Reflection+on+Punishment+of+the+Other+in+America

America has always systematically created an Other. As we saw in The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne was the towns Other and for her impurities she was sentenced to a life of excommunication and total humiliation. While reading the book, I realized how the American desire to teach and punish was epitomized in the story of Hester Prynne. The American Other is irrationally deemed by society to be of lesser value, deserving nothing more than the lessons they should be taught. This has been true throughout all of American history. Over time, the issue became extremely racialized as race become the main factor as to whether you were Other or not. The absurdity and cruelty of slavery, and the Jim Crow laws pitted two groups against each other: those who were right and those who were wrong. The unjust punishment was felt by those in subsequent generations, which is why I decided to add the song “Fuck Tha Police” by N.W.A. The song shows the relationship between black youth and police in many urban areas where cop brutality and punishment was a daily occurrence. Today, we see the Punishment of the Other continue more than ever before and still nothing is done to understand where the need to be in control is coming from and why those who need to be taught the greatest lessons are the ones handing down the greatest punishments.

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