"Justice Denied"

Josef Reuther

811 ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

“Justice Denied”

            The article “Justice Denied” by Upfront Magazine authors Dan Barry, Campbell Robertson, and Robbie Brown talks about a series of racially motivated murders. It focuses on several killings that primarily targeted African Americans during the 1960s in the South of the United States. The great majority of these homicides were never solved up to this day. Frank Morris for instance a black merchant in Ferriday, Mississippi who owned a shoe repair shop was in it when two white men burned it down. Morris died 4 days later from his wounds without ever naming or describing the men who burnt the shop. He most likely feared that if he

named the men to the authorities they would seek retribution on his family. His family was never able to figure out who killed Morris as much as they might have sought revenge. Morris’ case was one of many unsolved cases that were racially motivated.

Many families also were too scared or reluctant to come forward with charges many lacked faith in the judicial system even more they feared retaliation from groups like the Klu Klux Klan. However even when the F.B.I recently decided to investigate some of these cases more closely, they often came up with nothing. The main factor leading to this was simply the passage of time between the murder and when it was being investigated. The families of the people who were killed received  no justice. Personally, I think that they should have received the justice that they deserved and should not have been muted out of fear for retaliation. Racism has scarred this country for so long and even does today. Although people don’t kill each other over their race anymore, I do hear the N-word so often it’s unbelievable. Before saying it people barely think about where and under which circumstances the word came about. I think the fact that people use it all over is not fair and just to the African Americans who believe the word is offensive.

Banning Books

Josef Reuther

811

Dear Ms. Berner,

            It has come to my attention that you intend to ban several books with in the 6^th grade library. I think this is absolutely wrong. School officials should not misuse their authority to ban books for a student community, instead young readers should be able to make their own literary choices. Students at M.S. 51 are capable of deciding what they can read and what may be inappropriate.

            One piece of evidence that corroborates my claim about literary decisions is that most of the time books are being banned for senseless reasons. At St. Joseph’s Catholic School for instance the “Harry Potter” series by J.K. Rowling was banned for its depiction of witchcraft. “Reverend Ron Barker, removed the books, declaring that the themes of witchcraft and sorcery were inappropriate for a Catholic School,” as Tania Deluzuriaga wrote in her article “Man of Ministry.” Banning a book for talking about magic and children who have magical abilities is ridiculous. To read about children who have magical abilities is truly harmless and banning these books for that reason for an entire school community is going too far. The students of this school should be able to choose, which books they want to read. If they do not find that witchcraft and sorcery are inappropriate for themselves there should be no one preventing them from reading the “Harry Potter” books. There may be children in the current 6^th grade who do not feel that the young adult fiction books are inappropriate, and banning books for these children is illogical.

            Another piece of evidence that substantiates this claim is that there may be children who are dealing with certain issues in their own lives that they read about in books. These books can potentially help these children deal with their own issues and make them feel that they are not alone. Each year approximately 6 million children in the United States are abused, mistreated or neglected in some way, according to childhelp.org. “The United States has among the worst records among industrialized nations- losing an average between 4 and 7 children everyday to child abuse and neglect,” the website also stated. “I spoke to sixty students, who’d come from sixteen different districts, and had survived depression, attempted suicide, gang warfare, sexual and physical abuse, absentee parents, poverty, racism, and learning disabilities in order to graduate,” as Sherman Alexie wrote after visiting a Seattle alternative high school in his article “Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood.” All of these poor and innocent children who in some way are neglected or mistreated may be able to better cope with their issues if they have books that depict other children going through similar issues.

            One last piece of evidence that further validates my claim is that a single person banning a book for a larger body of students is rather absurd and intolerant. In a high school in a small town named Caney Creek in Montgomery County, Texas the book “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury was banned. A tenth grader at the school, Diana Verm claimed that the book was not fit for high school students because of its “inappropriate” language. She also believed that the book targeted Christianity, because of the burning of the bible, as ABC channel 13 reported. Although Diana Verm was given an alternate assignment her father pressed on and went to the school committee. Alton Verm, Diana Verm’s father wanted to ban the book in the high school. Banning this book for an entire school merely because it uses “Gods name in vain” is extremely narrow minded and does not take into perspective the other students at the high school who may not have the same opinion on the banning of “Fahrenheit 451.” Ironically the message of the book is to have a greater tolerance for books. As can be seen, some people think that young adult fiction talks about issues that teenagers should not yet know about when indeed other teenagers are experiencing these problems first hand. “It is also possible- indeed, likely that books focusing on pathologies help normalize them and, in the case of self-harm, may even spread their plausibility and likelihood to young people who might otherwise never have imagined such extreme measures,” as Meaghan Cox Gurdon wrote in her article “Darkness Too Visible.” Some people do believe that young adult books are too extreme, however it should not be the decision of people like Ms. Gurdon to ban books for children. Banning certain books at our 6^th grade library would be just as wrong.

