Analysis Of Somebody Blew Up America

4. Social movements throughout United States history have faced general opposition from the government, along with the white population. Restricting movements suppresses minorities and continues to widen the value gap between white people and minorities. Two well known examples of this is the deconstruction of the Black Panther party, which sought equality for all minorities and ultimately was suppressed by FBI programs that targeted key leaders of the movement, including the now murdered Fred Hampton (Black Panther Film), and the deconstruction of post 9/11 movements, such as the criminalization of Amiri Baraka and his poem, “Somebody Blew Up America”, which was critical of the government for a examples of inequalities (Rosa, 2009). Another

According to Omi and Winat, Color-blindness is an ideology that argues in favor of a white America, one that boasts the same ideals that the country was founded on (Omi & Winat, 2014). The ideology avoids a public perception of being racist by consistently undermining policies that negatively effect minorities in the country (Omi & Winat, 2014). It is a neoliberal ideology, meaning that it supports the idea of a private, capitalistic market where the blaming the victim policies reign (Omi & Winat, 2014). Neoliberals support the idea of “reverse racism”, which argues against the creating and continuation of policies meant to aid minorities, namely blacks, such as Affirmative Action (Omi & Winat, 2014). Neoliberals demonize these policies, which are meant to close the gap created between whites and people of other races due to previous policies such as segregation and slavery, for that exact reason (Omi & Winat, 2014). Neoliberals combat movements by minorities by using surveillance tactics and arresting key leaders. An example of a surveillance agency used in this vein is COINTELPRO (Omi & Winat, 2014). Neoliberals also use “code words” such as “illegal aliens” to devalue minorities without appearing racist (Omi & Winat, 2014). The term, “illegal aliens”, which is used to describe undocumented immigrants, dehumanized individuals and disregards their rights as people living in the United States. Other “code words” include “handouts” and “welfare queen” (Omi & Winat, 2014). Lastly, Neoliberals support the creation of race neutral policies, or policies that do not benefit one race over another. In today’s society, blacks and other minorities are severely disadvantaged and underrepresented, and by eliminating policies to support said people, they lose their ability to close the value gap between themselves and white people, as well as their voice to argue in favor of change in the public