The Weekend Edition

April / / 12th / / NO. 37

National Emergency V.S. Congress

Anti-Semitism is an issue as a result of rising nationalism in the west. In Europe, where the Israeli-Palestinian conflict spills over, the anti-Semitic surge has been particularly marked. France, home to the continent’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities, it has not become the epicenter of it all. The slaughter of Jewish children at an Orthodox school in Toulouse in 2012, the terrorist attack on a kosher supermarket in a Paris suburb in 2015 and the brutal murder in 2018 of Mireille Knoll, a Holocaust survivor, form a trail of horror. This is partly to blame due to some younger individuals have anti-Semitism embedded in their roots. European countries claim to address the issue and defuse the situation, it doesn’t appear so.

Learning about Others

An issue in across the world we have been facing is discrimination. Since the beginning of time, it has been relevant, but we are beginning to see it normalized through media. According to the Cambridge dictionary, Discrimination is described as “the treatment of a person or a particular group of people differently, in a way that is worse than the way people are usually treated.” Discrimination can take many forms. But how can we place ourselves in the shoes of someone else who has been discriminated? We can learn through the experiences of Kimberly Rodriguez, a young Latina adult. I conducted an interview with Kimberly a few days ago with Kimberly and learned stunning information. Kimberly was a classmate of mine and I would call her one of my best friends. Kimberly introduced me into the Mexican culture by inviting me to Quinceañeras, having me over for special celebrations, and overall surrounding me with her culture. I have been friends with Kimberly for several years but I have never learned her story. Who is Kimberly Rodriguez? Kimberly Rodriguez was born July 16^th, 2001 in Camargo, Chihuahua, Mexico. Kimberly attended Preschool in Mexico and eventually migrated to Kansas City, Kansas in 2005. Being from Mexico, her first language was Spanish so moving to Kansas was a challenge for her.
As she began elementary school at Whittier Elementary in Kansas City, she struggled with English. In her first year in school, she was bullied for her accent and lacking in her English-speaking skills.

Kimberly would face discrimination from her classmates, and this would affect her self-esteem. She would have to take speech classes to improve her English. But eventually, Kimberly improved her English greatly. Until this interview, I was unaware that English wasn’t Kimberly’s first language based on how well she is able to speak it. Regardless of her journey, it affected her self-esteem growing up. She was constantly self-conscious of her speaking ability and continued to work on it as she got older.

Even though Kimberly resides in the United States and Americanized her ways, she still faces discrimination. She has been battling this her entire life. Kimberly currently lives in Kansas City, Kansas. In Kansas City, a there is a large Latino population. Remaining in this neighborhood, you do not experience discrimination. But once you leave the city, it becomes more rural. For example, Kim works at Great Wolf Lodge which is located at the Legends. Even straying from the city slightly, Kim says there is a different atmosphere. With both the customers and even her employees. In some cases, discrimination occurs indirectly. It ranges from body language to passive interactions. Regardless of Kim’s long journey, she is thriving. Kim is a senior at Sumner Academy of Arts and has her goals set high. She is planning on attending the University of Missouri Kansas City entering the medical field. Kim uses her doubters to motivate her to prove others wrong.

Statistics of Detention Centers

Immigration detention is at the center of numerous heated public debates in the United States, including about the treatment of undocumented children and families, the growth of the private prison industry, the use of jails for immigration purposes, and the increasing convergence between immigration law and the criminal justice system. The size and cost of U.S. immigration detention and removal operations have spiraled since the 1990s. According to the Global Detention Project, the number of people placed in detention annually increased from some 85,000 people in 1995 to a record 477,523 during 2012. According to a 2014 study on the history of immigration control policies in the United States, between 1986 and 2012, the United States spent some $187 billion on immigration enforcement. By 2014, the annual cost of the detention portion of the immigration enforcement budget had grown to roughly $2 billion, or approximately $5 million a day. We know very little of what actually takes place in these centers and what the fate is of thousands of families.

