I pledge Allegiance to the flag of....?

im defnitely not the most patriotic Mexican in the world... but i find it hillarious that so many ppl are as proud of their confederate flag as Mexicans are of the Mexican flag, yet they find the need to put down the Mexican's who wave their flag, last time i checked Mexico is still a nation,(and mexicans aren't the only ones who sport their flag proudly, i know plenty of Irish, Italian, and German friends who wave theirs proudly) and i'd hate to break it to you but most Mexicans who wave their flag are actually Mexican, OR are second generation Mexican, unlike those of you who might be half at most, and even if you're full(whatever it may be), you've been in the US for like 6 generations. and hmmm the confederate flag was never part of a nation. and Mexicans actually won their Independence so they are actually celebrating something...and if you love the south so much, why dont you stay there? Seriously it's the same thing you tell Mexicans who wave their flag, why dont you listen to your own advice? Personally the only flag i'd wave is the American flag, and i respect those of you who love the confederate flag, and dont bag on anyone else's love for their flag, this is intended for those ignorant enough to belittle those who are proud of their country (whatever country that may be) but there's no need to put down anyone else's flag in the process.

Ask a Mexican!

My older brother recently gave me a book to read, which he had come across which is titled " Ask a Mexican!" which is a book written by Gustavo Arellano. Arellano has a column which started out in OC weekly which is now printed in several different papers. In this column every week he answers a question or two from readers about Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. He bounces back and forth between a humorous and serious tone, constantly trying to educate his audience and break down stereotypes or reinforcing them. At first I wasn't too sure about it, I thought I would hate it, myself like him coming from immigrant parents, one of which came here illegally (also like him). However once I started reading and seeing how much of it I was able to relate to so many of the things he said, and it even reminded me about things my parents had taught me about. I think this is a perfect example of someone practicing their freedom of speech as he tackles some subjects which were previously taboo.

Building Owner Fights to close KKK Shop

I came across an article on AOL News about a black man David Kennedy who owns a building which currently houses a shop named "The Redneck Shop" which sells KKK Memorabilia. This is in small town in South Carolina (Laurens) which has a history of being racially divided and to this day still has  C on certain street signs which was previously used to distinguish between streets where colored people lived from streets where whites lived. I find it appalling that Mr. Kennedy is having such a hard time getting rid of the tenant who apparently has a lease which extends until his death. I understand that all people have the freedom of speech but I believe that there are certain situations where it should be limited and I don't believe that we should allow organizations which preach racial hatred and superiority to exist.

free lunches

i was reading an article today in the New York Times which was talking about how many people are choosing to skip lunch in their school because they qualified for free lunches but didn't eat them out of embarrassment. this makes sense to me in a way since my high school's lunch set up was similar to theirs in the sense that the cafeteria with free lunches was in one building and "the hut" as it was called in my high school was located outside next to where all of the popular people ate. i never really noticed this when i was in high school because none of my friends were eligible for free lunches and the ones who were usually went there n took the burgers and came outside and ate with us since the burger we paid for were identical to those which were free. i remember being angry that i had to pay 2.50 for the exact same burger and fries which over 90 percent of my school got for free. if i qualified for free lunch i wouldn't have been ashamed i would've been stoked that i no longer had to waste my lunch money on lunch, actually i probably would've been even bigger cause knowing me i would've eaten the free meal then gone n bought candy or something...

Unfair judgements on Obama

Today I'm writing about Barack Obama because I've noticed that yet again I see there is something in the news about trying to make him out to be unpatriotic simply because of his ethnic or religious background. There's always something singling him out because of race and its getting old. Last thing I saw was a picture of him wearing traditional Kenyan garb in 2006 on a visit to Kenya, and this was supposedly leaked by somebody from Clinton's camp, when he was just being respectful trying to respect the customs of the local. It frustrates me when people don't even take into account that Obama's late father himself was Kenyan. I wish people would just judge him on policies not on his appearance.

Gender Communication

Im currently taking a class titled Gender Communication and like always now that I am taking a class about a certain subject every time i see something related to it I notice things that I never noticed before. I notice little things on shows that show how media influences gender roles. Even in movies that are aimed at women, you can see  sexist messages. Today while I was doing some hw i had the tv on and noticed that Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion and although I only caught the ending I was able to see how even in this movie you can see traditional gender roles get supported. The only woman two women who were successful in the business world from their class were angry, serious and seemed bitchy and a little masculine. One of them was even the only woman wearing pants, and she was accused of being unhappy because she was stuck in the business world. And then finally Romy and Michelle themselves were losers until a rich man from their  class came to their rescue and lent them money so they could open up their own store. Again supporting the traditional gender stereotype of male superiority. I wont claim to be a big feminist or anything but I do find it disturbing that Hollywood continues throw these messages at us. It is specially disturbing to know that little kids will watch this movie and think that this is normal and that this is how the world works.

abolition/free speech

As I'm learning more and more about both abolition and freedom of speech the more i see the connection between the two. I always believed that in order to be truly free it is necessary that we possess the freedom of speech. This coincides with abolishment as abolition was about not only freeing slaves but also from giving them their due rights and treating them as the human beings that they are. It's just amazing to me that many people then can fight for freedom of speech and at the same time they fail to support abolitionism. To me this is just a huge hypocrisy how the same people who are fighting for their right to truly be free, continue to ignore the fact that their country is allowing some of their fellow countrymen to be held as slaves solely because of the color of their skin.