Research Paper

Christina Back

Blankenship

AP Language & Composition

20 May 2012

The Land of the Oppressed

            We Americans are generally known throughout the world for our ignorance, are we not? It is a playful sentiment in which even Americans muse about, but all jokes aside, the implications for ignorance can spell dire consequences. For instance patriotism can become affected by public blindness, resulting in the more harmful states of mind such as jingoism and chauvinism. These attitudes fueled by misguidance and arrogance possess the potential of further developing into even fascist, socialist, or totalitarian ideologies. But how is this related to America? America is the land of freedom, the land of opportunity? Yes, and no.

            Indeed America had offered a wide range of freedoms absent in other nations, like the freedom of speech, religion, and an innumerable others since its revolutionary founding in 1776. America also acted as a “heroic figure,” aiding the Berliners early in the Cold War and promoting democracy in Latin American countries under the Good Neighbor Policy (Kennedy). On more social terms, American culture bloomed during the Antebellum period in the early 1800’s and as well as the Roaring Twenties, times of which marked climactic points of prosperity within America. However, with years of Pax Romana, arose light’s counterpart, darkness. Oppression had materialized simultaneously with its alter ego in every Golden Age of freedom. From the mere existence of oppression, the lone name of freedom would soon be dispelled, as the shadowy existence of it stains the idealized image of eternal light. Therefore, the “land of freedom” can only be labeled such a term to a limited extent. While America may seem to uphold a resolute sense of freedom, it also yields to oppressive forces.

            The Native Americans were the first group to be oppressed in North America. Although the Native Americans lived on the soil first, they were treated as foreigners by the immigrating European explorers. Over time, the Native Americans were pushed onto undesirable territories that were often infertile for farming and devoid of any value. The climax came when the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was enacted under President Jackson’s administration, forcing the Indians to relocate. As a result, 4,000 Cherokees died on the journey which would later be called the Trail of Tears (Kennedy).  Forced onto barren lands specifically allotted just for them by the American government under the Dawes Act in 1887, they were also forced to live American lifestyles and abandon their traditions in a tactic called “coercive assimilation” (Folsom). Eventually, the Native Americans were pushed onto undesirable territories that were often infertile for farming and devoid of any value. In addition to that, the Native Americans were further oppressed by swindlers whom cheated them into misleading allotment schemes. Due to the laws and combined support of the people, Native American culture quickly fractured and bend towards the will of the oppressors.

            America’s Constitution was violated during an age of paranoia and nativism. The Red Scare captured the essence of the Roaring Twenties, in which innocent people were seized and forced out of America without any idea of what they had done with no trial or hearing (Watson). Nativist sentiment oppressed ideas brought by immigrants. This had unfortunately led to the unjustified arrests of over thousands of people, including the arrest of the third party candidate, Eugene Debs, under the Espionage Act of 1917, who had no intention to overthrow the government. This was to no avail to the federal agents commissioned to detain them, a search prompted by Attorney General Palmer in what would later be called the Palmer Raids. It was met with much approval by J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the F.B.I, who was notorious of having a Gestapo-like agency (Curt, 73). On the other hand, this infamous operation also faced criticism from even government officials. Progressive, Republican politician Robert Follette had proclaimed in his speech to the Senate, that “it appears to be the purpose of those conducting this campaign [is] to throw the country into a state of terror to coerce public opinion, to stifle criticism, and suppress discussion of the great issues involved in this war” (Follette). Although there may have been conspirators, a fair trial could have easily been conducted to find the culprits guilty of a coup d’etat. In permitting the Palmer Raids, the US government had betrayed their convictions and values of freedom, and had taken the alternative course of oppression.

            Executive Order 9066 was one of the worst cases of oppressive scenarios. America had resorted to this unpopular measure for the same, recurring motif; to maintain public security. There were other means of discriminating the guilty from the innocent, but mass prejudice engulfed this nation into doing what they inherently thought was right. This conviction was “largely an accumulation of much of the misinformation, half-truths, and insinuations that for years have been directed against the Japanese Americans by people with radical and economic prejudices (Carroll, 55)” The act was implemented by the government in the midst of World War II. It had relocated the Japanese into “internment camps” a euphemism for the identical concentration camps created by the Germans, where the Japanese were seized and unjustifiably confined to worst than prison-like conditions, just for being "potential suspects." The Japanese were told by authorities and even President Roosevelt that it was best for their protection, but the Japanese quickly realized the white lie that was given to them; the guns were literally pointed at them from inside the camps, not to the outside (Kennedy). In times of crisis, the majority had to pay for the misdeeds of the few.

