How American Hisotry X Relates to Political Science Text Think American Government

Lisa _______________ Professor _______________ Political Science 02 Due April 3, 2013 SUMMARY American History X was written by David McKenna and directed by Tony Kaye. have Edward Norton as Derek Vinyard, the icon was released in 1998. The main head of the moving-picture show is the amicable and political issues of racism. It is a story of how a family is affected by unriva conduct sons view of the history of race roles in America, his animation within the neo Nazi culture, and finally, after resigning himself to such a life-style due to prison reformation, his attempt to pull his younger brother from the resembling way of violent life.Ultimately, it is a story of the cycles of hate surrounding racism. The depiction is shown in non-linear narrative where events are assumption divulge of chronological vow. When difference back in time, the audience is given black and white deal whereas the present is portrayed in color. Danny Vinyard, is given an assignment to write a n move on the incarceration of the main character, his older brother, Derek. The essay was to entail what led up to the incarceration and how his family was affected. The verbal reflection of his essay is when the audience is shown the film presented in black and white.Also during the verbal reflection, we find out that Derek was incarcerated for the murder of 2 total darkness thieves who were trying to steal the truck left to him by his fresh father who was killed by, non without intent of the writer, a caustic man a few long time prior. With that, the storyline is set up so that we recognize why Derek and Danny have turned to a life of neo national socialism and why Derek was given a 3 year sentence for passage overboard in killing the thieves the brothers have been affected by the criminality of the barren culture.The essay assigned to Danny, which was due the following solar day, was an assignment given by Dannys foul principal after his Jewish instructor reported a q uestionable essay to him entitled My Mein Kampft. In the 24 hours in which the essay is being written, and narrated to the viewers, we learn the entire story of the brothers journeys from reasonable kids, through neo Nazism and back, only to learn their lesson too new when Danny is fatally struck down by a former Black recipient of his race hatred, essay still in hand.American History X correlates to the discussions of the class as well as various points of the class textbook, envisage American Government. The film backs up devil class discussions thus further in the semester Khalil Muhammads theory on Black criminality in America in addition to Bryan Stevensons ideas on the stigma of plentitude incarceration attached to the Black culture in America.The film in addition touches on political issues from the text, such as immigration, the foremost amendment to The United States organization, and Hate-Crimes Legislation. Khalil Muhammad The timeline of the film literally goes back 24 hours flashes back 3 historic period and historically traces back to both 1863 and 1865 when, respectively, the Emancipation Proclamation was signed (proclaiming slaves in retainer territory to be free forever) and when the first Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was organized.Some may even consider that the story goes back to the beginning of slavery in the United States colonies because those were the first racist acts of early America and upon which America was formed. Khalil Muhammad, a current day Black historian, might argue that the plot of this film traces back to the here and now when, in 1865, following the Civil War, European immig spirts were given opportunities by the political science to stray from their acts of criminality but recently freed Black mess were not.Instead, as Muhammad asserts in a Bill Moyers interview, as well as his book, disapproval of Blackness, Black people were sent to ghetto housing to sort their criminality out on their own, whereas White European immigrants were given social welfare and occupation opportunities because they were, as Muhammad states, melodic theme of as children of Americans who need our help, but Blacks were thought of as naturally morally inferior and had propensity to harm people or steal.American History X mimics this way of American political orientation when Derek preaches, Were so hung up on this notion that we have some pact to help the struggling Black man, you know. Cut him some slack until he can overcome these historical injustices. Its crap. I mean, Christ, Lincoln freed the slaves, like, what- 130 eld ago? How long does it mete out to get your act together? If Derek had enounce Damnation of Blackness, he would ensure Muhammads theory that it has been 130 years (from the end of Civil War to the making of the film) of a race in America that has ontinued to be downtrodden and imprisoned through actions such as Black Codes, Stop and Frisk policy, and the invention of the criminal justice s ystem as a repressive tool to keep black people in their place. That is a hard battle to win. Derek might also run into how he fits into Muhammads theory that the European race has ideologies of an institutionalized Black race when Derek complains, One in every three Black males is in some phase of the correctional system. Is that a