TOW #7- Visual Text

This cartoon was posted on The Onion, a popular, satirical newspaper founded in 1988. Created in August of 2016, the visual gives insight on the current police violence in the United States. Recently, many police have responded to innocent citizens violently, causing worry and paranoia in the cities that have been touched by this event. In the drawing, a family in a safe neighborhood celebrates the fact that their area has not been affected by police brutality. The addition of Lady Liberty cheering with the family symbolizes the entirety of America, showing that not only are “Families in Nice Neighborhoods” targeted, but also the rest of the country. The author uses labeling to show the views of certain Americans on this issue, and to point fingers at certain groups of Americans. This device makes the audience want to take action because the author targets certain people. Targeting specific groups of people makes the viewers look at themselves, what they may be doing wrong, and cause them to want to change the way they look at a topic or act upon it. The author is appealing to Americans because police brutality is largely prevalent in the United States presently. He is urging Americans to take action, and to realize that even though the violence is not occurring in their neighborhood, it is still a relevant and important issue that the country as a whole is suffering from. Therefore, American citizens should act do more than hope that their town is not involved in the brutality, but they need to help the issue by providing support and improving their own police forces. I think that the device of labeling helped the author achieve his purpose because it helps bring specific groups of people into the picture, especially those who have thought that police brutality is not their problem.