The video that we saw with Jorge helping out all of those immigrants was heartwarming. I come from a family who were once undocumented workers (my dad, who is now a US citizen). My dad would always tell me stories about how he worked every day of the year, he never had a birthday, and he never had Christmases or any holidays. He worked from sun rise to sun set, go home and eat dinner, go to bed and repeat the next day. I guess you could say my dad was one of the lucky illegal immigrants. His father made sure he had a place to stay once he arrived in Kennett Square PA, at the age of 18. My dad never lived on the streets, but he didn’t have anything in his name except for the money he was earning as a mushroom picker and the few clothes he had. All of the money he earned went back to his family in Mexico. He was the oldest male out of 10 children so he had plenty of people to support. My dad to this day is very grateful for the men he worked with, the man who gave him a job 25 years ago that he still has today and is now managing and goes on business trips to California. He can still point out the house he lived in, which looks like a little shack. He said he still remembers and is so grateful for everyone that has helped him get to where he is now, because coming to a country as an illegal, not knowing the language and trying to find a job is the scariest thing. The fact that Jorge, from the video, has dedicated his life to others because he knows what it’s like to be in that position is incredible. I honestly don’t think I would be able to handle so much. He thought of a great idea, and I can tell those that he feeds are so grateful. In the video, we even saw him tell another illegal to come back the next night, and every night for dinner. These are people that he doesn’t even know, and he wants to make sure they are fed. It’s also pretty awesome that his mom and family have pitched in to help. I have never seen illegal aliens on the street like in New York, but there are a lot where I live. They don’t live on the street, but there are about 15 men in one house, and they also eat about one meal a day. I don’t think that some people understand the whole situation with undocumented workers. Yes, they’re here to better their lives, but also the lives of their wives, and children.

This isn’t the first time that I’ve heard about the poverty that the Native Americans are living in, yet beforehand I have only heard a bit. In my SPAN220 class, we are currently learning about the indigenous descendents of the state of Chiapas, Mexico. They formed the group los Zapatistas, to regain their human rights. In class, we saw a video where they talked about a Native American leader who was imprisoned for killing an FBI agent. He never committed the crime but is still in prison. Evidence and paper work on the case is shady, and a group formed to help get him out of jail. This happened many, many years ago and he is still in jail. He was a Native American leader and the government saw him as a threat because he wanted rights for his people. After leaving Sam’s class, I did learn a bit more as to what is going on in the mid-west. I find it very sad that the people that were here before any of us are living in such poverty and with such high death rates. A few weeks ago, I had no clue that any of this is going on, and it doesn’t make any sense. The Native Americans have never fought back with violence and now we’re treating them as though they aren’t American’s themselves. I fear that in a few decades, there won’t be any more Native Americans, because they’ll be extinct. The video that we saw showed not only poverty, but it also showed alcoholism taking over their lives because they don’t want to live anymore because they know they won’t be able to get out of their situation. I also think that to the majority of Americans, if you mention Native Americans they automatically think about the pilgrims and Indians centuries ago. If you ask about them now, they may say that they’re in some reservation camp, and that’s as far they know. When I think of poverty, I don’t think of the Middle West, I think of urban-city areas. I think it shows that poverty can happen anywhere. Maybe if people knew more about this issue, it would catch the attention of more activists, but I can see how the Native Americans feel as though nothing else can happen for them that are good. I think that the Native Americans who are suffering the most are the teenagers, since they have the highest suicide rate. They’re so young and probably feel so helpless and don’t know another world besides the misery that they were forced to grow up in. If teenagers are having the highest suicide rate, then whose going to have the next generation of kids? This is a problem that needs to be fixed immediately.

My teacher came back in, and grabbed her cell phone and it was as though every teacher was in panic mode and calling people. I assume now that they were calling their loved ones. One teacher actually turned the TV on for their students and kids saw the after math of the crash into the twin towers. I didn’t even know what the twin towers were until that day. I came home on the bus and my mom was instantly crying and she sat me down and we watched the news together. Ever since then I thought it was ok for our troops to be over there, but I’m beginning to learn differently as I grow up. (3/3)

Before this lecture, I was more on the side of it being right that we were over there, but after the lecture, now I’m in the middle. I understand that we are over their killing their civilians, and to me that is wrong. Innocent women, men and their children are dying. In no way shape or form do I think that is right. On the other hand, I feel that for our safety here in the United States, we have to catch the bad guys. I’m just so confused because how many people have to die in order to catch the bad guys. When 9/11 happened, I was just in 5th grade but I can remember the day perfectly. My teacher was doing her thing, and then an announcement came over the intercom for all the teachers to meet. (2/3)

