H.O.P.E. Journal Volume III Issue III Paper & Commentary

THERMIDOR Hope Humanities Art & Literature Issue III Volume III

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Design by Mimi Yang Humanities Online Platform for Everyone (HOPE) is an in dependent, student-run online journal that creates opportuni ties for high school students in the United States and around the world who are interested in the humanities to publish their outstanding works. These include creative writings (poetry and prose), research papers, editorial reviews, and visual arts. We re alize that publication opportunities for high school students are very limited. Thus, we hope to create this platform to help high school students to earn credit for what they have written or cre ated. This is not merely a journal, but a place for lovers of the humanities to express themselves and receive recognition. Submissions are published on a two-month-per-issue basis. You my submit at the following link: www.hope-humanities.org.

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PAPER & COMMENTARY1Caesar’s Civil War: Its Inevitability and the Collapse of the Roman Republic Chuning Li Debunking the Myth on American Origins Hallie Xu The “Wild Beasts”: A Detailed Account of Fauvism’s Past and Present Melanie Shao Baldwin vs. Buckley: The Expense of the American Dream Julia Gong Political Factors Of The Oppression Of Uyghurs In Xinjiang Aileen E. Dosev What Affects Victim Blaming: An investigation of individual and situational factors and influence on Victim Blaming Hongmi Jiang Neuromancer’s Cyborg Politics Iris de Souza 2215922933 The Effect of Religious Practice on Mental Health Aileen E. Dosev5438 CONTENTSOFTABLE

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 2 INEVITABILITYCIVILCAESAR’SWAR:ITSANDTHECOLLAPSEOFTHEROMANREPUBLIC Paper by Chuning Liu The Transformation of Rome from Re public to August133-20Empire:BC6,2021

The conflict between Caesar and Pompey began with the formation of the First Trium virate, which consisted of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus; however, the presence of Cras sus maintained the triumvirate system that assuaged the political tensions between Cae sar and Pompey, and made them temporarily work together for common interests. This sys tem completely crumbled after Crassus’s death in the battle of Carrhae against the Parthian Empire in 53 BC, and the relationship be tween Caesar and Pompey quickly worsened and led to the outbreak of a civil war. The war began with Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon River, which by Roman standards was an act of treason and a declaration of war on Rome. Caesar went on to defeat Pompey in the battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, the most decisive battle of the civil war, and emerge as the final victor.

Introduction and Historical Background

During this power struggle, Caesar and Pompey began as partners and ended as bitter enemies. While this change in their relations seems dramatic, their fates were predeter mined --- a civil war was inevitable, and one of them will fall and the other will climb to the throne. Several factors contributed to the ineluctability of this civil war: the privatiza tion of military forces caused by the Marian reform, the long-lasting conflict between pop ulares and optimates, and the two men’s ambi tious character and strong desire for glory and power. In this paper, I will discuss Caesar and Pompey’s early lives, analyze the factors that contributed to the civil war, and evaluate the war’s inevitability.

Julius Caesar and Pompey’s Early Life

Gaius Julius Caesar was born in one of the oldest noble clans in Rome, the Julii (Bil lows, p.30). At the age of sixteen, after Cae sar’s father passed away, Caesar became the head of his family and closely allied with his uncle Marius, but things quickly went wrong following Marius’ defeat. Caesar went into hiding with the army to avoid violence. Ac cording to Suetonius, “He (Caesar) served his first campaign in Asia on the personal staff of Marcus Thermus, governor of the province.” (Suetonius, The Life of Julius Caesar, 2.1) Al though he possessed talents as an orator and a politician (Billows, p.62), he did not make any major advances in this early stage of his career. When he served in Spain as a quaestor (Suetonius, Julius Caesar, 7.1), he saw a stat ue of Alexander the Great and commented, “When he was of my age he had conquered Darius, but, up to now, nothing has been ac complished by me.” (Plutarch, Sayings of Ro mans, Gaius Caesar, 4) By contrast, Pompey was born in a local noble family in Picenum, and his father Gnae us Pompeius Strabo was a new man. Pompey was more successful than Caesar in his early political career. He took over Sicily, defeat ed and killed Domitius in Africa (Plutarch. Life of Pompeius. 12.3), and invaded Numidia with a large army (Plutarch. Life of Pompeius. 12.5) at an age when he was even too young to become a senator and celebrate a triumph. For these achievements, Sulla, the dictator of Rome at the time, gave Pompey the warmest welcome and “saluted him in a loud voice as ‘Magnus,’ or The Great.” (Plutarch. Life of Pompeius. 13.4) After the Third Mithridatic War, Pompey created settlements in the east and asked for the Senate’s ratification, but he faced opposi tion from the optimates. Meanwhile, in His pania, Caesar gained prominence as a mili tary hero. They met each other and thought there was a valid reason for them to cooperate: Pompey wanted his veterans to be reward ed for their bravery in the east while Caesar,

From 509 BC to 27 BC, Rome became the most dominant power in the Mediterra nean region, well known for its republican sys tem that was imitated by posterity. One of the major events that marked the downfall of the Roman Republic is the civil war between Gai us Julius Caesar, whose name posthumous ly became the metonym for “Emperor,” and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, one of Rome’s most successful generals whose career cele brated a total of three triumphs.

PAPER & COMMENTARY3

The increase in wealth gap resulted in dis tinct interests of these two groups of people, which meant the enactment of a new law, such as a land allotment law, or the implementation of a reform program would most likely benefit one side and harm the other, causing the in tense conflicts between the populares and the optimates. In The Civil Wars, Appian suggests, “The plebeians and Senate of Rome [in the olden time] were often at strife with each other concerning the enactment of laws, the cancel ling of debts, the division of lands, or the elec tion of magistrates.”

returning from Spain in triumph, wanted to be named consul and gain a pro-consulship/ military command in Gaul. Pompey could use his political power and fame to help Caesar get elected as a consul, and in return, Caesar could help Pompey overcome opposition from the Senate. As a result, the first triumvirate was formed between three prominent figures of Rome: Caesar, Pompey, and the wealthiest man of Rome, Crassus. This marked the start of the conflicts between Caesar and Pompey.

Causes of the Civil War and Its Inevitability

(Appian, BC 1.0) A famous example of reform program that caused intense conflict between the populares and the optimates was the Gracchi reform. As a response to forced displacements of peasants by nobles and severe problems related to pov erty in Rome after the Punic Wars, the Grac chi brothers revived Lex Licinia Sextia, a series of laws that limited the amount of land that a Roman citizen could possess, in order to reduce the number of displaced peasants in Rome and provide peasants with a stable source of income in response to the decline of small farms. While the land allotment program largely helped the plebeians who held little or no land, it harmed the interests of landed aristocrats who con trolled the majority of ager publicus, or public land, in Rome, as the reform stipulated that an individual should at most possess 500 iugera of land, and any excess land would be confiscated and redistributed to underprivileged Romans. Nobles almost always possessed much more than 500 iugera of land, and confis cation would result in a significant reduction in their wealth. Moreover, the optimates, consist ing of mostly conservative members, thought that Gracchus “disturbed and overturned all established customs.” (Dio, Book 24, 83, 7) Therefore, the optimates in the Senate, which represented the interests of the nobility, started a rumor that Tiberius Gracchus was trying to become a tyrant and overthrow Rome’s repub lican system. They used that as a reason to beat him to death during his re-election for tribune. Gaius Gracchus suffered a similar fate as his

The most fundamental reason for the in evitability of civil war is the long-lasting con flicts between optimates and populares and between common people and the nobles. Such conflicts were deeply rooted in class struggles and dated back to the time of the Gracchi re forms.When Rome eventually defeated the Car thaginian Empire in the Third Punic War, vast amounts of wealth and booty, including pre cious metal and slaves, flew into Rome, mostly fell into nobles’ and business owners’ hands, and were used to build large estates. Also, due to the remarkable increase in the supply of slaves after the Punic Wars, landowners es tablished larger slave-run farms in Sicily and other territories that later dominated Rome’s economy. Small farming, which had been the source of income for hundreds of thousands of Roman peasants, declined as these peasants also faced competition from cheaper import ed grains. As a result, nobles in Rome created latifundia, large estates worked by slaves to produce grains, olives, and red wine, and used their land to gain more wealth. But the job op portunities of the middle class and plebeians were threatened by the establishment of these large estates, and this led to declining num bers in middle class farmers, making “much of Rome’s citizen body unfairly impoverished” (Billows, p11). Consequently, the wealth gap between plebeians and nobles widened sig nificantly: before the Punic Wars, a noble’s wealth was usually ten times that of a middle class man’s, while in the 150s BC, a noble could possess wealth a hundredfold greater.

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Another major reason for the civil war be tween Caesar and Pompey is their ambitious character and strong desire for power. In his book Roman History, Cassius Dio wrote about Caesar’s and Pompey’ ambition thus: “In temper they differed from each other to this extent, that Pompey desired to be second to no man and Caesar to be first of all, and the former was anxious to be honored by a willing people and to preside over and be loved by men who fully consent, whereas the latter cared not at all if he ruled over even an unwilling peo ple, issued orders to men who hated him, and bestowed the honors with his own hand upon himself.” (Dio, book 41, 54, 1)

Pompey’s ambition can be observed from his demand for triumph, which was a sign of military glory and prestige in Rome. When sent to Africa to deal with Sulla’s enemies, Pompey, who was equestrian and held no sen atorial rank, demanded a triumph and even backed his demand with his troops. Due to his strong desire for military glory and polit ical power, to achieve his ends, Pompey could work with enemies or betray allies. In the con sular elections of 78 BC, he supported Lepi dus and went against Sulla’ request. Lepidus revolted after Sulla’s death in 78 BC, but was quelled by Pompey on the Senate’s orders. For ambitious men like Caesar and Pompey, it is impossible for them to realize their de sires without defeating enemies and powerful competitors, and therefore a civil war was in evitable.Violence was largely used in Roman pol itics whenever there is a debate or a conflict, and that is also an important factor that con tributed to the civil war between Caesar and Pompey: it explained why the conflict was solved in the form of a war rather than peace ful negotiation. As Appian suggests in The Civil Wars, “The sword was never carried into the assembly, and there was no civil butch ery until Tiberius Gracchus” (Appian, BC 1.0) Since the Gracchi brothers’ time, many important individuals, whether populares or optimates, were killed during mob violence or assassinated. For example, Saturninus, one of Gaius Marius’ chief political agents, along with Glaucia, murdered a popular rival candi date named C. Memmius during the consul ar election of 99 BC. Saturninus himself was killed by his political opponents after he was arrested for plotting the murder of Memmius; and Marcus Livius Drusus, the tribune of 91 BC who angered the Senate for proposing re forms that regranted Italian allies Roman cit

older brother: although he got re-elected in 122 BC, a Senatus consultum ultimum, which gave the Senate the power to execute “enemies of the republic”, was passed, and a gang was created to assassinate Gaius Gracchus. Know ing that he could not escape from Senate’s prosecution, Gaius Gracchus committed sui cide. After the death of the Gracchi brothers, all of their reform policies, except for Gaius Gracchus’ Lex Frumentaria that lowered the price of grains, were severely undermined by the Senate, and their supporters were either arrested or executed. The rivalry between the interests of com mon people and nobles was also evident in the constitutional reforms of Lucius Corne lius Sulla. After Lex Valeria was passed in 82 BC, Sulla became the official dictator of the Roman Republic and gained imperium, total control over the entire republic. As a power ful leader on the optimates’ side and a firm supporter of senatorial supremacy, Sulla ini tiated a reform that diminished the power of tribunes that represented plebeians’ interests, and banned their veto right. He also created a law “requiring that the Senate approve of pro posed legislation before it was subjected to a popular vote had been reinstated”. (Billows, p. 53) Proscription, which encouraged Romans to kill people who were declared outlaw on the proscription list, was also used by Sulla to eliminate his opponents and supporters for Marius, who were mostly populares. From these examples, it is evident that populares and optimates in high positions, such as tribunes or consuls, frequently clashed over conflicting interests of commoners and nobles. Therefore, the conflict between Caesar, who had always been a populares that stood on commoners’ side, and Pompey, who joined the Senate’s side as a firm supporter for the optimates, was inevitable; and since they held large armies that were loyal to them from the wars they fought, it is almost certain that their conflict would escalate to a civil war.

PAPER & COMMENTARY5

Many commonalities can be found in the conflict between Marius and Sulla and the conflict between Caesar and Pompey. Both conflicts originated from the participants’ de sire for power, envy toward others, and dif ferences in political ideals. For example, Sul la’s brilliant performance in the Social War won him his first consulship in 88 BC, and he received the command of the army in the Mithridatic War. Marius was jealous of Sul la’s rise to power and competed with Sulla, which led to a civil war. Similarly, Caesar and Pompey both held armies that they gathered in the previous wars, and due to the increas ingly hostile relationships between the two, a civil war was unavoidable: their conflict would not come to an end until one side was thor oughlyThoughdefeated.not as important as other factors, Sulla’s march on Rome is also to some extent a cause of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey. Sulla’s march on Rome set a prec edent for later generations. First, it demon strated that people with military power could invade their own country for personal gain; second, during Sulla’s civil war, many gener

The troops marched into Rome and start ed a massacre targeting the most loyal and im portant supporters of Sulla, such as Octavius. After the event, the heads of the victims were displayed in the Forum. Fourteen of them, in cluding six former consuls, were noteworthy individuals in Roman politics. Not all were killed on the spot, however, as some Sulla sup porters went through show trials first and then committed suicide. Although not murdered, Sulla was declared as a threat to the state and had his proconsular command in the east re voked by Marius and Cinna. Marius then held his seventh consulship, but died soon. After Marius’ death, Sulla gathered his army and be gan his second march on Rome. He defeated the army led by consul Gaius Norbanus, took control of Rome, and began his dictatorship.

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 6 izenship, was assassinated. This situation was exacerbated after Mar ius’ military reform, as soldiers were now more loyal to their generals, due to the bond created during training, but also because the generals had promised them land after military service. This phenomenon could be observed from Pompey’s soldiers’ reaction to Sulla’s com mand. When Pompeius invaded Numidia and returned to Utica, he was commanded by Sul la to send most of his army home. Although Pompeius accepted Sulla’s order, his soldiers were indignant and reviled Sulla; they believed that they should always follow their gener al, and their general should never abandon them. (Plutarch, Life of Pompey. 13.1) From this example, it can be observed that after the Marian reform soldiers were more connected to their generals than to their state, and al though the systematic training of Roman sol diers promoted by the Marian reform settled problems related to differences in weaponry and the demoralization of Roman soldiers, the reform caused the problematic privatiza tion of military power. Individuals could hold armies and affect the political affairs of Rome. As a result, generals widely used violence as a means to eliminate political opponents, mur der rival candidates, or, in rare cases, even start a civil war and become to become dictators, establishing a trend of using force rather than peaceful negotiation to resolve conflicts. Famous examples of civil war between two important political figures who held armies were Marius’s civil war and Sulla’s march on Rome. Marius was Sulla’s superior during the Jugurthan War, in which both of them served with distinctions: Marius defeated Jugurtha twice in the war and contributed the most to the final victory, and Sulla was credited for his capture of Jugurtha. Their relationship deteri orated after the war, as they envied each other’s feats. After the Social War, Sulla was elected as the consul for 88 BC and was assigned to war with Mithridates in Pontus. Marius, who lost his reputation after the Saturninus Affair, wanted to use this war as an opportunity to regain his reputation and competed with Sulla for the command of the army. Sulla refused to relinquish his command. After being irritated by Marius’ factions several times, Sulla decid ed to march upon Rome. Marius’ army was vanquished and fled Rome. In Africa, Marius met Cinna, who was also driven out of Rome by Sulla’s faction, and they gathered ten le gions to marched upon Rome just as Sulla did.

(Billows,Caesar’sp.156)experienced army was another major reason for his success. As to their forces, Caesar had the most belligerent men from the

The outcome of the civil war was Pompey’s defeat in the battle of Pharsalus. He fled to Egypt and was assassinated by a group of con spirators on a boat. However, at the beginning of the civil war, Pompey controlled three quar ters of the Roman realm and his army signifi cantly outnumbered Caesar’s. For most of the senators, Pompey was on the winning side. Nevertheless, thanks to his decisiveness and clemency, Caesar gradually gained advantages over Pompey that enabled him to be victori ous in the Clementia,end.

“(Billows, p. 209) Through the propagation of Caesar’s clemency by his agents Oppius and Balbus in the civil war, Caesar ensured his popularity in Italy and forced Pompey’ forces out of the re gion. As the war continued, Caesar’s dignitas led many to become firm supporters of Caesar, and as Cassius Dio described, “Whenever a victory of his was reported, they rejoiced, and whenever a reverse, they grieved……” (Dio, Book 42, 17, 2)

In conclusion, since divergent interests always led to conflicts between populares and optimates, and solving conflicts with violence became established as almost a tradition in Roman politics following the Gracchi broth ers’ time, the civil war between powerful men was inevitable.

the personification of mercy and clemency in Roman culture, was Caesar’s most celebrated quality in the civil war, and also one important factor why he was able to raise armies in conquered regions extremely efficiently and why many people chose to turn against Pompey and side with Caesar. Even Cicero, the best orator in Rome at the time (Billows, p.62) and one of the greatest oppo nents of Caesar, praised his magnanimity and his decision to give mercy to Marcus Claudius Marcellus, who offended Caesar several times in the Senate and fought for Pompey’ in the Battle of Pharsalus. Cicero argued that Cae sar’s act of clementia was even more important than his military achievements; it made him not merely a successful general but also an ap propriate leader. From Cicero’s perspective, we can clearly see that Caesar’s virtues were ap preciated by most, even the ones who initial ly sided with Pompey. Caesar’s clemency was also demonstrated in the siege of Corfinium: “After the siege of Corfinium, when Ahenobar bus’s thirty cohorts Caesar enrolled into his own army, nearly doubling its size at a stroke, and after an interview with Ahenobarbus, Lentulus Spinther, and the other leading Romans he had captured, he let them go free, even permitting Ahenobarbus to keep 6 million sesterces he had brought with him to pay his men. Caesar wanted it to be known that he was fighting to preserve his own dignitas (honour, position) and the rights of his men, not to do any harm to any other Roman in so far as he could avoid it.

als formed military alliances with Sulla simply because they believed that Sulla was victorious at the time. The idea that one could be mor ally expedient to obtain victory gained trac tion among Romans. This became one of the factors why many people, except for Pompey’s firm supporters in the senate, chose to join Caesar’s side and oppose the senate, even though the senate was undoubtedly the true representation of the republic’s authority.

