I will be commenting on the very last image that shows our ex-president George W. Bush. This image states "Be Afraid! Because Paranoia is Patriotic" picturing Bush in the center and then in the faded background, Saddam Hussein and Osama BinLaden.
During Bush's reign as president, he emphasized the racist idea that anyone who was not white and came from the Middle East was most likely a terrorist or friends with a terrorist. After the events of September 11, 2001, terror made its home within the United States, entering the hearts of millions of residents of the nation. Bush took advantage of this and began his campaign of fighting the supposed "War on Terrorism". Both he and his cabinet skillfully manipulated the minds of many citizens to believe that being afraid was the correct thing and that the best way to take care of this was to essentially be racist and give up personal freedoms. An example of this being the Patriot Act which was signed less than a month after the 9/11 attacks. Sly as a snake and cunning as a wolf, Bush stripped freedoms from many and wrongfully accused many of being illegal or terrorist while emphasizing phrase, "Be Afraid! Because Paranoia is PATRIOTIC".
The thing that I find so striking about the picture you chose is how true it is. Fear is something that has always been present in American culture--the only thing that has changed is who we focus that fear on. What's fascinating here, is to think about how quickly fear spreads. The Arizona law is relatively young, but it's already created such a controversy, as has the controversy surround the NY mosque. Wouldn't it be interesting to be able to trace the fears of America's past to the incidents that started them?
ReplyDeleteYeah, that would be extremely interesting to be able to trace the fears! I wonder how long it would take though... hmmm... sounds like an interesting outside project though.
ReplyDeleteIt might be a really good project for the class, Emily.
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