Introduction
In 2013, the Americans started Chanting the Slogan, "Black lives matter." What began as people's response to the brutal killing of the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, followed by the release of his murderer, grew into a member-led political movement, especially watching over African Americans' lives. African Americans have endured the toughest oppression for years and, it is a time when nothing was working for most of them, getting killed, being discriminated. Back Lives Matter came in to affirm their resilience in the oppression thrown at them at all times, their contribution to society, and reminding the racists of their presence in society. In 2016, the general elections presented a setback to the movement, but the organizers and the other interested parties seemed to have a mutual feeling. As a representation of the antagonisms for political elites, such social movements play a key role in shaping how a country's politics, especially among the presidential candidates. Depending on the direction you want to view the issues from, such movements indicate the government's level of governing and how the president is active in the issues he/she is presented with. In others' people's opinions, the movement is militant in the country and needs to be dealt with accordingly; in other people's opinion, they bring out timidity and ineffectiveness in governance, and in other people's eyes, it is a threat to the presidency (Mirofff, 1981). However, a point to note is that politics and such social movements cannot coexist peacefully together. They attract the same critics and public opinion. Therefore each side pulls about getting public opinion in their favor (Jasper and Goodwin, 2003).
How President Trump used Black Lives matter as a way to stoke fear and mobilized his base.
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Citizen opinions are shaped by the type of messages they give out, and yet, most of them pay very little or no attention to politics. When the citizens are summoned/called upon to receive the information, they grab whatever is in reach and speak that which comes into their minds immediately. The political elites, for years, have found a way of shaping public opinion. Modern presidents and the public movement alike require the public feedback/opinion to move forward with the agenda they have and legitimize their actions and are experts in folding the public to chant in their favor (Halperin and Hailemann, 2010).
The analysis of the conflicts that span the entire United States clearly brought out the dark side of President Donald Trump. Despite the Coronavirus pandemic, when George Floyd was murdered in the hands of the police officers who were mandated to protect the people, it was a clear sign of the police system's rot (Halperin and Hailemann, 2010). George Floyd's death showed a multitude of all the crisis affecting the country ranging from the rise in unemployment (41.2% among the whites and 16.7%) among the African Americans, decline in the socio-economic status, the concern of post-Corona virus gloomy aftermath effects and the growth in mistrust for President Donald Trump policies. George Floyd's death due to officer Derek Chauvin's knee strangle came when there was tension across the country, and people were waiting for a spark to be ignited. The event reignited the Black Lives Matter movement. The moment managed to mobilize thousands of people across the nation from West Coast to East Coast to take to the streets and chant the same song, "Black Lives matter."
It was a protest against racism to other people, but to many intellects, it was poor leadership and denunciation of anarchism. The American people against the iron fist kind of leadership unleashed upon the American people through President Donald Trump's leadership. In the words of a Minnesota's Attorney, "We need to rewrite the rules of a just society." Since 2016 November, President Donald Trump's victory provoked the various sectors socio-economic dynamics between the white majority, working and the minorities who came to America driven by the zeal for a better life. The American dream attracted them. His presidency also triggered the plans for American philosophy (Jasper and Goodwin, 2003).
President Donald Trump used the Black lives matter movement to instill fear among the people and stoke his base as a racist, misogynist, and xenophobe. He waited for such a moment to raise his head and prove to the people who he really was and where his ideology stood as a person. As a stubborn president, his advisers' team failed to remodel him into an inclusive president, tilting his opinion towards moderate conservatism and making him a bi-partisan decision-maker. Since his election victory, he managed to revive the Noe- Nazism in America, the Impetus of movements questioning his legitimacy, the dictatorship with his majority side dominating both the then house of congress and the White House embodiment of the radicalization of the West. When the news came out that Trump had won the presidency was a moment many Americans could not believe. Saying it was a shock qualifies as an understatement of the century. The people were wrong; the polls were not correct. Almost everything was not right. Through his statements, the people expected him to lose, including even those in his campaign (Halperin and Hailemann, 2010).
During his presidency, many Americans remained fearful of what might befall them the next day. Mass deportation, fascism, the end of Obama Care, increased tension between China and the US. Amidst all the tension, many politicians, conservatives and liberals, warned against the imminent chaos brewing since Trump was known as a man with authoritarian tendencies and a disordered personality. His electoral victory was perceived as a declaration of the civil war (Jasper and Goodwin, 2003).
