Deroy Murdock's Terror And The English Language

TAs a recent social threat to the whole world, terrorism creates panic by killing innocents and destroying the public wealth. The threat of terrorism has been never extinct; however, Deroy Murdock, the author of “Terror and the English Language,” argues that the language use of terrorism is weak and not specific. As the consequence, “while basketball players and their fans battle each other on TV, actresses suffer wardrobe malfunctions, and rap singers scream sweet nothings in our ears, it's very easy to forget that Islamic extremists plot daily to end all of that and more by killing as many of us as possible.” He believes that “Language can lull Americans to sleep in this new war, or it can keep us on the offensive and our enemies off balance.”
As an example, Murdock explains that “when discussing those who are killed by terrorists, be specific, name them, and tell us about them. Humanize these individuals. They are more than just statistics or stick figures.”() People who lost their lives should not be ignored; instead, they are still necessary by warning us not to forget the tragedies of underestimating terrorism. In the condition where people feel threatened, their fear and anger may drive them to concentrate on the social problems and create public awareness. Fear or anger never shows up alone.
To trigger it, there must be an incident or disaster that causes huge damage or numerous death; therefore, people are threatened and they would need the governor to eradicate the problem. For example, war is a common event that causes panic among the whole society. In World War II, Unite States decided to be isolated from the main battlefield due to the huge casualties from WWI; however, Japanese suddenly assaulted Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Roosevelt referred the day as “a date which will live in infamy” and intimidated that “Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger” in the “Infamy Speech,” which was made the next day of the Pearl Harbor Attack. Because the Japanese had launched a devastating assault and caused huge casualties, the Congress declared war against the Axis one hour later of the “Infamy Speech”. In this case, we can notice that by shaming the disgrace of being attacked and pointing out the lethal threat, FDR succeeded in motivating people to fight against the invaders from the Pearl Harbor Attack with their anger and
fear. WWII was a significant chapter in US history; however, racial conflict or racism was a more important topic not just in history but also in nowadays that the related hate crimes have created fear and anger among the minorities, forcing them to stand out and aware the whole public. By under the pressure of Jim Crow Law and other laws that segregated races, African Americans were discriminated by most of the white people in the South, where the places with the strongest racism. Back to December 1, 1955, the night that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and be arrested by the policeman, “Members of the African-American community was asked to stay off city buses on Monday, December 5, 1955—the day of Rosa's trial—in protest of her arrest. People were encouraged to stay home from work or school, take a cab or walk to work.”() As the boycott incident began, it ignited the flame of the Civil Right Movement. African Americans joined this movement was “because large segments of the populace–particularly African-Americans, women, and men without property–have not always been accorded full citizenship rights in the American Republic, civil rights movements, or ‘freedom struggles,’ have been a frequent feature of the nation’s history.” With their anger to the unequal rights they had, African Americans all decided to protest and ask for equal rights, especially Dr. King’s famous speech: “I Have a Dream.” Their purpose was not just asking for equal rights; moreover, they wanted to show their anger to the society, telling everyone in the society that they lived in an environment that only gave them fear and helplessness. During several assemblies, many people with different races, including white people, also joined the squad, supporting the Equal Rights Movement. After several massive assemblies and protests, African Americans finally granted the rights they deserved from the amendments and the comfortable atmosphere that no one should discriminate others’ races. However, the story of racism didn’t stop at that time. In 2013, a shooting that killed an African American boy not only raised people’s anger but also brought them fear. Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American boy, was shot by “George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain in Sanford, Florida, calls 911 to report (him as) "a suspicious person".” () As the result, Zimmerman was not guilty due to the investigation and was set free. It soon astonished the whole society that Trayvon Martin was intentionally killed by Zimmerman and Zimmerman didn’t have to be responsible for murdering. Some Baltimore African Americans rallied to protest the verdict. The leader of the rally, Jamal-Harrison Bryant announced that “’It would be hypocritical for us to come to this corner and cheer and shout and wave signs for Trayvon Martin and remain silent for the 120 black babies in Baltimore who have been killed with no rally, if in fact we really value life, it cannot just be a life in Sanford, Florida; it got to be living on North Avenue. ... Every life has got to be of some value.’”() Trayvon Martin’s death was considered as a hate crime for most of the African American people because Trayvon didn’t show any offensive actions to Zimmerman. Besides the problem of racism that enraged the African American community, Trayvon Martin’s death also presented the problem of gun control, which was a more serious public issue to other citizens. President Obama discussed this topic later in a public speech that “We should ask ourselves if we're doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis. We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this. As citizens, that's a job for all of us. That's the way to honor Trayvon Martin.” () As a president of a country talked about this publicly, Trayvon Martin’s death had created huge awareness of both of the racial problems and gun control among the whole United States. Using fear or anger to create public awareness sounds ridiculous to most of the people; however, this type of strategy works effectively when there is a sudden incident or event that devastates the harmony.
Our mind will sense the result from the incident with an emotional change and force us to reconsider the current situation. Under the dangerous condition, we tend to focus more on the problem, and more people will tend to group up and solve the problem. When more of us stands together at the same time, we have created the influence of the problem; as the response, the government will definitely come out and help to solve the problems we asked. No matter how the governors conclude the event, side effect of the public awareness will always exist and we will remember that all the time. Hence, don’t underestimate our emotional feelings on public issues, they can achieve more than we can
imagine.