Violence In African Americans
Fighting Violence with Violence From the beginning of time conflict has always existed. When conflict is confronted, majority of the time it is answered with violence. The definition of violence from The Oxford Dictionary is "the use of force to cause injury, damage, or death." Violence can come in all forms and may or may not be intended. World history teaches that violence influences wars the most. A simple act of violence can have a big impact on people and how they react to it. Almost always when a violent act is committed it is answered with even more violence. From person to person the reason for violence will be different. Commonly it is because of revenge or anger. However that might not be true for everyone or every war. In "A People 's History of the United
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States 1492-present" Howard Zinn explores many examples of violence through the conflicts that have occurred throughout history. The recent killing of Osama Bin Laden also brings to light that the United States will respond with any force and violence to make sure they are looked at as the strongest player. Throughout history violence has become the solution to fight violence; I will be analyzing the concept of violence vs. violence by exploring these ideas: History of violence and war, WWII, Segregation, War against Terrorist, and present day violence. From the day Christopher Columbus stepped foot onto North American soil in 1492, United States begins a history full of war, violence, oppression, and revolt. When the Spaniards first encountered the Native Americans they were taken back with how hospitable and simple they lived. Howard Zinn writes in, A People 's History of the United States 1492- Present a passage that Columbus wrote in his log: They…brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks ' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned…they were well built, with good bodies and handsome features…They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane…They would make fine servants…with fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."(H. Zinn, Pg.1)
This passage give insight to how Columbus felt, he was superior and knew with intimidation he could control the Native Americans. This case of violence vs.
violence is different from many others, because as the passage says, the Native Americans were curious and friendly to strangers. They did not create any conflict and the Spaniards saw that as a weakness. Columbus and his men used violence to make the Native Americans into to their servants. This mindset continued with the Spaniards and the treatment of the Native Americans. Howard Zinn writes, " The cruel policy initiated by Columbus and pursued by his successors resulted in a compete genocide"(H.Zinn, Pg.6). The violence that Columbus inflicted on the Native Americans had no reason other than greed. The Native Americans did not show any obvious threat to the Spaniards, but they still wanted to show they could take everything the Native Americans had. The Native Americans population slowly started to die. However, as history shows, when violence is inflicted on someone and they are trapped sometimes there are no other answers but to respond with violence, and that is exactly how the Native Americans started to feel. The Native Americans felt that in order for them to survive they would have to start revolting and defending themselves. Many popular tactics
that were used that was later picked up by the Spaniards and used against the Native Americans was, scalping. This act of violence is still very hard to imagine, the idea of a knife separating your scalp from your skull paints a foul image. When the first slaves where brought on a ship to North American a new group of oppressed would suffer from the hands of another person through violence. From elementary school to high school children are taught about slavery. They are taught about the treatment of slaves and how the slaves tried to escape for their own freedom. Like the Native Americans, the slaves did not inflict violence to receive it. The use of violence towards the slaves was a way the slave owners showed their superiority. The whites saw black slaves as less than human and that justified the use of violence in their minds. However, the whites slave owners greater reason for using violence was not because the slaves where just property to them, but because they feared them. The fear the whites had of slaves joining together and revolting where deeper then what was ever taught to a student in high school. Howard Zinn points this out in, A People 's History of the United States 1492- Present, "Only one fear was greater that the fear of blacks rebellion in the new American colonies. That was the fear that the discontented whites would join black slaves to overthrow the existing order"(H. Zinn Pg.37). These fears lead the white slave owners to cause a lot of injury and even death too many slaves. The Slaves where larger in number then the whites and could easily decide to use violence and cause as much pain to the white slave owners. The most common use of violence that was used towards the slaves was being whipped. Many slaves had scars all over their back from the whips cutting through the flesh. Slaves tried to revolt and escape however, many did not because of the fear of being caught or killed. The slave owners responded to any rebellion with violence. Howard Zinn writes, "Beatings and whippings were common. Servant women were raped. One observer testified: "I have seen an overseer beat a servant with a cane about the head till the blood