboys and ranches and the Wild West and “the domination of the powerless by the powerful.”

Aside from these negative descriptions, barbed wire often caused injury to cattle, with cuts, infections, and screwworm infestations. Watering holes were cut off from those who could not afford the new fencing and split labor into ranchers and poor non-land-owning cowboys. Injury, starvation, and cold were killing cattle and affecting Native Americans and poor Europeans alike, dividing land and allocating power to those who owned it. Even railroads were being protected from entry or crossing by barbed wire.

In 1887, the Glidden Barb-Fence Journal actually went as far as to promote barbed wire as a means to keep Native Americans outside of what was once their sole land. Sports promoters got on the bandwagon showing how fencing could keep non-paying spectators out of sports games. Barbed wire later came to be used in concentration camps and for military defense. This highlighted the underlying message, that those who held might and land ownership and were able to pay for entertainment were the men mentioned by Glidden when he said of such a man, that one can be …” morally certain he is a prosperous, well-to-do and influential man in his community.”. Clearly, the values of the Native Americans were not considered worthy or morally correct by the European Americans at that time.

The use of fencing is not entirely negative. As well as allowing cattle to grow strong, and fat and translate into more beef as a result, fencing has also been used to protect fauna and flora in nature and keep wildlife and breeding animals off the roads. However, it has also restricted access to travel routes to water sources and caused birds to become entangled and die while altering the migration patterns of species and their chances of survival. Despite these advantages and drawbacks, between 1880 and 1884, 643,000–965,000 km of barbed wire was being manufactured annually. This shows that benefits were being obtained from barbed wire by landowners that more than outweighed the disadvantages, if only for this group.

Between the role the federal government played by contracting treaties and setting up territorial controlling bodies and the availability of cheap land, the private profit motive was the key driver to the proliferation of fencing. In many instances though, fencing was a necessary means to protect one’s home from grazing sheep and cattle from entering their land to eat the crops grown by homesteaders. The increase in farming homesteads came about as a result of the Homestead Act of 1862. Ranchers also had to start growing crops to feed their families and workers. A cause of contention was grazing and watering rights, with disputes mostly being settled by gunfire. In this flourishing, civilization was brought to the West.

By the 1890s, America was booming, with railroads connecting most of the country and meat-packing plants springing up close to main ranching areas. Free-ranging was a thing of the past. Ranchers began to focus on maximizing profits and contributing to feeding the growing towns close to the railway lines. Public land was also being used for grazing, and as a result, free-range areas were overgrazed and depleted. Thousands of cattle perished from starvation and many owners lost their land. This led to an increased fencing off of land to protect it as a vital resource for one’s own stock. Grazing leases for free land were granted to certain ranchers. Once again, civilization could resume.

Whereas pioneer women had played a joint role in outdoor work, in addition to raising children, doing the chores, and feeding the workers, technology leaped forward with inventions such as sewing and washing machines that allowed women to play a bigger social role in charity work and hosting communal events. Social life centered around these events and church and school. Division of labor and agricultural inventions allowed land owners to function as businessmen and make use of new technology to increase yield and profits. Protected grazing was a good business strategy as the animals were protected from disease and grew fat on the land.

Property rights did little to enforce compensation for crops damaged by other cattle and sheep entering one’s property to graze. Barbed wire became the most efficient method of enforcement. Fencing both directly protected assets and served as further reinforcement of ownership rights. Wooden fencing was often not an option due to its prohibitive cost and scarcity in areas devoid of woodlands. The widespread adoption of barbed wire between 1880 and 1900 was highest in areas lacking woodland and agricultural activity increased the most in these regions.

These outcomes are seen to be an outcome of the use of barbed wire fencing as it increased the farming of cattle and sheep and contingently required crops to be farmed to take care of the owner, his family, and his workforce. The increase in output was 23% in the areas lacking woodland, showing that when fencing costs were high it was also more difficult to protect property, but once barbed wire was available it was cost-effective and paid off by reducing the costs of intrusions and overgrazing by free-range animals. This went a long way to ensuring individual property rights and control by those who own land.

What has not been considered is the rights of Native American people. National parks, such as Glacier, Yellowstone, and Mesa Verde appear to be unspoiled virgin land untouched by human habitation. The reality is that these were home to the indigenous tribes who were uprooted and evicted from their homes, though their respect for nature and religious awe served to protect the natural beauty and bounty. Not only were Native Americans removed from these sites, but their hunting and fishing rights were nullified without compensation. Addressing these wrongs is no longer a simple matter as the landscape of America has changed and the delicate balance of the ecosystems within the sites may not withstand the subsistence needs of humans, regardless of their heritage, in part due to the relatively small size of these locations and the species they protect.

What guided this thinking was the view prevalent in the 1800s that man and beast could not inhabit the same area and still preserve it as a wilderness. That Native Americans had done exactly this was conspicuously overlooked. National parks became a place of entertainment. This deluded and egocentric view deprived Native Americans of their natural rights. The concept of Manifest Destiny gave European Americans the right to own the land, make choices about its various uses, and superiority over its indigenous people. Between the mid-1850s and 1870s, hostilities and battles took place between the two groups and Native Americans went from being viewed as a noble people to being seen as savages.

It should be noted that Native Americans were not the only people to suffer discrimination. Irish and German immigrants to America initially faced many hardships in carving a place for themselves in their new homes. German immigration went from 10,000 in 1834 to 1,250,000 in 1845. Irish immigration remained fairly consistent annually with approximately 200,000 immigrants a year between 1847 and 185026. These influxes were the result of advertising by the American government; strangely the same opportunities were not made available to Native Americans in their own land.

Mankind has a long history of using walls to protect and define ownership of property and to protect trade routes. The invention of barbed wire provided a cheap alternative and allowed railway lines and meat packing plants to be defended against intrusion and access, in this way providing a measure of protection of trade routes for beef. There is a non-profit downside to building barriers: the breaking down of cultural ties, breeding mistrust and isolation, and dangers to wildlife. As immigrants have proved their value to America, so have Native Americans; the question remains whether the rapid growth of civilization achieved by European Americans did irreparable harm to its indigenous people. But although modern history proves that economic upliftment enjoys more success than “legal and digital barriers to restrict movement”, barriers define who owns the property and who has political control.

