Thursday, February 19, 2009
Mr. President
Two springs ago, I decided to run for president of the Wisconsin Black Student Union (WBSU). At first I was hesitant of to run because I did not know how firmly I stood on the issues that concerned the black community. I had been involved in BSU for the whole year and saw that things needed to change but I wasn’t sure if I was the one to bring it. But as the saying goes you must be the change you want to see. After some prodding from those around me, on the last day possible, I entered the fray.
On Election Day, I was nervous and unprepared. It wasn’t until the end of the debate that I started to pick up momentum. It took an eternity for the results to come in. The results came back positive. I was the incoming president of the Wisconsin Black Student Union. Once the elation of victory subsided, I realized there was work to be done. My board and I met several times throughout the summer to make sure BSU wouldn’t turn out to just be BS.
At our first meeting of the year there had to be over 100 people. Our next meeting served as an event also because it was an open mic. Here we promoted a national protest of the Jena Six trial. We had yet to mount a local effort here on campus. After UW-Parkside held a march and protest we decided to follow suit. It took less than a week to get everything in order. The Multicultural Student Coalition (MCSC) and the International Socialist Organization (ISO) were brought in to extend our reach.
On Wednesday, October, 26th, 2007, over 200 people turned out for the Jena Six Walkout. The day began at noon on Library Mall with a rally. From there we marched on State Street to the Capitol. We marched through the Capitol and a police officer confiscated our megaphone because we didn’t appear to have clearance. We were told we could have it back if we promised not to come back through the Capitol. We gave our scout’s honor. Following the retrieval of the megaphone, we headed for the courthouse. We ended up at the old courthouse which is now City Hall but close enough. After rallying there, we headed back through the Capitol with the megaphone in the center of the crowd so the police couldn’t get to it.
At the end of the march we rallied in front of the Walgreen’s on State Street. After that we dispersed. Later that night we had a discussion on the Jena Six, racism, and diversity here at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
On Friday, September, 28th, 2007, the university administration held their 8th Annual Plan 2008 Diversity forum. On Wednesday, October, 10th, 2007, WBSU along with ISO and MCSC held the 1st ever TRUE Diversity Forum. The goal of the event was to come out with concrete goals and objectives to bring to the Chancellor. What the event became was a forum on David Horowitz and an ISO soapbox. These are some of the ills of coalition building. Maybe Bush was right…..Nah.
Old World v. New World
The United States of America has commonly been referred to as a nation of immigrants. Close to 60 million people are immigrants or are the children of immigrants. For them, according to Charles Hirschman, immigration policy is not an abstract ideology but a means of family reunification and an affirmation that they are part of the “American dream.”
On the other side, there are Americans who are opposed to a continuation of large scale immigration. Many opponents of immigration are old stock Americans who have forgotten their immigrant ancestors. They often live in small towns or in suburban areas, and many have relatively little contact with immigrant families in their neighborhoods, churches, and friendship networks. They fear that newcomers with different languages, religions, and cultures are reluctant to assimilate to American society and to learn English (Hirschman, 2006).
The mainstream news media often cites examples of industries that seek out low cost immigrant workers to replace native born workers. Some sectors, such as harvesting vegetables and fruits in agriculture, have very few native born Americans seeking jobs in them, but immigrants are also disproportionately employed in many other sectors, including meatpacking, construction, hospitals, and even in many areas of advanced study in research universities. These examples serve as ammunition for politicians and talking heads who seek to exploit America’s fears (Hirschman, 2006).
Immigration’s first impact is demographic. 70 million immigrants have arrived since 1820 when formal records were documented. They are responsible for the majority of the contemporary American population. Most Americans have acquired a sense of historical continuity from America’s founding, but this is primarily the result of socialization and education, not descent (Hirschman, 2006).
Much of the historical debate over the consequences of immigration has focused on immigrant origins. Early in the 20th century when immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe was at its highest, many Americans sought to preserve the traditional image of the country as one primarily composed of descendants from Northwest European English Protestants. The American population has, however, always been much more diverse than the “Anglo-centric” image of the 18th century (Hirschman, 2006).
Each new wave of immigration to the United States has met with some degree of hostility. In 1751, Benjamin Franklin complained about the Germanization of Pennsylvania. Throughout the 19th century, Irish and German Americans, especially Catholics, who now would be considered white, were not considered to be fully American in terms of culture or status (Hirschman, 2006).
In May 1844, in an Irish suburb of Philadelphia, there were three days of rioting which culminated in the burning of two Catholic churches and other property. This case was one of many during the 1840s and 1850s showcasing the “Know Nothing Movement” (Hirschman, 2006).
The hostility of “native” Americans to “foreigners” grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The main element of this Nativist ideology was the belief in the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon “race”. This belief and immigration restriction garnered support from the “well-educated” elite. The Immigration Restriction League was founded in 1894, advocating literacy test to ebb the tide of immigration. Literacy test were suppose to reduce immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe. This is where the “illiterates, paupers, criminals, and madmen who endangered American character and citizenship” were born (Hirschman, 2006).
Cities, where most immigrants settled, were feared as places filled with dangerous people and radical ideas. These sentiments were often formulated by intellectuals, but they resonated with many white Americans of lesser education. While some reformers, such as Jane Addams, went to work to alleviate the many problems of urban slums with Hull House, others such as Henry Adams, the descendant of two American presidents, supported nativism (Hirschman, 2006).
From the 1880s to the 1920s, a campaign was mounted to stop immigration from eastern and southern Europe. In the early decades of the 20th century the study of Eugenics was used to prove the inferiority of immigrants as compared to “pure breed” Americans (Hirschman, 2006).
