"Speak to un en ingles!" That was the standout line to me in Richard Rodriguez's article "Aria." Richard's parents were instructed to only speak English at home, giving up the language they were used to all their lives for the foreign one of the land they now lived in. I can only imagine more gentle ESL programs were not really an option for this family back then. I can't really imagine what Richard is going through since I have spoken English my whole life. I did have trouble learning Spanish when I had to take it as a required class, but once the class was over it was easy for me to just not use it and speak the language I am used to, a luxury that Richard just didn't have.
I selected this little comic because it sort of highlights more of what I went through. I was pestered to learn a second language, whether it be Spanish or Portuguese, and this comic shows that kids aren't always motivated to learn something they don't think they need.
These articles brings up slippery slopes that not many people can properly navigate. While I'm not saying white privilege doesn't exist, it is often over simplified since it is so subjective. A lot of supposed "privileges" didn't make much sense to me and seemed like they weren't exclusive to just white people. Whether they choose to admit it or not, black people are actually quite well off in our society and have the same rights as American citizens of all races do. I just feel like they're always looking for white people to feel guilty so they can gain more power which isn't exactly fair. It's also not fair when black people try to blame the white people of today for slavery when everyone alive today was not alive when slavery was legal.
This is a video by Hunter Avallone, a YouTuber whom I have talked previously. In this video from 2016, when the Black Lives Matter movement peaked in popularity, Hunter makes several valid arguments against this movement. The first is that they claim to be peaceful protesters while at the same time they are approving of violent methods, as he proceeds to show a slew of disgusting anti-cop tweets following a mass shooting where several police officers were killed. He also discusses BLM treating "All Lives Matter" as a racist rebuttal, when I'm sure the majority of the time those who say All Lives Matter simply mean that black lives are not the only lives that matter, not that convoluted explanation from that All Lives Matter article that we had to read that just made no sense to me.
This article is basically about how the type of life you are born into is more or less reflective of the type of life you will die with. It uses the example of a man named Rick Goff who was smart and talented but ended up dropping out of high school and struggling to find steady work. I agree with the article's overall message that the United States does not allow for as much rise in social class as we give it credit for. I've spoken to people before who act like America is so great and the best place to live. First of all, I bring up the point that you can't really say that if America is the only place you've ever lived because it's all you know. Second of all, those cases they may bring up of a dirt poor person rising to be a millionaire in this country are few and far in between and are usually heavily romanticized. If we're being realistic here, which we should always strive to be, I believe that America has to do a lot of work before it can justifiably be called a great country. It is a country much better than some in the third world, but that's not setting the bar very high. I just don't think it's wise to let nationalism blind you in a way that keeps you from the seeing the negative properties of our nation.
I've chosen this video, though I don't know what movie it's from, because it serves as the perfect metaphor for the point I'm trying to get across. The Jeff Daniels character is giving a presentation at a college with some of his colleagues when one student asks them to answer why America is the greatest country in the world. After trying to stay silent from the backlash he know he will receive, Jeff Daniels eventually snaps and confesses the truth that America is not the greatest country in the world. For the discussion question, I'd like to know what the class thinks about calling America the greatest country in the world and just how close or not close we are to that title.
Monday, September 10, 2018
Me with a Snow White statue in the Orlando International Airport
My sister and I meeting Rapunzel from Tangled
My sister and I with Mike and Sully from Monster's Inc
Hello my name is Justine Lewis. As you can tell by my pictures, one of my favorite things to do is going on vacation to Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. It is and always will be my favorite vacation spot. While these pictures are about four years old, I did recently visit Universal this summer and went to Disney World last summer. I really enjoy cartoons and consider myself an expert on the subject. In my spare time I like to draw, write, and color. I currently work part time as a cashier at Target and have a passion for the English arts. It took me a while to decide, but now I know I really want to teach English for a living, but I still don't know which age group I want to teach. Anyways, thanks for reading my blog! See you soon!
