On November 15th, 2016, in the opinion-editorial, I’m not in the Mood for ‘Unity.’ At The End of the Day, Trump’s Still a Bigot, Leonard Pitt, Jr, an acclaimed Black American liberal columnist for the Miami Herald, asserts that Donald Trump’s presidency is irreconcilable with American democratic values and that there is no unity with bigotry. Pitt challenges the conceptions Americans must “heal” and “come together” to concede to Trump’s victory in the presidential election; he establishes Trump as “fundamentally unsound, unserious, and unfit” and refuses to “cooperate in normalizing a man who stands for everything American should not.” Pitt argues that Americans must mobilize together through protest and support of activist organizations in …show more content…
He integrates brisk, blunt diction along with succinct syntax in order to establish a critical and sardonic mood, reflecting his bitterness against Donald Trump’s basic ideals. Derisive and emphatic, Pitt’s diction avoids all pretenses of conciliation; he declares he isn’t afraid to “suck it up” when necessary, but in a long, cumulative sentence, directly scorns Trump as “unsound, unserious, and unfit,” a “misogynist” and “bigot” backed by violence. The cumulative sentence expands upon Pitt’s uncompromising animosity by modifying Trump with scathing descriptors, firmly rejecting any attempts of “coming together” through explicitly disdainful language. He furthers his dissatisfaction with the concept of deference through a series of rhetorical questions, calling for audiences to analyze the irrationality of uncritically validating Trump’s presidency. Pitt equates Trump to misogyny and bigotry, and thus, recognizes him as “everything American should not” stand for, justifying his refusal to “participate in organized amnesia.” In the concluding paragraph Pitt utilizes anaphora of “time to,” referencing the opening sentence which called for people to “heal” and to “come together. However, in contrast to its initial counterpart which is diluted in ambiguity, the concluding sentences clearly proposes for direct action, for the “time to march,” “to assail lawmakers,” “to boycott,” “to stand be and counted.” Through short, simple independent clauses separated by periods, Pitt provides a strong and clear call for defiance against the existing administration. The sentences correspond to a series of rallying cries, meant to incite demonstrations and open resistance. Pitt questions the validity of Trump’s presidential victory and urges for agitation against his “reich,” which in turn, also
In his most compelling and defensive book to date, Michael Moore returns to the world of politics to size up the new century. Stupid White Men and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation attacks the big, ugly special-interest group that's laying waste to the world as we know it: stupid white men. In his book, Moore calls for the United Nations to take action against the "Bush Family Junta," for African-Americans to place Whites Only signs over the entrances of unfriendly businesses, and calls on the Democrats of this nation to turn over their headquarters and return to Republican headquarters where they belong.
With the inauguration of Donald Trump rapidly approaching, there has been a much needed resurgence of interest in the progressive movement around the country, as well as an awakening to the need of an actual revolution by more moderate liberals. The Republican sweep of all levels of government indicates an all too familiar conservative backlash against the social progress that has been steadily building over the last eight years. Historically, this has ultimately led to the empowerment of emboldened racists and bigots of all ilks, which we are presently seeing.
Published by the New York Times under the Opinion section, the audience for this article is any interested reader. At the time it was released, November 18th, 2016, this article arrived during last year’s elections, in which a large, but surprising number of Americans voted for candidate Donald Trump, shocking many forecasters who had predicted otherwise. Therefore, after the election, many people may have been researching the demographics of the election, and this article, which briefly shared Brooks’ opinion on the nature of the election and how viewing others through the lens of a dominant identity influenced how the votes fell where they did, may have caught a keen reader’s eye. Also, this article came at a time where racism and prejudice caused many problems, leading some to view others as one-dimensional, represented only by a skin color or religion. Since prejudice and hate is still a large issue today, tackling this problem helps make this article relevant, nearly a year after its release.
In the year 2008 the world was a much different place. Before countless racial protests and riots in streets, before NFL players knelt during the National Anthem for what they believed in, and before our president spoke of nonsensical chauvinistic principles on a regular basis, our country appeared to have a greater sense of unification. This unifying bond between the American people was due in part by Barack Obama, whose entire campaign to become president may have been the most difficult struggle for anybody in the lineage of presidential candidates to go through. As part of his strategy to win over voters and soothe the skepticism of whites who may have had any doubting questions, Obama gave this speech on race; a speech which still
Devinatz focuses the article on the similarities between the new president elect, Donald J. Trump and the 1968 election of George Wallace. Devinatz informs the reader that while Donald Trump’ presidency was an event that took the nation by surprise, mostly white union members voted for Trump just like they voted for Wallace because their campaign strategy was similar. Devinatz exclaims that Wallace used comparable rhetoric to Trump’s to get the crowd on his side at rallies, the rhetoric they both used was racial rhetoric. Wallace and Trump used the racial fears that immigrants and people of color would take the white Americans jobs to get the votes and gain political power. The overall argument Devinatz is making is that presidential canidates
President Obama’s, “A More Perfect Union”, speech conveyed many of his beliefs concerning racism. Obama is the son of a white woman and a Kenyan man, and just because of his race people are either with or against him. He begins his speech by talking about the founding fathers and the Declaration of Independence by saying that ‘all men are created equal’. His former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright brought up some of his observations about racism which caused some unease. He continues his speech by saying that the solution to ending this unease of racism is to come together and forgive each other for all the wrongs they have done in the past. He ends his speech by saying that both races need to become united in order for a more perfect union. Barack Obama buttresses his argument about slavery and unification by using ethos, pathos, allusion, as well as repetition.