When interviewing Kim, I asked, “what do you think causes individuals to act like this?” (10:37). Kim came to the conclusion that discrimination is a result of ignorance. This is caused by two major factors, being expressed through mass media, and being isolated from other cultures. Kim has very strong feelings about discrimination being normalized by our President. She states that “But since Trump has been in office, I have personally seen more open racism and discrimination. Having someone to in such high -power display racism makes it seem normalized. His presidency has been a form of regression on the civil rights of minorities. The president is supposed to be a role model and he is doing the exact opposite.” The President is expressing closed-minded beliefs and his supporters believe it instead of testing them. The only knowledge his supporters have is what is expressed through the President. Both the President and his supporters have very little experience with other cultures and which it is unfair to make claims of something they don’t know.

A State of Hate

On Election Night in 2008, Americans gathered in Grant Park, Chicago. They cried tears of joy knowing Barack Obama would become the first black president. For millions of Americans, Obama lifted the nation. For white supremacists, he lit a powder keg. His election supercharged the divisions that have existed since the country’s birth. The hate created two Americas. Two realities. Split-screen reactions to the same events, that continued and were exacerbated with President Trump’s victory and time in office. The era that started with hope and change had now become one of unapologetic hate. Most African-Americans polled immediately after the 2008 election called Obama’s victory “a dream come true,” one they never expected to see in their lifetime. Not all Americans saw it that way. Racists viewed a black man in power as a signal of the browning of America. It was the sight they feared the most. They were terrified and infuriated. White supremacists, Klansmen, and others began to vent, plot and act. As Obama called for people to come together, they used his existence to drive the nation apart. Donald Trump, then a private citizen, questioned if the first black President was born in America. Some repeated the lie that Obama was Muslim as if to exaggerate his “otherness.” This undercurrent of racism came as the country struggled with a divided Washington and the economic crisis following the Great Recession. Donald Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail in 2016 seemed to bring those divisions out into the open. Trump received great support in the perceived and outwardly racist language. From his call for a so-called Muslim ban to denigrating Mexicans at his campaign announcement, Trump stirred America’s melting pot of diversity and haters emerged. This damage caused by Donald Trump will leave a stain on America. This will take decades of work to fix.

Eliminating Discrimination

The play Rhinoceros was written by Eugène Ionesco. In this play, we can see several parallels to the play and the movement President Trump has brought on our country. In Rhinoceros, there is a spread of disease in their town. People are suddenly turning green and eventually becoming Rhinoceros. In the beginning, the people feared the Rhinoceros without much interaction of them. They portray the Rhinos as monsters. But eventually when they become the majority, the uninfected wish to become the Rhinos. Ionesco’s intention of the play was to show the sweeping fascist movement. We can tie parallels to President Trump. Trump has fascist characteristics by wanting to isolate the only nationality through nationalism. Also getting the population to believe in whatever he says with very little evidence

Bettering Ourselves

The world is filled with hate, especially in America. It spread because of different religions, ethnicity, and even political beliefs.  This is due to discrimination against these different groups. We have learned earlier that discrimination is caused by ignorance. As our interviewee, Kimberly has mentioned before, that people discriminate against others for a few reasons. Since they don’t know these groups, they are afraid of them. When afraid, they try to push these other groups down. We have seen this throughout history. Discrimination leads to violence as we seen in history and in particular, in the United States. Most recently, we have seen mass massacres on hated groups. To create peace, we must eliminate discriminating others. Most of the global issues come from the root of discrimination. I hope for us to develop and learn from our prior mistakes. In this better world, we must learn and accept others instead of rejecting them and putting them down. Hopefully, we will live in peaceful world, eventually.

I decided to do a Newspaper article on this project. I feel like the best way to communicate my message is through mass media, such as a Newspaper. Since individuals surround themselves with mass media every day to get their news. My goal is to info everyone about the struggles of others. If I get their message out, then hopefully others will be understanding. Then eventually this can lead to the improvement of discrimination against others.