Discrimination and Homosexuality

             There have been many steps taken to make the United States a more excepting place for minorities and people who do not follow the norm. Social movements have shaped our country into what it is today and allows people to voice their opinion and attempt to change the status quo. Even though people in the U.S. are more excepting of others today than in the past, there is still work to be done. Discrimination is still occurring everywhere, especially against individuals who come out as homosexual.

            It is unfortunate that people, especially teens and young adults, are victims of prejudice and discrimination. My best friend from high school faced a great deal of ridicule from students who did not accept who she is. She told me when we were 16 years old that she wanted to take a girl to a school dance instead of a guy. I had suspected that she was gay and always made her feel that I would accept her for who she is and never judge. When she confided in me, I supported her 100 percent and told her that she should go to the dance with who she wants and not worry about what people say. She asked our other friend to the dance, and she agreed to go. Everything was ok until there was a slow dance, and my two friends decided to slow dance together. People started to stare and I could tell they were talking about them. The following week in school was rough for both of them. They were teased and called inappropriate name, and I just felt so disappointed with the kids from my school.

            Today, my best friend is openly gay and has had a few girlfriends since that dance. She finally built up the courage to tell her parents about her sexual orientation a few years ago. Her dad took the news well and told her that he will love her no matter who she loves; however, her mother was not as understanding. Her mom is conservative and very religious, and she was furious when she learned that her daughter is gay. It was hard for me to see this woman who I looked up to not accept my best friend for who she is. Heterosexuality has been engrained as the norm in our country for so many years, and now this change is causing discrimination and rejection.

            It has been debated greatly whether homosexuality is a product of society or a product of biology. People claim that homosexuality has become more accepted because it is portrayed in a positive way by the mass media. On the other hand, research has been done that suggests that there are specific genes that cause people to feel attraction for different people. Whatever the case, homosexuality has been around for years, but people are starting to feel more comfortable expressing themselves today than in the past. This is causing the more conservative population to feel uncomfortable and unaccepting. Hopefully there is more change to come, and social movements will aid in changing the status quo.

External Links:

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/10443/20141118/homosexuality-genetic-strongest-evidence.htm

http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/sexualorientation.html

Social Movements Matter

      Social movements are a collective and contentious political activity based upon a shared set of claims, using social networks to maintain sustained challenges against a powerful component or group of components. Social movements have evolved greatly during the 18th century and ever since, compared to the take on how we protest against controversial issues between different groups today. Prior to the 18th century collective action was based on three basic characteristics including;

         1. Parochialism- a limited or narrow outlook, especially focused on a local area.
         2. Direct action- the use of strikes, demonstrations, or other public forms of protest rather than negotiation to achieve a change.
         3. Particularism- the principle of leaving each state in an empire or federation free to govern itself and promote its own interests, without reference to those of the whole.
     
      As the 18th century progressed new types of protests were formed that changed several social movements that followed. Boycotts, petitions in England, and Urban insurrection in France all became the underlying basis for movements that were no longer direct or particular and referred to as modular that still serve as the basis today. The classical, social, and collective models of social movements explain why.

      According to the classical model of social movements presented in chapter 23, social movements are moved by disruptive psychological state of minds that are led by structural strains. This assumes the one to one relationship between strains and protests. This model expresses that movements participants are "psychologically abnormal" and are merely a collective group of discontented individuals that are looking to bring about a change. Another model that gives an explanation for social movements is the model presented by the mass society. The mass model starts with social isolation and says that extreme behavior such as social movements and protests are resulted from alienation and anxiety among society members that collectively share a set of claims. The last model presented in this chapter is known as the collective behavioral model. This model presents that a system strain effects normative ambiguity which then leads to social movements in society. All three of these models can be used to form a social movement in society, depending on what the controversial issue being acted upon is.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/nonviolence-as-compliance/391640/

