Modern Day Propaganda: How to be careful with what you believe.
I had never truly considered propaganda until just recently. I wasn’t really sure what it even was or meant. I had heard about it in World War II, and I think I just assumed it was something evil. I was completely unaware that I consumed it, or at least saw it everyday. More recently I’ve become more aware of it, one because of this class, but two because of many events happening around the United States. Many events particularly related to race and ethnicity had stirred many different opinions and many different types of propaganda. It started when many different cases related to police brutality sparked protest from the African American Community, specifically the Black Lives Matter movement. Later, the protests spread to the National Football League where African American football players began kneeling during the national anthem. These events created two sides with varying opinion, Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter. Each side was and still is trying to convince the other that their view point is the correct view point. However, they are also trying to prove to third parties why the other group is wrong. This is where propaganda has come into play. Each group has used propaganda to try to prove why the other group is wrong and why they are correct. For example, in regards to police brutality many times the narrative of the propaganda is that “All police are bad,” which isn’t true but it is the generalization that is trying to influence change when it comes to police engagement. On the other side, many times the narrative is that it was something the person killed did to warrant the force used.
Burke in his chapter, “Rhetoric of Hitler’s ‘Battle,'” he talks about the hatred that is used in Hitler’s book. That Hitler described his motives “in the name of humility, love, and peace,” but that “Hitler’s book certainly falls under the classification of hate.” It is clear that his propaganda is motivated by hate and he is disguising it as “Aryan love.” It’s easy to see now how twisted Hitler’s thinking was, but then it was not so easy. Burke could see it, but many others could not. Many invited him to have a book tour in America, but that was called off because he was elected as chancellor. If that didn’t happen though perhaps many people in America would have fallen victim to his powerful propaganda. It is scary to imagine that kind of world.
It calls to question how carefully we are examining narratives and clearly defining propaganda. Everything related to the racial issues in American is not necessarily propaganda, but some of it is. It is important to not blindly believe things that are said about different groups. There is truth to both sides and each side has good points, but both use propaganda to try to persuade people who don’t really have an opinion. I consider myself one of those people. I have begun researching more about both sides, and have been trying to decide how I can influence change. I think the most important way to avoid propaganda is to challenge everything and challenge by research. Rather than take everything blindly, question if they are true, and research their claims, if you find them to be true then you can be certain that you are headed in the right direction. We have a long way to go, but if everyone began to do this, it would be a step in the right direction.
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