Thursday, January 6, 2011
To sum immigration in my eyes up.
Looking back on what I've seen and read about regarding immigrants there is no doubt in my mind that our thoughts of these people are skewed. Our country thinks of these people as almost not human. We take all of our problems and dump them on the immigrants because we can take responsibility for ourselves. A common example is that the immigrants ruin our economy. The truth is big banks giving out loans to people who couldn't afford them to make a quick buck put our country in a recession yet all we do is blame immigrants. Immigrants pay more taxes every year than benefits taken from them. People often say immigrants don't pay their income tax but think of the other taxes in the country such as food etc. I'm also come to realize that immigrants work to make most of everything we use and help keep the cost of living low. Milk would be around six dollars if American workers were being paid etc. and that would put a lot of families in debt. The house I'm living in now could of been built by immigrants for all I know. I realize they aren't citizens but the amount of discrimination they get isn't worth the things they give back to us. We need to do something to improve their life and help discrimination against them lessen.
Prayer of the Refugee
There is a song that I enjoyed listening to but never understood what the lyrics meant. (Mostly because I couldn't understand half the words being sung but nevertheless when i googled "Songs about Immigration" Rise Against's "Prayer of the Refugee" (Written by Tim McIlrath) was one of them. After reading the lyrics i realized "Wow this song is directly about immigrants in this country." Here are the lyrics to the song:
Warm yourself by the fire, son,
And the morning will come soon.
I'll tell you stories of a better time,
In a place that we once knew.
Before we packed our bags
And left all this behind us in the dust,
We had a place that we could call home,
And a life no one could touch.
Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!
Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!
Down!
We are the angry and the desperate,
The hungry, and the cold,
We are the ones who kept quiet,
And always did what we were told.
But we've been sweating while you slept so calm,
In the safety of your home.
We've been pulling out the nails that hold up
Everything you've known.
Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!
Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!
So open your eyes child,
Let's be on our way.
Broken windows and ashes
Are guiding the way.
Keep quiet no longer,
We'll sing through the day,
Of the lives that we've lost,
And the lives we've reclaimed.
Go!
Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!
Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!
Don't hold me up...
(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't hold me up...
(I don't need your help)
No! No! No!
Don't hold me up!
(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't hold me up!
(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't let me down, down, down, down, down!
In the second verse it says "Before we packed our bags And left all this behind us in the dust, We had a place that we could call home, And a life no one could touch." This is the Immigrant explaining that before they moved to the U.S. their lives were there own and no one controlled them. He then says "We are the angry and the desperate, The hungry, and the cold, We are the ones who kept quiet, And always did what we were told." This explains the conditions these immigrants are in our country and how they keep to themselves harming no one. Finally he says "But we've been sweating while you slept so calm, In the safety of your home. We've been pulling out the nails that hold up Everything you've known." This explains that while the ignorant people in this country live their easy lives, everything they use has probably been made by an immigrant. We don't realize how much of use immigrants our in this country and yet we discriminate them so much. It's disgusting to see these people who are just trying to support themselves (like we all are) get trashed almost like they are not human. It's terrible and this song has helped me realize how much immigrants do for us citizens.
Warm yourself by the fire, son,
And the morning will come soon.
I'll tell you stories of a better time,
In a place that we once knew.
Before we packed our bags
And left all this behind us in the dust,
We had a place that we could call home,
And a life no one could touch.
Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!
Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!
Down!
We are the angry and the desperate,
The hungry, and the cold,
We are the ones who kept quiet,
And always did what we were told.
But we've been sweating while you slept so calm,
In the safety of your home.
We've been pulling out the nails that hold up
Everything you've known.
Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!
Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!
So open your eyes child,
Let's be on our way.
Broken windows and ashes
Are guiding the way.
Keep quiet no longer,
We'll sing through the day,
Of the lives that we've lost,
And the lives we've reclaimed.
Go!
Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!
Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!
Don't hold me up...
(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't hold me up...
(I don't need your help)
No! No! No!
Don't hold me up!
(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't hold me up!
(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't let me down, down, down, down, down!
