The MOVE Philadelphia Bombing - Research Paper Example

Section/# The MOVE Philadelphia Bombing and an Analysis of Disparity Based upon Perception and Response by Media, Society, and Police Officials Even a cursory review of current news media delineates the understanding that complex situations are oftentimes packaged and presented to the viewer/listener/reader in a specific way; oftentimes intended to evoke a specific emotional response. Whereas bias within the media has long been an issue that a litany of different researchers have sought to answer, the greater underlying issue at hand with respect to the current and past situation that exists within the news media is with respect to the fact that the representation of the actions that take place in the world, and the means through which these are reported, ultimately have a profound and lasting impact with regards to the awareness of society, understanding of class, differentiation of race, and ultimate understanding of self worth. As such, the impact that the news media has with regards to helping an individual understand each of these complex interpersonal and societal dynamics is profound. Due to the unique history that the United States has thus far exhibited, a unique current of racial tension and undercurrent of strife exists at almost every level of society. This is partly due to the fact that racial perceptions of African-Americans and black activism’s are inherently stronger as compared to those that exist within white communities and individuals. The MOVE bombing in Philadelphia shows the disparity in treatment of black activists, both for their tactics and the representation. In the aftermath of the MOVE bombing, those responsible downplay the racial undertones of the decision to bomb the activist; however, scholars and researchers note the fact that even when political projects, “Overtly claim to hold colorblind views, (they) covertly manipulate racial fears in order to achieve political gains”. (Omni & Winant 58). . As a means of understanding the way in which media and society effectively redefined a particular issue as a means of making it more palatable, this particular analysis will focus upon the 1970s and 1980s with respect to activism, black militant activism, and the microcosm of understanding is that the MOVE bombing of Philadelphia can help the reader to achieve. It is the further hope of this author that such a level of understanding will be useful with regards to not only understanding the unique dynamics of societal and racial tensions that helps to define the era in question, it is also the hope of this author that the MOVE bombing will help to shed a level of light and understanding with regards to the way in which current events helped to shape the approach that individuals take two new stories, activist groups, and racial understandings. Ultimately, black activism in the United States has been seen as more threatening than other displays of activism in the United States. Firstly, prior to delving into the issue of the MOVE bombing of 198 it is useful to understand the fact that even though the civil rights era had begun a full 30 years previously, United States officials and the society at large, was still very much aware of the threat and the pervasive fear that black nationalism, black activism, black terrorism, and any other illegal activity that could be perpetrated by African-Americans might necessarily denote (King & Smith 79). As such, the response that was engaged to almost any form of black activism, crime, drug usage, or any other illegal, or conceivably illegal, activity was extreme to say the least. For years, pundits and political analysts have pointed to the disparity with respect to the way in which African-Americans exist under the criminal justice system of the United States. However, the situation that was denoted with the Philadelphia MOVE community was one that can only be understood as a response motivated primarily by racial fear, suspicion, and a great deal of prejudice and preconceived notions with respect to the way in which this particular group was expected to behave. Ultimately, the events that took place in 1985, with regards to the Philadelphia MOVE group, helps to illustrate the disparity between the way in which black separatism and white separatism was treated. For instance, an individual who might have espoused a radical ideology that promoted rabbit antigovernment views and promoted a degree of racial discord and white supremacy would not likely have been engaged in the same manner that the individuals of the Philadelphia MOVE group were treated. Interestingly, a complete and thorough analysis of the incident up to and including the bombing of this group denotes the fact that even though a high percentage of the group’s members were in fact African-American, a unique level of black separatism, racism, or any other racial motivations do not have any level of conclusive proof with regards to this specific group an incident. However, the lack of evidence and/or the lack of violence that this particular group displayed was not in and of itself sufficient to dissuade the officials responsible for the debacle, or indeed the media that reported it, from understanding this response in a slanted, un-objective and ultimately racist manner. In order to identify the level of abject racism that existed with respect to the 1985 MOVE bombing, the reader must delve into the history of the formation of the group that ultimately came to be known as MOVE. Founded in 1972 as the “Christian Movement for Life”, this particular group, although made up almost entirely of African-Americans, cannot and should not be denoted as an activist group that was advocating for greater levels of black power, disability, or any other form of societal activism that promoted the needs, causes, or realities of a specifically black demographic (Fraser 2). Instead, the MOVE group was indicative of one that championed elements of self-sufficiency, veganism, animal rights, and a return to a lifestyle that was less influenced by technology and modernism. Accordingly, even though this particular group was made up predominantly of African-Americans, delineating any type of black activism or racial motivations with regards to the reason and rationale behind the group’s main arguments would be a monumental and incorrect leap. Further, a level of comparison with regards to many