PAPER & COMMENTARY7

Reasons for Caesar’s Victory

Caesar’s decisiveness is also one of the determining factors in Caesar’s victory over Pompey, and such a quality was already exhib ited in his famous Conquest of Gaul. When Caesar faced threats from the Helvetii, he immediately gathered five legions: three from Aquileia and two from Cisalpine Gaul. The sheer rapidity of Caesar’s actions gave him a major advantage in his siege of Cenabum. Since he arrived at Cenabum too late in the day to mount an immediate assault, he made camp, but kept two legions on watch overnight in case the inhabitants of the town should try to escape. This did in fact did happen at mid night, and Caesar immediately ordered his two legions to attack and break into the town. Cenabum was captured and burnt down, and its inhabitants were enslaved as a punishment for the slaughter of the Roman inhabitants.

(2012) “Rome and

In: Julius Caesar The

Caesar and the Collapse of the Roman Republic

Appian, The Civil Wars. Cassiusbook%3D1%3Achapter%3D7per/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0232%3Ahttp://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopDio,

Hughes,Wasson,“The“Proscription.”FirstRoman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Julius*.htmlhttps://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Triumvirate,sites.psu.edu/firsttriumvirate/pompey/EncyclopædiaBritannica,EncyclopædiaBritannica,Inc.,www.britannica.com/topic/proscriptionDictatorshipandAssassinationofCaesar.”EncyclopædiaBritannica,EncyclopædiaBritannica,Inc.,www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Rome/The-dictatorship-and-assassination-of-Caesar.DonaldL.“FirstTriumvirate.”WorldHistoryEncyclopedia,WorldHistoryEncyclopedia,2Aug.2021,www.worldhistory.org/First_Triumvirate/#:~:text=The%20First%20Triumvirate%20of%20ancient%20Rome%20was%20an,Alliances%20have%20always%20been%20a%20part%20of%20history.Tristan.“ATimelineoftheWarsofMariusandSulla.”HistoryHit,HistoryHit,31Aug.2018,www.historyhit.com/timeline-marius-and-sulla/. Works

of Rome 1st Edition. London Billows,

rest of Italy, from Spain, and the entire Gaul and the islands that he had conquered; On the other hand, Pompey had brought along many from the senatorial and the equestrian order and from the regularly enrolled troops, which were relatively less experienced compared to Caesar’s troops. (Dio, Book 41, 55, 2)

A. (2012) “The Conquest of

Early Manhood”. In: Julius Caesar The

of Rome 1st Edition. London Suetonius, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, The Life of Julius

Sayings of Romans, Gaius Caesar. Billows,mans/1931/pb_LCL245.209.xml?readMode=rectoloebclassics.com/view/plutarch-moralia_sayings_rohttps://www.R.A.“Caesar’sChildhood”.In Julius Caesar The Colossus of Rome 1st Edition. London 2021 Billows, R. A. (2012) “Caesar’e Colossus Billows, R. A. Italy Colossus R. Gaul”. Colossus Caesar. Cited z

of Rome 1st Edition. London

What did his victory lead to? Caesar’s victory is a further justification for dictator ship after Sulla, and created possibilities for a monarchy and the centralization of power in Rome. After Caesar defeated Pompey in the Battle of Pharsalus, he was appointed the dic tator of Rome and started a series of reforms. He revised the older calendar and proposed the new Julian Calendar that served as the basis for the modern Gregorian Calendar. He also gave Roman citizenship to Greek teach ers in hope of encouraging them to come to Rome. His victory also created an example for Caesar Augustus, who was Caesar’s adopted son who inherited his name and ultimately ended the Republic. Therefore, Caesar’s vic tory foreshadowed the collapse of the Roman Republic and the period of authoritarian rule in the later years to come.

Life of Pompeius. Plutarch,hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a2008.01.0058http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/

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in the Second Century BCE”. In: Julius Caesar The

Conclusion A quote from Winston Churchill precise ly summarizes the rivalry between Pompey and Caesar: “We have no lasting friends, no lasting enemies, only lasting interests.” When Pompey faced opposition from the Senate to create settlements, he thought Caesar could be the man to help him overcome these opposi tions. At the same time, when Caesar had en tered Roman politics for decades and still had not achieved major advances, he wished to use Pompey’s political power and reputation to help him rise to power. Therefore, they tempo rarily worked together, and that was how the first triumvirate was formed. However, after Caesar successfully conquered Gaul, his pow er and fame rose to a point that threatened Pompey, and to some extent harmed his inter ests. As a result, the relationship between the two men worsened, and they quickly became bitter enemies. Churchill’s quote also explains why the civil war between Caesar and Pompey was inevitable: they belonged to different factions in the Senate, with Caesar on pop ulares’ side and Pompey on optimates’s side. Although they could cooperate for temporary interests, their overall goals were completely different because they stood on opposite sides of each other. Once their short-term goals were achieved, they would realize the diver gence in their long-term objectives. As their relationship became unstable, and due to the fact that both of them strongly desired power and held armies loyal to them, it is inevitable that a civil war between Caesar and Pompey would take place.

Roman History. Plutarch,Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/42*.htmlhttps://penelope.uchicago.edu/

PAPER & COMMENTARY9ONDEBUNKINGTHEMYTHAMERICANORIGINS Paper by Hallie Xu Lakeside School 2023

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 10 “We shall be as a city upon a hill; the eye of all people are upon us” (Winthrop), pro claimed John Winthrop upon his arrival at New England in 1630. Henceforth, his vision for America -- a shining beacon, backed by divine providence, that would break free from British tyranny and lighten the primitive New World -- became deeply embedded in Amer ican history and rigorously reiterated by many leading figures. But this collective memory where the United States was founded upon freedom and equality is a dangerous mythol ogy that romanticizes past tragedies and ne glects their lasting consequences; it disregards the genocidal violence towards Native Amer icans, race-based slavery and bigotry against Black Americans, and the concealment of economic inequality through white suprema cy. Today, this myth is still reinforced through education, contributing to the development of an exceptional mindset that strengthens prej udice, racism, and xenophobia in America.

The colonists seized native land and im posed genocidal violence towards Native Americans, yet such atrocities were romanti cized and justified as necessities for American progress. The myth of the Plymouth Colony suggested that “friendly Indians, unidenti fied by tribe, [welcomed] the Pilgrims and... [handed] off America to White people so they can create a great nation dedicated to liber ty, opportunity and Christianity for the rest of the world to profit” (Bugos). This narrative trivialized native culture while glorified those of the colonists, demonstrating exceptional ism. In reality, the Wampanoag never meekly submitted. European disease led to a smallpox epidemic, which decimated the confederate population from 20,000 to less than 1,000. Disease was a vital, timely weapon for the Pil grims, allowing them to defeat the Wampano ags when previous European settlers failed to, but the myth painted this accidental victory an inevitable trend (Mann). In addition, this myth also did not identify the native tribe, gen eralizing the indigenous people and deeming their culture to be monotonous and primitive. On the contrary, a highly intricate web of po litical relationships existed among the native tribes. Massasoit, political and military leader of the Wampanoags, was “an adroit politician” who allied with the Pilgrims to combat the rivaling Narragansett tribe after his confed eration were weakened by smallpox (Mann). The Wampanoags possessed their own politi cal motivation, a demonstration of indigenous societal and cultural complexity. The Wampa noags also did not view the Pilgrims as cul turally superior; in fact, they were abhorred by the habits of the Pilgrims, who were “shorter, oddly dressed, and often unbearably dirty… [with] animal-like hair that encased their fac es’’ (Mann). To the Wampanoags, the pilgrims were the barbaric and uncivilized ones.

This narrative was characterized with the optimism and opulence of the east, as White frontiersmen advanced beyond their bor ders and marched steadily from sea to shin ing sea -- all at the expense of genocide faced by native tribes. The Indian Removal Act of 1830, signed by President Andrew Jackson and largely enforced by his successor Martin Van Buren, forcefully relocated native tribes. During the winters of 1838 - 1839, the Cher okees were forced to march from Georgia to present-day Oklahoma, resulting in the death of around 4,000 people (“Introduction”), an act of direct genocide. However, Jackson claimed

In the 19th century, the expulsion of Na tive Americans by frontiersmen were justified to be the continued steps towards progress after the colonial defeat of native tribes. This evolved into the idea of the Manifest Desti ny, which was famously portrayed in the 1872 painting “American Progress” by John Gast. The lady in white floated above the ground, representing freedom, civilization, and divine backing. Following her lead, White frontiers men marched towards the West, taking land and seeking opportunities. Railroads treaded through the once barren land as trains bus tled past, representing the technological ad vancement from industrialization. The Native Americans fled alongside wild beasts and were shrouded in literal darkness, retreating to the far left of the painting, where more wilderness awaited to be enlightened by American prog ress (Appendix 1).

A “Sweet Sacrifice”

Freedom, Equality, or Love for the Dollar Bill? The Civil War was often portrayed as the victory of Northern capitalism and free dom over the racist and plantation-based South, but the oppression and exploitation of Black Americans was prevalent through out the country and foundational for Amer ican economic prosperity. A common myth about the pre-Civil War economy suggested a bipolar division between Northern indus trialization and Southern plantation, with the Civil War signaling “the victory of capital ism over slavery, of the future over the past” (Johnson). In reality, “there was no capitalism without slavery” (Johnson). By the end of the 1830s, land in the South had been “cleared” of Native American tribes, leaving it open for cotton plantation. Between 1830 and 1860, more than a million slaves were transported to the lower South and worked excruciating hours in the fields. Soon, a new “triangular trade” formed: “Every year, British merchant banks advanced millions of pounds to Amer ican planters in anticipation of the sale of the cotton crop. Planters then traded credit... for the goods they needed, [the majority] of them produced in the North….The credit original ly advanced against cotton made its way north, into the hands of New York and New En gland merchants who used it to purchase Brit ish goods” (Johnson). Clearly, the North and South were mutually economically dependent, contrary to the narrative of contrast and divi sion. American capitalism emerged from the cotton economy, which was built through the forceful seizure of Native American land and cruel exploitation of African American slaves, a far cry from the myth that emphasized free dom and equality in America’s origin stories.

In addition, the abolitionist North was often seen as advocates of freedom; however, the North was largely motivated and unit ed through their economic interests rather than intentions of bringing equality to Black Americans. The Northern elites wanted “eco nomic expansion-free land, free labor, a free market, a high protective tariff for manufac turers, a bank of the United States’’ (Zinn).

PAPER & COMMENTARY11that “[the act] will retard the progress of decay‚ which is lessening their numbers‚ and perhaps cause them gradually‚ under the protection of the Government and through the influence of good counsels‚ to cast off their savage hab its and become an interesting‚ civilized‚ and Christian community” (Jackson). Jackson ev idently held a derogatory attitude towards the Native Americans, calling them “savage” and declaring the necessity of cultural assimila tion; he believed that Americans were superi or and thus responsible and justified to force fully conquer and convert the native tribes. In fact, this atrocious process was deemed to be a well-intentioned action that aimed to civilize and guide the Native Americans towards civi lization. This exceptional mindset strengthens the myth, which falsely justified and roman ticized the genocidal violence towards Native Americans, portraying past atrocities to be necessary steps for greater American progress.

They did not want the plantations to expand to the newly acquired western territories, so slavery in the South opposed their economic endeavors. After the Civil War, the election of Rutherford Hayes in 1877 demonstrated North’s willingness to disregard racial vio lence and bigotry in order to make econom ic gains: the North would no longer meddle with Southern racial policies and establish economic partnership while the South shared its lucrative iron and coal resources found in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee (Zinn). This marked the end of Reconstruction, which lasted only to the extent that the interests of those in power allowed. The myth that Amer ica was built upon freedom and equality false ly glorified the North and denied the many moments when wealth and capital are placed above human rights -- when the dollar bill be came a more accurate embodiment of Ameri can values than the Constitution.

The Psychological Wage Contrary the myth of American freedom and equality, dominant systems weakened interracial alliances through psychological manipulation, concealing class inequalities

The myth had been and is continually re inforced through education. After the Civil War, the Daughters of the Confederacy cre ated the Lost Cause, an education campaign with a self-proclaimed goal of teaching the rightful histories of the South. They created textbooks that promoted false narratives that villainized the North, glorified the South, and romanticizes slavery: “Reject a book that speaks of the slaveholder of the South as cruel and unjust to his slaves...Reject a textbook that omits to tell of the South’s heroes...” (Ruther ford). The motives of the Lost Cause were one of “rewriting a history of the Civil War more favorable to the former Confederate states” and teaching this myth to children in school, which raised a generation of White Southern ers who grew up to become segregationists in the 1960s Today,(King).former President Donald Trump called for “patriotic education” that similarly sought to reinforce the myth. In 2020, Trump condemned the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project, which framed U.S. history around slavery and Black Americans, calling it “propaganda tracts” that “try to make stu dents ashamed of their own history” (Crow ley). Trump called for what he believed to be “pro-American” teaching curriculums, pro claiming that “nothing could be further from the truth [-- that] we were founded on the principle of oppression, not freedom” (Crow ley). On January 18th (Martin Luther Jr. Day) of 2021, Trump’s 1776 Commission, an ad visory committee on education, released the 1776 report. The document denounced the

“Patriotic” Education

The colonial elites used the construct of race to prevent interracial alliances, creating a buf fer class of White workers above the Black slaves.This same White working class later made up most of the Southern population be fore the Civil War. During the first half of the 19th century, only one-third of White South erners owned slaves while poor and Yeoman farmers yielded no benefits from slavery (“The Old South”). However, rather than revolting against the Southern elites, these White farm ers sided with them against Black Americans. The Southern government concealed wealth inequality through creating a “psychologi cal wage”, a concept defined by W. E. B. Du Bois. The White workers, “while [receiving a low wage], were compensated in part by a sort of public and psychological wage. They were given public deference and titles of courtesy because they were White” (Du Bois). This al lowed the poor White farmers to develop a sense of superiority from being White, and that prevented them from allying with Black Americans against the wealthy elites because their privilege relied on racial oppression. This psychological wage did not bring any tangible benefits and only created an internalized com pensation, becoming the method for conceal ing economic inequalities and diverting the tension and discontent using racism.

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 12 by reinforcing white supremacy. Prior to the Bacon’s Rebellion in 1675, African slaves and European indentured servants worked side by side. Status was not determined through race -- both the African slaves and the White indentured servants could be given land and freed, and they faced the same punishment -- and religion and class were much more common ways of categorizing people (“From Indentured”). In 1675, a group of laborers, led by Nathaniel Bacon, fought against the colo nial elites. These rebels, which contained both Black and White people, were united through their frustration towards the unequal wealth distribution and demonstrated the potential for an interracial alliance. This alarmed the Welites, who used the construction of race to create division between the Black and White people (“Bacon’s Rebellion”). An article of a 1682 law of Virginia declared that “all ser vants. . . whose parentage and native coun tries are not Christian at the time of their first purchase by some Christian. . . are hereby adjudged, deemed and taken to be slaves… ” (“Colonial Laws”). This law explicitly marked race as the determining characteristic for en slavement, shifting Virginia’s plantation la bor from White indentured workers to Black slaves. As shown in Appendix 2, after Bacon’s Rebellion in 1675-1676, the number of Afri can slaves grew rapidly while the number of indentured servants decreased (Appendix 2).

PAPER & COMMENTARY13charge that American founders were “hypo crites who didn’t believe in their stated prin ciples...has done enormous damage... on our civic unity and social fabric” (“The 1776 Re port”) and outlined the “real history” of Amer ica which, notably, omitted Native Americans entirely. Trump’s version of American history embodied the myth that America was found ed upon values of freedom and equality, re fusing to taint the facade of the “City upon a hill” and acknowledge past bigotry and op pression. Trump proclaimed that “our youth will be taught to love America” (Crowley), but his plan aimed to unite White Americans through a common exceptionalism. Teaching this myth guides students to develop and pass down an exceptional mindset that justifies pasty bigotry and strengthens racism and xe nophobia today. Appendix I Appendix II Gast, John. American Progress. 1872. Picturing United States History, American Social History john-gast-american-progress-1872/.tions,picturinghistory.gc.cuny.edu/Produc Graph #1: Servants and enslaved Africans per Probate inventory York County Virginia, 16571694. Digital file.Chart, Challenge.pdf.Assignments/Numbers%20ettc.net/tah/Reading%20http:// z

“From Indentured Servitude to Racial Slavery.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www. pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr3.html.

Gast, John. American Progress. 1872. Picturing United States History, American Social His tory Productions, picturinghistory.gc.cuny.edu/john-gast-american-progress-1872/.

“John Winthrop Dreams of a City on a Hill, 1630.” The American Yawp Reader, Stanford University Press, www.americanyawp.com/reader/colliding-cul tures/john-win Rutherford,throp-dreams-of-a-city-on-a-hill-1630/.MildredLewis.

Johnson, Walter. “King Cotton’s Long Shadow.” New York Times, 30 Mar. 2013, opinion ator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/30/king-cottons-long-shadow/. King, Earl. “Lost Cause Textbooks: Civil War Education in the South from the 1890s to the 1920s.” eGrove, University of Mississippi, 2018, egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_the sis/275/.