The need for control over others presupposes either an ignorance of how this ‘other’ feels and is affected or a wilful disregard for their rights. As Bergmann phrases it:

These landscapes did not merely augment the oral tradition; they were crucial to the maintenance of social and cultural values of native communities that relied on oral transmission of values and knowledge. The vivid stories or laws enlivened the landscapes and connected the present, future, and past.

The geographical landscape of the Native Americans went further than its supernatural interaction with daily life and the lands of their forefathers. Landscape features produced a veritable cosmology of visible reminders of oral tradition. It is as if the tribal stories were carved out on the surrounding topography. This heritage could not simply be packed up and moved to the reservations. With the advent of missionaries, further attempts were made to suppress this legacy by treating Native American beliefs as pagan and evil while officials deemed the tales fanciful and not worth recording.

An illuminating example is that of Speel-ya (Coyote) who committed an unspeakable act and tried to bury the evidence under a wall. No matter how tall he built it, the wall kept crumbling and revealing his guilt as he raced from one village to the next, only to find out that they were already aware of his misdemeanor. ‘Speel-ya’s Wall’ is a rocky ledge “along the Columbia River Gorge near Mosier, Oregon” that served as a reminder to the Upper Chinookan that no matter how far one travels one cannot outrun the truth. This visual reminder and the retelling of the story every time the tribe moved along this stretch of river was a reinforcement of a spiritual truth on which the community based its identity.

There is no doubt that the European Americans brought civilization to the continent and paved the way for a way of life grounded in material freedom and untold opportunities for individuals to succeed according to this value system. However, it is clear that Native Americans lost an irrecoverable chunk of their personal history and identity when they were ripped from their homes and forced to relocate to sterile reservations devoid of meaning and culture.

Government Surveillance: Violation Of Civil Rights

Many citizens claim that the government is violating their civil rights by using their personal data for legitimate purposes. What is more important? Is it the fact that they should have the privacy for texting their mates? Or is it the fact that the government is protecting their lives from potential danger? Government surveillance is essential to public safety and terrorism prevention. The government’s collection of data is not a violation of civil rights because it deters criminals from harming the public and it causes no harm for an individual.

The government’s collection of data is not a violation of civil rights because it ensures public safety. The government uses advanced programs that pick up dangerous keywords to prevent terrorist attacks. As it states in “Strong Oversight of Intelligence Gathering Protects Civil Rights”, by Joel “the telephone metadata program conducted under the “business records” provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] … officially titled the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001]), and the collection of communications from foreign intelligence targets who are non-U.S. persons located outside the United States.” This proves the government has reasonable purposes to access phones’ data to prevent terrorist plots. In addition, it states, “Under the phone metadata program, the government obtains and reviews phone records only to identify whether telephones associated with a foreign terrorist organization are in communication with a telephone inside the United States (directly or indirectly).” which clarifies why in some cases the government will access a citizen’s information. The government’s access to personal data is not a violation of civil rights because it causes no harm to an individual. Citizens usually become outraged at the government without understanding the concepts of the legislation. Furthermore, by using social media they actually allow the companies to access their personal data. As it states in “Strong Oversight of Intelligence Gathering Protects Civil Rights”, by Joel “Under the Section 702 program, the government can only obtain foreign intelligence

Many citizens claim that the government is violating their civil rights by using their personal data for legitimate purposes. What is more important? Is it the fact that they should have the privacy for texting their mates? Or is it the fact that the government is protecting their lives from potential danger? Government surveillance is essential to public safety and terrorism prevention. The government’s collection of data is not a violation of civil rights because it deters criminals from harming the public and it causes no harm for an individual.

The government’s collection of data is not a violation of civil rights because it ensures public safety. The government uses advanced programs that pick up dangerous keywords to prevent terrorist attacks. As it states in “Strong Oversight of Intelligence Gathering Protects Civil Rights”, by Joel “the telephone metadata program conducted under the “business records” provision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] … officially titled the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001]), and the collection of communications from foreign intelligence targets who are non-U.S. persons located outside the United States.” This proves the government has reasonable purposes to access phones’ data to prevent terrorist plots. In addition, it states, “Under the phone metadata program, the government obtains and reviews phone records only to identify whether telephones associated with a foreign terrorist organization are in communication with a telephone inside the United States (directly or indirectly).” which clarifies why in some cases the government will access a citizen’s information.

The government’s access to personal data is not a violation of civil rights because it causes no harm to an individual. Citizens usually become outraged at the government without understanding the concepts of the legislation. Furthermore, by using social media they actually allow the companies to access their personal data. As it states in “Strong Oversight of Intelligence Gathering Protects Civil Rights”, by Joel “Under the Section 702 program, the government can only obtain foreign intelligence information as defined by law…. This authority cannot be used to intentionally target United States persons or anyone inside the United States.” Surveillance used unbiased is one of the best ways to deter terrorist plots. In addition, it states. “Under the Section 702 program, the government can only obtain foreign intelligence information as defined by law. This authority cannot be used to intentionally target United States persons or anyone inside the United States.” this proves that citizens’ rights are protected and no unlawful judgment will be held against them.

The government has conducted domestic surveillance to protect its nation and its citizens while keeping legislation in mind. If an individual has nothing to hide then there is no reason to be too skeptical about the government’s work. People should understand that their government officials are working for their benefit and not to harm their own citizens.

Miranda Rights Essay

Brenton Butler was just 15 years old when he was brought in for questioning for the murder of Mrs. Stevens. During Butler’s 12-hour interrogation, he was subjected to emotional, psychological, and physical abuse. Butler’s young age, lengthy interrogation, and the racial biases of his interrogators resulted in his false confession. This coerced confession resulted in Butler being charged with the murder of Mrs. Stevens. It is also what stopped law enforcement from seeking out additional evidence and suspects. If Butler had received an age-appropriate, lawful, ethical interrogation, it is unlikely we would have falsely confessed. Without a confession, the police would’ve searched for additional evidence, which would have exonerated Butler and prevented his arrest.

Research by Goldstein, Condie, Kalbeitzer, Osman, and Geier (2003) evaluated if age, IQ, and history of special education could be used as a predictor for Miranda rights comprehension and the likelihood to give a false confession. 55 boys aged 13 to 18 years old were sampled from a residential post-adjudication facility in Massachusetts (Goldstein et al, 2003). The boys were assessed using the Perceptions of Coercion during Holding and Interrogation Process (P-CHIP) and the Miranda Rights Comprehension Instruments-II (MRCI-II). The boys also filled out a demographics survey, the verbal scales of the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT), and the verbal scales of the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI). Participants were scored on their likelihood to give a false confession after responding to 26 hypothetical police interrogation situations.