was followed, for a fault that is not worth of speaking…" "(H. Zinn, Pg 44). The whipping and beatings of slaves became a part of life for many slaves. For many of the women, slave owners saw them as sexual property and violated many by forcible rape. Slavery continued for many years and many slaves lost their lives from disease, beatings, whippings, hangings, and shootings. The fight for land lead to many wars and is where violence was responded with even more violence. Wars like the American Civil war helped bring freedom to slaves. Many lives were lost during the war due to violence against one another. However, the results of the war lead to a new era where slaves were not owned by someone. The slaves might have been freed from slave owners but they continued to suffer because of hatred and violence. When we take a look back at history there were many wars fought. The number of lives lost due to war is amazing. One of the most remembered wars where the use of violence was taken to the extreme was, World War II. The beginning of WWII in 1938 involving most of the world 's nation marked the most widespread, violent wars of time. The war began with the invasion of Poland to Germany. Germany wanted to create a large empire in Europe. Large portion of Europe was conquered by Germany and the beginning of the Holocaust began. Adolf Hitler ordered the extermination of Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals, peoples with disabilities, Jehovah 's Witness, and other political opponents. The use of violence that was used against these groups was meant to cause death. Concentration camps where made to keeps the oppressed captured and tortured. In these concentration camps the Jews were made slaves and worked themselves to death. Death was a daily part of life the Jewish encountered. Gotz Aly Writes in Cleansing the Fatherland: Nazi Medicine and Racial Hygiene encounters of the violent torture and experiments that were used on the Jews and mentally ill, "Hitler authorized the murder in the asylums, dated 1 September 1939" (G. Aly, Pg. 27). Like the Native Americans and Slaves, the Jews or mentally ill did not cause conflict to have violence in return. Hitler wanted to create his "pure" race and in this killed millions of people. He had people in the concentration camps transported in trains to extermination camps where the Jews, Gypsies and so on met their fate. They were burnt in infernos, gathered in gas chambers, massive shootings, etc. There were eight extermination camps, Auschwitz being the most popular learned about in history. At Auschwitz over 1 million people were killed. Once the bodies were killed they were dumped in pit holes and burnt. The Jewish did try and resist and fight for their lives. They responded to the violence in a subtle matter. Many Jews rather have died fighting for their food, families, water and dignity, then giving up and dying in an extermination camp. However, the violence that was used by the Germans conquered the lives of many lives. In 1941 United States entered into World War II, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Unlike, the Native American, Slaves and Jews, United States could and did fight back and respond to the violence inflicted in its country. The United States responded by going into war with the Japanese. This not only affected all the soldiers that were deployed into war but the lives of many Japanese in the United States. The first response United States had was to gather all of the Japanese living in the western part of the U.S. to be put into internment camps. John Howard Writes in Concentration Camps on the Home Front, about the mindset after the Pearl Harbor attack in the United States, "Americans assumed that the Japanese invasion of the western coast was inevitable and that Japanese Americans would cooperate with the invaders… [R]esidents of California, Oregon, and Washington demanded protection from what they saw as a possible enemy force in their own backyards." (J. Howard, Pg. 62)
The U.S. wanted to punish the Japanese people that were in America and used the excuse of fear for putting them in concentration camps against their will. This passage shows how White America wanted to scapegoat another group of people and have an excuse to get them out of their neighborhoods. Like the Nazi regime, the United States incarcerated a group of people because of the origin of race. However, unlike the Jewish concentration camps the United States did not have mass murders of a race. By 1945 the Japanese in these camps where released. Although, there was no violence reported, the Japanese Americans faced hatred and were often defending themselves from racist Americans. A turning point in WWII also occurred in 1945 when United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was the most violent response the United States had towards the bombing of Pearl Harbor. John Howard writes, "In Hiroshima proper, tornadoes of fire. Some ran. But more common where dumbstruck stragglers, remember by many as resembling zombies or mummies, clothing half burned off their bodies and half dripping off along with their flesh" ( J. Howard, Pg. 215). The Bombing of Hiroshima brought death to many innocent people. The atomic bomb wiped out generations of families, homes, and living things. No one could imagine how these images looked like except for the people that lived them. World War II took the level of violence in a war to new levels that have not been seen since. The concept of fighting violence with violence only leads to more and more people dying, as proven during WWII. The 1960 's where a very important year in the United