Blog/Class/Semester Reflection

I remember when I first got my schedule at early registration, looking at "FYS-1000-02 Race, Freedom, Const Culture" and thinking "what IS that?".  I had no memory of signing up for it, or what the class description was.  It's funny though, the one class that I was unsure of, ended up being the one class I loved going to.  I am thankful that I was placed in this class, random or not, because it has taught me a lot that has helped me my first semester and will continue to help me later in life.

First, I learned never to sit in the back.  The first day I was running late because I wasn't completely sure of where I was going and when I got to the class a majority of the seats were filled up.  Not wanting to sit in the crowded middle, I went to an easy access seat in the back along with the other last few students.  Then, Professor Smith called us all out for it "Never sit in the back row", it looks bad and you get distracted.  The five or seven kids, including me, that were in the back row all grabbed their things and moved forward.  Little did he know my class after that, I sat in the front row and got an A for the semester.  With that, its the principle of a good first impression, along with a hardworking attitude.

Next, I learned to keep up, not with the Kardashians, but the news.  He made it clear how essential it is to keep current with what is happening.  There is so much happening in the world, it is key to keep up to date and get out of our texting and social media worlds.

I could continue on and on with things I learned from "Plessy v. Ferguson" to "10 Things Every Freshman should do",  but the biggest thing I learned was essentially, how to be a good student.  From  necessary college writing skills to studying skills and even  to attendance tips and exam tricks, Professor Smith helped me get through semester one, and the rest to come.  Thank you Professor Smith for helping me with my first semester!

Unconstitutional Immigration Actions

Part of President Obama's executive immigration actions wad declared unconstitutional by a federal judge.  Tuesday U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Schwab, in Pennsylvania, stated that those immigration actions are "invalid and effectively count as "legislation" from the Executive Branch.".  In the video Obama's response and defense is seen.

The judge wrote ""President Obama's unilateral legislative action violates the separation of powers provided for in the United States Constitution as well as the Take Care Clause, and therefore, is unconstitutional,".

However, it is unclear as to what will happen with this due to the fact that Schwab displayed this opinion through a criminal court case against a Honduran deported in 2005. The Honduran had already pleaded guilty to re-entry of a removed alien but the court "subsequently examined the impact of Obama's immigration actions on the case".  It was left open to whether the actions may apply to this case, but it was clear that he thought of the new executive actions as unconstitutional.

Read More about it Here

Feminism Twisting the Definition of Equality?

Having grown up with parents who raised me to be strong and independent, teaching me to throw a football at age seven and change my tires at sixteen, feminism has never struck me as a big issue.  Mainly because when I was younger, I never thought of inequalities or being suppressed, I was just Katie. Although there is still inequalities in today's society, I feel that overall feminists have come a long way within the past one hundred years.  Now, by no means does that mean I believe that women should not have access to birth control or should have to worry about walking alone and everything else, I still myself am feminist.  However, I think that some feminists have taken it farther than necessary, and have made it just illogical.  So, when I read "Why I Left Feminism (Or, How Feminism Left Me)" by Heather Wilhelm, I related strongly to the seven issues with modern feminism she laid out.  Although some of the points are a little dramatically stated, beyond the fluff her points are solid.  For one, some of todays "feminists" shut down any independent thinking, Jessica Valenti wrote at The Guardian:

"Without some boundaries for claiming the word feminist, it becomes meaningless. So once and for all: Can you be an anti-choice feminist? No. A Republican feminist? Unlikely. A feminist who thinks that the issues of importance to women of color or gay women or trans women or disabled women aren’t ‘feminist issues’? To quote Flavia Dzodan, ‘My feminism will be intersectional, or it will be bullshit’ – and I’m not interested in bullshit. 

Many of the other exerts Wilhem shares from Valenti's work is just incredibly narrow-minded, and often simply illogical.  Wilhem makes six other valid points about many of the problems with feminism today.  I do believe everyone is entitled to equal rights, but in the end, women need to be strong, smart and independent, not precisely equal to men.

Read the Article Here

More goes Wrong in Missouri

Journalist Trey Yingst being arrested during Ferguson protests.

With all of the terrible events that have taken place in Missouri more fuel is added to the fire by the police by trying to restrain the press.  The fact that they have already completely crossed the line by murdering a boy and now are trying to restrict First Amendment rights of freedom of press is ridiculous.  Several reports were made of police not only trying to stop press coverage but actually attacking news reporters, furthering the damage and violence they have already done.  Specifically on August 13th things became especially threatening.  One crew reported "seconds after filming police tussling with a man their video camera was hit by a "bean-bag round,"", a type of weapon the police were using to break up the protests.  Soon after the same crew was asked to leave by police with their weapons drawn.  In another case an Al Jazeera America TV crew, which had specifically set up their camera outside the established police perimeter, was fired at with a tear-gas canister.  Not only that but the video footage shows armed officer tilting the crew's camera down towards the ground.