Graph #1: Servants and enslaved Africans per Probate inventory York County Virginia, 16571694. Digital file. Chart, http://ettc.net/tah/Reading%20Assignments/Num “Introduction.”bers%20Challenge.pdf.

A measuring rod to test text books, and reference books in schools, colleges and libraries. 1920. Internet Archive, archive.org/details/measuringrod tot00ruth/page/n3/mode/2up.

Bugos, Claire. “The Myths of the Thanksgiving Story and the Lasting Damage They Im bue.” Smithsonian, 26 Nov. 2019, myth-and-what-we-should-be-teaching-kids-180973655/.www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thanksgivingDu Bois, W. E. B. Black reconstruction; an essay toward a history of the part which black folk played in the attempt to reconstruct democracy in America, 1860-1880. 1935. Internet Archive, archive.org/details/blackreconstruc00dubo/page/n7/mode/2up.

Research Guides, Library of Congress, guides.loc.gov/indian-removal-act.

“The Old South: Images and Realities.” Digital History, www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_ textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3557.

Zinn, Howard. “Chapter 9: Slavery without Submission, Emancipation without Freedom.” A People’s History Of The United States. History Is a Weapon, www.historyisaweapon. com/defcon1/zinnslaem10.html.

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 14 Works Cited Primary Sources “Colonial Laws.” Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1h315t.html. Crowley, Michael. “Trump Calls for ‘Patriotic Education’ to Defend American History From the Left.” New York Times, 17 Sept. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/09/17/us/ politics/trump-patriotic-education.html.

The 1776 Commission. The 1776 Report. E-book, 2021, “TranscriptCommission%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf.net/hubfs/397762/The%20President%E2%80%99s%20Advisory%201776%20https://f.hubspotusercontent10.ofPresidentAndrewJackson’sMessagetoCongress‘OnIndianRemoval’(1830).” Our Documents, false&doc=25&page=transcript.www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash= Secondary Sources “Bacon’s Rebellion in Virginia in the Years 1675 & 1676.” Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society, virginiahistory.org/learn/bacons-rebellion-vir ginia-years-1675-1676.

PAPER & COMMENTARY15BALDWIN THEBUCKLEY:VS.EXPENSEOFTHEAMERICANDREAM Paper by Julia Gong Marymount HighSchool 2023

5 Ibid. 6 Getchell, Michelle. “The Reemergence of the KKK (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, the-reemergence-of-the-kkk.humanities/us-history/rise-to-world-power/1920s-america/a/https://www.khanacademy.org/

Fueled by the innate belief that blacks were inferior to whites intellectually and culturally, Jim Crow laws affected every aspect of life. All public services — buses, schools, restaurants, restrooms, water fountains, and more — were segregated, and poll taxes and white primaries aimed to suppress black political representa tion. Blacks who resisted often paid with their lives.4 The 4,730 public lynchings of blacks documented between 1882 and 19685 aimed to maintain the antebellum racial hierarchy. Met with the vicious resurgence of the KKK during the 1920s, white mobs hoped to restore “racial purity” through widespread intimida tion andTheviolence.6legacy of slavery, compounded with sadistic lynchings and sustained white supremacy, empowered blacks to mobilize in a mass protest movement known as the civil rights movement in the mid-1950s.7 Activists not only fought for complete equality under the law by challenging the superficial con structs that govern political, economic, and social life, but also sought to revive the mean 1 “The American Dream and the American Negro.” The New York Times, March 7, 1965.

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 16

The American Stage “Race is the child of racism, not the father.” 2 — Ta-Nehisi Coates Ending in the 1870s3, the era of recon struction produced the 14th and 15th amend ments to protect the the legal and voting rights of emancipated slaves. In response, the racial caste system Jim Crow emerged during 1877 to shackle blacks to their lowly status.

2papercuts/baldwin-and-buckley.pdf.https://www.nytimes.com/images/blogs/Coates,Ta-Nehisi.

Between the World and Me. BCP Literary, Inc., 2015, 7. 3 Rudwick, Elliott. “The End of Reconstruction.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2021 ed. 4 “What Was Jim Crow.” Edited by David Pilgrim, Ferris State University, 2012, https://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm.

For centuries, American culture has been dominated by the belief that one’s race — the hue of one’s skin — can correctly establish a racial hierarchy in society. This construct was the core of the racial debate in the 1900s and continues to remain relevant in the debates to day. After learning about the conservative re sponse to the civil rights movement in school, I questioned the extent to which the civil rights movement altered the sociopolitical dy namic of the south. I wanted to understand how the racial hierarchy, one that has been in grained within American society, would shift in response to the civil rights legislature. After researching online about the internal debates of the civil rights movement, I found a vid eo of a debate between James Baldwin and William Buckley at the Cambridge Union. The two men addressed the racial divide in America through the controversial motion: “The American Dream is at the expense of the American Negro.”1 I immediately wanted to hear both perspectives and instinctively knew that I wanted to frame my paper around this debate. After watching and taking notes on the debate, I searched for autobiographies of the two men, books and articles written about the debate, and the sources regarding the af termath of the civil rights movement. I crafted my analysis for the successes, failures, and con sequences of the debate through exploring im pacts of each man’s argument and finding who the true victor was in American society. The importance in choosing and learning about this debate between James Baldwin and Wil liam Buckley lies in analyzing the war on race through the lenses of opposing perspectives. The impact is found in the aftermath, which reflects the greater milestones, consequences, and internal debates within the ongoing civ il rights movement. Additionally, Baldwin’s landslide victory serves as a confrontation to the blatant denials of racial violence. Through his influential words, success is found in up rooting old ideologies and false systems of re alities and replacing them with morality and a new history. The legacy and themes of Bald win vs. Buckley continue to inspire and shape the conversation of race today.

7 “American Civil Rights Movement.” Edited by Meg Matthias, Encyclopedia Britannica. 2021 ed.

17 Buckley, Fergus Reid. An American Family: The Buckleys. New York: Threshold Editions, 2009, 79. Buckley, Fergus Reid. An American Family: The Buckleys. New York: Threshold Editions, 2009, 79.

9 “The American Dream and the American Negro.” The New York Times.

8 James Baldwin, “White Racism or World Community” (1968), in James Baldwin: Collected Essays, Edited by Toni Morrison (New York: Library of American 1998), 752.

13 Buccola, Nicholas. The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America, 13.

14 Baldwin, James. “Down at the Cross” (1962), in James Baldwin: Collected Essays, Edited by Toni Morrison (New York: Library of American 1998), 334.

On February 18, 1965 over 700 students crowded the debating hall of the Cambridge Union to witness the debate between James Baldwin and William Buckley.9 The motion at the table was: “The American Dream is at the expense of the American Negro.” 10 Baldwin, an influential civil rights activist, took the af firmative, and Buckley, a conservative critic of the movement, took the negative. The debate highlighted the larger racial conflict in Amer ica, bringing two men from opposite social and political universes. In order to understand each man’s arguments and their effects, the background of each man must be understood.

10 Buccola, Nicholas. The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020, 299.

16 Ibid, 15.

12 Ibid.

15 Buccola, Nicholas. The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America, 11-12.

On the opposite spectrum, Buckley was born to a wealthy family in New York on Au gust 25, 1925. He spent the majority of his childhood tended by an extensive staff and private tutors at the family mansion in Sharon, Connecticut.15 His parents, William Buckley Sr. and Aloise Steiner, were prominent figures who shaped his conservative sentiment. Idol ized by young Buckley, Buckley Sr. was an in dividualist and skeptic of leftist movements. His opposition to the New Deal and distrust of American progressivism framed Buckley’s political views.16 More present in Buckley’s childhood, Steiner was his religious and mor al exemplar. Steiner, confessed by Buckley’s younger brother Reid, “felt securely comfort able” among blacks “from the assumption of her superiority in intellect, character, and sta tion.” 17 Her racial attitudes undoubtedly im pacted Buckley as he became an influential conservative author and polemicist. The Clash The heart of Baldwin’s argument con fronted how the relationship between identity and power had buried racial assumptions so deeply in American society, that Americans

PAPER & COMMENTARY17ing of living a moral life.8 The movement’s historical legislative milestones and protests brought widespread improvement to people of color that, however, came with overt im plications. This 1965 debate between James Baldwin and William Buckley delves into the continuous raging racial tensions and offers nuanced intellectual insight for the civil rights movement and beyond.

The Cambridge Stage

11 Baldwin, James. “The Harlem Ghetto” (1948), in James Baldwin: Collected Essays, Edited by Toni Morrison (New York: Library of American 1998), 42.

Two Men, Two Worlds Born on August 2, 1924, Baldwin was raised in what he describes as the “Harlem ghetto.” 11 Despite living during the cultural revival of the Harlem Renaissance, Baldwin’s family experienced the realities that many blacks faced: economic depression, overcrowd ing, and inadequate healthcare.12 This envi ronment and his relationships with his parents molded Baldwin intellectually. Baldwin cred its his mother Emma Jones for “teaching him the meaning of resilience and what it meant to love another human being.”13 Although his biological father remains a mystery, Bald win was fascinated, haunted, and inspired by his stepfather David Baldwin. From a young age, Baldwin observed how David let the cru el world consume and transform him. David sacrificing “the health of his soul”14 for un obtainable power in society became a central theme in Baldwin’s writing. Baldwin, a prod uct of the Harlem ghetto, rose as a renowned writer and activist who explored racial and sexual discrimination.

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 18 were “scarcely aware of them.” Emphasizing that one’s response to the “hideously loaded” question depended on one’s “system of reali ty,” Baldwin spoke as a victim and product of white supremacy.18Baldwinfirst identified that psycho logical oppression destroyed the black system of reality during the blissful years of child hood. This demoralization young blacks were exposed to accelerates throughout their life times, causing them to grow racially aware. Around thirty, Baldwin suggested, a pivotal moment occurs when blacks face the reality that they cannot prevent the demoralization from creeping from generation to generation. Here, Baldwin attacked the American Dream by claiming that generational demoralization pushes blacks further from the coveted free dom andPersonalizingopportunity.the debate to foster a vis ceral feeling, Baldwin declared, “I picked the cotton, and I carried it to the market, and I built the railroads, under someone else’s whip, for nothing. For nothing.” This powerful line directly addressed the true expense of the American Dream: cheap black labor. Bald win’s rhetoric purposefully revealed the sadis tic legacy of slavery in the Jim Crow Ameri can society. Continuing to craft his argument, Baldwin believed that racism was more cost ly for the oppressors. Baldwin expressed that oppressors lose their sense of humanity when they use the racial hierarchy to convince themselves that they are socially and econom ically superior in society. Therefore, the success of the white American Dream relies on this psychological safety net. Due to this reliance, Baldwin adamantly expressed that he had no reason to believe that the newly enacted civ il rights bill would be “honored.” He warned that until Americans accept the disparities blacks face and collectively take action, the American Dream will be wrecked by those “denied participation in it.”19 Buckley prefaced his argument by claiming that the “indictments” Baldwin made regarding the treatment of blacks were false; rather, he believed Baldwin’s blackness was the reason he was treated with “unction” and “pro tections” unavailable to whites.20 Suspecting that the audience would favor Baldwin due to his race, Buckley stated that the color of Bald win’s skin — his identity — was “utterly irrel evant to the arguments” made in the debate. Any sense of decorum or mutual respect dissi pated as soon as Buckley uttered those words. At the core of Buckley’s argument, he attempted to explain how the conjunction of “individual Americans” — who perpetuated discrimination — and the “Negro community” — who lacked “a particular energy” — formed the race problem in America. By disregarding the roots of racial inequality, Buckley divert ed attention towards the supposed shortcom ings of the black community to argue that the American Dream was not at the expense of the African Americans. Citing the book Be yond the Melting Pot to support this claim, he blamed the minimal increase of 400 black doc tors from 1900 to 1960 on the failure of blacks to take advantage of opportunities presented, not the lack of opportunity. He turned to the racist ideal that blacks, due to their race, lacked the initiative European immigrants possessed. Criticizing blacks for the cynicism they ex pressed towards their situation, Buckley urged blacks to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the American Dream.21 After hearing both arguments, the union proceeded to vote: 544 ayes and 164 noes.22

The Aftermath Baldwin came out victorious in the Cambridge debate, and the success directly increased support for the civil rights move ment. Buckley lost the support of the white Cambridge audience, however, his staunch racist outlook on the American Dream pre vailed amongst conservative proponents. The debate failed to create a diplomatic under standing, for the racial war persisted in Amer

18 James Baldwin vs William F Buckley: A Legendary Debate from 1965. YouTube. British Broadcasting Corporation, 1965. from21283.William2019https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tek9h3a5wQ.Ibid.Buccola,Nicholas.TheFireIsUponUs:JamesBaldwin,F.BuckleyJr.,andtheDebateoverRaceinAmerica,JamesBaldwinvsWilliamFBuckley:ALegendaryDebate1965.YouTube.

Buckley, unphased by Baldwin’s victory, championed this conservative political senti ment in his speech to over 5,000 policemen at his bid for mayor of New York City. Buckley 22 Buccola, Nicholas. The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America, 299. 23 “Selma to Montgomery March.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, January 28, 2010. countid=37390.did-movement-change-america/docview/2046772858/se-2?achttps://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/civil-rights-how-Movement3332University31backlash-nothing-new/611914/.2020.ican30org/privacy/voting/register/intro_c.html.ment2928mission/.https://www.epi.org/publication/50-years-after-the-kerner-comvantagedAmericans27johnson.html.https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/voting-rights-1965/ministration.Rights,26com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement.A&Ea25during-bloody-sunday-went-viral-143080.versation.com/how-the-images-of-john-lewis-being-beaten-TheBeaten24black-history/selma-montgomery-march.https://www.history.com/topics/Bodroghkozy,Aniko.“HowtheImagesofJohnLewisBeingDuring‘BloodySunday’WentViral.”TheConversation.ConversationUS,Inc.,November20,2020.https://theconKlein,Christopher.“HowSelma’s‘BloodySunday’BecameTurningPointintheCivilRightsMovement.”History.com.TelevisionNetworks,March6,2015.https://www.history.“PresidentLyndonJohnson’sSpeechtoCongressonVotingMarch15,1965.”NationalArchivesandRecordsAdNationalArchivesandRecordsAdministration,n.d.Jones,Janelle.“50YearsaftertheKernerCommission:AfricanAreBetteroffinManyWaysbutAreStillDisadbyRacialInequality.”EconomicPolicyInstitute,2018.Ibid.“TheEffectoftheVotingRightsAct.”UnitedStatesDepartofJusticeCivilRightsDivision,n.d.https://archive.epic.Glickman,Lawrence.“HowWhiteBacklashControlsAmerProgress.”TheAtlantic.AtlanticMediaCompany,May22,https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/white-Klarman,MichaelJ.FromJimCrowtoCivilRights.OxfordPress,2006,399-412.Ibid.Badger,A.J.2007.“CivilRights:HowdidtheCivilRightsChangeAmerica?”Historian(94)(Summer):6-13.

victory did not resolve the racial debate overnight, however, his vic tory gained success through the supporters of the civil rights movement who understood that the American Dream was at the expense of blacks and pushed for federal government ac tion. With greater awareness, over 600 Amer icans — both black and white — took direct action through protesting for legislative equal ity in the Bloody Sunday march.23 Footage of the violent police assault, plastered on national television, appalled Americans and garnered immense support for civil rights.24 Thousands of sympathizers demonstrated their solidarity by organizing sit-ins and traffic blockades, 25 emanating Baldwin’s message that Americans must collectively take action to accept the dis parities blacks face. This tremendous shift in public opinion pressured President Johnson to pass a voting rights bill that would secure more opportunities for blacks.26 The Voting Rights Act (1965) and the Civil Rights Act (1964) were two legislative successes that gradually placed blacks on an equal playing field to obtain the American Dream. With education as the foundation of power in society, the desegregation of schools led black high school graduation to increase from 54.4% (1968) to 92.3% (2018).27 As more white-collar jobs became available to blacks, blacks who lived in poverty plummet ed from 55.1% (1959) to 32.2% (1969).28 The exponential growth of black voting registra tion fostered black political representation across all states. Mississippi, the most racially restrictive state, experienced the most signifi cant increase: 6.7% (1965) to 74.2% (1988).29 In the long term more education, jobs, and voting rights led to a larger, more powerful black middle However,class.Baldwin was correct to believe that the Civil Rights Act would not be truly honored. As an unintended consequence, con servative backlash grew popular in response to rising black power. Deeming blacks as aliens who wanted to seize the country,30 elected officials criminalized the struggle for racial equality, shut down public schools to prevent integration, and encouraged violence towards civil rights protesters.31 Furthermore, law offi cials did not protect black citizens from “ha rassment, attacks, shootings, and bombings.”

32 The intensified racism and conservative polit ical atmosphere gave rise to a “lily-white” Re publican Party with “immense power within national politics.”33 Therefore, Buckley ideol ogies were victorious in American society. His racist sentiment remained dominant.

