Personal Civility: How Does it Prevent Political Change?
Civility can be defined as, the formal politeness and courtesy in behavior or speech. Referring to respect and manners demonstrated throughout our lives. Civility has many different interpretations because everyone perceives it differently. It all depends on how each individual understands civility and whether or not they choose to respect it. One could be raised in a household that strongly reinforces civility, but it is up to that someone to abide by those standards. “The Taste for Civilization: Food, Politics, and Civil Society,” by Janet Flammang depicts how manners are a key factor in helping individuals deal with everyday issues aside from the dinner table. Gregory Orr in “Return
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It is not expected that everyone will choose to live by the same standards, but if there is a mutual respect for everyone’s beliefs it would be easier to work towards change. Orr talks about the maltreatment that everyone in the civil rights movement received due to the policemen’s opposing beliefs. “If they had actually wanted to protect us, the FBI could have easily arrived any time the preceding day. Many in the movement already knew what was inconceivable to me at the time- that events like this were stage-managed and that the FBI wasn’t a friend or even a neutral ally of the civil rights movement.” (Orr 223) This is a problem because with the lack of enforcement citizens are free to do what they want without receiving any consequences. This of course is only applicable to scenarios that policemen and citizens have the same view on. Regardless if a law seems unjust or disagreeable, it must be followed by everyone. By letting personal civility override the legal system, the opportunity for an altercation is being presented. Oppression is a prevalent issue that is more than often eluded in the legal system. For example, police brutality may be prevailing in a manner that is not agreeable to the public. The reason this may be possible is because policemen may have the same morals as each other, blinding them to their wrongdoings. And while they may consider themselves civilized, citizens may consider them uncivilized. This is why it is difficult to make changes because with everyone’s personal interpretation of civility, it is difficult to come to an agreement. Flammang may agree that, everyone’s view on civility is different also because it is not taught the same. “We are not naturally polite- we teach and learn the rules that grease the wheels of civilizations. Of course, if
The nature of a person’s behavior is determined by their values and their actions are guided by those beliefs. In “The Taste of Civilization: Food, Politics, and Civil Society,” Janet A. Flammang, writes about the importance of personal civility and its ability to shape a civil society. She argues that the civil manners are practiced around the table and do not lead to the dismissal of necessary conflict. Flammang discusses that not only is civility necessary, but conflict is the reason civility exists. Personal civility is the belief in how one should act, talk, or express their feelings.
As expected, the police force is the main arm entrusted with the powers to ensure peace, order, and justice in society. For this very reason, the police need to maintain a high sense of respect and hesitation of law and policies that defend the wellbeing of the citizens and a country in general. However, when the police misbehave in a way that makes the normal citizen realize that the police broke the law, the citizens are most likely to reduce their cooperative behaviors towards the police (Harris, 2009, p.26). Because of this, the conflict between citizens and police officers hinders the officers’ ability to do their job to their full potential. In the United States, one of the most prominent police misconducts is the use of excessive force in handling citizens (Micucci & Gomme, 2005, p. 488). The trend has been around in the U.S. for decades now, and
1) Law enforcement officers are seen as authority figures. People deal with them differently and treat them differently, even when they are not working. When a problem occurs, everyone looks to the officer to "take charge," to "solve the problem." Some say the cop is never off duty. Even when the officer is not working there is a tendency to attack problems and take charge. Sometimes taking charge is not preferable, and can cause particular strains in our world where many people like to linger with problems, never really solving anything. Recognizing the difference between a "problem solving" situation, where action is desirable, and a more passive situation, where action may alienate others, is difficult for the cop.
In the United States, citizens are constantly speaking out to legislators and government officials against police brutality in their community. A series of prescription for controlling police brutality has forced the reconstruction of behaviors that have reinforced positive interaction between the community and local law officials. Over the past twenty-five years, society has given a considerable amount of attention to some of the forms of police behavior and have made some changes that have enhanced the outlook of the procedures that have discouraged the past practices of stereotyping, discriminating,
...y been an explosion of young people, foreigners, and people who simply subscribe to a lifestyle completely different from what a traditional American was considered to be. Policing has come a long way. As Fyfe points out, extralegal violence has become almost completely eradicated. (Fyfe article) This shows that departments have accepted the huge array of different lifestyle. Yet, the existence of violence due to misunderstanding shows that they do not yet understand it. With enough education, including the education of citizens, there can be an understanding produced that will alleviate many of the situations which now arise from miscommunication between the police and citizens.
