MOVE Philadelphia Bombing Free Essay Example, 1750 words

Ultimately, black activism in the United States has been seen as more threatening than other displays of activism in the United States. Firstly, prior to delving into the issue of the MOVE bombing of 198 it is useful to understand the fact that even though the civil rights era had begun a full 30 years previously, United States officials and the society at large, was still very much aware of the threat and the pervasive fear that black nationalism, black activism, black terrorism, and any other illegal activity that could be perpetrated by African-Americans might necessarily denote (King & Smith 79). As such, the response that was engaged to almost any form of black activism, crime, drug usage, or any other illegal, or conceivably illegal, activity was extreme to say the least. For years, pundits and political analysts have pointed to the disparity with respect to the way in which African-Americans exist under the criminal justice system of the United States. However, the situation that was denoted with the Philadelphia MOVE community was one that can only be understood as a response motivated primarily by racial fear, suspicion, and a great deal of prejudice and preconceived notions with respect to the way in which this particular group was expected to behave. Ultimately, the events that took place in 1985, with regards to the Philadelphia MOVE group, helps to illustrate the disparity between the way in which black separatism and white separatism was treated. We will write a custom essay sample on MOVE Philadelphia Bombing or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now For instance, an individual who might have espoused a radical ideology that promoted rabbit antigovernment views and promoted a degree of racial discord and white supremacy would not likely have been engaged in the same manner that the individuals of the Philadelphia MOVE group were treated. Interestingly, a complete and thorough analysis of the incident up to and including the bombing of this group denotes the fact that even though a high percentage of the group’s members were in fact African-American, a unique level of black separatism, racism, or any other racial motivations do not have any level of conclusive proof with regards to this specific group an incident. However, the lack of evidence and/or the lack of violence that this particular group displayed was not in and of itself sufficient to dissuade the officials responsible for the debacle, or indeed the media that reported it, from understanding this response in a slanted, un-object ive and ultimately racist manner. In order to identify the level of abject racism that existed with respect to the 1985 MOVE bombing, the reader must delve into the history of the formation of the group that ultimately came to be known as MOVE.