Unit15: The American "Culture of Violence":
Intro:
In the wake of an intense political campaign, tensions are everywhere to be seen in the US right now. A lot of people consider the US a violent country and culture. Indeed, many mass shootings have recently hit the headlines; the death penalty still exists in more than 30 states and US History is plagued with instances of violence inflicted on others. We will here try to understand the reasons why some people indict the US this way and reflect on how valid these reasons are.
Survival kit:
Download the file and add whatever you think you should remember after the unit.
Step1: Is the US steeped in violence?
- "The American Culture of Violence":
Doc1a: "America is steeped in violence" (The Guardian)
"America's Culture of Violence" (The New Yorker)
"Do Americans Live in a Culture of Violence?" (IVN)
"Aurora Shooting: We've seen this movie before" (International Herald
Tribune)
"Sandy Hook: America's Culture of Violence" (Le Monde diplomatique)
"Violence: the American Way of Life" (Global Research)
"Death Penalty feeds America's Culture of Violence" (Current
Argus)
- Violence in US history: Native Americans as a case in point (Step0):
Native American History (History.com)
American Indian Wars (History.com)
The Trail of Tears (History.com)
Wounded Knee (History.com)
The Racist Redskins (The Daily Beast)
Step2: Gun violence in the US:
- Mass Shootings in the US:
<---Doc2a (video to the left: "History of American mass shootings")
Timeline of the worst mass shootings in American History (UScrossfire)
20 Deadliest Mass Shootings in the US (CNN)
A Guide to Mass Shootings/Rampage Kills in America(MotherJones)
<---Doc2b (video to the left) :"The Ulvade shooting and the murals to honor the victims" (ABC News)
The Ulvade shooting (Texas Tribune)
Doc2c: "The Gun epidemic in the US" (NPR)
Doc2d: "3-D printed guns" (The Soufan Center)
- The Gun Control Debate:
Doc2e: The NRA: National Rifle Association (NRA.org)
Doc2f: The March For Our Lives Movement
Doc2g: The #NeverAgain 6 years later (The Nation)
Gun Politics (Wikipedia)
The Gun Debate (CNN)
Pros and Cons of Gun Control (BalancedPolitics.org)
Democratic Party on Gun Control (OnTheIssues.org)
Republican Party on Gun Control (OnTheIssues.org)
Step3: Divisive issues in the US: (Elvi dossier)
-
Torture in "Gtmo" (Guantanamo):
Doc3: "Guantanamo, un scandale pour les droits humains" (Amnesty International)
-
Death Penalty/Capital Punishment: Doc4
Capital Punishment in the USA (Wikipedia)
"US Death Penalty Facts" (Amnesty International)
- American exceptionalism: The US as the "Global Policeman" (gendarme du monde):
American exceptionalism (Wikipedia)
"The World would miss the American policeman" (Financial Times)
US Role as the World's Policeman: pros and cons (BalancedPolitics.org)
"Should the US be the Police of the World?" (Debate.org)
- Doc5: "Is the American dream still alive?" (Fox News)
Step3 (follow-up): What about the UK? (Cf EC1)
Step4: A few glimmers of hope?
- Doc4a: The "Woke" movement
- "For there is always light":
Doc4b: Amanda's Gorman's "The Hill we climb" poem ------------------>
- Doc4c: "The Crisis", by Thomas Paine
Practice!
Translate from English into French:
"Blotched execution: 2014 is already the worst in year in the history of lethal injection" (New Republic)
Translate from French into English:
-"Un Massacre ordinaire à Washington", Courier international.
-"USA : nouvelle fusillade dans une école", Le Figaro. -"Massacres et violence glorifiée aux Etats-Unis", Huffington Post.
-Reading comprehension:
A short article about guns in the US (Mashable) .
An article about the link the media often make between shootings and video games.
An article about American overcrowded prisons (The Economist)
-Listening comprehension:
Here are is a podcast about gun control from NPR.
Check out this video and find out more about 3-D printed weapons.
Go further!
-
General knowledge:
"The World is Falling Out of Love
With America" (Time)
"Dead Stop: Students Develop
Lock to Thwart School Shootings" (Time)
"Bullet-resistant White
Boards to Curb School Violence" (Political Surf)
- Movies:
Bowling for Columbine (2002)
Elephant (2003)
A History of Violence (2005)