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A essay about hate crimes
Racism in the usa history
The impact of propaganda
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Power and Impact of Dehumanization “The propagandist’s purpose is to make one set of people forget that certain other sets of people are human.” In this quote, Aldous Huxley clearly illustrates the power one group of people strive to obtain by disregarding another group’s existence as equals. Through political and social systems that use fear, force, and disinformation, they aim to gain more domination through dehumanization. This mindset can be defined as the utter denial of the fact that a human being possesses needs, emotions, thoughts, and desires. Dehumanization is often a systematically constructed tool of those in power to remain in power. Creating new identities within a made-up hierarchy, it can easily make people forget their true …show more content…
Primo Levi, a survivor of this genocide, included in his written account of the time (Survival in Auschwitz), an incredibly insightful observation of they way that Nazis beat their prisoners. After witnessing several of instances of the soldiers’ use of force on Germany’s prisoners, Levi wondered, “How can one hit a man without anger?” (16) Despite the fact that the answer was never made entirely clear in the passage, one can, without much hesitation, assume that this quote demonstrates how these officers did not need any specific reason to hit another human being. To them, these acts were nothing more than a daily task such as brushing teeth or taking out trash. According to the author, these soldiers did not consider the people they were hitting human. Brainwashed by Hitler’s agenda, Germany’s military not only abused and tormented homosexual, Jewish, disabled, Roma, Slavic, etc. people, but did so without malice. Nazi beliefs were so deeply ingrained within Germans’ minds in the late 1930’s and early to mid 1940’s, that they felt it a duty to torture people of these non-Aryan and “unhealthy” categories. It became part of who they were. One simply cannot persecute another without any specific disagreement or conflict between the two, without seeing them as less than a person, without …show more content…
Dehumanization still thrives today. Written by Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy graphically illustrates the numerous instances of injustice within the United States legal system. Stevenson describes an event where racist judges and juries condemn a man to death, without proper evidence of his guilt, simply because this man was African-American. Again, this complete oblivion to his emotions, his needs, his life, cannot be given any other name than dehumanization. Years ago, with the arrival of slaves, white supremacy was established in the United States. Certain Caucasian individuals still hold on to this outdated and inhumane belief of superiority over minorities due to the fact that the American system has not yet made the full transition into justice for all people regardless or race, gender, religion, etc. Therefore, some black Americans still have this sense of subordination to whites as part of their identity. They may see themselves as an African-American under the rule of another race, before seeing themselves as simply
“Dehumanized” by Mark Slouka explores the issue of our nation’s education and how science and math are being used to primarily teach students about business and capitalism. Although I believe that students should have a good understanding of economics for the sake of their future. I, like Mark Slouka, believe that the humanities should be taught and accepted in our schools to help students further their education.
Just Mercy touches on the idea of racial inequality and profiling the modern day american justice system by bringing us to a variety of cases that demonstrated this injustice. Bryan Stevenson also referenced an experience he personally had where he was being targeted by authorities for no good reason other than racial profiling. This theme of racial injustice and profiling connects Just Mercy to To Kill a Mockingbird. This idea is brought upon in To Kill a Mockingbird with Tom Robinson’s court case in which he is accused of committing rape. Many people judged Atticus Finch for defending Tom, not because of the allegations of committing rape, but rather the fact that he was defending a black man. Further proving the point that the contents in To Kill a Mockingbird can still be valuable today.
The process of dehumanization is a process which has been repeated throughout history. Dehumanization takes place in the book Night, in which the author of the memoir, Elie Wiesel, is exposed to its effects. He is taken from his family and home, sent to a concentration camp in which he first comes in contact with people who have gone through the process of dehumanization. Most mistake the noun “dehumanization” as the verb “to dehumanize.” Dehumanization is a process, a twisted art; while to dehumanize someone is to persecute in one’s mind and actions whilst the subject being dehumanized still acts and thinks humanly. In a basic summary, to dehumanize is just a step in the process of dehumanization. Dehumanization is a process in which the subject/s are prosecuted (dehumanized), thieved of their family needs, and then stripped of their physiological needs.
In Bryan Stevenson’s essay, “Close To Death: Reflections on Race and Capital Punishment In America” he claims that there is a tremendous racial problem in our criminal justice system. Stevenson explains,
In looking back upon his experience in Auschwitz, Primo Levi wrote in 1988: ?It is naïve, absurd, and historically false to believe that an infernal system such as National Socialism (Nazism) sanctifies its victims. On the contrary, it degrades them, it makes them resemble itself.? (Primo Levi, The Drowned and the Saved, 40). The victims of National Socialism in Levi?s book are clearly the Jewish Haftlings. Survival in Auschwitz, a book written by Levi after he was liberated from the camp, clearly makes a case that the majority of the Jews in the lager were stripped of their human dignity. The Jewish prisoners not only went through a physical hell, but they were psychologically driven under as well. Levi writes, ??the Lager was a great machine to reduce us to beasts? We are slaves, deprived of every right, exposed to every insult, condemned to certain death?? (Levi, 41). One would be hard pressed to find passages in Survival in Auschwitz that portray victims of the camp as being martyrs. The treatment of the Jews in the book explicitly spells out the dehumanization to which they were subjected. It is important to look at how the Jews were degraded in the camp, and then examine whether or not they came to embody National Socialism after this.
