When considering the events which took place in Manhattan on February 12th, one must consider the reasoning as to why authoritative measures had to take place to stop the protest and minimize potential risk. When the protest began, we can assume that it began peacefully with minimal aggression or hostility from either side (protesters & police). At this time the protesters were well within their 1st Amendments rights to continue their assembly. It wasn’t until some protesters and other citizens there began showing more signs of violence and combativeness, when their 1st Amendment right to peaceful assembly had to be taken from them. This in turn, increased aggression requiring additional police intervention. When applying the first bedrock principle to this protest, it’s possible that some protesters were frustratedly unaware that 1st Amendment protection is not absolute and continued their aggression believing the police to be acting unconstitutionally.
Friday, March 5, 2021
Blog Post #3 - Civil War & Reconstruction
On Friday, February 12th, a “Defund the Police’ demonstration/protest was organized by the Black Lives Matter Movement promoting the economic reformation of the police. During the event, tensions between the roughly 100 protesters and the police began to grow increasingly more hostile with 11 protesters arrested and 2 cops injured. The NYPD’s spokeswoman reported that each of those arrested were charged with obstructing governmental administration, assault, disorderly conduct, and unlawful assembly. Sam Costanza, a Photographer for the Daily News was recognized by one of the BLM protesters and wrongfully accused of being a Cop. According to the FoxNews report, “About a dozen people surrounded the photog, shoving him and beating him with their fists and other objects” leaving him with a broken nose before receiving assistance from authorities. One protester who chose a rather unique approach to non-peaceful protesting was 19 year old Angel Rivera who was untimely arrested for biting an officers thigh and kicking another’s foot. From the NYPost’s article covering the events which occurred that night, “Rivera was charged with two counts of assault on a police officer, two counts of assault, one count of resisting arrest, obstructing governmental justice and unlawful possession of a noxious matter.” Noxious matter referring to a container of some kind able to spread suffocating fumes or vapors with the intent to immobilize another person.
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Key Blogpost #3 - EOTO Terms & Concepts
The Spiral of Silence is a psychological and communicational theory referring to people’s tendency to audibly shield their true beliefs due to their perceived assumption of it being oppositional to that of the majority. The theory goes on to discuss how humans are always observing and mentally taking note of their environment, the social interactions they’re a part of, and how they individually compare to the people around them. There are plenty of reasons as to justify why one would feel obligated not to share their opinion, but the primary reason highlighted by the theory is fear of isolation. The fear that those around the group will treat an individual differently and/or negatively once they know they have opinions contrasting from that of the group. Spiral of Silence could also apply in a professional environment to an employee who fears speaking out about or against the company they work for assuming it would get them fired and/or punished in some way.
The theory was created by a German political scientist named Elisabeth Noelle-Neuman. Communicationtheory.org’s article on the theory claims that, “Through this Spiral of Silence theory Neumann indirectly explains the Jews status during World War II under Nazi’s control. Here, Adolf Hitler dominated the whole society and the minority Jews became silent due to the fear of isolation or separation” (2011). In Germany during WWII, Jews feared for their lives on a daily basis. Due to their steadily declining social status at the time, members of the Jewish religion had to minimize the chances of “isolation or separation” and often the most effective means of doing so, was to remain silent. The theory however is not absolute and has some weaknesses. One notable defect being the internet and how it allows users to feel less threatened socially, resulting in higher levels of confidence in reference to posting opinions which don’t support or go against that of mainstream mass media outlets. The internet grants users the ability to recreate themselves through their virtual presence and voice their more critical opinions from a position which expects fewer emotional repercussions from the other party.
I have never been one to enjoy debating politics unless it’s in a safe environment for all parties involved. The reason for my distaste regarding political discussion is solely due to the 2016 United States Presidential elections. I was in my senior year and attended an extremely democratic high school with students and friend groups that would immediately shun you away if they found out or heard you support any traditional opinion from the right. In addition to that, I would drive home each day to my parents who both majorly share republican ideals. Thankfully I never received any kind of noticeable pressure from my family as to where my political affiliation should lie. I stopped using Facebook altogether due to my disdain for how much political toxicity was displayed over and over on the platform by my friends and family. I remained deep in the spiral of silence and preferred not partaking in political discussion for many years of my life before I started putting more effort into discovering my true political beliefs. I know that I am not alone and plenty of others preferred to remain silent rather than risk social isolation.
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