States with African Americans fighting for equality and the violence that was used against them. After many slaves were released they had to fight living in a world where they were seen as less than human and hated. Every action African Americans did was looked under a microscope. If a white girl accused a black man of raping her he would automatically be sentences to death. There was no "innocent till proven guilty" for Afro Americans. This continued until the 1960 's where many events took place making history. This period was marked with assassinations, segregation, beating, Ku Klux Klan, and much more. The African American Civil rights Movement marked a new beginning for many people. The Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK, inflicted a lot of violence on African Americans. The KKK had no fear of letting their opinion be heard. They wore white robes and would burn crosses on the lawn of African American homes. The Ku Klux Clan bombed and burnt down house of blacks and civil rights activist. The main force of violence that was used was physical violence. Many riots broke out during the 1960 's civil rights protest. People would gather for a peaceful protest and it would end in many people being injured because of the police and white community members getting involved to break up any protest. This period also brought on a new mindset; that you do not have to respond to violence with more violence. Important believers in this were, Martin Luther King Jr., Black Panthers, civil rights leaders, 1960 Freedom riders, 1968 Olympic black athletes, and many more. MLK believed that violence would only cause more problems. In 1961 groups of college students and civil rights activist decided to get on grey hound buses and ride into the Deep South. Before boarding onto the buses, they knew that this could be the end of their lives. Many Freedom buses were attacked. Although, they were not inflicting any harm by riding on these buses many racist felt like this was an attack and this resulted in bombing of buses, beating of riders, and more. The Freedom Riders almost felt defeated but knew that they had to continue their journey. In a episode on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the surviving freedoms riders where there and one of the white former Ku Klux Klan member was there and told a story of him beating a rider, " in Birmingham before they boarded a bus I stopped one of the passengers and severely beat him, and when he got up all bloody the only thing he said was "I 'm not here to fight"". This showed that even after someone beating you and using such violence against a person that the activist did not want to cause harm and could get a stronger message across with nonviolent action. Symbolic actions like this continued during this period. During the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City, the white racist where using a lot of violence towards the African Americans. Many African American athletes, during the summer Olympics wore pins promoting civil rights. However, two athletes made a gesture that was heard around the war. Tommy smith and John Carlos were in track and field and after winning the gold and bronze they stood on the stage received there metals and each with one black glove on raised their hands and bowed their heads. This small gesture was to promote peace and unity. However, many people saw this as an insult and eventually they suffered a lot of consequences. Receiving many death threats and being out casted. Eventually, after many losses and sacrifices Afro Americans civil rights was won and the ides of nonviolence was adopted. On September 11, 2001 the United States was attacked by Terrorist. In New York, two planes that where hijacked were flown into the twin towers killing thousands of innocent Americans. Right after these attacks President George W. Bush announced war against terror. This was the beginning of a long expensive war that still continues till this day. Thousands of soldiers were deployed and sent out to find the master mind of the terrorist plot, Osama Bin Laden. The 9/11 attacks have changed many things for Americans. There are not stricter rules for flying. Many Muslims have suffered prejudice. In Iraq thousands of people have died because of this war. American family members have lost loved ones that served in the army and have died. One method that the United States uses to get information out of terrorist is torture, or also politically known as "interrogation tactics". Guantanamo Bay Prison has come under scrutiny with the tactics and abuse that is being used there. Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power by Joseph Margulies explains why these interrogation tactics are taking place: "…the interrogator wants to learn what the prisoner wants to withhold…the more significance we attach to the information sought, the greater the risk that the interrogator will resort to violence in order to get it. This, of course, presents two concerns. The first is the need to avoid false confessions…The second concern should be no less obvious: torture is abhorrent." (J. Margulies, Pg. 29)
