The Melting Pot

A melting pot is a simile that describes things that all work together and when they come together, they make a whole new substance that benefits each element. A better way to think of a melting pot is to think of a stew. In a stew there are peas, carrots, beef, potatoes and many other elements. Each of these individually are good, but when combined they make a delicious stew. This is sometimes how America is described because it is very diverse. Is this really true though? Do all of the different nationalities come together to make something great? People need see that, America does not come to together many times, everyone is still very separate and that needs to be fixed before America isolates within itself.

                The easiest place to see the separation in America comes from the schools. It does not matter which grade or age you see because even very early children go with people who are like them or people who share similar interests. This is only logical because people tend to get along with others who share similar interests. The problem starts happening when children grow up and do not learn to be around others who may not share their interests. Then people can become selfish with what they want and they will not want to listen to the other side of the situation. People need to learn to step outside people they are comfortable with and make friends with new people. This will help America truly become a melting pot. 

On Switch

What makes someone want to learn? Is it the teacher? Is it the way the child was brought up? Maybe it is just in their genetics? All of these aspects can be true in relation to their passion for learning. Many times a person’s reactions for learning come from the simple fact on whether they are interested in the subject. If the subject is boring they will have no interest and words will literally pass straight through them. Although, once someone turns on a metaphorical switch in their minds, learning can become empowering. The problem with this, is finding out what is going to trigger the switch from off to on?

            “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X tells of his life and how education empowered him, but more importantly he spoke about what his on switch was when it came to learning. He only had an eighth grade education when he was serving seven years in prison. While in prison he became frustrated at the fact that he could not convey his thoughts properly because of his lack of education. He was then empowered to take on learning by himself no matter the cost. All he did for his education came from a simple dictionary. He went from being almost illiterate to “many people who hear me somewhere in person, or on television, or those who read something I've said, will think I went to school far beyond the eighth grade.” This type of education came from a dictionary, not fancy teachers or programs, but simply his overwhelming desire to be empowered by education.  He found his on switch.

Who is to Blame?

It is not a secret that the American school systems are failing in comparison to other countries. They are so bad that many schools overseas will not take the American diploma because the standards are so much lower. America is supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave, but it is not meant to be the home of the uneducated. Unfortunately, this is what we are becoming as a nation.

            Who is to blame for our lack of education? Davis Guggenheim directed the film, “Waiting for Superman” and he puts a lot of the blame on the teachers and their unions. He supports the notion that if principals were able to fire bad teachers and replace them with ones who were passionate about their students, that it would fix a majority of the problem. After all charter and magnet schools are succeeding far past the public ones and they have more freedoms when it comes to choosing teachers. Are the teachers really solely at fault though? It may seem like it sometimes though because if a teacher is not performing adequately, then they will produce poor students. What if the student has no motivation to do well though? A student needs a support system at home too, in order to be successful in learning. So, maybe it is not just the teachers, but a combination of teachers, students, and the families that students are coming from. When these three things are in working order, it produces a student’s desire to achieve.

Education

The school system was founded by men like George Washington and Melvil Dewey who were enormous contributors to how America was shaped. These men were people who had great ideas for the world, and we are still using their ideas today. Such as Melvil Dewey who wrote the Dewey Decimal System which library’s use all over America to organize their books. He helped create the public education system to help kids grow up and become something.

             John Taylor Gatto wrote an essay entitled, “Against School”. He has worked in the New York school district for over two decades and has won many prestigious teaching awards through his career. In this essay he argues that education public schools are providing is more like a daycare, rather than a learning center; and that kids are not reaching their full potential because the schools want everyone to learn the same material at the same pace. “To make good people, to make good citizens, and to make each person his or her personal best” (Gatto 150). These are the foundations that the public schools systems were founded on. Unfortunately in today’s society we say that these are the standards we go by, but in all actuality our actions prove differently.

             The public school systems are obviously flawed. Fixing our school system through, will require a lot of work that cannot be done overnight. We need to make sure students are learning, but also challenge student from a young age so that they are prepared for higher education latter on in life. Maybe through this change the schools will go back to their original purpose.

American Women

There is a popular saying of “anything a man can do, a woman can do better.” This is simply stating that women are not inferior to men, but that they are better than men. This saying has not been around for very long though. For the most part, women were looked down upon in society as only being good for birthing children and staying home performing the typical household duties. The man on the other hand, has always been known as stronger, faster, and even smarter than the woman.

            Alexis De Tocqueville states this in her essay “How the Americans Understand the Equality of the Sexes.” This essay was written in the early 1800s when women were not looked upon as anywhere near as equal as a man. She states that “American women never manage the outward concerns of the family, or conduct a business, or take part in political life…” She goes on to explain other aspects that women do not do because that is not their natural duties. It was not until the 1950s that women started have some more distinct rights, and take a stand for themselves.

            Since that time, American women and women around the world are taking their stand to be just as able as men. In some cases women are paid more to do a job, because the company wants to appear as equal in their hiring’s. Women may not always be looked upon as equal by everyone, but they are taking a stand in being able to do just as well of a job as a man can do, if not better.

Is There Really a Missing Class?

            Is there really a missing class? In Katherine S. Newman and Victor Tan Chan’s essay “The Missing Class” they describe the missing class which would include roughly 50 million American’s. Newman and Chan state that “This missing class is composed of households earning roughly between $20,000 and $40,000 for a family of four.”  In order to receive government assistance that family of four would have to earn less than $20,000 per year. This becomes a problem though when the family earns only slightly more than the national poverty rate.

