The Morality and Politics of Justice
The assignment for this project was to write an op-ed article about social injustice that is being done in our world. Another piece of this project we needed to do was created a visual piece that used rhetorical techniques to persuade the viewers. During project we learned about 4 different philosophies
Project Reflection
As we dove into the Morality of Politics and Justice project we first began to look at injustices in history, we identified what an injustice is and how it could be prevented. We
Op-ed article.
May 18th 2012, a group of young protesters are taking place in a series of occupy protests from Philadelphia to Chicago. One of the nine protesters named Darrin Annussek was scooped up by police in a controversial raid. Darrin says he was mistreated and his civil rights were violated, “For 18 hours, we were handcuffed to a bench and our legs were shackled together,” he also said, “Some of our cries for the bathroom were either ignored or met with silence.” (Annussek ) The Chicago Police Department reports they had probable cause to believe that the occupy protesters were preparing Molotov cocktails for an upcoming violent protest. There was no trace of any Molotov cocktails or anything that could have been used violently. Though there was no evidence to support that the protestors had violent plans for the protest the police officers still held the nine young men shackled up. Darrin attempted to sue The Chicago Police Department, the case was dropped 2 weeks later due to lack of evidence.
Peaceful protesting is a right that is enforced by the 1st amendment, the 1st amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Our freedom of speech justifies and should protect all peaceful protesters that decide they would like to take place in events that will sometimes make big changes in our community. “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” (Franklin) Protesting is a way for average individuals to rise up and make a change in today’s society. It is a way of giving the people a voice in their community, and when government officials break up and violently interrupt these protests they are violating the people’s rights to freedom of speech and taking away their active and impactful role in the community.
Protesting is a peaceful cause for everyone as a community to boldly stand up and represent a cause or belief and display the opinions and beliefs of society to society. Some may label protestors as violent and disrespectful vandals just looking to cause trouble with the police. This may be true in some cases and may be true on most cases, but this is definitely not true in all cases. When there is a clear distinction made between peaceful protesters taking a stand by occupying a public park, and a riot group running down the street breaking windows and chanting rambunctiously. These are both ways to get your point across and display your belief, but one is breaking the law while the other is perfectly legal. When you make the clear distinction between the two different types of protesters you get a whole new outlook on protesting in general instead of feasting your eyes on the cover of a book that shows that protestors are violent animals that roam the streets.
Why does law enforcement think that they need to control and lock down these protests? It is because of the previous violent protests that have been burned into their brains? A police officer will do whatever it takes to keep innocent people safe, even if that means taking extreme precautions to do so. “Hypocrites get offended by the truth.” (Scott) It could certainly be true that police also become more inept to violence when there is community members standing against them to fight against them and conquer the government.
“What is the freedom of expression without the freedom to express it? It ceases to exist.” (Salmon Rushdie) This quote is simply saying, we have freedom of expression (freedom of speech) and when we are oppressed and not allowed to have our voice we have no freedom of expression. Therefore we have no voice, and our society needs a voice to guide us.
Peaceful protesting is a right that is enforced by the 1st amendment, the 1st amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” Our freedom of speech justifies and should protect all peaceful protesters that decide they would like to take place in events that will sometimes make big changes in our community. “Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech.” (Franklin) Protesting is a way for average individuals to rise up and make a change in today’s society. It is a way of giving the people a voice in their community, and when government officials break up and violently interrupt these protests they are violating the people’s rights to freedom of speech and taking away their active and impactful role in the community.
Protesting is a peaceful cause for everyone as a community to boldly stand up and represent a cause or belief and display the opinions and beliefs of society to society. Some may label protestors as violent and disrespectful vandals just looking to cause trouble with the police. This may be true in some cases and may be true on most cases, but this is definitely not true in all cases. When there is a clear distinction made between peaceful protesters taking a stand by occupying a public park, and a riot group running down the street breaking windows and chanting rambunctiously. These are both ways to get your point across and display your belief, but one is breaking the law while the other is perfectly legal. When you make the clear distinction between the two different types of protesters you get a whole new outlook on protesting in general instead of feasting your eyes on the cover of a book that shows that protestors are violent animals that roam the streets.
Why does law enforcement think that they need to control and lock down these protests? It is because of the previous violent protests that have been burned into their brains? A police officer will do whatever it takes to keep innocent people safe, even if that means taking extreme precautions to do so. “Hypocrites get offended by the truth.” (Scott) It could certainly be true that police also become more inept to violence when there is community members standing against them to fight against them and conquer the government.
“What is the freedom of expression without the freedom to express it? It ceases to exist.” (Salmon Rushdie) This quote is simply saying, we have freedom of expression (freedom of speech) and when we are oppressed and not allowed to have our voice we have no freedom of expression. Therefore we have no voice, and our society needs a voice to guide us.