White supremacy is the belief that white people are better than any other race. Although many view these beliefs to be morally incorrect, white supremacists are protected under the 1st Amendment, as long as they are not striving for violence. Many white supremacist groups classify themselves as religious organizations and are simply following and spreading the beliefs and words of their god. The 1st Amendment states that “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. This means that the government cannot force anyone to practice a religion or prevent them from doing so, meaning that white supremacists are protected by the 1st Amendment. White supremacists are also granted freedom …show more content…
Because congress cannot make laws “abridging the freedom of speech” (1st Amendment), white supremacists that simply express their beliefs are legal and protected under the 1st Amendment. Although the Amendment states that the people’s assembly must be peaceful, many of the rallies have turned to violence. However, white supremacists have stated that their rallies were intended to be peaceful and their opposers were the ones who resorted to violence first, meaning that the white supremacist groups cannot be blamed for violence and casualties in these instances. In addition to being lawful according to the Constitution, white supremacy has not been directly condemned by the president, meaning that it’s acceptable to practice. Because Trump has not made public comments shaming white supremacists, many believe that he does not “represent a condemnation of this movement”. Taking this into consideration, white supremacists should be and are protected under the 1st Amendment, as long as violence isn’t intended or the goal of their rallies and
Prior to beginning my readings on white racial identity, I did not pay much attention to my white race. If someone had asked me to describe my appearance I would have said short blond hair, blue eyes, average stature, etc. One of the last things I would have noted was the color of my skin. Growing up in overwhelmingly white communities, I never thought to use the color of my skin to differentiate myself from others. Over the course of this dialogue I have learned that my white racial identity is one of the most defining aspects of my appearance in this society. There is a certain level of privilege that I am afforded based solely on the color of my skin. According to Peggy McIntosh, “White privilege is like an invisible weightless
Black Lives Matter is an international activist movement that started within the African-American communities. This movement is organized by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi. Ever since the black people have stepped on American soil, they have continued to be victims of racism and violence. From slavery to lynching to segregation, the black people have suffered alot in this country. In the past few years, there are so many of them that have been targeted by the law enforcement authorities across the country. This movement’s goal is to raise awareness of racism and violence against African-Americans. They wants African-American to live with dignity and respect like other Americans do.
Peddy McIntosh highlighted various unearned white privileges in her autobiographical article “White Privilege, Color and Crime: A Personal Account.” She illustrated the white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that one white person could count on cashing in each day. White people have these privileges given to them by the society in which they live in. The same society taught them to be ignorant and unawareness of these privileges. This system of unearned privileges established by white individuals made people of color feel oppressed. In this system being white is a norm and dominant power. Caucasians, who benefit most from the white privilege system in the United States, are more likely to
In the year 1898 in the town of Wilmington, North Carolina a riot occurred between the African American inhabitants and the white minority of the city. Several historians accuse the origin of the riot on racism and white supremacy. Although these two beliefs have been around for countless years, and African Americans received the right to vote almost thirty years’ prior, no demonstration nor aggressive threats, to the point in which was seen in 1898, had occurred in Wilmington until that year. The Wilmington Race Riot was the reaction of the “sociopolitical conditions” that were being applied by the Democratic Party to win the election through a sequence of diabolical campaign tactics just like creating partial accusations about the “negroes” of the town thus, creating unconstitutional practices, and threatening their existence.
Throughout Reconstruction, southern whites felt constantly threatened by legislation providing rights for former slaves. The Civil Rights Bill of 1875 was the last rights bill passed by congress during reconstruction. It protected all Americans’ (including blacks) access to public accommodations such as trains. With the threat of complete equality constantly looming, violence toward former slaves gradually increased in the years following the Civil War. Beatings and murders were committed by organized groups like the Ku Klux Klan, out-of-control mobs, and individual white southern men. During Reconstruction, white southerners had limited governmental power, so they resorted to violence in order to control
White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to others because of their race. Prior to the Civil War, racism and white supremacy had been common attitudes in both the North and the South. After the Emancipation
Many white Americans are living with the fear that they didn't really deserve their success, and that maybe luck and privilege had more to do with it, than brains and hard work. There are numerous reasons for the widespread discrimination at all levels, but the main reason for the existence of discrimination is a privilege to certain groups of people, and widespread social prejudice towards certain groups of people. Differences between people have always existed, but they gain in importance only when are different importance given to certain differences, so it creates privileges. People who are privileged in one society are often not aware of their privilege. It is very easy to be oblivious to the privilege. The problem of discrimination
For the first part of this assignment I have chosen Religion, because the popularity of this religion.
