David Russell

English 1010
Elaine Turner
4/20/16

Some Lives Matter More

The demographics of the two major American political parties are

astoundingly different. According to a 2013 Gallup Poll, 89% of
Republicans are non-Hispanic whites. The Democrats outnumber the
Republicans in every minority group by a margin of 1-20%. These gaps
have been vastly important to the Democrats in the past two
presidential elections and will be a key factor in the up-coming
election.
This difference in demographics is not only important in the
election process; it is also of great significance in the construction of
foreign policy. Since the 9/11 attacks Republicans have become
increasingly anti-Islam. With the recent rise of the Islamic State in Syria
and Iraq, the anti-Islam paranoia of many Republicans has been
exponentially accelerated. The two main Republican candidates
heading into their convention have made no effort to shy away from
Islamaphobic rhetoric. They have actually been two of the main drivers

of this bigotry. Now famously, Republican front-runner, Donald Trump,

stated that if he were elected there would be a total and complete
shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. The runner up, Ted
Cruz, just recently spouted his own xenophobic statement after the
attacks in Brussels. He emphatically avowed the need to empower
law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before
they become radicalized.
Utah resident and acclaimed political cartoonist, Pat Bagley, has
just published a cartoon depicting his own opinion on the Republican
responses to the tragic slew of terrorist attacks that the world has seen
in the four short months of 2016. (See figure 1)
Fig. 1

Bagleys cartoon poses two important thoughts. The first is

depicted through the number of candles and flowers placed on the
Brussels vigil as compared to the rest of the memorials. Through this
image, he comments on the amount of news coverage this tragic
attack has received. Most people would not have to look up what had
happened in Brussels, in contrast to the attack in Zliten, Libya, where
at least 65 people were killed and another 200 wounded. The attack in
Brussels drew international attention within hours, where as you would
be hard pressed to find an American who was aware that the Zliten
attack had even occurred. Bagley is frustrated at the lack of media
coverage that these other attacks have received.

The second thought is illustrated through the sign the elephant is

carrying. A play on the recent series of protests, Black Lives Matter,
Bagley draws on what he sees as racism on the part of the
Republicans. He is making the statement that they only care about the
Brussels attack because it is Brussels is predominantly white (89%
white, which ironically is the same percentage of whites in the
Republican party). Bagley is giving a nod to the lack of attention that
Republicans have given to countries where white Christians are not the
majority group.
Bagleys purpose is trying to convince the reader that the
Republican Partys foreign policy is steeped in racism and xenophobia
and that they are ignoring tragedies because they happened to
demographics that are unimportant to the partys base.

Work Cited

At Least 65 Killed in Bomb Attack on Libya Police Training Center." RT

International.

RT International, 7 Jan. 2016. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.

Bagley, Pat. "Bagley Cartoon: Some Lives Matter More." The Salt Lake
Tribune. Salt

Lake Tribune, 23 Mar. 2016. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.

Cohen, Michael A. "Cruz Pulls a Trump on Muslims - The Boston Globe."

BostonGlobe.com. Boston Globe, 24 Mar. 2016. Web. 06 Apr.
2016.

Donald J. Trump for President. Donald J. Trump Statement on Preventing

Muslim
Immigration. Donaldjtrump.com. Donald J. Trump for President, 7
Dec. 2015. Web 18 Apr. 2016.

"Ethnicity and Race by Countries." Ethnicity and Race by Countries.

Fact Monster, 06 Apr. 2016. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.

Response to peer comments

The first thing that each of the people that commented on my
essay was a very blatant and frankly embarrassing spelling error; I had
mistaken pole for poll when talking a Gallup poll. Erik suggested that I
say whether or not I agree with Bagleys take on the cartoon. I didnt
think this was good feedback because my understanding of the essay
was to not to include my own personal opinion of the matter. He did
make the comment to expand on the things Cruz has said about
Muslims, which I think is good feedback. You said that my essay needs
kairos, which I think is a very good comment because I just assumed
the reader would know about the issues. This was a mistake because in
writing it is usually a mistake to assume that your reader knows about
something. You also made some comments on sentence structure that
I think could improve my essay. Aleki made a lot of positive comments.
While there wasnt a ton that I could get in terms of improving it from
her comments, it was nice to know that I was on the right track for this
essay.