Home of the free?

Much has changed since the civil war, slavery no longer exists, and all of the different races that live here are supposed to have equal rights. But there is still an undertone of racism in modern America in hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and skinheads, and there are still racial stereotypes. Even though slavery in America ended during the Civil war and racism and prejudice are considered a thing of the past, there is still racism in Modern America.

I have noticed that racism still happens quite frequently in modern America but in a more subtle way, such as this video that talks about how Black and Mexican people are also more often suspected of crime than white people because of the stereotypes that they are gang members and drug addicts. But those stereotypes started because of The Contra=Cocaine scandal that had to do with a secret drug cartel controlled by President Ronald Reagan and his administration. They sold cocaine to minorities in poor neighborhoods and used the money to fund illegal projects like supporting the Contras in Nicaragua. He targeted blacks and Latinos in poor neighborhoods, and he created many drug addicts along with negative stereotypes that still exist today.

The people living in some of the old confederate states have kept their civil war beliefs, such as in the book “Confederates in the Attic” by Tony Horwitz. I read a chapter in it for school that focuses on a case in a town in Kentucky, where a nineteen year old flew a confederate flag from the back of his pickup truck. When he was drove through that part of town were more black people live he was shot and killed. One white woman who Tony Horwitz interviewed about the incident said that the flag was a symbol of power and that “they just don’t want us to have it. They want the best jobs, the biggest money. Now they want this. If we lose the mascot, it’ll just be a matter of time before we lose everything, don’t put us where they used to be.” I think that what they really want is respect, and flying a flag from a time when they were enslaved by whites will be considered extremely disrespectful

There will always be racism in America, but it really should not be a big issue anymore. In fact being prejudice against a different race really goes against what America stands for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" Frederick Douglass’s speech “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?” which he gave during the civil war. In a part of his speech he says“What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelly to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour”.

What I take from what Frederick Douglass said is that Americans are always gratifying themselves for being part of the land of the free and the home of the brave, where everyone can make it if they try. But actually America has been going against its good morals throughout history by enslaving, discriminating, and mistreating people who they believe they are superior to.

Sources

"(1852) Frederick Douglass, “What, To The Slave, Is The Fourth Of July� | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed." | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. 2 Oct. 2008 .

"Evolution and Modern Racism." The Institute for Creation Research. 2 Oct. 2008 .

"Evolution and Modern Racism." The Institute for Creation Research. 2 Oct. 2008 .

Horwitz, Tony. Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War. New York: Vintage, 1999.

"Ku Klux Klan." Spartacus Educational - Home Page. 2 Oct. 2008 .

" Modern Day Slavery: Racism and the Drug War - Political Forum." Political Forum - US & World Politics Forum. 2 Oct. 2008 .

"The American Experience | Reagan | People & Events | The Iran-Contra Affair." PBS. 2 Oct. 2008 .

"The Badger Herald - Racism lives on in modern America." The Badger Herald - University of Wisconsin-Madison. 2 Oct. 2008 .

Marbury vs Madison

Before the Marbury vs Madison case only Federalists could be part of the Judiciary branch. When John Adams ended his presidency Thomas Jefferson took office and changed the law so that anti-Federalists could also join the Judiciary branch, and anti-Federalist John Marshall became the new Chief Justice. William Marbury who John Adams had appointed to be the next chief justice in his last day in office sued vice president James Madison, but lost the lawsuit.
If this case had never happened Federalists would still be the only people who could join the Judicial branch, would a less fair place.


WILLIAM MARBURY v. JAMES MADISON, SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE UNITED STATES.
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/marbury.html

Blog reflections

What i am most proud of
The part of my blog that i am most proud of is my last blog entry about my opinions on the book Obama Nation. I am proud of it because it was the blog post i spent the most time on it, and because of that i was able to put more thought into it, and make my writing more descriptive and informative. Another thing i like about that entry was about a topic i am truly interested in, and so it was the most enjoyable to write.

What i want to improve
I want to improve my blog entries by putting all my effort into them, by being more descriptive, and talking about my opinions on the subjects i am learning about. Another thing i want to improve on is making sure that the sources i am using are current and accurate, and adding pictures, and coming up with good titles for them. I would also improve the graphics on my blog and make it more personalized.

How blogging has helped me
Blogging has helped me understand all of the topics that i am learning such as, U S history, politics, and world news. Reading the articles for my blogs, and writings about them helped me understand them much better because i really had to think about their meanings so i could relate them to my blog topics.Blogging has also helped me be more aware of whats going on in America, and around the world.