Below was how Trump Stoke fears and mobilized his base.
Establishment of Neo-Nazism in America
One of his red flags was the appointment of Stephen Bannon as a senior strategist and senior advisor in the white house. It was condemned by the house, Muslims, and the Jews alike. Leaders across the divide condemned how a nationalist and an anti-Muslimism was given such a huge role in the white house.
Stephen Bannon wrote and publicly came out on how he came up with a provocative group of white nationalists, anti-Semites, and racists. It was a shock how such a man was welcomed into the white house by the people's president, a president supposed to be inclusive in his leadership (Cherkaoui, 2016). Rabbi Alissa Wise, the deputy director of the Jewish Voice for peace, condemned the appointment. He said it was an affirmation for what Trump brought out in his campaign, Anti-Semitism, Xenophobia, and Islamophobia ((Cherkaoui, 2016).). Another red flag was the intention of the white supremacy group Ku Klux Klan to organize a parade in North Carolina to celebrate the victory of Donald Trump on December 3rd, 2016. In fact, David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, celebrated Trump's victory, claiming it was one of the best moments in his life.
Vengeance of the "Forgotten White people."
There was a huge gap of electoral staggering, especially in the rural counties. About 90% percent of the people voted for Donald Trump, while 10% voted for Hillary Clinton. In contrast, in the urban areas, where people were learned, the majority vote for Clinton compared to Trump. From the general elections, the majority of the seats in the congress were occupied by the republicans. This was the case in the white house, as well. It was an era for racism, manipulation, and abuse of office. Many argue that what led to his victory resulted from the 2008 financial crisis that affected the white folks more. Most of them retorted to "voting in their own." In his victory speed, Donald Trump paid homage to the forgotten men and women in America. Vowing that their glory would be restored. The emotions raised during his speech among the Native and conservative Americans were an indication of modern-day racism and dictatorship in the free country. His motto, "Make America great again," symbolized the loss of the good old days, the mythical past when the only people that a say in America were the natives and conservatives. A time when Islamophobia, nativism, Hispanophobia, and other inhumane acts road led to one destination: The whites dominated country (Gupta, 2016).
Dictatorship
During his complaint, in Pennsylvania, he said that his point contract with America for the first one hundred days would be: Withdrawal from the Trans-Atlantic Partnership (TPP), declare China a currency manipulator, Identify all the foreign tools that impacted the American economy negatively and use all in his power to stop it, Lifting the Obama-Clinton roadblocks and cancellation of payment of billions to the UN for climate change programs and using the money to improve on the water and environmental infrastructure in the US (Gupta, 2016).
Even before setting foot in the Whitehouse, Trump had already come up with mixed economic protectionism and political isolation recipe.
To many Americans, Trump was considered a "thin-skinned tyrant "who pushed the American dictatorship into a reality. Taking back the country to the dark ages when white supremacy dominated every sector of the economy. Further publications were found in the New York Times. The magazine majored more on Adolf Hitler, an Iron fist dictator of the 21st of November 1922, to bring out the similarities between his and Donald Trump clearly. The article highlighted the hatred advocacy that existed between the two presidents' rule. They all advocated for anti-Semitism (Gupta, 2016).
Reckless Speaking
Just a few months before the elections, Donald Trump spoke whatever came into his mouth without caring whoever was the victim was. He picked fights with Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Elijah Cummings, and Rashid Tlaib, among other people. His aim was to stoke bigotry and motivated his base among the conservative Americans. Due to his reckless speaking, over the years, America experienced a series of deadly violence accompanied by hate during President Donald Trump's reign. The white conservative Christians were made to believe that he was the only person capable of protecting them. The violence was tailored to look like it was emanating from the blacks and the Muslim minority groups in the country. Today, despite America still experiencing violence and fights, especially Mass shootings, it is not the one tailored to fit Trump's narrative (Banks, 2018).
During the BLM protests, as an inclusive president, his mandate was to make sure he speaks in support of the minorities instead of moving around and purport to support the killings that led to the termination of lives of the minority communities in the country, especially the Black community. As a symbol of the national unit, such were the moments when the presidency was under test, and he clearly failed in uniting the Americans when they needed him the most. Instead, he chose to make the gap even wider and more dangerous. To the people, those that supported democracy, the American dream, and inclusivity for all, such demonstrations were the turning moment for the American voters (Banks, 2018). People were fed up and waiting for the moment to arrive to make a better decision for themselves and future generations.
