Have you ever thought of power and how it affects communities of color? When power is taken away, people are being systematically disenfranchised.
“Systematically disenfranchised” means to purposely take power away from a community or person. For example communities of color have been through experiences like this, such as being treated unequal because of how they look. Communities of color are being systematically disenfranchised through unequal laws and by being criminalized. In order to reclaim power, a good thing to do is to protest.
One way communities of color are being systematically disenfranchised is through laws such as the Jim Crow laws and the Arizona SB 1070. In the article ¨What was Jim Crow laws¨ it talks about the Jim Crow laws of 1877 which were laws that segregated white people and people of color. In this article it states ¨A black male could not offer his hand with a white male because it implied being socially equal.¨ This could lead to conflict because the rights of people of color were being taken away making it bad to interact with other communities of people. This law affects communities of color a lot, however another law that also affect them is the Arizona SB 1070 law. The article “ Arizona once feared immigration law” talks about the Arizona SB 1070 law of 2010 also known as the Arizona immigration law.
This law was a law that allowed the police to detain or arrest someone with the suspension of them not being in the U.S legally because of the way they look. In the article it states “ If officers suspect that a person is here illegally they have the right to call immigration and send them to detention ”. Unlike someone in the white community who would not be pulled over for the way they look. Other communities especially the latino community would have to live in constant fear of being arrested simply because of their appearance. This shows that communities of color are being systematically disenfranchised by laws and how they are affected by theses laws.
Another way communities of color are being systematically disenfranchised is through criminalization. One way you see criminalization is through films. One film you see this take place is in the 1915 film “Birth of a Nation” by D.W.Griffith, H.E Aitken. This film criminalizes african americans making them look dangerous and as rapist. In the film it shows a girl jumping off a cliff rather than being “raped” by a black man. If many people watch this film then they would have an image of who they think african americans are, negatively affecting this community and causing them to lose their power and respect.
Protest can make a big change especially to reclaim power to stop being systematically disenfranchised. There are many methods to protesting, but a really common method are marches. An article named “The 9 biggest marches and protest in a American history” by Leanna Garfield talks about the biggest and greatest marches in american history. Also it talks about how these marches were effective to what they were fighting for. In this article the most successful march was the march on washington for jobs and freedom where approximately 250,000 people participated in this 1963 civil right march in DC.
The results of this would be to reclaim their power and to get back what was theirs which was their rights and freedom. Although the washington march was the most successful march in American History, the 1963 East LA walkout was the most successful and important walkout. Marching is a great method to be heard but so are walkouts. The article “ What is the significant of the 1963 East LA walkout” it talks out this walkout or even movement that was created because of unequal education. According to this article it stated “These organizations not only protested unfair conditions but also was introduced through legal representations.These walkouts also helped spread the Chicano movement of Mexican and Mexican American women.” Unlike other movement that only fight for what they think is right this walkout inspired others to start a movement they believe would help this issue they thought was wrong and they didn’t do it alone thanks to the help of the organization of this walkout. There are many more great and successful protest in this world. Protesting is a amazing method to be heard and get help from other movements but most of all to unite as one to get what you deserve and what you think is worth fighting for.
Communities of color are being systematically disenfranchised through unequal laws and also through criminalization. In order to reclaim power a method that can make a change is protesting. Despite the fact that there are more ways that communities of colors are being systematically disenfranchised and we need to change this and instead of repeating the past we need to prevent it. In order to do this we need to stop sitting around and watching the news, instead take a stand for what we believe is unfair.
African Americans should not be treated unequally because of their race , the Latino community shouldn’t be scared to be pulled over because of how they look, and the LGBT community shouldn’t have to be described as sick people because of their sexual orientation. Speak up, be heard and make a change! It’s never to early or too late to make a change that can impact this world to have equal rights and make this world see that at the end of the day we are are who we are and no one can change that, we all should have equal rights and opportunities. As Bob Marley once said, “stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, and don’t give up a fight.”