This shows that the U.S. will do whatever it needs to get an honest confession from a prisoner. The interrogators might not have actual evidence that the prisoner has information but will stop at nothing to see what they do know. As history shows the use of violence can make anyone comply with the person that is inflicting this violence. In this case it would make someone confess even if it is not true. Torture tactics used are brought to as Joseph Margulies writes, "Former and current CIA officials have come forward to reveal details of interrogation techniques authorized in the CIA. These include: Water boarding, hypothermia, stress positions, slapping, abdomen strikes, and shaking" (J. Margulies, Pg.89). All of these are forms of violence that are inflicted to cause harm and/or death to the prisoner. Because, these interrogation tactics were taking place outside of the United States it made it ok for the CIA to use them. It shows that the United States has to use such force to make sure that they are the superiority. All of these people being tortured are the result of the fight against terror. Finally ten years after 9/11 on May 11th 2011 the world got the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by the United State Nave Seals. This was covered on every news station, the first page of every newspaper. New York streets filled with people in celebration that Bin Laden had been killed. After all the excitement, I wondered to myself, after so long how many people had to be kilt, families broke, injured, for this one man to be killed? This was a very important step in the war, but the harm has been done. The wars still continues today and now that United States has killed Bin Laden Americans still live with the idea that there might be a backlash from all of this. A new Al-Qaida leader will be named and the violence will still continue. The use of violence has become a norm in society. Although it is looked down upon, every person once in their life has committed an act of violence. If you turn on the news every morning you are bound to hear about violence. The times have changed from when the Native Americans were being killed off to the beating of slaves. Now people hear more about street violence. Media has a big impact on how violence is portrayed. In the 21st century we now deal with gang violence. Gang and drug violence is one of the most common in the streets. If one gang member is shot by a person of the opposing gang the first thing that is talked about is retaliation. If the answer to violence is always violence then no one can be in peace. In the past couple years the Mexican Drug Cartel has been inflicting more and more violence on innocent people. This is all because of greed and to take over the Mexican government. Thousands of people have died because of the drug trade. Do the media have an effect on people that are watching it play out on their TV screens? Hate crimes still occur today against all types of people. The biggest difference from today compared to the slavery period and so on, is that there are stricter laws and regulations that monitor it. Gun control law, hate crime laws, penal codes and many more are meant to stop violence. However, with more and more violence playing out on Television sets, new sets of offenders will always be influenced. A quote taken from Media violence by William Dudley reads, "In New York city, a Grammar school child sprayed a Bronx office building with gunfire and explained to an astonished police sergeant that he learned how to unload his Uzi-like gun because "I watch a lot of television.""(W. Dudley, pg.31). Although the media industry is not responsible for the violent crimes committed, it can be argued that they do influence violent acts. Violence has become a part of society and cannot be eliminated. Governments can only reduce the amount of violence by continuing to prosecute offenders and enforce the laws. If we all practiced nonviolence the rate of crime would go down and people can live in calm. From war to street violence, everyone is affected. If you are the receiver of a violent act you are affected and families are affected. If a soldier dies in war, family members must be informed they lost a loved one due to a violent act. Death is not the only long tern affect violence can cause but for many soldier in war, post traumatic stress disorder can affect you for the rest of your life. Many soldiers come back from war with PTSD because of the violence they witness and have inflicted on people during the war. A gunshot victim can be paralyzed and have to live with these injuries from violence. Violence not only has physical effects but also financial. As the United States witnesses today the cost of war has put us in a recession. This recession has cause many budget cuts especially in the school systems. It is like a cycle, with more and more public school losing funding more student do not get the attention that is needed and they drop out. This can lead them to being in the streets and increasing the chances of them committing a violent act. There is no true form or benefit from violence. In war the only beneficiaries are the major corporations that fund the war. The corporations that make and sell weapons are the ones who benefit from war. This goes to show that the reason why someone might commit a violent act can change, but in the end it has the same result, leaving someone in pain. Violence has been a part of life and will always be. Whether it is for financial gain, retaliation, anger, etc, violence is violence and affects us all. United States History started with violence. There have been many wars fought, many people sacrificed, and many people oppressed with violence. As of today it might seem like the only solution to violence is even more violence. If we all adopted the mindset that Martin Luther King Jr, and civil rights activist had on nonviolence the world would change. With the concept of violence vs. violence no one wins.
Work Cited
Howard, John. Concentration Camps on the Home Front: Japanese Americans in the House of Jim Crow. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2008. Print.