Explain how the media frames BLM as a violent group of protesters but always make MAGA a peaceful group.
As Black lives matter protests took center stage in-country during the murder of George Floyd, the demonstrators tried as much as they could to be as peaceful as possible. Yet, according to the media, the protests were violent. The people-watching at home have a contrary opinion to what happened. Why are there different opinions between the media, the experts, and those who watched the protests from home? According to analysis, the American political biases play a huge part in shaping people's perception through the media on whether the protest was peaceful or not (Banks, 2018).
Some of the images and videos from the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests showed the normal ordinary people stopped by heavily armed police officers. The protestors were always calm and peaceful, unless for the chants and the singing of the slogan "Black Lives Matter." The presence of heavily armed police officers was there to provoke the peaceful demonstrators in BLM, especially after the death of George Floyd in the hands of a police officer. Depending on the agenda that the political elites want to drive out, they might use the media to manipulate the information to their advantage. For instance, apart from the Black Lives matter, several demonstrations are carried out by the Make America Great Again (MAGA), and no one declares the protest a violent one. In fact, when MAGA protests are held, the media is made to air how the demonstrators want America to go back to its roots of socio-economic prosperity.
When such protests occur, they always have a political divide they support. The Republicans and Democrats perceive protests differently. For the liberal protests, the Republic is likely to see the protests as violent that the Democrats. For instance, through the media, the Republicans said the anti-police protesters that blocked the highway and were holding the placards were violent. On the other hand, the democrats did not see any problem blocking the highway and holding the placards. It was just a part of a peaceful demonstration. The perception of the protests matters a lot. Martin Luther King Jr. was a champion of heroic protests in the country. But when he was leading the 1950s and 1960s, many onlookers saw him as an agitator and a danger to the conservative Americans, much as some people have a negative perception against the Black Lives Matter Movement. The different perceptions of the Republicans on anti-police protesters depict the resistance to change held dearly by the Conservative Americans. Something the liberal Americans consider small and not worth fighting for. From the US racial basis, the perception of black lives matter is that of violence. Even when the protesters hold placards, the action is seen as sinister, and the republicans manipulate the news for the people watching to have a different view of the same (Banks, 2018).
The Black Lives Matter protests were met with all the accusations and brutality from the police. Renowned Republicans, the likes of Trump and Senator Tom Cotton sold the perception that the movement is made up of robbers, mobs and it was an act of domestic terrorism. Media outlets that hold a conservative ideology, such as Fox News with biasness, showed pictures and footage of theft and property being destroyed to support the narrative that BLM was out of control and the American people should distance themselves from the group actions of violence (Banks, 2018). The framing may be coming to an end in the country, but it has worked magic in turning the narrative around in the past. The tactic still works in other countries where the government frustrates the opposition with false information fed to the media. Since the media is also compromised, they don't do their due diligence to prove the allegations letting the government take the upper hand.
Make America Great Again (MAGA), on the other hand, is a good group that advocates for the lives of conservative Americans. To the Republicans, the action of MAGA should not be questioned. The founders and supporters are depicted by the same media, the compromised media, as a peaceful movement fighting the conservatives' rights.
Conclusion
In modern America, stories of racial discrimination occurred close to three hundred years ago. As society became more educated and tolerant, racism declined, and the few who continued to advocate/practice, racism did it in hiding. However, in American history, Donald Trump gave the conservatives and the diehard conservative Americans the guts to come out and declare their hate for the minority groups in the United States. With the funny part being that they cannot be caught or punished by the law. The president himself, who is supposed to be the symbol of national unity was on the forefront in dividing the country.
By manipulating the media such as fox news that focuses more on the conservative American stories, the government tried to change the narrative that BLM was a peaceful protestors group to violent extremism and even went ahead to term the group as domestic terrorists. Yet, they were people with good intentions and wanted to stop racists’ police officers from taking the lives of Americans into their own hands. Our constitution is considered one of the best in the world. Anyone who calls America home ought to be protected by the law and enjoy the same rights as any other person born and raised in America. Your place of birth/ratio should never determine how you will be treated. Black lives Matter was not only for the blacks but for everyone who felt oppressed by the system. The media is used to sell the wrong narrative to the people on how BLK is a terrorist group while MAGA is a peaceful group advocating for the rights of the conservative Americans.
References
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Cherkaoui, M. (2016). Donald Trump’s Presidency: New Dawn or Dooms Day?.
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