Civic Issues Blog

For my paradigm shift I’m going to look at the rapid changing culture around mental health in the African American community. The shift has to deal with going from a stigma surrounding mental health, where it must be suppressed and dealt with behind closed doors. Stemming from the early 1800’s where faith and spirituality come into play. The community looked at mental illnesses as a lacking in a relationships within the church. There were many leaning on faith and God in order for healing rather than seeking physical help. There are also socio-economic roles that play a big part in how mental health is perceived and whether or not people even have the access to these forms of help. And lastly, the biggest motivator in this acceptance, is the increase in African American healthcare providers. Seeing people from their own community help others become more open to the idea and often make the patient more trustworthy towards the doctor. There was resistance because many people fear things they don’t completely understand and with the lack of resources in the community to actually help educate them, a lot were not necessarily interested in hearing there was something wrong with there brain. This is a fairly recent change, only being really looked at maybe in the late 90’s. The impact it is leading to though is great. There is a more overall acceptance fragility within the black male community. There is also more people not just talking to therapist, but to there family and friends about what’s really going on leading to an even healthier family environment. There is still plentiful change to come which I think is what makes this a great paradigm shift.

My  first example of a paradigm shift deals with the evolution and acceptance of mental health specifically in the African American community. Dating back to the 1800’s and slavery, the African American community has developed this negative stigma around psychological disorders which has led to the suppression of emotions and has had this domino effect throughout history. But it wasn’t until just recently ,(early 2000s) , that mental health was actually acknowledged and saw as something that needed to be dealt with. I think this shift occurred mainly because of prominent figures taking that step forward to speak out, where we now have a lot of especially rap artist ,expressing certain trials they are facing mentally. Also, the relaxation around the idea that it is okay to be vulnerable and display emotions has made people feel more comfortable and as if they are not alone.

My second example is the paradigm shift in women’s body types and beauty standards. The expectation that women are expected to uphold are forever changing which is what makes this an interesting topic. In the 1500-1700;s curvy women were the common beauty standard, but later into the 1800’s once corsets were introduced the image of women were continuously modified. Now we live in an age where large lips and “instagram models” should be our inspiration. What causes these changes? Trends. The constant fluctuation of trends mainly developed by pop culture are displayed throughout all forms of media. These trends turn to the new standard therefore pushing women to fulfill these unrealistic ideas that have been accepted by everyone except women. It’s not by force that they succumb to this but I believe the outside factors stressing the idea that you aren’t beautiful if you don’t look a certain way played a big role.

In comparison to my first artifact, my second one ( a video of trump saying “look at my African American”) doesn’t really focus on the appeal to the audience. In fact it doesn’t resonate with the audience at all. But both artifact focus on the tokenism of specific African Americans, where they are looked at as prized because they are openly supporting a candidate who has been actively working against them for decades. Another similarity involves the assumption of representation. A lot of political candidates see the c falling out of specific minority groups as a way to make them feel as thought they are included and many see no problem because “isn’t this the representation they have been wanting?“. But because of this narrow minded presumption, it causes a lot of backlash dealing with negative stereotypes and people feeling as thought they aren’t truly being seen as people, just some votes. The kairos is also a big factor in this comparison because both artifacts seem to happen right at the turn of a new election when trump realizes if he wants to win he needs to get African Americans on board. But again this emphasizes the idea that we aren’t people and these policies that are continuously preached about from time to time are only here to fool us. These rhetorical strategies of style, symbolism and pathos work, just not in Trumps favor. The stereotyping and assumptions of commonplaces does great harm to his campaign. Yes it is civic but he’s leading people to the polls because they are truthfully tired and ready to make the change they want to see.

In order to gain the audiences attention, I want to include an opening statement that will remind them that next year we will play a huge civic role by voting and that we must utilize our voices. The main thesis of my speech is centered around Trump’s targeted campaigns and disregard for seeing voters as actual people. In my artifact, Trump is targeting a black audience in hopes of encouraging them to vote for him in the next presidential election. The picture includes two men with “Blacks for Trump” posters leaning out of a classic white car. The audience may see classic movie scene flashbacks from films that have grown to become a staple in black culture. Also the simple accessories on one of the men in the photograph relates back to the classic 1960’s black panther party. This may let the reader be more comfortable with Trump simply because of an unspoken trust or respect that has been associated with specific political parties. The civics that are instilled here are to get out and vote. As an American citizen, this is how our voice is heard by the government and voting is simply a part of that. The main common place was discussed a little bit before but it is the fact that this picture relates to a consistent image that we have associated with our culture are shown in African American entertainment. Trump released this ad after receiving harsh feedback on tweets he made about African American congress women and just in general his wavering relationship with the African American community.. The main point of the ad is not to raise awareness of who or what the group is but rather let people know that there are people in the black community that support trump, so we should try as well. Some rhetorical strategies used include style, symbolism and pathos.

This time next year we will all be preparing to cast our 2020 presidential votes. But right now, we are deciding who we want to vote for. The first invention of Kairos employed in this artifact is urgency.  Trump has a past with the African American demographic going way back into the beginning of his 2016 election. But recent tweets aimed at specifically at black congresswomen has Trump coming up with a new campaigning strategy in order to lock in with black voters. Is it effective? Well we won’t necessarily know until election time rolls around, but from the small amount of recent feedback Trump has received most people aren’t buying into it. They expect more from their political leaders which Trump has yet to realize. This is a situation where a picture can mean a thousand word. This photo relies on devices such as pathos and symbolism. But also focuses on details that make all the difference. Things like text size and font help the audience easily identify what the artifact is trying to portray. The word” Black” and” Trump” being bold helps capture the audience attention and creates interest. When an image like this surfaces, the audience can easily be provoked, which also ties in with Kairos as well. Due to Trumps recent behavior one could ask,” why would they openly support this guy?”.  From a quick glance alone, we can see how the use of graphics is aimed directly to a black audience. From the classic car that they are riding in to even the accessories being worn by these supporters, it evokes a certain nostalgic feeling that is commonly related back to older movies from the 90’s like “Friday After Next” or  Snoop Dogg’s “Gin & Juice” music video that have all become classics throughout the black community. But the next question Trump May need to ask himself is if this is even the right way to re-gain the support of African Americans. 

  

I originally posted two ideas and this is just to add on to it. As many of you may know President Trump has started to  campaign for reelection, but this time he is prioritizing the votes of African Americans. Due to his past and more so recent tweets involving congresswoman of color and overall history with this demographic, they are unresponsive. His plan is to make them forget his words and make them focus more on his policies and the change he could possibly bring if reelected. I think this would be interesting to analyze because of the reactions being received from the audience (African Americans). Some of have spoke out in agreement while others are upset with his “flip flop” attitude and ability to allow backhanded compliments like thank African Americans for not voting provoke us.