Race in America

After exploring CNN webpage on race, I was particularly struck by the article that discussed the tension caused in a church because of fluctuations in the races of the churchgoers. Prior to reading the Wise and Hacker articles, I believe that I may have read this most recent article and dismissed as being a kind of case study, something that is not a widespread issue. However, both the Hacker and Wise articles opened my eyes to the reality and presence of racism in modern America. In light of the two aforementioned race articles, as I read this most recent CNN article, I did not find myself to be particularly surprised by the content. Of course it was still striking, but after hearing some of the harsh statistics and rough truths offered by Hacker, I cannot say that I was shocked that churches are dealing with integration issues. Something I was not expecting to read though was the repeated mention of battles and tensions that sparked because of an increasingly interracial parish. I would think that one's faith would (hopefully) supersede in importance one's feelings towards people of a different race. Therefore, I found it odd that such hostility has been sparked in a place where faith is the primary concern. The fact that the issue has become so prominent that ministers have left interracial parishes out of sheer frustration speaks to the gravity of the issue. Not only is modern day racism taking precedence over faith-- and in churches nonetheless-- but it is resulting in outright racial tensions and battles.

Mock Trial Recap: Sexual Harassment and Date Rape

The first case revolved around the issue of sexual harassment. Just as the class discussed after the verdict had been delivered, it seemed to be a very straightforward case, with the stipulated facts alone presenting enough evidence to convict Kevin Murphy of sexual harassment. Therefore, it seemed very fitting that the verdict delivered was one of “guilty.” A main issue of concern in this case was intent vs. impact. It was made clear from the beginning of the case that Kevin Murphy did indeed make comments to Elise Roberts that had sexual undertones and could be perceived as inappropriate. So, the goal of the case did not seem to be an issue of whether or not Murphy said such comments—it was confirmed that he did—but instead and issue of which individual, Murphy or Roberts, had a flawed perception of acceptable behavior. Because of this, I found the testimony of Kenneth Puma most compelling because of the way in which he changed the way in which Kevin Murphy was perceived. In Puma’s testimony he painted Kevin Murphy has a man who liked to joke around, but often crossed the line. An example that comes to mind is when Puma testified that Murphy made some comment in court about Elise and another woman. Puma said that he recognized this comment as very inappropriate and seemed to take mental note of it. I found Puma’s testimony most compelling because, while he was testifying on behalf of the plaintiff and therefore meant to paint Murphy in a poor light, his testimony seemed relatively well-balanced and neutral, in effect making it believable and credible. His position as a fellow co-worker who seemed to have a vastly personality than Elise yet still found Murphy’s comments unacceptable certainly helped to show that while Elise may have perhaps been a ‘high strung’ and sensitive woman, this sensitivity was not the reason behind her accusations. In other words, Kevin Murphy’s harassment was also recognized and deemed offensive by another relatively uninvolved party, ultimately legitimizing her complaint against Murphy. In this particular case, I do not see how a verdict other than “guilty” could have possibly been delivered. The only way that Kevin Murphy could have reasonably been acquitted of these charges was if the defense presented an incredibly strong case supporting the theory that Elise Roberts was so unusually emotionally fragile and had such a severely skewed perception of others that her personality allowed her to perceive Murphy’s comments as offensive harassment when they indeed were not. However, I do not think there was ample evidence available in the case to support said theory, which is why I certainly support and agree with the outcome of the trial and believe that, based on the testimonies and facts of the case, it was the correct decision.

In the second case, David Jones v. United States, I do not necessarily agree with verdict of the case. I, as a defense attorney for the case, was of course pleased with the results but still do not believe they were the correct decision. Although overall this case seemed to offer more room for deliberation than the sexual harassment case, it still seemed to me that there were many explicit stipulated facts that alone were enough for a guilty verdict. For example, in David Jones v. United States, it is stipulated that Susan Williams explicitly said “no” several times. To me, that fact alone qualifies Mr. Jones as a rapist in this case. After witnessing resistance from Ms. Williams in both physical and verbal forms, he still proceeded to have sex with her. I found the most compelling witness in this case to be David Jones. Since the prosecution seemed to have such a strong case against Jones, I found his testimony to be very interesting, as it painted him as a very innocent man who was a victim of unfortunate miscommunication.

Without trying to diminish the trauma faced by any rape victim, I feel that in some ways it may be more traumatic to be a victim of date rape rather than a victim of a random, anonymous rape. Both cases are tremendously traumatic in their own ways, but the personal aspect of date rape seems that it would have an especially scarring impact on the victim. It seems that date rape is not only violent, but also violates the trust of the victim, as victims of date rape usually know their attacker. Another prevalent issue with date rape is the element of confusion, which was witnessed in this trial. With date rape, the victim not only has to deal with the trauma of what has happened to her, but also often has to confront self-doubt and a sense that her feelings of violation and victimization are illegitimate—something that only worsens an already terrible crime.

