Second Response to Blog

The second project that I looked at was Zach's presentation on Immigration. I thought it was so interesting because I never knew how much heated debate this issue was causing. I knew it was an issue in our government and people are separated on it but people in America are so sensitive to this issue. There was one video in his presentation that really got to me. It showed to men talking about an illegal immigrant who was accused of manslaughter because he was drunk driving. One of the men was saying that this man needs to be deported because of what he did and that he doesn't have a right to be in this country. The other man was talking about how this isn't an issue of illegal immigration, it's about a completely different issue of drunk driving and has nothing to do with whether he should stay in the country. I really liked his argument because he showed that these immigrants are people first and we shouldn't be treating them like cattle. People in this country are taking the issue a little too far. Some were complaining because hispanic people in Springfield are "taking up space" in a public park. One man said that if it were up to him, he would keep all the illegal immigrants in confinement and then ship them all back to Mexico. In my opinion, this kind of narrow-minded thinking is what is causing the cultural deprivation going on in this country. People put stereotypes on all hispanic people, thinking they are automatically illegal. I was more interested in the moral part of it. It just seems like if people were more accepting and open to it, there would be less debate and less hatred.

First Response to Blog

I watched colleen's final presentation and I thought it was very interesting. Education is such a huge issue in this country and it affects everyone. I didn't know that segregation had a big impact on the issue of low-income education. Not much has changed since the civil rights movement when blacks were offered "separate but equal" rights as the whites. They were offered the same things but those rights were certainly not equal and this affected the school system as well. The blacks were denied the same quality education the whites were given so they were forced to have low-income jobs and live in low-income housing. The education system has affected almost everything in this country. The video she made talked about the differences today of schools with more minorities as opposed to schools with a majority of whites. The differences were shocking to me and it upset me because this issue still isn't resolved. I liked how she focused on the racial issue in education. I never thought about that aspect of it and it put a really interesting perspective on it for me. When she said "It is not that each person in America needs to have the same knowledge, but the same opportunity to have the knowledge needs to be offered. America currently does not offer that" it made so much sense to me. Equal education is not about each child being equally knowledgable, its about giving each child the same opportunities to be educated. To be successful in this country, you must have a formal education. Shouldn't every child in America be given the equal opportunity to be successful? America is known as the land of opportunity, not the land of opportunity only for privlaged people. This was such an interesting topic and it made me want to know more and research it even further.

Works Cited

1. Denizet-Lewis, Benoit, Charles Murray, and Susie Buffett. "Coming Out in Middle School." New York Times Magazine 27 Sep 2009: 36. SIRS Researcher. Web. 03 February 2010.


2."don't ask, don't tell policy." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .


3."gay rights." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. .


4."National Gay and Lesbian Task Force." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .

5. Noreen S Ahmed-Ullah. "Gay rights effort spurs an uproar in Oak Park :How much should kids be taught about same-sex relationships? In a diverse suburb, a dispute rages. " Chicago Tribune 7 Feb. 2010,Chicago Tribune, ProQuest. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

6. Lipkin, Arthur. "Children Should Be Taught in School to Understand Homosexuality." Opposing Viewpoints: Homosexuality. Ed. Cindy Bily. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 22 Feb. 2010 .

7. "Stonewall riots." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb.2010. .

Current Events Analytical Essay

At the AMA’s in November, Adam Lambert gave a very graphic performance, including him kissing one of the dancers and simulating oral sex on stage. This occurrence immediately became a very heated topic and created a lot of controversy. His invitation to sing on “Good Morning America” was rescinded. According to him, his performance was no more vulgar than what female artists do all the time in their performances. For example, Lady Gaga, at the AMA’s threw beer bottles on stage and Britney spears wears revealing outfits in all of her performances. Most of their actions on stage go unacknowledged and unpunished. The reason Adam Lambert’s performance brought up so much controversy was that it was a representation of homosexuality and that was offensive to many people. For those who spoke out against his performance, their argument was that there were children watching and it was too inappropriate. This seems a little hypocritical because if they were really worried about what their kids were watching on T.V., they wouldn’t let them watch at all. This event stood out to me because it seemed that this was a double standard not only for men and women but also for gay people and straight people. Lambert’s actions were open and very sexual but not any more than what most women do on stage. This was one example of the gay and lesbian movement breaking the silence. Before the 1960s, gay rights were not protected under the constitution. After much hard work and a very long struggle, most of their rights are protected but what about in pop culture? Why is it not okay for gays and lesbians to be open on television? This shows how much improvement our society needs to make in handling this issue.
Another issue that is being brought up today is the question of whether or not schools should be teaching students about homosexuality in health class. There are many benefits to having kids learn about gays and lesbians in schools. First of all, those children who are homosexual might feel less isolated and insecure about who they are because they learn that it is not wrong to like someone of the same sex. Another benefit of teaching about homosexuality is that there would be a huge decrease in ridicule and hate crimes against homosexuals in high school and middle school. Children would be more open-minded about the issue and more tolerant of people who are different. The opposing idea is that if parents believe homosexuality is morally wrong and sinful, they would be undermined by the school system and it could get confusing for kids who are hearing opposite views on the same topic. This argument is based on an idea that schools will be teaching kids that homosexuality is right and should be tolerated in society. What the teachers would actually be doing is giving kids the facts about gays and lesbians that it is not a choice; it is just sexual preference and doesn’t define a person. Children don’t deserve to be manipulated even if it is by their parents. The schools have a responsibility to give kids all the facts so they can form their own, educated opinions.

