Violence In Proulx's Brokeback Mountain

For effective resistance, it is not enough to inform the public, people must also understand the seriousness of the injustices, like pointing out how violent the treatment of gay people can be in the world, such as in Proulx’s “Brokeback Mountain.” The violence prevents people from being their true selves; Ennis tells Jack that they cannot be completely together because of what he remembers from his childhood:

‘And I don’t want a be dead. There was these two old guys ranched together down home, Earl and Rich -- Dad would pass a remark when he seen them. They was a joke even though they was pretty tough old birds. I was what, nine years old and they found Earl dead in a irrigation ditch. They’d took a tire iron to him, spurred him up, drug

The simple verbs, food similes, and aggressive adjectives helps everyone to picture the scene. Moreover, it is a sharp contrast between the innocence of a relationship between “pretty tough old birds” and then Earl having his dick look like “bloody pulp.” The writing creates sympathy, and even homophobic people would probably be haunted by the imagery. The scene shows that the oppression of sexual orientation is not trivial; it can be a life-or-death situation, even today. On April 3, 2017 Novaya Gazeta reported that over the course of two weeks, more than 100 gay men have been detained in Chechnya (region of Russia), and three of those men had been murdered (Lister et. al.). Another report states that the Chechen men were tortured in the detention center, and as many as 20 men are believed to be dead, but only three have been verified (O’Hara & Medina). Chechen officials have denied the allegations, claiming: “‘You can’t detain and harass someone who doesn’t exist in the republic,’ he said. ‘If there were such people in the Chechen republic, law enforcement wouldn’t have a problem with them because their relatives would send them to a place of no return’” (Lister et. al.). In Chechnya, “honor killings” of gay relatives are still in practice (Lister et. al; O’Hara & Medina). On April 18, the US

Instead, the injustices motivated him to act, to “go there all the time,” and confront the injustices. Baldwin embodied resistance: he used the agency he had to combat the oppression he faced. Although violence eventually forced him to leave the restaurant, he continued to use his energy to resist racial inequality through other actions. Racial inequality exists in the institutions of today, but it is often manifested in more subtle forms. In one metropolitan area, 18% of white students were selected for “gifted programs,” whereas only 1% of black students were selected (Anderson). Generally, the stereotypes of academic ability based on race, particularly in mathematics, will subconsciously permeate classrooms, and teachers begin to expect worse performance from non-white and non-Asian students (Anderson). Due to this subconscious bias, the content is taught differently, and this is a self-fulfilling prophecy because then the students of color are often given fewer academic opportunities (Anderson). Many educators, like Kassie Benjamin-Ficken, try to break down the stereotypes and empower students of color (Anderson). Kassie Benjamin-Ficken is a math teacher at Anishinabe Academy, a Minneapolis public school for urban indigenous students, and the focus of her teachings is to equip her students with the ability to think mathematically and to instill in