I have never heard of a girl at Deerfield High School being a victim of date rape. Although I’m sure it has happened, it is not an issue that I believe occurs frequently enough to be considered a real problem at this school. I think the reason behind the absence of date rape is that we have been so thoroughly educated on the dangers of it. As we all saw from the case, because the issue of date rape is so delicate and can be subjective, one must look at it through a strongly black and white lens and simply follow the creed of “no means no.” I believe this mentality has, fortunately, been engrained in the minds of most students at DHS, resulting in date rape becoming an essential non-issue at our school. Unlike date rape, I do feel that sexual harassment is slightly more common. Perhaps it is merely ‘teenagers being teenagers’ and throwing around thoughtless comments, but I do think that sexual harassment does occur on a small level. While comments may be made, I have yet to witness a student who seems to be legitimately bothered or threatened by the comments. It seems that any comments that could be construed as “sexual harassment” are all obviously made in jest, with the ‘harasser’ usually knowing when to draw the line and stop. 

The State of the Union Address: Math and Science Make a Comeback

During President Obama's State of the Union Address, he made a point to emphasize the importance of children's involvement in math and science. As part of his plan to jumpstart the nation's progression in science and technology, he encouraged young people to pursue careers in education, mentioning that the nation will be needing hundreds of thousands of new educators in the coming years. I think Obama's push for an increase of interest in these fields is a wise one because it will inspire a new wave of technological progression similar to that which was occurring during the space race. Obama spoke about how the United States has lapsed into a period of technological and scientific stagnancy and think there is a fair amount of truth to his statement. The United States is no longer the clear world leader in science and technology and is instead becoming eclipsed by China. This seems like a particularly wise agenda because although the United States seems to have so many resources, it does not appear that its young people have been truly taking advantage of them. In fact, Obama made a point to mention that just recently China-- not the United States-- engineered the world’s fastest and most sophisticated computer. The way that Obama approached this subject was wise. His tone was not scolding, that is, he was not attempting to voice disappointment in the nation and convey a feeling that our current, rather sluggish position is permanent. Instead, he was very encouraging and used various anecdotes and positive language to inspire a new age of change in the coming years. He reminded American citizens of the time during the Space Race to show the benefits the United States was able to reap when the United States had adopted a fiercely intellectually competitive attitude—something that I believe needs to return.

 

How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Final Entry

Overall, this book intensified my belief that the pro-choice movement has had a positive impact on society as whole while also guaranteeing women the right to their own bodies. Nonetheless, Page's consistently strong and intelligent argument are occasionally marred by her tendency to ignore the nuances of the pro-life movement. It seems that, at times, a more fitting title of the book would have been How the Pro-Life Movement Destroyed America-- Page sometimes seems a little too intent on cruelly bashing her opposition rather than showing why her own position is correct. On more than one occasion, Page allows the reader to believe that every pro-life activist is a devout right-winger who is a strong subscriber to a fundamentalist religion. Clearly this is not true, and by giving the reader the illusion that this fallacy is fact, Page makes her job a bit too easy.

My reservations about her style of argumentation aside, she offers astute and original points that are rarely considered in the arena of abortion. These considerations include the effect abortion has on poverty on both the global and domestic scales, the eradication of abortion leading to dangerous self-abuse, and the effect the opportunity for abortion has had on marriage satisfaction. Above all else, Cristina Page makes sure to reiterate that outlawing abortion does not fulfill pro-life activists' supposed ultimate goal: to decrease the number of abortions.

How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Entry #5

In the closing chapter of the book, entitled "A World Without Roe" Page gives the reader a glimpse into some of the ramifications of a world without the right to abortion. She writes, "The day after Roe is overturned, the right to abortion will be threatened, if not quickly made illegal, in no fewer than twenty-one states" (145). To underscore the massive effect outlawing abortion would have on the nation's women, Page says, "In 2000, approximately 400,000 women from these states has abortions" (146). This particular statistic really resonated with me. When Page had previously brought up abortion as a legitimate means of population control, I was not sure how large of an effect abortion really had on the overall population of a country. However, this statistic showed me how profound the change could be if abortion becomes banned. Several pages later, Page brings up the issue of women who choose to abort the fetus because of risks to the fetus's health. An example that Page gives is the condition anencephaly, in which the fetus develops without a forebrain or cerebellum. Because this horrible birth defect would obviously lead to a severely sub-par and stressful quality of life for both the mother and child, most mother who are told that their fetus has anencephaly choose to terminate the pregnancy. Without Roe, that would be an impossibility.