PAPER & COMMENTARY19

ican society and grew violent as the two sides became more polarized. As a result, Baldwin won the battle, but Buckley won conservative America. Buckley won the racial war. The true consequences of the Baldwin-Buckley debate remain seen by tracing the ideologies of the two men through the implications of the civil rightsBaldwin’smovement.landslide

The racial debate thrived in violent up risings as blacks continued to face social and economic deprivation. The California Watts Riots, a violent conflict between white police officers and black residents in August 1965, directly mirrored racial struggle in Buckley and Baldwin’s words. The riots left thirty-four people dead, 874 hospitalized, and over $200 million in property damage.35 Interviewed during the aftermath of the riots, Los Angeles chief of police William Parker criticized black leaders for constantly telling blacks that, “You are dislocated, you are abused because of your color. Your originators were oppressed.” Parker believed that this “political pandering” eroded black “respect for the law.” 36 Parker’s perspec tive reflected the classic conservative criticism of black leaders expressed in Buckley’s argu ment. Buckley’s lack of respect and diplomacy in his debate persists in the cynical attitudes of the opposition.Whenablack

Watts resident described the motivation behind the riots, he offered an opposing reason: “Jobs are poor, for the simple reasons the white society doesn’t want the Ne gro to get a good job and become part of the strucutre. I’ve had two years of college and I have a scum job.”37 The resident voiced major themes of foundational white supremacy and racial demoralization that Baldwin passion ately expressed in the debate. This perspective revealed that despite legislative equality, social conflicts raged in low-income areas; blacks persistently lacked opportunities and suffered at the hands of the American Dream. In the end, Baldwin’s argument lacked concrete suc cess while Buckley basked in the support of influential conservatives. Unfortunately, Bald win’s failure led Buckley to become the true victor of the Althoughdebate.theracial debate continued to divide the American society, the struggles of the civil rights movement began to craft a new American Dream that sought to abolish old prejudices and false systems of realities. The arguments of Baldwin and Buckley, rather than the measurable outcomes, sketched the path towards intellectual diplomacy by reflect ing on the perception of the American Dream and racial identity. The Legacy

36 Watts: Riot or Revolt? C-SPAN, 1965. For38ries-1965/.https://documents.latimes.com/view-watts-seven-part-times-seAll37video/?327579-1%2Freel-america-watts-riot-revolt-1965.https://www.c-span.org/Jones,Jack.“TheViewFromWatts:‘You’reBlackandThat’sThereIstoIt!’All.”LosAngelesTimes,October10,1965.Vaught,Seneca.“JamesBaldwinvs.WilliamF.Buckley,Jr.theSoulofAmerica.”Essay.

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 20 defended violent police actions in Selma, sug gested that protestors intentionally called for police brutality, and crudely commented the KKK’s murder of Viola Liuzza, a white activ ist.34 By purposefully appealing to the popular white constituency, Buckley demonstrated his unwavering disrespect for the black commu nity; he lacked a diplomatic understanding for racial equality. Although Baldwin’s arguments were profound, Buckley’s white proponents controlled America socially, economically, and politically. As a result, blacks remained at the expense of the American Dream.

The debate left an impactful narra tive in the civil rights movement, for its core ideas and Baldwin’s victory molded the propo nents of voting legislation, outlined ideologies amongst violent racial conflicts, and uninten tionally sparked conservative hostility. The van tage points from which Baldwin and Buckley sketched their social ideologies remain central to the political debates in the present “post-ra cial” American society. Their clash highlights the misunderstandings that separate the polit ical left and right and the “black, white, yellow, and brown Americans.”38 Although it is easy to abhor racist demagogues, the debate com municates that a genuine diplomatic approach is taken by examining how the black experi ence profoundly shaped white society and the AmericanBuckley’sDream.argument stemmed from his disregard towards the systemic inequalities and constructs that displaced the black com munity, a view mirrored by many Americans. His failure to respect the opposition discloses

35 “Brown Declares: RIOT IS OVER.” Los Angeles Times, August 17, 1965. declares-riot-over/.https://documents.latimes.com/aug-17-1965-brown-

34 Judis, John B. William F. Buckley, Jr.: Patron Saint of the Conser vatives. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990, 235-236.

In James Baldwin: Challenging Authors, Sense Publishers, 2014, 184.

Primary Sources “The American Dream and the American Negro.” The New York Times, 7 Mar. 1965, Baldwin,papercuts/baldwin-and-buckley.pdf.https://www.nytimes.com/images/blogs/James.“DownattheCross”(1962),in

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Klarman, Michael J. From Jim Crow to Civil Rights. Oxford Uni versity Press, 2006, 399-412.

The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020, 11-283. Getchell, Michelle. “The Reemergence of the KKK (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy,

James Baldwin vs William F Buckley: A Legendary Debate from 1965. YouTube. British Broadcasting Corporation,

Klein, Christopher. “How Selma’s ‘Bloody Sunday’ Became a Turning Point in the Civil Rights Movement.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, March 6, 2015.

Secondary Sources “American Civil Rights Movement.” Edited by Meg Matthias, Encyclopedia Britannica. 2021 ed. Badger, A. J. 2007. “Civil Rights: How did the Civil Rights Movement Change America?” Historian (94) (Sum mer): 6-13. Buccola,Bodroghkozy,docview/2046772858/se-2?accountid=37390.nals/civil-rights-how-did-movement-change-america/https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-jourAniko.“HowtheImagesofJohnLewisBeingBeatenDuring‘BloodySunday’WentViral.”TheConversation.TheConversationUS,Inc.,November20,2020.https://theconversation.com/how-the-images-of-john-lewis-being-beaten-during-bloody-sunday-went-viral-143080.Nicholas.

Rudwick,movement.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-https://www.Elliott.“TheEndofReconstruction.” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2021 ed. “Selma to Montgomery March.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, January 28, 2010.

Judis,Glickman,america/a/the-reemergence-of-the-kkk.org/humanities/us-history/rise-to-world-power/1920s-https://www.khanacademy.Lawrence.“HowWhiteBacklashControlsAmericanProgress.”TheAtlantic.AtlanticMediaCompany,May22,2020.https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/white-backlash-nothing-new/611914/.JohnB.

Vaught,black-history/selma-montgomery-march.https://www.history.com/topics/Seneca.“JamesBaldwinvs.WilliamF.Buckley,Jr.FortheSoulofAmerica.”Essay.In James Baldwin: Challenging Authors, 184–85. Sense Publishers, 2014.

“What Was Jim Crow.” Edited by David Pilgrim, Ferris State University, 2012, https://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm.

the importance of reaching past “the foil of whiteness” to examine multiple perspectives. On the other hand, Baldwin embraced the discussion from different lenses. His ability to not only humanize the experiences of blacks, but also the attitudes of whites demonstrates the true diplomatic endeavor of the debate. He calls on Americans to remember that the social, political, and economic disparities peo ple of color endure only exist because we, the American society, allow them to exist. By buy ing into this racial psychological safety net, the American Dream continues to remain at the expense of many. Even though no formal diplomacy oc curred between the two men during or af ter the debate, the consequential aftermath can be transformed into a diplomatic success through Baldwin’s nuanced ideology. Serving as a guide to diplomatically address the cur rent socio-political affairs and persistent racial antagonism, Baldwin offers a new legacy for the American Dream that looks beyond the racial constructs that divide us. In doing so, he challenges the false systems of realities that confine us in order to search for our humanity, and as Baldwin would say, “The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now.” Ibid, 185.

39

Annotated Bibliography

Black and That’s All There Is to It!’All .” Los Angeles Times, October 10, times-series-1965/.https://documents.latimes.com/view-watts-seven-part-1965.

The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2020, 299. uckley, Fergus Reid. An American Family: The Buckleys. New York: Threshold Editions, 2009, 79. Coates, Ta-Nehisi. Between the World and Me. BCP Literary, Inc., 2015, 7. “The Effect of the Voting Rights Act.” United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, n.d. https://archive.epic.org/ Jones,privacy/voting/register/intro_c.html.Jack.“TheViewFromWatts:‘You’re

William F. Buckley, Jr.: Patron Saint of the Conserva tives. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990, 235-236.

Watts:“PresidentJones,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tek9h3a5wQ.1965.Janelle.“50YearsaftertheKernerCommission:AfricanAmericansAreBetteroffinManyWaysbutAreStillDisadvantagedbyRacialInequality.”EconomicPolicyInstitute,2018.https://www.epi.org/publication/50-years-after-the-kerner-commission/.LyndonJohnson’sSpeechtoCongressonVotingRights,March15,1965.”NationalArchivesandRecordsAdministration.NationalArchivesandRecordsAdministration,n.d.https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/voting-rights-1965/johnson.html.RiotorRevolt?C-SPAN,1965.https://www.c-span.org/video/?327579-1%2Freel-america-watts-riot-revolt-1965.

James Baldwin: Collected Essays, Edited by Toni Morrison (New York: Li brary of American 1998), 334. Baldwin, James. “The Harlem Ghetto” (1948), in James Bald win: Collected Essays, Edited by Toni Morrison (New York: Library of American 1998), 42. Baldwin, James. “Faulkner and Desegregation” (1956), in James Baldwin: Collected Essays, Edited by Toni Morrison (New York: Library of American 1998), 214. Baldwin, James. “White Racism or World Community” (1968), in James Baldwin: Collected Essays, Edited by Toni Morrison (New York: Library of American 1998), 752. “Brown Declares: RIOT IS OVER.” Los Angeles Times, August 17, 1965. Buccola,brown-declares-riot-over/.https://documents.latimes.com/aug-17-1965-Nicholas.

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 22 THEBEASTS”:“WILD A ACCOUNTDETAILEDOFFAUVISM’SPASTANDPRESENT Paper by Melanie Shao

How did modern art schools emerge? And how did they confront traditional ideals? Over the 20th century, Impressionists, Cubists, and Surrealists have successfully challenged the conception of meticulously polished fine arts. But Fauvism, an early 20th-century modern art movement, captivated less attention than the larger art schools. Fauve art was charac terized by strong colors, fierce brushwork (Rewald “Fauvism”), and simplified inde pendent forms (Wolf “Fauvism Movement Overview”). Prominent Fauve artists included Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, and Maurice de Vlaminck. Both literary and visual sources will be reviewed over the research process, articu lating the roots of Fauvism and, following, its impact on human history. Agglomerated un der the African and Oceanic arts, preceding art movements, including post-impressionism and Symbolism, and technological changes, Fauvism emancipated a breakthrough of oth er modern arts in the 20th century and later became an inspiration and subject of study for artists

Theworldwide.primitivist concept of African and Oceanic arts has been carefully studied by the Fauves to refine their figurations and ingenu ities. To understand the connection between the Fauves and Primitivism, the first approach comes to clarify the definition and context for the origin of the African and Pacific arts. In ancient African countries, sculptures were often made from organic materials such as wood, fibers, and cloth. These objects could be used for Animalist manifestation and re cords of tribal history, varying from different societies. Areas in Oceania, including Mela nesia, Polynesia, Australia, and Micronesia, possessed similar practices in art-making— deriving individualistic style in isolated tribes by carving social and religious life on natural elements, such as feathers and stones. In other words, Primitivism established a more general description of the arts of Africa and Oceania; it was shown from the way indigenous people create artifacts through the most rudimenta ry methods on simple media found in their natural habitats. This claim about Primitiv ism echoes Henri Matisse’s, one of the lead ing Fauves from France. In a 1910 interview, Matisse proclaimed that Primitivism “wanted to will the recreation of classical art” (Cohen 115). Admittedly, Matisse held a rather racial supremacist and condescending point of view as he certified the Primitivism arts as “puer ile, hypocritical, and ridiculous”, which are adjectives loaded with negative evaluations. Meanwhile, in many of Matisse’s artworks, the geometric, ephemeral patterns of African and Oceanic arts dominated his painting style. Therefore, it seems unsubstantiated to portray Primitivism, the style that significantly in spired Matisse, as absurd and senseless. He then conceded that Primitivism “is an admi rable art”, but simultaneously “one which has run dry, limited by logic, rules, etc” because it had its origin in nature and therefore “cannot be generated anew”(Cohen 115). On that oc casion, Matisse recognized the contribution of Primitivist arts in the art sphere but under mined the sovereignty of Primitivist art in re lation to other art styles. However, Matisse’s perspective represented a fundamentally in correct and outdated interpretation of the Af rican and Oceanic arts. “Art negré” stemmed from the simplest form of nature, but so did many other art movements, such as the Hud son River School and the Grand women art ists of the American West. Accordingly, Prim itivism’s absolute self-determination should be acknowledged and foregrounded, especially when the artist it motivated sabotaged its sig nificance.Despite, the askew attitude toward “art negré”, Henri Matisse’s response indicated an indispensable impact of African and Oceanic Art on his artistic experience. The considerable amount of nude female bodies and abstract shapes indicated his pursuit of the wild and liberation from normality via primitivism, as illustrated by his early 1900s and late 1910s art works. One paradigm was the 1914 work Ma dame Yvonne Landsberg, where Matisse boldly combined the traditional dark background tonnage, liberal color, and internal shadowing of figures (Matisse “Madame Yvonne Lands berg”). The expressionistic and hyperbolized features embodied the unrestricted painting method of African and Pacific arts, generating a rough texture and bitter ambiance around the female figure. Likewise, the mirroring of foreign art styles occurred with André Derain:

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HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 24 In the 1906 letter to Matisse, he confessed, “you might say there were the Chinese, the negroes of Guinea, of New Zealand, of Ha waii, of Congo, the Egyptians, the Etruscans, Phidias, the Romans, the Indians” (qtd. in Cohen 154) who all have influenced Derain’s sophistication. Derain expressed his fascina tion with the vast variety of cultural artifacts listed in the gallery when visiting the British Museum in 1906 to Henri Matisse. By com paring the mind-blowing museum experience to “visiting a zoo”, Derain compared the di versified spectrum found in both places which inspired him. His experience highlighted the wide variety of sources Fauve artists picked up from that qualified them to create the fierce art style. Predominantly, the Fauves’ ability to corroborate ingenuities from cultural and eth nic crafts set them apart from Impressionism with enough specialization while also keeping in line with the broader modern art move ment. Furthermore, the style of another Fauve artist, Maurice de Vlaminck, also evidenced a strong influence of African and Oceanic tra ditional masks (see fig. 1). In his work Bathers, the female figures in Bathers possess obscure facial features and outlines similar to masks from the Fang culture in Gabon because sev eral primary pieces of evidence have proved Vlaminck has owned a Fang mask shortly in his career (Cohen 145). The Fang masks were originally used for spiritual rituals to protest against and mock the white landowners who oppressed the indigenous peoples in the rub ber cultivators in Central Africa.

Fig. 1 Bathers by Maurice de Vlaminck, 1907

Fig. 3 A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges1884-1888Seurat,

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Other major modern art schools, includ ing post-impressionists and divisionists like Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, and the symbolist Gustave Moreau, converged effects on the development of the Fauve style. Under the influence of such art styles, Matisse developed his methodology by “borrowing from Seurat the contrasting tonal and coloristic halation that surrounds them” while continuing his practice of “the tradition al tonal structure of dark foreground against the light background” (Millard 577). Matisse’s Luxe, calme et volupte resembled Georges Seurat’s divisionist brushstrokes, especially his representative work A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. Although the sim ilarity appeared “more obvious in the sketch for Luxe, calme et volupte than in the finished picture” (Millard 577), both finished works presented a leisurely, mild-saturated color palette, and the figures and trees scattered ashore. Seurat’s painting depicted a three-di mensional structure, in which the intensity of color and brushwork hardened toward the edges of the painting, constructing a visual ly convex texture. (See Fig. 3) Incongruously, the figures in Luxe, calme et volupte were more abstract, obscuring the characters’ features and widening the gaps between the dots and brush strokes, the typical painting technique of Fau vism. From the resemblance between the two works, it was obvious that Matisse might also receive guidance from post-impressionists like Georges Jeurat, whose divisionist technique impacted the Fauve artist substantially.

Fig. 2 Luxe, calme et volupte by Henri Matisse, 1904

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 26

Turn-of-the-century technological in novations, such as new lighting and building materials, enabled and invigorated the Fauves to curate exhibitions, thus entirely inaugu rating the disclosure of Fauvism. Advancing from the previous art exhibitions in the 19th century, Salon d’Automne, also known as the Autumn Arts Show, made use of smaller light bulbs that were cast to individual paintings in stead of using daylight or large, dim top lights. Thus, the new devices allowed art criticism to become more straightforward and identi fiable (See Fig 5 and Fig 6). In addition, the advanced technology developed at the time of Salon d’Automne’s premier enabled young, Fig. 4 Golden Age by Andre Derain, 1940

On the other hand, two other important figures of Post-Impressionism, Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin influenced André Derain’s color appliance. “In the L’Estaque paintings of 1906, he[Derain] largely sup pressed brush strokes to settle into a manner evidently indebted to Gauguin”, digressing from his experimentations in the previous years (Millard 578). At first, Van Gogh’s tech nique of pointillism, namely applying small strokes to visually blend the color dots, and characterized by the esteemed Starry Night, dominated Derain’s style. Going hand in hand with his experience of African and Oceanic arts, Derain also became engrossed in Paul Gauguin’s exotic, expressive style, who was an ardent visitor of Tahiti. Consequently, the relationship between Gauguin and Derain transformed and consolidated Derain’s style inclined more toward demonstrative figures and intense coloring, as reflected in Golden Age, 1940 (See Fig 4). As a famous Symbolist painter of the late 19th century and the teacher at École des Beaux-Arts from 1892 to 1898, Gustave Moreau taught Henri Matisse, who passed on the intense color language from Moreau’s paintings (Souter “Gustave Moreau Paint ings”). Even though most of Moreau’s pieces revolved around Greek mythology, Christian figures, and classical portrayals, his composi tions demonstrated a contrast between light and dark, human figures and the background, and saturation and muteness. This particular quality of Moreau was inherited by Matisse, exaggerating the technique with modernist subjects instead of religious themes.