            Newman and Chen mention three families in their essay that are in this missing class. The first is a single mother who works in janitorial cleanings making $13.68 an hour with full benefits. This may not seem like she is very bad off, but since she lives in Brooklyn the cost of living is far beyond her wages. The next person is Tomas Linares who should have settled down into a career by now. Unfortunately that takes a college education in today’s world. Since he does not have this education, he is still working two jobs and making about $20,000 a year. The last person mentioned is Gloria Hall, who has recently become very sick. She worries constantly about where the money for her next treatment will come from, and what will happen to her sons if she dies. A quote from the essay really sum up the missing class explaining that, “They are the forgotten labor force – too prosperous to be the “working poor,” too insecure to be the “middle income.” These people need some help too, they may not need as much help as the poverty stricken, but nevertheless they still need some help.

Equal Opportunity?

         America is the land of the free, home of the brave and the land of equal opportunity; but is equal opportunity really equal? Everyone may be able to do the same things in theory, but everything costs money, and not everyone has money for those specific opportunities. Some people may argue that there are scholarships and programs to help those who do not have the finances for specific opportunities such as college. The problem with these is that not everyone qualifies for those financial aids because there is only a certain amount of money other people can afford to give out from their own budgets.

            A good example of this situation is in Toni Cade Bambara’s essay, “The Lesson”. Miss Moore who has a formal education likes to take Sylvia and her friends on field trips to show them other types of living. On one trip she took Sylvia and a few other girls out to a toy store in a rich white neighborhood. They found out that the toys there were very expensive and all of the girls could not wrap their minds around spending that much money on a single toy. At the end of the trip Sugar says, “Equal chance to peruse happiness means and equal crack at the dough, don’t it?” She is explaining that equal, is not always so equal. There are many factors that go into the term equal, but a large contributor is whether or not the person has the finances for those opportunities. This is why equal opportunity is not always as equal as it is perceived to be.

What is Marriage?

Homosexuality has been a discussion for conflict for decades. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but since we (Americans) live in a democratic nation, there are rules that everyone must abide by. One of the main rules that everyone questions is, whether or not homosexuality should be legalized in all fifty states? Who is entitled to make this type of decision? Also, when making a decision of this kind there are obviously going to be some bias opinions. Such as, if a couple is homosexual, they will likely vote to make it gay marriage legal. As compared to a very conservative heterosexual family would likely vote to keep marriage between one woman and one man.

             I have never been for, or against homosexual marriage mostly because I feel that this problem has never affected me directly. There are some things that I do disagree with when it comes to homosexual rights, or lack thereof. In Evan Wolfson’s argument “What is Marriage?” he points out numerous reasons that make homosexual marriage seem unfair. If a couple is in a homosexual relationship but their state that they are living in does not permit marriage, there are huge downsides that the government will not recognize. One of the big ones that made me think was, “Health: unlike spouses, unmarried partners are usually not considered next of kin for the purpose of hospital visitation and emergency medical decisions.” I believe that if you are close enough to someone, you should have the right to be with them. This is only one of many differences a homosexual versus a heterosexual marriage has. It really opened my eyes to all of the differences that exist today.

The Model Family

           Where do we get the idea of the model family? Most people would agree that the model family is a mom, dad, two kids, and a dog all living in a moderate size house. This is further enhanced by Stephanie Coontz in her essay “What we really Miss About the 1950’s” Coontz gives statistics that directly relate to why we look up to the 1950’s such as, “…when the average 30-year-old man could buy a median-priced home on only 15-18 percent of his salary.” This is in contrast to today’s world and economy, a lot of Americans are struggling to provide, because their salary is not adequate enough.

                On the other hand, Coontz explains some of the realities of what the 1950’s was actually like. The fact that “…tripling nonmarital birth rates between 1940 and 1957.” This is a huge number of people who were eager to see loved ones come back from the war. Another startling fact the Coontz brings up is that “…high school graduation rates were lower in the 1950’s than they are today…” The main difference between then and now is that people did not necessarily need a good education to earn a decent paying job. There were construction jobs, as well as steel factories that would provide good wages for a hard works job.

                In some aspects the 1950’s were a glorious decade, but in other instances they were no better than any other decade. Each decade has something that goes wrong, and Americans learn from their mistakes and make corrections for the future. This is what the 1950’s did; they took the mistakes from past decades and made the best of them. This is why Americans look up to the 1950’s as the ideal model family.

Intro on Myself

         My name is Amellia Coffey and I am from Kansas City, Missouri. I am the oldest child in my family, so having to say goodbye when they dropped me off for college was difficult. A typical person might think that since this is my twelfth move, I would be used to moving. The reality is that moving is just as hard the first time, as it is the twelfth time.

         Now, since I have settled and have been able to talk to my family, they seem to have taken the move hard as well. I have two younger sisters, Ashley who is fifteen and is Autistic, and my twelve year old sister Alethea-Jade, who will blow you away with her singing. I have been told that Ashley has cried a lot because I am not there all the time like I used to be; which is disrupting her normal routine. Now, Alethea-Jade on the other hand, just misses her big sister. So, every time my parents will call or text she always gets on the phone to say I miss you. Alethea-Jade really looks up to me; she even took up running last year because I run sprints in track. She has even told me that she wants to run in college, just like I am running track for OBU. As much as I would love to go back and see my family every weekend, I just do not have that option because Kansas City is a seven hour drive back. So, we will have to settle for Skype, texting and phone calls until I get the chance to go back home and see my family.