“Bringing the gifts that my ancestor gave I am the dream and the hope of the slaves. I rise, I rise, I rise.” African Americans fought for freedom and equal rights for centuries before rewarded freedom. Many people were beaten, thrown in jail, and killed for standing up for what they believe in. Although African Americans were legally free from slavery mentally, physically, and emotionally they weren’t because of segregation. On August 28, 1963 thousands of people stood before Martin Luther King to listen to his famous I Have a Dream Speech in Washington, DC. African Americans were hungry for transformation and revision amongst all people no matter your race. Though there has been progress, African Americans are still mistreated.
Unjust crimes are still a factor in African American lives today. African American women and men are stereotyped, racially profiled, and despised. The civil rights act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. This act of 1963 cultivated change and abolished poor treatment of African Americans by law. The Act of 1964 broke down barriers that black women and men would never be able to attend prestigious college and find better jobs because of segregation and equality (Ober, 2013). The world has evolved over the past century electing Barack Obama, black man, as president of the United States. Electing a black president in the year of 1964 would have been impossible. However, Americans still face humiliation, racial profiling, inequality, and loss of hope regardless of the 14th and 15th amendment (Ober, 2013).
In most recent years, racial issues are still being found with so many young black males being killed with little to no justice be found when taken to supreme court. For example, Trayvon Martin was an African American teenager from Florida who was walking to a store to purchase skittles and sweet tea from his father’s apartment, minding his own business. He was racially profiled by George Zimmerman who patrolled the area that his father lived in because he wore a hoodie and possibly match the description of someone who had been hanging around windows in the neighborhood. Zimmerman called the police to make them aware of someone he thought could be a suspect and was told by policeman not to follow him. Zimmerman did not follow direction he followed Trayvon Martin taking matters into his own hand and got into a physical altercation while approaching Trayvon Martin resulting in killing an innocent child (Munrow, 2013).
After Trayvon Martin death many people labeled him because of his behavior problems in school and made assumption that maybe Zimmerman was doing the right thing despite the fact Trayvon Martin was never charged for a crime nor had any juvenile record. Zimmerman did not get charge with second degree murder because he was protected under the stand your ground law. The stand your ground law is link to Florida stating the use of deadly forcers are permitted to defend oneself against a perceived threat (Ober, 2013). Zimmerman was later found not guilty although he racially profiled a young black male which is reality that African American still must face in today (Munrow, 2013) society. While African Americans are legally free in the United States we are still treated poorly. There is still racism, hatred, and prejudice in the United States and there will always be.
The youth are frequent social media users which as has made the news wide spread globally. Social media has created more awareness to the racial discourse and disconnection amongst black and white males. Social media has been the voice of all individuals who have been victimized by racial inequalities. Every day a video is uploaded to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and etc. of current events that may be happening such as police stopping black men in a certain number, black men and women being killed. Social media purpose is to remind people of the injustice and inequalities black people face regardless of the amendments that were implemented in the United States.
Social media can also be detected as a hate crime. Most Americans are being taught by social media to hate illegal immigrants thanks to the president messages being tweeted on twitter and his supporter’s offensive comments on Facebook. Social media has psychologically damage many refugees who has lived in The United States for years (Psychology, 2018). Because of the media many people have labeled Mexicans to be trouble and criminals; however, all Mexicans are not in the United States illegal and America is there only sense of hope to start over and build their families without excessive crime (Psychology, 2018).
The effect of social media can also be multiplicative on Fox News and CNN. The information put on social media websites can spread through images and videos campaign committees post. Multiplicative is affected when individual “retweet”, “repost,” “share”, and “update” any message the candidate has posted on social media websites. This mechanism is a positive effect because candidates message goes viral much easier and quicker. Using social media to get out certain messages has been effective. All in all, candidates can expect a positive effect from a direct or multiplicative effect on social because the content will always grasp the reader good or bad when it has been shared a million times.
Another big issue in America is the rights of Non-Citizens. Shortly after President Trump took office he issued an executive order to deport all refugees and suspend the refugee program implemented by Barack Obama. President Donald Trump also demanded the U.S, government temporarily banned entry for the seven Muslims majority country. The order of banning refugees from the united states is subject to federal litigation (Roth, 2017).in the year of 2018 Trump signed an executive order that only 45,000 refugees would be permitted inside the country. 45,000 is the lowest counts of refugees since the refugee act was enacted in 1980. The impact of Trump’s administration on immigration policies profiling thousands of long term residents with strong family ties which goes against the fifth amendment (Roth, 2017).
The fifth amendment states, “no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process” (Roth, 2017). The issue of due process has become many law officials and American concerns. For example, in 1993 in the Reno v. Flores Supreme Court case the issue was the surge in family separation. Supreme court ruled the government had 20 days to return the children back to their parents or legal guardian. Trump administration argues refugees have very little rights when they are not legal immigrants, Refugees are treated very poorly which goes against the very first amendment. Although they do not have rights they should still be with their families and treated like humans (Roth, 2017).
American is a country who relies on technology for everything. As such, political leaders of both parties must find ways to learn the demographics of each state through the internet, It is also very important for president to create direct interaction which forces individuals to vote in their favor. Since newsletters, radio, and even television is becoming outdated. Political leaders of both parties now must find other ways to reach the population to persuade individuals to rationalize with their decisions. As such, both president Obama and Trump used social media to their advantage, although from two different perspective. Like the government shut down that took place for 34 days. While republicans agreed with trump and tried to increase the funding for the wall built. Democrats were very stern with saying no. Democrats was not giving up on their answer because building a wall to keep Mexicans from trespassing goes against everything American founding principles are.
References
- Munrow, A. (2013, June 6). Shooting of Trayvon Martin . Retrieved from Britannica .
- Ober, L. (2013, February 19). How the Civil Rights Movement Shaped Us . Retrieved from American University .
- Psychology, A. J. (2018, October ). The Effects of Deportation on Families and Communities . Retrieved from American Journal of Community Pschology .
- Roth, k. (2017, August 11). Rights Of Non Citizen . Retrieved from Human Rghts watch .