Fig 5. Steel engraving: Crystal Palace (the Great Exhibition) by J. E. Mayall, 1851 Fig 6. Salle Cézanne Au Salon D’automne by Lewandowski, Hervé, 1904

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ambitious artists to experiment with their art works, delivering their unique and powerful messages to the public and critics. It must be noted that disapprovals did oc cur when Fauve arts first came into the public forum. For instance, the art critic Louis Vaux celles named these emerging young artists “des Fauves” in the Paris magazine Gil Blas be cause of their uncanny, naturalistic color and bold structures (Flanner “King of the Wild Beasts”). Like many other critics, Vauxcelles didn’t utterly acknowledge the rise of Fauvism because the artists unleashed themselves from the restraint and less graphic style. Neverthe less, every innovative art movement that devi ated from the traditional schedule would face disagreements. An exemplary would be the Impressionists’ exhibition in Paris. Their style unconventionally leaped from earlier French paintings, which enraged numerous art critics like Louise Leroy, who scolded “Impression! Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more fin ished!” (qtd. In Prodger “The Man Who Made Monet”). Leroy’s denunciation has coinciden tally given the name “Impressionism” to the movement, characterized by their stressed and deep-felt traits. Equivalently, the resemblance also applied to the Fauves, where reprehension inversely benefited its development by distin guishing the artists as “wild beasts” from their historic era. In some way, the initial denials and questioning from art critics when Fauve art commenced simultaneously ushered in Fauvism’s progression (Elderfield 40).

African and Oceanic arts, post-impres sionism, Symbolism, and 20th-century tech nological innovations all contributed to the shaping of Fauvism, which eventually helped to correlatively inspire the building of later modern art movements and enrich individu al artists’ studies. In addition, Fauvism exerted a profound impact on modern and contem porary artists around the world. For instance, the paintings of the Chinese artist Ni Yide, an early pioneer oil painter who investigated western neorealism and Chinese traditional art (Li 274), demonstrated the long-lasting effect of Fauvism on later generations. In the early 1930s, he led the movement called the “Storm Society” in China to embrace artis tic influences abroad. Although short-lived, the Storm Society exhibited how Fauvism and other modern art movements were able to guide new artistic organizations. Another artist, Laurie Nye, also paints expressive pieces like her most recent Aureolin Dream in 2021 which reminded the viewers of the Fauves’ vibrant tonality and intense sentiments (Mc Fadden “Jane McFadden on Laurie Nye”).

Last but not least, famous Fauve paintings-Woman with a Hat, Portrait of Madame Ma tisse, the Dancer---have been celebrated world wide and seeing large reposts on social media. Therefore, people are progressively beginning to appreciate and support the ideas set forth by the Fauvists while its legacy lasted to today, and it is vital to continue such conservation efforts for the “wild beasts” and other valuable movements from the past to the present.

The Art Bulletin, vol. 99, no. 2, 2017, pp. 136–165., doi:10.1080/00043079.2017.1252241. Chao, Li. “A Study of ‘the Storm Society’: Chinese Modernism as a Resource of International Mod ern Art.” Complementary Modernisms in China and the United States: Art as Life/Art as Idea, edited by张謇 et al., Punctum Books, 2020, pp. Eshel,https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv16zk03m.20.259–82,Yael.“AfricaandOceania.”

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 28 Bibliography ARTinvestment.RU. “Paris Autumn Salon at the Gallery at Solianke.” Artinvestment.ru, 25 Nov. 2010, Benjamin,tions/20101125_osenny_salon_solyanka.html.artinvestment.ru/en/news/exhibiRogerHarold.“TheDecorativeLandscape,Fauvism,andtheArabesqueofObservation.”

Souter, Anna. “Gustave Moreau Paintings, Bio, Ideas.” Edited by Greg Thomas, The Art Story, 10 Feb. 2018, Whitfield,tave/#influences.www.theartstory.org/artist/moreau-gusSarah.“Fauvism.Paris.”

Prodger, Michael. “The Man Who Made Monet: How Impressionism Was Saved from Obscurity.”

The Online Edition of Artforum International Magazine, 1 Dec. 2021, Millard,reviews/202110/laurie-nye-87263.www.artforum.com/print/CharlesW.“Fauvism.”

The Israel Mu seum, Jerusalem, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 23 Feb. 2021, Elderfield,ca-and-oceania.www.imj.org.il/en/wings/arts/afriJohn. Fauvism and Its Affinities. Museum of Modern Art, 1976. Matisse, Henri. Madame Yvonne Landsberg. Flanner,dame-yvonne-landsberg-1914https://www.wikiart.org/en/henri-matisse/ma1914,Janet.“KingoftheWildBeasts.”

The Burlington Magazine, vol. 142, no. 1163, The Burlington Magazine Publications Ltd., 2000, pp. 121–23, Wolf,http://www.jstor.org/stable/888680.Justin.“FauvismMovementOverview.”

Metmuseum.org, Depart ment of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oct. 2004, metmuseum.org/toah/hd/fauv/hd_fauv.htm.www.

The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 21 Feb. 2015, Rewald,sionism-was-saved-from-obscurity.feb/21/the-man-who-made-monet-how-impreswww.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/Sabine.“Fauvism.”

The Art Story, 2015, www.theartstory.org/movement/ fauvism/. Image Bibliography Derain, Andre. Golden Age. 1940, www.wikiart.org/ Henrien/andre-derain/golden-age.Matisse,French,1869-1954. Study for “Luxe, calme et volupté”. 1904. Artstor, Lewandowski,org/asset/AMOMA_10312310599library.artstor.Hervé. Salle Cézanne Au Salon D’au tomne, Musée D’Orsay, Paris, France, Mayall,2021.W=1085&RH=643&PN=1.sult&VBID=2CO5PCE9VRSU&SMLS=1&Rwww.photo.rmn.fr/CS.aspx?VP3=SearchRe1904,Accessed2Dec.JohnJabezEdwin. Steel engraving: Crystal Palace, 1851 exhibition, Wellcome Collection, United Kingdom - CC BY. Seurat,na.eu/en/item/9200579/zhdn8e3ahttps://www.europeaGeorges. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-1886, Vlaminck,jatte-1884edu/artworks/27992/a-sunday-on-la-grande-https://www.artic.Mauricede,1876-1958. Bathers. c.1907. Artstor, STOR_103_41822000797215library.artstor.org/asset/ART

The Art Bulletin, vol. 75, no. 2, [Taylor & Francis, Ltd., College Art Association], 1993, pp. 295–316, Cohen,https://doi.org/10.2307/3045950.JoshuaI.“FauveMasks:Rethinking Modern ‘Primitivist’ Uses of African and Oceanic Art, 1905–8.”

The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 1951, “Impressionism:the-wild-beasts.newyorker.com/magazine/1951/12/22/king-of-www.EarlyCriticism.”EditedbyCristinaMotta, USEUM, UCL, n.d., McFadden,tion/curated/Impressionism/Early-Criticism.useum.org/exhibiJane.“JaneMcFaddenonLaurieNye.”

The Hudson Review, vol. 29, no. 4, Hudson Review, Inc, 1976, pp. 576–80, https://doi.org/10.2307/3850497.

PAPER & COMMENTARY29OFOPPRESSIONPOLITICALFACTORSOFTHEUYGHURSINXINJIANG Paper by Aileen E. Dosev Minnetonka High School, MN 55345 January 7, 2022

The oppression of Uyghurs by the Chi nese communist government is partly mo tivated by issues of China’s geopolitical and economic security. Xinjiang is a valuable yet fractious region that the CCP is eager to con trol. Xinjiang borders eight countries in Cen tral Asia, an area often characterized by con flict. This makes stability in Xinjiang a priority for the CCP, according to Dou, the Washing ton Post’s China business and economy corre spondent (2021). Xinjiang is also an economic asset for the Chinese government. The prov ince is known for its plentiful oil reserves and produces nearly a fifth of the world’s cotton, according to a leading supply chain manage ment publication (Cosgrove, 2020). Conse quently, it is in the CCP’s interest to secure power in Xinjiang at any cost. This is difficult in practice, since government control is limit ed by geographic separation of Xinjiang from Beijing. The CCP has resorted to forceful tac tics to maintain political authority. The Chi nese government’s brutal policies are in effect methods of retaining dominance on geopolit ical and economic levels. The CCP’s aspiration of ethnonation alism also fuels the oppression of Uyghurs and their culture. Since the 1950s, the CCP has sought to remodel Chinese society based on the party’s values, in which Han atheist com munists dominate the country. This has re sulted in the process known as Hanification: the systematic assimilation of Uyghurs and other minorities into Han culture. Since the early 20th century, the CCP has implemented policies that have diluted the Uyghur popula tion and settled ethnic Han in Xinjiang, effec tively making the Uyghurs a minority in their homeland. In fact, the Han-to-Uyghur ratio in Xinjiang’s capital city of Urumqi has shifted from 20-80, to 80-20 in recent decades (Imti yaz, 2020). Hanification policies also contrib

Introduction Xinjiang is the largest province-level divi sion in the Republic of China, located in the country’s northwest region and in the middle of the Eurasian continent. Xinjiang is home to about 12 million Turkic Muslim Uyghurs, the region’s indigenous ethnocultural group.

Originally the independent territory of East Turkestan, Xinjiang was annexed by China in 1884. In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) assumed power of the Chinese gov ernment. Since then, the CCP has exercised control over Xinjiang and subjected the Uy ghur people to oppressive policies, according to The International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation (2013). For de cades, the CCP has attempted to assimilate Muslim Uyghurs into the dominant Han cul ture. This ethno-religious conflict has led to systemic suppression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Since President Xi Jinping assumed para mount leadership of China in 2012, the CCP’s policies have greatly scaled in brutality and reached levels of large-scale detention rem iniscent of Jewish persecution during World War II, according to the Journal of Genocide Research (Finley, 2020). In 2017, the CCP launched a full assimilation campaign in Xin jiang. Georgetown’s Journal of International Affairs describes how more than one million Uyghurs are estimated to have been arbitrari ly detained in state-sponsored internment camps, enduring human rights abuses such as forced labor, sterilization, torture, brain washing, and constant surveillance (Waller & Albornoz, 2021). The CCP’s actions have been criticized by the global community, with some countries such as the United States con demning it a genocide. Despite international animosity, the Chinese government continues to violate Uyghurs’ human rights. The CCP’s political agenda and diplomatic issues are sig nificant reasons why the crisis persists. Thus, it is important to assess the CCP’s political motivators, the party’s justification for its ac tions, and the diplomatic response of a strong opponent, the United States, to find a path to ward resolution. Absolving the crisis is critical to defending the livelihood and existence of the Uyghurs. Additionally, the solution to this humanitarian emergency will map the future relations between the Chinese government and the rest of the world.

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The CCP’s OppressionMotivationsPoliticalfor

Traditional resolutions strategies fail to abate the humanitarian crisis in Xinjiang. The CCP’s relentless pursuit of political domi nation means that attempting to negotiate is futile. Without significant external pressure from major international players, such as the US, China is unlikely to stop suppressing the Uyghur people. The US has attempted action, but past efforts have not instigated change due to logistical issues and lack of support. Despite public condemnation of the Chinese government, the US has not admitted any Uy ghur refugees for the past two years, according to Aguilera, a politics and social justice writer for leading news publication, Time Magazine (2021). Near-constant state surveillance and resettling internationally make the operation essentially impossible. In addition, the CCP internationally persecutes any Uyghurs who manage to escape (Aguilera, 2021). Due to these setbacks, the US has resorted to diplo matic action against the Chinese government. One of the US’ strongest messages is its dip lomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Although the boycott holds the Chinese government accountable and shows disapproval, it is unlikely to affect the treat ment of Uyghurs. The US also lacks support from other countries; only a handful of allies have joined the boycott, as reported by Time journalist De Guzman (2021). It is clear that current efforts fail to trump the CCP’s politi cal agenda and resolve the ethnic cleansing in Xinjiang.

Reasons for Lack of Diplomatic Resolution

If the humanitarian crisis in Xinjiang is to be resolved, it is paramount for the US and allied nations to unite on a diplomat ic front. As Imtiyaz argues, “an intervention from the global community,” is needed to stop the Chinese government’s Hanification and genocidal policies in Xinjiang (2020). The US and allies could apply economic pressure by continuing sanctions, tracing commodities made by forced labor, and blocking exports to China that support the functioning of deten tion camps. If China’s trading partners cause enough financial pain, the CCP may be co erced. Possible diplomatic strategies include gathering and publicizing intelligence from Xinjiang, forming an international coalition,

The Chinese government has justified its actions in Xinjiang as anti-terrorism and preventative repression. In past years, mili tant Uyghur Muslim groups have occasionally committed violence against police and Han civilians (Maizland, 2021). This violence is likely a result of Uyghur nationalist pushback and the “absence of healthy moderate political groups” (Imtiyaz, 2020). Upon studying cause and effect, it is clear that violent retaliation from Uyghurs is spurred by the government’s oppression. However, the CCP has politicized and used Uyghur violence to its advantage, labeling Uyghurs a threat to national securi ty. Concluding that the Uyghur population is infiltrated by Islamic terrorists, the CCP has justified Uyghur detention camps as centers for “counterterrorism, deradicalization and vocational training” (Greitens et al., 2021). By perpetuating this idea, the CCP redefines its actions as necessary for China’s domestic safe ty. This justification of precautionary defense and educating citizens is hard to oppose at face value, despite the glaring abuses behind it. The nuance of the situation makes it diffi cult for dissenting countries to find solutions to the crisis.

The CCP’s JustificationDiplomatic

Conclusion and Proposed Solutions

PAPER & COMMENTARY31

ute to the erasure of the Uyghurs’ indigenous language and Islamic religion. Some scholars argue that Hanification in northwestern Chi na is actually internal colonization (Anand, 2018). Regardless, it is clear that the domi nance the CCP obtains through oppressing the Uyghurs only perpetuates the party’s polit ical agenda. The CCP’s goal of controlling the Uyghurs’ homeland and population are major reasons for this crisis. These findings thus beg the question of how China’s government has been able to justify its actions to Chinese citi zens and the global community.

China’s Repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. Council on Foreign Rela tions. nas-repression-uyghurs-xinjianghttps://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chi

The International Uyghur Human Rights and De mocracy Foundation. (2013). Who are the Uyghurs of East Turkestan? Www.iuhrdf.org. https://www.

Crisis and Solu tions in the Uighur National Question. Peace Review, 32(1), 51–62. Taylor & Francis. Maizland,doi.org/10.1080/10402659.2020.1823566https://L.(2021,March1).

Wash ington Post. Finley,jiang/world/2021/02/11/china-uighurs-genocide-xinhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/J.S.(2020).WhyScholarsandActivistsIncreasinglyFearaUyghurGenocideinXinjiang. Journal of Genocide Research, 23(3), 1–23. Taylor & Francis Online. Greitens,8.2020.1848109https://doi.org/10.1080/1462352S.,Lee,M.,&Yazici,E.(2021).CounterterrorismandPreventiveRepression:China’sChangingStrategyinXinjiang. Internation al Security, 44(3). The MIT Press. https://doi. Imtiyaz,org/10.1162/ISEC_a_00368A.R.M.(2020).Mapping

Waller,iuhrdf.org/uyghursJ.,&Albornoz, M. S. (2021). Crime and No Punishment? China’s Abuses Against the Uyghurs. Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, 22(1), 100–111. https://doi.org/10.1353/ gia.2021.0000

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 32 or countering China from within the United Nations. Regardless of the measures taken, unity among all major world powers is need ed for significant change to occur. It is only through international collaboration that the CCP’s oppression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang can finally be put to an end. References Aguilera, J. (2021, October 29). The U.S. Admitted Zero Uyghur Refugees Last Year. Here’s Why. Time; Time Magazine. Anand,ghur-refugees-china-biden/https://time.com/6111315/uyD.(2018).ColonizationwithChinesecharacteristics:politicsof(in)securityinXinjiangandTibet. Central Asian Survey, 38(1), 129–147. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.1080/026349 Cosgrove,37.2018.1534801E.(2020,October 1). Uighur labor will be tough to avoid with about 20% of cotton connect ed to Xinjiang: GlobalData. Supply Chain chains/586217/labor-will-be-tough-to-avoid-in-cotton-supply-https://www.supplychaindive.com/news/uighur-Dive. De Guzman, C. (2021, December 16). How the U.S. Boycott of Beijing Olympics Is Splitting the World. Time Magazine. Dou,jing-olympics-boycott/https://time.com/6129154/beiE.(2021,February11).WhoaretheUighurs,andwhat’shappeningtotheminChina?

PAPER & COMMENTARY THE EFFECT OFONPRACTICERELIGIOUSMENTALHEALTH Paper by Aileen E. Dosev Minnetonka High School, MN 55345 January 7, 2022

Keywords: neurotheology, meditation, prayer, mental health, religion, brain Introduction

As in most scientific fields, research and studies in neurotheology have the possibil ity of being inaccurate or misinterpreted.

Sayadmansour (2014) noted one of the ma jor downsides of neurotheology is the reli ance on a subjective point of view. For many experiments, test subjects self-report feelings and sensations, which can lead to inaccuracies through human error. Another setback Sayad mansour mentioned is the inability to know the subject’s thoughts during a brain scan. It is impossible to know whether the subject has become distracted by other thoughts during a test unless the subject comments on the matter. Though this can happen, most of the

First, the field of study from which neu rotheological research originates must be ex plored. Neurotheology is a scientific field that aims to bridge the gap between science and religion. A combination of the studies of neu rology and theology (as well as several other scientific and philosophical areas), the pur pose of this relatively new field is to study the brain activity of one going through a religious experience (Sayadmansour, 2014). Through brain imaging techniques such as MRI scans, researchers attempt to identify a causal rela tionship or correlation between activities such as meditation and prayer and brain behavior.

About 84% of the world’s population is religious (Sherwood, 2018). 100% of the world’s population doesn’t understand the full extent of how religion works and what being religious means in the first place. Although the answers to some of life’s greatest questions may never be found, contemporary science has come closer to understanding the scientific as pects of religious activities of an overwhelming majority of the world. One of these scientific domains is known as neurotheology, which tries to understand what happens in the brain during a religious experience. Curiosity about what scientists have discovered about the ef fect of religion on the brain prompted me to ask whether having a religious practice is more harmful or beneficial to mental health. After reading through research findings and studies spanning several religions, I have found that frequent religious practice often leads to im proved mental condition, even if other factors related to religion may induce stress.

