On May 24th 2016 DePaul University, a prominent and private university in Chicago, Illinois, garnered some negative media attention for what can only be described as a fiasco. A student organized event, by the university’s College Republicans group, was violently interrupted and brought to a halt when Black Lives Matter protesters barged into the room the event was being held in. The point of contention, speaker Milo Yiannopoulos had made DePaul a stop on his Dangerous Faggot Tour. Yiannopoulos, a British Journalist for Breitbart News, openly gay conservative, and self proclaimed provocateur, is known for his stances against modern third-wave feminism and Black Lives Matter. His speech on the 24th of May was abruptly interrupted when Black …show more content…
One common ground all parties involved, and all Americans, share is the First Amendment. Under the First Amendment Yiannopolous is entitled to speak his mind, those who attended the event to peaceably assemble and the Black Lives Matter protesters are allowed to assemble and protest, peacefully. However their demonstration was anything but. And DePaul being a private university is not obligated honor the First Amendment. This incident is in some ways analogous to an event Stuart Taylor Jr. recounts in his essay “How Campus Censors Squelch Freedom of …show more content…
The underpinning of his essay is that the First Amendment, freedom of speech and expression should be used to expand people’s minds with new or opposing ideas. “The strange beauty of American freedom is that it is ungovernable, that it always runs slightly ahead of human temperament” (Rosenblatt 484). He believes that free is how people’s minds are made to be and is their natural state of being and attempting to control people’s minds is
There are people in America that makes us wonder why there is a world to begin with. There are people who represent the greater good of the world, and there are others who are unfortunately not for the greater good of the world. We have to constantly deal with those whose only goal in life is to bring the lives of others down to the ground; to shatter and to break them. This is what is happening now in the world, and this most likely will never change. As a result of trying to change the ways in which we live and interact with these people, there was a movement that wanted to change the lives of African-Americans, as well as other races. This movement was called “Black Lives Matter”. The people who were responsible for the creation of
Today there are many controversial subjects discussed throughout the media. One of the most discussed is race and the Black Lives Matter movement. Recently, I came across an article titled “The Truth of ‘Black Lives Matter’”, written by The Editorial Board. The article was published on September 3, 2015, to the New York Times. In the article, The Editorial Board writes about what they believe African Americans are facing as challenges in society today, including the all-too-common police killings of unarmed African-Americans across the country. The Editorial Board is right that some African Americans have been treated unfairly, but all ethnicities have been. Life is a precious thing that comprises all ethnicities. This brings us to ask; why
Since the beginning in the United States, African Americans have been seen as racially inferior and White Americans have been trying to keep them that way for many years, especially in the south. This can be seen when the south implemented the Jim Crow Laws in the 1930’s to the 1940’s. These laws were laws put into place in the south to refute African Americans 14th and 15th rights; to keep African Americans racially inferior. However these laws were fought very hard by African Americans even though they were being put down they still found a way to rise up and change America by fighting back for what they believed was right and not giving up. Many African Americans had their own thoughts on how to do this, such as Martin Luther King, Jr.,
From the opening sentence of the essay, “We are free to be you, me, stupid, and dead”, Roger Rosenblatt hones in on a very potent and controversial topic. He notes the fundamental truth that although humans will regularly shield themselves with the omnipresent first amendment, seldom do we enjoy having the privilege we so readily abuse be used against us.
American is known for its rich culture and diversity. Black lives matter (BLM) is an international activist movement, originating in the African-American community, that campaigns against violence and systemic racism toward black people as defined by google. It was created in 2012 as a call to action for black people after seventeen year old Trayvon Martin was placed on trial for his own murder and the killer, George Zimmerman, was not held accountable for the crime that he had committed. It was a response for the anti-Black racism that still remains in our society and within the movement itself. It is a movement that goes beyond the killing of black people by police and vigilantes. It calls for the Black community to love each other, live
The Black Lives Matter campaign is a major movement in the United States. The campaign started because of the police brutality that occurred against African Americans across the nation. The African American community began this activist movement in order to raise awareness of the mistreatment of African Americans by the police. Furthermore, the campaign strives to solve the issues of racial profiling and injustice in the United States’ criminal society. The first demonstration of the Black Lives Matter campaign occurred after the Trayvon Martin case. Trayvon Martin, a young African American teenager, was shot and killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman for no apparent reason. Despite this, George Zimmerman’s trial was acquitted. Following this unjust sanction, protestors coined the hashtag “blacklivesmatter” on social media and began public demonstrations to show their anger toward the criminal justice system.
