Assignment #4: We know What You Want!

Mass medias relationship with advertising is strong linked. There the rise of both Mass media and advertising come along at the same time (late 1800’s to present). Mass Media needs the help of ads to make a profit, and ads need mass media to gets its products noticed.

Long before todays Internet behavioral ad rendering (searching autos.com for a BMW rendders ads for BMW or competitors) Mass media and advirtisers have been specializing in targeting its products to specific consumers groups

The ad below from Collectors Weekly in 1909 targets a specific audience group; the hunter or outdoorsmen. The likely hood that this would appear in a womens magazine or publication is unlikely.

This next ad below from 5.4.2008 on www.outdoor.com illustrates that the approach has little changed today. Advertisers continue to target specific groups based on the audience of the specific mass media audience.

The ad below from Country life in 1911 shows the target marketing approach continues.

Today a Google search for backpacking will bring up “sponsored links” on the left hand side of the Google search page. Notice in the image below on the right how retailers for backpacks show up under “sponsored links”

As you can see from the images above from the early 1900’s to today advertising approaches remain tied to mass media, and remain targeted to the same audiences those forms of mass media attempt to serve.

Patriots Win! Irish Lose!

Irish immigrants have been coming to the United States long before the American War of Independence. Many of these immigrants came over as servants, or prisoners sent to penal colonies in the new world, and in the 1800’s to escape famine, threat, and to purse their American dream.

Along with African Americans, Italian Americans, Jewish Americans, and all other X-Americans the Irish have been stereotyped. Just as blacks are often stereo typed as ‘gang bangers’, Italian Americans as Mob Soprano types, Irish-Americans have long been stereotyped as brawling, drinking, red-headed step children.

In the image below you’ll see a cartoon from the 1800’s portraying an Irish stereotype. The woman illustrated looks combative and physically unflattering compared to the ‘white’ woman in the cartoon.

And has any of that changed in today’s world of multi cultural diversity and inclusion? Other than the many workplace laws we have in place making it illegal to hire, fire, or discriminate based on race or ethnicity, the image of the Irish stereotype still exists to most still to this day…

If you search google images for Irish Drinking, it will return nearly 300,000 results. http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&q=Irish+drinking&btnG=Search+Images

Type in Irish Fighting and the search results are endless…

To many University of Notre Dame fans ‘The Fighting Irish’ is a source of pride. They use the ‘Fighting Irish’ Leprechaun as the school’s mascot. Of course this doesn’t help the stereo type, only fuels it more.

One look at this year’s Notre Dame basketball starting line up illustrates the school and the national media is perfectly happy portraying Irish American and University of Notre Dame star basketball player Luke Harangody like a big linebacker fighting and bruising Irish type during this year’s NCAA tourney.

No of this of course helps the stereotype. Were any of the other tall white big men at any of the state schools portrayed this way? Isn’t Luke Harangody just another big tall white center? Why does Notre Dame and the national media have to portray him to some degree like the common Irish stereotype? Therefore this illustrates that even today we still live with, and tolerate some of the same stereo types towards Irish-Americans (and others) that existed in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. And until its no longer tolerated it probably will continue…

Assignment #2: Libertyville Where Liberty Comes Home to Live

Libertyville: Where Liberty Come Home to Live.

The community designed in the illustration below has the charter to solve the problem of a growing country, westward expansion, and a citizens fear of growing government. This community is designed to provide Libertarians and Capitalists a community where there is minimum government rule and regulation that interferes with business, commerce, or citizens personal choices.

The only role Govt will play in this community is to protect the property rights of both its private citizens and private businesses. This is a particularly difficult concept and planned community to create, since that natural tendency of a Libertarian is to avoid planned, public, govt organized initiatives b/c of the rules and norms most wish to exercise. Most libertarians were probably on the wagon trains heading west, looking for their own private lands to live their lives they way they wanted, free from the rules and norms of others.

However this community is designed to prohibit government growth. You’ll notice this community has no roads this design is on purpose. Partly because the community should not tax its residents for public roads. Road should be allowed to form naturally, and be maintained privately by the citizens whose property these naturally formed roads traverse. The fixed park surrounding th public building is preserved land that under the communities charter can not be built upon by the community administrators. This is to prevent the local government, and community administrators from developing this land for government expansion. The park is not maintained by the government but allowed to be a natural park and preserve.