      A current social movement that is being addressed during this time is the Baltimore Riots. These riots and protests are being carried out due to the mysterious death of Freddie Gray. It is unknown as to what exactly caused the death of this young man but many believe that the police are in charge of his unfair death and thus causing rioters to act out on society. This particular example of a social movement is one that to my understanding relates to the mass society model because the riots we are witnessing are forms of extreme behavior. There is a right way and a wrong way to go about social movements and in my opinion Baltimore residence are going about this situation in an extremely dangerous and unlawful way. We should not enforce stupidity to end stupidity, Instead of burning down buildings to prove a point people who feel strongly about this issue, on black discrimination, should instead invest their time in protesting why they believe that this issue is being dealt with unfairly and what they believe should be changed in order to refrain from a similar situation from reoccurring in the future. Some people are going about the protesting in a way that will be more effective than causing distress in Baltimore. The above picture is an example of protesters that are trying to make a movement towards a change in the ways police officials are able to abide by the law. This way of enforcing change is a more efficient way to make a movement than actively rioting and acting in extreme outraged behaviors. In my opinion this only brings about the wrong kind of attention among the rioters and takes the focus away from the situation at hand.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/04/how-baltimore-riots-began-mondawmin-purge

      Social movements are important because they are the truest form of democratic engagement. Social movements also have the potential to fundamentally change our every day lives and promote ideas of change throughout our society. Such important movements are not irrational, but rather a calculated response to a closed political system. It is a way for people of low, or lesser social standing than those with power, to speak out and voice their opinions in a way that is heard by the government and the rest of the nation. The social resources that are given to an aggrieved group is what makes mobilization possible, which is important to have in our nation. Resource mobilization emphasizes the importance of organizations. While some riots are unsuccessful and out of hand, others such as labor movements can result in great success and a more fair workforce for those who are implementing a movement for change. Social Movements will continue to occur throughout our nation and others around the world in order to progressively continue to better effected societies that are in need of a social change.

     
     

Police Brutality

Police Brutality: Police Brutality Against African American Males

            Since 1619, African Americans have been discriminated against. At this time, was the first time slavery was introduced. Many wealthy white men bought slaves to work in the plantations. As years went on, slavery was made illegal. States down south stated that separated but equal is expectable as long as everything is “equal”. Indeed, things were not equal. Separate but equal was finally abolished and everyone was equal. Although slavery was abolished, white males were not fine with this. Many policemen and other public officers would beat African Americans and get away with it. This has been going on since the beginning of time. Police brutality against African Americans is something that happens very often. Police brutality should be addressed because most of the brutality is against African Americans, many young men have died, and police often shoot unarmed men.

            Many court cases involve police brutality and most of the policemen do not get charged for the murder. Since a policemen is suppose to be a “model citizen” the court system automatically thing that they are right. I believe that the policemen are able to “pull some strings” and get out of the case. Since they have so high of a social status they are believed to be always telling the true. Therefore, policemen kill African Americans is because they know they can get away with it. Policemen know that is the victim’s word against theirs and the victims is dead so no one knows the real story. I also think that Policemen make an assumption of African American when they see them; especially in big groups. Big groups are looked at as a threat because people often think that when African American males are together, that they look scary. ` In the inner cities, such as Chicago, Atlanta, and Indiana, to name a few, this is often a big problem.In Chicago, the police brutality has only gotten worst. There is a report being presented to the United Nation s about the unnecessary police brutality toward minorities. There is some shocking statistics about this. The group of activist, presenting this to the Untied Nations, is asking for help for the torture that the Chicago Police Department has put young African Americans through. The police 92% of the time targeted African American and Latino. Policemen stopping using stun gun because they said they were not affective.
Although African Americans are the main race in inner cities does not mean that they are all involved in crime. Most of the people in Chicago are scared of the police.  Glenn Evans, police commander of Chicago, was fired after he was charged with aggravated battery for sticking his gun in the mouth of a suspect. You cannot do this when the suspect did not pull his gun or give him reason to do that. There is many studies on how often African Americans get shot by the police.

Police Brutality has been going on forever. It started back over 100 years ago. Only select cases make it to the limelight, such as: Rodney King, Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown and Eric Gardner. This has to come to an end. Young African American men need to stop being falsely accused of crime. Police Brutality should be addressed because most of the brutality is against African Americans, Many young African American have died, and police often shoot unarmed men. I hope that one day African Americans, like myself, do not have to worried about getting killed because the color of our skin.