In the Ferguson article (2015), there was an example given about an African American man claimed that he was standing outside of of Wal-Mart, an officer called him a “stupid motherf****r” and a “bastard.” According to the man, a lieutenant was on the scene and did nothing to reproach the officer, instead threatening to arrest the man (p. 80). This demonstrates that the police in Ferguson had no respect for the civilian and even though the lieutenant was present, they did nothing. The officer was not suspended nor held responsible for this incident. By failing to hold officers accountable, it sends a message that officers can behave as they like, “regardless of law or policy, and even if caught, that punishment will be light.” (Ferguson, 86). This message serves to excuse officer wrongdoing and heighten community distrust. This is also to say that police can possibly get away with murder because they are higher officials and work for the
... and that everyone matters. Our children's future and success will be enhanced by the use of appropriate behavior. Let us create an environment in our homes, schools, and churches where manners are taught and valued so that every child feels safe and becomes all they were created to be. A quote by William Arthur Ward makes people wonder whether they have been polite and good-mannered during the day: "God gave you a gift of 86, 400 seconds today. Have you used one to say thank you?"
Firstly, even after government advancement, the integration of a democratic society, and a greatly improved justice system, individuals still feel threatened by police officers. When police training was created, and guidelines/ penalties were and laid out, they were expected to have a large impact on minimizing incidences of excessive police force. Yet, this is not the case. It is often said that prevention is better than cure, this statement can be applied to police brutality by preventing it befor...
To maintain this image, rules and codes of ethics within the police force should be maintained at all possible times. If police are using brutality to resolve issues, it doesn't set much of an example of dispute resolution between individuals. Over the past decade, police abuse remains one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States. Police officers are trusted and expected to respect society as a whole and enforce the law. There is a time a place for aggressive force if needed, apprehending a suspect, however the environment and situation might influence the moment thus resulting in the brutal and barbaric behavior from the cop.
MANLINESS AND CIVILIZATION : A CULTURAL HISTORY OF GENDER AND RACE IN THE UNITED STATES, 1880-1917. BY Gail Benderman.
One of the biggest challenges society faces today is police brutality against African-Americans. This issue is arguably splitting the nation apart. Both citizens and authorities are starting to make an effort to resolve this issue by communicating and respecting each other. In an article from the Washington Times titled, “Federal lawmakers head to Detroit to help improve police-community relations” written by Andrea Noble, she talks about one of many efforts by the federal government to improve relationships between the police and the community. The article is summed up when Noble lists a quote from Bob Goodlatte saying, “All Americans want to see an end to senseless violence against police officers and citizens, and we in Congress are continuing to look for ways on how to best address this serious problem at the federal level to set the appropriate tone”(Noble 2). Noble includes this quote in her article because it is a person involved in solving the problem saying that, the government is constantly looking for ways to improve the situations and one they found is to directly communicate with the community in an attempt to get both parties more accepting of the other. By doing this, according to Palmer the effort will be successful in improving those
In the article, “American Jerk: Be Civil or I’ll Beat You to a Pulp," by Todd Schwartz, Schwartz discusses his belief that people can be self-centered and can act Very selfishly while pretending to be civil. He believes that our civilation has progressed to the point where we no longer care about anything at all. While I agree with a lot of Schwartz's statements and conclusions, I also disagree with many things He said.
Police brutality is one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States and it occurs everywhere. The reason why I chose this topic is because police brutality happens all the time in the United States and still remains unrecognized by many. Additionally, the public should be knowledgeable about this topic because of how serious this crime can be and the serious outcomes that police brutality can have on other police officers and the public. The job of police officers is to maintain public order, prevent, and detect crimes. They are involved in very dangerous and stressful occupations that can involve violent situations that must be stopped and controlled by any means. In many confrontations with people, police may find it necessary to use excessive force to take control of a certain situation. Sometimes this makes an officer fight with a suspect who resists being arrested. Not all cops in communities are great cops. At least once a year, the news covers a story about a person being beat by an officer. The article “Minority Threat and Police Brutality: Determinants of Civil Rights Criminal Complaints in U.S. Municipalities” by Malcolm D. Holmes from the University of Wyoming, uses the conflict theory to explain why officers go after minorities sometimes causing police brutality. It explains the police’s tension with African American and Latino males. Those minorities are the ones that retaliate more against police officers which causes the officer to use violent force to defend themselves.
We hear about police misconduct case and wonder, Why don’t they do anything to stop this? Many say that we should keep the police officers’ perspective in mind. Others say that these actions are due to racism or post 9/11 paranoia. Whatever the excuse may be for these cases, there should be no need for violence anywhere. Police brutality videos go viral and reveal to the world that it actually happens and that it may happen to you too. This pervades people with fear and anger because their civil right are being violated. Riots are the outcome making the streets unsafe and chaotic. Statistics show percentage of the movements taken upon these criminal acts performed by police officers. We can put a stop to this and we will put a stop to this.
A civilization is the starting point of a society. Civilizations have existed for millions of years and are the basic unit of structure for a society. Civilizations were the base of great societies such as Egypt and Rome. If not for civilizations these societies would not have flourished or even existed.