Immigrants

I understand that I am probably just completely oblivious to the whole idea of illegal immigrants, but I still do not know why as Americans we make it such a big deal. I’ll never completely understand why we think it is okay to shot people trying to cross the border. People from other countries come here in hopes to change their future, and it is not fair to completely raise the wall because of a few terrorist acts. Yes I do agree that people should gain citizenship, but I fell like sometimes Americans look down on people from other nationalities and that is not fair. My aunt is from Peru, and she loves it here because of the freedom that she has, and she talks about how she would like for all of her siblings to live in America with her, but she said there is not a chance because of how hard the test is, and how little time they would have to prepare for it. She also talked about a time while she was out with her family eating dinner, how hostile the waiter was all because she did not understand her. She understood his frustration, but just wished that he could have taken care of it a better way. She was also upset because she said when Americans come to tour in Peru, they just assume that everyone there should know English, and they do not respect them as their own nation. And we talked about this in class with the French people. 

Superman Isn't real

I’ve actually watch Waiting For Spiderman before. I’m sure my mother had me watch it because she is big on education and she wanted us to see how corrupt the system was or maybe it was so that we could gain some sort of appreciation for our own schooling. The movie is quite depressing because without it I would have never known that our education system was unfair and unethical. Watching movies like that makes me wish that I could be Superman. We take kids that really want to learn, kids that are yearning for a good education and we hinder them from that by sending them to schools that aren’t going to really help them succeed. There were five cases in this movie and only two of them were chosen to achieve a better education. It was really sad because this movie was made in 2010 based off of true stories. So this means that this is still a big problem in western civilization. The fact that we a treating our schooling system like a lottery is completely ridiculous, and really hard to understand. It is a requirement that students go to school, but the education that they are receiving is what is holding them back from success. For example in the movie Bianca, the little black girl, made it through whatever grade she was in but wasn’t allowed to go to the graduation ceremony because her mother was not able to pay the bill one time. It just shows how much people are actually trying to help.. ): 

Education...?? Ha

The only problem with Western education is the fact that it is still segregated. Maybe not only by race as it used to be in the past, but certainly by financial status. And sadly the majority of the people on the lower end of the financial ladder is the African American race. The school board limits these areas level of education by simple not putting the same amount of money into these lower income families’ schools. The upper class students get to go to school where new books are provided, great teachers, and high expectations. Thus leads to graduated doctor, lawyers, and other high paying jobs. This is great for those students, but what about the other students who aren’t able to make it into that work force. Often time we blame it on the child saying, “Oh this student just doesn’t take my class seriously.” Which may actually be the case for a select few. But the real problem is the fact that these students are not stupid. Nor are they blind. It’s hard to feel appreciated and respected when you know that the school up the street has better learning equipment. Another thing is that the students in to lower income schools aren’t taught the same curriculum as the higher income class. So in a way the schools are dumbing down those kids, and it’s really sad. I’ve been on both sides of the grass, so I know how it all worked. Yes money is a big factor, but there should be some sort of balance.

The World Is Ending

Well the readings for this class are just getting more disturbing every time! Like the story of Brandon Smith from Hanna Rosin’s article for example, a story about an 8 year old boy who desperately wanted to be a girl. He would dress up in his mother’s clothes, put on her make up, and insist on playing with Barbie’s and doll houses. His mother told him that he was supposed to be a boy, and that was how God made him. Brandon’s response was, “God made a mistake.” They went through therapy sessions, transgender conferences, and for a while they forced him to be a boy. But after awhile as disgusting as it is his mother, Tina, gave up on him. She even went as far as calling him Bridget and moving states so that Brandon can grow up as a girl.

            We discussed in class that people who are “transgender” should be able to decide for themselves rather or not to switch sexes. Which means that they would have to make this decision at a very young age. And in my opinion 8 years old is not old enough to make this decision. In fact the child should be told that he she is wrong and should be forced to act like what ever sex they were born to be. I don’t know this sounds a little harsh, but gee wiz. If  God wanted Brandon to be a girl then he would have made him female. I guess the whole phrase, “Jesus is coming back,” and the meaning behind it is finally playing out! The world as we know it is ending.