 Additional cases have happened, however in response Ferguson Chief of Police Jon Belmar stated  "The media is not a target.".  Which, it really might not be, but just because it is not a target does not mean that it is at all allowable, or acceptable, to attack people trying to get solid new coverage of a major event happening in the United States.  It is not right that after all the events that have lead up to this, the police are still misusing violence  and their power to violate people's First Amendment rights.

Read more about news reporters in Missouri here

Read more about Trey Yingst here

Brown v Board of Education Review

This case had to do with segregated schools vs nonsegregated schools and whether they should remain segregated or not.
The arguments for segregated schools started with as long as it is equal it is fine.  Plessy v. Ferguson showed just this, that "separate but equal" is the standard.  Additionally, integration will just make African American children feel inferior, they are already behind the white students.  Putting white and black children together would be detrimental. Lastly, State and local government has the rights to choose if it is segregated or not.  Schooling and education is not a federal issue.
The arguments made for nonsegregated started with the big point that things are not truly equal, African Americans are receiving a lower quality of education in facilities that are not as nice.  Additionally, these kids were born in the United States, making them citizens. Thus, they are entitled to equal rights, therefore making Jim Crow Laws and "separate but equal" unconstitutional. Lastly, separating creates complexes and creates long-lasting psychological effects and sense of inferiority.
I felt that the arguments made on both sides were good however, the arguments made for banning segregation were stronger. Ultimately the decision was to ban segregation, which was a big step for the civil rights movement.

Plessy V. Ferguson Review

Both teams made valid argument for this case involving a man, Plessy, who was part African American who bought a first class train ticket in the white only car. Team one argued for Plessy. There first argument was that all person born are citizens of the United States, and being denied this seat he was not being treated as a full citizen. Additionally, Plessy was only one eighth black. it was not even noticeable that he was African American and he was able to buy the ticket and walk around the train with out anyone noticing or caring.  Team one made it evident that he was not causing any problems and by being a citizen he should have the right to sit there.
Team two also made valid arguments starting with that Plessy was fully aware that it was a white only car and he should not have been there. He deliberately defied the Jim Crow Laws which made things separate but equal. Additionally, his rights were not harmed because he was asked to move to an equal car.
Overall both teams had strong argument but the final decision was team two won.  I agreed with this from a legal standpoint just because I felt that team two had stronger arguments that really agreed with the time and were supported by the law.

"White Like Me" Reflection

Having read the book "Black Like Me" in high school the title "White Like Me" intrigued me.  "Black Like Me" explored what it was like to be and African American, specifically in the South, in the 1950's.  This book was definitely head turning, but never had I thought of it in reverse.  What would it be like to be white? It is just who I am, rarely do I ever think about the difference my skin color makes. Especially with it being the 21st century, the thought that racism and equality exists just seems absurd.  This was exactly the point that the documentary featuring Tim Wise made.  That racial inequality and white privilege is indeed still an issue.  He made a valid point that many white American's continuously insist that racism and inequality is not at all an issue.  We reassure ourselves through many things, specifically having an African American president.  However, racism is still an issue.  Racial profiling from cops is one predominant issue that many people overlook.
One point which I found especially interesting was how white people complain that in fact, they are actually the ones being targeted.  For example, African Americans have scholarships that are not available to them, therefore they see this as unfair and "racist".  However, that is not that case at all, nearly double the opportunities are available to white people that are not available to African Americans.  It was made clear that racism is very much so still a problem when the point was made that  a white person with a criminal record is more likely to get the job in comparison to an African American with no criminal record.  Overall, America has come a long way with equality, however this documentary showed that we might not be as equal as we thought and we still have a ways to go.

First Amendment Intended to Protect Creepy Photographers?

It's legal to do this in Massachusetts and Texas

Exactly 225 years ago today congress passed the Bill of Rights.  The bill of rights gives us Americans everything from freedom of speech to the right of peaceful assembly and petition.  However, I am sure that 225 years ago they never imagined that the first amendment would be used in the defense of "up-skirt photos".  In Texas the state law banning improper photography in public has been thrown out, meaning anyone can take pictures of anyone in public places. This is because photographs are "inherently expressive" and a camera is "essentially the photographers pen and paint brush".  I find this to be ridiculous considering this ruling originated from a case in 2011 where Ronald Thomas was charged for taking pictures of children's breasts and butts at Sea World in San Antonio.  However, Thomas has walked away with no charges due to the fact that the court believed he can do that due to the first amendment.  I do not think that a camera could be necessarily classified at the same respects as a "pen and paintbrush" considering that a camera is instant.  With that, I do not see how the first amendment would even begin to justify taking indecent photos of children.  Not only Texas but also Massachusetts has ruled that taking photos up the skirts of women is perfectly legal given they are wearing underwear. Who knew that 225 years later the Bill of Rights would defend creepy men who take perverted pictures, I am sure that that is not what the Bill of Rights was intended to do.