Aly, Gotz. Cleansing the Fatherland: Nazi Medicine and Racial Hygiene. Baltimore: Hopkins UP, 1994. Print.
Bauer, Yehuda. A History of the Holocaust. New York: F. Watts, 1982.
Berlin, Ira. Free at Last: a Documentary History of Slavery, Freedom, and the Civil War. New York: New, 1992. Print.
Trend, David. The Myth of Media Violence: a Critical Introduction. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2007. Print.
Dudley, William. Media Violence: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven, 1999. Print.
Peters, Edward. Torture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1996. Print.
Margulies, Joseph. Guantánamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. Print.
The Oxford Dictionary. West End, Qld.: Herron Publications, 1988. Print
States 1492-present" Howard Zinn explores many examples of violence through the conflicts that have occurred throughout history. The recent killing of Osama Bin Laden also brings to light that the United States will respond with any force and violence to make sure they are looked at as the strongest player. Throughout history violence has become the solution to fight violence; I will be analyzing the concept of violence vs. violence by exploring these ideas: History of violence and war, WWII, Segregation, War against Terrorist, and present day violence. From the day Christopher Columbus stepped foot onto North American soil in 1492, United States begins a history full of war, violence, oppression, and revolt. When the Spaniards first encountered the Native Americans they were taken back with how hospitable and simple they lived. Howard Zinn writes in, A People 's History of the United States 1492- Present a passage that Columbus wrote in his log: They…brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks ' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned…they were well built, with good bodies and handsome features…They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane…They would make fine servants…with fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."(H. Zinn, Pg.1)
This passage give insight to how Columbus felt, he was superior and knew with intimidation he could control the Native Americans. This case of violence vs.
violence is different from many others, because as the passage says, the Native Americans were curious and friendly to strangers. They did not create any conflict and the Spaniards saw that as a weakness. Columbus and his men used violence to make the Native Americans into to their servants. This mindset continued with the Spaniards and the treatment of the Native Americans. Howard Zinn writes, " The cruel policy initiated by Columbus and pursued by his successors resulted in a compete genocide"(H.Zinn, Pg.6). The violence that Columbus inflicted on the Native Americans had no reason other than greed. The Native Americans did not show any obvious threat to the Spaniards, but they still wanted to show they could take everything the Native Americans had. The Native Americans population slowly started to die. However, as history shows, when violence is inflicted on someone and they are trapped sometimes there are no other answers but to respond with violence, and that is exactly how the Native Americans started to feel. The Native Americans felt that in order for them to survive they would have to start revolting and defending themselves. Many popular tactics
that were used that was later picked up by the Spaniards and used against the Native Americans was, scalping. This act of violence is still very hard to imagine, the idea of a knife separating your scalp from your skull paints a foul image. When the first slaves where brought on a ship to North American a new group of oppressed would suffer from the hands of another person through violence. From elementary school to high school children are taught about slavery. They are taught about the treatment of slaves and how the slaves tried to escape for their own freedom. Like the Native Americans, the slaves did not inflict violence to receive it. The use of violence towards the slaves was a way the slave owners showed their superiority. The whites saw black slaves as less than human and that justified the use of violence in their minds. However, the whites slave owners greater reason for using violence was not because the slaves where just property to them, but because they feared them. The fear the whites had of slaves joining together and revolting where deeper then what was ever taught to a student in high school. Howard Zinn points this out in, A People 's History of the United States 1492- Present, "Only one fear was greater that the fear of blacks rebellion in the new American colonies. That was the fear that the discontented whites would join black slaves to overthrow the existing order"(H. Zinn Pg.37). These fears lead the white slave owners to cause a lot of injury and even death too many slaves. The Slaves where larger in number then the whites and could easily decide to use violence and cause as much pain to the white slave owners. The most common use of violence that was used towards the slaves was being whipped. Many slaves had scars all over their back from the whips cutting through the flesh. Slaves tried to revolt and escape however, many did not because of the fear of being caught or killed. The slave owners responded to any rebellion with violence. Howard Zinn writes, "Beatings and whippings were common. Servant women were raped. One observer testified: "I have seen an overseer beat a servant with a cane about the head till the blood was followed, for a fault that is