Excessive Use of Force

Symbols

Symbols are words, gestures, pictures or objects that conveys a particular meaning, recognized only by those who share a culture. An example of a symbol based on the first photo presented is the guns and toy being held by the officer and child in stroller. This is not normal for the police to have a gun pointed at a child. I have chosen this satirical cartoon because the goal of a satirical cartoon is to point out the issues that we are facing with society. It sends a message on how we view police brutality and what we believe is true about society. This satirical cartoon symbols are implying that a baby boy has a toy in his hand and the officers are in defensive stance with their guns pointed at the baby as if their life is in immediate danger. This is highlighting that it is normal for the people who are supposed to protect us, to try and harm us. This work makes me angry because I have read a case to where a boy that was four years old was shot by a police man because the little boy had a toy gun and the officer had mentioned that he thought his life was in immediate threat and shot and killed the 4 year old. In this picture the police officers are white and the people they are pointing a gun at people who are of color and also look like they do not have much money. The boy has a toy in the photo, and you can tell it is a toy but somehow they still say “Drop the weapon” and police in fight mode. Police have a scale in which they can react to something. It frustrates me that they see a toy and the first thing they do is pull out their guns.

 

In the second picture you see “A Black Man Dies in Police Custody” and “Roots Looting” and in the middle of people you see a sign that says “Again”. This is depicting that it is common and also almost normal that a black man to die in police custody. I hate this is how society is. It has always mainly been a black and white world meaning that it had always been that difference between blacks and whites based on who holds power and who does not. Although there are obviously more than black and white people it is often the only two races that get shown the most and talked about.

Heroes

A hero is anyone who is alive or dead, real or imaginary that serve as role models for behaviors. In our culture we have this specific hegemony that we are supposed to look a certain way, be a certain way or be a certain way in order to obtain a high social class. Hegemony is power and dominance that one social group holds over others. If you have a certain hegemony in society it can cause you to gain power and maintain that power. These satirical cartoons promote the hegemony that we have. People who typically hold power in today’s society are males, who are white, able bodied, and heterosexual. In the cartoon you will see the police are white men. The police duties are to protect and serve for the community. The people who the police are pointing the gun at are people of color. Mass media sends out these messages in order to support the status quo and promote the hegemony that we have in society. Mass media can affect how we perceive social roles and also personal roles within society that we hold.

Rituals

Rituals are collective activities considered socially essentially within the culture. The rituals that are displayed in the text is that we read the newspapers for the recent events that are going on and pay attention so that we can be aware of stuff that may happen to us.