Age was the most significant predictor of a juvenile’s risk of giving a false confession (Goldstein et al, 2003). Participants aged 13-15 were significantly more likely than their 16-18-year-old peers to falsely commit a crime, even when controlling for Miranda comprehension and IQ scores (Goldstein et al, 2003). Miranda rights comprehension showed a positive correlation with age, with younger adolescents (aged 13-15) showing lower comprehension than older adolescents (aged 16-18) (Goldstein et al, 2003). The most common misconception among juveniles was the understanding that they had the right to an attorney both before and during the interrogation process (Goldstein et al, 2003). This is massively important when considering Butler’s case.

As a 15-year-old juvenile, Butler is in an age group of both increased risk for false confession and lower comprehension of his Miranda rights. While Butler was informed of his Miranda rights, he was never given access to a lawyer despite being told one would be arranged for him. The interrogators were likely able to take advantage of Butler’s young age and inexperience with the criminal justice system to push him toward a confession. However, while this study suggests that Butler may have had an inadequate understanding of his Miranda rights, an increased understanding may not have necessarily helped him. Even if Butler fully understood his rights, his confidence in his innocence may have led him to the naïve belief that a lawyer was unnecessary. Similarly, while Butler’s age does put him at increased risk for false confession, that is not the only factor that led to his false confession. The extreme violence and threats Butler described during his interrogation are beyond normal police measures, and it’s possible that the same outcome would have transpired even if Butler was a fully-informed adult at the time of his arrest. It is for this reason, as well as the limited sample size of the study itself, that this study may not be fully applicable to Butler’s case, despite its thorough analysis of data.

Malloy, Shulman, and Cauffman (2014) examined how interrogation techniques affected rates of true and false admissions of guilt among male juvenile offenders. 193 14 to 17-year-old boys incarcerated in a Californian juvenile justice facility were interviewed to assess their experiences with law enforcement and confession (Malloy et al, 2014). The participating boys were informed that their answers to interview questions would be completely confidential, and could not be used in any upcoming pleas or hearings. Interviewers were highly trained in how to conduct the interviews to ensure full comprehension of the questions and wore non-uniform clothing to clearly distinguish themselves from facility staff.

The boys were first asked a series of true/false questions to determine their history with admissions of guilt, both in the form of confessions and plea deals. They were then asked true/false questions about behavior and interrogation techniques they may or may not have experienced during interrogation, including befriending by interrogators, insults, threats, refusal, deception, use of force, and presence of a lawyer, parent, or friend. All participants were given the opportunity to elaborate on experiences, and add any conditions which were not provided by interviewers. Participants were also asked to estimate how long their interrogations lasted. The interviews were conducted individually, in private rooms away from facility staff and other incarcerated juveniles, and lasted approximately one hour.

The analyses of the coded responses found that false admissions of guilt were more commonly made under duress than true admissions of guilt (Malloy et al, 2014). The two most strongly correlated factors with false confession were police refusals and length of interrogation (Malloy et al, 2014). Participants who reported that police refused to give them a break in interrogation were 4.2 times more likely to falsely confess (Malloy et al, 2014). Similarly, interrogation periods lasting over the 2-hour national average were strongly correlated with false confession (Malloy et al, 2014). None of the participants who reported false confessions reported having a lawyer or parent present at the time of confession (Malloy et al, 2014). These factors are greatly relevant to Butler’s experience, where he endured a 12-hour-long interrogation without a lawyer or parent present. This study shows how the extreme length of Butler’s holding and the absence of any friendly adult present could have had a large impact on Butler’s false confession. This study utilized highly skilled interviewers, interviewing tactics, and assurances to prevent lying or exaggeration by self-reporting participants. While this may increase the study’s reliability, it doesn’t change the fact that its sample comes entirely from California, and may not be applicable to youth in Florida. Many of the participants also had a history of prior offenses (an average of 3.1 prior charges), and their behavior may not be applicable to someone like Butler who has no criminal record (Malloy et al, 2014).

Race played a key part in the arrest of Butler, and possibly in his interrogation itself. Sara Appleby (2015) conducted a research study designed to determine if police offers were equally capable of assessing the guilt of White and Black suspects. 80 police officers were recruited through word of mouth from four precincts in suburban and rural southeastern areas (Appleby, 2015). The officers were randomly assigned to watch one of 80 pre-recorded suspect interviews. These suspects had participated in a mock crime, half of which had been instructed to steal a wallet, and half were not. All suspects denied guilt. Each officer received a suspect profile containing background information and inconclusive evidence that could be used against the suspect. After watching the taped interview on a laptop with headphones, the officers rated on a scale how guilty they thought the suspect was, how confident they were in that decision if they felt suspicious when watching the video if they felt the suspect was cooperative and willing to talk, and if they would seek further questioning if this was their case (Appleby, 2015).

The results were analyzed with a 2×2 factor analysis and showed that officers were significantly more likely to judge an innocent Black suspect guilty than an innocent White suspect, with 65% of innocent Black suspects perceived guilty compared to 30% of innocent White suspects (Appleby, 2015). Innocent White suspects were ranked as more cooperative and more willing to talk with investigators than innocent Black suspects (Appleby, 2015). Analyzing these connections between race and guilt presumption is very important when examining Butler’s case. He was only taken in for questioning because his race matched the race of the suspect’s description. The officers who interrogated Butler indicated an awareness and negative attitude toward his race, at one point calling Butler a racial slur. Interrogators may have been influenced by Butler’s race, viewing him as guilty and uncooperative despite his innocence. This guilt presumption may have led officers to ignore the possibility of Butler’s innocence, and interrogate Butler with the ferocity and demeanor which eventually led to his false confession. If Butler was not a Black man he would not have been called into questioning, and even if he had, this study indicates it is unlikely a White man in the same position would have been met with the same level of intensity in interrogation, as interrogators would be less likely to view him as guilty and uncooperative.

This study is extensive and evaluates numerous factors connecting suspect traits and behavior to police officers’ assumptions of guilt. Its small sample size, however, may have resulted in type II errors when analyzing the connections between certain factors and race. A larger sample size would prevent any accidental misclassifications of significant effects. Furthermore, this study is not geographically diverse, and likely not representative of racial bias everywhere in the country. While the samples do come from the southeast, it uses suburban and rural precincts. These regions may not be representative of police attitudes in more urban areas like Jacksonville, and as such may not be the best example of how race influenced the behavior of Butler’s interrogators.