            It is clear that the 6^th   graders at Middle School 51 should be able to make their own literary choices. People are banning classical books, best sellers, and even the Merriam Webster Dictionary has been banned in some schools for “inappropriate words,” as the website “Top 10s” referred to it. Parents of these students should receive a form in the beginning of the year asking them if they give their children permission to read young adult fiction and other books that talk about the very real issues of teenagers in our day. Books should not be banned because of the opinion of a single person or even a group of people if it makes a decision for a larger body of people. School officials should facilitate and assist students in understanding books rather than banning them.

“Censorship is the enemy of truth even more than a lie. A lie can be exposed, censorship can prevent us from knowing the difference”- Bill Moyers.

The Begin of The Second Cold War

Josef Reuther
10/19/13
811

   The article "A New Cold War" by Peter Baker and Steven Lee Myers of the Upfront Magazine focuses on the current tensions between the United States of America and Russia. The presidents of the two respective countries Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin are unable to agree on several controversial issues.

   Since Putin's reelection last year the two countries have been unable to agree on anything. One piece of evidence that supports this claim is that while the United States is trying to help Syrian rebels in the fight against their government Russia is selling the Syrian government billions of dollars worth of weapons. "In September, as the U.S. was poised to launch air strikes against the Syrian Government in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack that killed 1,400," as the article stated, Russia was using its power in the Security Council to veto any actions against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. In the end Russia managed to aid its ally as well as take control of the debate over the chemical weapons. As can be seen Obama and Putin are not able to agree on currently pressing issues such as the Civil War in Syria.

    In August of this year Russia granted Edward , who is wanted by the United States, political asylum. Snowden who leaked information about U.S. surveillance programs instantly became one of the United States most wanted. Russia is offering him protection from the United States and most experts now agree that "U.S.-Russian relations are at a historic low since the collapse of the Soviet Union,"as the article aptly states. As can be seen Obama's goal of rebuilding bonds between America and Russia seem even more elusive than they did before. 

   Cooperation between the United States and Russia have always revolved around the U.S. accepting a certain amount of Putin's authoritarianism in return for help on global issues. It is clear that Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin are unable to agree on certain very important issues. The result of this appears to be the begin of a second Cold War.

Is the Arab Spring Failing

Josef Reuther
811

    In the article, "Has The Arab Spring Failed" by Upfront Magazine's author Patricia Smith, the revolts of several middle eastern countries are discussed, and how despite that many of them have been successful in overthrowing their dictators these countries are still poorly ruled.
    One piece of evidence that substantiates this claim is that in June of 2012, Morsi a member of the Muslim Brotherhood was elected into office in Egypt. Under Morsi's rule Egypt started having electricity outages quickly followed by gas becoming scarce. Instead of solving these issues "Morsi enacted measures that restricted freedoms and moved closer to Islamic Law," as Patricia Smith aptly stated. As can be seen, although Egypt fought hard to overthrow its dictator, those who came into power following him also had the wrong ideas for Egypt. When Morsi was removed from office for his strict Islamic doctrine by the army many Islamic Egyptians revolted against the army which resulted in more than 600 deaths and over 4,000 injuries in a span of 12 hours alone. Even though Egypt managed to get rid of its dictator it still struggles to get on the path of democracy.
    Another piece of evidence that corroborates this claim about the revolts in the Middle East is that Libya also managed to oust Muammar el-Qaddafi, nonetheless however Libya now finds itself ruled by a series of armed militia groups who control the nation and fill in for a proper president. Although Libyans thought that getting rid of their dictator would solve their issues, Libya currently finds itself disorganized and in a catastrophic state. Tunisia, another country inspired by the Arab Spring, replaced its dictator with an Islamist government still finds itself in a very fragile state. As can be seen, although several countries have succeeded in defeating their dictators many of the Arab people living in these countries do not find themselves living in better conditions than they did before their revolts.
    One last piece of evidence that supports this claim about the Arab Spring is that as Patricia Smith stated "Arab countries that had suffered political and economic stagnation under decades of autocratic rule were poorly equipped to build new governments." The countries that revolted against their dictators are not in proper shape to rebuild and improve their governments. Egypt being the largest of the middle eastern countries has a large influence on the other countries. If democracy is not able to properly function in Egypt many experts believe that democracy will not work in other countries either.
    As can clearly be seen although several Middle Eastern countries have succeeded in overthrowing their dictators the most find themselves still not living under a properly ruled government. Egypt replaced its tyranny with a democracy, however even though this gave the public voice the newly elected president had different ideas for Egypt;.
 