not worth of speaking…" "(H. Zinn, Pg 44). The whipping and beatings of slaves became a part of life for many slaves. For many of the women, slave owners saw them as sexual property and violated many by forcible rape. Slavery continued for many years and many slaves lost their lives from disease, beatings, whippings, hangings, and shootings. The fight for land lead to many wars and is where violence was responded with even more violence. Wars like the American Civil war helped bring freedom to slaves. Many lives were lost during the war due to violence against one another. However, the results of the war lead to a new era where slaves were not owned by someone. The slaves might have been freed from slave owners but they continued to suffer because of hatred and violence. When we take a look back at history there were many wars fought. The number of lives lost due to war is amazing. One of the most remembered wars where the use of violence was taken to the extreme was, World War II. The beginning of WWII in 1938 involving most of the world 's nation marked the most widespread, violent wars of time. The war began with the invasion of Poland to Germany. Germany wanted to create a large empire in Europe. Large portion of Europe was conquered by Germany and the beginning of the Holocaust began. Adolf Hitler ordered the extermination of Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals, peoples with disabilities, Jehovah 's Witness, and other political opponents. The use of violence that was used against these groups was meant to cause death. Concentration camps where made to keeps the oppressed captured and tortured. In these concentration camps the Jews were made slaves and worked themselves to death. Death was a daily part of life the Jewish encountered. Gotz Aly Writes in Cleansing the Fatherland: Nazi Medicine and Racial Hygiene encounters of the violent torture and experiments that were used on the Jews and mentally ill, "Hitler authorized the murder in the asylums, dated 1 September 1939" (G. Aly, Pg. 27). Like the Native Americans and Slaves, the Jews or mentally ill did not cause conflict to have violence in return. Hitler wanted to create his "pure" race and in this killed millions of people. He had people in the concentration camps transported in trains to extermination camps where the Jews, Gypsies and so on met their fate. They were burnt in infernos, gathered in gas chambers, massive shootings, etc. There were eight extermination camps, Auschwitz being the most popular learned about in history. At Auschwitz over 1 million people were killed. Once the bodies were killed they were dumped in pit holes and burnt. The Jewish did try and resist and fight for their lives. They responded to the violence in a subtle matter. Many Jews rather have died fighting for their food, families, water and dignity, then giving up and dying in an extermination camp. However, the violence that was used by the Germans conquered the lives of many lives. In 1941 United States entered into World War II, after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Unlike, the Native American, Slaves and Jews, United States could and did fight back and respond to the violence inflicted in its country. The United States responded by going into war with the Japanese. This not only affected all the soldiers that were deployed into war but the lives of many Japanese in the United States. The first response United States had was to gather all of the Japanese living in the western part of the U.S. to be put into internment camps. John Howard Writes in Concentration Camps on the Home Front, about the mindset after the Pearl Harbor attack in the United States, "Americans assumed that the Japanese invasion of the western coast was inevitable and that Japanese Americans would cooperate with the invaders… [R]esidents of California, Oregon, and Washington demanded protection from what they saw as a possible enemy force in their own backyards." (J. Howard, Pg. 62)
The U.S. wanted to punish the Japanese people that were in America and used the excuse of fear for putting them in concentration camps against their will. This passage shows how White America wanted to scapegoat another group of people and have an excuse to get them out of their neighborhoods. Like the Nazi regime, the United States incarcerated a group of people because of the origin of race. However, unlike the Jewish concentration camps the United States did not have mass murders of a race. By 1945 the Japanese in these camps where released. Although, there was no violence reported, the Japanese Americans faced hatred and were often defending themselves from racist Americans. A turning point in WWII also occurred in 1945 when United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was the most violent response the United States had towards the bombing of Pearl Harbor. John Howard writes, "In Hiroshima proper, tornadoes of fire. Some ran. But more common where dumbstruck stragglers, remember by many as resembling zombies or mummies, clothing half burned off their bodies and half dripping off along with their flesh" ( J. Howard, Pg. 215). The Bombing of Hiroshima brought death to many innocent people. The atomic bomb wiped out generations of families, homes, and living things. No one could imagine how these images looked like except for the people that lived them. World War II took the level of violence in a war to new levels that have not been seen since. The concept of fighting violence with violence only leads to more and more people dying, as proven during WWII. The 1960 's where a very important