The prosecution’s case against Butler relied on Butler’s confession, and on Mr. Stevens’ eyewitness identification of Butler. These pieces of evidence are highly influential to a judge and jury. In Butler’s case, both these pieces of evidence were collected in an unethical manner. Despite not matching the suspect’s description, Butler was presented to Mr. Stevens in the back of a police car. Seeing Butler in the back of a police car likely led Mr. Stevens to perceive Butler in a criminal light, leading him in a very emotional and stressful moment to falsely identify Butler as the perpetrator. It has been shown that people are not very good at distinguishing faces outside their racial group, which may have made it easier for Mr. Stevens, a White man, to confuse Butler, a Black teenager, with the actual culprit. As the case proceeded, Mr. Stevens became more confident in his identification of Butler, even when presented with evidence that showed that Butler did not match Mr. Stevens’ initial description of the shooter.

Mr. Steven’s identification of Butler was enough to detain and interrogate him. During interrogation Butler was often interrogated by more than one officer, vaguely and explicitly threatened, denied his right to a lawyer, and refused breaks by his officers. Studies show that teenagers show lower Miranda rights comprehension than adults, and Butler may not have been fully aware of how to exercise his rights. Butler’s race may have influenced the interrogator’s perceptions of his behavior, causing them to view him as guilty and uncooperative, possibly influencing more hostile interrogation behavior. Butler’s hostile, and sometimes physically violent interrogation lasted a grueling 12 hours before he signed a false confession statement.

This case never should’ve gone as far as it did. Butler should not have been presented to Mr. Stevens in as suggestible a position as the back of a police car. When Butler was detained, he should have carefully read his Miranda rights in a way that ensured full comprehension. Statements made by police, such as the statement that a lawyer would be arranged for Butler, should have been followed through on. Most important, Butler should not have been interviewed for longer than the national average of 2 hours. This time cap would have prevented the harsh conditions of police refusals, threats, and intimidation. It would have allowed police to look for more evidence and compile more suspects. If no false confession had been made, evidence could have been more thoroughly evaluated, and perhaps the culprit’s fingerprint in Mrs. Stevens’ purse could have been found earlier, preventing a lengthy, expensive, and psychologically grueling trial for everyone involved. Legislative changes to how we conduct interrogations, including the mandatory presence of adults for minors, time caps on interrogations, and videotaped confessions, can prevent cases like Butler’s from being repeated. Furthermore, increased education on the reliability of eyewitness identification and coerced confessions can help educate our juries, enabling them to protect innocent people like Brenton Butler from serving undue time.

References

  1. Appleby, S. C. (2015). Guilty stereotypes: The social psychology of race and suspicion in police interviews and interrogations. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ccny- proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/docview/1658771960?accountid=9967
  2. Goldstein, N. E. S., Condie, L.O., Kalbeitzer, R., Osman, D., & Geier, J. L. (2003). Juvenile offenders’ Miranda rights comprehension and self-reported likelihood of offering false confessions. Assessment, 10(4), 359-369. https://doi-org.ccny- proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.1177/1073191103259535
  3. Malloy, L. C., Shulman, E. P., & Cauffman, E. (2014). Interrogations, confessions, and guilty pleas among serious adolescent offenders. Law and Human Behavior, 38(2), 181-193.

Essay on Rock and Roll Music and the Civil Rights Movement

There is no denying Rock n Roll had some major impacts on Australian culture and society, without it society would not be the same today. Rock n Roll was first introduced into Australian society after World War II. Many soldiers had come across African American music during the war and brought it back to Australia. Rock’ n Roll is defined as a type of dance music originating in the 1950s, characterized by a heavy beat and simple melodies. A blend of black rhythm and blues with white country music. Rock n Roll engendered several significant changes in Australian culture and society.

With WWII ending and ending the great depression with it, an economic boom fast arising, mainly from the increase in European immigrants arriving in Australia. Middle-class families now had disposable income and more leisure time. Before and during WWII, the majority of teenagers were either working to support their family, studying, soldiers at war, or married and raising a family. The end of WWII signified a change in family values and roles. Parents tended to wait longer before married their daughters and the mean years of schooling were slowly increasing. This created an increase in leisure for young people, creating a new demographic, teenagers. Companies quickly took advantage of this and by the end of the 1950s, $10 billion were being spent on developing products aimed at teenagers. Producers quickly took advantage of this, creating music aimed at young people. Rock and Roll soon became known as young people’s music.

Rock n Roll became an important part of popular culture in the 1950s and 60s. The lyrics of the songs were relatable to teens, talking about love, parties, rebelling, etc. This created mass concern from parents. Soon Rock n Roll was banned from households, and the government and media set out on a war against it. Many people said it was the music of the devil. Parents were concerned with the sexuality of the songs and thought that it would discourage abstinence and encourage juvenile delinquency. For example this newspaper article by the Sydney Morning Herald on March 4th, 1964, there is an entire column devoted to complaining about the Beatles, calling them a cult. “The Beatle ritual is only another example of teenage stupidity in the least fortunate of their generation. Those whose sloppy speech, sloppy hair, untidy dress and beards, and bad manners are such harm to the youth of our day in general.” This shows the attitude of many adults in the community, feeling that the youth of that time were reckless and only causing trouble and that it was Rock and Roll that was causing it.

This only made teenagers want to listen to it more. They wanted to rebel and create their image. Previously parents had dressed their kids in the same way as they dressed. Boys wore collared shirts and ties, while girls wore long dresses with their hair done in curls. The economic boom in the 1950s gave young people much more economic power than the youth before them. This desire for a new image created new fashion. As young people idolized Rock n Roll stars, their fashion, and hair began to reflect that. For example, the famous mop fringes. The Beatles had one, so it became the fashion for young men to grow out their hair into this long fringe. Another icon to impact Australian fashion was Elvis Presley. Not only did his dance moves become the latest fashion, but so did his hair and clothes, young boys began to imitate his slicked-back hair and flashy colored shirts. While rock ‘n Roll was impacting fashion, it was also impacting the ideology of young people.

