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Moments hat Signifies the Downfall of America
After centuries of war and Europe’s downfall, America became the golden dream land of the world, where democracy and human rights were the primary concern for everyone. However, things seem to be falling apart; the increase of crime against humanity in the recent few decades have negated the pride of Americans (Bugliosi, & Haines, 2007). The American citizens’ hopes are diminishing slightly every day, and as a result, a sense of doom and failure has paved away in America. I believe one of the significant issues that are facing America are assassinations. In recent years, America has experienced the assassination of its leaders, such as; Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther king, john Kennedy, and Malcolm x. This paper discusses how American leaders’ execution has resulted in the ending of optimism and brought a sense of doom and failure in America.
On 22nd November 1963, the American people lost a great patriot when their 35th president John f. Kennedy was cruelly gunned down on his way to Dallas during the campaign (Bugliosi, & Haines, 2007). This assassination brought terror to all American citizens as they watched horror clips on national television. The American people may never forget the greatness and powerful inspiration of their president and the goodness he brought to them (Bugliosi, & Haines, 2007). The assassination created a sense of insecurity, mistrust, and betrayal of Americans against each other and increased the political anxiety over America’s future.
On another occasion, 21st February 1965, Malcolm, an African American nationalist and Muslim leader, was assassinated in New York City (Morrow, 2012). Unlike the king, Malcolm advocated self-defense and liberation of African Americans. In 1964, He founded an organization of Afro-American Unity, which was against racism in America (Morrow, 2012). Thus, while addressing his organization, he was shot by his rival from black Muslims.
A similar occasion happened on 4th April 1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King, the founder of the Southern Christian leadership conference and the then Baptist minister, was gunned down in Memphis (Ferri, D2013). Luther King is remembered on his work and his impassionate speech of fighting for civil rights for African Americans. He led a peaceful demonstration to fight against segregation in America. King’s death led to frustration and anger among black Americans. It also widens the rivalry between the black and the white in the United States. Consequently, racism was aggravated, thereby reverting the many social-economic achievements of racial-equality movements by increasing racial divisions (Ferri, 2013).
On another incident, Senator Robert Kennedy’s Kennedy’s younger brother to president john Kennedy was shot by Palestinian Sirhan at the ambassador hotel in Los Angeles on 5th June 1968 (George, 2012). The incident happened after he announced that he would vie for the presidential seat. Kennedy, who was the most favorite candidate to receive a nomination through the Democratic movement, was perceived to be the only politician in America who could unite the people of America (George, 2012). Due to his integrity and devotion to civil rights, the people of America loved him. Americans were then demoralized by the tragic loss of their hopes of American unity. It seemed that there were influential enemies of unity, beneficiaries of American division who were highly motivated to retain the status quos of division (George, 2012).
The recent case that caught the national attention happened on 25th May 2020 when police murdered George Floyd, a 46-year-old black America in Chicago, being unarmed and handcuff (Campbell, Sidner, & Levenson, 2020). Floyd was held on the ground by four police officers with officers Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck regardless of his pleading that he was unable to breathe. Eventually, Floyd went motionless and was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead (Campbell et al. 2020). Although the officers were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and betting second-degree manslaughter, the event reminded Americans of the existing culture of police brutality and racial partiality (Campbell et al., 2020). The incident led to chaos in the United States; aggravated protests against the event were witnessed in most states of the US and in many other countries around the world to compel the US government to address the issues.
In general, the killings in the United States have brought a significant impact on today’s American citizens, the sense of American nationality, and the perception of the Americans’ wellbeing at large. The rivalry between blacks and whites in America has widened, with the new generation being socialized in a racial hatred culture. The killing of these leaders is a rejection of equality, unity, love, and wellbeing of the Americas. Also, the political crisis reflects the evil things happening in America. Americans have to learn from their mistakes and condemn crimes against humanity, divisions, and racial discriminations.
Work cited
Bugliosi, V., & Haines, F. (2007). Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. WW Norton & Company. https://www.fedbar.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/bookrev-nd2007-pdf-1.pdf
Campbell, J., Sidner, S., & Levenson, E. (2020). All four former officers involved in George Floyd’s killing now face charges. CNN. Retrieved 9th June 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/us/george-floyd-officers-charges/index.html.
Morrow, J. A. (2012). The Second Assassination of Malcolm X: A Critical Review of Manning Marable’s Biography. Journal of Pan African Studies, 5(1), 207-227.
George, A. (2012). The assassination of John F. Kennedy: Political trauma and American memory. Routledge.
Ferri, D. R. (2013). Funk My Soul: The Assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And the Birth of Funk Culture.