Séries technologiques • LV1
Corrigé
13
Formes de pouvoir
angT_1200_14_02C
Sujet zéro
Séries technologiques • LV1
Text 1Rosa Park’s arrest
One evening in early December 1955 I was sitting in the front seat of the colored section of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The white people were sitting in the white section. More white people got on, and they filled up all the seats in the white section. When that happened, we black people were supposed to give up our seats to the whites. But I didn’t move. The white driver said,
“Let me have those front seats.” I didn’t get up.
I was tired of giving in to white people.
“I’m going to have you arrested,” the driver said.
“You may do that,” I answered.
Two white policemen came. I asked of them, “Why do you all push us around,”
He answered, “I don’t know, but the law is the law and you’re under arrest.”
For half of my life there were laws and customs in the South that kept African Americans segregated from Caucasians and allowed white people to treat black people without any respect. I never thought this was fair, and from the time I was a child, I tried to protest against disrespectful treatment. But it was very hard to do anything about segregation and racism when white people had the power and the law behind them. Somehow we had to change the laws. And we had to get enough white people on our side…
Rosa Parks and Jim Haskins, Rosa Parks, My Story, 1992.
Text 2Family of Florida boy killed by neighborhood watch seeks arrest
Orlando, Florida (Reuters) – The family of a 17-year-old African-American boy shot to death last month in his gated Florida community by a white Neighborhood Watch captain wants to see the captain arrested, the family’s lawyer said on Wednesday.
Trayvon Martin was shot dead after he took a break from watching NBA All-Star game television coverage to walk 10 minutes to a convenience store to buy snacks including Skittles candy requested by his 13-year-old brother, Chad, the family’s lawyer Ben Crump said.
“He was a good kid,” Crump said in an interview, adding that the family would issue a call for the Watch captain’s arrest at a news conference on Thursday. “On his way home, a Neighborhood Watch loose cannon shot and killed him.”
Trayvon, who lived in Miami with his mother, had been visiting his father and stepmother in a gated townhome community called The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, 20 miles north of Orlando.
As Trayvon returned to the townhome, Sanford police received a 911 call reporting a suspicious person.
Although names are blacked out on the police report, Crump and media reports at the time of the shooting identified the caller as George Zimmerman who is listed in the community’s newsletter as the Neighborhood Watch captain.
Without waiting for police to arrive, Crump said, Zimmerman confronted Trayvon, who was on the sidewalk near his home. By the time police got there, Trayvon was dead of a single gunshot to the chest.
“What do the police find in his pocket Skittles1,” Crump said. “A can of Arizona ice tea in his jacket pocket and Skittles in his front pocket for his brother Chad.”
Zimmerman could not be reached for comment on Wednesday evening at a phone number listed for him on the community’s newsletter.
Crump said the family was concerned that police might decide to consider the shooting as selfdefense, and that police have ignored the family’s request for a copy of the original 911 call, which they think will shed light on the incidents.
“If the 911 protocol across the country held to form here, they told him not to get involved. He disobeyed that order,” said Ryan Julison, a spokesman for the family.
“He (Zimmerman) didn’t have to get out of his car,” said Crump, who has prepared a public records lawsuit to file on Thursday if the family doesn’t get the 911 tape. “If he never gets out of his car, there is no reason for self-defense. Trayvon only has Skittles. He has the gun.”
Since Trayvon, a high school junior who wanted to be a pilot, was black and Zimmerman is white, Crump said race is “the 600 pound elephant in the room.”
“Why is this kid suspicious in the first place I think a stereotype must have been placed on the kid,” Crump said.
Barbara Liston, Reuters, 7th March 2012.
1. Skittles: marque de bonbons.
COMPRÉHENSION
Text 1
1 This text is:
a) an extract from a short story.☐
b) an autobiography.☐
c) a newspaper article.☐
2 Find information about the character who tells the story. (Justify from the text.)
1. Name: … .
2. Sex: … .
3. Colour of skin: … .
3 Where and when did the event take place
4 Say whether these statements are true (T) or false (F). Justify each time with a quotation from the text.
1. There were no more seats available in the white
section of the bus. 
2. Rosa Parks was sitting in the white section. 
3. She was arrested because she pushed a white person. 
4. She has always disagreed with segregation. 
Text 2
1 Fill in this summary of the text with the correct information.
In … (place), a … (origin) boy aged … (age), was killed by a … (occupation).
2 Match the names with who they are.
3 Put the events in chronological order.
1. The boy walked to a store to buy some food.☐
2. Someone shot the boy.☐
3. Someone phoned the police because they had found
the boy suspicious.☐
4. The boy watched a basketball match on TV.☐
4 Find a justification in the text to prove that:
1. the boy had nothing dangerous with him.
2. the captain shouldn’t have got out of his car.
3. racism may be the explanation for the murder.
Both texts
To what extent is the law interrelated with the problems of segregation and racism in both texts
EXPRESSION
> Do both subjects. (150 words each)
1 Trayvon Martin’s mother has decided to address the public in a TV broadcast. Imagine her speech.
2 Do you think that prejudices play an important part in our society Give examples.
Texte 1
L’auteur
Rosa Parks (1913-2005) est la célèbre couturière noire qui, en 1955, a enfreint la loi ségrégationniste en refusant de laisser sa place à un passager blanc dans un bus en Alabama. L’arrestation qui a suivi a été à l’origine du mouvement pour les droits civiques aux États-Unis.
Pour en savoir plus : https://www.history.com/topics/rosa-parks
Le thème
C’est précisément l’épisode de son arrestation que Rosa Parks raconte ici. Elle explique son refus de céder sa place à un passager blanc par sa lassitude face à une situation qu’elle a toujours jugée inique.