This paper explores the positive and nega tive effects of religious practice on one’s men tal health. These effects are analyzed through the perspective of neurotheology and research done on brain activity. The results of multi ple studies and experiments show that several mental benefits are associated with participat ing in practices such as meditation or prayer. These benefits include better memory, ability to focus, and increased levels of happiness-in ducing chemicals in the brain. This paper also covers the potential chronic stress that can come from religious practice. However, the factors of religion that cause this stress are not regularly encountered by most people. Analy sis shows that the benefits of a religious prac tice outweigh the possible negative effects. These findings and conclusions greatly add to humans’ knowledge of the brains and answer long asked questions about religion and spir ituality.

According to Sayadmansour (2014), the term “neurotheology” is often misused as a descriptor for unrelated areas. Neurotheology is essentially examining the religious experi ence through the lens of electrical pulses and signals between neurons. Newberg (2010) ex plains it does not attempt to prove or disprove a higher power or being’s existence but instead aids our understanding of what it means to be religious. Understanding the purpose and meaning of neurotheology is vital to the con text of the studies referenced.

InformationBackground Defining Neurotheology

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 34 Abstract

Potential Fallacies of Neurotheology

One famous pioneer of neurotheology is Andrew Newberg, a neuroscientist at Jefferson University and Hospital. In the last ten years, he has published several books about the ef fect of religion on the brain and has formed the base of research in neurotheology. One of his most well-known studies involved scan ning the brains of Buddhist meditators and praying Catholic nuns. The test subjects had years of experience in their respective religious practice.Newberg’s experiment is featured in Monastersky’s (2006) article, which explains how researchers used a method called sin gle-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT). Monastersky details how a “radio active tracer [was] injected into the subjects while they [were] meditating or praying, and the active regions of the brain [absorbed] that tracer. Then the subjects [entered] the scanner, which [detected] where the tracer [had] set tled”. Researchers used each subject’s resting brain as a control variable for their own brain activity. This method allowed for the exper iment to be conducted in a quiet setting fit for meditation and prayer, as opposed to tra ditionally loud and claustrophobic scanners (Monastersky, 2006).

PAPER & COMMENTARY35

Religion plays a critical role in society and culture, so research regarding its neuro logical effect is very valuable. The Cooperative Congressional Election Study (2018) found that 70.2% of Americans identify as religious. Most major religions contain an activity or practice such as meditation, prayer or scripture reading embedded in their doctrine. There fore, research on what happens to the brain when in such a state yields results that impact a large majority of the American population.

“Integrating religious and scientific perspec tives might provide the foundation upon which scholars from a variety of disciplines can address some of the greatest questions facing humanity,” explains Sayadmansour (2014, Introduction Section). Because of the prominence of religion in our lives regardless of our personal beliefs, the discoveries made by neurotheologists are extremely important.

It has also been shown that strong re ligious practice triggers pleasure chemicals in the brain and is linked to better mental

The Relevance of Neurotheology

Heightened Concentration, Attention, and Memory

Results showed that the Buddhists and Catholic nuns had a shared effect of more active frontal lobes of the brain, which cor respond with attention, focus and planning skills (Sandoiu, 2018). The nuns who recited spoken prayer also had more active regions in the subparietal lobes that process language (Sandoiu, 2018). In a similar Newberg study, elderly peo ple dealing with memory loss were given a “mantra-based type of meditation”, which they practiced twelve minutes every day for eight weeks (Newberg, 2010). Newberg re ported brain scans before and after showed improvement in clearer thinking and memo ry by 15-20%. He explained how people with years of experience could have even higher levels of retention (Newberg, 2010). Although the type of religious practice, such as verbal or non-verbal, affects brain activity, several types of meditation and prayer have led to a general increase in concentration ability. Increased Happiness

studies cited have been performed on people with rigorous religious practice, lowering the chances of distraction. Brain imaging and sub jective testing are unfortunately the only pos sible methods of collecting data of this kind. Nevertheless, these groundbreaking studies still offer valuable insight into a person’s state of mind during a religious experience.

Casual Mental Benefits

Several neurotheological studies have shown that religious practices have led to in creased mental development in certain parts of the brain and induce feelings of happiness. Firm believers from several religions acted as test subjects for brain scans that show activity in the brain.

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 36 health. McIntosh (2015) states that spiritual wellbeing has been previously associated with less anxiety, depression, and stress (McIntosh, 2015). Dr. John Salsman, of Wake Forest School of Medicine, mentions that “greater levels of spiritual distress and a sense of dis connectedness with God or a religious com munity was associated with greater psycho logical distress or poorer emotional wellbeing” in a small study he conducted (as cited in McIntosh, 2015).

Potential Negative Effects

The author(s) also mention(s) that life-changing spiritual experiences can also be harmful to a person’s mental health. Unfamil iar experiences that go outside the boundar ies of a person’s set religious beliefs can refute what a person has previously thought to be true. These experiences can cause doubt and “disruptive change in religious groups”, even if the experience is subjectively positive (Owen et. al., 2011, p.3).

Neurotheology is a growing scientific field that has the potential to uncover information that concerns all people, regardless of religious identity. Its experiments can be subjective, but the field is still highly informative and adds to our knowledge of neuroscience. The major ity of neurotheological studies have found a direct, positive effect of religious practice and belief on a person’s mental health. Devout practitioners from a variety of religious affil iations (including Buddhists, Catholic nuns, and Mormons) as well as untrained people, have experienced benefits such as better mem ory, increased focus and higher mood levels caused by religious practices like meditation. Although the social-religious setting and sub jective extraordinary experiences related to religion are correlated with stress, these neg

One possible negative effect on one’s men tal health due to religion is prolonged mental stress. However, the more common form of religious-related stress is due to the environ ment surrounding the religious individual and doesn’t stem from the religious practice itself. One form of stress comes from being a religious minority. Lack of acceptance has caused people belonging to a minority reli gion to feel afraid or misrepresented, which can lead to chronic stress. In fact, “studies have shown members of religious minority groups may also experience stressors related to these group affiliations” (Owen et al., 2011).

A study that further proved that religious practice can incite happiness is an experi ment done with 19 young devout Mormons with MRI scanners (Sandoiu, 2018). Partici pants were provided with a variety of different stimuli meant to replicate their experiences in church, including scripture and quote reading and prayer. Sandoiu detailed how in addition to reporting “feelings of peace and physical warmth...those who reported the most intense spiritual feelings displayed increased activi ty in the bilateral nucleus accumbens, as well as the frontal attentional and ventromedial prefrontal cortical loci.” These areas process pleasure and reward signals and are similarly activated when listening to music and during sexual activity (Sandoiu, 2018, Second Sub section). Other studies from the same year found that participating in a spiritual practice raises levels of serotonin and endorphins, also known as “happiness neurotransmitters” (San doiu, 2018). A wide range of research on the topic has shown that engaging in a religious practice can boost a person’s general mood and activate neurotransmitters corresponding with pleasure.

Though stress due to practicing a religion is legitimate, the amount of people who have life changing experiences or face religious dis crimination are only a small portion of the population. Not only does this religious-relat ed stress affect mainly minorities, most times it is a by-product of social implications of maintaining a certain religious practice, and does not originate from the literal practicing or belief. Due to the lower probability of re ligion-related stress and the lack of causation from religious activities, it is safe to say the positives of having a religious practice out weigh the possible negative effects. Conclusion

PAPER & COMMENTARY37atives are not present in the majority and are outmatched by the positives. Taking part in a religious practice, such as prayer, can greatly benefit our mental health in a variety of ways. References Ferguson, M. A., Nielsen, J. A., King, J. B., Dai, L., Giangrasso, D. M., Holman, R., Korenberg, J. R., & Anderson, J. S. (2016). Reward, salience, and attentional networks are activated by religious ex perience in devout Mormons. Social Neuroscience, 13(1), 104–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/1747091 McIntosh,9.2016.1257437J.(2015,August 10). How does religion affect the wellbeing of cancer patients? Medical News Today; Medical News Today. Monastersky,medicalnewstoday.com/articles/297803.php?bl#2https://www.R.(2006). Religion on the Brain. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 52(38). Gale Academic Onefile Select. Newberg,erGroupName=mnsminitex&inPS=trueSet=GALE%7CA147062144&searchId=R1&usnt=ZEAI-MOD1&prodId=EAIM&contentType=Article&sort=Relevance&contentSegmetion=1&docId=GALE%7CA147062144&docsearchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosiLIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&do?tabID=T002&resultListType=RESULT_gale-com.content.elibrarymn.org/ps/retrieve.https://go-A.(2010,October15). This Is Your Brain On Religion (interview by NPR) [Interview]. Owen,ology-where-religion-and-science-collidewww.npr.org/2010/12/15/132078267/neurothehttps://A.D.,Hayward,R.D.,Koenig,H.G.,Steffens,D.C.,&Payne,M.E.(2011).ReligiousFactorsandHippocampalAtrophyinLateLife. PLoS ONE, 6(3), e17006. Sandoiu,org/10.1371/journal.pone.0017006https://doi.A.(2018b,July20). What religion does to your brain. Medical News Today; Medical News Today. Sayadmansourcles/322539.php#1https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/artiA.(2014).Neurotheology:Therelationshipbetweenbrainandreligion. Iranian Journal of Neurology, 13(1), 52–55. Schaffner, B., & Ansolabehere, S. (2019). 2018 Com mon Content Dataset. 6. Harvard Dataverse. Sherwood, H. (2018, August 27). Religion: why faith is becoming more and more popular. The Guard ian; The Guardian. ing-and-what-happens-nextnews/2018/aug/27/religion-why-is-faith-growhttps://www.theguardian.com/

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 38 WHAT AFFECTS VICTIM BLAMING An investigation of individualand situational factors and influence on Victim Blaming Shanghai Pinghe School 2024 Paper by Hongmi Jiang

Abstract Victim blaming, especially along with sexual assaults, has always been considered as a controversial issue. Individual factors, i.e., gender and dressing, have been correlated to the victim blaming in previous studies. How ever, there is a lack of knowledge to under stand the format of victim blaming with both individual and situational factors considered. To further investigate the slope of the study on victim blaming, the present study imple mented a comprehensive evaluation on the coupling effects of individual and situational factors, i.e. gender, educational background and time etc.. Herein, 140 participants (Male, 48.59%) were involved in the designed case study about four fictitious cases with their personal information and opinions filled in, which contains sexual assaults happening in different situations, i.e., time, place, and dress ing. Within the questionnaire, the responsi bility of victims was graded to determine the internal connection among each factor influ encing their judgement. The results indicate that males are more prone to exert responsi bility to victims with regards to females, while people with higher educational level will show less victim blaming. Consistent with the pre vious research, a more sexualized dressing is considered to attribute more responsibility on victims. Practical and theoretical implications, i.e. eliminate victim blaming are discussed in this work as well.

PAPER & COMMENTARY39

Keywords: victim blaming, individual fac tors, situational factors, gender, judicial justice 1. “I’veIntroductionbeentoldI’mnotsupposed to say this –however, women should avoid dressing like sluts in order not to be victimized.”

The above quote from Toronto Police Constable Michael Sanguinetti’s speech on crime prevention subsequently caused serious demonstrations of women globally. In modern society, however, there still exists some wrong cliché from large proportions of the populace, both male and female that woman suffers sex ual assaults and domestic violence through various characteristics and behaviors (Chag non,Victim2017). blaming, the condemnation to victims of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them, which is always along with the sexual assault. This kind of blaming is main ly reflected on social comments and censure, such as rumors, ostracism, or insults, includ ing “slut” and “bitch”, thus contributing to the secondary victimization for the victims themselves (Amstrong, Hamilton, Amstrong, &Seeley, 2014). The well-developed Internet provides adequately free space to disseminate news and express individual opinions public ly (Goblet and Glowacz, 2021). Additionally, with the form of information dissemination diversified, i.e. video and live, victim blaming is taking place on social media, such as “Sina Weibo”, “Instagram” and “TikTok”. Hence the internet together with the new technolo gies has made it possible to massively extend the scope of this phenomenon (Goblet and Glowacz, 2021). As a result, almost all the de tails of the sexual assault cases and victims can be exposed to the public. Herein, our study focuses on how the factors from sexual assault cases can influence victim blaming, moreover, it may prevent victims from being attacked for a second time to better understand the associ ation between these factors.

The impact of blaming victims for sexual assault has been substantial for a long period. Several studies demonstrate that when the sexual assault victims were unduly accused of provoking their attacks, they were inclined to suffer more devastating outcomes than those who were not. In some cases, this negative phenomenon may lead to unpredictable out comes for sexual assault victims, i.e. anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (Campbell & Raja, 2005). In this article, the influence of factors on blaming victims has been explored initially for sexual assault. Based on the view of “commen tators”-people who voice their opinions on so cial media, the factors give rise to the bias of victims blaming, mainly including time, place, the dressing of the victims, whether the victim

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 40 and criminal acquainted with each other or not and the performance of the victim before the sexual assault. In addition, commentators’ personal features have been accounted into research. Furthermore, several useful pieces of advice have also been given for the victims suffering a secondary injury. This work extends the insight into the study of victim blaming attribution and provides valuable supporting information to eliminate bias existing in vic tims of sexual assaults.

The terminology, victim blaming, was first proposed by William Ryan in 1971. It was used to argue for the Black communi ties being unfairly blamed when subjected to racism and violence by that time. Clarke and Lewis adopted this terminology for sexual vi olence against women, replacing the term vic tim-precipitation (Clarke and Lewis,1977). Compared with other crimes such as pilfer age and robbery, victims of sexual assaults are particularly more emotional and sensitive to being blamed (Bieneck et al. 2011). An extensive amount of research on vic tim blaming in sexual assault has been carried out. In previous investigations, the prevalence of victim blaming is typically ascribed to three perspectives, namely individual factors, situa tional factors, societal and institutional factors (Gravelin et al., 2019; Pinciotti et al., 2021). The individual factors are mainly relat ed to the bystanders or observers of a victim as they are usually the witnesses to situations from low-risk to high-risk of sexual assault (McMahon et al., 2012). Relevant variables include gender difference, race/ethnicity/na tionality, rape myth endorsement, gender role attitudes, political attitudes, and one’s belief in a just world (Gravelin et al. 2019). In this perspective, the gender of an observer may significantly influence one’s perceptions to ward victims of sexual assault. The majority of research implies that men are more inclined to blame female victims than women (Black et al., 2008; Avigail Moor, 2010, Basow et al., 2011; Gravelin et al. 2019). Regarding situational factors, specific at tention has been paid to the victim and perpe trator (Pollard et al., 1992; van der Bruggen et al., 2014). This perspective tends to correlate victim blaming to objective reasons, such as drugs, alcohol, and the physical characteristics of a victim (Avigail Moor, 2010; Idsis et al., 2017). In addition, socioeconomic status and power differences between victims and perpe trators may also impact the prevalence of vic tim blaming (Spencer et al., 2016; Yamawaki et al.,The2007).institutional and societal factors cov er a wide range of variables, including gender dynamics, media, sexual objectification, the use of legal and empirical rhetoric, and rape culture (Gravelin et al. 2019). The gender dy namics, i.e., gender role, mainly depends on the culture of a society and religious affilia tion (Ward, 1988; Flood, et al., 2009). A more gender-equality society is prone to lowering the rate of sexual assault (White et al., 1997). With the highly developed media, note that the sexualized representation on the media can significantly reshape the stereotype of the public toward sexual assault and victim blam ing (Kalof, 1999). As can be seen from the summary above, the previous study has done substantial re search on all three factors, the individual fac tors the situational factors, the societal and institutional factors. The factors our study mainly discuss, the features of participants and the details of the sexual assault, belong to the individual and situational factors. According to the previous review, victim blaming relates to the sexualized degree of the victims, i.e. the dressing of the victim and in which situation harassment takes place(Spaccatini, Pacilli, Giovannelli, Roccato and Penone, 2019). Furthermore, the occurrence of victim blaming may also be relevant with other de tails of the sexual assault, i.e. time and place in which the sexual assaults happen, whether the victim and criminal acquainted with each oth er and the performance of the victim before the sexual assaults.

2. Literature Review

3.3 Procedure First, an e-mail or a WeChat message is sent to the participants asking whether they are available to complete a short online ques tionnaire and to send it to other people if possible. For this reason, the final sample was composed of both students and non-students, and people of all ages. Same as the pilot study, the survey is conducted using the online appli cation Wenjuanxing. And of the participant’s

First, research for real sexual assaults cases was conducted. Based on a previous study, (e.g. Spaccatini et.al,2019), two cases taken from the Internet were pilot tested with a separate sample of 12 participants(50% male). After being shown the two cases, the 10 participants score the responsibility of the victim and the offender. All factors, i.e. time, place, dressing, that they think to influence their judgment are required to list and grade to which degree they affect. The pilot study is conducted using the online application Wenjuanxing. Of the participant’s personal information, only gen der, age, education level, and living city were asked. In line with the expectation, the fac tors are considered influential in judging the responsibility of victims, including time, and place the sexual assaults happen, the dress ing of the victims, performance of the victims before the sexual assaults. In addition, some participants mentioned that a lack of aware ness of self-protection affects their judgment as well. Besides, few participants claimed that whatever the situation was, offenders should take all the responsibility.

3. Methodology

3.2 Pilot study

PAPER & COMMENTARY41

3.1 Participant In this research, 140 participants were in vited to fill in the questionnaire, which con sisted of 48.57% male(N=68) and 51.43% fe male(N=72). The participants ranged in the age from 10 to 50, mainly distributed from 16~30. 5% of the participants(N=7) are aged 11~15, 20.71%(N=29) are aged 16~20, 25%(N=35) are aged 21~25, 22.86%(N=32) are aged 25~30, 10.71%(N=15) are aged 31~35, 7.14%(N=10) are aged 36~40, 4.29%(N=6) are aged 41~45 and 4.29%(N=6) are aged 46~50. The partici pants’ educational background ranges from ju nior high school to doctoral degrees. The main participants of this research are high school students(N=35, 25%) and master students (N=69, 49.29%).

