Alright, here I go then. Now that I’ve been able to vent about the negativity the few discriminatory Christians in the world last week, this week I can (belatedly) speak about multiculturalism in what I believe to be its most exciting light…THE WORLD CUP SOCCER!!
Well, I may say soccer here but the proud Earthlings that live in American should know that it should be more like ‘futbol.’ But however you pronounce, it’s will always be followed by “ROCKS!!”
Yes, the amazing sport of soccer comes into the world view as we witness the drama, the emotion, the power that it is to play and watch the World Cup. 2006 was no different to other years as it still caught the wonder and awe of my family and I as well as anyone in the world that had any access to a television.
The World Cup is the near-dream idea of what it means to break down barriers of race, ethnicity, color, religion and go out and have some fun. Sure, they may be fighting flags some times and once in a while someone tries to make the World Cup all political but in the end no one is talking about anything like that!! Everyone’s focused on watching amazing shots and frustration (and often humiliating) struggles to kick a little ball into a huge net (not to mention the team of opposing player you got to wiggle past).
In the core of it all, it’s just one big party where everyone from all over the world is invited to have some fun. Where else do you find this anymore? Most of the places I go have people beating people in the name of discrimination. People more and more have to be careful as in small ways and in large ways, people are actively judging and playing the game of “I’m better then you are” with the ugliest excuses behind them.
I say this to anyone with such thought: go play a World Cup game against those “people” you think you’re better than and see how long you last!
But yes, this summer’s World Cup was nothing short of a good time. Ya, Mexico lost. That breaks my heart. USA didn’t get very far either. I lost a bet because of that game. But man oh man did Italy make their win. And as a former long-term resident of that country, I can wear their colors with pride!! (even if it is blue…). And no, I didn’t jump on the bandwagon. I was cheering them on from the start!!
Well, now I can’t wait until 2010 lol.
You know, today I was going to talk about world cup. I might have mentioned that last time and I can’t quite remember. In the case that I had stated this journal entry’s topic, I am now noting that that topic will hold for another time.
Now, for this topic, I make a disclaimer. That the subject matter I am using is not to offense anyone (except those I specify blame to) nor to any religion whatsoever. I am merely using the following religious example for is importance to my own culture and being and the example it sets for the topic is discrimination even within similarities.
Well, now that I have that out of the way, let me make this my topic sentence: this internal Christian hating has to stop. What am I talking about? I’m talking about how under the huge tree of Christian religions we have all the branches (Roman Catholic, Orthodox, “Protestant,” etc) seemingly wasting time arguing with one another not about the important stuff (like how to be moral, ethical, live a life like Christ) but instead take their disagreement to the religions themselves.
Now look, I am a practicing Roman Catholic. My immediate family is Roman Catholic. I have extended family that is both Roman Catholic and then Christina (which practice I’m not exactly sure of really). So, I’m coming from the perspective of diverse Christian religions that work together and have overcome this “differences” and we still all do the huge, Mexican family weekly reunions that I so very much enjoy.
But, I see and hear in other places how this can be very different. I’m not saying whole churches do this but that there are far to many “individuals” on all sides that seem to forget about the community living under Christ (the source of ALL our religions and the focal point we should all be able to understand each other) and instead attack each other about organizational details and traditions. Basically, we have too many people who, instead of being loving and caring of everyone around them as instructed by our basic religious principles, go out and coldly talk smack about other religions just because others do it a bit differently.
Again, I should stress that I am completely against the bashing of other religions in such hateful ways, especially religions that are just another way of doing what I do.
The real point here is that instead of using common ground to bind us and help all of us live diversely as well as together, we as a society tend to look for the smallest reasons to be mad at each other, belittle the characteristics or ways of others, for the silliest and seemingly selfish excuses (excuses because there should be NO REASON why a Christian should argue with a Christian under such terms).
I’m a strong Catholic, yes, but in no way do I feel like every Christian has to be like me (Catholic). For me, it’s like do whatever it is that works (with some obvious, details of exceptions). I’m not going to make the differences the topic but instead make the similarities the topic: have humble and prosperous conversation with my fellow Christians (of any type of Christian religion) without looks for reasons to not like them or diss them just because they don’t do exactly what I do when I go to church (have I stressed enough yet!!).
