Filed under: Communication, Urban, Violence, Youth | Tags: graffiti, Los Angeles, war
The war against graffiti is getting stronger and stronger. Los Angeles, as well as Denver and other cities around United States, has been considering new restrictions on the sale of aerosol spray paint cans and etching cream to people under 21 years old. The fight against graffiti also includes reference to gangs, especially related to criminality, violence and drug use among young cultures. As a result, these activities are punishable with fines or prosecuted as felonies or crimes, and in these cases, it could signify several months and even years in prison.
What is the problem about graffiti? The removal of graffiti costs high. The public spending rises to thousand of dollars. Even when governmental authorities declare that these practices deface buildings, public transport and monuments throughout the cities, the main topic is related to budget. City councils could not use that money in other projects and it hurts their relationship with citizenship. However, it is not only an economical cost. This could cause trouble during election times. Besides that, the content of graffiti matters. Graffiti artists not only tag their names or signatures, some of them use impressive designs or slogans to promote ideologies, denounces and countercultural alternatives.
Youth cultures are a paradox. On the one hand, the global market and the media demand them a life of success and consumption. On the other hand, the contemporary societies exclude them. Young people suffer of unemployment, school desertion, police repression, emotional stress and uncertainty about the future. These collectives, as Mexican anthropologist Rossana Reguillo pointed out, have a relation with social change and they also have political struggles on topics as abortion, cultural diversity, sexual tolerance, climate change, drugs use and others. In fact, the content of some graffiti mean an aggression towards the current system and its debilities or principles.
Why do the media and governmental agencies promote graffiti as crime and not as an expression? My hypothesis is that with an increase of the stereotypical information about these “deviant” groups, they could build consent and promote several reactions with a "zero-tolerance" perspective. As Chomsky declares, this is a strategy to control. It is hard to assess if all the graffiti is related to criminality, but it is impossible to deny that in particular contexts is linked to claim territories. However, many young groups just use it like an artistic expression or a life style. This is not necessary wrong. For example, Naomi Klein has identified how corporations and business use graffiti artists to advertise their products too, especially because it is “cool” and it attracts young people. Do we have “legal” graffiti and “illegal” art crimes? Big money rules the market!
Filed under: Communication, Sexual diversity, Violence | Tags: GLBT, homophobia, Israel
Two gay teens have just passed away. A gunman, armed with an Uzi submachine gun, fired in a support gathering at Café Noir, a Gay Center in Tel Aviv. The shooting attack was soon published in some GLBT media and referenced in several tweets around the world. The killer escaped and Israel Police has started a manhunt to catch him. After three or four hours, Tel Aviv was gone of Twitter’s trending topics.
Besides of the malware threat and the spam, the content of the tweets was related to censor the crime, to promote demonstrations in support and to spread the new information about the scene, particularly by updating the facts or by translating the news to another language. However, some of the content in this trending topic had political propaganda against Israel and condemn the act by blaming the country. This is the main idea I have decided to analyze.
Was this hate crime related to religious boundaries? It is possible. Is homophobia spreading only in Israel? No. And it is easy to assess it. For example, two or three days ago, a psychologist was judged in Brazil, because of her activities as therapist in order “to cure” homosexuality. Similar cases could be followed in Iran, United States, Mexico, Germany and other countries. Why to judge Israel with that emphasis? The answer refers to a historical process of hate crimes between Palestine and Israel, and it also includes stereotypes and stigmas, that are older than World War II. Or is it because the weapon was from Israel too?
Homophobic behavior is rising everywhere. Is it a symptom? What is the sickness? The contemporary world promises diversity and tolerance, but the facts show that these processes are still utopian. We have two cold bodies and several wounded victims to prove it. What is the point to promote the peace and respect, or the condemnation of a violent act, if we are doing it with stigmatization against others? Tel Aviv was just a case. Another example of what is happening everywhere. One more relevant discussion could be proposed, for example: Is global media ignoring this kind of hate crimes against GLBT? The shooting was a trending topic before to reach traditional media. Why does it happen? My hypothesis is that this “gay show” does not include any “king of pop”. I expect to be wrong.
I have been following Italian press during the last years. Il Corriere della Sera, an independent newspaper and one of the most read, has been publishing several articles about racism and ethnic hate along the country. The dramatism of these stories is more than evident: Young people beated on buses or trains, children harrased in their own schools and many other cases of physical, symbolic and social violence. The target groups of these behaviors are immigrants, particularly African, Romanian and Albanian.
But also Southern Italians are victims of the intolerance and discrimination: As Corriere informs, the most recent case refers to a boy who was victim of anti-Neapolitan songs at school. His mother declares that his classmates also disinfected any pen that the boy used. She refuses to present any denounce and decided to change him to other school.
What is the explanation for this phenomena? Why are immigrants so dangerous for Italian people? One possible reason is linked to economical backgrounds: Unemployment and public spending are key factors to approach the causes of this hate. Sociologically, it relates to a power struggle between “us” and “them” and has a direct relation to social stigma. Who gets the job and why? Who gets the social support and why? The phenomena is more complicated than that. It also includes symbolic communication and cultural patterns. Why Italian people use words like “apes” or “pigs” to refer to African or European migrants? This comparison with animals is a strategy to dehumanize the other. As a result, it could allow to avoid guilt and remorse. If the subject is like an animal, the use of violence is justified, necessary and suitable.
This hate is not new. It is possible to identify similar attitudes and behaviours through history. The reflection I want to settle here is why this topic is absent in global media? Is it not relevant enough? News, as a construction, depends on media policies and procedures. My hypothesis is that symbolic violence does not sale. As a fact, the world is full of visible physical violence, that is more dramatic and does sale. Maybe, when this rebirth of hate explode, it will be a well-publicized news. Until then, nobody knows and nobody cares.
Filed under: Blog news
We live in times of uncertainty, as Bauman points out: The current world melts and decomposes faster than the time it takes to cast it. As a consequence of it, our way to understand reality depends on our ability to go with the flow. This blog, is an intent to keep my brain working: To analyze and criticize global media, to identify interesting facts of daily life, and finally, to share my personal point of view. It is a way to force me to write with discipline and to propose new ways to understand the world we live in.
As a methodological strategy, I have decided to write in english, in order to reach more readers. Besides that, my post will have links and information in other languages (spanish, german, portuguese and italian) and I will provide brief translations, summaries and contexts descriptions.
