THIS IS AMERICA – “An Analysis”
Background to the video “This is America”
This is the background and I want you to analyze the lyrics as well what is happening in the background, etc.
This year, (May 2018) so far there were more kids murdered by school shooting, than killed in the armed forces (army, navy, etc.) The true facts are these: “USA has 88.8 guns per 100 people, or about 270,000,000 guns, which is the highest total and per capita number in the world. 22% of Americans own one or more guns -35% of men and 12% of women.” https://gun-control.procon.org/America’s
The pervasive gun culture is in part due to historical reasons. Emanating from its colonial history, revolutionary roots, frontier expansion, slavery and the Second Amendment, which states that: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.
Police violence: This covers an array of unlawful stops and search,tasering, beatings, and killings. The deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile, etc have garnered some headlines, but many other folks die in silence. Here is a partial list of what various activists are doing, as I write.
- Having town halls and voter registration efforts in dozens of cities.
- Writer and activist Shaun King started a political action committee (PAC) aimed at electing progressive, smart-on-crime prosecutors, sheriffs and judges.
- The team behind the police-reform-oriented Campaign Zero has launched the projects aimed at empowering their supporters to undercut the four presidents.
- Others, have found a home inside the broader framework of the Resistance.
THE PROCESSING OF ARRESTS
- Arrest: Black people are nearly three times more likely to be arrested for drug offenses as white people. Black people are three or four times more likely to be killed by police during an arrest.
- Pre-Trial: New York City showed that Black people were more likely to be in jail while they await trial. Even after controlling for the seriousness of charges and prior records. The same pattern of abuse is replicated.
- Prosecution: Prosecutors are nearly thrice as likely to charge Black men with an offense that carries a mandatory minimum sentence than white men facing similar circumstances. e.g. the difference between crack cocaine and cocaine.
- Sentencing: Black people have been found to be far more likely to have their probation revoked than their white counterparts.Bearing these facts to be true, lets us analyze the multifaceted pressures on Black men and women. Notice anything? According to the constitution, “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” Firearms have become the fabric for American freedoms, rights, and cultures.
Language
Some terms that are useful in your analysis. I want you to discuss what you see in the terms of using the following terms. Let us begin.
- Denotation: The everyday or common sense meaning of a sign. Connotation: that a sign carries in addition to it’s everyday meaning.
- Ideology: A set of ideas or beliefs which are held to be acceptable by the creators of the media text, maybe in line with those of the dominant White ruling social groups in society, or alternative ideologies such as feminist ideology.
- Moral Panic: Is the intensity of feeling stirred up by the media about an issue that appears to threaten the social order, such as against Muslims after 9/11, or against immigrants generally.
- Signifier/Signified: The ‘thing’ that conveys the meaning, and the manner in which meaning conveyed. e.g. a red rose is a significance, the signified is love. https://brianair.wordpress.com/film-theory/glossary-of-media-terminology/
U.S. incarcerates a larger share of its population than any other country
Thank you for this service to humanity!