Malachai

In the past months there has been a lawsuit filed by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for suspected racial profiling. Before the lawsuit however, the Anti-Discrimination committee simply suspected that there had been a racist policy concerning the admittatnce of Middle Eastern peoples to the united states. As a result,

>>”The Anti-Discrimination Committee first requested records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in December 2004; DHS denied the filing, both initially and on appeal. The DHS said the release of the detainees’ nationalities “could harm” law enforcement activities by “revealing where the US Immigration and Customs Enforcment (ICE) focuses its resources.”    - Catherine Komp

The article went on to explain that the entire ordeal with the DHS was not because of the fear of revealing the focus of our government but instead because of a reluctancy to admit to the truth. Racism it seems is ever-present in many aspects of American life, and it would seem that our own government is not above this mentality. Racism is present in the government as well as in the lives of the people, and for it many people are unjustly treated. In the past years during the war on terror, our government has allowed and even endorsed the requirement that “…men from predominantly Muslim countries (are) to submit to fingerprinting, photographing and questioning when entering the
United States.” (Catherine Komp) As for Huck Finn, this article is extremely relevant because the book is set at a time where there is much strife concerning slavery in the government. The government at the time of the book is eventually forced to come to grips with the fact that slavery is truly a horrific act and as a result the government was forced to do away with it. In today’s society, the government has yet again come across such a case, although smaller. It took time for the government to do away with slavery just as it will take time for the government to stop racial profiling. I believe that this article has an interesting relation to the book simply in that it identifies the present problems in the government and they can be compared with the past problems that are presented in Huck Finn. 

 (For more articles concerning racism visit The New Standard)

Despite the argument that racial issues in today’s society have been effectively removing themselves, there is still a strong undertone of racial importance in our nation. While it is true that present day clashes concerning race are less frequent, that has not effectively eliminated the problem. Even though many people keep their racial views quieted, there have still been events that have revealed a much more aggravated situation. For example, crises in our nation have unleashed strong displays of racism in many people. In the aftermath of the World Trade Center Bombing, there was a strong movement that categorized people from the
Middle East as terrorists. Our nation became prejudice and that air developed into racism. Our government has even embraced this mentality. Another example was Hurricane Katrina. 

“Some 71% of blacks say the disaster shows that racial inequality remains a major problem in
America, according to a survey by the

Pew
Research
Center for the People & the Press, conducted Sept. 6-7 among 1,000 Americans; 56% of whites feel this was not a particularly important lesson.And while 66% of blacks think the government’s response would have been faster if most of the victims had been white, 77% of whites disagreed.”-USA Today, (tomorrow the world) 

This passage from usatoday.com just helps to show how many people lie in ignorance of racism. This survey helps to show how people of all ethnicities can find something to fault in another race, just as they can act out against a race all the while ignorant or in denial of these same actions. All of these things simply help to prove that despite the belief of some, racism remains a strong factor among today’s social problems. If we are to amend this rift caused by race, then we must first come to terms with the racism that exists in ourselves. Only then can this problem of race be mended. It is quite possible that this rift will never fully mend, but hopefully time will fix that which others have destroyed: racial unity.

This article actually did relate to Huck Finn. Racism was a strong theme in the book just as it is in this article. For example, almost everyone that Huck meets along the way believes themselves to be superior to a slave. At that time, blacks were accepted as an inferior race. Thus the people of that time were extremely racist. Even Mark Twain himself while he did write of the liberty and integrity, he also factored in the superiority of the white man in his books. All blacks were considered inferior in some way. There is even a section where Jim discusses how he is going to get an abolitionist to steal his children for him. This article fits in with this because it is discussing how the social rift created by the slave system is still with us today- in the form of racism.  

I believe that the wild success of satire is a result of its manner concerning problems.  Satire makes fun of serious issues in a constructive manner so that it will help to make people aware of the seriousness of situations. For example, when one of the most prestigious philosophers in
Ireland suggests that eating babies will help to solve a hunger problem, people are shocked. Satire can often utilize a sickening sense of humor, but it still draws attention to major problems. A movie like Borat or the essay “A modest proposal” are satire because they poke fun at serious world problems. In Borat, it is racism that is confronted and in “A modest proposal” it is the living conditions of the Irish nation. These examples look to change society and they aim to better it as well. A movie such as Scary Movie however is not one that does this. While it does make fun of some larger problems, it does not take a stand on them and the purpose is humor rather than change. To me, satire is something I enjoy because it brings out the darker look on many problems and helps to reveal many things. Thus satire is amusing as well as constructive. Some of my favorite examples include Farside comics and Saturday Night Live.