Author: eckert.172

Text Review- To Kill a Mockingbird

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After reading what this assignment is, the first thing I thought about was the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. I assume this is a book that we all read in high school, if not it was definitely an Ohio high school thing, but I will keep the summary short. 

In To Kill a Mockingbird, the most important overall theme is the coexistence of good and evil. The story takes place in a town in Alabama, where civil rights and racism are explored through the characters. This is also during the time of the Jim Crow Laws. The story is told through a young daughters eyes, Scout Finch whose father is an attorney who is trying to prove the innocence of a black man who was wrongfully caused of rape. There is also another main character who is seen as mysterious that there is a lot of talk about, Boo Radley who gets a bad wrap but he actually saved Scout and her brother Jem from being killed. 

This really is an amazing book and that is probably exactly why it is in so many school curriculums to read in high school. It shows you the raw truth of how the world was around the time of the civil rights movements. It shows a power struggle between Tom Robinson, the black man and what is right, simply because his identity is making him get the wrong side of the stick. Although Tom Robinson did not come out on top since he was murdered, everyone at the end of the story knew who was right and who was wrong. And Atticus Finch, the attorney was given this great real life example to teach his kids about inequality and injustice while teaching them the important lesson especially at the time that you need to treat everyone equal regardless of the color of their skin. 

 

Week #15 Context Presentation (Jamaica Kincaid’s A Small Place)

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For week 15 we read a short novel called A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid. Kincaid wrote this with an audience in mind of those being a tourist or even more specifically a North American or European tourist who are visiting Antigua, which is a tropical island located in the Caribbean. Her book is set up in four different untitled sections but they go over first what the experience is like being a tourist there and then the author’s memories of what Antigua used to be like. She then goes over a timeline of how Antigua has developed over the years and ponders the question of if it was better before or after. The last section wraps it all up and distinguishes how such a beautiful island still has such a dark past, and the beauty that comes to the eye of the tourist is merely beauty and they do not know the hardships of being a real Antiguan.

Antigua was originally a colony of Britain until its residents faced destructive colonialism where they were imprisoned, used as slaves, and murdered. This led Antigua to have a weak government and an insanely high poverty rate where most Antiguans simply work service jobs that cater only to white tourists. They also are noted to be okay with all the corruption that is taking place in their home because they are used to it and it is simply what they think is normal now.

“Colonialism is defined as “control by one power over a dependent area or people.” It occurs when one nation subjugates another, conquering its population and exploiting it, often while forcing its own language and cultural values upon its people.” We can see this in relation to Antigua with Britain. We have learned in school now multiple times all of the negative effects of colonialism. Many of these negative effects are seen in present-day Antigua. But once a country is dug this deep into a whole it is very difficult to come out of. Since tourism is their greatest economic contributor and is also the largest market for jobs, it is very difficult for them to establish themselves and their economy without it.

Source:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/colonialism

Diary of Systemic Injustice Showcase

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A topic that I am very passionate about that I have seen many current issues about is immigration policies. A fact I have seen is that across Ohio, Franklin County has more immigrants facing deportation than any other Ohio county in the state, with a total number of 4,531 pending cases. In comparison to other Ohio counties, Hamilton County has 3,624 cases and Cuyahoga County has 1,100 cases. This is a very sensitive issue to me, as one of my best friends’ parents and extended family in Franklin County are all going through their immigration process right now. This is a very scary process because for their final immigration interview they have to go to Tijuana, Mexico and if they are approved they can come back to the US, but if not they must stay in Mexico. This is very unfair because this can happen to people who have been in good standing with the government and who have lived here and raised families here their entire life.

The impact of these numbers specifically in Columbus is very upsetting. The impact on many families and friends is heartbreaking. An example of how horrible it is is if my friend’s mom is deported. She is 37 and has lived in the US since she was 16, she has raised 4 children here and is the sole caregiver for them. If she was deported, there would be no one to take care of the kids and all of their family’s lives would basically be ruined. I cannot imagine how many of these 4,351 cases have similar situations to this. This can be categorized as systemic injustice because this is a deeply ingrained practice against a lot of times in this case the Hispanic community that has been going on for a long time and still progressing today. A big factor that led to this was when our last president referred to Mexicans as “rapists” and that they “bring the drugs into the US”. This made it systemic because it made many of his followers have more racial prejudice towards anyone who looks Hispanic. It is well known that we need a change in this unfair immigration system but it seems that all presidents no matter their political affiliation do not make immigration politics the first choice.

An important topic that I can connect this back to in-class is Lisa Ko’s novel The Leavers. I think an important thing to note is that immigration in the United States is just not a Latin American issue, it happens to all sorts of different cultures (see link below). It is normal to commonly think of Hispanic people when thinking about US immigration policies, but not understanding that it is not only them, is a reason why the immigration system is so messed up, to begin with. Her book lays this out for the reader and allows them to follow the story of a young boy which can reach people’s emotions and allow them to connect with the novel in a way and tie it back to US politics to be able to have a more educated stance on the topic.

Links: http://trac.syr.edu

https://asiasociety.org/northern-california/not-just-latino-issue-undocumented-asians-america