Arthur Chu, a writer for news media outlet, Salon, published a fiery editorial detailing his thoughts on the public continuously blaming mass shootings committed by white males on mental illness, rather than “race, guns, hatred and terrorism.” He believes that “toxic masculinity, white supremacy, misogyny, and racism” are the real issues behind the majority of hate crimes caused by caucasian men, not mental illness. Pointing fingers at mental illness is a way for people to weasel out of having a necessary discussion on these fatal issues and gives killers a crutch to place the blame for their actions on. Chu struck at kairotic moment in time to intervene in the media’s conversation on mass shootings, being that his editorial was published only one day after Dylan Roof fired on African American members of a church in Charleston, South Carolina. The reader can easily pick up on the strategic pathos intertwined in his writing by the relevancy and charge behind his words. Chu utilizes fallacious, emotive language to force feed his …show more content…
These three men are some of the most recent, well known shooters in the United States. Their violent actions were blamed on mental illness by the media. Chu insists that white, male shooters are the only ones who are labeled as mentally ill when in reality, the racism, misogynism, white supremacy, etc.., taught by society, are more so to blame. However, notice how Seung-Hui Cho, the Virginia Tech shooter, pictured on the right is not white. He is Asian. Chu chips away at his own argument when he argues that only the actions of white, male shooters are blamed on mental illness, when he chose to picture and write about Seung-Hui Cho, and Asian, male shooter. What is especially ironic is that Chu himself is an Asian male. Either he identifies himself and the Asian race as caucasian or he overlook or choose to ignore this prominent
“vulnerable to manipulate” and that it is “more often than not a willful ignorance and acceptance of stereotypes.” Bissoondath’s article discusses through examples of two men who are very friendly, who make unconscious insensitive remarks that are based on stereotypes. He also goes on to describe
Behind the majority of gunmen in mass shootings is mental illness. These gunmen were ridiculed and bullied leading them to depression and anxiety. These emotions in a man are seen as a weakness, degrading their masculinity. It is much more socially acceptable for a women experiencing depression to seek treatment then it is for a man. A women can learn to work through mental illness because it is encourage for her to undergo therapy. A man may feel that treatment for mental illness will make him less authoritative and will turn to the only thing he knows- guns. Boys are brought up thinking that a man with a gun is masculine. A male adolescent who has been called homophobic slurs his entire life for not measuring up to these standards turn to guns to prove himself. Boys and men use violence to overcome shame associated with not being respected by their
The notion of the mentally ill being more likely to commit crime is a topic that is highly controversial and sparks much debate. However, I do believe that it is evident that mental illness can cause irrational and sometimes dangerous behavior, which not only do I find threatening, but more so sad. In the case of Luke Batty’s murder by his biological father Greg Anderson, not only do I feel extreme sorrow towards the victim, but I also empathise with the perpetrator, due to the fact that mental illness is clearly mishandled and overlooked in our justice system.
Gender and racism are two of the main topics of “The Talk” by Dana Canedy and “What Goes Through Your Mind: On Nice Parties and Casual Racism” by Nicole Chung. Throughout their essays, Canedy and Chung prove whether it is an African-American boy or an Asian American woman, minorities face racism. Also, all types of racism such as casual racism or intended racism all are extremely hurtful, degrading to any minority. Gender has a lot to do with the severity of racism experienced. Police brutality on an African American woman happens, but is not as frequently and sever as it does to an African American man. Nicole Chung, who is Asian American believes that she has control over her own identity. When placed in an uncomfortable racist situation
Over the past years media has been overwhelmed with news about mass shootings happening around America and if mental illness is the primary cause of the violent act. On February 2014, Jonathan M. Metzl and Kenneth T. MacLeish published their article “Mental Illness, Mass Shootings, and the Politics of American Firearms” in the American Journal of Public Health that addresses the issue that mental illness has very little to do mass shootings which is commonly used on the aftermath of the shooting
Mental illness gets more negative attention when these school shootings happen, because all it does is add to the already deep-rooted idea that people with mental illness are dangerous. However, the truth is that if society had paid more attention to the kids who exhibited these symptoms earlier, then they might not have acted out in such an extremely violent
The United States will not soon forget the rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut that came just two weeks before Christmas last year. This tragic event resulted in the death of twenty students and eight adults. Although the event shocked the nation, rampage shootings are nothing new. Over the years, many families have lost loved ones to these horrific events. As a result, these mass shootings such as the one that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary caught public attention leading to a push to find the cause of these events. Out of this research a variety of possible causes came to light consisting of arguments stating that high school bullying, availability of guns, mental illness, violent movies and video games are the cause of mass shootings. However, these researchers and debaters tend to ignore the role of massive media coverage in the increase of copycat shootings in the United States.