Participants were enrolled in groups of five-year-old age group, i.e. 16~20 years old. Which age bracket the participants are in has been asked in the questionnaire. Educational background Participants’ ed ucational background is asked in the question naire, i.e. master’s degree and PhD.

Seven explanation variables are intro duced in this research, participants are required to indicate the level of factor influence on a 5-point scale (from 1=not influence at all to 5= influence strongly) after reading four cases in the questionnaire provided by researchers.

Gender Previous research has verified that men are more inclined to blame female victims than women (Black et al., 2008; Avi gail Moor, 2010, Basow et al., 2011; Gravelin et al.Age2019).bracket

In case 2: A, a 33-year-old white-collar woman, was sexually assaulted on her way home from work. At about 6:44 p.m., A was dragged to an empty alley by a male stranger Y on her way home and then sexually assaulted her. A wore A suit and skirt that day.

In case 3: A 20-year-old college student named K was sexually assaulted by a stranger F on her way home from a bar. At 11:40 p.m., K parted ways with his friends at the intersec tion after coming out of a bar. At about 11:47, while walking through the alley, K was sexual ly assaulted by the offender following her. At the time, she had been drinking but not drunk, wearing a short halter skirt and holding a coat.

Time and place The time and place when and where sexual assaults happen is clearly shown in each case,i.e. 11:40 p.m in a small alley, and 6:44 p.m, in the street, participants are required to grade how much they think time and place influences their judgment on victimDressingblaming.Dressing of victims, i.e. sports clothes, short skirts is addressed in each case, participants are required to grade how much they think dressing influences their judgment on victimPerformanceblaming.before sexual assaults Ac tions of victims before sexual assaults, i.e. add ing WeChat and drinking alcohol, (Avigail Moor, 2010; Idsis et al., 2017), are mentioned in some of the cases. Participants are required to grade how much they think victims’ per formance influences their judgment on victim blaming.Offenders should take all responsibility

The belief is accepted by some participants that the victim doesn’t take any responsibili ty whatever the situation. Participants are re quired to grade how much they agree on this belief.Lack of self-protection awareness Ac cording to the belief in a just world (BJW), some people believe that individuals’ careful ness degree is inversely proportional to the possibility they have to encounter danger. As BJW has shown, people believe victims lack self-protection, which leads to sexual assaults

In case 4: A 22-year-old woman named D was sexually assaulted by a male named Q in a nightclub. D and Q met each other in a nightclub and added each other’s contact in formation. While D was going to the bath room, Q drugged D in a glass and knocked her unconscious. He then dragged D to the room and raped her. At that time, D was wearing suspenders and short skirts.

3.4 Measures Victim blaming Participants need to give the proportion of responsibility between the victim and the offender. They are asked, “ how much responsibility do you think the offender and the victim should take, respectively?”

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 42 personal information, gender, age, education level, and living city were asked to fill in. 5 minutes are required for the participants to fill in the questionnaire. The participants are giv en the 4 cases below and asked to provide the degree they think each factor influences.

In case 1: A 44-year-old woman named J was sexually assaulted on her way home. At about 7:35 in the evening, AFTER hav ing dinner at her mother’s house, J was about to return to her own home. On the way, S dragged her to the alley and raped her. J wore a loose-fitting hoodie and sweatpants.

PAPER & COMMENTARY43happen. Participants are required to grade how much they think lack of self-protection awareness influences their judgment on victim blaming. 3.5 Data analysis The purpose of this study is to find and compare correlation of each factor and victim blaming. The eight independent variables of this research are time, place, dressing, perfor mance before sexual assaults, belief that of fenders should take all responsibility and the belief that victims lack self-protection aware ness. The dependent variable of this research is how much responsibility people think victims should take. Using SPSS 28.0, several statis tical methodologies are conducted in this re search, including descriptive statistics, ANO VA and linear regression. ANOVA is used to test whether the model is valid or not and lin ear regression to find whether each factors are related to victim blaming or not and to com pare the influence degree of each factor. 4. Results 4.1 Descriptive statistics In Table 1, we present descriptive statis tics for the variables in this study. Variables Mean Percentage/ SD Gender (male, %) Age bracket Educational* background ** 4.54294.735748.59% 1.055111.71582/ Theofresponsibilitythevictim Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 4 16.075876.57142.70004.7357 15.1500116.075877.933814.7357 * 1= Ages10 and under, 2=Ages 11~15, 3=Ages 16~20, 4=Ages 21~25, 5=Ages 26~30, 6=Ages 31-35, 7=Ages 3640, 8=Ages 41-45, 9=Ages 46~50, 10=Aged 50 and above ** 1=Primary School and below, 2=Junior high school, 3=High school, 4=Undergraduate, 5=master degree, 5= PhD degree Table 1 Descriptive statistics for the variables 4.2 Linear Regression Four different cases are included in this study which contains time, places, degrees of clothing exposure, and performance before the sexual assaults. The degree of factors influ encing the victim blaming are calculated sep arately in each case. 4.2.1 Case 1 Table 2 presents the linear regression equation between the factors and victim blam ing.

The overall model is signifi cant(p=0.000<0.05) and R square is 0.362, indicating that 36.2% of the variation of the total score of victim blaming can be accounted by gender, age, educational background, time, place, dressing, the belief of Lack of self-pro tection awareness, and the belief of Offenders should take all responsibility. In this case, only dressing is found having significant influence and offenders should take all responsibility is marginally significant. When the degree that dressing influence increases, the victim blam ing increase simultaneously, controlling other factors. When participants give more points on the belief that Offenders should take all responsibility, the victim blaming decrease, controlling other factors. Other factors are not found significant influence. Table 2 linear regression for the factors and victim blaming in Case 1

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 44 Unstandardized coefficient Variable B StandardizedError p responsibilityshouldOffendersawarenessprotectionLackDressingPlaceTimebackgroundEducationalAgeGenderConstantbracketofself-takeall -0.6790.4683.7400.281-0.017-0.657-0.134-0.4032.245 0.4530.6730.6610.7240.2490.4420.2640.7972.810 0.0070.3030.0000.6710.9820.1390.6120.6140.426

The overall model is signifi cant(p=0.000<0.05). R square is 0.223, indi cating that 22.3% of the variation of the to tal score of victim blaming can be accounted by gender, age, educational background, time, place, dressing, the belief of Lack of self-pro tection awareness, and the belief of Offenders should take all responsibility. In this case, only Lack of self-protection awareness is found having significant influence and Educational background is marginally significant. When participants give more points on the victim is lack of self-protection awareness, the victim blaming increase, controlling other factors. When the educational background increase i.e. from primary school to junior high school, the victim blaming decrease, controlling other factors. Other factors are not found significant influence.

PAPER & COMMENTARY454.2.2 Case 2 Table 3 presents the linear regression equation between the factors and victim blaming. Unstandardized coefficient Variable B StandardizedError p responsibilityshouldOffendersawarenessprotectionLackDressingPlaceTimebackgroundEducationalAgeGenderConstantbracketofself-takeall -0.3732.9170.466-0.7591.216-1.3780.139-2.2897.016 0.4030.7420.9390.8170.9540.7530.4311.3404.771 0.3560.0000.6210.3540.2040.0700.7480.0900.144 Table 3 linear regression for the factors and victim blaming in Case 2

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 46 Unstandardized coefficient Variable B StandardizedError p responsibilityshouldOffendersawarenessprotectionLackCoastSkirtPlaceTimebackgroundEducationalAgeGenderConstantbracketofself-takeall -1.470-0.140-1.9876.3431.557-1.930-1.8270.203-0.49812.546 0.8661.6182.2151.9822.1281.8551.5370.9102.7949.698 0.0920.9310.3710.0020.4660.3000.2370.8240.8590.198 Table 4 linear regression for the factors and victim blaming in Case 3 4.2.3 Case 3 Table 4 presents the linear regression equation between the factors and victim blaming. The overall model is signifi cant(p=0.002<0.05), and R square is 0.181, indicating that 18.1% of the variation of the total score of victim blaming can be accounted by gender, age, educational background, time, place, dressing, the belief of Lack of self-pro tection awareness, and the belief of Offenders should take all responsibility. In this case, only Skirt is found having significant influence. When the degree that skirt influence increas es, the victim blaming increase, controlling other factors. Other factors are not found sig nificant influence.

PAPER & COMMENTARY474.2.4 Case 4 Table 5 presents the linear regression equation between the factors and victim blaming. Unstandardized coefficient Variable B StandardizedError p responsibilityshouldOffendersawarenessprotectionLackInformationContactDressingPlaceTimebackgroundEducationalAgeGenderConstantbracketofself-takeall -1.0751.0174.5002.2422.909-4.771-4.0540.056-6.75927.738 0.6491.2311.5041.7671.5801.0991.1460.6712.1247.408 0.1000.4100.0030.2070.0680.0000.0010.9340.0020.000 Table 5

R square is 0.493, indi cating that 49.3% of the variation of the to tal score of victim blaming can be accounted by gender, age, educational background, time, place, dressing, the belief of Lack of self-pro tection awareness, and the belief of Offend ers should take all responsibility. In this case, gender, Educational background, time and Contact information are found having signif icant influence. Male participants gives more blaming to victim, compared to female, con trolling other factors. When the educational background increase i.e. from primary school to junior high school, the victim blaming de crease, controlling other factors. When the de gree that time influence increases, the victim blaming decrease, controlling other factors.

The overall model is signifi cant(p=0.000<0.05).

linear regression for the factors and victim blaming in Case 4

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 48 When participants give more point on con tact information, the victim blaming increase, controlling other factors. Other factors are not found significant influence. 4.4 Comparison of absolute values of coefficient means To compare which factor affect victim blaming most, Table 6 shows the absolute val ues of coefficient means and rank them from the most influential to the least. As shown, performance of victims before sexual assaults was the most influential factor and age is the least influential factor. Table 6 The rank of absolute values of coefficient means Rank Factor The absolute value of coefficient means 987654321 Performance of victims before sexual OffendersprotectionEducationalDressingassaultsGenderbackgroundTimeLackofself-awarenessshouldtakeallresponsibilityPlaceAgebracket 1.06551.3761.9792.4873.1904.5000.890.8780.066

5. Discussions Consistent with recent findings (Ström wall et al., 2013a, 2013b; Strömwall et al., 2014), this study shows that the participants attributed considerably more blame to the perpetrator than the victim. The primary pur pose of this study is to detect the connection between the factors with victim blaming, com paring the degree how each factor influences the victim blaming. The results mainly indicate that men are more inclined to blame female victims than women, which conform to previous research. (Black et al., 2008; Avigail Moor, 2010, Basow et al., 2011; Gravelin et al. 2019). Of all the four cases, men have shown more intention to blame victims (coefficient: -0.403, -2.289, -0.498, -6.759, meaning men give -0.403, -2.289, -0.498, -6.759 points on victim blam

The belief that offenders should take all responsibility is negatively correlated with vic tim blaming. Some participants claimed that whatever the situation is, offenders should take all the responsibility and there should be no excuse for sexual assaults.

PAPER & COMMENTARY49ing each case than women).

5.1 Theoretical and practical meaning

This study also examines whether the fac tors of age and educational background are related to victim blaming or not. It demon strates that the older individuals get, the more possible people are going to blame victims; meanwhile, with the higher the education al background, people have less possibility to blame victims. It can be explained by the obsolete ideology, i.e. boys preference, from the considerable amount of greater-aged and low-educational-background people in Chi na. Owing to lack of advanced knowledge and ideology, victims are more possibly being blamed by these kinds of people. However, this study failed to draw a gen eral law of how time and place affects victim blaming. In different scenarios, opposite roles have been played by time and place. With most P in regression higher than 0.05, the mechanism of how time and place works are still ambiguous, thus requiring future research to investigate.Consistent

The main practical implication from this research is to obtain the forming mechanism of the factors that lead to victim blaming. We can make it more clear on the type of persons who tend to blame victims more and the rea sons why they blame victims, with the aim to reduce victim blaming in the future. More specifically, it is noted that the most influential factor is the victims’ performance before sexu al assaults. Victim blaming is also affected by participants themselves, e.g. educational back ground, as well as the victim’s behavior, such as dressing or performance. It may reduce vic tim blaming to establish the concept and de termine the mechanism of victim blaming to some degree. Hence, applying the findings to

The main finding and theoretical implica tion of the present study lie in the connection and comparison of the influence of factors. In line with the previous research, gender, BJW, dressing, performance are investigated to pre dict victim blaming. Moreover, more factors, i.e. educational background are shown related to victim blaming, which are also able to pre dict victim blaming effectively.

Victim’s performance before the sexual assaults seems to be the most essential fac tor that influences victim blaming. Howev er, the victim’s performance is only tested in the 4th scenario, for the victim and offender have intersected before the sexual assault just in that case. Whereas the victim blaming still originates from the inopportune or inappro priate performance for the victims, i.e. flirting or adding contact information, which is also coherent with previous research (Sara Land ström et al., 2015). When participants consider victims lack ing self-protection awareness, they are more possible to blame victims. The level of victim blame is positively correlated with the ex tent to which people think victims are lack self-protection awareness. According to the opinion in a just world (BJW), people’s care fulness degree is inversely proportional to the possibility they have to encounter danger. Previous research has shown BJW correlat ed positively with the level of victim-blam ing, thus the more people acknowledge BJW, the more blame assessed toward the victims, but not significantly (Sara Landström et al., 2015). According to just world theory (Lern er, 1980), most people implicitly believe that the world is fundamentally fair and rational, and that misfortunate is inversely related to one’s prudence, competence, and virtue. Previ ous researchers tend to ignore the BJW (Kent Podolski et al.,2015), which means people are not aware of BJW when it works. The per spective that victims are lack self-protection awareness embodies BJW in victim blaming.

with previous studies, dress ing is one of the decisive factors that influence victim blaming, being the factor which has the top three biggest absolute values of the coeffi cient in all of the four cases.

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 50 the public, especially the judicial workers, po lice, and social workers, can help to eliminate victim blaming on the internet, thus uphold ing judicial justice for victims. In addition, it also makes sense to provide an environment for victims where they won’t be blamed. Such measures cannot only safeguard their own rights but protect them from the public and recover from sexual assaults.

First, this study focuses on female victims rather than both male and female. It is unclear to find whether people have a bias on wom en. There may be some other gender-related attitudes that contribute to victim blaming. For example, some studies find a relationship between the hostile attitudes towards women and victim blaming (e.g., Abrams et al., 2003; Glick & Fiske, 1996; Lonsway & Fitzgerald, 1995; Viki et al., 2004). The hypothetical scenarios used were not based on real-life cases. Thus, the inter nal validity may be greater than the ecolog ical validity, and the external validity might be questioned. Also, the main participants of this work are high school students and post graduates. The number of samples with other educational backgrounds is far less than these two. The generalizability of our results to some larger populations (e.g., Chinese) is still un clear. For example, 73.23% of our participants have an undergraduate education, whereas the national average in China for undergraduate education is merely 9%. What’s more, this re search mainly focuses in China. With different cultures, religions and economics and social condition, the research can estimates to give different answers from different area. Hence future research should explore these matters, preferably by cross-national studies.

Reference Nicholas J. Chagnon, Racialized Culpability: Victim Blaming and State Violence In Race, Ethnicity, and Law. 25 May 2017; 199-219.

5.2 Limitation and future research

6. Conclusions Herein, a comprehensive evaluation on the effects of individual and constitutional factors on the victim blaming was implement ed using questionnaire survey. Specifically, nine factors, e.g., gender, age, and educational background, time and place, dressing, perfor mance before sexual assaults, the responsibili ty of offenders, and self-protection awareness, were considered in this study. Conclusions are summarized as follows: On a positive note, the present study shows that the participants’ propensity was seldom to blame the victim, less than 15% in each case. On the other side, many claim that no excuse for sexual assault, which glimmers the hope of reducing victim blaming. How ever, it also shows that victim blaming tends to stem from the persons with the character istics of male gender, elder age, lower-edu cated background. Besides, dressing and per formance also play important roles in victim blaming, both of which are the most influen tial factors among all. Perhaps, sexual assaults have a greater impact on victim blaming than participants themselves. For the public, ob taining more information of victim blaming might build a more just world.

Basow, Susan A., and Alexandra Minieri. ““You owe me”: Effects of date cost, who pays, participant gender, and rape myth beliefs on perceptions of rape.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 26.3 (2011): Black,479-497.Katherine A., and David J. Gold. “Gender differences and socioeconomic status biases in judgments about blame in date rape scenarios.” Violence and Victims 23.1 (2008): 115-128. Bieneck, Steffen, and Barbara Krahé. “Blaming the victim and exonerating the perpetrator in cases of rape and robbery: Is there a double standard?.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 26.9 (2011): 1785Clark,1797.Lorenne MG, and Debra J. Lewis. Rape: The price of coercive sexuality. Toronto: Women’s Press, Gravelin,1977. Claire R., Monica Biernat, and Caroline E. Bucher. “Blaming the victim of acquaintance rape: Individual, situational, and sociocultural factors.” Frontiers in Psychology 9 (2019): 2422. Eaton, Jessica. ‘Logically, I know I’m not to blame but I

Flood, Michael, and Bob Pease. “Factors influencing attitudes to violence against women.” Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 10.2 (2009): 125-142. Idisis, Yael, and Alice Edoute. “Attribution of blame to rape victims and offenders, and attribution of severity in rape cases: Non-therapists and survivor and offender therapists.” International Review of Victimology 23.3 (2017): 257-274. Kalof, Linda. “The effects of gender and music video imagery on sexual attitudes.” The Journal of Social Psychology 139.3 (1999): 378-385. Pinciotti, Caitlin M., and Holly K. Orcutt. “Under standing gender differences in rape victim blam ing: The power of social influence and just world beliefs.” Journal of interpersonal violence 36.1-2 (2021): 255-275. Pollard, Paul. “Judgements about victims and attack ers in depicted rapes: A review.” British Journal of Social Psychology 31.4 (1992): 307-326. McMahon, Sarah, and Victoria L. Banyard. “When can I help? A conceptual framework for the prevention of sexual violence through bystander intervention.” Trauma, Violence, & Abuse 13.1 (2012): 3-14. Moor, Avigail. “She dresses to attract, he perceives seduction: A gender gap in attribution of intent to women’s revealing style of dress and its relation to blaming the victims of sexual violence.” Journal of International Women’s Studies 11.4 (2010): 115Spencer,127. Bettina. “The impact of class and sex uality-based stereotyping on rape blame.”

