CR Post #1
There are some differences in the details of the two cases of Emmett Till and Trayvon Martin. According to Huie’s article, Milam was a plantation owner, who said to “…like niggers”, but only if they stay “- in their place”. This showed that there is no difference between Milam and other plantation owners because his way of using language make him sound superior than African Americans, whether or not he “like” them or not. “And when a nigger get close to mentioning sex with a white woman, he’s tired o’ livin'”. This statement showed that Milam want African Americans to stay “in their place” in society, so when Till said that he “…”had” white women” Milam wanted to put Till back into his social status. In Botelho’s article Trayvon Martin was seen as “a real suspicious guy” and “This guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something”. The reason why Zimmerman described Martin as a “suspicious guy” because of his hoodie.
Although the details of the two cases are different, but the hidden idea is the same. Both Milam and Zimmerman believed that the two African American teens were doing wrong because of their actions or outfit. Whether the two teens were dressed suspiciously or commented in an “inappropriate” way, they were looked down on and thought was up to no good, which led them to their deaths.
So you are definitely doing a side by side, and you are clear about which method you are using which is good. I also see you using quoted passages and trying to attend too the text, which is also good. I think you are onto something about what makes the black youth guilty in their assailants eyes. I think it will be interesting to keep thinking about what guilt and innocence “look” through out the semester.
I have two concerns about your posts that I’d like you to keep in mind for future writing in this class. I think the comments are related.
1) I think your scope might be too big. You’re not comparing the entirety of both cases, but you are looking at the events that led up to the deaths and how Till and Martin were viewed as enemies or threats because they were not in their proper place as black people and because the assailants had pre conceived notions about that place was and the consequences of not being in it. I think this might be too much. I think if you wanted to look at the one line of justification the two assailants used that might have been more focused.
2) You are thinking about quoted details, but I am not sure you’re thinking about how Huie structures the story and about what the affects of particular structural and language choices that thee author of the article made has on the reader. Right now you’re thinking more inside the world of the text and the content, which isn’t bad, but in the future you should be thinking about the language choices that go into rendering that content.