Harriet Tubman: New Face on the $20

            It was announced on April 20, that Harriet Tubman would replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. Harriet Tubman will be the first African-American, male or female, whose portrait would grace the front of United States currency. The last female to do so was Martha Washington. Martha Washington was the wife to George Washington and considered to be the first – First Lady of the United States. Mrs. Washington was first featured on the $1 silver certificate in 1886 until production of certificates were discontinued in 1957. 

            Other influential leaders including Rosa Parks and Eleanor Roosevelt were on the ballot but Tubman won the popular vote. This is a monumental accomplishment for equal gender and race rights. President Jackson will not be entirely removed from the $20 bill. He will be featured on the back of the new bill. The final designs of the bill will be revealed in 2020, signifying the 100-year anniversary of the 19^th Amendment.  

            My only question is how will the artist depict Ms. Tubman? Will she be depicted as an elderly woman or will she be depicted as a younger and stronger woman who paved the way for so many?

            Please let me know what your opinions are on this subject. How do you think Ms. Tubman will be depicted on the new $20. 

Continuation of why politics is not appealing to our generation.

On the continuation of this post of why politics is not really appealing to our generation is because the lack of votes this year. Although the media portrays the active role of the everyday individual in political affairs shown in the following charts that will be listed below. One of the more important issues that I would like to touch on is how the democratic candidate Hilary is trying to garner the "black" vote. Bill Clinton unlike Hilary was very popular with African Americans during his presidency  more specifically the southern black states. Bill Clinton being from Arkansas was more at home among the community of southern African Americans. Bill's presidency has caused many snafus for the black community such as a increased prison population and the welfare bill that ended up that making poor black family more poor. Hilary's race for presidential race was viewed with this stacked against her and with other blunders from her political past. In a recent interview on the Breakfast Club, Hilary admitted to deliberately trying to get the "black" vote through means of pop culture. Nowadays people don't really care about how popular the politicians are with the media but what changes are going to be made.    

Sources cited:  

 Mcdonald, Micheal. " Voter Turnout Demographics- United States Elections Project" 2016

http://www.electproject.org/home/voter-turnout/demographics

Kurtzleben, Danielle. " Understandin Clintons Popularity with Black Voters: NPR" March, 2016

 http://www.npr.org/2016/03/01/468185698/understanding-the-clintons-popularity-with-black-voters

Power 105.1 "Hilary Clinton's Interview with the Breakfast Club" April, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRZd861Pog0

Black Votes Matter

            The United State’s history of black political oppression has been the catalyst to our current state of disenfranchisement. It wasn’t until 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was signed into law and removed the political disadvantages that muzzled upon the U.S minority vote. The United State’s use of literacy test and poll taxes has suppressed the rights of the minority vote in the past, and the use of the criminal justice and penitentiary systems currently suppresses the rights of the minority vote today.

            Last week, Virginia became the third U.S state to grant the reinstatement of voting rights to former convicts when Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) signed the executive orders in Richmond. Virginia has joined Main and Vermont - which both house a combined minority population of 16%, 3% less than Virginia’s total minority population – efforts for equal voting rights regardless of race or social class.

            Governor McAuliffe’s resolution to one of Virginia’s oldest laws has restored voting rights to more than 200,000 American citizens who have completed their parole and probation. This comes at a significant time of the 2016 Presidential Election because the frontrunners for the Democratic Party (Hilary Clinton and Bernie Sanders) are eagerly campaigning to win the minority vote in June.

            The American Civil Liberties Union states, a patchwork of state laws disenfranchises about 5.85 million Americans. It is believed that the black population is sentenced more frequent and longer than the white population when committing similar crimes. This evidence supports the fact that the black population experiences a political disadvantage due to the lack of representation.

            Those who disagree with Virginia's new policy believe "Governor McAuliffe doses not have the legal power to do what he proposes to do," adding that "he is acting in obvious bad faith." Virginia Delegate William J. “Bill” Howell  (R) aggress that these former convicts deserve a second chance at becoming productive citizens but disagree that all former convicts deserve the reinstatement of their natural voting rights. Delegate Howell states, "policy should take into account the nature of the crimes committed, whether they have paid back their victims and the court system, and their willingness to serve as productive members of society.” 

            I believe that some former convicts deserve the reinstatement of their natural voting rights if they meet the criteria’s of holding a job for longer than 6 months, annually paying their taxes, and presents a clean criminal record after their probation. Governor McAuliffe has laid the foundation to unified voting rights within the United States by conveying empathy, one of the shared and highly praised qualities of several great leaders.

Hillary and Logical Fallacies

It;'s no surprise that Hillary Clinton, like other candidates, has committed logical fallacies in debates. However, Clinton has repeatedly used logical fallacies.

Clinton will use logical fallacies to turn anything another candidates says to something bad to make herself look better. In the debate in New Hampshire, Clinton replied to Bernie Sanders' comment about his irritation with donations for political campaigns and how it will not help out the middle class families by saying, "There is this attack that he is putting forth, which really comes down to, anybody who ever took donations or speaking fees from any interest group has to be bought."