Today the immigration debate continues. The immigrants who take the brunt of America’s ire today no longer come across oceans but come across borders. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are currently more than twenty million people of Mexican origin in the U.S. In the 1990s, more legal immigrants came from Mexico than from all the European countries combined. In addition, immigration has become more permanent, as a greater percentage of Mexican immigrants have chosen to stay in their new home (Beyond, 2005).
There are 8.5 million Mexican-born people in the United States, three million of whom are undocumented. About 300,000 Mexicans come to settle permanently in the United States each year, half of whom are undocumented. The Mexican immigrant population is highly concentrated, with 78 percent living in just four states, and nearly half living in California alone (Beyond, 2005).
In October 1994, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) launched Operation Gatekeeper to crack down on people entering the country through San Diego, California (Beyond, 2005). It hasn’t stopped there. Fourteen miles of new border fencing are being constructed along the border between Otay Mesa and the Pacific Ocean. The original border fence was used to stop smugglers from driving across the border with narcotics and illegal immigrants. The new fencing is being made to prevent "backpackers" from carrying drugs into the U.S. and will supposedly stop illegal immigration (Follow, 2007).
Mexican Americans now live in all regions of the country and can be found in most professions and trades. The greatest impact of Mexican immigration, though, may be its contribution to the growing Latin American influence on the everyday life of all Americans (Immigration, 2005). From the use of piñatas at birthday parties and salsa on the dinner table Mexican traditions have eased into American culture. Government projections show that, by the next two generations, more than 25 percent of the U.S. population will be of Latin American origin. The nation's clothing, music, architecture, literature, and food have all been influenced by our growing Latin and Mexican American populations ( Immigration,2005).
American English has been most profoundly affected by immigration from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking nations. More people in the U.S. speak Spanish than ever before, and many find it a great advantage to speak more than one language (Immigration, 2005).
While it is not possible to predict the role of immigration in America’s future, it is instructive to study the past. The current debates and hostility surrounding immigrants echo throughout American history. What is most surprising is that almost all popular fears about immigration and even the judgments of “experts” about the negative impact of immigrants have been proven false by history. Not only have almost all immigrants assimilated over time, but they have enriched American society.
The Fantastic Fro
If I remember correctly I decided to get an afro just to get it. I had had one earlier on as a baby. I had quote, end quote good hair. All the women in the family loved it. All the girls probably would have to, but my father had to put a stop to that. He didn’t want me being a pretty boy. So he took me to the Ebony World Barbershop, sat me down in Merrell’s chair and the good hair was gone. It wasn’t until the fifth grade that I decided to grow my hair out again. There was no particular reason other than I wanted to try it out. I have been trying it ever since.
I’ve been called Kobe Bryant, Boondocks,?uestlove, Black Panther and any other afrocentric person or body. Another term of endearment thrown my way is that I like look like a microphone. I remember when I went to an education conference and this lady for a split second thought I was one of her old high school running buddies, they called him Treetop. I’m like a fat person, a cock eyed or buck tooth person or member of any other group that gets talked about. I’ve heard everything there is to hear and I can probably beat you to the punchline.
Even my own mother has a problem with the ‘fro. She and many others always ask me, “When are you going to get rid of that thing?” or “Why don’t you get braids?” The reason is it’s just me. People know when I come into a room, it’s my calling card. My ‘fro is an extension of me. It’s become a symbol. It takes people back to a time when having a natural was natural.
Now I’m not going to lie I’ve gotten braids three times. There was one attempt before the first complete braiding. It was the first time I had ever been to
The first full braiding took place during my freshmen year in high school. The girls in my Spanish class had been begging me for weeks to get my hair braided. I finally caved in. In broadcast journalism class we were doing a newscast and I needed a story. So I decided that I would do a piece where I’m asking a girl about hair braiding while she’s braiding my hair. One of the girl’s started in Spanish class but couldn’t finish. Broadcast Journalism was around ninth hour, so until then I looked like Two Face, with one side braided and the other side wild.
When ninth hour struck, the girl chickened out. She didn’t want her face on camera. That was all well and good with me but my teacher Miss Strunk needed her face on camera. So I ransacked the hallways and found a girl willing to be on camera and who could supposedly braid hair. The interview went good and Miss Strunk said the story looked great. In all actuality, she messed me up. That girl didn’t know a strand of hair from a noodle of spaghetti. The minute I got home I, with the help of my little sister, took that mess down.
The last two braid episodes came about after joining an organization called Urban Underground in 2004. The first took place in
The second, and last time (for now), was a week or so later when another Urban Underground girl wanted to braid my hair. Again no contest. I kept it for about a week or so and it just wasn’t me. I took them out and haven’t gotten braids ever since. I want to keep my ‘fro as long as I’ve got hair. As Undercover Brother always says, “You mess with the ‘fro, you got to go.”
First Day of Class: Genetics 375
I enrolled in Genetics 375: Contemporary Issues in HIV/AIDS prevention because I wanted to know more about the HIV/AIDS epidemic here at home and abroad. I arrived at class late and was surprised to be one of two black faces. I thought since HIV/AIDS has become so prevalent in the Black community we would be better represented. There were also no Black women who make up the bulk of new AIDS cases in this country. I thought maybe there was no awareness of this class in the Black community. Or if there was; maybe we just didn’t care. I would like to believe the former.
After the first class I was unsure whether I would stay enrolled or drop the class. It was late in the day and I was tired. The class also didn’t appear like it would be able to keep my attention. But it was the first day and we were mostly going over class protocol. So the next day when I met with my academic advisor I decided to hold on until at least the second class.
If this class does turn out to be worthwhile I will recommend the class to others on campus and may even apply to be a student leader. HIV/AIDS is a serious issue and hits close to home and my community. I know people with AIDS and I know of people who have died of AIDS. I also know that if we put our minds to it we can defeat AIDS in our lifetime.
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