White Like Me

In class today we were told to meet in the video room to watch a movie to discuss in class. When I first arrived I had no idea we were going to be watching a video concerning racism in America and how each side has their own problems and debate concerning the problem. In the beginning the narrator talks about how racism is a growing problem in the country and how it needs to be talked about and argued over in order for a solution to be created. However I believe that the best way to get rid of this racism is to create a way in which it isn't brought up by every media reporter or newspaper editor in the country. Their shouldn't be a way of thinking in which racism has to be considered every time. As in the most recent controversy in Ferguson concerning the killing of a black teen by a white police officer. The people are more mad that he was a white officer than anything. If the people of Ferguson could look at the incident as simply a police officer shooting a teen for violating the law and threatening the officer we would have no problem. But since there close mindedness allows for simply to see a black versus white incident we end up with riots and the burning of businesses. Now the thing that makes me the most angry about the incident is that the riots have begun to attack and destroy innocent business owners buildings. For example just the other day they burned down a man's pizza business. How can they justify this destruction of property by a teen's murder. They shouldn't be allowed to destroy a man's business who worked hard and followed all the rules to create this establishment which they are now burning to the ground. They are robbing and looting from small business's in the area. How does this help? I'd love to hear how they justify this ridiculousness. I want one of the reporters to interview these so called rioters and find out exactly what they are thinking because I can guarantee they are taking advantage of the angry citizens and joining in the riots just to loot and steal. They aren't personally concerned with the murder of Micheal Brown, this needs to be taken care of and brought back to the real problem of racism.

MLK Jr. Movie Day

In class today we decided to watch a documentary on the famous March on Washington on August of 1963. The film began with the organization of the march by a group of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 supporters. Their job was to rally together the whole entire nation to march on the capitol in the span of one day. Their rally needed to be strong but nonviolent which considering the latest marches in the south was not very likely. The Theory of Popular Constitutionalism was directly seen in this bill because a whole nation was fighting to have segregation and it worked once the bill passed. With the bill in congress the supporters began to rally into a group the size of approximentally 250,000. The organizers would fundraise day and night to raise money for chartering buses and flights to move people from the oppressed southern states to Washington, D.C. for the events and speeches. Once people had congregated onto every inch of green grass that could accommodate them, celebrities would began to play music and introduce speakers. The first speaker was John Lewis who was remembered as having the second best speech of the day but no one in the area could compete with Martin Luther King Jr. He delivered his famous "I have a dream" speech, with the whole nation watching he changed the hearts and minds of every individual in the United States that day. As the day ended, it was determined a year later that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was to pass and be put into law very soon. The dream of MLK Jr. was achieved and they finally "free at last"

Mock Trial of Brown v. Board of Education

In class today we decided to conduct our third mock trial of the semester. For this mock trial we decided to decipher the strongly debated case of Brown v. Board of Education. The case was so important because it allowed for the desegregation of white and black schools in Topeka. In saying this, the case of Plessy v. Ferguson was overturned and the schools were combined. I decided to join the side of the parents who were fighting to place their kids in the nicer more educationally superior white schools. The thirteen parents who stood behind 20 black children were in the right to receive a proper education. Seeing as though the children were indicated as United States citizens they should be guaranteed education that is equal to that of a white child. They tried to create this with the Plessy trial but in turn the black schools were underfunded and in turn created a separation in the learning communities for blacks. The states  This wasn't right and needed to be fixed with the creation of one school.
In the end, the prosecution was right because they defeated the board and created equal schooling. Their arguments were stronger and more supported by the court. The judge also seemed to agree with their decisions. It was not only against the law but also unfair to the black race.

Russian Troops begin withdraw from Ukraine

        Even though Ebola has struck the nation and ISIS is running wild throughout the middle east you can't forget about the chaos in Ukraine. US secretary John Kerry stated earlier this week from Paris that Russian troops have begun to withdraw from Ukraine. He warned Russia that they need to speed up their process because deadly shelling in Ukraine is still going on. After talking with Sergei Lavrov, John Kerry continued to push the talks about lifting sanctions about the crisis that has caused tensions comparable to those of the Cold War between the two countries. "And at this point... many of them are happening now. The troops are pulling back, (but) the heavy equipment still has to be pulled back and the border is yet to be properly monitored and secured," Kerry told reporters in Paris. The crisis has caused the a total life loss of 3,400, the new defense minister of Ukraine has said that the country will be ramping up their armed forces to be able to combat with the Russian aggression. The sanctions in Russia have cut off the country's ability to trade with Western countries and caused some of the larger companies in Russia to call for a government bailout.         This crisis has now caused the super power of Russia to begin a recession and bailout some of their major companies that employ most of the nation. I find it ridiculous that Russia felt a need  to attack Ukraine in the first place and create a mass panic. The panic caused a plane to be shot down and civilians killed due to a misguidance of a missile. Conspiracy theories have been created and are allowing for the citizens of both countries to become scared of their government. Also a general election that is very needed in the Ukraine will be pushed back due to the crisis and the public disbelief over the endless murders. Ukraine is a country trying to graduate to a more prestigious level in the economic world. This setback has indefinitely slowed down this process and harmed the country's well-being. 

Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-says-russian-troops-withdrawing-ukraine-194344634.html

Mock Trial of Plessy v. Fergusson

          In class today, we decided to conduct a mock trial considering the supreme court case of Plessy v. Fergusson. In 1892, Mr. Plessy bought a train ticket for the whites only section of the rail car and in doing this he violated the Separate Car Act. Mr. Plessy was considered to be 1/8 black and 7/8 white, after taking seat in the whites only section he was arrested by a private detective and was taken off the train before the ride had arrived at its destination. He was then charged a fine of 25 dollars for the infraction. This law is ridiculous because the 7/8 of him should have allowed him to sit in the whites only section but the state of Louisiana did not allow for any percent black to sit in the white only section of public areas. Is it possible for him to have only 1/8 of his body sit in the black section, would the courts like for him to remove his arm and leave it in a separate section of the train? Team Lincoln states that Mr. Plessy did inform the rail company that he was black and they expected him to follow the law and sit with the black car, however he did go against this ruling and place himself into a predicament with the law.
         Plessy argues that the law is not content neutral and does discriminate exactly against blacks and not against any other races but the typical white vs. black separation. While the 14th amendment states that all citizens must be equal, no rights were violated by the railroads decision to create black and white cars. The cars were equal and allowed for each race to sit equally in their own cars therefore does not violate the 14th amendment. The law does not stamp the blacks as inferior it only says that each race must be treated equally and in this case they both were represented by the rail company equally. In this statement, I do believe that the law was not broken nor were the rights of the 14th amendment infringed, however it is wrong for the races to be separated just for their skin color and past. Therefore the supreme court should have voted for equal amenities for blacks and whites in public areas.

First Case of Ebola discovered in Texas

A man who landed in the international Dallas Airport on September 20 has been diagnosed with Ebola. The man had spent some time in Liberia and had flown home to Texas, he was sent to The Center for Disease Control and officially diagnosed with the Ebola virus. This man is the first case of Ebola in the United States since the outbreak in Africa. Hospitals in the United States knew that the virus would sooner or later make its way out of Africa. They are prepared and ready for the cases with the proper treatment and containment labs.
The man was visiting relatives in Liberia and was even screened for the virus before boarding the flight. Since Ebola can't infect or be detectible until symptoms arrive. Since the patient didn't have symptoms during the flight there is no way that he could have infected the other citizens on the flight. The virus is only spread by direct fluid contact between patients. The man was not diagnosed but only after living normally for a few days in which he could have spread the disease. A C.D.C team has been dispatched to investigate the case and track down any possible cases of infection. Dr. Freiden, a leading doctor on the case states that "I have no doubt that we will stop this in its tracks in the US." President Obama was notified by Dr. Freiden once the case was diagnosed. The Obama administration has been working to contain the public scare by twitter and Facebook. They continue to repeat that case has been stopped and that their is no need to worry about everyday life. The White House then released a statement saying "America has the best doctors and public health infrastructure in the world, and we are prepared to respond to Ebola.” In seeing this I fully believe in the health system of the United States and I believe that they will have no problem in containing this small case and continuing to shut down the virus from entering the states. 

Source Cited:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/health/airline-passenger-with-ebola-is-under-treatment-in-dallas.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSumSmallMedia&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

New Cases of Ebola Discovered in Africa

The Ebola disease has created mass paranoia in Africa. The disease has killed countless Africans and infected a few American doctors, where as some of the Americans were saved by a new treatment. The treatment appears to work but only very small amounts can be produced at a time and they are very difficult to get a hold of. In Freetown, Sierra Lione health teams have gone door to door counting the number of infected cases and so far have recorded 130 confirmed cases. The nation is trying to contain the disease by locking down the sick and keeping the healthy as far away as possible. The outbreak in Africa has overwhelmed the infected nation's health systems. The lack of ambulances doesn't allow the sick to reach treatment centers and the dead infected bodies have begun to accumulate due to lack of burial service. Western countries have promised to send in help to build treatment centers and doctors to assist the diseased. 
"It's important for African governments to innovate and find new ways of getting messages out to the people," said Heymann, professor of infectious diseases at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Allowing for information regarding the disease and how to try and prevent it could be one of the best ways to eliminate this disease's outbreak. Most citizens are not well informed of the disease and this ignorance is causing them to visit the sick and continue to spread Ebola among the cities. It is believed that if the outbreak is not continued the toll could hit 21,000 in the next six weeks or so. "Dr. Peter Horby, of Oxford University who is heading the effort, said he and colleagues will start assessing which clinics in the region might be able to conduct the trials. Horby said they are hoping to enroll 100 to 200 patients once they decide which treatment to test." 

Webpage: http://news.yahoo.com/sierra-leone-considers-repeating-ebola-shutdown-122447760.html