This is a straw-man fallacy because instead of Clinton responding to Sander's argument, she replies with a misinterpreted version of his argument. Sanders is stating that a lot of money controls the political process and that there will be no change for middle class families because of this. Hillary twists his argument by using this logical fallacy.

As you continue watching and following candidates, don't fall for their logical fallacies. In the mean time, enjoy this Bad Lip Reading of Hillary and Bernie's debate.

Hillary on Emotional Appeal

During Hillary Clinton's campaign, she uses the logical fallacy of Appeal to Emotion. She released a new ad appealing to Latinos. In the ad, the little girl is crying stating that she is scared that her parents are going to be deported. Clinton calls the little girl up to her side to holds her and comfort her. It seemed as though Clinton felt the little girls pain and she got emotional as well. Clinton tells the girl not to worry about anything and that she will take care of everything.

Hilary Clinton is successful at using this fallacy to attract voters who are feeling the same way as the little girl and who can see that Clinton has a heart. People who use this fallacy tend to attract more supporters, more people who agree with their opinions because people can appeal to the emotion of sadness and hope. These are the emotions that are being portrayed in this ad because we feel sad for the girl, but we gain hope that everything will be alright due to what Clinton said. 

In terms of audience, this ad mostly appeals to the latino community. Deportation is a strong subject regarding the latino community. Its a situation that many latinos relate to, both in family or themselves. Deportation is a fear instilled on many latinos. The little girl represents the way many latinos feel in regards to deportation. Although, deportation is not only aimed towards lations, but with everyone who is not a citizen of the United States or do not have legal documentations. Therefore, not only is this ad aimed towards latinos because the girl is latina, but also because she is a child. Mothers, fathers, grandparents, or any family member for that matter can relate to this ad because they can also understand the amount of effort that is put into to care for a child. 

Clinton winning the democratic poll for Nevada also demonstrates her success in using this ad with this fallacy.

Feministing

In a visit to London, President Obama spoke out against North Carolina’s HB2, addressed an audience member who came out to him as non-binary and expressed concern over the climate for trans and non-binary people in the United States and the UK. In doing so, the president demonstrated how far he has come discussing LGBT issues as well as how far he has to go

Obama has been the most progressive president on LGBT right. He expanded LGBT rights for federal workers through executive order appointed the first trans woman to the White House, and became the first sitting president to endorse marriage equality (after notoriously “evolving” on the issue for a couple of years).

His response to this student demonstrates his growth and continued weaknesses on LGBT issues. He came out against the recent laws targeting LGBTQ people, but stumbled through the rest of his answer. The trend lines are good on this? We’re moving in the right direction? I understand what the president is saying, but his attitude makes me wonder what trends he’s looking at. That anti-LGBTQ
backlash is real, and it seems that our president may have been caught sleeping.

GO VOTE.

Monday during our in class discussion when our professor asked us who voted during the presidential primaries only two or three hands went up, which was pretty disappointing since everyone doesn’t want to see Donald Trump get elected but aren’t doing anything to prevent it. In 1776, one vote gave the United States the English language instead of German. In 1923, it was one vote that gave Adolf Hitler leadership of the Nazi Party. Finally, in 1876, it was one vote that declared Rutherford B. Hayes as the 19^th president of the united states. With this being said one vote can make history and its because of history that we need to vote, it is our civic responsibility.

We need to shape the social agenda. Are you passionate about a particular social issue? Gay marriage, capital punishment and the separation of church and state are only a few of many contentious topics that dominate the political discourse. Learn about candidates' views on issues that are important to you, and vote in support of your beliefs.

Economic polices will affect OUR future. Most expect social security benefits to be gone or greatly diminished by the time college-aged individuals reach retirement age - which will be higher than it is now. Politicians continually make decisions about higher education costs and student loan policies. These and other issues prove you have an important economic interest in every election.

Politicians know who votes each election, and they are more likely to support initiatives that are popular among groups with the highest voter turnout. For college students to have significant political influence, they must turn out in greater numbers than is traditionally seen. We have a part to play in that.

By voting you are not only doing your part to influence the present, you are also affecting the future. Demonstrating this point well is the fact that the president selects U.S. Supreme Court Justices for lifetime appointments. These judicial officials may exert powerful influence for decades to come.

There was a time in this great country where only white, adult male property owners had the right to vote. Because of countless individuals before us work tirelessly to ensure voter equality, most of us only have to turn 18 to be eligible to vote. Students make up an enormous amount of the voting bloc for this upcoming election and thus make a huge political influence. According to RocktheVote.com, our generation makes up one quarter of the entire electorate, meaning 25 percent of the election is determined by us young people.

As American citizens, we all have a duty to democracy to let our voices be heard. Voting gives us a license to complain about the government and politics. Voting empowers us to make history and make a difference. Voting allows us to be a part of the most famous democracy in the world. So hashtag all you want, but the reality is real change will not occur unless you step into the voting booth.