Rock’ n’ Roll used lyrics that were relatable to teens, but also considered scandalous by adults. The ideas coming through Rock and Roll spread into most aspects of life. Common lyrical themes include love, sex, drugs, and wild parties. Even though it was often subconscious, Rock and Roll were helping break the taboo around these topics. Around the time of Rock n Roll, the sexual revolution was fast developing. With the invention of birth control in May 1960 in the US, it was available in Australia just nine months later. Rock’ n Roll helped lead to the sexual revolution and further on the hippie movement by normalizing these topics, which had previously been thought of as vulgar to even mention.

Rock’ n’ Roll also subconsciously affected the civil rights movement in Australia. While it mainly affected the civil rights movement in America, it also greatly affected the movement in Australia. Previously black artists’ records would be sold in different stores to white artists’ ones, blues was seen as a predominantly black style of music. Rock’ n’ Roll was helping blur the color line by mixing previously thought African American blues and jazz music with white country music. Even the phrase “Rock ‘n Roll” was a step towards equality, as it was the first type of music to be used to describe both black and white music. It was first used by Alan Freed, a disc jockey, in Ohio, as he introduced the Rock and Roll session, used to describe a mix of blues and country music he made. As well as forcing people to think about racism, it also forced racist companies to sell black records as they were so profitable and popular. While this change was more evident in America, it still greatly impacted Australian society and challenged racial ideas.

Rock n Roll has greatly impacted Australian society and culture, not just in the 1950s and 60s but also today. It forced Australians to rethink many social normalities and boundaries, creating a more thoughtful and open country,

Essay on How Did the Little Rock Nine Impact the Civil Rights Movement

Source 6 is a portrait from 1957 of the Little Rock pupils being accompanied into the school building by armed military personnel. During this period, the Supreme Court held that the segregation of school legislatures was unconstitutional. Above all it was one of the early significant events of the time, this portrait may indeed be seen as an effective factor during the civil rights era. Moreover, this source shows the enrollment of nine black students to the all-white Little Rock High School. Notably, although there was a change in the law this did not shift the racial views prevalent in many American institutions and remained unchanged throughout the 1950s which caused some minor problems.

Additionally, this Portrait also highlights on the first day of school, Governor Orval Faubus sent guards to prevent the nine students from entering their classrooms which gained a lot of media attention, initially, this led Eisenhower to take over the situation and eventually, he intervened and sent troops to little rock 9 to support the black students to provide them with the equal opportunity of education as the white American pupils, also remained with them until they graduated. Although forced there was an awareness through the refusal of the governor and the worldwide media watching the event which did lead to many schools becoming desegregated over 20 years.

Likewise, this source would be valuable to a historian as it conveys how Eisenhower would have changed some public attitudes during this period. However, some limitations of this source are caused due to Eisenhower’s actions in the case as he did not move to stop troops in Little Rock 9 until it was necessary. From this, it highlights that President Eisenhower only wanted media coverage attention for his benefits to becoming a successful president in the civil rights movement as it seems he was only assisted more on his self-reputation. As a result, this source could be used by many historians such as traditionalists studying the history of the civil rights era, and from this, they would consider that without President Eisenhower and his aid of the troops that were sent to Little Rock 9, the students wouldn’t have been educated at the school and more schools after this case wouldn’t have become desegregated implying that without any key individuals in the civil rights movement, many progressions wouldn’t have took place as it did.

Besides, most importantly the influence of the Supreme Court and the law had given the right to equal education and without the succession of the Supreme Court, black students couldn’t have had the right to attend a school with white students which shows the crucial importance of all involvements in the civil rights movement. This portrait was a driving factor to the success of the civil rights movement, as it had gained an outpouring amount of support from the event.

To Kill a Mockingbird’ Civil Rights Essay

Rousseau in his book The Contract Social argues that the individual finds his true being and freedom only in submission to the “general will” of the community. In this desired social contract, everyone will be free because they all forfeit the same number of rights and impose the same duties on all.

The fundamental purpose of the rule of law is to establish a socially acceptable and consistent bottom line of human behavior. It acts as a deterrent and a basis for criminal accountability and punishment, it lays out our civil rights and obligations, offers an equitable remedy for disputes, and installs social order and a sense of security.

The rule of law is necessary in society for the following main reasons:

    • To avoid abuse of power by the authorities
    • To defend the weakest groups from the more powerful
    • To establish rules for all ways of interaction among the members of a community
    • To avoid any person or any group claiming to be above the law
    • To ensure the natural principles of equality, freedom, and fraternity

The best way to ensure the rule of law is through a democratic system where the citizen chooses their representatives to establish the rules of the community through the elaboration of a Constitution which includes the basic principles and laws of a nation, state, or social group that determine the powers and duties of the government and guarantee the rights to the people in it.

The most important principle to achieve the rule of law is the division of powers between the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary. Where the Legislative makes the rules, the judiciary applies the rules and the Executive executes the rules. It is very difficult to achieve the rule of law without this basic principle.

Unfortunately, the concept rule of law isn’t or hasn’t been the same depending on the customs of each society or the historical context, we can enumerate many examples:

    • In United States allowed slavery until its abolition in 1863 under the presidency of Abraham Lincoln
    • Women earned the right to vote in Spain in 1933 as a result of legal changes made during the Second Spanish Republic
    • The 14th Amendment, approved by Congress in 1866 and ratified in 1868, granted citizenship to all persons “born or naturalized in the United States,” including former slaves, and guaranteed “equal protection of the laws” to all citizens.
    • Work-Life Balance and Child Labor In the 18th century, women had fewer rights, and most of their earnings by law had to be given to their fathers or husbands. Many factory owners preferred to hire women because they were cheaper employees. Children were a large part of the workforce during the 1700s as well.
    • Unfortunately, the rule of law is different depending on the countries and the quality of its democracies and has been different

Those examples reflect the fact that the law is established by people, and obviously, they are influenced by the customs and beliefs of each specific time, therefore to we can never say that we have achieved the pure concept of the rule of the law; to get nearer that pure concept along the time, we will always special people with higher ethical and moral principles, at the same time with the necessary strength to fight for their Believes as the main character of the movie “To kill a Mockingbird” Atticus Finch.

Movies are not only entertainment, but also sometimes they are made with purpose, with a message to translate to society to push for changes that the participants in the movies, producers, directors, and actors… want to introduce based on their moral beliefs.

