Preview

Justify the Means

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
529 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Justify the Means
Does “the end justify the means”?

Does “The end Justify the means”. In the movie, Mississippi Burning, the end justifies the means in a way because when you think about it most of the time there are certain limitations to getting what you want. In the movie the only way to get the Ku Klux Klan to confess and give each other to the police was to trick them and make them think that the Ku Klux Klan was after them. In other occasions around the world at the time it was not always necessary to hurt or kill people just to get what you want. Even though it was not necessary people still did it even though they did not have to (they wanted to). In the Mississippi burning the white people might have thought they had a right to hurt/kill Negro people just because they were scared of them and thought they were better then them. That is still no good reason. Proof of the white people hurt the Negroes and damaging their land, crops, and livestock is at the beginning of the movie as the credits where going across the screen there was a Negro church burning in the background. Throughout the movie we see that the “White Knights” are burning down Negro’s homes and barns along with the livestock inside them. All this evidence shows the brutality in Mississippi at that time. There was no reason to kill the three young activists. Especially not the reason that the Ku Klux Klan had (one man was a Negro). Even though the Ku Klux Klan did not have a good reason to do what they did the Federal Bureau of Investigation should still not have done what they did. The end was right but the means were wrong. The Federal Bureau of Investigation should have done what they had been doing but they should have tried a little harder to find someone that would speak to them so they could get the rest of the names. They could have also done what they did and get the weakest link to tell just by interrogation rather than what they had did and scared him and his family so bad the he would do anything

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Trayvon Martin Article

    • 1161 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Dr. Brown’s article “Requiem for Trayvon Martin: When Will America Stop Destroying the Lives of Black Boys” moved me as I was thoroughly reading it. I felt a sense of anger and disbelief running through my mind without realizing till I finished. The anger came from the verdict of Trayvon Martin’s case against George Zimmerman. And the disbelief came from the fact that white people tried to justify George Zimmerman’s actions by stating that historically black men are violent creatures so you can never be “too careful”. The main argument of the article is that blacks are arrested, prosecuted, and sentenced more harshly than whites, for similar criminal offenses. It still amazes me how the skin color you are born with can ultimately define your life, lifestyle, or whether you deserve to die or not.…

    • 1161 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    James Craig Anderson was an African American male, in his late forties, who was murdered in what was classified as a hate crime. In Jackson, Mississippi on a Sunday morning, June 26, 2011, a group of white teenagers had been drinking all night and were on a mission, specifically seeking out a black person to cause harm to. James Anderson happened to be in a parking lot, near his car, when the group of teenagers pulled up and started to beat him while yelling racial slurs at him as well as yelling, “White power”. The teens then proceeded to hop in their truck and encouraged the driver to run over the victim, James Anderson, causing his immediate death. James Anderson was a well loved and respected member of his community, who attended church…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Horrors of Lynching

    • 1732 Words
    • 7 Pages

    This scenario was all too common for African Americans all throughout the United States in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. More specifically, 4,743 innocent African Americans were killed during this time period (“Lynching Statistics”). This atrocity only furthered African American resentment towards their white oppressors, which made their rebellion a very violent affair.…

    • 1732 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    As seen by Wells, the excuses used by white southerners, to torture and murder African-Americans were false. In no way can these kinds of crimes ever be truly justified because of the victim's crimes. The most obvious reasons these crimes occur are out of hate and fear. Differences between groups of people have always caused fear of the unknown, which translates into resentment. Whites no longer depended on African-American slave labor for their income. When African Americans were slaves they were considered "property," and “obviously, it was more profitable to sell slaves than to kill them" (pg. 10, 1st paragraph). With all moderation of "property" and "profit" lifted whites during and after Reconstruction were able to freely give into their fear and hatred by tormenting and…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    “Hating people because of their color is wrong. And it doesn't matter which color does the hating. It's just plain wrong” (Muhammad Ali). In the movie “To Kill a Mockingbird” a lawyer Atticus Finch is given the task of defending an innocent man from an undeserving rape charge. Being a white man he takes the liberty of defending a black man, what is a very rare thing those days. In his case, he gives to his children and other people a great example of justice, which is the main question raised in the movie.…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Economic Justice for All

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages

    * The book says, “There is still too much poverty and not enough opportunity for all our people.” Do you feel that we live in a country where every person has a strong opportunity to succeed?…

    • 396 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Police Brutality

    • 1535 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Over the past five centuries, black people have endured violence in many different ways. Today, police officers use deadly, excessive force that leads to inexcusable assaults, beatings and shootings. This demonstrates the governmentТs role in initiating and prolonging racial suppression and provides the explanation for police brutality to become a federal crime(Black Radical Congress, 3). In history, racist violence, police brutality, has been used to suppress the racial blacks and to preserve power and privileges for the white race. This was done for five primary purposes. First, it has forced black people into slavery or low wage situations. Secondly, to steal land and other resources. A 3-rd was to maintain social control. A fourth purpose was to eliminate conflict in politics, social life, and employment. Lastly, the fifth purpose was to unite white people across the ethnic, class, and gender boundaries. However, after the Emancipation, lynching became a prominent form of violence used against the blacks. The use of lynching was a means of controlling and putting fear into the blacks, making them afraid to go against anything the white man said or authorized.…