This world needs to start looking for reasons to bind with people instead of going out and look for ways to separate us. Sure, there’s a lot of history and deeper stuff around these issues, I know. But on the surface, this is basically the issue: the issue of accepting diversity.
Even now, I’m not sure I’m doing that point justice and the only way I’ve ever really how to do something justice is by practicing the example myself. And I have as I have gone to church services outside of my version of Christianity and have accepted and understood the basic and even advanced ideas presented there (obviously not the actually practice since I still go to my own church as well).
All I ask now is not to go to every other church now, no. Just be accepting. Just learn from the person, avoid stereotypes and discriminating simply because their characteristics are not your own. The world needs people to come together and its issues like this that make sure that people will stay apart. We need to come together not melt our ideas into one new one but connect our ideas, characteristics, personalities, traits, lifestyles, practices together as individuals among other individuals and stand strong together.
Well, no sooner do I say that school is finally out that I come back to the journals and realize that school is back in session and I’m in my second year at the University of Arizona.
This is a slightly uneasy feeling given that I have to, once again, find myself and my flow at the U of A. This is easier said then done. I for one have always found it hard to readjust to an environment, though I feel that I can eventually. Unfortunately, that “eventually” take a long time to get to.
The odd thing about this whole discrimination issue is you have to find yourself a place in “their” world as much as you have a place for “them” in your world. Now, this goes beyond even discrimination and beyond singling out any group or type of person. In such a case the only person being singled out is you yourself (or for the sake of the journal, MYSELF).
So, I’m back at the U of A. Once again, I’m lost in a world where I want to make change but I can’t make a change in a world I don’t belong to. I don’t have the feeling of belonging yet. Why you may ask? That’s probably because of the new friends. Because of the old friends that now go to the U of A. Maybe even some even older friends you’ve come to reconnect with. Or perhaps it’s the world I enveloped myself in during my summer that I have now come out of.
It’s sad, really, to have to constantly find yourself again, sadder if you feel like you have to everyday. Presently, I’m at the point of daily discovery. And its not anything new, it’s the same old!! No gain, unless you decide that getting back to where you started is gain, which is probably better then losing ground I guess.
So, what do you do in my situation? Well, if I knew that I wouldn’t be in it now would I? Well, the only answer I’ve come to find acceptable is too just keep going. I can’t say any other solution has become any more inspiring then that. Maybe something will eventually come by that is better, maybe not. But without risking my own personal sanity and hold on reality, I feel that I just have to latch on to the last comfort zone I have…blind persistence and determination.
Without out trying to admit to it too much, this has been a rather difficult last few months. I don’t want to give it too much credit since it’d only my second semester but I’m telling you, I think I learned a lot about how to stack myself against my academic work. Alright, so maybe it’s just Calculus that’s grinding me into the floor. Maybe it’s more then just that. Maybe I’m just exhausted and I have to convince myself everyday about 3-5 reason why I should bother getting up the next morning. Well, I have my reasons for going on. Some are good reasons. Some are bad reasons. Some are for other people. Some are also probably pretty selfish. Whatever the case, I’m still here and I still have to keep remembering to write more of these journals.
Well, discussing a good topic for today, I’d like to just put in my two cents (is that how the saying goes?) in on this whole immigration protest that’s going on. First off, I should mention, to my possible shame that my knowledge on the issue isn’t all up to speed. But this is not for lack of trying. I mean, I’ve been researching other Hispanic issues (on language and culture) so I’ve hadn’t had much of an opportunity to dwell on the immigration issue and its numerous sides. So, I hope the following won’t sound too uneducated and misguided as I’m doing this on the top of my head anyhow.
Yesterday, I participated in the protest…but I didn’t go. I did the white t-shirt thing and the no buying thing (except for a pen I needed for an exam) to show my support for the protest. But wait, what am I supporting? Well, from what little I’ve heard and read, there is a bill or proposal that’s going around that would make everyone whose here illegally felons. Now, personally, I can’t say that’s too far from something reasonable under current law. But what I would input on is that this is supposed to be the United States of America, a giant melting pot of cultures that together have made America the worldly icon that it is today. The whole point of this country was founded on the idea that people come here for a chance at what could be a better life.
Now, with that said, I would like to know when we closed our borders so tightly in the first place (since the Ellis Island days). I mean, if the US was a business (which, I guess how you look at it, might be), our logo pretty much says “if ya come here, you’ll get something out of it.” Sure, it does entail lots of luck, hard work, and many other “secret rules” that make Americans live the dream, but that’s how this place is advertised.
Sure, security is a big thing. Sure, because of some nasty politics our leaders have done whole countries want us to the United States of Chaos and Death, but that’s like false advertising. Yes, I am very aware of many other implications that immigration into the US has on our nation, but as far as I’ve read, nothing major promises to be happen and every minor problem I’ve overheard seems to be fixable through various forms of humble government (and unfortunately, we lack a humble government) including how much we outsource jobs, how much the government pays companies so much extra stuff only to have it spent on lower employees, and how badly we treat other countries who apparently owe us money and let us set up cheap labor in their countries.
Hey, I’m not anti-capitalist. I like capitalism. It works. What does not work for me is how it’s used and how all of this seems to have some huge domino effect on every issue in the United States. In other words, I think the problems trying to be solved by making immigration harder will hardly be solved without fixing some serious, fundamental flaws in the “way we do business” in the US, nationally and internationally.
And don’t think I’m only blaming politicians here. We citizens, while mostly doing things right I’d say, are far off from making things better ourselves. There’s just so many thing happening everywhere at the same time that again, to pinpoint it to one area like immigration is just plain lazy.
There’s a brighter way of doing things and there is so much is standing in the way of getting it all done. Discrimination, racism, Dems vs Reps, and so much more are getting in the way of the most important things in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Someone just needs to stand up and get the dominos falling in the right direction. Everyone just needs to pull together and find reasons to work with each other instead of making excuses not to.
I personally can only do so much right now. All I’ve really done is write this journal entry, worn a white t-shirt, and made a choice in my life toward such a goal. So, if someone doesn’t get it done soon, then you can be sure that I’ll be doing what I can now, and, when the opportunity presents itself, you’ll see me doing something even more about it then.
Well, Spring Break is over. I had expected to be completely ready for round 2 of the semester especially because I didn’t do so hot in the first half. I was hoping to get my self together, get a plan going and working, and somehow lessen the work load I’ve been putting myself on by ease of mind. Ya right. None of that really happened at all. I just feel more twisted then before now. Man, I kind of wish I didn’t go anywhere for Spring Break but I did. Well, it’s not like I didn’t enjoy myself. I did very much and I didn’t do anything wild. I was with family the whole time. Actually, it was in Puerto Penasco, aka Rocky Point.
Last year, my parent’s were kind of hooked into buying a time share there at the Mayan Palace. We’ve been going to Penasco tons of times ever since. But not just because of the time share, but my father used to live there when we was younger then me (and on his own). We also have family up there (LOTS OF FAMILY) but most notably my most direct aunt and her family.
So, it was a family trip with more family and even a baby shower for my pregnant cousin (yes, she’s married and old enough lol). She’s my aunt oldest child and it was actually the first time we got to meet the husband (cause we were in Italy during the wedding and moving and such).
But the part most notable about our vacation was that while I was hitting it up with family, only block away were my fellow college people, partying up in all sorts of ways I have personally to experience and perhaps may avoid. It’s amazing how in sea of Spring Breakers changes the very dynamic of this town, everything from traffic to how my family there deals with it, which thankfully is mostly done by local police.
But one key point of interest my aunt mentioned how Spring Break kind of challenges parents of local children. My aunt kind of put it in the “how do I explain this to my kids” sort of way. She’s speaks Spanish so I won’t directly quote her but she makes the point on how awkward it is to have to explain to local kids how the Spring Breakers are doing things that are wild and crazy and in accordance with lifestyles of the town, immoral or unethical. They have to explain that this is something that is usually abused and when that abuse is as public as in the middle of the streets, it takes some good parenting to get that out of their own kids systems before it even gets there.
Now, I’m not saying all Spring Breakers are bad but it’s that bad ones that end up in public view and in stories and out in the open. They are what the locals see and it’s just a sense of how American culture almost infests other cultures.
Hey, it could be good or bad but you can’t argue that it’s there and it has its effects. I see Penasco when it’s quiet and when it’s not so I know the difference it makes in the town’s dynamics and it DOES change.
So now, if we are all so inclined to try, we should seriously discuss the issues at hand. One that I would very much like to go into detail about today would be my new revelation of discrimination through language against Hispanics in the Southwestern United States of America.
I was reading this article in my English class that I selected to use in an essay that I had to do. I selected this essay because it was titled “Hasta La Vista, Baby.” That was an interesting title that seemed to have to do with Spanish language. So, I read it and to say the least, I was very intrigued by all that the author (Jane H Hill) was saying in it. According to her, the Spanish language of Hispanics in the Southwest (a language and culture I am from) has and still is being used in a very negative and ignorant way that oppresses all those who are not Caucasian.
Now, I’m not trying to start fight here. I’m just saying back what the book told me here. I definitely got something a little deeper then that. Simply put, my language is being used against Hispanics, including myself. While most of this is simply out of ignorance, it can still be traced back to very racist and negligent ideas.
What the essay told me was that for years, Hispanics have had oppression given to them in various ways, one of them being language. Hispanics, for example, were and in a way are still forced to assimilate into the American culture tends to only tolerate “English.” As given by the article, rich whites in the SW forced an entire culture to convert their language to English in order to do business instead of trying out a compromise. Essentially, Hispanics are forced into bilingualism while “whites” stick to the one English language. This is opposite to global trends as elites in other societies such as India know several languages; a sharp contrast to our local, monolingual elites.
Also, if you pay enough attention, a lot of our Spanish street names and residence areas are grammatically incorrect. It’s not just a few, but a lot. You have places where “de” is used wrong or your have “los” and “las” mixed up and etc. Sure, no big deal, unless you’re a proud Hispanic seeing the American culture twists your Spanish vocabulary just so streets and living areas have exotic looking names.
And worst of all, and the one that made me really thing, is how the word “comprende” was used. Not sure if it’s used to much now but back in the day, when a white manager needed a good insult against a Hispanic who “wasn’t doing something right,” he’d probably go like “this is how you do it, comprende?” Not only is the guy treating a Hispanic like a moron, but he then implies that this poor white manager is now forced to, heaven forbid, speak Spanish in order to properly communicate with his employee.
Okay, I’m not about to go start a riot over this but it’s something to think about. How we (even me at times) misuse non-English languages and even cultures to use as slang, as just an object that “looks cool” and is simply to attract people to something. While that maybe good or bad given the situation, if your’re going to do it, then we should be doing it by spelling things right, words and phrases should be correctly written, and we should be taking extra care since we have to respect the origins of the languages we use other then our own. Just keep that in mind while you go around Tucson reading signs, talking to people.
Oh and by the way, you should also get note of those street names. While Tucson has a lot of those Spanish street names in many places, notice that in the Downtown area our diversity goes away while we go back to English names like Congress and Broadway and 6th Street (Alameda being a small exception). Ain’t it odd how all the Spanish goes away? Hey, I’m just pointing it out.
First off, this is not a lashing out at Valentine’s Day. Just in case you thought that might be an issue. Don’t, it’s not going to be.
I am here now for the sake of responsibility. For it would seem that compared to last semester, I am swamped. I’m not sure I’ve had too much free time in the last while. My fun times are usually work that I make fun (good thing for that handy skill and mentality). Otherwise, it’s been pretty hectic. But for now, I can give a quick update.
For starters, and probably fairly obvious, I am now in the Spring 06 semester and I’m still alive. I managed to pull out 2 As and 2 Bs out of last semester to keep my scholarship and to keep my parents’ overshadowing scorn off of me a semester longer.
Now this semester, I may have overall much easier classes, but the two things making my life a constant flux of work would be Calculus and my new job. Starting off with Calculus, there’s a lot of pressure there. I barely made the B last semester in Precal but now it doesn’t seem to be any easier even after the preparation. And I have to pass this class and advance in my computer science major. Simply put, I HAVE TO PASS. No, I have to get a B. No alternatives here. I have this shame issue I guess. If I fail this class, I’ll be a mental wreck. It’s just how I am I guess. Not to mention the parents won’t let it go. So, the pressure’s on, but I guess that makes things more interesting.
I got a job over winter break so now I am a First-Year tax pro at H&R Block. My dad works there and he told me of some opening for this year’s tax season and I decided to some extra cash and resume building, I’d take him up on it. So now I work. I don’t’ work long hours and no more then 20 hours a week but those 20 hours are very hard to replace. I even had to give up…yikes…video games. I can’t play World of Warcraft for a good while. So, my extra work and game time has been chewed into and now it’s school and work and work and school. I get about 3 hours to myself a day (1 of which is commuting) and I hold those close to me as my only refugee in a hectic world. Otherwise, I’m working. Right now, I’m working on homework and it’s nearing 11 at night. Yep, sleep is gone but what can you do.
Well, there’s more but I believe I’ve written enough for now. At least, I’d probably write the rest of what I have to say later. I still have a handful of experiences to share aside from my actual involvement with the issue at hand, being diversity. And that in of itself is a long list to go over considering that one of my classes is on the very subject.
Tomorrow I turn 19! Pretty exciting I think. Well, it's only 19. Nothing big until 21. That's our inside joke anyway. Well, as far as an update otherwise, I'm doing real well. Kind of struggling in my classes to keep As in them but otherwise everything is smooth sailing and I´m able to be a very active participant in the UA community as I had hoped. I´m even considering going for an ASUA office which will be, if nothing else, fun. And on a completely different side note, I´m into World of Warcraft now. For those of you who know what it is, that´s all you need to know to connect the dots from there.
Well, one thing I want to mention in here is about the parade for the protesters we had here last week on Wednesday. It´s one of those situations where it´s good to see people come together for a cause but I do not like the reason they came together. Mind you, that I may have mentally voted Republican (I didn´t register because I became 18 afterwards) but I would have voted for Howard Dean and actually really liked the Libertarian candidate, Michael Badnarick so as far as political affiliations, I really don´t have any as far as this topic goes (I like to consider myself as Centrist actually). You see, I believe they were creating so much tension as far as the diversity topic goes because I believe many of those involved were only involved because of the "Democratic" agenda and maybe not as much against the current administration as they should be. For me, this only causes division among people for both those involved and those watching. Those involved get one idea about a person and begin to criticize him for his actions and ideas with limited knowledge or second hand knowledge. On the other hand, you have the non-protestors who use this as a reason to call those people "traitors" and create their own discrimination agenda.
I wish I had an answer for a situation like this but I don´t and I always say one shouldn´t complain without some sort of answer to the so-called problem which is what I believe many are doing in this situation as well. I just believe there has to be a better, more peaceful, less discriminative way to go about our current political situations. What´s going on is not what I would think to be the best and healthiest solution, granted the numerous counterpoints to my argument. But all that aside, the division is what scares me when instead of dividing, we really need to be coming together and putting political affiliations aside and making them second and not first. We need to be Americans, we need to be a nation during questionable times before we are Republican or Democrat or anything below that. And above being American, we also need to remember to be human and to remember that everyone else is human first as well. On that level, everyone is together and should remember that fact.
Well, it´s been a while since I´ve really put my thoughts together about diversity in focus again since the last interview. But in the back of my mind, I´ve always kept it and remembered and even tried to apply it. In one example that happened in the last 3 weeks was in my English class where we have a short unit on gender in society. We talked about some issues that came up in our readings that involved some gender perspectives that seemed to stand out that included female oppression in the past and present and individuality in both genders, respectively. It was very interesting to hear my classmates talk about how they felt each story we read portrayed the different arguments that have been brought out in the pass and how they transcend or don´t transcend (like oppression of women) into modern society. Personally, at least I´d like to believe, that the oppressions of women in the past are not the same in the future. In fact, I believe it´s hardly an issue. Cases like that I only see individually not as a group. Sure, there are those who still view women below men and try to publicly live that out but now it is accepted as neutral to most people as far as society as a whole. We each have different ways to interrupt that equality but it exists now and I believe, like in all other diversity issues, it is being made too much of a big deal and is causing more problems and more reason to allow for more problems then actually helping.
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