Literary Analytical Essay

The short story “Rain” by Christina Chiu is about a 17 year old chinese girl (narrator) who is talking about her sister Rain. When they were young, they were inseperable They shared everything together. As they grew older and went through middle school, Rain was always the one getting straight A’s while the narrator was not. This caused the twins to grow apart and to stop talking altogether. Their parents were very strict about grades and boys and getting into college. They gave Rain an ice cream every time she got straight A’s on her report card. The narrator was furious with her parents and decided to rebel by getting a boyfried who she sneaks out to every night and stop caring about her grades in school. It seemed so easy for Rain to do well in school. She got a scholarship to college. Her only friend was her best friend Jade with whom she went every where.
One night, the narrator was sneaking out as usual and when she was outside, she saw Rain kissing someone in a baseball cap. The narrator was so shocked by this at first but then was even more stunned by the fact that this boy she was kissing was actually Rain’s friend jade. That whole night, while the narrator was with her boyfriend, she was thinking about why Rain hadn’t just told her about it. Not only was she surprised that Rain was a lesbian, but she was also confused why Rain wouldn’t tell her. She understood why Rain wouldn’t tell their parents. They were conservative chinese people who weren’t even okay with them having boyfriends. The narrator became disappointed in herself because she thought that it was something she did that caused Rain to keep it a secret.
This connects to the gay and lesbian issue for the obvious reason but also because it talks about the idea of having to keep one’s identity a secret in fear of not being accepted in society. Rain was so ashamed of who she was that it meant having to live a completely separate life, away from her family. This adds a personal viewpoint on the issue because for someone who didn’t go through that, they might not understand why gays and lesbians feel invisible all the time or why there is a day of silence every year. This story teaches that this issue is something that affects society as a whole but also effects individuals on a very intimate level. This story also connects to the idea of being the perfect child. Rain was expected to be the perfect student and get a scholarship to college. There was so much pressure from her parents and her teachers that she felt they wouldn’t unerstand her lesbianism or maybe not even care. This shows that being a lesbian doesn’t define a person. She was still a good student and a good person but was ashamed of that part of her because of the standards people set.

Background Information Analytical Essay

From the articles on the history of the gay and lesbian issue, it seems that this issue wasn’t brought up or fought over until the late 1960s. In fact, on January 27, 1969 the stonewall riots occurred which was the turning point for the gay and lesbian movement to fight for their rights. These riots occurred at a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn. Up until then, police had been raiding different gay bars all over big cities because of prejudices that were going around about gay people. Before the Stonewall riots, people in the bars were compliant and never resisted arrest. At Stonewall, people were resisting by throwing bottles and fighting back which resulted in four police officers dead. This event is so significant in our history that cities all around the U.S. have the gay pride march every year to commemorate it. This event also represents liberation for the gay population. They were forced to be silent for so long about their identity and this even was their breaking point. It was the time for them to just say “enough” to all the discrimination and hate crimes.
Another event that greatly affected gays and lesbians in our country was the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy created by President Bill Clinton to allow gays and lesbians into the military. This policy stated that gays were not allowed to talk about their sexuality and people were not allowed to ask. Discussion on their sexuality would result in their removal from the military. This was a good short term fix for the issue but in the long run it only created more discrimination against gay people. Clinton’s intentions were good because it allowed gays to enter into the military but it also forced them to keep their true identity a secret. This was another example of the silence they had to endure to fit into the standards of society. This policy clearly violates the constitution. It violates the citizen’s right to freedom of speech. It limited people to what they could talk about. Laws are supposed to be made to secure the civil rights for every individual living in the United States. Not only did this law not do that but it also created more hatred and discrimination toward specific individuals.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) is an organization committed to ending all discrimination and acts of hate towards homosexuals. It emerged in the 1970s in New York. One of its first acts as an organization was that they removed homosexuality from the APA’s declared mental disorders. This fact just shows how close minded people were back then. This idea was so foreign to them that they decided it must be some kind of disorder like depression or multiple personality, that needs to be treated by medication.

This article is about the discussion in congress about abolishing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that was implemented in 1993 by President Clinton. Members of congress who were (at the time) for the policy have now changed their minds saying that allowing gays to be open in the military would be the right thing to do. "The nation's top uniformed officer said Tuesday that he supports allowing gays to serve openly in the military, providing a powerful voice of support for President Obama's call to lift the legal ban on their service." Top officers in the military are acknowledging the issue saying that the policy is only causing more controversy within the military. In my opinion, it is violating the right to freedom of speech. The policy was restricting normal conversation and limiting what people were allowed to reveal about themselves. To me, that is a clear violation of their rights as citizens. I do not like this policy at all because it only enforced and encouraged silence within the gay population This was yet another way to keep homosexuality out of our culture. Finally authority figures are beginning to realize that we cannot fight the gay culture anymore. Either we embrace this change and give them the rights they deserve or fall victim to an eternal struggle in society. The "dont ask, dont tell" policy was not a "compromise". It was just another way to put off dealing with the issue.