The fact that he is so far away from his family, has never met his daughter, and works hard all hours of the day, proves that he deserves to be in America and work here. He works harder than any American I know and he loves doing it. If he wants to make a better life for himself and his family that bad, who is anyone here to stop him?

I know a Mexican immigrant named Jose. He works with me at home over the summer at a country club in Pittsburgh. Jose was initially hired as a dishwasher. He was always so happy to be at work and worked so hard. He speaks very broken English but is getting better. He was so eager to work that they trained him to make salads at the salad station. Jose was there all hours of the day and night doing any job he could. Next thing I know, Jose is carving meat at a buffet for the members, laughing and joking with everyone in line. He is such a hard worker that was so eager to learn from the chefs that he worked his way up. Jose has a wife and two kids back in Mexico. He left them four years ago, before his younger daughter was born, and hasn’t seen them since. Every month he wires money to them. The country club provides him with meals and housing so he sends his entire paycheck to his family. Soon, Jose told me, his family will have enough money to come join him in the U.S.

I think immigration isn’t a bad thing until it is excessive. People from Mexico want to come to America to make better lives for themselves and their families just like our ancestors did. American is supposed to be ‘the great melting pot’ and ‘the land of opportunity,’ so why should Mexicans not have that opportunity? I do think it is reasonable that if they want to come and live here, they should attempt to start learning English first so that they can pick it up easier and begin to speak it when they are here. But I don’t know how reasonable that is or how easy it is for people down there to learn English, they might not have access to it like other countries do.

I think immigrants are portrayed so badly in our country mostly because people think they don’t have a right to be here. Americans think that because it is our land, immigrants shouldn’t be allowed to live or work here. Also, they are looked down on as poor people are looked down on because they have less than the average American. It doesn’t help that most of them, at least from Mexico, do not speak English or speak it very well. This reminds Americans that they are from a foreign place and many people have very little tolerance for people who live here but cannot speak the language.

I had never heard this song before Sam played it in class and showed us the lyrics. The interesting part is how popular the Dave Matthews Band is and how many fans they have. This song has probably had a lot of exposure to their fan base but not many people take the time to listen to it closely and acknowledge the lyrics and what it’s about. I think it was very admirable of Dave Matthews or whoever wrote this song to acknowledge such a serious issue in their music.
Most people don’t think about the history of Native Americans in our country and how impoverished they are now. It’s kind of like an unspoken thing that everyone knows but nobody likes to acknowledge. The fact that somebody as popular and well-known as Dave Matthews wrote and released a song about this serious issue is surprising and also really amazing. I hope that some people that listen to the song really listen to the lyrics and think about the powerful meaning and its link to our country’s history. The morbid message it sends: “Don’t drink the water, there’s blood in the water, don’t drink the water,” probably makes people feel guilty for what our ancestors did to the Native Americans, but that is exactly what I think the purpose is. People need to feel guilty or at least feel something. We can’t control or change what our ancestors did years and years before we were alive but we can’t exactly ignore it either since people’s lives are still being incredibly effected today.
The fact that Native Americans were the first people on this soil long before any of our ancestors arrived and that they are the most impoverished group of people in American today is very shocking and sad. Yet nobody seems to be shocked because nobody talks about it or even thinks about it! If you’re not related to Native Americans or don’t have any of them in your area, the thought probably never crosses your mind. We learn about these things in history class but it seems like such a distant part of our “history” that it doesn’t matter now.
I really wish there was a way to educate more people about the current status of Native American families in the United States and all the troubles they go through on a regular basis. The fact that they don’t have equal rights for housing or employment is so sad. People don’t care because it doesn’t have a direct effect on their lives but I think that something really does need to be done to help them, or just like we have been talking about with the Haiti projects, to help them help themselves.

Sams lecture on Tuesday definitely changed my perception on the War in Iraq. When he told us to place ourselves in the shoes of the Middle Eastern people and imagine things the way that they see them, it made me realize that we, as Americans, do not always see things the right way. We often think that our way is the right way and even the ONLY way, which is not true at all. I never thought this was true but now I realize how wrong it actually is. Of course the people of Iraq see the American soldiers as invaders and question why they are there. If they are happy with the state of their country, who are we to intervene? If the war really is partially about oil, which rightfully belongs to the Middle Eastern people whose property it is on, then of course they want to defend it and are angry about Americans trying to take it from them.