coincidence or do these people have, you know, like a racial commitment to crime? Bryan Stevenson non only does such a statement back up Muhammads theory about American ideologies, but it also touches on Bryan Stevensons argument. In Stevensons interview conducted by Bill Moyer, Stevenson states that in order to change the notion that the Black man is a criminal, we must understand the history from where it stems, and we must care about human rights and dignity plot of ground we remember that all of our survival is tied to the survival of everyone. That our visions of technology, design, entertainment and creative thinking have to be married with the visions of humanity, compassion and justice.Dereks rant about Black males in the correctional system oozes with Stevensons idea that the power of criminality identity among Black culture ultimately came from how American politics and Europeans have stigmatized the Black race. In the scene where Derek finds himself in his prison cell begging African American Principal Sweeney to help him, it is not until Sweeney replies, Has everything youve done made your life better? that Derek sees the light and begins to make a change toward a life outside neo Nazism. This is a ameliorate example of the power of identity which is Stevensons underlying idea to his theory.Immigration The writers of American History X touch on the prohibited immigration government issue as does the text, Think American Government, in chapter 1. The textbook says that, critics (of smuggled immigrants) fringe that undocumented workers drive down wage rates for American citizens (15). In the film there is a scen e in which Derek gives a verbalise to his neo Nazi peers on the subject of illegal immigrants to pump them up to terrorize a neighborhood store that has been taken over by a Korean owner who replaced the American workers with 0 illegal immigrants Its about the hardworking Americans falling through the cracks and getting the shaft because their government cares more about the constitutional rights of illegal immigrants. However, the textbook lends a separate thought stating advocates contend that the United States benefits from illegal immigration. They argue that undocumented workers take jobs that citizens do not want and that they pay more taxes than they receive in government services (15). It is also worth noting the difference in illegal immigrant statistics from when the film was released in 1998 until now.According to the U. S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 2,830,000 illegal immigrants resided in California in 2011 compared to 2. 5 million in 2000. In the like sce ne, Derek states, Theres over 2 million illegal immigrants bed clothing down in (California) tonight $400 million just to go up a bunch of illegal immigrant criminals In an article by BakersfieldNow. com on May 25, 2011, it was estimated, using data from California Department of corrections and Rehabilitation from 2010, that California now spends $1 billion on illegal immigrant prisoners compared to the time the motion-picture show was released. irst amendment & Hate-Crimes Legislation Another point worth noting, from when the movie was released in 1998 until now, is hate-crime laws. Within the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution added in 1791, Amendment 1 states, Congress shall make no law abridging the emancipation of speech (363). Although the first amendment protects exemption of speech, it is not legal to use freedom of expression during an act of hate crime. The textbook states in recent years, galore(postnominal) states have adopted hate-crimes legislation, enhancing penalties for persons convicted of crimes motivated by bias (69).Interestingly, Obama signed a bill in 2009 which was rooted by two hate-crimes of 1998, the year American History X was released, but it was before the movie that the Hate Crimes Statistics influence of 1990 came into effect. According to USA Today, in an article published October 28, 2009 and entitled Obama Signs Hate-crimes justness Rooted in Crimes of 1998, the Matthew Shepard and pack Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention dally expanded the existing Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990 and mandated that it is against the law to attack any person based on sexual orientation or gender, in ddition to race, color, religion or national origin. Matthew Shepard was a gay teen beat by two Wyoming men in October of 1998, after which he was tied to a fence where he died. In June of the same year, James Byrd Jr. , an African American man, was chained to a truck by three white men in Texas and dragged to his death. Notably, as the text explains increase penalties are given for those charged with hate-crimes, Derek only received 3 years for his hate-crime in the film.In conclusion, I would recommend the film to anyone interested in lacking to broaden their horizons on the race wars in America. I thought it was responsible that Derek verbally gave the stereotypical views of hate mongers in America, but it would be raise to see how Khalil Muhammad and Bryan Stevenson might add their theories to the dialogs of the Jewish teacher or the Black principal to show America a way of thinking that I believe is not in the public eye as more as it should be. Perhaps a film should come our way from those two aforementioned?