Conflicts between Political Boundaries and Ethnicity

Ethnicity and political boundaries are two very similar ideas but have a different definition. They both separate things, humans, countries, states, etc. Ethnicity separates humans and is easily confused with race but not everyone that is Hispanic is Catholic and not every Catholic is Hispanic. What makes a person part of an ethnicity is not only what religion they practice, but also where they are from, the language they speak and other similar factors. Political boundaries, to me, are simpler to define. A boundary is put to separate things from each other. In the case of a political boundary, it is a way to separate land owned by different communities or populations that govern themselves and do with their land differently than other countries or states. A perfect example of an ethnic group that doesn’t fall nicely within a political boundary is the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. Originally, the 1937 Constitution of Ireland gave the Catholic Church a "special position" as the church of the majority. As with other predominantly Catholic European states, the Irish state underwent a period of legal secularization in the late twentieth century. In 1972, the article of the Constitution naming specific religious groups, including the Catholic Church, was deleted by the fifth amendment of the constitution in a referendum. Now-a-days 85% of Irish are Roman Catholic but the predominant religion is Christianity. When ethnicities and politics cross, huge conflicts arise. In the U.S. abortion is one. Catholics don’t believe in abortion but some politicians are pro-choice. This divergence between what a religion and what a politician believe in can influence a whole country. 

Ethnic groups and politcal boundaries

Cultural values, beliefs, and ideals are all qualities that ethnic groups share and that distinguish them from other groups. These groups also commonly share history, kinship, religion and language. Political boundaries are only imaginary lines that can separate countries, states, or provinces within countries from one another. These boundaries do not necessarily enclose different ethnic groups. The United States, for example, has a large quantity of those boundaries in the country itself but also within its states. If an ethnic group crosses one of these political boundaries it can create political tension or conflict. One of the ethnic groups that does not fit within a specific political boundary is the Kurdish people, which are an Iranic ethnic group. They live in many different countries throughout the Middle East, like Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Russia, and Lebanon. They also live in the United States and Western Europe.  When ethnic groups are crossed with politics ethnic conflicts or sometimes even ethnic wars can start. The most extreme outcome of ethnic groups and political boundaries being crossed is genocide, which is an attempt to put an end to an entire ethnic group. Also, the emigration of a large amount of ethnic group members has resulted from political conflicts. Rwandans, for example, moved into close by African countries after the Rwandan genocide of 1994. This created a huge number of displaced refugees.  Another example of conflicts arising is when an ethnic group minority in a state wants to have their own nation, state, or homeland as protection against persecution, which may create ethnic separatist and secessionist movements that cause political conflict.

Political boundaries.

I would have to say that a political boundary is the existing line that seperates states and counties. I would also have to say that a political boundary is also the rules, regulations, ans laws that control what the country or community is able to do, say, and believe. An example of a political boundary from the past is the Louisiana Purchase. At the time, the United State's purchase of Louisiana was considered unconstitutional. Thomas Jefferson went ahead and made the purchase in order to remove Frances presence in the region and to protect the United States trade access point to the port of New Orleans and free passage on the Mississippi River. Before the purchase, the political boundaries of the U.S. stopped at the state line around Louisiana which was considered French territory. After the purchase, our political and social views were able to influence the lifestyle in the community that lived within Louisiana. Now, I do believe that we should be careful who we hand leadership over to. I believe that the united states laws are becoming more and more  complex and that we are in danger of having our values devalued, our lifestlyles controlled and our believes locked away under law. Thats just me though. Areas that will always clash between political boundaries and Ethnics is tradition. With laws changing and new limits set, things that we have always felt were right are now wrong in the eyes of the Man Made law. Example, Faith in school or in public.

Ireland

A political boundary separates one country from another. It outlines the jurisdiction of these regions and governs the people contained within them. In Northern Ireland, which is owned by England, there are two major groups that are struggling against one another. The (English) Protestant unionist community wishes to remain a part of the United Kingdom, while the (Irish) Catholic nationalists want to separate from England and have Ireland as a whole be united. This situation has come to be known as “The Troubles.” Three decades of violence plagued this region, beginning in 1969. The Catholics were discriminated against, and staged a civil rights movement. They formed the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) and modeled their peaceful demonstrations after those of Martin Luther King Jr.’s movement in America. However, many of their marches turned into riots as the Protestants struggled to maintain control. The violence peaked in 1972 when over five hundred lives were lost—half of them were civilian casualties. In 1973, the Sunningdale Agreement was reached, and the “Council of Ireland” was designed for power to be shared between the groups. While this encouraged them to work together, the Protestants eventually won the majority of seats and ended the agreement. The cycle of protests, hunger strikes, cease-fires, negotiations, and breaking of agreements continued throughout the decades. Between 1969 and 2001, 3,526 lives were lost to “The Troubles.” While the conflict is all but resolved, the violence has slowed down considerably. Crimes are committed behind closed doors rather than having all-out riots in the streets.

Jerusalem

A political boundary is a line that separates countries, state, provinces, or communities. It is of a legal matter and has been created as a means to enforce political ethics on a region. Simply because there are political boundaries does not always mean that the cultures within are the same. Sometimes a political boundary can interfere with an ethnic boundary. In our textbook, it defines ethnicity as “a group that is bound by a shared identity and common ancestry, that is, by a combination of lived experiences and genetic materials.” Personally, I believe that one’s ethnic identity is largely influenced by their religion. In most parts of the world and throughout many major religions, it plays a huge role in an individual’s ethnic identity. One example of a political boundary interfering with ethnic boundaries is the city of Jerusalem in Israel. The city of Jerusalem is important to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. I am only going to touch base with Judaism and Islam identities and how they are connected through conflict of their ethnicities and political boundaries. First, Jerusalem is important to the religion of Judaism because the Temple was originally built there which made it the capital of the religion. In fact, today Jews still face Jerusalem to pray. Second, Jerusalem is religiously significant to Islam because the Prophet Muhammad was taken from a temple in Jerusalem and made his ascension into heaven where he spoke with previous prophet and eventually came back down to earth to share his wisdom. Obviously there is a lot of religious history to the city concerning both religions. Religion is one of the main reasons that there is political conflict within the city. The history between the two cities has been going on since 1936. Basically today Israeli’s are in control of the city and Palestine’s have been fighting for the rights to the city. One major political war outbreak took place in the Gaza strip. Israeli’s bombed the strip where the Palestine’s live. Throughout history there many lives have been lost over this political and ethnic boundary.

WEEK 11

What is the difference between ethnicity and political boundary? Find an example of an ethnic group that does not fall nicely within a political boundary. What sort of conflicts arise when ethnicities and politics cross?

Political Ad music

In searching for political ads, I found both positive and negative ads for President Barack Obama as well as Governor Mitt Romney. The music in these political ads were very influential to the message it was trying to send. With there being both positive and negative ads, there were also positive and negative music that went with them. All the ads that were shown in support of a particular candidate where represented in positive music while all the ads that were meant to bash the opposing candidate were presented with negative music. Trying to imagine these political ads without their music is hard to do. If we remove the music from the ads, granted we still have the words, the impact of the ad in its entirety is much less significant. The music for campaign ads, like other commercials, is meant to evoke specific feelings towards what is being advertised. Without the music, it is much more difficult to draw out these emotions. This especially applies to situations where a person might be multitasking. While words can drone on in the background without being completely comprehended, music can draw much more attention and the person will still get the major point being conveyed. The pattern I have noticed with this is that around ninety percent of the ads are bashing the other candidates, and occur in the beginning stages of the campaigns. Towards the end of the race, the ads have more positive messages trying to gain the support of the voters.

2012 Presidential Ads

The background music for these ads certainly set the mood for the candidates' messages they are trying to put out for their audience. The music in the first video on youtube I watched was really fast and upbeat violin music. It was putting Romney down. It compared what he had said in 2002 when he ran for govenor of Massachusetts to what he is saying now about being president in 2012. It basically showed that he essentially has done absolutely nothing to increase the number of jobs in Massachusetts. By this time the upbeat music switched from violin to upbeat, yet gloomy piano music. It is a very negative ad for Romney's reputation. As a matter of fact, a lot of the Romney ads I searched for were negative and put him down. I found more positive ads supporting Obama than I did for Romney. I found an ad for Obama that was really upbeat and people in the background were cheering and the music was loud and enthusiastic to Obama's message. Music plays a huge role in these election campaigns. As I mentioned before, it sets the mood for the points they are trying to put across to their viewers.

Political ad campaings

Think of how music has revolutionized the movie industry. If Steven Spielberg had not added music to “Jaws” it would have never came close to its success. Commercials are just short films. If you watch a commercial for a president campaigning, in the background you will hear music that rises and swells the pride we take in our country and it screams patriotism. The music screams out positiveness and uplifts your spirit. It is like a subliminal message to our brains to believe in this candidate. Part of campaigning is refuting your opponent. Sometimes they do this through the use of ads on TV. The ads are layered with music that makes a viewer feel anxious. The music is discordant and climaxes to a give the viewer a feeling of impending doom. Or comes in soft and slow making things sad shining some pity on the candidate. Without music in this, think about how this would seem? When that sad moment was happening would you feel the same sadness or pity? How about when he/she is telling you something patriotic? Without music would it have the same emphasis on you? Remember back to "Jaws," you know the shark is coming when you hear the music in the background. Each party uses the same music samples to influence the viewer's emotional response which tailors to the desires of the political campaigner. Music is tool used in elections to enhance commercials and move the emotions of the people to vote for the campaigner.

Music and Presidental Ads

The first ad that I watched was Obama's first official ad before he had ever became president. He was talking about change in the school system, change in the taxation, and change in healthcare. Although he never pulled through, the ad was positive. The music in the background sounded like a symphony playing. To me, the music made the ad sound hopeful. I think that they had applied this music for that specific reason. I don't think it would have changed the message of the ad if the music were taken out of the ad. The second as that I watched was Richard Nixon's ad against the Vietnam war. The background music was tribal sounding and mostly consisted of drums. This tied into the video clips and pictures shown of the war in Vietnam. I think that if the music were to be taken out, the video would have been less dramatic. Since the ad was about war and the need for new U.S. leadership, I would have to say that the ad was definitely negative.  I think that music in any ad is an important element to have. Music makes things seem more important or dramatic and is a very influential tool that can be used in several forms of media.