Communications and Media

Abstract
In the chronology of the world, the use of speech as a far more lethal weapon has been displayed time and again. In the United States, among the groups that espouse the use of agitation control in their propaganda are the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the Minutemen, race supremacy groups, instigators of hate crimes, and others, using speech to control the atmosphere, thus incepting a breed of social change. But the United States government has also used this rhetorical weapon in their actions against illegal immigrants crossing over the border, some to escape grinding poverty, others to find a new life. How has this been used and what types do these groups utilize

Rhetoric of agitation
Illegal Immigration Dealing with the Alien
In a rare move of legislators on both sides of the lawmaking aisle, Senators John McCain and Edward Kennedy bared a major proposal to deal with the issue is illegal immigrants and immigration. In this proposal, the law is based on one of capitulation if the government account act with dispatch in the deportation of the estimated 10-12 million illegal aliens in the United States, then the only recourse that is left is to legalize their stay in the country. But there is another way of addressing the illegal immigrant problem that of consistently enforcing current laws on immigration that will reduce the illegal immigrant population in the United States. The action is not a mere restriction on immigration, but a gradual phasing out of illegal immigrants from the United States. In short, harass illegal immigrants till they themselves will not even consider moving across the border (Mark Krikorian, 2005).

In the book, The Rhetoric of Agitation and Control (1993), the authors of the book, John Bowers, Donovan Ochs, and R.J. Jensen, describe the many steps that ideological movements that must happen before the determination of a particular movements triumph or demise. In the initial stage, termed as the petition stage, fomenters  beseech the sources of power, governments, businesses or educational institutions, to persuade them to capitulate to the requests or ultimatums that will minimally overreach what that entity is comfortable to give. If the powers deem this request or ultimatum as illogical, then the movement moves to the next stage of the process, the promulgation step, or making the movement known in the market leaflets, handouts, and staging rallies, the fomenters use these mediums to inform outsiders of the illogical stance of the powers. At this point, the leaders desire to recruit members, and with the publicity they have generated, hope to acquire more recruits (Charles Larson, 2009).

This was the case of the American Civil Liberties Union when in 2005, the group in consonance with other groups advocating free speech assailed the conduct of the Bush government to monitor the communications of Americans on the sly. If the promulgation step proves to be successful, then the solidification stage follows, where the new recruits have their emotions stoked in rallies, and with protest songs. In the polarization stage, the uncommitted among society are focused on by the movement and their recruits. They polarize the society by using issues like a flag or a person. They are termed as such in that these icons are made as the ultimate villain of what the ideology or the movement abhors the most. Among past flag issues include abortion, maltreatment of refugees, and the bombing of non military targets (Larson, 2009).  

The final stage of the agitation model is the revolution phase. This phase is considered as a rare occurrence in the history of social movements. But in the present political milieu, with the United States and the rest of the world locked in conflict in a global struggle against terrorism, it is seen that the rhetoric of agitation and control will continue to be seen as some sectors will continually object to the conduct of the increasing actions that governments resort to (Larson, 2009).  This truth was seen in a march conducted by the American racist group, the Ku Klux Klan, against what they termed as the racially destructive policies being pushed by the American government. The focus of the action was the Simpson-Mazzoli bill, the proposed law that would have granted millions of non-Caucasian, illegal aliens to stay in the United States and to become American citizens in due time. Using a denial of means, the government shut down the march to deny the KKK members a forum to air their views on the bill (William Pierce, 1982).

The fiery rhetoric in agitating for the non payment of taxes has found present day images when hundreds of Nebraska citizens rallied against the action of governments increased spending. In a tea party style rally is designed to imitate the actions in the Revolutionary War era when the citizens railed against unfair taxation policies. But instead of bags of tea to be thrown overboard the ships, the protesters bought with them cans of pork and beans to rail against the increased pork barrel spending of the government. Many of the protesters are averring that the government is oblivious to their concerns and the proposed mammoth spending strategy of the government places an unjust tax burden on the American taxpayers (Instapundit).

The actions of radical Americans in the cause of hatred of illegal immigrants is now mirrored in the conduct of self styled vigilante groups called minutemen, located at the border regions of the United States.  Even the United States has capitulated to the idea of the anti illegal immigrant propaganda, appropriating funds to construct a wall on the southern American border, and many cities and local government units have enacted laws that ban citizens from purveying or renting good to illegal aliens. The history of the United States is pockmarked with instances of bigotry and hostility towards aliens and illegals. Much of the hatred began in the 1980s and the 1990s in line with the enactment of the oppressive legislation against non-Americans not to oppose, but to support the laws (Charles Brotherton, Philip Kretsedemas, 2008).

In a case involving the minutemen, these activists manning the border patrol in Arizona invaded the home of a Mexican family, murdering Raul Flores, the father, his daughter Brisenia, aged nine, and severely injured the mother. In a statement released by the Minuteman American Defense (MAD), the attack plan was to murder the family and cart away the drug money and the illegal drugs that they were supposed to find, hoping to purge society of the suspected drug dealers (Chip Berlet, 2009). Anti terrorist as well as crime and drug speech have stoked the sentiment of the nation, but the sentiment against illegal aliens is rooted in something more. Many groups have agitated American society, that in the light of the recession many middle class Americans are facing, laws for aiding and promoting the cause of illegal aliens have further inflamed sentiments against them (Brotherton, Kretsedemas, 2008).

Hate crimes against a sector in society, as seen in the paper, either by discrimination or outright visible display of hate, is deeply rooted in the human psyche. In the words of Freud, his theory holds that humans have a basic instinct towards truculence. But instead of directing that aggression on ones self, we focus that aggression on others. Media has become the most eloquent of the delivery modes, with American children watching more than 19,000 hours by the time they enter high school. There have been efforts to collect data on the instance of hate crimes, but little progress has been made in establishing a theoretical framework on understanding hate crimes (Austin Peay State University).