The Cycles of Violence (Trigger warning: violent photo)

Soo Lee

A002

Week 5          

The cycles of violence

In Darell Y. Hamamoto’s essay, Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence, Hamamoto investigates many different murder cases drawing parallel relationships with U.S. state imperialism and warfare. He relates the increasing culture of mass murder cases with militarization of the U.S. U.S.’s political and economic interests takes place in form of imperialism and militarization which reflects back to our society through racial murder, violent sexual fantasies and rape, domestic violence, and more. Such in-state violence cannot be separated from the indiscriminate genocide that the U.S. has been partaking in Native American colonization, Vietnam War, Middle East, and Korean War. These kinds of historical violence takes its influence in racial and sexual hatred in murders as well as racism and sexism in general in this society. Having the history of rape, mutilation, and genocide on others, U.S., Hamaomto argues, is a prime recipient of “blowback”, revengeful violence.

Question:

How can the media take place in making U.S. involvement violence throughout the world more transparent but also deconstructing cultural racism and sexism? Is that even possible with the U.S.’s ongoing violence?