The author of the article discusses the hatred that revolves around the concept of equality in America. The author of the news article uses his knowledge of past events, such as slavery, and current issues. The audience of the article is those who don’t understand why the protests and riots in Charlottesville is an issue to many White Nationalist. The articles compare in the sense that they both discuss hatred that has been revolving on the issue, but they differ on what they speak of, as this article speaking of the president and his issues and the other speaks of the people. In conclusion, after many years of fighting against the hatred in society, there is still a lot to be done.
Steve Chapman, a columnist and editor of the Chicago Tribune, perfectly depicts in his article the ever-growing hostility that America faces, not limiting its tensions to that of which it faces with our foreign adversaries, specifically North Korea, but including that of its internal enemy: the philosophy of racial superiority. Chapman appeals to those who stand against the hatred and prejudice that has come to light on behalf of white nationalists, taking into account the latest incidents of Charlottesville, Virginia. The journalist mentions that, in spite of the recent occurrences that have overtaken Americans in a sudden mental war between differentiating factions, white nationalists face an imminent defeat. Instead of elaborating on how
Audience and purpose are clearly defined in “Deconstructing America.” Patrick’s essay is aimed towards all conservative white Americans who are opposed to
In 2008, Barack Obama delivered his speech “A More Perfect Union” in hopes of addressing the racial segregation in America. His goal was to connect with the American people on a topic that was close to home for most. By doing so, he gained a sense of trust among the American people and appealed to many potential voters. Senator Barack Obama’s trustworthy and relatable character; followed by logically explaining America’s calling for change; and a final emotional connection to the reader and their everyday struggles, demonstrated his passion for America and his desire to build an emotional connection with every single citizen.
Gary Gerstle attempts to reinterpret twentieth-century American history in light of the power of race (and to a much lesser extent, or even not at all, class and gender). The American Crucible conceptualizes American liberals as well as whiteness scholars’ synthetic historiographical interpretations on mainstream Americanism like Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt- Theodore Roosevelt especially, due the author’s attention to the meaning of the liberal state and liberalism. However, above all that, Gerstle argues that inherent tensions between two powerful types of nationalism- racial and civic- have decisively shaped American history, policy-making and political debates in the twentieth century (Gerstle 5). Gunnar Myrdal in the 1940’s takes American civil rights, as well as their ideological principles, and conjoins them into a political belief he called the “American Creed”, but Gerstle uses an all-purpose term--“civil nationalism” (Gerstle 4). These same ideas are even engraved on America’s founding documents; some historians argue that this is the reason why American people and their polity are so distinct. Nevertheless, civic nationalism has contradicted or even sometimes reinforced another ideological legacy, “…a racial nationalism that conceives of America in ethno-racial terms, as a people held together by common blood and skin color and by inherited
I agree with the article Trump’s crusade against immigrants is an attack on America by The Washingtons Post editorial board, stating that Donald Trump is inhumanely attacking immigrants with the excuse of legal issues, but in actuality is punishing immigrants because of his xenophobia.
A common critique is the inability of the Women’s March and many Liberals to condemn Farrakhan, Anti-Semitism and at times the Alt-Right. Once could theorize this stems from an inability to confront and annihilate these vices from within themselves. The greatest leaders of humanity must go through a period of self-discovery and recovery. The leaders of the Women’s March movement aims to demand justice for a wide range of people, but it must first examine its own motives and internalized biases. True freedom exits independently of a nation, origin, gender, ideology, or even a religion. Freedom is inherent to humanity, period. Without engaging in this critical struggle and reflection, a movement and its adherents can only mimic true solidarity with other oppressed people. The question to ask the Women’s March and other Liberals is this, once their own particular freedom is attained will the struggle of minority women and Jews remain
Senator Barack Obama had many issues throughout his campaign. Obama’s speech, “A More Perfect Union”, delivered on March 18, 2008, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, conveyed many issues concerning racism throughout the United States, but it starts out stating how the founders of this nation constructed the Declaration of Independence, creating all men equal. Obama then begins to talk about his pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and his racial remarks against America and Israel, as it is “divisive at a time when we need unity”, referring to the “ two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis” going on at the time. (Obama 2) Obama remarks “I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas,” (Obama 1) because there is much criticism in his campaign due to his race. Obama argues that race is paralyzing our nation, and that it is still a major issue due to white privilege, and racial inequality. In the end, Obama hopes to move past the “racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years,” (Obama 6) and wishes to improve health care, jobs, schools, and other social issues for the United States.
The racism that runs deep in the blood of the United States is a complex issue to tackle. As white supremacy was the foundation on which the country was born, many believe that society breeds this racism and deny the possibility of change. bell hooks eloquently addresses the problems faced by those who seek to make change and establish equality in her essay, “Loving Blackness as Political Resistance.” She discusses these problems through the lens of her instruction by using responses to lectures. This brings to light the contemporary struggles in a very real context as most of her students are those who believe that they are progressive, yet hooks demonstrates where they lack: loving blackness. This notion goes