Author: Jose Luna

The quote that stood out to me was “Earlier this week, on the side of a building in Austin, Texas, an artist painted a mural in remembrance of Bryant. That same night, someone added the word “rapist” next to his face. Almost as soon as it appeared, it vanished. Painted over. Muted. A glimpse of the legacy Bryant leaves behind.”

Kobe Bryant gave a slight acknowledgment that he and the women he raped, were not on the same page. He believed it was consensual, but she thought it was sexual abuse. As soon as Bryant said that, the author said it put the whole issue to bed and everyone accepted it, and he continued to be respected as a legend. That is the same thing that happened here. Someone muted the remark that Bryant was a rapist, just as the media and his fans had done with the whole case. This quote also speaks out to rape victims of sexual assault in the workplace or in general; how their stories get muted because they are threatened, it is too difficult to speak out or any other reasons they may have. To this day, I continue to hear that Kobe Bryant was an amazing person, father, player, and overall legend, but I never hear about the pain he brought onto other people.

Can something be not your fault, but still your responsibility? Germans still hold themselves accountable for the atrocities that were committed during WWII. They understand what they as a people, did wrong and they continue to teach it to students to prevent it from ever happening again. Teaching students about the Holocaust is a requirement in German schools. Most German students have been to a concentration camp or Holocaust museum. They came to terms with what their forefathers have done and accepted their history, so why doesn’t America?

Coates explains that America has a serious issue with not coming to terms with its history. Instead, we are taught that “America should not be liable for something that happened a hundred and fifty years ago since none of us currently alive are responsible”-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Throughout the years, since America’s birth as a nation, America had committed many atrocities all over the world, but we still continue to glorify our nation without looking at the bad. What does it mean to call our nation the best and the greatest if we don’t have the nerve to accept all the bad we’ve done. “The idea of reparations is frightening not simply because we might lack the ability to pay. The idea of reparations threatens something much deeper—America’s heritage, history, and standing in the world…reparations—by which I mean the full acceptance of our collective biography and its consequences—is the price we must pay to see ourselves squarely”. Coates says that’s the reparations that America needs to give, but we won’t because it threatens our internal belief that we are the best, we are the greatest nation in the world. America needs to come to terms with its racism and racial inequality or else it will continue to be plagued by the racial tension we continue to see in the current day. The reparations do not have to be monetary, in fact, it will most likely never be monetary. The reparations America needs is the acceptance of its past, to pave the way to a better, more united future.

Coates makes his claim that after “Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal. Thirty-five years of racist housing policy.” America needs to repay its debt to the African American community or it will remain divided. He provides a plethora of evidence ranging from 1619 to the 1950s. He explains the abuse, slaves endured under slavery. Many families were sold off and divided, slave owners desired to “breed” slaves, and they were abused physically and emotionally. He talks about how even after slavery “ended”, they were regarded as second class citizens under Jim Crow and many policies enacted during that time was made to lift up poor white citizens while keeping black citizens down. During the mid-20th century, cities, like Chicago, attempted to segregate black and white homeowners, which created ghettos. These cities enacted policies that made it difficult for black citizens to buy houses. White homeowners claimed that if there were black citizens in the neighborhood the property value is decreased which is also why black citizens were pushed out. Coates’s article shows that black citizens should receive reparations as the racism/slavery never ended, it just took different forms as the years went on.

Topic: Party System in Government

Question: The two-party system has led to a distinct division in America, could America benefit from a multi-party system?

Next Steps of research:
-Downsides of 2 party system
-Some upsides of 2 party system
-Upsides of a multi-party system
-Some downsides of the multi-party system
-What is a two-party system?
-What is a multi-party system? What successful countries have it?

I chose this topic and question because I’ve heard many people say why having a two-party system isn’t the best for America, but I never really understood what they meant. I’m pretty sure George Washington advised against political parties, but I don’t think that fits in my research paper. I think I might have a decent research question as of now, but I feel I can make it stronger after I gain an understanding of my topic.

After reading the Introduction to The New Jim Crow, I interpret the quote “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it.” as the United States never ended Jim Crow, they just changed how it was applied in society. Jim Crow was meant to make sure that African Americans never reached the same stature as the white elites. The author explains how the stature of African Americans in the U.S has gone through little change. “Cotton’s great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Ku Klux Klan for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting by Klan intimidation. His father was barred from voting by poll taxes and literacy tests. Today, Jarvious Cotton cannot vote because he, like many black men in the United States, has been labeled a felon and is currently on parole.” No matter which period in U.S history Alexander looked at, the treatment of Cotton and his ancestors, along with many African Americans today has gone unchanged. A free black person in the south after the Civil war was pushed down in society just as much as a free black person coming out of jail. The government’s use of mass incarceration is an attempt, a successful one at that, to make sure that African Americans stay down in society. As she explains it,” The term mass incarceration refers not only to the criminal justice system but also to the larger web of laws, rules, policies, and customs that control those labeled criminals both in and out of prison. Once released, former prisoners enter a hidden underworld of legalized discrimination and permanent social exclusion”. It is essentially legalized racism and it is hidden to the public’s eye. Whenever someone sees a criminal they say, oh he deserved to be jailed, which allows the government to take advantage and criminalize many innocent African American peoples, taking away many of their rights. “As a criminal, you have scarcely more rights, and arguably less respect, than a black man living in Alabama at the height of Jim Crow.” This is some research that Alexander provides us and it shows how much has really changed for the African American community over the years.