    • 1535 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lynchings in America

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Recently, an L.A. Times article (dated 2/13/00) reviewed a new book entitled "Without Sanctuary", a collection of photographs from lynchings throughout America. During the course of the article, the author, Benjamin Schwarz, outlined some very interesting and disturbing facts related to this gruesome act of violence: Between 1882 and 1930, more than 3,000 people were lynched in the U.S., with approximately 80% of them taking place in the South. Though most people think only African Americans were victims of lynchings, during those years, about 25% were white. Data indicates that mobs in the West lynched 447 whites and 38 blacks; in the Midwest there were 181 white victims and 79 black; and in the South, people lynched 291 whites and 2,462 African Americans. Though most people believe lynchings were just the manifestation of racial hatred, the author indicates that 20% of Southern lynching victims were killed by mobs of their own race. In addition, other societies such as Ancient Rome and Greece, Germany, China, Nigeria, and East Africa lynched their own. It is for this reason that Mr. Schwarz believes lynchings cannot be explained only in terms of racism and paranoid "white psyche". To find the true reason, we must consider a different point of view. According to Mr. Schwarz, in the late 19th century, there arose in the South a large proportion of transient black men who, as their labor became expendable in an increasingly industrial and commercial economy, adopted a life of crime. In the article, Mr. Schwarz writes, "There, loosened from the traditional controls of the black family and community, many led a roaming, reckless and often violent existence." The theory goes, as these African American men moved from city to city, they became easy targets for Southern whites (and some blacks) who took it upon themselves to "punish" lawless citizens. To support his theory, Mr. Schwarz refers to data that shows "Most lynchings took place precisely in those areas in the…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Economic Justice For All

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages

    What the ideas and principles of the Economic Justice for All are not so much about how to shape the economic aspect of America but rather look at the social teachings in the church. The goal is to take what we have learned from gospel and make our everyday rational decisions about what is right and what is wrong. This is exactly what the Second Vatican of the Catholic Church did in 1986. A group of very intelligent priests and avid followers of Christ sat around together and addressed the right and wrongs of our economy as a whole; making each decision in the eyes of the Lord as best they could.…

    • 274 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    8th Amendment

    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Therefore it achieves its purpose by controlling and regulating societies’ behavior through effective and rationale punishment. If the government sets out a policy like the death penalty its use must be justified not only legally, but also socially, politically, and in execution. Instances, where these doctrines are misused and misinterpreted by the officials in charge of implementing them, brings into question its overall legitimacy. Justice Marshall states there are “ six purposes conceivably served by capital punishment: retribution, deterrence, prevention of repetitive criminal acts, encouragement of guilty pleas and confessions, eugenics, and economy,” ( 63). These purposes provide an idea to justify the use of capital punishment. Yet, if the use of the penalty does not help with the with controlling crime, specifically with the uses of the ideas provided by Justice Marshall, then its overall use should be questioned. The blatant racial bias found towards African-Americans in death penalty sentencing puts into question the legitimacy of the legal system and more specifically the effectiveness of the death penalty. Thus, if the policy discriminately targets specific races, minorities, and ethnicities it is evident this policy must be examined and questioned. Moreover, as Justice Marshall states “…

    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Scottsboro Trial and the trial of Tom Robinson are almost identical in the forms of bias shown and the accusers that were persecuted. The bias is obvious and is shown throughout both cases, which took place in the same time period. Common parallels are seen through the time period that both trials have taken place in and those who were persecuted and why they were persecuted in the first place. The thought of "All blacks were liars, and all blacks are wrongdoers," was a major part of all of these trails. A white person 's word was automatically the truth when it was held up to the credibility of someone whom was black. Both trials were perfect examples of how the people of Alabama were above the law and could do whatever they wanted to the black people and get away with it. In both trials lynch mobs were formed to threaten the black people who were accused. Judge Hornton tried many times to move the case to a different place so that a fair trial could take place and not be interrupted by the racist people. Finally was granted to move the case even though the lynch mobs threatened to kill everyone who was involved in the case if it were to be moved. In this essay the bias and racism in both trials are going to be clarified and compared to each other.…

    • 1176 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A century and a half ago, our nation faced a civil war. More than 620,000 Americans lost their lives at the hands of other Americans, which was subsequently equal to the total number of American deaths in all other wars combined (O’keefe). The reason for this senseless war, the Confederate States of the South wanted to keep African Americans enslaved. As Southerners fought and killed to defend slavery, they did so under the confederate flag, which consisted of the colors red, white, and blue. Terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and many other white supremacist groups, led hanise crimes against African Americans which included: lynching, burning crosses, and mass murders, while using the Confederate Flag as a symbol of “unity”. A flag that stands for hatred and white supremacy is not only allowed but glorified. The confederate emblem should, not only be taken out of the Mississippi state flag, but the confederate flag should be banned from the United States.…

    • 940 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Life Without Parole

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Capital punishment should be viewed as the stripping away of humanity from a person. The death penalty itself should be "executed" because of racial inequities, the concept of murder, the possibility of error, lack of deterrence, the cost, and an overwhelmed legal system. "The goal of capital punishment is revenge" (Introduction 1). Capital punishment is simply an outlet for the bloodlust of the American people (Introduction 1).…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Radical Reconstruction

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages

    One of the single most powerful forces ever used by domestic terrorists to cause death, destruction, and create horrific psychological effects on others was the invention and use of explosives. As early as the 1800’s, explosives were used by workers in labor disputes in America. However, terrorism was also used by major corporations’ security forces in an extremely violent manner, often involving many deaths and injuries to control the unions and their workers. Even as settlers moved west to find their fortunes, vigilantes and their forms of “justice” were used to control others. At the end of the Civil War, in an effort to control radical reconstruction efforts giving freed Afro-Americans more rights, the Ku Klux Klan was formed to resist these reconstruction efforts which included violently terrorizing Blacks, Whites, or anyone in…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lynching was used as a tool for creating and maintaining white dominance in the South. This gruesome method was used to reverse the laws that were made to progress the equality of white and black races. The racially driven lynching persisted during the time of the Jim Crow laws as a way of enforcing subservience and preventing economic competition, and later as a method of resisting the civil rights movement.…

    • 70 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays