At class today, we watched a documentary about proposition 187. The proposition opposed many illegal students being able to take part in public schools. The children are the ones who where harmed by the proposition. It did not do much for the helping with so called "problem." The problem is that people want to put the blame for unemployment and economic hardships on Latinos. No one ever wants to look at the government or businesses. The proposition took those kids self esteem.
The part of the movie that struck me as some crazy shit was when the super old white librarian guy was arguing with the little kids. The point that he was trying to make was that the neighborhood was going to downhill because of the immigrants. He pointed out that the streets were dirty with litter. The little kids took offensive to that (they should have). It was like some name calling things you did when you were a child. The librarian should be embarrassed.
One of the teachers they interviewed, Diane, spoke about how she thought that the shool was getting worse. When looking at her teaching ability, she just talked about cirriculum this and cirriculum that. She never once thought that those kids might have needed some compassion.
During a teacher meeting, someone was pointing out how they have the most unexcused absences in the district. One of the teachers pointed out that it could be because when the parents get vacation they do not know way before hand due to their low paying jobs. They almost have to pick up and just go.
Carmen, a mother who helped organize a protest against the proposition, voted for it. She began to see walls after she was involved in a hit and run. The driver just drove off and she assumed they had no insurance and no papers. She feels like that if the immigrants go it will solve all her problems. The funny thing is she is an immigrant herself.
There is no easy solution for immigration. The immigrants themselves take basically all the blame instead of a contradicting government. If there is one thing I know about America, its that education is a means of gaining equality and being taken seriously. When that law passed, it took away the kids dreams of ever being accepted and ability to move up in a nation (that decides to point fingers at everyone but themselves).
3 comments:
I don't know about you, but I nearly cried watching that poor little kid talking about how she is going to be a lawyer or something. You are right when you say education is the most important. The idea that curriculum is the important thing is partially true, I would not want a bunch of hugging/feel-good teachers that cannot teach, but if the students become disenfranchised by their cynical teachers and the whole school system they are more likely to drop out and it does not matter how great of a curriculum was in place.
The former Mexican President Vicente Fox talked about the importance of education in a recent speech about "the wall."
"'Latin America is on the move,' Fox said.
That includes investing more in human capital and targeting needs such as education, he added.
Fox said that Mexico offers 5 million scholarships per year to help families keep their children in school. Still, he said many do not have the opportunity to receive a college education, and the nation needs more universities."
A major reason families are coming to the US illegal is to give their children a better chance, but it is turning out that we cannot provide even that for legal immigrants. Instead of focusing on building a giant wall, we should look at using the money to improve our school systems and perhaps help the systems in Mexico to give people a reason to stay.
Sorry, the article for that quote is http://www.journalrecord.com/article.cfm?recid=85955
Oh my gosh. That documentary was more moving and effective than either of the books we have read in class so far. Maybe because I am a visual learner. But I finally got to see the plight and the effect of the situation being placed on the latino people. Yes this topic (immigration) is so difficult and contradicting that it is hard for people to find solid ground on their stance. And you could see that portrayed by the teacher Diane and the lady that voted for the passing of the law againste her people.
Really I have noticed that people place their votes and make their judgements based on personal experiences, and it does not take much to persuade them in either direction. Whether it is a good encounter or a bad encounter with immigrants I have met and interacted with both and they stand firm with their opinions based on that one encounter or experience.
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