The Deacons for Defense and Justice were formed in 1964 by a group of African American men from Jonesboro, Liousiana, who were fed up with the daily threat of Klan-violence. The organization gained...Show moreThe Deacons for Defense and Justice were formed in 1964 by a group of African American men from Jonesboro, Liousiana, who were fed up with the daily threat of Klan-violence. The organization gained reputation for being armed and willing to shoot back at attackers, which was in contrast with the nonviolent strategy as preached by activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. However, as the Movement was progressing, more armed African American organizations were established and the Deacons' faded away against the background of more radical groups such as the Black Panther Party. The Deacons' role within these late years of the Civil Rights Movement is what has been researched in this Master Thesis.Show less
Mr. president, please try to contain your dignity,' sprak een bezorgd adviseur tegen de Amerikaanse president Andrew Johnson na zijn polariserende speech op 3 september 1866 te Cleveland, Ohio. 'I...Show moreMr. president, please try to contain your dignity,' sprak een bezorgd adviseur tegen de Amerikaanse president Andrew Johnson na zijn polariserende speech op 3 september 1866 te Cleveland, Ohio. 'I don't care about my dignity', snauwde de president op zijn beurt terug. Zijn temperamentvolle karakter stond volledig in de aanvalsmodus, en met goede reden. Een vijandig publiek had hem succesvol uit de tent weten te lokken terwijl hij achter zijn spreekgestalte stond. Keer op keer hekelden Republikeinse toeschouwers hem en werd er vanuit alle hoeken gejouwd. Gefrustreerd en geëmotioneerd had hij een aantal heftige uitspraken over de Republikeinen gedaan die, na landelijke verspreiding door toedoen van de noordelijke en zuidelijke kranten, niet in zijn voordeel uitpakten. Johnsons toespraak in Cleveland was het begin van een enorm verlies van zijn imago, dat de dagen ervoor nog enigszins positief opgebouwd was. Tot dan toe waren de media de campagnetoer relatief gunstig gezind geweest: op de uitgebreide speeches van de president in Philadelphia en New York was weinig negatief commentaar gepubliceerd. Maar na 3 september keerde het tij voor de president en begon de kritiek vanuit de Republikeinen en ook vanuit zijn eigen Democratische achterban toe te nemen. In plaats van de campagnetoer te stoppen, zette hij echter door, wat later een compleet verkeerde keuze zou blijken. Johnons koppigheid, zijn aanhoudende verwijten tegenover vooraanstaande Republikeinen en het pure racisme dat doorscheen in zijn speeches leidden ertoe dat zowel zijn Republikeinse als zijn Democratische aanhang steeds meer vraagtekens zetten bij zijn competentie als president. Het was vooral dat ene zinnetje over zijn dignity dat hem duur kwam te staan. Verslaggevers hadden de woordenwisseling tussen Johnson en zijn adviseur gehoord en stuurden die door naar het hoofdkantoor van hun krant. In de dagen erna verschenen de woorden in nieuwsbladen door het hele land. Vooral de Republikeinse media spraken schande van Johnsons houding en brutaliteit; 'onwaardig', 'oneerbiedig' en 'ronduit walgelijk' waren enkele van de termen die gebruikt werden om zijn optreden te beschrijven. Ook zijn antwoord op een opmerking die vanuit het publiek kwam, 'Hang Jeff Davis op!', werd slecht ontvangen. Hij reageerde: 'Waarom hangen jullie zelf Thad Stevens en Wendell Phillips niet op?" Zijn woorden verspreidden zich snel en gaven de Republikeinen een nieuwe kans om hem af te schilderen als onbetrouwbaar, hatelijk en kwaadwillend. Dit was een beeld wat Johnson na 3 september tijdens de toer telkens weer zou bevestigen, tot groot genoegen van zijn politieke opponenten.Show less
Hoe Lyndon Johnson gevangen kwam te zitten tussen de FBI van J. Edgar Hoover en de campagne voor gelijk stemrecht van Martin Luther King Jr. toen hij van beiden gebruik probeerde te maken.
