During the era of World War I and World War II, German Americans were attacked simply because of their heritage. Although they may have had nothing to do with the war, or even sited with Germany at all or as a whole, they were still targeted and prosecuted and, as I stated before, attacked. Islamic and Arab Americans faced the very same problems after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, simply because of their religion, or even their background or appearance.…
It was unusually cold on this morning of September 11th, 2001, and my alarm had just went off. The odd but needed 5 am. was when I woke up, because my flight was going to leave around 8:30 and I needed to be there on time. The reason I was flying to San Francisco was I was having a family reunion with my dad, my step-mom, and my step-brothers. So, I jumped in the shower quickly with joy and excitement. I hadn't seen my family in forever since I had gotten a job as the assistant of the manager in Ralph Lauren Headquarters. I had just gotten my hair dried as I heard my phone ring. It was dad, making sure that I was on my way. I talked to him for a few minutes and then hung up. I glanced at the clock and realized…
I was standing in front of the North Pool of 9/11 Memorial with my friends. A blurry animation of a moment was forming in my memory. I was thrown back to Tehran, Iran, 2001 when I was an Afghan refugee escaping from a massacre by the hands of Taliban from being a Hazara - an ethnic minority. I saw the Twin Towers on a black and white TV. I saw how they collapsed and disappeared in the dust. The magnitude of the collapse took me back to July 2015. I was struggling to make a bigger picture of my identity in my mind.…
1. Today’s date is November 16, 2012. My name is Lindsay O’Connell and this is Cindy Gagnon, and we are conducting an interview for our English class. I’ll begin the interview, but my students will ask questions as well.…
Orientalism, simply put, is the perception the West has of the East. The concept was mapped out by Edward Said in his book Orientalism, where he explores the concept, its origin, and how it functions. Said states that Orientalism is "the corporate institution for dealing with the Orient - dealing with it by making statements about it, authorizing views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it, [and] ruling over it" (3). However, Said points out that even if Orientalism from the beginning was not "a creation with no corresponding reality" the concept he studies in the book is that of "the internal consistency of Orientalism and its ideas about the Orient ... despite or beyond any correspondence" with the "real" Orient (5). What Said is saying is that the characteristics drawn up about the Orient within Orientalism ar not necessarily compatible with reality. The Western eagerness to characterize the Oriental came from the desire to put a face to the unknown, becoming "a political vision of reality whose structure promoted the difference between" East and West, them and us, "the familiar and the strange" (43). Orientalism became a dictionary displaying the characteristics of the Oriental subject, characteristics that were fixed and unchangeable (42, 70).…
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have indeed affected the lives of Americans all over the United States. Everyone is aware that the events that took place on September 11th 2001 were a series of horrific tragedies, but they also brought a sense of unity amongst the nation, making Americans, in a sense, more patriotic. Along with this feeling of American pride and ‘standing as one’, Americans suddenly found something to unite against. While our military and government started a war in the Middle East, it seemed as if it became normalized to target anyone who shared the characteristics, religion, or background of al-Qaeda, those who were actually responsible for the September…
It was the summer before my sophomore year in high school. Break was ending, and schools were opening soon. We just moved from a small town called Sikeston to Saint Charles, Missouri due to my dad’s new job. I have lived in Sikeston my whole life, and I did not fully understand why we all suddenly had to move. I was slowly starting to adjust to my new life in Saint Charles and my new school when twelve days after I moved, I received a call informing that one of my closest friends passed away. The whole conversation felt surreal, but I still remember that day, August 21st. I saw my friend Aubrey two weeks before he passed away, the happiest, sweetest kid I knew. I did not understand why that was the last time I would ever see him again. I did not understand exactly what happened. I did not understand why Aubrey out of all people had a tumor in his ear. That was the first time that someone close to me…
Living now in the 21 century you may see many types of cultures and ethnicities. As for these types of races we have become numb to the feeling of racism. For a particular reason racism has been going on for centuries. Depriving people from what they have and what they look like is a characteristic of racism. As for now racism seems to be becoming bigger and bigger. Due to labeling races and its importance to society today.…
On the morning of June 16, I went to a memorial for the 49 victims who died in the Orlando shooting on June 13, 2016. I remember thinking that I could pull myself together, and that I should go and look at all the things people did for those victims. I remember thinking that I would be able to pull myself together for the twenty to thirty minutes it would take to walk around and allow my sister and mother to lay down their notes. I remember thinking that I would be fine, wouldn't let tears slip, even when I couldn't write a note because I knew if it were addressed to those who lost anything that early morning, I wouldn't last half a sentence before tears overthrew my thoughts. I remember telling my mother I could handle it. I remember thinking…
Racism is said to be complex and hard to characterize however it is obvious that it is alive and still going on. Racism was said to have ended in the early 1960’s when equity for all was the statement. Are we all equal here in America? What happened to “We the People of the United States”? However even now in 2012 racism is alive and going strong. Most people say let’s not make it about race yet in America everyone is not treated equally. There are so many injustices in America for minorities from racial profiling, to the housing equality, even to the President now that we have and African America president. Just since January of this year there have…
Racism in America has become more present for several reasons. Some people blame Barack Obama. When he had gotten elected, it was a signal to a new era it seemed. People thought that it would be so much better but in reality, it was a major set back. There has been a complete change in our societies in my opinion. When Barack Obama had become elected, threats against him has increased by 400%…
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than the opposite.” Nelson Mandela, a leader of the fight to end apartheid in his home country of South Africa helps shed light on how racism can be fought in the United States. Even though America has come a long way from the times of slavery, racism continues to exist all over the country. Americans can learn to love one another, but they must first discover the roots and causes of racism and stop it before it spreads. In order to deal with racism, Americans often: refuse to accept the facts, accept it as a way of life, and do not do enough to stop its practice.…
According to the Oxford dictionary, a stereotype is “a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.” Racial biases and stereotypes are prevalent in the United States. They affect everyone and generally have a negative effect on how people are treated because of these prejudices. Stereotypes based on race or ethnicity impact people’s perceptions of others, affect how we treat each other, and inhibit racial equality.…
America today is made up of many different cultures as well as people that are in them. Not only is America diverse by the different races of people but also by their culture. In America we have many different cultures and from those cultures come subcultures. Which is a group in society which does not follow the main stream of things? Some of the more famous ones would be gays and lesbians, bikers, farmers and homeless. It's not just in America where you can find subcultures like these. But only in America will you find as many subcultures as you do.…
The United States of America has undergone much in its brief 241 years of independence. In relation to other nations, the Untitled States is still very young, but that does not mean that it hasn’t experienced its fair share of obstacles. However, the amount of inequality among American citizens today is staggering, considering the country was founded by British colonists escaping inequality from England. The United States Declaration of Independence states that “all men are created equally”, these ideals are the foundations of our country. These beliefs are what we use as evidence when praising our country on events such as independence day, but were these ideals ever put into practice? After analyzing the inequality of the colonists of…