            In another case of government hypocrisy, a seemingly minor change was added to the NDAA, or the National Defense Authorization act, in 2012, inconspicuously seizing the rights of Americans. The bill states that “any person who has committed a belligerent act” can be detained without warrant. It also indicates if the government finds anyone unsavory for any reason, the government may "seize and imprison an individual indefinitely" without trial, even for merely opposing the government. Essentially, any person living in the United States can be arrested without due process of law.

          The NDAA is basically an addition to its counterpart from 2001, the USA Patriot Act, when spelled out titled, Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, which allows the government to search and spy on U.S. citizens without warrant. Together, the government can spy and arrest whomever it pleases without restrictions, justifying its actions with the weak excuse of “preserving national security;” this is oppression at its finest. Clinton Rossiter,

former Political Science professor from Cornell University, claimed that a crisis government must be implemented in times of crisis, with the qualification that it must also be carried on by persons representative of the citizenry interested in defense of the Constitutional order (Rossiter, 304). And with only 51% of Americans in 2010 believing that “it is necessary to give up some civil liberties in order to make the country safe from terrorism,” the condition for a “constitutional dictatorship” is already broken (Thomma)

            Today, America faces another threat on top of the NDAA. Now, under H.R. 347, formally called the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act, anyone who “engages in disorderly or disruptive conduct” or “impede[s] or disrupt[s] the orderly conduct of Government business or official functions,” may be arrested. It further states that the protests in areas occupied by individuals, like politicians or Presidential candidates, under the protection of the Secret Service are forbidden. The unspecific and vague wording even within the bill allows arrests to be made easier. Even peaceful protests are under a threat (Lithwick). The bill’s easy passage with a vast majority of bipartisan support indicates how far America has ventured off from its once sacred promises and ideals.

            Like the National Defense Authorization Act and the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act, the Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act uses the language of “doublespeak,” in which carefully selected words are used to mislead and distort reality (Lutz, 422). By using deceitful diction, the government is gradually stripping away the power of the people and oppressing their freedoms under the radar, first with the creation of the Patriot Act, then with revisions of the NDAA, and now H.R. 347.If the people cannot voice themselves to the people who create the laws, and are consequentially punished for speaking, how can there possibly be change in a society that accepts no opinions other than that of the federal establishment? Today, we are all guilty until proven innocent.

It is another general fact that history repeats itself. Throughout American history, the repetitious suspicion of foreigners and the sacrifice of civil liberties for safety is not a new fact in America today (Rossiter). Therefore, certain revolution will come as the cycle comes into full circle. From the years of 2010 to 2012, President Obama created a slogan to promise change, but only changed his promise. It is time for America to recreate itself into its idealized self, a country where the government is not above the law, a country where the people’s best interests are heard, and most of all, a country that symbolizes freedom. “And may one day the innocent never suffer and the brave never die, for on that day we'll truly be free, united as one, divided by zero.”

                                                            -Anonymous

           

Works Cited

Carroll, Jamuna, ed. Civil Liberties and War. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Print. Issues on Trial.

Curt, Gentry. J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets. New York: W.W. Norton and Company Inc., 1991. Print.

Follette, Robert La. “Free Speech in War Time .” U.S. Senate Chamber. 6 Oct. 1917. United States Senate. Web. 15 Mar. 2012. <http://www.senate.gov/////.pdf>.

Folsom, R.D. "American Indian Law Interview." American Indians Imprisoned in the
            Oklahoma Penitentiary: "A Punishment More Primitive than Torture" 2.1
            (1974): 85-109. JSTOR. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/>

Lithwick, Dahlia, and Raymond Vasvari. “You Can’t Occupy This.” Slate. Washington Post Company, 19 Mar. 2012. Web. 20 May 2012. <http://www.slate.com//_and_politics//‌/‌/_anti_protest_bill_signed_by_barack_obama_is_a_quiet_attack_on_free_speech_.html>.

Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant. Boston: Suzanne Jeans, 2006. Print.

Lutz, William. The World of Doublespeak. The Bedford Reader. 9th  ed. Boston: Bedford, 2006. 417-26. Print.

“Opinions of the Patriot Act.” Chart. Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center, 15 Feb. 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. <http://www.people-press.org/‌/‌/‌/remains-divided-over-the-patriot-act/>.

Rossiter, Clinton. Constitutional Dictatorship. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1948. Print.

Thomma, Steven. “Most Americans would Trim Liberties to be Safer.” McClatchy. McClatchy, 12 Jan. 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://www.mcclatchydc.com/‌/‌/‌/‌/most-americans-would-trim.html>.

- - -. - - -. Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011. 112 Cong., 2nd Sess,. H.R. 347. 2012. PDF file.

Watson, Bruce. “Crackdown! When Bombs Terrorized America, the Attorney General  Launched the ‘Palmer Raids.’” Military and Intelligence Database Collection. N.p., Feb. 2002. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. <http://go.galegroup.com//‌>