Josef Reuther
English Language Arts

          In the books "The Power of Six" by Pittacus Lore and "The Death Cure" by James Dashner characters face many similar issues however they treat them very differently. Both Thomas and John face many internal as well external issues.

           John the main character of the "Power of Six" comes from a foreign planet called Lorien. He was forced to flee Lorien with nine other children to Earth as a rival civilization known as Mogadorians attacked Lorien seeking its natural resources. John and the other children develop legacies, which give them extraordinary abilities such as being able to turn invisible. On Earth they continue to be hunted down by the Mogadorians, for they alone have the power to take back Lorien. On Earth John is constantly on the run hiding from the Mogadorians, which is the greatest external issue that he faces. At one point John falls in love with a girl named Sarah, but as he always did he had to leave that life behind after a short time. He longs for her all the time while he is on the run. And returns to see her. But because John was believed to be terrorist she turned him in despite her love for him. John felt betrayed by Sarah for turning him in and is haunted by the thought constantly. John also falls in love again with another member from Lorien named Six. John feels conflicted between loving Sarah and Six and is reminded by it every time he sees six.
           Thomas the main character of "The Death Cure" finds himself in an apocalyptic world. The flare, which is a disease that has turned 99% of the people on Earth into primitive animals as there brains rot to nothing. Thomas is one of very few people who is immune to the flare. He and several other teenagers are being used to find a cure for the flare by a department called WICKED. WICKED has forced Thomas and his friends through three trials studying their reactions to terrible things. All the time Thomas is unsure about whether WICKED is simply evil or if they are forcing them through this for a greater good.

Faithful Elephants

Josef Reuther
811

                                                                           Conflicts
    In the book "War is..." by"edited by Marc Aronson and Patty Campbell many accounts from soldiers. survivors and journalists are put together to talk about war. The authors are reflecting on many aspects of warfare that a civilian most likely would not think about. The soldiers in the battle field are not only discussing the external issues they face, but they also provide the reader with insights about the internal conflicts, which the combatants have to overcome.

  In his contribution "In What Every Person Should Know About War", the long time New York Times war correspondent Chris Hedges, addresses potential recruits.  Drawing on his long experience in the battlefield he gives a profound answer to the question, "What does it feel like to kill someone? You will probably go through several emotional reactions when you kill... remorse and revulsion, can render you unable to ever kill again. Last is the rationalization and acceptance phase. This is a lifelong process during which you will try to account for what you did." It becomes apparent that soldiers who kill enemies will have to live with having murdered someone for the rest of their lives an act that they will never be able to undo. Events that happen during warfare will have a longterm effect on a soldier.

     Another piece of evidence that corroborates this claim is that almost all soldiers have family back at home that they deeply care about, relatives who they love. "Have a Merry Christmas and take care of yourselves...Hope everything is fine with you. Take care. Love, Mick." The soldiers long for their families and feel guilty that their loved ones fear for their lives everyday and are constantly worried. Soldiers often send letters back home and wish that they could be with their families for a day such as Christmas especially when they may never see their parents again. Although the soldiers on the front line are constantly putting up with gunfire and hostile attacks, but the way they miss their families and the constant fear for their lives are just as haunting.

     The marines recently fighting in Iraq, might have been passing through hostile territory where they become victims to a hidden car bomb or they may be suddenly ambushed from a building. Although these seem to be the worst parts of fighting. The real fear behind it all is often that if they die the grief that they would cause relatives and family members would be tremendous. Next to their physical burden there is also a huge physiological burden that they always carry around with them. These marines are usually very young men or women who should have most of their lives still ahead of them, yet nonetheless many die in war.