Author: brown.8029

Text Review: Red Tails

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The 2012 film Red Tails by Anthony Hemingway tells the story of Tuskegee Airmen, who were African-American fighter pilots who fought in Italy during World War II. The film details the actions of the Airmen as well as how the men had to overcome racism and discrimination in both Italy and the Military in order to garner respect and recognition. Although the film follows the actions of several of the Tuskegee Airmen, the two characters who seem to be the primary focuses of the film are Captain Marty Julian and 1st Lieutenant Joe Little, who serve as foils for one another as they both experience their own individual struggles due to their respective situations, while constantly have conflicting opinions on how to approach certain situations. Moreover, Captain Julian deals with alcoholism, while 1st Lieutenant Little deals with the challenges of being in a relationship with an Italian woman, during a time period that was extremely racist and prejudiced and when interracial relationships were looked down upon. In addition to that, these men experienced severe transgressions and acts of racism throughout their time in the military. To add to their obstacles, their white counterparts did not believe that African-Americans had the capability of being adequate fighter pilots and were very demeaning towards them. in spite of this, the Tuskegee Airmen got the opportunity to show the military their talent when they came into contact with a group of German fighter pilots and forced them to retreat. As time went on, they finally got the opportunity to escort the USAAF Bomber crew and successfully did so, which allowed them to gain respect from the white members of the military. The airmen’s final task was to only escort the Bomber Crew halfway to Berlin. During this mission, the Tuskegee airmen encountered the German fighter pilots again, they successfully defended the Bombers, but unfortunately Lieutenant Little died in the battle. The Airmen were later honored for their accomplishments and were awarded with a Presidential Medal.

 

This movie was a very prominent event because it acknowledged the courage and bravery of the Tuskegee Airmen. Many people were unaware of the challenges that these men faced, not only fighting in a war, but also dealing with the challenges of adapting to life in Italy away from their families in the United States, as well as combating racism and discrimination within the United States’ Military. In this class we’ve read multiple texts that detail how difficult adapting to a new culture and life in a different country can be and I believe that this movie does a great job of highlighting this issue. Furthermore, the release of this film was also significant because it showed how difficult it was and still is for Black Americans to get respected, due to the fact that the story of the Tuskegee Airmen was not told until nearly 70 years after the conclusion of World War II.

Diary of Systemic Injustices: The U.S. Prison System

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Over the course of the past couple of weeks I have had the opportunity to highlight several injustices that are embedded in the United States’ legal system. These injustices have had an astoundingly negative impact on society as a whole, and on minorities in particular. Out of the injustices that I have had the chance to go into detail about. One that has stood out to me due to its extremely negative effects on the African-American and Latino communities is the current United States’ prison system. Furthermore, I believe that this injustice can be related to the Master-Slave Dialectic that we have talked about in class over the course of the semester.

One of the main issues with the current prison system is how the majority of incarcerated people are those who live in lower income neighborhoods and have less access to resources. Furthermore, the majority of people who are targeted and eventually jailed happen to be minorities. This is even more of an issue when you realize how small of a percentage these people make up in terms of the general population of the country and world, compared to what percentage of the prison population they make up. An example of this is African-Americans. According to the NAACP Black people account for less than 15% of the U.S. population but account for almost 35% of the prison population. To make matters worse, according to the Washington Post the United States accounts for less than 5% of the entire world’s population, but accounts for over 20% of the world’s prison population. The United States was supposedly built on the principle of freedom, but somehow manages to lock up so many of its citizens without  providing them with any form of rehabilitation.

With that being said, I also believe that this injustice is applicable to the Master-Slave Dialectic. This concept, which was developed by George Hegel, revolves around the principle that the Master dictates what the Slave sees and perceives to be true. Furthermore, this concept is prevalent in terms of the current U.S. System because of the government, in this case the Master dictates what the Slave, in this case minorities living in poorer communities, perceives to be true by controlling what resources and information they have access to. By controlling and limiting the resources these people are exposed to, they are funneling the people in these communities straight from high school into prisons, which is very unfortunate. People in these communities need access to the same resources and opportunities as everyone else and I feel like this can hopefully restructure the prison system. 

Media:

 

Works Cited 

Lee, Michelle. “Does the United States Really Have 5 Percent of the World’s Population and One Quarter of the World’s Prisoners?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 15 Aug. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/04/30/does-the-united-states-really-have-five-percent-of-worlds-population-and-one-quarter-of-the-worlds-prisoners/. 

“Criminal Justice Fact Sheet.” NAACP, 10 July 2020, www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/. 

Ko, The Leavers, pages 151-end

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In Chapter 8 through the end of Lisa Ko’s, The Leavers, the protagonist, Deming (Daniel) has the opportunity to establish a connection with his mother, Polly, and find out why she disappeared from his life and never returned or sought to reestablish contact with him. Polly and Deming talk about why she left in the first place and why she never came back. Polly goes on to say, ” ‘There wasn’t anything I could do,’ I said. ‘I couldn’t go back to America after being deported. I couldn’t go anywhere. If I thought about you too much I wouldn’t be able to live’ ” (page 309). Polly getting deported led to a multitude of issues for herself and her son. While she still had the ability to try and get in contact with her son, the effects that deportation had on her tremendously impacted her disposition in a negative way and influenced her decision to leave her past and Deming behind. Moreover, Polly getting deported and never attempting to establish a connection with Deming led to him developing both behavioral and identity issues growing up.

In today’s world, situations similar to Polly and Deming’s occur far too often and the effect that they have on the families that get separated during deportation are extremely detrimental and harming for both the parents and children. A study of the effects of deportation on families stated that individuals who end up getting deported have difficulty supporting their families. In addition to that, they experience difficulty maintaining relationships with their family members, which leads to fractured relationships between family members. Furthermore, the children are negatively affected from a psychological standpoint. Kids that are being separated from their parents will experience a wide range of emotions, which in-turn causes them to develop a plethora of behavioral issues. This is exactly what is depicted in the scene between Polly and Deming. She had difficulty trying to cope with the traumatic experiences she dealt with while getting deported and this played a role in her severing her relationship with Deming. As a result of this, Deming did not have a good sense of who he was as a child and struggled to establish a healthy relationship with his adoptive parents. This particular scene does an excellent job of illustrating that when families are separated through processes such as deportation, the impacts on both the parent and the child can lead to internal and external issues that will never get resolved.

 

 

 

Ko, Lisa. “The Leavers by Lisa Ko – PDF Drive.” By Lisa Ko – PDF Drive, www.pdfdrive.com/the-leavers-e189355587.html.

https://www.pdfdrive.com/the-leavers-e189355587.html

 

“The Effects of Deportation on Families and Communities.” Community Psychology: Social Justice Through Collaborative Research and Action, www.communitypsychology.com/effects-of-deportation-on-families-communities/.

https://www.communitypsychology.com/effects-of-deportation-on-families-communities/