In the second verse it says "Before we packed our bags And left all this behind us in the dust, We had a place that we could call home, And a life no one could touch." This is the Immigrant explaining that before they moved to the U.S. their lives were there own and no one controlled them. He then says "We are the angry and the desperate, The hungry, and the cold, We are the ones who kept quiet, And always did what we were told." This explains the conditions these immigrants are in our country and how they keep to themselves harming no one. Finally he says "But we've been sweating while you slept so calm, In the safety of your home. We've been pulling out the nails that hold up Everything you've known." This explains that while the ignorant people in this country live their easy lives, everything they use has probably been made by an immigrant. We don't realize how much of use immigrants our in this country and yet we discriminate them so much. It's disgusting to see these people who are just trying to support themselves (like we all are) get trashed almost like they are not human. It's terrible and this song has helped me realize how much immigrants do for us citizens.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
A followup to my information on Britain immigrating to the US
To The west, to the west, to the land of the free
where mighty Missouri rolls down to the sea;
where a man is a man if he's willing to toil.
And the poorest may harvest the fruits of the soil.
Where the young may exult and the aged may rest,
away, far away, to the land of the west.
This little song brings up the discussion of immigrants from Great Britain. It was a propaganda move to send the British factory workers to the U.S. I just posted this as a little follow up to what I mentioned in my paper earlier. Its not much but it brings up the point that we accepted these people into our Country to work for us.
*There was no author posted with this song so I will just post the website I found it from."
(http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/a-23-2005-10-19-voa3-83126827.html)
where mighty Missouri rolls down to the sea;
where a man is a man if he's willing to toil.
And the poorest may harvest the fruits of the soil.
Where the young may exult and the aged may rest,
away, far away, to the land of the west.
This little song brings up the discussion of immigrants from Great Britain. It was a propaganda move to send the British factory workers to the U.S. I just posted this as a little follow up to what I mentioned in my paper earlier. Its not much but it brings up the point that we accepted these people into our Country to work for us.
*There was no author posted with this song so I will just post the website I found it from."
(http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/a-23-2005-10-19-voa3-83126827.html)
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Immigration laws have caused Racism
Arizona passed a strict law on immigration April of 2010 which made failure to carry legal documentation of your citizenship will be a crime and police officials have the right to use legal action against you. This law has spiraled into a racist community in Arizona. If a police officer sees a Hispanic he can just walk right up to them and ask for papers. I understand they need to have suspicious behavior but still this law will have police officials looking at skin color and trying to determine if they are illegal or not. It's discrimination at its finest and it really makes our country look bad. It's wrong to profile innocent people because we want to control immigration. This law is a bully that makes our people look racist.
This political cartoon represents the law I explained before. It shows two tools that police officers will need to protect the traffic. The left shows a standard breathalyser and the right shows a skin tone chart. The breathalyser is a typical device sued for drunk drivers and the laws broken by them. The skin tone chart shows the racism caused by the new law made in Arizona that shows the police officials will question anyone who looks Hispanic.
This political cartoon represents the law I explained before. It shows two tools that police officers will need to protect the traffic. The left shows a standard breathalyser and the right shows a skin tone chart. The breathalyser is a typical device sued for drunk drivers and the laws broken by them. The skin tone chart shows the racism caused by the new law made in Arizona that shows the police officials will question anyone who looks Hispanic.
Political Cartoon 1
This political cartoon I found really makes me laugh. What makes me laugh is the expression on the chief's face but thats beside my point. It brings us to my point of our ancestors being immigrants at one time. It shows Americans walking through mexico and a Native American Chief asking for papers. It brings us back to when European explorers found America and decided to just settle in the country with no authorization for the people inhabiting the country at that time. It's an example of our hypocrisy and how this land should be open to anyone who isn't a threat to society.
Statue of Liberty a representation of Liberty or hypocrisy?
The Statue of Liberty is a big representation our our country. Her feet which step out of shackles to show our step towards freedom and Liberty. But also her torch which is a welcoming sign to all immigrants looking for a new life in America. This statue was given to us by the French and everyone in our Country knows and loves it. If we have this statue welcoming immigrants into our country then why do we slander them? It is a huge form of hypocrisy that blows my mind. Our modern thoughts of immigrants have been skewed so much because all we do is blame our problems on the people. After all isn't the United States the "Big Melting Pot" where all immigrants are welcome as we continue to grow. With these virtues and representations we continue to use immigrants as a scapegoat to blame our problems on rather than take responsibility for them and fix them ourselves.
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