Furthermore, Page elaborates more on the argument that in the absence of legal abortion, women do not completely abandon the idea but instead choose other, more dangerous methods of aborting the fetus. To illustrate this point, Page tells the the story of a pre-Roe woman who found herself in an unwanted pregnancy. Certain that she could not have the child, she attempted methods of aborting the fetus that included drinking large amounts of Everclear alcohol, squatting in scalding water, and when those methods failed-- beating her abdomen with a meat pulverizer. In this last chapter, Page paints a bleak picture of what the world may look like in the absence of legal abortion: dangerous, unethical, and irresponsible.

How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Entry #4

I was particularly impressed by the discussion Page into which page now enters, which she calls “pro-lifers abroad.” She brings up points that extend beyond the scope of abortion in the United States and similarly privileged nations. She presents her argument on a global stage, showing how the issues of birth control and abortion are not purely moral issues, but economic and cultural ones as well. She opens this section of the book with a powerful statement: “In reality, one of the most pro-life things to do is to give people the means to plan their pregnancies” (122). The simplicity of this statement struck me. If one can put aside the nuances of the abortion debate, it becomes clear that both sides simply desire children to be given the opportunity to live good and healthy lives. I realized that the sides are more alike than I’m sure either of them would like to believe. Also, this statement helped Page’s argument—grounds it in a sense—by reminding the reader that the pro-choice movement is not aimed at haphazardly terminating pregnancy after pregnancy for women who do not and will not ever desire children (in fact, Page mentioned a statistic earlier in the book that declared nearly 61% of all women seeking abortions are already mothers). Instead, its focus can, and should, be painted much sunnier. By putting a pro-life spin on it, Page underscores how the pro-choice movement simply seeks to provide women with the option of being able to have children when they are willing and ready to give the child the best life possible.

Page continues on, speaking of countries where abortion is either unavailable or inaccessible to many and the negative economic impact it has had on the nation. To reinforce this point, Page includes a quote from economist Jeffrey Sachs’ book The Poverty Trap. He says, “One reason for the poverty trap is the demographic trap. When impoverished families have large numbers of children, the families cannot afford to invest in each child…Rapid population growth also puts enormous stresses on farm sizes and environmental resources, thereby exacerbating poverty” (123). Not only does Sachs’ comment show how inapplicable the pro-life argument is to women in third world countries, but it also suggests what might be the fate of any nation that outlaws abortion, An argument frequently used by pro-lifers is that abortion is not the only option for a woman who does not desire a child; adoption is always an alternative. If abortion were to be outlawed, the nation would be facing a potential crisis in population growth, in effect leading to inflation of the poverty crisis. As harsh as it may seem, abortion is a form of population control and this facet of abortion must be carefully considered by its adversaries. 

How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Entry #1

For my outside reading book, I chose to read How the Pro-Choice Movement Saved America: Freedom, Politics, and the War on Sex by Cristina Page. Although I identify as being a supporter of the pro-choice movement, I have been somewhat disappointed by Page's representation of the opposing pro-life movement. Since I am only about sixty pages into the book, I understand that she may continue on to explore more facets of the pro-life argument, but at this point it appears that she has obviously chosen to only share the more archaeic, extreme, and religious views that some pro-lifers hold. The topic of my book convienently coincides with what we are currently discussing in class, so I know that every she is writing in the book is not true. For example, Page writes, "The pro-life movement may, through repetition, hope to convince us that contraception is abortion. Where are the facts? Is there really no difference between abortion and contraception?" (21). After reading articles and watching films in class that discuss viewpoints of the pro-life movement, I know the idea that contraceptives are a form of abortion is a view held by mostly radical pro-life activists. For example, one of the films had interviews with employees at a crisis pregnancy center, a place for women to go who are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy and would like to be educated on their options. At these centers, run by less forceful and radical pro-life advocates, the women are educated on forms of birth control as a means to avoid having another unplanned pregnancy. If anti-contraceptive idea was held by all of those who object to abortion, their argument would not have much power. How are they to realistically say that women should not be able to terminate a pregnancy if they also object to all methods aimed at protecting against pregnancy?

Despite her partial misrepresentation of the pro-life movement, Page does make an interesting argument in the second chapter of the book, titled "Love (and Life) American Style." After citing statistics taken in the mid-1950s along with the same statistics taken from the late 1970s- when birth control became legal and available to unmarried individuals- it became apparent that the couples from the 1970s overwhelmingly reported more happiness in their marriage than the couples from the 1950s. Although it is impossible to solely attribute this to the legalization of abortion and birth control, Page brings up a unique argument. She writes, "Part of the reason for unhappiness in fifties marriages was that many couples didn't really want to be married in the first place. They were trapped into marriage by unintended pregnancy. With no sex ed, no birth control, no legal abortion..." I had never heard the point brought up before, and it was refreshing to hear a new argument on a more of a larger, holistic scale.