Blog Assignment Number Seven

Doremus is a strong protagonist for the book, It Can't Happen Here. Throughout the constant struggle that the world is dealing with underneath the hands of Buzz Windrip, Doremus stays true to his word throughout the novel and is 100% against Buzz and his facist ways. He doesn't get sucked into Buzz's speeches that hallucinate the public.One defining moment that occurs with Doremus is when he publishes an editorial that is against Buzz Windrip. I believe this part in the novel shows just how brave Doremus is to defy the president of the United States. In one passage it states; "They were coming towards him, claws hideously opening and closing, but he did not await that coming. He clumped down the stairs, step by step, trembling not from fear but from insane anger." This passage shows that even when the Minute Men are after Doremus for the crime he "commits", he still doesn't show fear but instead anger. I believe this to be important because Doremus is willing to stand up to higher powers no matter what the consequences may be. Even with his family constantly telling him to withdraw from any efforts towards the government, he continues on.

Blog Assignment Number Six

The New York Historical Museum was an interesting visit. From the moment I walked inside of the World War Two exhibit, I was immediately intrigued by the old school radio that was on and actually radioing news from that specific time period. I really liked that idea as the first thing people see because its a good introduction and it eases them into the rest of the exhibit. The way the exhibit is set up is in sort of a snake like maze and in a chronological order of artifacts. It began with artifacts on Hitler and the jews, then how the U.S entered the War and artifacts and events that occurred during and after the war. It gave me a good sense of understanding especially since I had previous knowledge of this war (its one of my favorites).
I was drawn to a photo of a young jewish women named Florence Mendheim in 1921. She was a jewish spy and attended the Nazi group meetings as a typist. She would then report all her findings to Rabbi Cohen and also with a police squad. I connected with this photo because during the era that Florence was a spy, it was a really scary time for Jews. And because of this, I commend her for her bravery not only as a Jew, but as a woman who tried to do the right thing despite the danger she was in. There were also other artifacts that she collected while as these meetings such as a Nazi armband and a membership card.
Another artifact that I found interesting was the first uses of penicillin during the War. This was injected into the vein or muscle which cured bacterial infections, including syphilis. Underneath the penicillin is an ad that states: Thanks to penicillin, he will come home. Looking at these items allowed me to think about how soldiers would be able to heal themselves and continue fighting, just to be able to get the chance to come home back to their families. Its a sad realization and also strange how during these times doctors weren't as numerous as they are now. The use of penicillin is still used to today but instead a lot of our bodies' immune system has become penicillin resistant.
My favorite part of the exhibit was when they dedicated a small portion of it to the rise of women in power. Due to all the men going off to fight in the war, the jobs that they once occupied now all belonged to women. The rise of women is a favorite subject of mine only because they were seriously oppressed during these times. In this particular artifact, it depicted a women uniform called the sperry coverall. A designer by the named of Vera Maxwell designed the sperry coverall which consisted of a narrow collar, buttoned drop sear, trim silhouette and change pockets. Before the war, women only accounted for 5% of the workforce at Sperry's. During the war, they were recruited to run engraving machines, drill presses and bench lathes. These were the baby steps that would bring women to their place in society in the near future.

Blog Assignment Number Five

My overall impression of the exhibit was a bit intimidating. Being able to take a glimpse back in time made me view my own life as a tiny spec in the universe. A lot of the pieces portrayed the pain that came with the Civil War and others showed the patriotic side, which I enjoyed. The atmosphere of the exhibit was a bit serious. I felt like the emotions that were supposed to be portrayed were the feelings of the soldiers, some of the cool old school technology that was used, the families that were left behind feelings' and of course the feeling of being proud to fight for your country. This exhibit let the public in a little more personally into this time period in America. I felt like their purpose was to either educate us of the real and raw events through artifacts or if they simply wished to help us understand the impact that this specific war had on our country, something that many people might be dismissive about. In a lot of artifacts I saw many different photos of Abraham Lincoln. In a sense, he was the hero of the Civil War and this was proved by the many times he was portrayed around the exhibit.
         One particular artifact that caught my attention was the civil war portrait lockets from the 1860s. There were a whole bunch of brass and gold plated lockets filled with photos of loved ones that were in the war. Apparently these lockets were worn by family or wives in hope that their loved ones would return or were used for comfit that the solider would always be with them no matter what. Another artifact that I seen was a side drum made from wood calfskin rope from 1864. This drum had a stencil of an eagle and it belonged to the Union army. It was used for many things such as the call for battle, the call for wake up, for chores and even to let them know when to sleep. Musicians that were actually in the army were not used for battle and boys as young as then enlisted as musicians in the army. The last artifact that  I encountered was a portrait of Abraham Lincoln entitled Mourning Corsage with Portrait of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Vendors created mourning corsages with silk black ribbons that also feature small photos of the deceased president. This was another reason that assured me that Lincoln was loved for what he accomplished before and during the Civil War. He was seen as a hero in many American eyes.