I didn’t expect to come into class and have Sam ask us to be in the shoes of those in the Middle East. In a way it did get me thinking, and I learned a lot of stuff that I didn’t know before about the war. I had no idea that more civilians get killed over there than actual civilians. It’s very scary because I think what if the war was happening here in our country. Would our civilians be getting shot at, blown at, and killed? His lecture on Tuesday definitely got me thinking. But I’m not going to lie; I think I’m still confused about the issue and war. I don’t know if we should or shouldn’t be over there. I don’t have anyone close to me that’s in the war, and I don’t really know anyone personally that is going to be going into the war, but I still hold a lot of respect for our armed forces, everywhere in the world. They risk their lives for us. And I don’t think its right to say that they are risking their lives for their oil. I didn’t know that oil was even an issue, and even though it may be an issue, I don’t think that it’s the whole issue. I am so torn of how I feel, I think more now than I was before. (1/3)

The fact that there are people out there who want English to be the first language of America, in law, wouldn’t do anything but hurt the US. It is true about what Sam said, English is 1 and Spanish is 1A. The US has been the melting pot for centuries. People of all different races come to the US because we are the land of the free and there is more opportunity here than in people’s home countries. People, who want English to be the ONLY and official language of the US, should be proud that others hold the US on such a high pedestal. I really hope that things like what happened with Geno’s don’t occur again, because they’re losing business and just giving themselves a bad name. People need to understand that our country is growing, with many cultures and languages. Instead of complaining, we can learn and broaden our horizons with diversified knowledge. (3/3)

Many minorities felt offended, especially the Hispanic and Latino community. It was like Geno’s was saying, if you’re not American, don’t order here. I remember my parents being livid. They stopped going to Geno’s. My mom knows English (and is an American citizen) but she even thought, I have a heavy accent and I can speak to people in English, just not in complete sentences. She knew if she ever tried ordering from Geno’s, she would be asked to leave. Ever since then, we take our business to Pats. It’s a lot better anyways. My family and I felt discriminated against at Geno’s, therefore we haven’t been back. It’s even odd that Geno’s would want only English people to eat their steaks considering they were once immigrants too. Just because you’re family has lived here for a few more generations, that doesn’t make you more American than anyone else. (2/3)

I’m the one in the video, and I decided to ask this question because during class when Sam was talking about people wanting there to be a law passed saying English was the original language of the US, I automatically thought of the situation a few years ago in Philly. Philadelphia has 2 great cheese steak shops, Pats and Geno’s. Both are actually across the street from each other. There has been year’s of rivalry with who is the better cheese steak shop. When I was little, my dad use to take me to Geno’s so I could get a cheese steak, no onions. Both Pats and Geno’s are Italian, family owned businesses, but a few years ago Geno’s decided to advertise something that got them a bad rep, at least to me and a lot of people that I know. Geno’s started saying “You must speak English to order here.” They even made t-shirts and posted it all over their shop. (1/3)

If I look back in the past few years and think if I had witnessed any discriminating or racist act, I have, and at the time I didn’t say anything. I don’t think I said anything because I was so mad. My mom and I love to go shopping at the mall. She loves to take me, as a mother and daughter bonding thing. When you compare my mom and I, we do look alike, but the way we present ourselves is a little different. I am taller, and I love to wear heels or cute shoes with perhaps leggings and my north face. My mom likes to dress comfortable also, but she’ll wear stuff that people probably won’t think are ‘in’. Plus, she is clearly Mexican from looking at her. So, we decided to go to the mall a few summers back and we walked into the shoe store Aldo. It’s known for its cute shoes, accessories, and it’s a bit pricey. I have bought shoes from there before and I was looking for a cute pair of flats. (1/3)

If I look back in the past few years and think if I had witnessed any discriminating or racist act, I have, and at the time I didn’t say anything. I don’t think I said anything because I was so mad. My mom and I love to go shopping at the mall. She loves to take me, as a mother and daughter bonding thing. When you compare my mom and I, we do look alike, but the way we present ourselves is a little different. I am taller, and I love to wear heels or cute shoes with perhaps leggings and my north face. My mom likes to dress comfortable also, but she’ll wear stuff that people probably won’t think are ‘in’. Plus, she is clearly Mexican from looking at her. So, we decided to go to the mall a few summers back and we walked into the shoe store Aldo. It’s known for its cute shoes, accessories, and it’s a bit pricey. I have bought shoes from there before and I was looking for a cute pair of flats. (1/3)