year in the United States with African Americans fighting for equality and the violence that was used against them. After many slaves were released they had to fight living in a world where they were seen as less than human and hated. Every action African Americans did was looked under a microscope. If a white girl accused a black man of raping her he would automatically be sentences to death. There was no "innocent till proven guilty" for Afro Americans. This continued until the 1960 's where many events took place making history. This period was marked with assassinations, segregation, beating, Ku Klux Klan, and much more. The African American Civil rights Movement marked a new beginning for many people. The Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK, inflicted a lot of violence on African Americans. The KKK had no fear of letting their opinion be heard. They wore white robes and would burn crosses on the lawn of African American homes. The Ku Klux Clan bombed and burnt down house of blacks and civil rights activist. The main force of violence that was used was physical violence. Many riots broke out during the 1960 's civil rights protest. People would gather for a peaceful protest and it would end in many people being injured because of the police and white community members getting involved to break up any protest. This period also brought on a new mindset; that you do not have to respond to violence with more violence. Important believers in this were, Martin Luther King Jr., Black Panthers, civil rights leaders, 1960 Freedom riders, 1968 Olympic black athletes, and many more. MLK believed that violence would only cause more problems. In 1961 groups of college students and civil rights activist decided to get on grey hound buses and ride into the Deep South. Before boarding onto the buses, they knew that this could be the end of their lives. Many Freedom buses were attacked. Although, they were not inflicting any harm by riding on these buses many racist felt like this was an attack and this resulted in bombing of buses, beating of riders, and more. The Freedom Riders almost felt defeated but knew that they had to continue their journey. In a episode on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the surviving freedoms riders where there and one of the white former Ku Klux Klan member was there and told a story of him beating a rider, " in Birmingham before they boarded a bus I stopped one of the passengers and severely beat him, and when he got up all bloody the only thing he said was "I 'm not here to fight"". This showed that even after someone beating you and using such violence against a person that the activist did not want to cause harm and could get a stronger message across with nonviolent action. Symbolic actions like this continued during this period. During the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City, the white racist where using a lot of violence towards the African Americans. Many African American athletes, during the summer Olympics wore pins promoting civil rights. However, two athletes made a gesture that was heard around the war. Tommy smith and John Carlos were in track and field and after winning the gold and bronze they stood on the stage received there metals and each with one black glove on raised their hands and bowed their heads. This small gesture was to promote peace and unity. However, many people saw this as an insult and eventually they suffered a lot of consequences. Receiving many death threats and being out casted. Eventually, after many losses and sacrifices Afro Americans civil rights was won and the ides of nonviolence was adopted. On September 11, 2001 the United States was attacked by Terrorist. In New York, two planes that where hijacked were flown into the twin towers killing thousands of innocent Americans. Right after these attacks President George W. Bush announced war against terror. This was the beginning of a long expensive war that still continues till this day. Thousands of soldiers were deployed and sent out to find the master mind of the terrorist plot, Osama Bin Laden. The 9/11 attacks have changed many things for Americans. There are not stricter rules for flying. Many Muslims have suffered prejudice. In Iraq thousands of people have died because of this war. American family members have lost loved ones that served in the army and have died. One method that the United States uses to get information out of terrorist is torture, or also politically known as "interrogation tactics". Guantanamo Bay Prison has come under scrutiny with the tactics and abuse that is being used there. Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power by Joseph Margulies explains why these interrogation tactics are taking place: "…the interrogator wants to learn what the prisoner wants to withhold…the more significance we attach to the information sought, the greater the risk that the interrogator will resort to violence in order to get it. This, of course, presents two concerns. The first is the need to avoid false confessions…The second concern should be no less obvious: torture is abhorrent." (J. Margulies, Pg. 29)
