Do you know Spanglish?

Last night, I went with my grandparents to see my younger brother's band concert. As my grandparents and I were walking into my former middle school, many things looked exactly the same as I remembered them. However, there was one major difference that struck me. Everything was labeled in English and Spanish. For example, the principle's office was, "the office and la oficina."


The fact that more and more signs are being written in Spanish as well as English seems to connote that Americans are becoming more accepting of immigrants. For many years, immigrants were discriminated against in the United States. At about the same time that the Civil Rights Movement was taking place so were immigration reforms which prohibited "discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and voting...the [1965] law established new, racially neutral criteria for immigration..." (Foner 926). Today, immigrants have many more opportunities because of the laws that prevent discrimination which were formed during the Civil RIghts Movement. America has always been known for having a mix of many cultures and ethnic backgrounds and I think that is a positive thing.

Many people still feel like Hispanics are taking over the U.S. because "Hispanics or Latinos constitute 16.7% of the total United States population, or 52 million people." Because there are so many Latinos who live in the United States, I think some may feel like they are taking jobs away from Americans. Though it is true that there are an increasing number of Hispanics in this country, I do not think there is any problem with that. I think that most of the jobs that Hispanics are taking are jobs that require manual labor that most Americans would not want to do anyway.

Why do you think many signs are being written in both English and Spanish (or other languages)? How do you feel about signs that are in other languages besides English?

Happy Thanksgivukkah!

As some of you may have heard, Thanksgiving and the first night of the Jewish holiday, Hanukkah, will be on the same day: Thanksgivukkah.

Though I had never heard of Thanksgivukkah, I figured that it was not that big of a deal. I would guess that ever few years or so, it would be bound to happen that both holidays would land on the same day. In fact, I was very wrong, the last (and first) time both holidays were on the same day was in 1888 and the next time will not be until the year 79,811. Because the Jewish calendar is based of the moon, it is very different from the Gregorian calendar which is based off of the sun.

The two holidays, Thanksgiving and Hannukkah, are very important in my family because we can enjoy a time that is dedicated to being together and being grateful for what we have. Though there is still plenty of unfairness and hatred in the world, things are pretty great right now in 2013. I know that that things would have been quite different during the first Thanksgivukkah in 1888.

As the Reconstruction period after the Civil War ended in 1877, the 1880s brought about a mass of hatred and white supremacy in the United States. Groups like the KKK were in, and democracy and peace were out. I am guessing that most of the Jews who lived in the U.S. at the time were not celebrating Thanksgivukkah because there was a great deal of tension at that time between whites and minority groups. Minorities like the Jews would not have had much reason to celebrate a country that seems to want to get rid of them. It is so amazing what a transformation has occurred that there is now such a greater acceptance of minorities in America. More and more examples of a changing America are emerging: gay marriage laws being passed and now Thanksgivukkah!

Separate But Equal Today

Gay rights activism has been around for at least the past 40 years or so, however, until recently, most states in the U.S. have not allow gays to marry. As of Tuesday, Illinois lawmakers approved gay marriage. Governor Pat Quinn pledged to sign the bill allowing gays the right to marry in Illinois and the bill is due to take effect on June 1st.

I am very proud to see that lawmakers are finally able to pass a bill that I feel should have been passed long ago. The idea that two people who love each other are not able to marry simply because it does not agree with some peoples' religious views seems like a phenomenon that would not occur today. Yet, the issue of gay marriage is all over the news and there is still a large amount of discrimination against gays. 

The fight for civil rights is not over. Gay people seem to me to be one of the last groups of people that are earning their equal liberties in the United States. I wonder why many people have such a hard time accepting people that are gay. 

One possible reason I think people are "afraid" of gay marriage is because they feel that their religious views are being jeopardized by an "untraditional" marriage. Some other people who may not be religious also feel that gays are not meant to take part in "the sacred act of marriage," which should only be between a man and a woman. Though many people are slowly letting go of these old-fashioned views, there is still unfortunately a large group of people who oppose gay rights today. 

Why do you think gays have been one of the last groups to gain the rights they deserve?

Tick Tock on the Clock

I wake up-it's 7:00
I arrive at school-it's 8:07
I walk into advisory-it's 8:11
I finish Spanish homework in advisory-it's 8:34
I hear the bell ring-it's 8:40
...

As a student, my life seems to be governed by time and a series of bells. Every day I probably look at a clock at least 100 times. Clocks are everywhere--on computers, phones, every classroom wall, on wrists... The human invention of time has been around for thousands of years, however, I think the more we have access to technology, the more people have become obsessed with time.

I wouldn't say that it is necessarily a bad thing to keep track of the time. But, the fact that nearly everything these days is about living around a clock bothers me. I know I'm not the only teenager out there who feels the same dislike of alarms as me. Another time I feel that I am being governed by a clock is taking standardized tests, especially the dreaded ACT. Last Saturday, I took the ACT for the first time. Though I had taken several practice tests before, I messed up my pacing on several sections and when the proctor said, "Five minutes left," I would have 20 questions left to answer. It's not necessarily that I didn't know how to do most of the problems, but because of a clock, I couldn't show my best possible abilities. Why do I need an additional pressure of a clock??

Do you think standardized tests are a measure of test-taking ability or actual intelligence?