Table of Contents
Effect of Civil Rights Events on Social Responsibility
Civil right events could affect the attitude of citizens either positively or negatively depending on the outcome of the event. A civil right with positive outcome towards the society could have a positive reaction from citizens and could change the way people see or view something. An event with a negative outcome will change the lifestyle of the people negatively. The issue of racism in America practiced against Black Americans (around 1950’s) had been a great issue. It contributed to the difficulties the Black Americans underwent. This led to struggle for fairness by the Black Americans through the formation of unions and associations to fight for freedom. The struggle led to the introduction of various ways to curb racism such as Affirmative Action. These helped to promote equality among the Americans of different races. It changed the perspective of Americans towards each other (Omi & Winant, 2014). They view each other as being equal, and any form of racism is now highly condemned by everyone.
Past experiences encountered by Americans especially before independence influenced a lot to the way they view freedom. Americans suffered as slaves but fought for their rights and freedom until they achieved it. Up to now, Americans are regarded as “Freedom Lovers” due to their involvement in freedom in other parts of the world such as “Operation Iraq Freedom” among others. Americans have involved in issues of the world especially freedom matters as a result of the past events especially slavery.
Influence of Media Events on Public Opinion against Government Agents
Media events that happen could have positive or negative opinion towards government agencies depending on how the agencies address and respond to issues. Government agencies may be viewed as being fast, efficient and reliable or slow and inefficient after these events. Media coverage of how Federal Bureau of Investigation conducts their activities including arrest warrants has led to some citizens viewing the agency as either efficient while others view as being ruthless. The arrest of Randy Weaver after being accused of possessing illegal weapons led to the loss of two innocent civilians after being shot by FBI agents led to the agents being viewed as aggressive and ruthless in the manner in which they handled their activities (Merkle, 2015).
Media coverage on various arising emergencies addressed by relevant government authorities could have an impact on opinion towards the agencies. The quick and efficient response could make citizens have an opinion that the agencies are reliable while the contrary could make citizens view them as slow to respond and unreliable. The response by The Federal Emergency Management Agency to Hurricane Katrina which hit America made many citizens to view the agency as slow to respond due to massive loss of lives in the disaster (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2017).
Differences between Republican and Democrats
Republicans and Democrats appear to differ largely in their opinions relating to various social, economic and social issues. In the matter of abortion which arose, Democrats seem to have the opinion that safe and legal abortion should be allowed while Republicans strongly condemned abortion (Balliet, Tybur, Wu, Antonellis, & Van Lange, 2016). Also on the issue of whether to allow same sex marriage, Democrats seemed to support the court order that it should be allowed while Republicans criticized the court order. The Democrats and Republicans also appeared to differ on the issue of immigration. Democrats had an opinion that illegal immigrants (about 11 million) be legalized to live in America, but Republicans were against the opinion and even supported the building of USA-Mexico wall to prevent illegal migration of people into the country (Balliet et al., 2016). Donald Trump (a Republican) is trying by all means to implement the construction of the wall.
Democrats and Republicans also differ on various ideologies. Democrats believe in benefit by all people (seen as socialists) while Republicans believe in competition and individual success (capitalism) to improve the lives Americas (Balliet et al., 2016). These differences between the parties have led to both positive and negative influence on American people. It has led to people having different opinion among citizens on various issues concerning them depending on the parties they support. Most of them tend to have opinions which are equally same to the parties they support. Also, it has influenced the election of leaders in various representations as most citizens elect leaders they support on the ground of their parties. It has led to negative attitudes towards the activities of the ruling party as citizens who support the opposition party may view policies by the government as being of the other party. An example is the Obama care bill which was implemented during Democrat’s reign but Republicans now in power want to cease it.
- Balliet, D., Tybur, J. M., Wu, J., Antonellis, C., & Van Lange, P. A. (2016). Political Ideology, Trust, and Cooperation: In-group Favoritism among Republicans and Democrats during a US National Election. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 0022002716658694.
- Haddow, G., Bullock, J., & Coppola, D. P. (2017). Introduction to emergency management. Butterworth-Heinemann.
- Merkle, W. A. (2015). Hostage Negotiations in Lieu of Armed Assault. Retrieved from http://scholar.dominican.edu/senior-theses/28/
- Omi, M., & Winant, H. (2014). Racial Formation in the United States. Routledge.