Paper Example: The Modern American Society

'They Say/I say' is a statistical document explaining the best way in which writers ought to present their ideas. Instead of using the one-sided theory that has no attached evidence, the book outlines how authors can present argumentative essays to ensure that they have both ideas and evidence supporting the ideas. A weak idea often lacks sufficient evidence. For instance, you have to state your stance on a stated topic and explain if you agree or disagree with the topic. Once your stance is explained, state the reason why you are agreeing or disagreeing with the topic in question. Hence, the book describes steps that authors can follow to ensure that authentic ideas are well presented in their writings. The methods include data identification, in which you have to present the underlying theories to your subject matter (Graff et al., p.214). The second step is the identification and explanation of methods used for your research and the explanation of your data findings (Graff et al., p.217). The subsequent steps include drawing your argument and explaining why you either agree or disagree with the topic. Am the author also has to explain the experimental research findings (Graff et al., p.228). The last step is to identify the availability of gaps in the research done by other people. Therefore, 'they say /I say' gives writers an overview of how to produce your argument after reading what other authors have written. The purpose of this paper is to use this approach in identifying the cultural, political, economic, racial, ethnic, societal, and ethnic factors that shape modern-day America.

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Primary Text

'The New Jim crow is a book written by Alexander, who shows the changes that have occurred in American history. Change has become so normal that 'the more things change, the more they remain the same' Alexander, p.231). The goals of America today are still the same goals that the Fore Fathers had only that the Americans today are creating new ways of achieving them. The issue of racism, economic derail, religious discrimination, and cultural bias started way before the world wars. The rising of civil movements has always been associated with trying to achieve an equal society. However, it has also been identified that there are eras for movements or tactics that Americans have used to achieve the goals of their forefathers. Despite the efforts laid by Americans in the past 100 years, there are still rampant cases of racism with the African American man being targeted. Various authors have taken different approaches to explain the origin of discrimination and exclusion of a black man, yet the outcome of the research remains the same. America today presents a society where white police officers would brutally murder a black man instead of charging him an in a court of law. It is more than police brutality and utterly a case of public racism. Thus, this paper takes the 'They Say/I say' approach to discuss the underlying factors that define the American Society today.

Step 1: Identify What Other Authors Say about the Matter

Asia Ewart wrote an article on 20 June 2020 stating, 'If your priority is to protect big box stores, you are part of the problem' (Ewart, p.1). Ewart explains the recent protests lodged by black men and women in the fight against racism. The author mentions various murders that have spiked public fury, including George Floyd, Ahmad Arbery, and Breonna Taylor (Ewart, p.1). They are black people who have graced the bullet in the recent past for being unarmed blacks. Amid the black lives riots, more people have faced the bullet, and most were blacks (Ewart p.1). However, as the News media houses aired the stories of the riots, what concerned them was not the number of lives lost, but the number of exotic stores burnt down amid the riots (Ewart, p. 1). The conversation shifted from the life of a black man to the economic state of the prestigious cities in the United States. Following these events, I agree with Ewart that there exists racism in the U.S that it has become a norm that people will gradually embrace.

Paul Batura writes about the sarcasm in which 'Coronavirus Masks spark controversy, but what about the invisible masks that we all wear. Batura talks of the recent public confrontations in which the police have brutally attacked those who don't wear masks in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic (Batura, p.1). Months ago, the World Health Organization, President Donald Trump, and medical personnel attending to the coronavirus patient s claimed that it was not necessary (Batura, p.1). However, as Batura claims, even today, the whole world states that it is essential for people to wear masks.

I agree that it is essential to wear masks as it prevents patients from transmitting airborne diseases (Batura, p. 1). However, Batura takes a different perspective by reviewing what wearing masks imply. In as much as masks protect us from contracting the disease, it is evident that all other body parts remain exposed (Batura, p.1). Also, wearing a mask just to please the administrators while in your heart, you do not want to do it is better termed as fake. As I agree with Batura, I would insist that the public needs to be taught and be reminded every day of why masks are essential to them. They have to develop the self-will to water a mask once they know how essential it is. Until then, all that the government is doing is vanity.