At the time of its release in 1962, won critical acclaim Gregory Peck won an Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Atticus Finch. Horton Foote who wrote the screenplay, also won an Oscar, The film was based on Harper’s Knee’s 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. Some film critics suggest that the movie was one of the finest family-oriented dramas ever made… powerfully resonant, in present America with its advocacy of tolerance, justice, integrity, and loving responsible parenthood. Certainly, the film withstands the test of time, even in the twenty-first century.

In the movie “To Kill a Mockingbird” the exponent of those beliefs is Atticus and his behavior

Atticus is a widower and a small-town Alabama lawyer practicing in the 1930s, that struggles to instill in his two children a sense of tolerance, integrity, and justice. Finch’s reputation as a highly moral lawyer stems from his representation of Tom Robison a black man accused of beating and raping a white woman.

Atticus by putting on an earnest defence in Tom Robinson’s case, was breaking the rules of his racially segregated society, He was a white man and a respected member of his community but he was courageous in the face of the community prejudice.

The film targeted a white audience at the dawn of the modern civil rights era. It conveys the message that moral and ethical lawyers follow the rule of law, even when they represent unpopular clients. This was an important message, especially for southern audiences. Massive resistance to desegregation was still the rule in most southern states. Thus, To Kill a Mockingbird was an appeal to decent, moral white Americans to accept racial integration.

They have been along the history of cinema many movies have tried to translate to society those ethical principles to show the importance of getting closer to the pure significance of the rule of law showing tremendous injustices to make people reflect on them, still today unfortunately the message has to be send:

    • Hidden figures: How smart scientific women where not taken into account within a man’s scientific community because they were black and women.
    • Green book: The relation between a rich and intelligent black man and an Italian medium-class mana

Nowadays unfortunately there are many cases in which we could say that there is no rule of law although we are talking about countries with a solid democracy, some examples would be as follows:

    • The discrimination of homosexuals
    • The way refugees are treated
    • How migrants are treated
    • Still we could say there is discrimination concerning women
    • The discrimination by religion

We always need people like Atticus and the people involved in making the movie to push society in search of the fulfillment of the most important principles we mentioned at the beginning: Equability, Freedom, and Fraternity.

Essay on How Did Television Impact the Civil Rights Movement

In 1865, the American Civil War ended and the 13th Amendment abolished slavery; however, they didn’t end discrimination against black Americans, thus leading to the Black Civil Rights Movement. In England, according to the PPT, the franchise had been extended from only rich men to almost all men from 1832 to 1884; therefore, women’s exclusion from the franchise seemed increasingly silly (Clohesy 2019). As a result, the Suffragist Movement began. These two movements are two significant movements for equal rights in human history. After comparing the Black Civil Rights Movement and the Suffragist Movement in terms of aim, method, leader, media, politician, and contemporary situation, generally we consider the Black Civil Rights Movement more effective.

First of all, the aim of the Suffragist Movement is more effective than the Black Civil Rights Movement. The Black Civil Rights Movement aims to gain equal rights as white people, while the Suffragist Movement asks for women’s equal rights represented by voting rights. Black people ask for a more general and abstract aim which seems to have no specific purpose. On the contrary, the Suffragist Movement demonstrates more clearly that voting is the first step to striving so that it can pave the path for them to fight for more rights, as Purvis argues, “their agitation was not just for the parliamentary vote but a Women’s Revolution that would transform gender roles in society and bring women equality” (Purvis 2013). Therefore, the Suffragist Movement works more effectively than the Black Civil Movement in deciding the aim.

Secondly, methods used by the violent and non-violent sides in the two movements are of different effectiveness. Both of these two movements used nonviolent methods at the beginning and then developed into violent methods. Similarly, they had two different sides in the two campaigns, and caused conflicts between the two sides. On behalf of the non-violent side of the Black Civil Rights Movement, King promoted delivering speeches and organizing the Montgomery bus boycott. As for the peaceful NUWSS, the leader Mrs. Millicent Fawcett admitted that the Suffragettes had done more during the last 12 months than the suffragists had been able to achieve in 12 years (1906). In terms of the violent side, Malcolm X chose to attack white Americans and only got support from 0.2% of the black population in the US in 1960. WSPU gained more public attention and assembled most of the females to participate in it. According to Goring, WSPU adopted a new way of three-color jewelry advertising, which evoked an immediate response (2002). Thus, the Black Civil Rights Movement is more effective on the non-violent side; the Suffragette movement is more influential on the violent side.

Thirdly, compared with the Suffragist Movement, the leader of the Black Civil Rights Movement was more effective. The most vocal leader of the Black Civil Rights Movement is Martin Luther King Jr. and the Suffragists Movement Emmeline Pankhurst. Martin Luther King Jr. is so influential that his speech “I Have a Dream” is regarded as one of the world’s most influential speeches, and he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. However, compared with Martin Luther King, Emmeline is not so impressive in history. Emmeline set up WSPU and organized militant movements, successfully arousing people’s attention, but she caused much annoyance and hatred for destroying public facilities. Even her daughter, Sylvia Pankhurst was also unsatisfactory with her mother, saying her mother was not concerned about her family and separated from WSPU, alleging with the present male government. (Purvis, 2013). As a result, as the leader of a campaign, King worked more successfully than Emmeline.

Fourthly, the media of the Black Civil Rights Movement is also more effective.TV was invented when the Black Civil Rights Movement happened, but the suffragists only had a newspaper to spread their ideas. Because of the different periods, the development of technology brought more ways to report and spread news in the Black Civil Rights Movement. Visual videos and images were able to portray more complete events, more appealing and impressive than newspapers. Instead, newspapers need to spend a relatively long time writing, editing, and printing out, so they cannot report the suffragists’ movement on time. Therefore, in terms of media, TV in the Black Civil Rights Movement is more effective.

Fifthly, the Black Civil Rights Movement works more effectively to get politician’s support. Although politicians were against Black at the very beginning, they supported the black people’s movement President Eisenhower sent federal troops to enable the 9 students to go to school against the governor in Little Rock, Arkansas. However, the Suffragist Movement had never won politician’s support. English politicians opposed suffragettes strongly through both public speeches and policies. For this aspect, the politicians of the Black Civil Rights Movement supported the blacks, but the English politicians only showed a negative attitude towards women activists.