Sam’s lecture on Tuesday definitely changed my perception on the War in Iraq. When he told us to place ourselves in the shoes of the Middle Eastern people and imagine things the way that they see them, it made me realize that we, as Americans, do not always see things the right way. We often think that our way is the right way and even the ONLY way, which is not true at all. I never thought this was true but now I realize how wrong it actually is. Of course the people of Iraq see the American soldiers as invaders and question why they are there. If they are happy with the state of their country, who are we to intervene? If the war really is partially about oil, which rightfully belongs to the Middle Eastern people whose property it is on, then of course they want to defend it and are angry about Americans trying to take it from them.
When Sam kept showing us videos and saying “say your cousin sends you this…” and they are examples of rogue U.S. soldiers that are few and far between, I realized that Middle Eastern people don’t know that. They probably see those rare examples and think that all soldiers, and even all Americans, are like that. Of course they think that we are evil and of course they oppose U.S. invasion, that is all they see. Their media exposes them to these things just like our media exposes us to videos of extremists in the Middle East.
The problem here is definitely the media. If the government controls the media, then it’s the government’s fault. We, as normal citizens, only know what we are exposed to. There is so much that we are not informed of and it is hard for us to get any further information. If we only hear and see things about the War in Iraq that the media wants us to see and hear, that is the only information we receive. We don’t get the whole story and therefore don’t understand the situation. That is what I think the government wants, for us to be in the dark. It’s easier for them if all the citizens don’t know exactly what is going on. If the war really does have something to do with oil, like the government never leads us to believe, that proves that they keep information from us on purpose. They want us to support the war so they say things like that it is a war on terrorism, or a war defending freedom. That way they have the people behind them but really it is only because we don’t know the truth.
After this lecture, I think this is the same for people in the Middle East. The government and the media want them to think that Americans are evil. They even have more of a reason to think that about us than we do about them considering we are fighting on their soil.

Sam’s lecture on Tuesday definitely changed my perception on the War in Iraq. When he told us to place ourselves in the shoes of the Middle Eastern people and imagine things the way that they see them, it made me realize that we, as Americans, do not always see things the right way. We often think that our way is the right way and even the ONLY way, which is not true at all. I never thought this was true but now I realize how wrong it actually is. Of course the people of Iraq see the American soldiers as invaders and question why they are there. If they are happy with the state of their country, who are we to intervene? If the war really is partially about oil, which rightfully belongs to the Middle Eastern people whose property it is on, then of course they want to defend it and are angry about Americans trying to take it from them.
When Sam kept showing us videos and saying “say your cousin sends you this…” and they are examples of rogue U.S. soldiers that are few and far between, I realized that Middle Eastern people don’t know that. They probably see those rare examples and think that all soldiers, and even all Americans, are like that. Of course they think that we are evil and of course they oppose U.S. invasion, that is all they see. Their media exposes them to these things just like our media exposes us to videos of extremists in the Middle East.
The problem here is definitely the media. If the government controls the media, then it’s the government’s fault. We, as normal citizens, only know what we are exposed to. There is so much that we are not informed of and it is hard for us to get any further information. If we only hear and see things about the War in Iraq that the media wants us to see and hear, that is the only information we receive. We don’t get the whole story and therefore don’t understand the situation. That is what I think the government wants, for us to be in the dark. It’s easier for them if all the citizens don’t know exactly what is going on. If the war really does have something to do with oil, like the government never leads us to believe, that proves that they keep information from us on purpose. They want us to support the war so they say things like that it is a war on terrorism, or a war defending freedom. That way they have the people behind them but really it is only because we don’t know the truth.
After this lecture, I think this is the same for people in the Middle East. The government and the media want them to think that Americans are evil. They even have more of a reason to think that about us than we do about them considering we are fighting on their soil.

Sams lecture on Tuesday definitely changed my perception on the War in Iraq. When he told us to place ourselves in the shoes of the Middle Eastern people and imagine things the way that they see them, it made me realize that we, as Americans, do not always see things the right way. We often think that our way is the right way and even the ONLY way, which is not true at all. I never thought this was true but now I realize how wrong it actually is. Of course the people of Iraq see the American soldiers as invaders and question why they are there. If they are happy with the state of their country, who are we to intervene? If the war really is partially about oil, which rightfully belongs to the Middle Eastern people whose property it is on, then of course they want to defend it and are angry about Americans trying to take it from them.

I would definitely date a black guy, or a guy of any race or color. I have found in my dating experience that I am pretty much colorblind. I don’t go out seeking black guys or white guys, whoever’s personality catches my attention is who I’m attracted to. I have found that I am often attracted to black guys, and even more often I am attracted to brown guys. But at the same time I have been attracted to a lot of white guys. This is my proof that I have no racial preference!
I do think, however, that there is a big difference between being physically attracted to someone and dating them. The reason for me is because of my family. My parents are strict, white, and catholic. Although I went to a very diverse high school in a multicultural town, my mom always voiced her opinion that she would be very unhappy if I brought home a guy that wasn’t white. All through high school I had a white boyfriend so this wasn’t a problem, but I would always joke that I was going to go to college and find me a nice black boy. Little did she know that was half a reality. Last year I started dating a brown guy who was Dominican. I didn’t tell my parents for a while until it started to get serious and first I told my mom. Of course, she wasn’t happy. But I made it clear that I could do what I wanted. My dad had never voiced his opinion on me dating a guy of another race but still I didn’t think he would be pleased. My grandparents were all raised very racist and raised my parents the same way. Since I am afraid of my dad, I didn’t tell him for a long time. Finally one day I broke the news to him and he took it so much better than I expected. He told me I could date whoever I wanted as long as they treated me good and made me happy. This was a very pleasant surprise.
Now that I know my parents don’t care (or do care, but aren’t going to stop me), that won’t hold me back from dating whoever I want of any race. I think that this does hold a lot of girls back. Even if they are attracted to a black guy, they won’t act on it because they know their family wouldn’t approve or they were just brought up being told to date someone of their own race. The truth is I don’t have a preference. For some reason, I am physically attracted to black and brown guys. I can’t explain it! So in the future it is very possible that I will date one or more guys of different races.