Falsification and Obama Nation

In the recent biography of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, Obama Nation, the author(Jerome Corsi) manipulates true facts about Obama. He states that Obama has a dual citizenship in Kenya, was addicted to drugs as a teenager, and that he is a Muslim. But all of those facts are from unreliable sources and the author has a biased opinion about Obama, and he is trying to make Obama seem like he would be a bad president.
I have noticed several presidential campaign ads and articles whose main focus is bashing the opposing candidate. I think that this reflects badly on them because they are only talking about how their opponent is bad, and not talking about why they are good. I think that when candidates are always saying bad things about their opponents , it reflects badly on them, because when people find out that they are lying about the other candidate they will think lower of them, and be less likely to vote for them and support them. which is why it will be worse for them in the long run.



Corsi's Dull Hatchet, September 15 2008
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/corsis_dull_hatchet.html

Stock market

I think that the government should take responsibility for the stock market crash because thousands of people will lose their jobs and homes if they don't take action.The government should do this by not loaning money to people who cant pay it back, and not borrowing money when we cant pay it back. I also think that we should print less money so the money we have will be worth more. This would be a Federalist point of view because the Federalists believed that the government should play a big role in how the country is run.


Wall St.'s Turmoil Sends Stocks Reeling, by Michael M. Grynbaum, September 15 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/business/worldbusiness/16markets.html?hp


Edit
Secretary of the treasury Henry Paulson, who is in charge of all the money in America, has come up with the idea that the government should give him $700 billion which he will use to balance out the stock market.I think this is an extremely bad idea because, not only is the amount of money he is asking for huge, we are probably to in debt to pay for it, and he passing a law that
states that he can not ever be persecuted for any action he might take, so basically he will be able to get away with anything; including taking the money for himself.


Is Paulson's bailout bill unconstitutional?,by Rod Smolla,September 24 2008
http://www.slate.com/id/2200817/

Factions and neoconservatives

I learned about factions from reading the Federalist articles by James Madison, i found out that a faction is a group of people who all have the same interests, which often stand for ideas that could be bad for the rest of society, and Madison states in his articles that since factions always bias opinions they should not help with any of the governments decisions. A good example of a modern day faction are the neoconservatives. The neoconservatives (neocons) are a group that go by the philosophy that we should attack the enemy before it attacks us, like when we went war with Iraq, we were going on a hunch that they might have nuclear weapons, and that we could be in danger of another attack if we don't move first. But that ended up being bad for us in the long run.

Neoconservatism -- RIP,By Gary Kamiya http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2006/11/14/neocons/index.html

Federalists vs anti-federalists

The article i read was about the Democratic, and Republican candidates views on abortion. Joe Biden and Barack Obama both believe that abortion should be legal, and the government should offer more support to young mothers so they will be able to more easily take care of their babies if they decide to keep them. John McCain, and Sarah Palin however think abortion should be completely illegal. The Democratic party is like the Federalists, because they think that a bigger part in our society, and the Republican party is like the anti-Federalists, because they want to do things based of their ideas.

As a Matter of Faith, Biden Says Life Begins at Conception, By Kate Phillips, Published: September 7,2008http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/08/us/politics/08campaign.html?scp=2&sq=obama%20vs%20mccain&st=cse

Locke and Hobbes on terrorism

Our governments approch to the war on terror is very similar to the Thomas Hobbes's point of view because we are focusing so much on the threat of a terrorist attack. We are spending billions of dollars on the war every day, and because of that we are paying less attention to other problems we could have in our society. If we keep using this way of thinking then our government will become more "Hobbesian", because we will be always in a state of war, and we will not have the money to help support people in need. Opposing the War fits with John Locke's ideas because we will be focusing on protecting our country from all possible threats, and using our money and resources to better our community, instead of always worrying about terrorism.




Hobbes versus Locke-Redefining the war on terror, by Colonel Nico W. Tak, and Captain Stephen W. Knot http://stinet.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA482252&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf

Declaration of Independance

The governments reaction to hurricane Gustav relates to the Declaration of Independence, and the philosophy of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness because the government sent help right away, and they made sure everyone was evacuated from Louisiana and New Orleans, which was following the natural human rights that were listed in the Deceleration of independence which are life, liberty, and property. I also think that the Government was trying to make up for their slow reaction to hurricane Katrina, by sending help to the people in danger from hurricane Gustav right away.


New Orleans Says Residents Can Return Thursday by By ADAM NOSSITER and JOHN SCHWARTZ from the New York times on 9/2/08