How Media Misinformation and Sensationalism Deteriorates the Mind

Yesterday, September 23rd was an average day for me in Marietta, GA for the exception of school being closed for the third day in a row (no complaints here). I decided to run a couple errands for the Semper Fidelis Society on campus by making a couple flyers and taking them up to the school. Simple enough right? Wrong! I live in East Cobb, some call the people around this area "The East Cobb Snobs" and I never really knew why. I went to the OfficeMax on Johnson's Ferry Rd to make my copies and ended up having a conversation with a woman late 30's early 40's. She saw the flyers and asked me about the Marine Corps. I figured it would stop there and I would go about my business, but that would have been too easy. She resumed the conversation by asking me about what I did in Iraq and what I thought about what was going on in the UN today and what I thought of the Islamic people of the Middle East. I gave her my informed first-hand person experience and opinion about them, trying to be as objective as possible. What took me aback was her response. She said, "Well I read somewhere on an Internet website that those Islamic people are trying to breed at a high rate to invade America." You could imagine the shock on my face hearing this and you could hear a pin drop in the entire OfficeMax. I should have gotten an Oscar for how I held it together. Anyway, I responded to her says that I believed that the people of the Middle East have a strong affinity for their homelands and have not shown in my opinion any intention of invading the United States of America. She then tries to rebut my statement by saying, "Well during the crusades they took over other people's land." So I figured I would respectfully inform her that the Christian faith did also during the crusades, and the various sovereign states in Europe colonized Africa, the West Indies, etc. At this point she sat back in her chair with her lips pursed and her eyes rolled. I then went on to tell her that she cannot solely base decisions or ideas about people based on a radical groups views and biases and consider it legitimate. I told her that by going over to the Middle East and observing people and their culture through daily routine allowed me to dispel many inaccuracies that I had about I people I did not know much about. I told her that it did not matter which news channel she watched or where she received her information from, she had an obligation to make sure that the information she received was accurate in nature. (I think she stopped listening after the crusade comment anyway.)

All in all, it was a shame to see this woman who figured she was well informed enough to pass judgement on a people, religion, and region she in fact knew nothing about. As I paid for my copies and got in my car to head to KSU I asked myself, "How many other people are out there that think like this?" I was disgusted, ashamed, disappointed, and insulted by the ignorance of this woman. Can we blame her? At her age, we should. We have already talked about how much blame and fingers can be pointed at the various mediums, but it all comes back to the individual in front of the television and computer.

I am no diplomatic official. What I do know is with media sensationalism we have allowed and sometimes even advocated the dehumanization of peoples who we cannot understand, don't care to understand, hold different beliefs, and who are just different from what we see in the mirror. This we must hold the media and ourselves accountable for. It is unacceptable behavior for a nation that considers itself civilized and democratic.

I would like to end this blog with a quote from the movie School Daze, directed by Spike Lee.

"WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
-Laurence Fishburne

Flair Up in Hate Crimes and Racial Negativity

There has been a lot going on in the news and since President Obama has been in office the racial issue in America has been brought more out into the open. Recently there have been two-three main racially related incidents covered by the media. First, the issue with the Harvard Prof., Mr. Gates and the Police, and just recently with this incident in Morrow, GA where on 09 September at a Cracker Barrel and black female Army Reservist was assaulted in front of her 7-year old daughter by a white male name Troy D. West who screamed racial slurs at her. Also, there was a incident on 22 August in which a 18-year old white male was assaulted by 10-12 black men for dating a black female.

With all the health care coverage and hoopla, these issues have been brushed under the media rug. It's interesting that during the Civil Rights movement the media is what allowed Americans all across the country to see what was really going on with the racial issues especially in the South. Today, why is it less important to report on? I have also noticed that some racial issues or assaults especially against whites rarely are reported. Some might say that "Hate crime laws are designed to punish the thoughts of white, straight, males. Only blacks, homosexuals, Hispanics and Muslims (women, too, on a good day) are protected under these laws. (1)" Are we only shining light on some of these cases now that there is a mixed-race president in the White House that looks like any other black male? What about those pockets of protester that are being seen at the Tea Party meetings and marches? Do we choose to say nothing to them only because they are not shouting the "N" word? We need to put these issues back in the forefront of the media and ensure ALL PEOPLE no matter their race, creed, color, sexual orientation, or religion are protected under these laws. And reporting on these issues should also be impartial. Tell me what you think. Are the laws essentially punishing white men for the actions of their ancestors by allowing them not to be protected from "minority" abuse? Why do you think the media report on these issues differently?

Reference

1. http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2005/04/13/sorry/

Take a note from Rep. Joe Wilson

It's not what you think it is. I know what the title says but this is how I look at it. If we as citizens have the gumption to do what Mr. Wilson did to the President in front of the World, we should be able to do it to the news media. "You lie!" It's all over the place and it has caused all kinds of havoc. Even though the President was not referring to the current HR bill, his ideas mirror that more of the plan coming out of the Senate. I bet if I turned on the television right now all the stations would still be talking about the same thing. So, do you think the statement helped the President's cause or not? We'll just have to see. At last now we know why the town halls are so nutts. This was essentially Town hall meets House Floor. They had signs like town halls attendees (Republican had a sign on his lap saying, "What Bill?") I think I talked about this before. Behavior like this reinforces constituents to resort to the same acts when confronted with issues they don't agree with. Maybe we should start teaching a Tact 1001 course to Congress. Just a thought. If anyone has ever watched BBC when they are showing the British Parliament in session, their representatives are a lot more entertaining than ours, and I think they already have Health care reform. I say Bring Out the Boxing Gloves! The spectacle already sounded like a World Cup match. All we needed was the naked guy running down the isle in just a tie and the brawl at the end.