of the neo-Luddite groups that existed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1960s and 70s can easily be made. Whereas authorities within these regions were reticent to accept the odd lifestyle that many elements of the degeneration brought to neighborhoods and communes of California, no violent confrontations between police and/or authorities were evidenced. Naturally, this can only serve as a type of circumstantial evidence; due to the fact that the two communities which are being compared existed at different times and were made up of a different group of individuals. However, regardless of the circumstantial nature of this evidence, the reader can denote the fact that the primarily white degeneration within California and elsewhere throughout the United States, although harassed and disliked by the mainstream population, were not targeted as dissidents or potential terrorist activists (Trippett et al. 16). Even though many individuals within this particular generation espoused Marxist views of the proletariat overthrowing an ineffective and corrupt capitalist government, the level of harassment that these relatively harmless youths experienced at the hands of the police and officials were minimal to say the least. With a crime no greater than not abiding by the city ordinances of disposing of waste, Philadelphia police soon sought to evict and relocate this activist community from the premises due to the fact that their refusal to dispose of household waste and other refuse through the appropriate means was attracting a great deal of rodents and roaches. As such, in 1978, a group of officers surrounded the community and began moving in. The subsequent events regarding this forced removal vary. Activists within the community claimed the fact that an unrelated individual open fire on the police; assuming that these individuals were serving a warrant upon them. However, the police within this particular raid upheld the fact that the activists were the ones responsible for opening fire on the police and killing officer James of Ramp. As a direct result of this violent confrontation, seven members of MOVE were rounded up by police and sentenced for the murder and shooting of the policeman in question. This incident served as the opening salvo of discontent, ill will, and hatred that help to separate this activist group from many other activists and communities throughout Philadelphia; and indeed the entire Eastern Seaboard (Floyd 11). As a direct result of this shooting, the remaining members of MOVE relocated to a new address where they remained virtually unmolested until the 1985 bombing. Once again, the crime that these individuals were charged with was nothing more than simply disturbing the peace, complaints by neighbors, illegal weapons possession, and making terrorist threats, the police decided that the most effective means of dispersal and destruction for this particular group would once again be to forcibly relocate them and split their remaining members. Reasonably suspicious of authority after the events surrounding the shooting of 1978, the remaining MOVE members actively resisted and began exchanging fire with the police officers tasked with their removal. The situation soon escalated with the police utilizing teargas, semi automatic weapons, and eventually FBI engineered bombs, dropped by helicopter. The explosion and subsequent fire not only destroyed a great deal of real estate houses in and around the complex, it also killed 11 people (Preston 116). Once again, the racial overtones of this entire situation were clear and apparent as the police and other officials utilized the “black activist” narrative as a means of justifying the heavy-handed and unreasonable approach that the police made. From the information that is thus far been provided, it can definitively be noted that the excuse of “black activism” and the specter of fear that the officials sought to raise with reference to the MOVE group was not believed; even within the entities that sought to promote this misinformed and ultimately fallacious theory. Even though this particular group of individuals was predominantly made up of African-Americans, the views and fundamental belief systems that these individuals espoused could not have been misconstrued more irrationally than to claim that this particular group harbored hatred of nonblack individuals and sought their destruction. Instead, by and large, this particular group was non-violent and only sought an alternative approach to an increasingly modern lifestyle. Instead of integrating with this group and seeking to understand it in the same way that nontraditional the groups had been understood throughout California and the rest of the United States in the preceding years, a level of systemic and cultural racism is evidenced with regards to the heavy-handed approach that officials took in attempting to dismantle and remove these individuals from the society in which they live. Sadly, rather than denoting the last chapter with regards to the way in which this differential has been noted, this particular case is indicative of a much larger and longer trend that has been exhibited throughout much of the 20th and 21st centuries. References Floyd-Thomas, J.M. "The Burning Of Rebellious Thoughts; MOVE As Revolutionary Black Humanism." Black Scholar 32.1 (2002): 11. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. Fraser, Nancy. "New Left Review - Nancy Fraser: Rethinking Recognition." New Left Review - NLR 83, September-October 2013. N.p., 1 May 2000. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. King, Desmond S., and Rogers M. Smith. "Racial Orders In American Political Development." American Political Science Review 99.1 (2005): 75-92. Business Source Complete. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. Omi, Michael, and Howard Winant. Racial formation in the United States : from the 1960s to the 1990s. New York: Routledge, 1994. Print. Preston, Gregor A. "Burning Down The House: MOVE And The Tragedy Of Philadelphia/Attention, MOVE! This Is America (Book)." Library Journal 112.10 (1987): 116. Business Source Complete. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. Trippett, Frank, Kenneth W. Banta, and Joseph N. Boyce. "IT LOOKS JUST LIKE A WAR ZONE A Police Raid In Philadelphia Turns To Tragedy." Time (1985): 16. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. Read More