Citizens are free to follow and practice any faith or religion they choose. All property with the exception of the shared public facility will be privately owned. The public office will be funded and maintained on a donation basis only. The only function of the public facility is property rights administration and enforcement. There will be no income tax, or sales tax. There will be no “public” projects or schools, only private ventures. Agriculture and industry will be at the choice of its citizens to pursue. In this Libertarian Utopia citizens will be free to pursue ventures they feel will profit themselves the most. Over time a balance of industry and agriculture will develop itself. This is in accordance to free trade economic theory. This community will be open to the rest of the world, for both trade, and immigration. All people from any country are free to immigrate. Since slavery infringes on a persons most basic property right, there own labor and resource of trade, slavery is outlawed or banned.

Assignment 1: WSO L4RS – White Slave Owner Looking for RunAway Slave

Assignment 1: WSO L4RS – White Slave Owner Looking for RunAway Slave

One can see an interesting, and rarely seen view into our American history through the Geography of Slavery website. We know our country has had to painfully deal with slavery. The civil war was fought in part due to slavery, the civil rights movement has part of its history tied to slavery our inability to deal wholly with civil rights. But what was slavery to the people of their time? How did we live with and accept something we today see as completely morally wrong?

On the Geography of Slavery website I found 3 examples of how our ancestors viewed slavery.

1. A RunAway Slave listed in the Maryland Gazette (Green), Annapolis, July 10, 1760.

RAN away from the Subscriber, in Amelia County, in Virginia, in May 1759, a very likely Negro Man, named Dick (but used to call himself Richard Jenkins) about 30 Years old, of a middle Size, well set, very black, his Back much scarified, is a good Sawyer, and plays on the Violin. Whoever conveys the said Negro to me, shall have Ten Pounds Reward. WOOD JONES.

Why would the slave owner allow the slave to ‘play on the violin’? Was this for the slave owner or slaves enjoyment? Did the slave owner see this slave not only as property, and cheap labor, but also as entertainment? The ad mentions the slaves back is “much scarified”. I cringe imaging how his back got that way.

2. A Found Slave listed in the Norfolk Herald (Willett and O’Connor),
Norfolk, August 13, 1803

TAKEN up and committed to the Jail of Elizabeth City County, on the 1st June, a Negro Man named WILLIAM, says he belongs to a Mr. William Graham, of Northumberland county; he is about 5 feet 8 inches high; stout and well made; has a pleasing countenance and very thick lips; has no visible marks of description; had on when apprehended white jacket and pantaloons of Virginia cottons. The owner is desired to prove his property, pay charges and take him away. SAMUEL SELDEN, Sheriff. August 9.

Besides the reward what other reason was there for posting this ad, and apprehending this potential Runaway slave? The ad doesn’t mention any crime he has committed, or property damaged the potential slave owner is potentially liable for. Is the ad’s purpose and the capture of this slave solely to restore the status quo of the era? Did the era have little tolerance for Runaway slaves? This ad would support that at least in this part of the country a Runaway slave was not tolerated.

3. A RunAway slave listed in the Norfolk Herald (Willett and O’Connor),
Norfolk, August 16, 1803

RUNAWAY from the subscriber, on Friday morning last, a Negro Boy named HARRY; about the height of 4 feet; has a sore upon the left part of his nose; had on when he went off, a blue pair of trowsers and an oznabrigs shirt. All masters of vessels and others are forewarned harbouring or carrying off said Boy as the law will be rigidly enforced against them. Whoever will apprehend said Boy, shall receive One Dollar Reward from GEORGE SMITH. August 16.

My son will be 5 in April and is 4 inches short of being 4 feet tall. It makes me wonder how old the boy mentioned in this ad is and that even the youngest of runaway slaves held enough value that taking out an ad in the paper was worth it. You can see by this ad’s mention of the ‘law will be rigidly enforced’ that the local laws of this time clearly supported the concept of slavery. Did these local slave laws see runaway slave harbouring the same as harbouring stolen goods? Or did these laws see it as a different matter?

If we use the geography of slavery website as a way to see into our Country’s past, we can see that slavery was accepted, tolerated, and supported legally. It’s hard to imagine in today’s world of human rights, and civil rights that something as wrong as slavery would be tolerated and accepted, but it was. Thanks to resources like the Geography of Slavery website, facts and truths of our past views on slavery will not be lost.