Cold War Propganda & McCarthyism

 During a period of time directly after World War 2, Senator Joe McCarthy began to make a name for himself. Not for any policies or lawss, but for false accusations and claims made with 0 evidence. This practice was deemed "McCarthyism". McCarthyism is defined as "a campaign or practice that endorses  the use of unfair allegations and invesigations" which McCarthy performed through the late 1940s and 50s. 

This time period was also called the Second Red Scare from the way McCarthy used his poisiton of power to use American's fear against them. Propaganda was spewed and published during this time constantly. In order to add fire to the flame that was the Cold War, he preyed on America's fear of Communism. During multiple speeches and press releases, McCarthy would claim there were 80 members of the government that were undercover Communists. This caused distrust in local, state, and nationwide governments as he never mentioned any names, only numbers. These numbers would change each time he gave an adress to the general public to keep them scared and listening to his every word. 

While McCarthy is remebered for targeting memebrs of different branches of the government, actors in Hollywood were also suspects of being undercover Communists. Going after celebrities caused individuals to be "blacklisted" from working in the tv and film industry ever again. Similarily, in towns, Americans were accusing their neighbors and coworkers of being Communists. Each and every claim had little to no substantial evidence, so it is rumored some claims may have came out of spite or disdain for the individual.

The blind faith people had in him led him to be reelected in 1952 much to the dismay of other mebers of the government.  McCarthy led public invesigations and hearings which led peopke to lose their jobs and be shamed depsite him having no evidence whatsoever.  His Second Red Scare began to lose favor with the American people when he turned to the military and tried to "expose" Communist soldiers and officers. The critique of the military led people he interviewed, and those that watched, to question his morality along with commentary made by journalist Edward R Murrow. 

 Altough Senator McCarthy died in 1957 shortly after his downfall, his name lives in infamy through the term "McCarthyism" which is still used today in current politics. 

Sources: https://www.britannica.com/topic/McCarthyism

https://www.wnyc.org/story/joseph-r-mccarthy-a-speech-against-harry-s-truman/

Censorship in Film

 

Censorship: The Birth of a Nation

What is Censorship?

Censorship is when any part of a film, book, or event in the media is covered up because it is considered to be inappropriate and politically unacceptable. Censorship is extremely common in films where there are scenes that contain violence and sexual activity.

 

Example of Censorship

One example of censorship is from a film called “The Birth of a Nation.” The film came out in 1915 and is one of the most racist films that was ever created. In the film, the South was the focus and it showed how terrible life was back then for African Americans. It was an extremely disturbing film to watch, and many people had complaints. In the film, President Lincoln was assassinated by African Americans. Also, the actors were all white and wore black mask. Black mask is when people paint their faces black to resemble African Americans, which is extremely racist. There were two controversial scenes that people wanted to be censored. One of the scenes was when a white girl committed suicide to escape from an African American who was chasing after her. The other scene was when an African American politician tried to force marriage between the two races. The main group of people who called for these scenes to be censored was the NAACP (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). With the ongoing persistence from the NAACP, there were several scenes within the film that were censored and taken out from the film’s release.

Sources

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/4966

Censorship Controlling the Media

 John Mercuri

    Censorship is picking and choosing what can and can't be shown online. The government has a say in this. As of recent times, we have seen loads of censorship. This has caused riots, loads of anger, and worse. The president of the United States was banned from social media for basically no reason at all. This goes to show that these private companies are using loopholes to censor the content they display. Every big social media platform is liberal owned and this may be a reason Donald Trump was banned from social media. The reasoning for people being banned are things such as: talking bad about the current government, coronavirus, or being racist. There are many other reasons but these seem to be the main ones. 

    While scrolling instagram or facebook, you see many posts that are flagged "untrue". Even if there is a video proof of the incident the "fact-checkers" flag the post and mark it false information. This is a form of censorship because it is actively lying to cover things up. We should all be scared that our first amendment rights are slowly dwindling right in front of our eyes. A democracy will never work if the media is censored in a way that keeps the mass in the dark from what is truly occuring.

Propaganda in Modern-Day America

John Mercuri     

    In today's society, whether you notice it or you don't, there is propaganda everywhere you look. Political leaders are on social media displaying hurtful and untruthful images of their opponents in efforts to tarnish their image. We saw this happening during the most recent election. In recent times, we have seen loads of propaganda trying to scare Americans. During COVID-19, there were billboards and news reports that misled people by sharing the wrong numbers. The governement used fear mongering tactics to force a shut down of our nation and require things like masks and vaccines. The vaccine has also been heavily pushed on the mass as "very safe." There have already been loads of deaths and diseases that arose from getting the vaccine. 

    Propaganda is a very dangerous tool used by governemnts and groups. A very important group right now is that of BLM. BLM started off as a movement with goals of restoring the rights and justices black people deserve. The creators of this "non-profit organization" just recently moved into a 3.5 million dollar house in LA. These people were using the hurt and vulnerability of the black community for their personal gain. This spun out of control in recent times as the group, who have a large social media following, focus on cancelling and spreading hate by rioting, looting, etc. They also make jokes that some would call racist. The group has caused an even bigger divide in our country and is continuously ruining what the black community has worked so long for.

    Another name we often hear in the news is ANTIFA, or Anti-Fascists. These are people who want to reak havoc on the nation and see a complete divide between races, social classes, etc. We see posts and comments on instagram from these people that pretend to be a supporter of one side. They spread hate and want to see the nation separated.