Media Reflection project

For this research, various special feature stories from newspapers, magazines, television, and the internet were chosen for examination. The media's portrayal of social movements varied according to theme. The mass media is the most important means of spreading information. As a result, the media plays a significant role in the study of social movements since it conveys the concepts underlying the social movement. The articles listed below provide insight into the media's critical role.
Article 1: It is not necessary for #blacklivesmatter, #alllivesmatter, and #bluelivesmatter to be mutually exclusive. On July 11, 2017, Timeica Bethel published an article on the Huffington Post. This article published in the Huffington Post on July 11, 2017

This article published in the Huffington Post revisits the issue of police brutality on innocent black people. The article reported that the movement of #blacklivesmatter is always misinterpreted to means that black lives matter more than other lives. The article gives a sober understanding of the movement against racism and partial application of the law. The article argued for equal application of the law since all people matter regardless of their gender, race or social background. The motivation behind the black lives matter is to protest against the ethnic profiling of blacks and criminals . As reported in the article, black people are more likely to suffer police brutality in comparison to white people. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has been popularized on Twitter by supporters who want all people to be treated equally. The hashtag has been considered antipolice, prompting the creation of another hashtag, #BlueLivesMatter which is a social movement supporting the police. Similarly, #AllLivesMatter is a neutral hashtag that supports the preservation of social order.

From a personal perspective, the lives of all individuals matter and nobody should face brutality by virtue of his or her race. The Article supports the structural strain theory which states that people will exercise deviance because of social strain. The tensions aim to bridge the gap between cultural goals and the means of achieving those goals. Another theory that supports the theme of the article is the social learning theory which explains the process of socialization in which growth influences the development of the individuals. The social learning theory can be used to explain the issue of crime and deviance.

Article 2: A “Very Black” social movement encouraging dialogue around race by Aaron Barksdale in the Huffington Post

This article published in the Huffington Post on October 14, 2015, reports about a social movement that aims at supporting dialogue on the issue of race. The new movement “very black” was started by Justin Fulton a photographer and Andre Singleton as a pro-black initiative . The social movement celebrated being black through the use of social activism. The objective of the movement is to initiate conversations about experiences of being black with the aim of bringing all races together. The campaign has picked the twitter hashtag #veryblack to promote the objectives of the group.

The “very black” social movement provides an avenue for social order and reconciliation. According to the objective of the movement, it is evident that it is aimed at promoting love and togetherness. The objective matches with the Functionalist social theory in which says that social order is possible if the society is to remain stable. The movement supports social exchange between parties since it will bring the greatest benefit. It is evident that human relations are formed based on the benefits. It is therefore important to create unity rather than chaos.

Article 3: Tennessee police on high alert but white nationalist rallies pass quietly. By Lois Beckett and Edward Helmore.

This article published in the Guardian on October 28, 2017, discusses the nationalist rallies pushing for the agenda of “White lives matter”. These are groups of white nationalists who were protesting against the rally “White lives matter” held in Murfreesboro . The protesters chanted different slogans criticizing the agenda of “black lives matter”. The police were on high alert to respond to any kind of violence that could erupt but the protests were largely peaceful.

The problem of white supremacy in America is gradually escalating with the interactions among people being based o issues like race. According to the symbolic interaction theory, people develop meaning based on who they interact with. The white supremacist and white nationalist groups rely on these interactions to shape their ideologies and perspectives.

Article 4: Neo-Nazi coalition rallies in Tennessee amid pushback. By Patrick Strickland

The article aired on Aljazeera on October 29, 2017, which talked about the rallies staged by far-right supremacist groups. The article discussed the issues of the confrontation between Neo-Nazi groups and counter-protesting groups . The groups involved included the Traditional worker party, Neo-confederate league and the Nationalist Socialist Movement. The issues of contention included the protest for refugee resettlement and mass shooting that has been rampant in U.S. As noted the groups have spurred new waves of violence across the nation hence the negative criticism.

It is evident that white supremacist groups support the conflict theory given the chaos reported in the meetings. The argument by the white supremacist's groups is that of coercion and power to develop social order. Personally, I see that the white supremacist groups accuse the minority groups of taking jobs and resources from them. The competition for social and economic resources is the major cause of the social order.







References

Barksdale, A. (2015, Oct 14). A "Very Black" social movement is encouraging dialogue around race`. Retrieved Nov 8, 2017, from Huffington Post: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-very-black-social-movement-is-encouraging-a-dialogue-around-race_us_561d0df8e4b028dd7ea51468

Beckett, L., & Helmore, E. (2017, Oct 28). Tennessee police on high alert but white nationalist rallies pass quietly. Retrieved Nov 8, 2017, from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/oct/28/tennessee-white-lives-matter-neo-nazi-rallies#img-1

Bethel, T. (2017, July 11). #BlackLivesMatter, #AllLivesMatter, and # BlueLivesMatter don't have to be mutually exclusive. Retrieved Nov 8, 2017, from Huffington Post: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/blacklivesmatter-alllives_b_10917196.html

Stickland, P. (2017, Oct 29). Neo-Nazi coalition rallies in Tennessee amid pushback. Retrieved Nov 8, 2017, from Aljazeera: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/neo-nazi-coalition-rallies-Tennessee-pushback-171028192614845.html