Lankford also states that in paragraph 4: They are felt like they have been given false hope as they were told that success and wealth comes from hard work. Not really seeing the the true success they thought could be succeed when failing making them turn on other people. I think people should understand these people with these kind of certain mental problem than to study which can help reduce mass killers, “The vast majority of people with mental illness are not violent and never will be.” ( Swanson ) Meaning a few people are, but it's hard to identify these types of people as Jonathan Metzl said in the last paragraph: “So there’s no psychiatric test that can prevent a mass shooting mass. They are hard to predict.” We, ourselves have to remind one another that we are all humans and not everyone think the same way or the way you predicted them
Markowitz, F. E. (2011). Mental illness, crime, and violence: Risk, context, and social control. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 36-44.
They suggested that not only mental illness but other factors such as social relationships, firearm access during emotional moments etc also lead to gun violence. However, they failed to cite this with strong facts, numbers etc. Reports suggest that up to 60% of executioners of mass shootings in the United States since 1970 displayed symptoms including acute paranoia, delusions, and depression before committing their crimes[4,5]. In another article “Rates of Household Firearm Ownership and Homicide Across US Regions and States, 1988–1997”[6], the authors emphasized on the “association between rates of household firearm ownership and homicide across the United States, by age group”. In this analysis, they failed to take gender, mental health and other factors into consideration which helps more to analyze that which type of people (mentally ill) and/ or which gender are doing these cruel
have shown the firearm homicide and suicide rates in the US are several times higher than that of any other industrialized country” (Towers 2). The automatic reaction people have to mass shooting is talking about gun control and mental illness policies. Every time a mass shooting occurs both the people and the government go crazy trying to find a solution yet there is no solution. The United States needs to set up mental illness awareness programs to decrease the number of mass shootings.
Destiny of the Republic James A. Garfield, the 20th president of The United States, was born in Orange Township Ohio to a family of immense poverty. When he was a young boy, Garfield’s father had passed away leaving his mother and three siblings in distress and misfortune. Garfield’s harsh childhood helped form him to be the humble and modest gentleman that, throughout his presidency, gained the hearts of many Americans. In March of 1881, Garfield was honorably sworn in as the newest president of the United Stated of America, but his presidency was short-lived when in July of 1881 a man named Charles Guiteau shot Garfield twice in which resulted in his death on September 19, 1881. Candice Millard’s “Destiny of the Republic” illustrates James Garfield’s principles that formed his presidency, in which he fought for civil rights to empower African Americans, kept the well-being of the lower class in mind, and encouraged higher education.
...t: (http://www.psych.org/public_info/VIOLEN~1.HTM) Government Survey (1990) Violence and Psychiatric Disorders in the Community: Evidence from the Epidemiological Catchment Area Surveys. Hospital and Community Psychiatry (41:761770) Holy Bible (1998) Leviticus Chapter 19 verse 18, King James version (204:2049) Hudson, Thomas (1978) The Laws of Psychic Phenomena. Internet: (http://www.appi.org/pnews/sep20/jail.htm1) (pg.1 & 2) Illinois State Police (1999) Violence in the Workplace Characteristics. Internet: (http://www.state.il.us/ISPviowkplc/vwpp4.htm) Modestin, Jiri (1997) Is Depression A Risk Factor for Crime? Crime Times, Internet: (http://www.crime~times.org/97d/w97dp6.htm) (p.1) National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) (1999) The Criminalization of People with Mental Illness. Summary of the NAMI Policy Platform (1:8) National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) (1999) The Criminalization of People with Mental Illness. Summary of the NAMI Policy Platform (3:8) Taridiff, K. (1980) Assault, Suicide and Mental Illness. Archives of General Psychiatry (37:164169) Webster Dictionary (1988) Unabridged Yapko, Micheal D. (1997) The Art of Avoiding Depression. Psychology Today
Silver, Eric. 2006. “Understanding the Relationship between Mental Disorder and Violence: The Need for a Criminological Perspective.” Law and Human Behavior 30(6):685-706.
Glied, S., & Frank, R. G. (2014). Mental Illness and Violence: Lessons From the Evidence.