While lawmakers try to structure a system to uphold fair punishments, some people within the system seem to taint the judicial pool. Just Mercy is a book that talks about injustice in the legal system. The author describes cases and clients that he’s worked with that were up against all odds. As seen within the book “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson, some enforcers tend to prey on certain races and act more biased with others. This dilemma can lead to many cases of injustice, just based on people’s thought
The novel, Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson is an incredible read. In this book, Mr.
Bryan Stevenson reveals the horror truth of mass incarceration, which has been viewed as the modern day Jim Crow, through his memoir Just Mercy. For a majority of the book, Stevenson elaborates on the case of Walter Mcmillian, a black male, who took pride in his work as a successful entrepreneur with his lumber business. He earned the respect and admiration of strangers; but, was seen as “pleasant, respectful, generous, and accommodating” by those who knew him well and appreciated his presence (pg. 25). Although, he did have his flaws, as he was known to frequently cheat his wife, and his current mistress at the time was white, Karen Kelly― which, unfortunately, this makes him a perfect target for a false accusation. On June 7, 1987, Walter was
Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, showcases a world alternate from ours, in a dystopian setting. Where human morals are drastically altered, families, love, history, and art are removed by the government. They used multiple methods to control the people, but no method in the world is more highly used and more effective than propaganda. The world state heavily implemented the use of propaganda to control, to set morals, and to condition the minds of every citizen in their world. However, such uses of propaganda have already been used in our world and even at this very moment.
Society provides an individual with the structure they need to flourish in a productive community. Once that structure becomes nonexistent, the individual becomes animal-like by depending on their innate, or more savage skills to thrive in the world they find themselves in. Many people believe dystopian literature dehumanizes the individual for a specific purpose. William Golding 's and Aldous Huxley 's 20th century, dystopian novel reflect a similar theme. For instance, both Lord of the Flies and Brave New World reflect how the dehumanization leads to the downfall of society; thereby, influencing individuals to revert back to their natural, savage states.
On their way to the concentration camp, a German officer said, “’There are eighty of you in the car… If anyone is missing, you’ll all be shot like “dogs” ”’ (Wiesel 24). This shows that the Germans compared the Jews to dogs or animals, and that the German have no respect towards the Jews. Arrived at the concentration camp, the Jews were separated from their friends and family. The first thing of the wagon, a SS officer said, “’Men to the left! Women to the right!”’ (Wiesel 29). After the separation, Eliezer saw the crematories. There he saw “’a truck [that] drew close and unloaded its hold: small children, babies … thrown into the flames.” (Wiesel 32). This dehumanize the Jews, because they were able to smell and see other Jews burn in the flames. Later on the Jew were forced to leave their cloth behind and have been promise that they will received other cloth after a shower. However, they were force to work for the new cloth; they were forced to run naked, at midnight, in the cold. Being force to work for the cloth, by running in the cold of midnight is dehumanizing. At the camp, the Jews were not treated like human. They were force to do thing that was unhuman and that dehumanized
In 1984, George Orwell presents an overly controlled society that is run by Big Brother. The protagonist, Winston, attempts to “stay human” in the face of a dehumanizing, totalitarian regime. Big Brother possesses so much control over these people that even the most natural thoughts such as love and sex are considered taboo and are punishable. Big Brother has taken this society and turned each individual against one another. Parents distrust their own offspring, husband and wife turn on one another, and some people turn on their own selves entirely. The people of Oceania become brainwashed by Big Brother. Punishment for any uprising rebellions is punishable harshly.
A close look at the United States criminal justice system shows unfairness and racism towards minorities, specifically African Americans. This truth is brought under the light by author Bryan Stevenson in his novel Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. For example, a 2010 study found that the youngest children, ages 13 and 14, sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for non-homicide offenses were African American or Latino (Stevenson 174). The evident racism in the criminal justice system was even compared to the harsh Jim Crow laws according to Professor Michelle Alexander of Ohio State University. She found that both the racism in the system and the Jim Crow laws brought about legal discrimination against African Americans
By coming into the country, other races are denied of superiority and are exposed to an already “racialized society”. (pp.78) Oppression also comes into place with hierarchy, such as the “Bonds of Sisterhood” by Romero that portrays a difference between African American servants and housewives. It sets up an inequality between both women, showing inferiority over African American woman. One last reading that has emerged and captivated attention is Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. Stevenson expresses oppression in one of his own narratives when he was discriminated by two S.W.A.T officers. He describes his experience terrifying yet shocking since he had done nothing wrong. He was accused of a burglary based on the color of his skin because he lived in a white neighborhood. Not only that, but he was also investigated and searched which violated his rights. This unlawful act portrayed the ignorances for complex, multiple, and cross cutting relationships because Stevenson was an educated lawyer; yet, was seen different by the two officers in his own residence. Overall, Stevenson’s book has captured attention since it has given an experience of what he went
“The child wailed as its thin skin pulsed from the lethal injection “This is something that happened in the dystopian novel, The giver. The Giver is a wonderful dystopian novel, but what makes it so great? What turns it from a seemingly wonderful society to a dead wrong mess? The answers lay inside the community that withheld all the memories.