The Themes Of Shepard Fairey's We The People

Racism and discrimination has always been a concerning issue in the United States. After recent events in Charlottesville, it is important to understand the ideal image of all Americans.

In the featured pop art piece “Race Riot,” the artist, Andy Warhol, depicts racial tension that often occurred in the mid 20th century. During the 1960s, racism was on a high among the American people, with a particular focus on the African American race that was trying to pass the American Civil Rights Movement. The art piece addresses not only Warhol’s political views, but also the inequality people faced in a land that was meant to be “free”.

Tragedy has the ability to simultaneously bring people together and push them apart. Well, such is essence when Judith Ortiz Cofer, the writer of “American History,” explores the theme of tragedy while she dwells upon the day tragedy struck the world. A numerous amount of people in her community were devastated by the unexpected death of former President John F. Kennedy, as they agreed with his stance against racial discriminations and prejudice. However, Cofer lacks the understanding of discrimination towards her culture, race, and gender. Rather than collectively facing the tragedy of JFK’s death, she is more taken by her own tragedy; being shunned by the mother of her neighborhood crush, Eugene. Recognizing that Cofer is ignorant to

Every writer has a story to tell. No matter gender, religion, or any other classification they all share equal importance. When readers overlook those things, they find great pieces of literature such as Mary Rowlandson’s A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson and Judith Sargent Murray’s On the Equality of the Sexes. Unbiased readers get to experience the tragic story of Mary’s life in captivity alongside the revelations of Native American stereotypes and Judith’s take on the unfair world of being an educated woman in America. Although they are talking about two different topics they both share the similar conclusion that Americas identity revolves around using stereotypes to defend against anything greater

The Unites States is a true melting pot of ethnicities and cultures. For many members of minority groups a certain hybridity is readily adopted, but for others, cultural assimilation can be quite difficult. Chicana author, Sandra Cisneros described this phenomenon as “always straddling two countries… but not belonging to either culture” (Doyle. 54). African American author, Alice Walker shared Cisneros’ sentiment, but focused her attention on the assimilation of black cultures and subcultures within the United States. Cisneros and Walker make the same poignant statement about the strains of cultural assimilation, with reconciliation of split identities as the goal, in their respective works, 1991’s “Woman Hollering Creek,” and 1973’s “Everyday Use,” yet their unique ethnic perspectives allow them to make it in surprisingly different ways.

One of the most interesting things about a culture is the voice of the people. In the United States, the American Voice is the combined voices of the people who live in America and the mixing of thousands of different perspectives and ideas. The natural mixing of American culture leads to change whether for better or for worse, as time goes on, so does America and the American people. American literature commonly has strong themes of unity and equality. The clearest way to see the voice of a culture is through its literature, essays by american authors like The Declaration of Independance, Ain’t I a Woman, and Letters from Birmingham Jail.

As for my Visual Analysis Task, I have chosen to write about this image on the left. This piece was recently created by Shepard Fairey a street artist. This was made in response to the election of Donald Trump- known as the President of the United States. ‘We the People’ features portraits of Native Americans, African Americas, Muslims, and Latinas portrays in Fairey’s trademark style with slogans such as “Women are Perfect” and “Defend Dignity”.

What is Power? Throughout the book Anthem by Ayn Rand there is a theme of power. Power is the ability to overpower or overcome something. This book contains many different types of power. Whether that be from having the ability to break someone down or build them up.

America is a country that lives by the claim that it embraces individuals from all racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds i.e. a "melting pot"; however, this claim is partially true. In our country, there is a clear but indirect distinction between both the majority and minority. In some aspects, the majority is viewed as more significant than minorities. Minorities on the opposing end are often portrayed in the media in a negative manner. An example of this variation can often be found in various films through the use of “black face.”

When looking at a person the first thing we notice is appearance and base judgment of that we tend to make assumptions about a person. From birth, we have no say in our race, the color of our eyes, hair or skin tone. In Germany, Hitler eliminated more than 65 billion jews due to dividing race. White people took the freedom of African African due to their color but before that many races took advantage of others due to hate or resources. In this chapter, the race comes into the term with stereotyping the minority group and fighting to be the dominant group or fitting in. Typically America is seen as the melting pot, where all these race come together as one. In the following documentary, Understanding Race and white people explore cities like New York, North

She ran up to me, arms flailing at her sides. Her face was streaked with tears. She tripped and tumbled as her six-years-old feet raced towards me. The little girl collapsed into my arms, her tears slowing down. She doesn’t need to be asked, for she tells me immediately: “They think Donald Trump will hurt me!” I glare at the sneering boys, then look down at her dark, pretty face. Discrimination is a terrible flaw in American society. Although those who are discriminated against are victims of bias, a small portion of people learn to see through the lies and acknowledge the wrong, as presented in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise.” Ms. Angelou tackles the issues explicitly, while Scout

It is the lone Disney princess with dark skin among an otherwise porcelain repertoire of princesses; it is the increase pullover rate for people of color; it is the application that was discarded because the name on the resumé sounded too “black;” it is the under representation in Hollywood of all skin tones other than white. Racism thrives in current-day America, and its effects on everyday life for many people across the country are extensive. Written following an increasing trend of police brutality towards black citizens, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ nonfiction book, Between the World and Me, elucidates the past and present states of race in America for his fifteen-year-old son, Samori. Utilizing a balanced combination of eye-opening reportage, reexaminations of U.S. history, and personal narratives, Coates attempts to explain to his teenage son what it means to be black in

When examined closely, the illustration achieves this objective by clearly presenting distinctly domestic American elements and subsequently gives them critical agency through “their insertion into underlying cultural and political patterns” . Without the artist’s careful attention to detail, the subject, a white, well-dressed seemingly upper class female, would have no inherent cultural and visual link to an American identity; yet when the image is injected with distinctly American elements, the cartoon is able to gain basic comprehension on a universal level. Indeed, the domestic presentation of this blatantly American subject, with its American flag dress, American eagle pendant, and American battleship bonnet, must be wholly highlighted and ingrained into the viewer’s perception in order to establish the thematic parameters around which the artist will seek to convey the image’s deeper social commentary.

America is known to be the land of the free and the home of the brave. Yet, the country also has a history of oppressing its citizens. Throughout its history the United States has overcome great struggles; however, there are conflicts that still remain today. One issue that continues in this era is discriminating against someone due to a difference in race, religion, ethnicity, and other traits that make people unique. In response to these current issues developing in the United States, Shepard Fairey created the “We the People” series. This series demonstrates that everyone is American despite their heritage, gender, or skin color.

Race can be defined as a social construct created for the purpose of classifying and separating people for economic and social reasons. Race has always played a part in the systems of the United States government and continues to be systematically integrated into the statutes of our society today, due to the ideologies and beliefs of previous ruling powers. The comics I have chosen to analyze utilize irony, exaggeration, labeling, to discuss race and colorism as they apply to government, class, and education in order to assist the illustrators in presenting their argument that people of color lack the European domestication and intelligence required to run a successful society.