This shows that the U.S. will do whatever it needs to get an honest confession from a prisoner. The interrogators might not have actual evidence that the prisoner has information but will stop at nothing to see what they do know. As history shows the use of violence can make anyone comply with the person that is inflicting this violence. In this case it would make someone confess even if it is not true. Torture tactics used are brought to as Joseph Margulies writes, "Former and current CIA officials have come forward to reveal details of interrogation techniques authorized in the CIA. These include: Water boarding, hypothermia, stress positions, slapping, abdomen strikes, and shaking" (J. Margulies, Pg.89). All of these are forms of violence that are inflicted to cause harm and/or death to the prisoner. Because, these interrogation tactics were taking place outside of the United States it made it ok for the CIA to use them. It shows that the United States has to use such force to make sure that they are the superiority. All of these people being tortured are the result of the fight against terror. Finally ten years after 9/11 on May 11th 2011 the world got the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed by the United State Nave Seals. This was covered on every news station, the first page of every newspaper. New York streets filled with people in celebration that Bin Laden had been killed. After all the excitement, I wondered to myself, after so long how many people had to be kilt, families broke, injured, for this one man to be killed? This was a very important step in the war, but the harm has been done. The wars still continues today and now that United States has killed Bin Laden Americans still live with the idea that there might be a backlash from all of this. A new Al-Qaida leader will be named and the violence will still continue. The use of violence has become a norm in society. Although it is looked down upon, every person once in their life has committed an act of violence. If you turn on the news every morning you are bound to hear about violence. The times have changed from when the Native Americans were being killed off to the beating of slaves. Now people hear more about street violence. Media has a big impact on how violence is portrayed. In the 21st century we now deal with gang violence. Gang and drug violence is one of the most common in the streets. If one gang member is shot by a person of the opposing gang the first thing that is talked about is retaliation. If the answer to violence is always violence then no one can be in peace. In the past couple years the Mexican Drug Cartel has been inflicting more and more violence on innocent people. This is all because of greed and to take over the Mexican government. Thousands of people have died because of the drug trade. Do the media have an effect on people that are watching it play out on their TV screens? Hate crimes still occur today against all types of people. The biggest difference from today compared to the slavery period and so on, is that there are stricter laws and regulations that monitor it. Gun control law, hate crime laws, penal codes and many more are meant to stop violence. However, with more and more violence playing out on Television sets, new sets of offenders will always be influenced. A quote taken from Media violence by William Dudley reads, "In New York city, a Grammar school child sprayed a Bronx office building with gunfire and explained to an astonished police sergeant that he learned how to unload his Uzi-like gun because "I watch a lot of television.""(W. Dudley, pg.31). Although the media industry is not responsible for the violent crimes committed, it can be argued that they do influence violent acts. Violence has become a part of society and cannot be eliminated. Governments can only reduce the amount of violence by continuing to prosecute offenders and enforce the laws. If we all practiced nonviolence the rate of crime would go down and people can live in calm. From war to street violence, everyone is affected. If you are the receiver of a violent act you are affected and families are affected. If a soldier dies in war, family members must be informed they lost a loved one due to a violent act. Death is not the only long tern affect violence can cause but for many soldier in war, post traumatic stress disorder can affect you for the rest of your life. Many soldiers come back from war with PTSD because of the violence they witness and have inflicted on people during the war. A gunshot victim can be paralyzed and have to live with these injuries from violence. Violence not only has physical effects but also financial. As the United States witnesses today the cost of war has put us in a recession. This recession has cause many budget cuts especially in the school systems. It is like a cycle, with more and more public school losing funding more student do not get the attention that is needed and they drop out. This can lead them to being in the streets and increasing the chances of them committing a violent act. There is no true form or benefit from violence. In war the only beneficiaries are the major corporations that fund the war. The corporations that make and sell weapons are the ones who benefit from war. This goes to show that the reason why someone might commit a violent act can change, but in the end it has the same result, leaving someone in pain. Violence has been a part of life and will always be. Whether it is for financial gain, retaliation, anger, etc, violence is violence and affects us all. United States History started with violence. There have been many wars fought, many people sacrificed, and many people oppressed with violence. As of today it might seem like the only solution to violence is even more violence. If we all adopted the mindset that Martin Luther King Jr, and civil rights activist had on nonviolence the world would change. With the concept of violence vs. violence no one wins.
Work Cited
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