Journal 15

In Response to "Border Patrol State"

While reading this essay I was horrified that such incidences occur in the United States regularly. I knew about Border Patrol agents, I've even watched the show "Border Patrol," but I had no idea that they pull people over and have check-points so far away from the border. I agree that this is a problem, that the indigenous people's don't deserve this kind of scrutiny, however, those that are not citizens have no rights in that country. It sounds a little stern, but its true, Silko did not deserve that treatment in America, and once she showed her Arizona driver's license she should have been let go, no questions asked. It isn't fair that the poor German Shepard was set on her, but as she said, "I had a small amount of medical marijuana in my purse" why did she have that marijuana? was it prescribed to her? I don't mean to be so suspicious, but I was under the impression medical marijuana is for people who are dying of cancer, she seems perfectly fine. Transporting illegal drugs, no matter the amount over state lines is illegal. So what she was doing was wrong.

Then later in the essay she talks about the way indigenous people's of the Americas need to help each other out, that refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala are being smuggled into the United States by Native Americans. This however noble, is illegal. I think racial profiling is wrong, that border patrol agents and police officers shouldn't pull someone over because of their color, and certainly shouldn't treat them so poorly when they do, but this issue isn't black and white. Illegal immigration is just that, illegal, if all laws were treated so crassly our nation would fall apart. But like I said before this issue is more complicated than that. The problems aren't "over there,"but right here at home. Lets face facts, the reason people immigrate here is because it is beneficial for them to do so, in California, and throughout the country, big farms/plantations hire illegal immigrants so that they can pay them basically nothing. It is Americans that are causing these problems, if illegals knew that they wouldn't be hired in the US without papers they wouldn't immigrate here because they would be worse off.

Journal 14

The Things They Carried

Compared to the men in the story, "The Things They Carried," complaining that my backpack weighs too much seems silly. They had to carry so much just to stay alive, whereas my clothes probably weigh 10 pounds (when I'm in jeans.) O'brien wrote, "They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried" (1462).  This makes me think about what we carry mentally, some days it just feels like too much to bear.

If I were a soldier in Lieutenant Jimmy Cross' unit, I would carry chocolate with me at all times. It seems a little juvenile, and impractical in the heat of Vietnam's summer, but for me it is about so much more than a delicious snack. For one thing I've become addicted to it, if I go a few days without the caffeine from chocolate I get horrible headaches. On the other hand chocolate makes me think of family, when a family member comes back from a trip to Europe they always bring swiss or german chocolate back for the rest. My mom is the same way about chocolate that I am, it unites us in a silly way. I'm not sure how I would keep it in my pack, probably like Jimmy Cross' letters, I'd put it in a plastic bag and eat some when I was tired, scared, hungry, homesick, you name it, the chocolate would help.

I would also carry photographs, one of my family, probably the picture I have framed on my desk right now, of all of us after my graduation at our favorite Mexican Restaurant. Then I'd have a picture of me and my best friends, I can't imagine getting through a day, much less a war, without hearing from my best friend and roommate. Then, as cheesy as it sounds I would have a picture of my dog, she's a 12 year old golden retriever, and I don't know how much longer she's going to live.

Vietnam happened about 30 years before I was born. I can't imagine what it was like, I'm also a woman, so luckily I would never have had to find out. Reading this story makes me so thankful that all I carry every day are the clothes on my back and the books in my bag.

Journal 12

Queen Lili'uokalani

 "I used to climb up on the knees of Paki, put my arms around his neck, kiss him, and he caressed me as a father would his child; while on the contrary, when I met my own parents, it was with perhaps more of interest, yet always with the demeanor I would have shown to any strangers who noticed me" (Lili'uokalani).

I choose this sentence from the Queen's autobiography, because it is so strikingly different from my own life. I consider Hawai'i a state of the United States of America, and I didn't think about how completely different the two histories are, how the customs of Hawai'i are alien to those of America. It is my "favorite" sentence because it gives, I believe, insight into the queen's personality, a kind of detached demeanor to those Americans would have her love, but she cares little for. 

Lili'uokalani uses very specific language in her writing, and describes her actions very carefully. She describes a child-like, almost universal action, "I used to climb up on the knees of Paki..."One imagine a little girl doing just this, climbing up on the knees of her father for attention. She uses the phrase, "and he caressed me as a father would his child" the use of the word "caress" is a bit strange in our twenty-first century lives, but it is used to express the love between foster-father and daughter. She then contrasts this reception to the involvement with her "own" parents. By calling them hers, she is recognizing the fact that even though it is in accordance with Hawaiian tradition, she was still aware of the fact that her foster-parents weren't her real parents. This turn of phrase signals that she had to have suffered some of the same feelings adopted children worldwide feel. She claims to have responded, "with the demeanor I would have shown to strangers who noticed me." She calls her birth parents "strangers",  but the fact that she mentions them at all makes one think that perhaps she didn't feel like they were strangers, but they gave her away, and for that reason she was a stranger to them.

I didn't know very much about the history of Hawaii's monarchy, but after this assignment I have realized a lot about American Imperialism, and how power/land hungry the forefathers were. As an American I tend to think that America has always been about freedom, and doing the right thing, but the more history I learn the more I wonder about what America really stood for.