She uses this as an introductory statement of the purpose of her book. In her own words “What this book is intended to do—the only thing it is intended to do—is to stimulate a much-needed conversation about the role of the criminal justice system in creating and perpetuating racial hierarchy in the United States.” The quote aligns with her purpose for writing the book as it makes the reader more interested in her proposal of how Jim Crow still exists today and the reader learns that the criminal justice system is to blame. “Jim Crow and slavery were caste systems. So is our current system of mass incarceration.”

https://www.salon.com/2019/06/28/i-was-wrong-about-spider-man-into-the-spider-verse/?fbclid=IwAR3D5nV6m4XVeaC_w7BiTqoLlQWVnUxKKcJIgyb1wmMGX0Zd8Fv1KoRqwUM

This critique, written by Matthew Rozsa of the Salon, describes how he initially misjudged the movie Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse. At first, he saw the movie to be “soulless” and basically a movie that doesn’t hold any meaning or make any significant impact. I saw this movie a total of two times and during my first watch, I would’ve agreed with him. I didn’t receive any central message from the movie and just saw it as a Spider-Man movie with great animation. When I rewatched the movie on Saturday, I saw a completely new side of the movie, just like Mr. Rozsa. He claims that the reason why the movie is so significant is because of how relatable and complex the characters are. Usually, a movie with so many different characters with many stories wouldn’t be ideal as some characters might get lost or it will make the story too complicated, but this movie uses it to its advantage. The movie uses the backstories and actions of the characters in order to carry out many of the themes, such as teamwork, dealing with loss, resilience, and accountability. This movie also relies on the use of the appeal to the emotion of the viewer, or pathos, in order to make the movie trigger feelings and relatability for the audience. The music selection in this film helps accentuate the pathos, for instance, in death scenes or scenes in which the character is going to do something great. These rhetorical aspects are why Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is such an amazing film.

“Once again, the model minority myth has conscripted Asian Americans into the conservative war to protect (or, in this case, retrieve) White privileges from Black encroachment” pg 120.

This quote essentially means that White Americans are using Asian Americans to push back on the desires of the African American community. In the paragraph where this quote was found, he was talking about how the model minority myth was used in the early 1980’s “to turn the clock back on civil rights, affirmative action, redistricting, and social welfare programs”. This administration, under President Ronald Reagan, also sought to “ abandon desegregation appeals, weakening affirmative action requirements in federal contracting, halting record-keeping procedures vital to civil rights and fair housing, etc” pg 120. Kim believes that the Asian American community was put on a pedestal, so to speak, to show off the successes of their community in order to bring down the other minority groups. This would lead many people to push back on the civil rights and equality given to the African American community, as many would just simply say, “after all, if Asian Americans can make it, why can’t Blacks?” pg 118. This seems like a very strategic way to be seemingly oppressing only one group while actually oppressing all the minorities. Since the Asian Americans are the “model minority”, it will keep them content instead of wanting better treatment and equal rights.

Pitbull ft. Jennifer Lopez & Claudia Leitte – We Are One (Ole Ola) [Official Video]

Music Video: https://youtu.be/TGtWWb9emYI

0:00 to 0:16: Brazil soccer team playing and I think the photos are the Brazil team getting World Cups. While all this is showing there are no vocals, only instruments playing.

0:17 to 0:45: The main chorus and Pitbull says:
“ Put your flags up in the sky, And wave em side to side, Show the world where you’re from, Show the world we are one (one, love).”
While he sings this, there is a diverse group of people behind him, many wearing Brazil jerseys. The camera shifts to show the infamous statue, Christ the Redeemer located in Brazil. After the camera shows a backside view of the statue, it shifts to show many different flags being held in the air. This ends with showing fans of many different teams in the stadium.

0:46 to 1:19: Pitbull gives his verse before the main chorus repeats. The music video shows highlights of other games as he sings. Pitbull says he invites the whole world to play in Brazil. He basically repeats this in Spanish before the chorus plays again.

1:20 to 1:49: The main chorus repeats and flags of different countries are being shown again. Pitbull hands it off to Jeniffer Lopez to start her verse.

1:50 to 2:18: Jeniffer Lopez starts her verse by saying “One night, Watch the world unite, Two sides, One fight, and a Million eyes.” As she sings her verse the camera is focused on her and occasionally shifts to soccer highlights.

2:19 to 2:50: The main chorus repeats again and the camera is focused on the crowd of fans again.and occasionally shifts to show Pitbull, JLO, Claudia, and more soccer highlights.

2:50 to 3:07: Pitbull hands it off to Claudia in Portuguese. Claudia sings her verse in Portuguese and the camera is focused on her, the instrumentalists, and some people in the background.

3:08 to 3:56: The main chorus starts again and the camera shifts many times. It shows the singers, more soccer highlights, more fans holding flags, people dancing and smiling, and teams holding the World Cup. The music video ends with fireworks over the stadium and kids holding a homemade World Cup.

The video is about the FIFA world cup being hosted by Brazil in the year 2014. The music video makes this obvious to anyone watching, as it mainly shows the Brazil team and it shows the Statue of Christ which is associated with Brazil. The intended audience is anybody who happens to watch the video, as the music video is asking people to watch the world cup. Anyone can watch it, but soccer fans would be the most inclined to. There are some verses that I pointed out in the timestamps which resonated with me. I think the main chorus which is “Put your flags up in the sky, And wave em side to side, Show the world where you’re from, Show the world we are one (one, love).” is saying that even though many of us represent different nations and different groups and communities, we should all come together and show that “ we are on”. The start of JLO’s verse that goes “One night, Watch the world unite, Two sides, One fight, and a Million eyes.” is another verse that suggests that soccer unites the world. Unity seems to be the theme of this music video. I assume this since the video is full of diverse groups of people who are enjoying the game and having a good time. This video would lead the viewer to the conclusion that they should watch the game as it is enjoyable and everyone is accepted. This message is so in your face, that even if they don’t watch soccer they could realize the message. If only soccer could truly unite the world, that would be incredible.