In the same way, the Spelman College administration, faculty, and students that disregard the West End community that surrounds the college only contribute to the erosion of our community and our people. Although this is not a “language” of hate, it is a clear display of indifference which communicates the same thing. Choosing to disregard the homeless, pay little attention to the gentrification that is rampantly kicking our people out of our community, or ignore ways to provide opportunities or exposure to the high school students in our own back yard; are we truly activating black love as political resistance or are we ignoring the needs of the people that are around us every day? We need to realize that there are two vehicles that drive the future of the black community: one of black love and one of black hate. Realize that, although society drives black hate we can be passengers in that car. We can disagree and reject their ideology, all the while internalizing it. Even though we are not driving, our inability to articulate black love as fluently as we articulate black hate, allows black hate to trump black love. Therefore, in our lives, in our homes, in our communities, and on our HBCU campuses the darkness and degradation of blackness thrives by separating us from our own people and making it seem normal to demean ourselves, our race, and our people. Is this behavior not subtly mimicking those of the oppressor? Although some our actions contradict our feelings toward
Examples would be the Ku Klux Klan, or the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, which is one of the largest and most violent white supremacy gangs to exist. The flag has been “consistently linked to individuals who harbor racist ideologies,” and because of that, its meaning has changed to reflect what those groups represent (“Confederate Flag Should Be Banned From Public Places”). These groups abuse the freedom of speech which allows them to continue to use the Confederate Flag. One thought is that the flag should not be banned, because of the fact that the freedom of speech exists, and there should not be any backlash for supporting the public flaunting of the flag, but that thinking process is false then because people can then say that they want the flag banned because they too have the freedom of speech. If the flag was banned from public, people would still have the right to fly that flag and express their beliefs, they just wouldn’t be able to openly hate on people, just like its legal to use firearms on private property, but not freely shoot firearms in
The Dictionary of American History, defines White Supremacy as “the belief that members of the Caucasian or white race are superior in all ways to other groups or races in the world” The ideology supports the position that, intellectually whites are superior and by virtue of that superiority must form the Government and lead other races, who were thought of as less than humans and existed only to serve the whites. White Supremacy is the foundation upon which the United States was built. It is manifested in all the important areas throughout the country’s history. For instance, “the United States Government has a total of 55 members; all white and 15 of the 55 are owners of African slaves” . “No blacks, or other minority races were included in the formation of the Government. Only one person of color has ever been elected to the US Government” .
The elite used the vigilante law to take the matter into their own hands. White supremacist took it upon themselves to create groups to enforce their beliefs when the legal system fell in their eyes. The vigilante group would persecute and arrest the defendant and implied their own law or ideas.
In a life threatened by drugs, theft, and violence, African American Roland G. Fryer was able to conquer many hardships and excel in his education as well as his research. He completed his B.A. at the University of Texas at Arlington and went on to earn his Ph.D. in economics from Penn State University. “Acting White,” a scholarly journal published in 2006, is defined by Fryer as interactions in society where minority adolescents who receive good grades don’t reach a high level of popularity as a white adolescent would. The essay studies a specific trend among high-achieving minority students stating, “these gifted students tend to be less popular the more academically successful they are” (Fryer, 5422). In his essay, Fryer argues that the phenomenon of acting white takes place when minority adolescents who achieve academically tend to be less popular when they are compared to white students who also do well academically. He found that this phenomenon is more noticeable in racially-mixed schools than in one-race dominant schools and is attributable to what he calls “group identity”. Fryer also believes that other studies about this phenomenon are biased and so he tries to establish and employ his own method so that it is the most unbiased in his essay.
A prime example of this, not just of white people, but Donald Trump supporters, in an “ad” by Saturday Night Live, portrays white Trump supporters as Ku Klux Klan members, burning books in the fireplace, painting “White Power” on the side of a house and many more offensive scenes. This is NOT how I think. I would never
In this article, Abby L. Ferber shares her thoughts and experiences while reading the works of white-supremacists as a Jewish person. Growing up, Ferber never noticed her Jewishness because she grew up in a Jewish community and attended a majority Jewish college. She wasn’t made aware of her Jewishness until she attended graduate school in the Pacific Northwest and another student referred to her as “the Jewish one.”