Lastly, Ying Ma gives his idea about the ongoing racial discrimination and the BLM campaign. In two articles, ' Dear White People, It's not about you' and 'Blame Universities for Black Lives Matter Riots,' Ma explains his viewpoint about the whole issue. Ying Ma points out the main reason why racism still exists is that universities have taken up the role to spread the news similar to how religion is spread (Ma, p.1). He emphasizes that even the universities themselves practice the racism they preach that it exists in as much as the second [part of Ma's allegations as true, I beg to differ. Racism does not only emanate from the universities. It existed even before formal education was instituted. I would agree if Ma put his point that 'Universities are among the major sources of racism in the U.S' (Ma, p.1). However, his argument is subjective. If it is so obvious that the law enforcement would murder a black man in daylight, what is left to understand that racism exists in all bodies of the U.S.? Media houses and not only students even spread it.

Ma goes on to elucidate a situation where rioters in Minneapolis stood off a white crowd by telling them that the campaigns were not them. However, the white people differed that the black rioters had made the campaign obviously about them (Ma, p.1). The whites have made the post-George Floyd riots centrally about them. They stand out to argue that the riots are about them and try to defend themselves. The whites are making political and outrageous U-turns about the issue such that they are seen as the victims (Ma, p.1). On this part of the article, I agree with Ma that it is obvious white people are making a political gain out of the riots., Ad they disengage from the racism claim ahead of the coming elections, they are building their public image. Thus, it does not matter to them that a black man was killed by a white policeman (Ma, p.1). What matters is that they get to defend themselves and get higher polls in the current presidential campaigns.

Step 2: Interpretations by Other Authors

The only comments found concerned the issue of masks as presented by Batura. One respondent says, 'Fear not, President Trump is bringing back the failed coronavirus show. It is cast to be a Trump monologue full of lies and deceit' (Batura, p.1). Another respondent to this article states, 'That is a naive view. One could just as easily say: let's let the virus spread rapidly through America, and after a short period of discomfort, no one would need any preventative measures. We could all go back to our lives as they were before. You'll claim there will be catastrophic death: but there are preventative treatments, and the death rate has slowed substantially. You're not saving jobs by forcing hairdressers to self-quarantine' (Batura, p.1). Both respondents argue that Batura's view could be unauthentic and without substantial information. I would partially disagree with them and instead, agree with Batura that the issue of masks is political since it is not until recently that President Trump firs showed up in public wearing a mask after months with the pandemic.

Step 3: Implication of the Results

The above information shows that their racism exists in the U.S that has been politicized and reviewed from an economic viewpoint. The culture of the blacks is not something that can be freely expressed event amid the pandemic. The recent murder of George Floyd sparks the conversation on how obvious racism is in the U.S (Ewart, p.1).

Step 4: Gaps in the Research

I would comment that Batura gives a more detailed perspective on the issue of masks (Batura, p.1). Better still, he could use another topic to identify how politics are obvious at a time when the life of an American is at risk.

Conclusively, the modern-day America sill shows racism and discrimination against black people. However, the approaches tale to counter this issue remain the same as those used by the forefathers to present the topic. For instance, as media houses aired the George Floyd murder, they diverged the attention of the deceased to the economic damage caused by the BLM movement. Thus, the fruits of the movement are likely to be void. The paper presents the ideas of racism, economics, politics, religion, and culture with the 'They Say/ I Say' perspective (Graff et al., p. 300).

Works Cited

Alexander, Michelle. The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. The New Press, 2020. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yG3eXEQi9qUSYOtk9i-NowHaXs8pJlj_/view\

Batura, Paul. "Coronavirus Masks Spark Controversy, but what about the invisible 'masks' we all wear? FoxNews.com 19 July 2020. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/coronavirus-masks-invisible-masks-paul-batura

Ewart, Asia. "If Your Priority Is to Protect Big Box Stores, You are Part of the Problem." Refinery29.com 1 June 2020 https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/priority-protect-target-part-problem-195327529.html

Graff, Gerald, Cathy Birkenstein, and Cyndee Maxwell. They say I say: The moves that matter in academic writing. Gildan Audio, 2014. https://www.tamut.edu/faculty/syllabi/201680/80666.pdf

Ma, Ying. "Blame Universities for the BLM riots." The Washington Examiner.com. 22 June 2020. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blame-universities-for-the-black-lives-matter-protests

Ma, Ying. "Dear Liberal White People: It's not about you!" The Washington Examiner. 26 June 2020 https://yingma.org/2020/06/26/dear-liberal-white-people-its-not-about-you/