Read More about it Here

Losing State V Mann

Did punishing John Mann for shooting a slave violate his rights as a slave owner? The answer to that question, in my opinion, is yes.  Our team, Team Nido, argued with that opinion.  Our arguments consisted of:

Judge Thomas Ruffin

1) Cruelty and inhumanity in slavery 

2) That John Mann did not own the slave therefore had no right to commit battery against Lydia 

3) That Lydia has higher stature than an animal and based on animal cruelty laws Mann deserved a punishment 

4) That the bible is economic not race based and states that abuse of slaves is wrong

Our arguments I thought were strong, however the opposing team had solid arguments that agreed with many opinions at the time of the case in 1830.  These arguments were economic based and incredibly logical at that time period. I could see how our team lost the case, although I did find it interesting to see how Mann initially was given a fine.  The fine was only five dollars, but it was a fine which was given to Mann by twelve white men who were also slave owners.  It is interesting to see that opinion is starting to shift in that time, even though that fine was eventually taken away. Another thing that I found very interesting was the animal cruelty laws which I researched. It was truly incredible, in a horrific way, to see that in some ways cruelty of animals was taken more seriously than cruelty inflicted upon human beings. In the United Kingdom in 1822, eight years prior to this case, Parliament passed the Cruel and Improper Treatment Cattle Act which prohibits improper treatment of horses, cattle, sheep, ox ect. and is enforced with punishments.  Yet, in the United States eight years later, a women can get shot in the back and the man who did it gets no punishment. I learned from this that it is hard to put your mind into a different time period, but it is essential to do so in order to understand decisions made.

Read about 1800's animal cruelty laws here

The Aftermath of 9/11

Thirteen years ago on September 11th , 2001 nearly 3,000 lives were lost when terrorists hijacked four planes, but what did we lose besides those 3,000 lives? We lost freedom. Freedom, the foundation of our country, and what many seek when they come to the United States, and a portion of that was lost in that tragedy thirteen years ago. The Patriot Act is the result of that tragedy and this Act is one which violates our rights as United States citizens. Starting with the Fourth Amendment, which states that the government can not conduct searches without a warrant and probable cause. Yet, with the Patriot Act the Government now no longer has to show probable cause, now “All the government needs to do is make the broad assertion that the request is related to an ongoing terrorism or foreign intelligence investigation”. Not only does it violate the fourth amendment, it also violates the first amendment by allowing the FBI to launch investigations for citizens exercising their freedom of speech. Surveillance orders can be started just based off of what someone is reading, websites that they have visited and even a letter that they have written to the an editor. Additionally violating the first amendment is by restricting freedom of speech by “prohibiting the recipients of search orders from telling others about those orders, even where there is no real need for secrecy.”. Not only that, but it violates many more of our rights as United States citizens. Overall, September 11th was a horrible day, and only made more devastating by our rights and amendments being violated by our own government.

Read more about it here

Justice Department Stepping In

Today the Justice Department is expected to open a civil rights investigation on the Ferguson, Missouri police department.  This will investigate primarily the complaints of racial profiling and the use of excessive force. After the tragedy which occurred with Michael Brown being shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer, many protests uprose. In my opinion, because of the weeks of protests that followed this event, there is clearly a bigger issue than just that one shooting.  It is evident that this is an issue which has just been brought forward after years of repressed problems. Evidentially there is an issue of racial profiling and police officers abusing their power and disregarding the law.  With that, the Justice Department is not only investigating Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot Michael Brown, they also plan to investigate the entire police department.  In addition, they intend to look into other police departments in Saint Louis County.  Many of these departments are mainly white police officers serving predominately African American areas. This investigation will look deeply into whether Wilson violated Brown's civil rights and if the departments used different strategies and practices which violates the citizens civil rights.  Currently there are six lawsuits against Ferguson police officers all of which claim unnecessary force was used.  It is horrible that it took a kid having to die and weeks of protesting for people to see the recurring issue of racism and abuse of power.  It is clear that the police officers are not doing their job, abusing their power and violating the rights of many citizens.

Read Article Here