Blog Assignment Number Four

Revision of Blog Assignment Number Two

               Growing up in the United States school system, I learned about the slavery that existed here in the past. The key facts that we learned growing up were how many slaves were uneducated, they did not know how to read or write. Also, how a slave was a slave for life. They did  hard labor until the day they died. Slaves did very tedious tasks such as picking cotton and were treated as pieces of property because after all, thats what they really were. So you can imagine to my surprise when I learned of the slavery that existed in Latin America. In the book Slave and Citizen, what was considered slavery in my mind, was shifted completely. Slaves were able to have real professions ranging from a doctor to even becoming president. This allows us to infer that slaves were given better opportunities then of those in the United States. If they were given the opportunity to have a career, then that means that education was an option for them. Not only was having a career possible, but a slave in Brazil was able to negotiate with their masters about buying their freedom. An option like that that was never available to slaves in the United States. Being enlightened about the different type of slavery that existed in another part of the world makes me feel ignorant. Because I was only taught about one specific type of slavery, I was not aware that different treatment for slaves existed. It makes me wonder what exactly makes it socially acceptable for these slaves to have these type of opportunities? At the end of the day, they are still a piece of property to their owners, no matter which way you look at it. They biggest difference is that they are actually treated like human beings and very lucky to be treated like so. It's mind boggling.

Blog Assignment Number Three

        This week in class we read the short and unfortunate story called The Lynching of Jube Benson. In this story a faithful black servant to a white family is wrongfully accused of a crime he didn't commit. Jube Benson is accused of murdering his boss' daughter, Annie, whom he had cared and looked after for dearly. The only piece of evidence that they linked to Jube was the fact that Annie's last word was the word black when she was found. With a snippet of evidence and no trial given, Jube was lynched for the death of little Annie. Shortly after, it was discovered that Jube was innocent and a man by the name of Tom Skinner was the real murderer. The real meaning depicted behind this story is the aspect of racial profiling. It just shows us that although Jube was a loyal servant to the family he worked for, he was still wrongly blamed for something for horrid because at the end of the day he was a black man and racism was at an all time high in this time period ,especially during slavery. The racial violence that Dunbar tries to get across to his audience through this story is the sad example of what happened to many blacks due to their complexion and what still occurs till this day. For example, the injustice that happened to a young man named Trayvon Martin not too long ago. A young African American 17 year old boy was shot in the chest because he looked suspect, according to his shooter. Apparently wearing a hood and being of a darker complexion fits the description of looking suspect. That type of racial profiling isn't a thing of the past, but something that we are still familiar with today and it's really disappointing that people still have this mindset.

Blog Assignment Number Two

 One of the most interesting things from Slave and Citizen is how slavery was treated ridiculously different in Brazil, then what it was in the United States. In Brazil, blacks had the chance of being treated as equal as any other race. They had real professions such as doctors and even becoming presidents! When I think of the word slavery, a mental image comes in my mind. I picture an individual doing hard labor, sweating in the sun. Reading Slave and Citizen erases this whole image in my mind. I can't believe that on a different part of the world, slaves were basically family to the family that they belonged to. The craziest thing to me is how these slaves in Brazil can try to negotiate and buy their freedom. That was definitely not an option for the slaves in the U.S. What makes it socially acceptable for these slaves to have this type of freedom? At the end of they day, it really makes no sense to me because they are still slaves. They are still property to whoever owns them. They just have slightly better treatment. I'm curious to find out about slavery in other parts of the world now because if this is what was happening in Brazil, I can imagine anywhere else.

Blog Assignment Number One

   I watched the video Scientific Racism and I couldn't help but notice that what had happened to the aboriginals was sort of a repeat of what happened with Christopher Colombus. Basically, the British settle onto this land named Tasmania where a population already exists. They decide to forcefully take over this land and in doing so, they use several degrees of violence. They kill the people of the land called the aboriginals and they also rape their women! The aboriginals then retaliate and it just becomes this on going warfare.They even attempt to convert the aboriginals to christanity and expose them to European diseases.
    Watching this video truly showed me that during the history of this world, inequality was the way to run a state, country or even a small piece of land. Someone always had to be inferior. It worked out for those who were on top, but to the people that had to obey them, it was a sad time for them. Populations of the aboriginals became basically extinct. And this was all due to imperialism and groups showing they had power.
   This isn't a situation that is not unknown to us. In fact, history really does repeat itself. I've read many facts through history where individuals come into power through the power of violence. It was as if these people were not human beings to them, but many pieces of property in which they can use to get themselves further in life or power.