Section A04
Week 5
Empire of Death by Darrell Y. Hamamoto is an exceedingly heavy read to stomach, with a detailed procession of descriptions starting from serial killers and ending with state sponsored campaigns of mass violence and how there is an almost direct correlation at times between killings that happen on domestic soil and those that take place overseas. As much as I think I know about the abuses that happened during the American war, there are times when I discover that so much more was lost in the people than I had known before. Even when I do know about certain human rights violations and war crimes that soldiers under the United States flag committed under a false banner of freedom and liberty, it never gets easier hearing or reading about how people suffered because of United States imperialism, or how so many men got off basically scott-free even after they literally committed war crimes that were documented and publicized. It is pretty clear from the Hamamoto reading that men, particularly men with some military connection, and oftentimes white men, seem to be almost predisposed to the kind of violent sense of entitlement that costs people lives. Time and time again this proves to be true, and the most infuriating part of this cycle is that so many of these men get away with it - even the ones who don’t - one would call to mind Ted Bundy - are sensationalized and idolized to such an extreme degree one could argue that they (or at least their memory) are subsequently made immortal. Those whose crimes carry legal weight and consequences find some part of the populace to pull into their twisted orbits, and those whose crimes don’t are actually able to gain status and power, or just get away with committing mass murder by presidential pardon. The lives of their victims - their victims themselves - don’t matter. So, to remedy this, just what can we as a society do to make sure that the memory of these victims will be what’s left from now on?
Lisa Williams visiting the grave of her best friend
LAKE CITY, UNITED STATES - JANUARY 01: Lisa Williams visiting the grave of her best friend Kimberly Leach, who was a victim of serial killer Ted Bundy. (Photo by Acey Harper/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)
References:
Hamamoto, D.Y. (2003). Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence.
Image Credit:
Lisa Williams visiting the grave of her best friend [Photograph found in The LIFE Images Collection, Getty Images]. (n.d.). Retrieved February 03, 2019, from https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/lisa-williams-visiting-the-grave-of-her-best-friend-news-photo/72431547
Photograph by Acey Harper
No comments:
Post a Comment