#BlackLivesMatters is more than a hashtag, it is a social liberation movement. Coming to fruition in 2012 after the infamous Trayvon Martin murder case, Black Lives Matter was born as a reaction to the great injustice this case displayed towards a young black teen. As a social movement Black Lives Matter uses multiple communicative methods to spread their message. By combining traditional methods like peaceful protests called StandUp in their events calendar, with contemporary communication applications like Twitter, Black Lives Matter has gained much support and power. The key to the buzzing conversation surrounding Black Lives Matter can be attributed to their integration of popular communicative techniques, specifically Twitter. By combining
“Everyone loves free expression as long as it isn't exercised” (Rosenblatt 501). In the article, We are Free to Be You, Me, Stupid, and Dead, Roger Rosenblatt argues for the people’s right to freedom of speech and expression, that is given by the U.S Constitution. Rosenblatt argues that freedom of speech is one of the many reasons the Founding Fathers developed this country. For this reason, Rosenblatt believes that we should be tolerant and accepting of other’s ideas and beliefs. Even if one does not agree with someone else, they need to be understanding and realize that people have differing opinions. Everyone has the right to free expression, and this is what Rosenblatt is trying to get across. The necessity of freedom of expression and the important values it contains is a main foundation for this country, therefore, Rosenblatt’s argument is valid.
Black Lives Matter is not a bandwagon to hop on, nor is it a hashtag or a slogan. Black Lives Matter is a movement. To not support the movement or to think that the movement does not need support is outright depraved, demeaning and degrading. We too often think that retweeting, tweeting or sharing a photo on social media is supporting the movement and it’s not! This is no longer the 1960’s. We have gained our rights: that is no longer the fight. The fight is receiving justice for our black people, so no effective protesting is no longer sitting at countertops, it is no longer peaceful marching and it is no longer bus boycotting The new protest is to educate ourselves, to show respect, to get involved in the justice system, to raise black lawyers, to vote and to do jury duty. All of these things are needed to benefit the movement in stopping the corruptness in our justice system.
Race relations are always a scary or uncomfortable topic for people to discuss amongst groups of different ethnicities and racial identities. It is a long standing tradition in the United States to walk a fine line and use politically correct terms in the above mentioned setting but to feel perfectly comfortable to speak freely when in a setting surrounded by likeminded people who share similar political affiliations and race. This is the main reason discussions surrounding the idea of race are too often avoided in today’s school systems and in society in general. If we are to encourage our students and children to be free thinking future citizens of our global society, we must first become one ourselves. The only way to accomplish this
There are many problems in today’s world, one of which is the existence of racism. Obviously it has improved dramatically over time, however racism is still out there in our every day lives. The movement Black Lives Matter has spread nationwide attracting the attention of many different parties. Black Lives Matter has had a large impact on the whole country with many people taking different stances on it.
We call ourselves the United States, yet we are anything but united. Social justice, which I believe to be the promotion of equality in money, opportunity, and rights amongst all people, plays a key role in todays ever-so-demanding society. Although many aspects can be affected by social justice, gender is major one. By creating equal pay between men and women and making feminine hygiene products for women become free, I believe that we as a society will inch towards creating a more just society.
Overall, many believe that the undeviating war on racism in today’s society is fueled by police brutality and anti-police violence. Specifically, The Black Lives Matter movement which is the source of controversy regarding these topics. To summarize, this campaign is “both a hashtag and a political project that formed after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin.” (Miller). Later in the article Chelsea Fuller, senior communication associate of The Advancement project which is a multi-racial civil rights organization, states “The Black Lives Matter movement is to deal with anti-black racism, to “push for black people’s right to live with dignity and respect” and be included in the American democracy that they helped create” (Miller). In discussions of The Black Lives Matter movement, a controversial
They suffered everyday throughout history that their lives should matter. No one is saying that only black lives should matter but events that we learn today about past shows us they suffered in the cruelest way and for a long time too. However, other people aside from lacks could be suffering just as much but it isn’t documented and taught as a HUGE topic. Black people suffer with racism (some due to rumors) and brutality.
The disciplines are simply a means to that end.” During my time here, I have focused most of my course work on the following: rhetoric, identity, and social change. How do these elements all effect each other and how do we use communication strategies and theories to make an impact on the world? In my previous course called Communication and Inclusion, Professor Sarah Jackson had written an article for the CAMD website called, “Looking ahead: Social movements in 2015.” Here, she talks about the most recent deaths at the time of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in NYC. These killings had brought up issues of race and inequality in America and essentially started the first major wave of the Black Lives Matter Movement. In her class specifically she taught about “how social and political identities are constructed in the public sphere, with a particular focus on how race and gender are constructed in national debates”