Vocabulaire utile à la compréhension
To give in, l. 8 (céder) to push around, l. 12 (intimider, menacer) fair, l. 18 (juste).
Texte 2
L’auteur
Barbara Liston est journaliste à l’agence britannique de presse Reuters, l’une des plus célèbres au monde.
Pour en savoir plus :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/
Le thème
En Floride, un jeune homme afro-américain de 17 ans a été tué d’une balle un soir, par le capitaine d’une milice de surveillance de voisinage. Il revenait d’un magasin et n’avait sur lui que des bonbons. L’avocat engagé par la famille laisse entendre que c’est sa couleur de peau qui lui a valu de se faire abattre, le capitaine n’ayant pas respecté la procédure.
Vocabulaire utile à la compréhension
Gated community, l. 2-3 (un ensemble résidentiel clos) Neighborhood Watch, l. 3 (système de surveillance assuré par les habitants d’un quartier) convenience store, l. 7 (épicerie) loose cannon, l. 13 (franc-tireur) sidewalk, l. 24 (trottoir) chest, l. 26 (poitrine) to shed light, l. 36 (faire la lumière) spokesman, l. 39 (porte-parole).
Les points de convergence
Les deux textes traitent de la discrimination raciale aux États-Unis : à l’époque où la ségrégation était légale et un objet de lutte des Afro-américains et aujourd’hui où la discrimination est illégale mais effective, les Afro-américains continuant à être l’objet de préjugés portant atteinte à leurs droits de citoyens.
Le sujet d’expression 1
Pistes de recherche
La mère de Trayvon peut commencer en résumant les faits. Elle exprimera certainement colère et incompréhension face au meurtre de son fils. Elle pourra s’adresser aux responsables du maintien de l’ordre public, en leur rappelant qu’eux aussi sont soumis à la loi, et s’adresser plus largement à l’ensemble de la population afin que cela ne se reproduise pas.
Vocabulaire utile
Unacceptable (inadmissible) to appeal to (faire appel à) victim of a cowardly murder (lâchement assassiné) a citizen (un citoyen) to warn (prévenir, avertir) to mourn for (pleurer la mort de).
Le sujet d’expression 2
Pistes de recherche
Attention : prejudice est un faux-ami et signifie « préjugé ».
Dans la plupart des sociétés, les minorités souffrent des préjugés édictés par la majorité, du fait qu’elles ne correspondent pas à la « norme » communément admise : minorités ethniques, communautés religieuses, citoyens homosexuels, par exemple. Ceci a des répercussions sur leurs droits constitutionnels, qui ne se trouvent de fait pas respectés en totalité (question au cœur du combat pour les droits civiques aux États-Unis), mais aussi sur le regard qui est porté sur elles, et l’attitude démontrée à leur égard.
Vocabulaire utile
To suffer from (souffrir de) the rights (les droits) the civil rights movement (le mouvement des droits civiques) to evolve (évoluer) to guarantee (garantir) to grant (accorder).
Correction
COMPRÉHENSION
Text 1
1 b) This text is an autobiography.
2 1. Name: Rosa Parks.
2. Sex: Female.
3. Colour of skin: black (“we black people”, l. 5).
3 It took place in Montgomery, Alabama, one evening in early December 1955.
4 1. True: “they filled up all the seats in the white section” (l. 4).
2. False: “I was sitting in the front seat of the colored section” (l. 1-2).
3. False: “we black people were supposed to give up our seats to the whites. But I didn’t move” (l. 5-6).
4. True: “from the time I was a child, I tried to protest against disrespectful treatment” (l. 18-19).
Text 2
1 In Orlando, Florida, an African-American boy aged 17, was killed by a Neighborhood Watch captain.
2 1. Trayvon Martin: the victim. 2. Chad: the victim’s brother. 3. Ben Crump: the victim’s lawyer. 4. George Zimmerman: the killer.
3 The boy watched a basketball match on TV. (4)
The boy walked to a store to buy some food. (1)
Someone phoned the police because they found the boy suspicious. (3)
Someone shot the boy. (2)
4 1. “A can of Arizona ice tea in his jacket pocket and Skittles in his front pocket…” (l. 28-29).
2. “He didn’t have to get out of his car” (l. 40).
3. “Trayvon (…) was black and Zimmerman is white, Crump said race is ‘the 600 pound elephant in the room’ ” (l. 45-47).
Both texts
In the first text, the law guaranteed the rights of whites against blacks, it institutionalised segregation and therefore sided with injustice. In the second text, we cannot say the same, but we notice that prejudices against colored people still exist.
EXPRESSION
1 Guidelines
My son, Trayvon, who was just 17, was killed last month because he had gone to the convenient store to buy candy for his younger brother, at night. My son was killed because he was black, and because a Neighborhood Watch captain found his presence so suspicious that he shot him dead without warning, without evidence… This must not happen again. You cannot shoot people in the street because of the color of their skin. This was not true in the past, this is not true now. The laws of our country should protect all its citizens. I think, “this is not my country”. I just don’t understand how this could happen. Now I mourn for my son, but as a mother, I think of all the other mothers, and say: this mustn’t happen again. Never.
2 Guidelines
Our society has evolved. The law protects minorities more and more, whereas in the past, it only guaranteed the rights of the citizens who belonged to the norm. Some minorities were set aside, even by the law, like in the US before the civil rights movement, for instance. But as society changed, new laws were voted that guaranteed equality for all – like the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Yet, a law doesn’t change mentalities and prejudices against colored people still exist as the second text shows. In France, a recent debate has tackled the rights of homosexuals to get married, at a time when President Obama tackled the topic in his nomination speech. They want the same rights as heterosexuals but the law doesn’t grant them these rights because society doesn’t see them as equal. This leads us to think about what equality really means.