Finally, the temporary situations and influences after these two movements differ in effectiveness. After about 150 years since the Black Civil Rights Movement and about 100 years since the Suffragists Movement, we can see that great progress has been made: the Black and the White now have legally the same rights; Barack Obama, a black senator, was elected president in 2008; women have voting rights as same as men. However, discrimination towards black people and women still exists, and the temporary situation is complicated. The Guardian illustrates that “In the US, black people are more likely to be arrested for drug offenses and have a higher chance of getting shot by the police than white or Hispanic people” (2019). At the workplace, it’s harder for women to get a promotion, especially at higher levels. So it’s hard to tell which one influences more effectively in the modern age.

In conclusion, the Black Civil Rights Movement is more effective in aspects of its leader, media, and politicians; the suffragist Movement chose a more effective aim. In general, the Black Civil Rights Movement is more effective than the Suffragist Movement. However, the contemporary situation and influence of the two movements are still complicated in modern times. All in all, although the two movements have both advantages and weaknesses in different aspects, they are still remarkable in history, which helps black people and women to fight for their rights. At the same time, for the racism and discrimination problems, we still have a long way to go.

Reference list

    1. Fawcett M. (1906) in Anna’s resources
    2. Goring E. (2002) The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society 1850- the Present, No.26, Omnium Gatherum- A Collection of Papers (2002), pp. 84-99
    3. Purvis J. (2013) Gendering the Historiography of the Suffragette Movement in Edwardian Britain: some reflections, Women’s History Review, 22:4, 576-590, DOI: 10.1080/09612025.2012.751768
    4. The Guardian (2019) Racism harms black people most. It’s time to recognise “anti-blackness” Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/09/black-people-racism-anti-blackness-discrimination-minorities (Accessed:1 February 2019)

Essay on How Did the Vietnam War Affect the Civil Rights Movement

Introduction

The 1960s in America were a turning point in world history. It’s marked by the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, antiwar protests, and the “generation gap”. The sixties were also called “the swinging sixties” because of the emergence of a wide range of music such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Paul Simon.

Kennedy vs. Nixon debates

In the early 1960s, there were a series of debates between John. F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. These were the first presidential debates that aired on TV and they attracted enormous publicity. Millions of Americans tuned in to watch and form an opinion about the candidates. Richard Nixon insisted on campaigning until just a few hours before the first debate which was on Monday, September 26th, 1960 in Chicago, Illinois. Unfortunately for him, he was very sick and was recovering from an illness. He looked very pale, tired, sweaty, and underweight. It was not a good look for him. In contrast, Kennedy was well-rested, and confident and was prepared thoroughly for the debate beforehand. Millions of viewers tuned in for the first debate, roughly 70 million. Although the first debate was successful for Kennedy it didn’t guarantee him the win.

Another milestone for television at the time was the third debate that broadcasted split screen the two candidates that were on two opposite sides of the country so they could converse in real-time. Nixon was in Los Angeles while Kennedy was in New York. Bill Shadel moderated the debate from a third location in Chicago. The main topic of this debate was whether military forces should be used to prevent two islands’ archipelagos off the Chinese coast from falling to communist control.

John F. Kennedy’s Administration

On the 20th of January 1961, John F. Kennedy was elected as president of the United States of America. His first mission was to create an elite army unit called the Special Forces or Green Berets to combat Soviet insurgencies around the world. He continued the nuclear arms race against the Russians. On another note, he created the Peace Corps, a government-funded program that sent out American missionaries across the world, mainly third-world countries, to spread American values. Some issues required quick and rational decision-making during his presidency such as the threat of the Cuban missile crisis, the erection of the Berlin wall, and the Bay of Pigs invasion.

Brigade 2506 was a CIA-sponsored rebel group that was made up mostly of Cuban exiles and soldiers. They tried to invade and overthrow the communist government of Fidel Castro, who led a communist regime. They hoped that the people would rise against Castro and support the American troops. Unfortunately, the invasion Bay of Pigs lasted three days and it was a failure because it was defeated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces. It was launched from Guatemala and Nicaragua. There were 118 killed, 360 wounded 1202 captured from the Brigade, and 176 killed and more than 500 wounded from the Cuban Armed forces. This invasion was a disaster and made JFK, who didn’t even send air support, look bad in the eyes of the Americans and the Soviets.

Another problem that required quick thinking and decision-making was the erection of the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was a structure put between the eastern and western parts of Berlin to prevent eastern Germans from finding a haven in the more prosperous and safer western part. JFK visited Berlin in 1963 and gave the famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech that made the audience cheer. From this speech, Kennedy recovered his image as a president. During the speech, he gave western Germans hope and he promised that the US would help in the event of the eastern Germans deciding to invade.

Continuing the nuclear warheads race that started in the 1950s, Kennedy was ready to use those deadly weapons if necessary. In 1962 Kennedy was informed that the Soviets had created missile sites in Cuba. Those sites were allegedly going to be used to attack the US. JFK’s resolution to the threat was to place a blockade on the island so the Soviets couldn’t bring in more weapons. From this resolution a conflict arose between the US and the USSR and people were concerned that this might escalate quickly. Fortunately, there was a mutual agreement from both sides to resolve the conflict. The US promised not to invade Cuba and dismantle their sites in Turkey that targeted Russia. The Soviets agreed to dismantle their missile sites and not attack the US.

That didn’t stop the USSR and the US to continue developing their nuclear warheads but fortunately, they signed the Limited Nuclear Test Ban in 1963 which prohibited the test and use of nuclear weapons underwater, in space, or the atmosphere. It allowed underground testing as long as it didn’t leave any radioactive debris. Both parties realized that the use of nuclear weaponry would eventually lead to severe and dire consequences.

Civil Rights Movement

Segregation was a big issue in the 1950s. While America was prosperous most of the opportunities and rights did not include African Americans. One of the big steps forward was the desegregation of schools. Another step key moment in the civil rights movement was when Rosa Parks, an African American woman, refused to stand up from a seat that was to a white person in public transport in Montgomery, Alabama. Unfortunately, that rebellious act led to her arrest.

The pursuit for racial equality was on in the 1960s in the USA. African Americans were oppressed and most of them were in poverty. From these circumstances, the Civil Rights movement was created which was heavily influenced by Martin Luther King Junior.

In 1963 MLK Jr. led the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom at which he gave his famous “I Have a dream” speech. In his speech, he called for economic, racial, and civil rights among Americans. He delivered his speech in front of two hundred and fifty thousand supporters in front of the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. The speech began with the Emancipation Proclamation which freed millions of African American slaves in 1863 and he claimed that a hundred years later African Americans are still not free.

