Audience_Michael+Faith+Incident

= Michael Faith Incident- Audience =



By: Leia Trice
This event had one audience with two different intentions. Nevertheless, this audience was the lawmakers.

The primary audience of the Michael Faith Incident was the lawmakers with the intent to end desegregation. As Time Magazine reports, "Last week attendance dropped to zero when South Boston High and seven other Boston public schools were closed after a new outbreak of racial violence" (Time). A great amount of "racial violence" occurred at South Boston High School at this time because it was one of the first schools to be desegregated in South Boston. Many people were severely displeased and outraged by the desegregation, which transpired due to new laws that had been made. This "new outbreak" of racial violence was the stabbing of Michael Faith. This "new outbreak" was an attempt to end "attendance" to the school. The intermingling of races at this school occurred because lawmakers deemed it needed to happen. However, the people did not want that; moreover, the students did not want this. By depleting the "attendance" of the school, the students conveyed that they opposed the lawmakers choices, and that it was a stupid idea to try to combine the races. This message was communicated to the lawmakers through the violence, through the stabbing of Michael Faith. Thus, the audience of the event was the lawmakers because through violence, the people could convey to their lawmakers that desegregation was foolish.

Nonetheless, the actually audience of this event was the lawmakers, but with a different intention. The true audience of this event were the lawmakers so that they could make the transition into desegregated schools easier. The Bryan Times recounts, "On Wednesday evening, Julius Bernstein, acting chairman of the Massachusetts Advisory Commission to US Civil Right Commission, sent a telegram to US District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity urging, 'immediate moves to make plain that the court will take a hard line to preserve the peace'" (Bassett). The stabbing occurred on Tuesday, the day before "Wednesday." It only took a day for lawmakers to realize that they would need more help enforcing their decrees. The real audience was the lawmakers in order for them to create an easier transition to desegregation because it caused them to focus and perceive that their idea of the law could not be so simply enacted. Moreover, after so much violence the lawmakers needed help to "preserve peace." The "chairman of the Massachusetts Advisory Commission" sent a telegram to the "US District Court Judge" because Boston needed more help than what could be given from the state. More than just state legislators were needed, federal legislators were needed, too. This event allowed for every American to comprehend that it would take a tremendous amount of support and aid to desegregate. Therefore, this event's true audience were the lawmakers, but it was so that they could make the transition easier rather than just leave the people to do it.

All in all, there were two audiences to the Michael Faith Incident. It was done for an audience of lawmakers in order to enact change and peace, but also done to return the culture to its old ways and behaviors of segregation.

Works Cited "Southie Boils Over." Time. 23 Dec 1974: N. pag. Web. Time.com. Web. 8 Jan 2012 Bassett, Edward W. "Boston schools close after stabbing, protests." //The Bryan Times.// 12 Dec 1974: A1//.// //News.google.com.// ​Web. 8 Jan 2012.