Up, Up, and... Away??

According to this week’s reading assignment I have a low chance of fulfilling my dreams. Because I closely fit the American Profile of Cheryl Mitchell, from Gregory Mantsios’s journal, I will grow up to have 5 fatherless kids, work 2 min. wage jobs, and live below the poverty line.  Awesome!! It doesn’t help that my mom raised my siblings and me all by herself for over half of my childhood, I’m a female, and oh no… I’ve got some African American in my blood. And based off the “The Missing Class” article by Katherine S. Newman and Victor Tan Chen, nothing gets better for me. Because I worked during high school I was overwhelmed, and because of that my studies habits became haywire and some of my grades slipped. And because I can admit to that I will probably face the same struggles in college. Only it’s so much harder in college, so instead of my teachers working with me to maintain and balance both my school work, and my job work, I will just drop out and end up at Wal-Mart… then McDonalds, then the gas station, and maybe a daycare. Sounds about right according to the text. Basically the cycle never ends. This means I won’t graduate from grad school, let alone an undergraduate university. I wont be in a position to properly provide for my family, and because I am a black female, my life is pretty much already on it’s way down a drain. Well the good ole phrase, “You lean something new every day”, isn’t a joker! I’m just glad I found that out now! Thanks Rereading America!!(:

Sucess

In class we have been debating over the definition of success. What it means to be successful?  To me being successful doesn't only mean having tons of money and power, because not everyone can do that of course, but i do believe that everyone can have success. So what is it? Everyone has their own definition, and achievements. One of my successes was graduating High School. For some people that may not be a big deal, but for someone with dyslexia, short term memory loss, and ADD it's HUGE. I had a teacher tell me that I didn't have much of a chance getting through high school, and that I would probably never learn at a higher level, yet I graduated with a 3.96 unweighted GPA, and got accepted into a private university. I really enjoyed reading Horatio Alger’s story. So many people get caught up in their situations, and they listen to these lies that tell them that they won’t ever make anything of themselves. In Alger’s passage he tells a story about Dick. A man who wasn’t extremely smart, but he wanted to be something. It was more destiny then hard work, but it was still an inspirational text. I don’t know I’ve just been through a lot, overcame a lot, and I feel on top of the world sometimes. I strongly dislike the people who lie to the unfortunate. For example whoever said that success was being rich, famous, or in power. Heck I’m not either one of those but do I consider myself successful? I sure do.

The Model Family

For years many have agreed that if one doesn’t live with its nuclear family; that being a biological mother and father and the kids that they produce or adopt, than that family is defined as dysfunctional.  I say that this belief is crap, because for one who has the authority to define normality, and two every family has their problems, even the nuclear one. 
There is no such thing as a normal family, because there is no such thing as two families that are exactly alike. Every family has their problems and their triumphs, and for any one person to dictate which families are compatible and which ones are not, in my opinion are the one causing all the problems. It’s just like when the media proclaims that girls have to be a size zero to be accepted and appealing. All girls who do not meet that criterion are considered rejects and revolting which leads to bulimic and anorexic girls. It’s the same thing for families. Everyone that doesn’t fit norm has to tweak and bend their families and after so long they break, hence all the problems in today’s families 
Also it’s impossible to find a family that matches other family completely, because no two people are completely alike. All families are dysfunctional. Yes some are more messed up than others, but there has never been a time where families were perfect. Like Soto’s story his family didn’t match up to the white families that were portrayed on the TV shows. He’s dad was out of the picture, his mom was the one who had to provide, and they were of a Mexican descendant. Which is nothing like the made up family, but in the end Soto and his family where happy the way they were. This goes to show that all families can find there happiness no matter what the predicament is.