This famous speech had a positive effect on African Americans. It helped the poor, raised the minimum wage, and put an end to labor discrimination. It also incentivized JFK to support and enforce civil rights more actively and a call to action was carried for Congress to pass a law that made discrimination in public accommodations illegal. President Johnson, appointed after Kennedy’s assassination, built on the civil rights movement and pushed Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It outlawed discrimination based on race, gender, religion, or national origin. It also protected colored people from being discriminated against in schools, hospitals, and other public institutions. In 1968, The Fair Housing Act discriminated against purchasing houses illegally, and that provided even more rights to people of color. Unfortunately, even though these laws and acts were passed there was still racism in the US.

The Green Book

The Green Book is a movie that is set in the 1960s and shows the segregated and somewhat racist America at the time. It also portrayed issues such as inequality between social classes. The movie revolves around two characters, Tony Lip, and Don. Tony Lip is an Italian looking for a job after losing his job at a bar he used to work at. Don is an African American who is a virtuoso. He plays the piano and is among the elite most of the time. Don hires Tony as his chauffeur to take him from place to place so he plays the piano. There are differences between the characters. At numerous times in the movie Tony stereotypes Don as the typical African American but sees that he is nothing alike. Tony grew up in the streets and you could say that he is rather ignorant, but he learns to be more accepting of other people as he travels from gig to gig with his boss. Don on the other hand learns to loosen up a little from time to time and that the street culture is more dangerous than he thinks it is. They both overcome their differences at one point in the movie due to them both being unequal to the white middle- and upper-class person.

Lyndon B. Johnson and the Vietnam War

Johnson was appointed president right after Kennedy’s assassination and he was set on realizing some Kennedy initiatives that weren’t realized, particularly in the fields of economics policy and civil rights. LBJ was also set on the idea of winning the fight against the communist in Vietnam which is a war that Kennedy started. Throughout his presidency Congress enacted over 200 laws and programs that provided healthcare, public housing, expanded transportation, and defended civil rights. As mentioned above, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a huge stepping stone for equality among Americans. The war in Vietnam was a big government spending that was an issue for Johnson, but he was determined to win the war.

Although the Americans had the weaponry and technological advantage, the Vietnamese had the advantage of knowing the land and the local people. By the end of 1965, he had drafted over two hundred thousand troops. The war escalated and despite the bad circumstances President Johnson reassured Americans that the war was a sure victory and that everything was going according to plan. The only issue was that the press was showing the complete opposite which was the truth. Not everything was going according to plan. The media showed massacres of civilians and brutality and people’s approval of Johnson quickly dropped.

Anti-war protests

Anti-war protests were initiated by young people in America. They wanted to break down social norms, fight for the minorities’ civil rights, and protest the ongoing war in Vietnam. Their rebellion was expressed by the way they clothed themselves and their lifestyle. The young generation was more liberal, expressive, and sexual. They called themselves hippies.

It started as a political activism among university students and quickly grew into a movement. In the 1960s Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS for short was created at the University of Michigan which became their headquarters. They did a few protests and campaigns against Johnson. The Free Speech movement was carried out when Johnson tried to control the political activity at the University of California. In 1965 a nationwide campaign against the military draft in the US. One of the most famous demonstrations was the one in 1968 at Columbia University, where students protested government plans to relocate black housing to build a gymnasium.

The Graduate

The Graduate is a movie that shows how the new cinema wave called “The New Hollywood”, aimed to tackle new subject matters and criticize them which was not culturally appropriate before.

The movie has a western European style – some comedic situations and shots are unexpected which was typical for the French cinema at the time. The movie is about a recent college graduate, Ben, who has excelled in his studies and extracurriculars but is unsure what to do with his future. While his parents want him to pursue another degree he chooses to loosen up and have some fun with his summer. That’s how he engages in casual sex with Mrs. Robinson, who is his father’s friend’s wife. At first, he is unsure whether to do it, but he at least tries it once. Then they start doing it more frequently. Mrs. Robinson is portrayed as an alcoholic, a product of the typical 1950s housewife. Her daughter Elaine is a smart, beautiful, and bright young girl who inevitably Ben falls in love with. There’s a conflict of interest between Ben and Mrs. Robinson because she doesn’t want him to date her daughter, but he ends up doing it anyway. The movie ends with Ellaine and Ben eloping and creating a new future for themselves.

American Graffiti

American Graffiti is a movie about the positive side of the 1960s – before JFK’s assassination. It perfectly portrays the period when Kennedy was president and the “American Dream”. Moreover, it represents the carelessness and the freedom that the youth have. Cars are a big focus here, characters are connected with different types of cars and it could be analyzed what type of person they are according to the car paint, modifications, etc. The soundtrack is mostly rock and roll music which was typical for the time. It exemplified young rebelliousness through the character Millner, a soft-hearted rebel who never wants to grow up. On the other end of the spectrum is the other character, Curt, a boy from the middle class who will soon be off to college. Curt has doubts about his future and what the college can provide him. He pursues a blond woman throughout the movie and it only occurs to him that he will probably never see the girl that he’s been chasing all this time again. This existential realization disillusions him and him to reality. The so-called American Dream is shattered into pieces.

Apocalypse Now

Coppola’s Apocalypse Now is a movie about the Vietnam War and it portrays the grotesque atmosphere, and what the soldiers have been or have gone through. It tells a story about a captain named Willard and his mission to kill Colonel Kurtz. The Vietnam War has taken a toll on soldier’s minds because it made them go mad from being subjected to the gruesome reality of war. Willard can’t sleep well and becomes an observer of other soldiers getting high on LSD or weed just to survive the nightmarish situation they’re put in. The boundaries of what’s moral and rational are blurred and this makes the perfect example of how people rely on their ego to survive. Events in the movie are nightmarish and others are ridiculous to the point where the viewer is left confused. The cinematography is executed perfectly to make an impact on the viewer’s psyche. Coppola portrays the loss of conscious morality to the extent where there is disassociation with normality.

Conclusion

To conclude, America in the 1960s went through a rough political change. It’s a double-edged sword – minorities gained rights and some of acts the that were passed by Congress helped people of color to have equal rights but on the flip side the impact of the Vietnam War undermined and shattered the illusion of the “American Dream”. This social change was not from a sudden revolution in culture and society but was laid out throughout the years and it peaked in the 1960s. Hippies laid out the foundation for liberal America – the freedom to do whatever and be whoever you want.