Our current society keeps consuming more and more, thereby generating increasing amounts of waste worldwide. There is growing realisation among policy-markers that landfill disposal is not...Show moreOur current society keeps consuming more and more, thereby generating increasing amounts of waste worldwide. There is growing realisation among policy-markers that landfill disposal is not sustainable, and thus that better waste management is needed. Some solutions have been elaborated, among which the sustainable concept of sending no more waste to landfill, or “zero waste”. Several cities have attempted to adopt this concept; Toronto and San Francisco are two of them. This thesis seeks to analyze how policy makers in both cities implement the zero waste concept in their cities, and the socio-political obstacles faced along the way. The study conducts a thorough textual analysis of both official and non-official sources, following a critical discourse analysis method. It identifies recurrent discursive and decisional patterns of waste diversion promotion, while revealing some lacks of consistency in encouraging actual changes in waste consumption. The thesis elaborates on how each city’s socio-political context have played in the implementation of the zero waste-to-landfill initiatives. The thesis finds that underlying conflicting motivations might have influenced the whole evolution of the initiatives in both cities, which are far from having reached their goals.Show less
In April 2014, one of the worst cases of toxic lead poisoning in history occurred in the city of Flint, Michigan. This was the indirect result of austerity measures that were taken to battle the...Show moreIn April 2014, one of the worst cases of toxic lead poisoning in history occurred in the city of Flint, Michigan. This was the indirect result of austerity measures that were taken to battle the financial crisis. To be more specific, it was the direct result of the switch to the Flint river as the city’s main water source. This crisis disproportionally affected people of colour and poor communities. This thesis argues that the water crisis was the result of four missteps. Firstly, the appointment of the emergency management. Secondly, faulty sampling of tap water. Thirdly, the delay in changing the supply back to the Detroit river, and fourthly the dismissive response to the concerned residents. This thesis will use the related frameworks of environmental justice and environmental racism, to shed light on this crisis.Show less
The science behind climate change is more certain than most of the American public has been led to believe. An overwhelming consensus has already formed in the scientific community. The consensus...Show moreThe science behind climate change is more certain than most of the American public has been led to believe. An overwhelming consensus has already formed in the scientific community. The consensus suggests that climate change is occurring at a faster rate than previously believed due to anthropogenic causes, such as large amounts of CO2 emissions being released into the atmosphere. This means that human action will also be required to amend this issue. The leading body of climate research, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change arrived at these conclusions as early as 1995. While some developed countries have made impressive steps towards shifting to renewable sources with the help of national energy policies and other incentives, other developed countries are severely lagging behind due to their economy's heavy reliance on fossil fuel and an unfavorable political environment. This thesis will explore the climate-change skeptic network in the United States and the impact it has had in the discussion on national mitigation policies.Show less
The Sons of the Confederate Veterans (SCV) are driven by their pursuit to reform the modern American South on the basis of Neo-Confederate collective memory. Collective memory is a powerful tool:...Show moreThe Sons of the Confederate Veterans (SCV) are driven by their pursuit to reform the modern American South on the basis of Neo-Confederate collective memory. Collective memory is a powerful tool: it shapes a group’s identity. With recent controversy calling for the removal of Confederate symbolism throughout the southern United States, the SCV is fighting a rigorous battle not only for the construction of Confederate symbolism (as their forefathers have) but instead, for their defense. Its appeal however is questionable. How can a heritage organization maintain and further advance its legitimacy on the basis of a re-written history? How does the use of collective memory construction allow the SCV to use its construction and appropriation of the “Lost Cause” myth to advance Neo-Confederate ideology into Southern collective memory?Show less
Revolutions against racism, militarism and sexism organized by the New Left characterized the political landscape in the United in the sixties and seventies of the last century. Within these groups...Show moreRevolutions against racism, militarism and sexism organized by the New Left characterized the political landscape in the United in the sixties and seventies of the last century. Within these groups of the New Left, women played an important part and stood side by side along their male companions. Their voices, however, are overlooked and their experiences have only been researched in general terms. This paper focuses on the American Weather Underground organization and discloses the personal opinions and experiences of three Weatherwomen, Susan Stern, Cathy Wilkerson and Bernardine Dohrn, through autobiographies and video recordings. At the hand of the new social movement theory, a multi-faceted approach for a more thorough and less-biased understanding of this radical left-wing organization, it becomes clear that the activities of the Weather Underground were not that progressive towards women’s issues as they claimed to be.Show less
Truman's decision to use atomic bombs in the Second World War is still supported by the majority of the American people. It is argued that this was necessary to end the war quickly and save...Show moreTruman's decision to use atomic bombs in the Second World War is still supported by the majority of the American people. It is argued that this was necessary to end the war quickly and save hundreds of thousands of lives. In this paper, it is demonstrated that the provided justification is false. Moreover, the author looks at what other reasons Truman had to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and thereby provides a revisionist account of this important event.Show less