Appendix The Questionnaire 1. 您的性别是什么？What is your gender? 2. 您的年龄属于哪个年龄段？What is your age group? 3. 您居住的城市是哪里？What’s your city? 4. 您的最高（在读）学历是？What is your highest degree? 5.44 他们分别承担多少的责任？着者宽松的卫衣及运动裤。请问您认为被S拖到小巷并且实施了强奸。当天，J穿晚饭后，准备回到自己的家中，在路上侵。晚上七点35分左右，J在母亲家吃完岁的女性J回家的路上被人实施了性 A 44-year-old woman named J was sexually assaulted on her way home. At about 7:35 in the evening, AF TER having dinner at her mother’s house, J was about to return to her own home. On the way, S dragged her to the alley and raped her. J wore a loose-fitting hoodie and sweatpants. How much responsibility do you think they should take? 责任)的数字][输入0(被性侵者J的责任)到100(性侵者S的 [Enter the number from 0(victim J’s responsi bility) to 100(attacker S’s responsibility)] 6. 的判断？[矩阵量表题]您认为下列因素在怎样的程度上影响您 To what extent do you think the following factors affect your judgment? 承担大部分责任无论受害者如何，性侵者都应该 ; Regardless of the victim, the sex offender should bear most of the responsibility 案发时间为晚上7:35; The time of the crime was 7:35 p.m 案发地点为小巷; The crime was committed in an alley 受害者穿着运动服; The victim was wearing sportswear 受害者防范意识不足; Victims lack awareness of prevention 几乎不影响 Almostimpactno 略微有影响 influentialSlightly 影响 influence 有较大影响 Have a impactgreat 非常影响 influentialVery

Sexualization, Media, & Society 2.2 (2016): Van2374623816643282.derBruggen,Madeleine, and Amy Grubb. “A review of the literature relating to rape victim blaming: An analysis of the impact of observer and victim characteristics on attribution of blame in rape cases.” Aggression and Violent Behavior 19.5 (2014): 523-531. Ward, Colleen. “The attitudes toward rape victims scale: Construction, validation, and cross-cultural applicability.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 12.2 (1988): 127-146. White, Aaronette M., et al. “An African-centered, Black feminist approach to understanding atti tudes that counter social dominance.” Journal of Black Psychology 23.4 (1997): 398-420. Yamawaki, Niwako, Ryan Darby, and Adriane Que iroz. “The moderating role of ambivalent sexism: The influence of power status on perception of rape victim and rapist.” The Journal of Social Psy chology 147.1 (2007): 41-56.

PAPER & COMMENTARY51

still feel to blame’: exploring and measuring victim blaming and self-blame of women who have been subjected to sexual violence. Diss. University of Birmingham, 2019.

D, a 22 years old female, was sexually assaulted by male Q in a nightclub.D and Q met in the nightclub and added each other’s contact information.In the process of D going to the bathroom, Q drugged D in D’s glass and stunned D. then, he dragged d to the room and raped her.At that time, D was wear ing suspenders and short skirts.How much responsibility do you think they

should bear respectively. 的责任)的数字][输入0(被性侵者D的责任)到100(性侵者Q几乎不影响 Almostimpactno 略微有影响 influentialSlightly 影响 influence 有较大影响 Have a impactgreat 非常影响 influentialVery

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 52 7. 任？装裙。请问您认为他们分别承担多少责巷并且实施了性侵。当天A穿着西装及西在回家的路上被陌生男性Y拖到无人的小路上被实施性侵。傍晚6点44分左右，A33岁的白领女性A在从公司回到家中的 A, a 33-year-old white-collar woman was sexually assaulted on her way home from the company.At about 6:44 p.m., a was dragged to an empty alley by a strange man y on his way home and committed sexual assault.On that day, a wore a suit and skirt.How much respon sibility do you think they should bear? 的责任)的数字]*[输入0(被性侵者A的责任)到100(性侵者Y [enter a number from 0 (sexual offender a’s responsibility) to 100 (sexual offender Y’s re sponsibility)]* 8. 您的判断？[矩阵量表题]您认为下列因素在怎样的程度上影响* To what extent do you think the following factors affect your judgment? 承担大部分责任无论受害者如何，性侵者都应该 ; Regardless of the victim, the sex offender should bear most of the responsibility 案发时间为晚上6:44; The time of the crime was 6:44 p.m 案发地点为小巷; The crime was committed in an alley 受害者衣着为西装及西装裙; The victim was dressed in a suit and skirt 受害者防范意识不足; Victims lack awareness of prevention 9. 承担多少的责任？手上拿着外套。请问您认为他们分别应该未喝醉，并且她的穿着为吊带短裙，并且其身后的罪犯性侵。当时，她喝了酒但并点47分左右，在穿过小巷时，K被尾随在从酒吧出来后在路口和朋友分道扬镳。11陌生人男性F性侵。晚上11点40分，K在20岁的大学生K在从酒吧回家的路上被

K, a 20 years-old college student was sexually assaulted by a stranger male f on his way home from a bar.At 11:40 K parted ways with his friends at the intersection after coming out of the bar.At about 11:47, when crossing the alley, K was

几乎不影响 Almostimpactno 略微有影响 influentialSlightly 影响 influence 有较大影响 Have a impactgreat 非常影响 influentialVery sexually assaulted by criminals following him. At that time, she was drunk but not drunk, and she was wearing a short skirt with sus penders and a coat in her hand.How much responsibility do you think they should bear respectively? 的责任)的数字]*[输入0(被性侵者K的责任)到100(性侵者F [enter a number from 0 (sexual offender K’s responsibility) to 100 (sexual offender F’s re sponsibility)]* 10. 您的判断？[矩阵量表题]您认为下列因素在怎样的程度上影响* To what extent do you think the following factors affect your judgment? 承担大部分责任无论受害者如何，性侵者都应该 ; Regardless of the victim, the sex offender should bear most of the responsibility 案发时间较晚; The time of the crime was late 受害者穿着短裙; The victim was wearing a short skirt 受害者手上拿着外套; The victim had a coat in their hands 受害者防范意识不足; Victims lack awareness of prevention 11. 他们分别应该承担多少的责任。时，D的穿着为吊带和短裙。请问您认为将D拖拽至房间并对她实行了强奸。当在D酒杯里下药并迷晕了D，紧接着，他的联系方式。在D去洗手间的过程中，Q侵。D与Q在夜店里认识，并且加了对方22岁的女性D在夜店被男性Q实行性

p.m.,

PAPER & COMMENTARY53[enter a number from 0 (sexual offender D’s responsibility) to 100 (sexual offender Q’s re sponsibility)]* 12. 您的判断？[矩阵量表题]您认为下列因素在怎样的程度上影响 To what extent do you think the following factors affect your judgment? 承担大部分责任无论受害者如何，性侵者都应该 ; Regardless of the victim, the sex offender should bear most of the responsibility 案发地点为夜店; The location of the crime was a nightclub 受害者穿着较为暴露; The victim was more exposed 受害者加了性侵者微信; The victim added sex offender’s Wechat 受害者防范意识不足; Victims lack awareness of prevention 几乎不影响 Almostimpactno 略微有影响 influentialSlightly 影响 influence 有较大影响 Have a impactgreat 非常影响 influentialVery

Ustes Greenridge III, Citrus Hill High School, Class of ‘24 Paper by Iris de

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 54

CYBORGNEUROMANCER’SPOLITICS Souza

The Social Construction of Bodies In The Body & Society: Explorations in Social Theory Turner asserted that “the shape and dispositions of the body are the prod ucts of a cultural habitus within the specif ic location of a certain social class.” Further in the book, he described the external world and the human body as “not a given, but an historical reality constantly mediated by hu man labour and interpreted through human culture.” (Turner 34). The human body is de scribed to be something of something of social reality, not something totally immutable. An example of this recursive deconstruction and reconstruction of physical attributes into var ious social niches and functions could be the construct of binary sex, which is when char acteristics that are assumed to be sexual are placed in categories of either male or female. Another one could be the patriarchy denoting people assigned the role of female to certain social functions and niches. The “social con struction of the body” is this social interpreta tion of ourselves, a social construction of our very beings.Foucault used the term biopower to describe the power over the aforementioned bodies, especially in the sense of larger institu tions, disciplinary structures, etc. There are two more specific concepts under this term, regu latory controls and anatomo-politics. Regulatory controls are a sort of surveillance of the pop ulation as a whole, especially in its observed qualities and quantities, e.g. taking crude birth rates, death rates, using such qualities in a way to sort of determine how biopower should be conducted. Anatomo-politics could be de scribed as a more specific control over bodies,

is a novel written by Wil liam Gibson in 1984. It is regarded as the cornerstone of cyberpunk literature and art: a japanophilic, technofetishistic, totalitarian late capitalistic world. It features Case, a 24 year old man who was crippled by his employers with a neurotoxin after being caught stealing money from them (Gibson 6). The presence of the cyborg entity throughout the book, be it characters like Case or Molly, is of interest in that they enhance the capabilities of larger powers and institutions to use biopolitics on workers and other oppressed groups. Case was a console cowboy before his nervous system was damaged by the toxin; a console cowboy is someone who frequent ly ventures into cyberspace, which is a sort of “consensual hallucination” (Gibson 57) re garding the presentation of all of the data in the world of Neuromancer and their resulting interactions. The neurotoxin damaged Case’s nervous system to the point of him not being able to jack into cyberspace, the activity that he loved (Gibson 6). Later in the book, a man named Armitage, who was being controlled by an AI named Wintermute1, had the damage inflicted on Case reversed, along with piec es of his pancreas replaced in order to quell his addiction to amphetamines. Ironically, he implanted sacs of a neurotoxin along Case’s major arteries, sort of holding his ability to jack into cyberspace hostage, in order to have Case help Armitage complete his (Winter mute’s) goal (Gibson 50). Foucault’s concept of biopolitics, the concept of the social con struction of the body, and Donna Haraway’s description of the cyborg can be married to analyse the occurrences and dynamics within Neuromancer, and perhaps bring insight into the possible implications of the interactions of the cyborg body and authoritarian structures in the concrete world.

PAPER & COMMENTARY55

IntroductionNeuromancer

1 An artificial intelligence, in Neuromancer, it is de fined as a nonhuman construct that is sentient.

Abstract This is a textual analysis of William Gibson’s 1984 novel Neuromancer, which fea tures a world defined by late-stage capitalism, technofetishism, and extensive transhuman ism. More specifically, the analysis will use the Foucauldian concept of biopolitics, Don na Haraway’s construct of the cyborg, the so cial construction of bodies, and Marxism. The analysis finds that the cyborg body further en ables the subjugation of bodies under oppres sive institutions and systems in the novel.

In A Cyborg Manifesto Donna Haraway described Foucault’s biopolitics as “a flaccid premonition of cyborg politics” (Haraway 7). More usefully, she described cyborgs as “a cy bernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction.” (Haraway 5). There are many characters in Neuromancer who could be described as cyborgs. Molly, for example, has claws implanted in her fingers, and Case has sacs of neurotoxins near his major ar teries and a partially artificial pancreas. The novel is arguably defined by the presence of the cyborg, in that concepts which are inte gral to the novel like cyberspace and simstims3 rely on the ironic combination of humanity and inhumanity. Case’s world is one heavily imbued with biopolitics; various structures, powers, and groups exist for a myriad of goals, and many of them work toward them through the aforementioned biopolitics. Biopolitics in the more concrete dimensions are mentioned earlier in the essay, however the biopolitics in the novel are different from these examples in that the characters are more easily subju gated to biopower through their own cyborg bodies— this could be called cyberpolitics. In utilising Foucalt’s concept of biopower, and Haraway’s concept of the cyborg, cyberpolitics could be defined as the catalyst role the cyborg body plays in the submission that is biopower. Specifically, powers can more readily conduct surveillance on the technological attributes of the cyborg body. I must stress that these me chanical attributes are not merely concrete ad ditions to their biological matter, but also their abilities granted by these additions, e.g. being able to jack into cyberspace or use simstims–these abilities also enhance the capacities of various powers to conduct surveillance and discipline on the characters. There is an addi tional dimension to this subjugation, another force: submission and commodification under a capitalist system. In his bachelor thesis, Joel Monssen Nordström (Nordström 12-17) de scribes commodification and commodity fetishi zation in the novel— he uses the example of Armitage being commodified by the artificial intelligence Wintermute in order to achieve the construct’s goals of merging with its coun terpart Neuromancer, another artificial intelli gence. In the article, he conducted a Marxist analysis, however he neglected the role that the cyborg body played in the commodification of various characters under capitalism in favor of a more classic Marxist analysis. Commodity 2 See Surgery for intersex by Sarah Creighton for more 3information.Throughout the book, “simstims” are used as a device to see the recorded sensory experiences of others.

HOPE HUMANITIES | VOL III ISSUE III 56 not as general as regulatory controls, but it is not quite an individual control over bodies. It is more easily explained by the concept of doc ile bodies: By the late eighteenth century, the soldier has become something that can be made; out of a formless clay, an inapt body, the machine re quired can be constructed; posture is gradually corrected; a calculated constraint runs slowly through each part of the body, mastering it, making it pliable, ready at all times, turning silently into the automatism of habit; in short, one has “got rid of the peasant” and given him “the air of a soldier.” (Foucault 179) It is a term that describes the collection of bodies, a set of them, that are moulded by disciplinary and surveillant practices for the purposes of larger institutions e.g. schools, psychiatric facilities, prisons, barracks, etc. An example of biopower as a whole would be the treatment of intersex infants2 under cishet eronormativity; the physical attributes of the infant is passed through social constructions, assembled into a constructed body, deemed in valid both by the possible medical knowledge, the physician, and by the rules of a cisheter onormative society. The surgery is performed, the infant is turned into a normative body, something of a binary sex— the regulatory controls of the society (possible government mandates) and anatomo-politics (a more di rect control over bodies) merges into biopow er and results in a more normative construc tion. In short, biopower is mere power over bodies, whether it be through discipline or surveillance, in varying degrees of specificity and method. The (Marxist) Politics Surrounding Cyborg Bodies

fetishization is a sort of irrational idealisation of the commodity, a construct socially regard ed as objectified, but ironically playing a social function, having a sort of “biography” — the diamond-water paradox is a great example of commodity fetishization. The commodity is not just inanimate objects, but victims of oppressive systems are commodified as well–white supremacy commodifies Black people in order to further its oppression4. Further in his thesis, Nordström describes the Marx ist theory of the commodification of labour–that the capitalist mode of production forces the working class to sell their labour to their employers. This commodification extends to the character’s very minds, and the cyborg modifications they possess make it even more powerful– Nordström mentions Molly’s com modification of her body in prostitution to fi nance her claw implants by turning her body off with an implanted chip as an example of the commodification of labor in the novel. The social reality of Molly’s female, cyborg body catalysed Molly’s “extracurricular labour”; the oversexualized female construction of Molly’s body within a patriarchal making prostitution a profession exceptionally easy to get into, and the cyborg modifications of Molly’s body both creating a necessity for work (her claws) as well as the ease of doing it (chip implants). In Neuromancer, various powers influence the characters, with poverty influencing these working-class characters into commodifying themselves, Moreover, the commodification and resulting control over these characters are facilitated by the aforementioned mechanical additions to them. Conclusion This paper argues that the cyborg body facilitates the capabilities of various powers and institutions of performing biopower, es pecially in using biopower to commodify la bor, workers, and people in general. When the concepts of Marxism, Foucauldian biopolitics, the cyborg, and the social construction of the

4 See Woman, Race, Class by Angela Davis and Afropessimism by Frank B. Wilderson III for more insight on this topic. body are applied to a story as unique as Neuro mancer, it more clearly illuminates the work ings of the oppressive systems within the book, especially the implications of widespread cy borg bodies interacting with late capitalism. These findings are important in that they can lead us to a possible wider implication– that of capitalist oppression paired with widespread technological advancement, specifically what this may imply with enhanced oppression.

Works Cited Foucault, Michel, and Paul Rabinow. The Foucault Reader. Pantheon, 1984. Gibson, William. Neuromancer. Reprint, Ace, 2000. Haraway, Donna J.. Manifestly Haraway, University of Minnesota Press, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Cen tral, Turner,Sponsler,Nordström,detail.action?docID=4392065.http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/warw/JoelMonssen.“TheIdeologyoftheCapitalistDystopia:AMarxistAnalysisofWilliamGibson’sNeuromancer.”(2012).Claire.“BeyondtheRuins:TheGeopoliticsofUrbanDecayandCyberneticPlay.”ScienceFictionStudies,vol.20,no.2,1993,pp.251–65,http://www.jstor.org/stable/4240252.Accessed5Apr.2022.Bryan.TheBodyandSociety:ExplorationsinSocialTheory(PublishedinAssociationWithTheory,CultureandSociety)(2008–05-06).3rded.,SAGEPublicationsLtd,2022.

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