Prison Changes

On my colleague, Mariahlyne's post, she talks about a need for the prison system to change. I agree one hundred percent. Up until I realized there was a difference in how prisoner's in our country are treated compared to other counties, like Norway as mentioned in her post, I didn't really pay much attention to the prison issue. But the information she gives in her argument is just enough to show a difference; linking the article which has more information is even better because you can read up on personal accounts and the ideology behind why the Norwegian prison system is effective. They work around the idea that, despite housing prisoners, they are still human beings. It also helps that most of the crime they experience are smaller crimes and not as much the bigger more violent crimes. Another good point she brings up is trying to start up a want to actually change it. She acknowledges that it could take some time, but that it's something she believes in. I believe in it too. The change definitely can't happen over night, especially due to how many prisoners we have. Looking at it from a birds eye view makes it seem almost impossible. There's a power dynamic that happens in prison--it's the guards vs. the prisoners, usually, and that needs to change. This may not always be the case, but making prison in the U.S. more about guiding and not punishing might actually help more. There's already some places who have prisons where the prisoners can have a little bit of privilege in how they are treated. I remember hearing about one place who lets criminals in prison train dogs in order to try and help them stray away from the criminal life. It may even be happening under our eyes, we just have to bring it to the spotlight, and voices like Mariahlyne's could be the driving force to start it.

No Sanctuary Here

SB4 was passed recently and what that means is that Texas can have no sanctuary places around the state, civil liberties can be given when there's a violation of this law, and sheriffs and other law enforcement can be given a misdemeanor for not cooperating with federal authorities or requests from immigration agents. But the main part of the bill allows the police officials to question someone's immigration status if they are stopped for reasonable suspicion.
This raises many concerns for immigrants all over Texas, more so than there already was. Before only immigration authorities had the permission to detain immigrants that were found, but now any sheriffs, constables, police chiefs, or local leaders have the ability to stop someone to question them. One of the concerns is, of course, racial profiling. Now this one is very real for me because I had a close family member get pulled over by an unmarked car asking if he was a citizen. We had no way to know if this person was an undercover cop or if it was just some random guy, but this really happened to him. It wasn't until that family member showed his photo ID that the man left him with a "okay you can go." Now just imagine that with more officials than just ICE agents. It makes sense to have that fear, you can read accounts of every day citizens taking it into their own hands to make sure that immigrants feel very uncomfortable, even when it turns out the people they're degrading sometimes end up being US citizens. As a society we're very quick to put people into groups and once they're there they won't let you out.
Now, I understand the root of these issues with immigrants coming into the United States. As a Hispanic, I get it. But I only get the want to detain the criminals because, immigrant or not, criminals are the ones who will threaten the safety of the public. But if we're just trying to keep those criminals out, what happens to the ones who are genuinely trying to have a better life than was offered them in their home country. There needs to be regulations, for sure, but the few shouldn't be punished for the ones that are dangerous. We have to show compassion to people who aren't from here. This is a country of immigrants yet there is still so much fear of them that it's creating issues like this where we just want to shame all of them. We have to be open to new things and celebrate the differences every culture brings. We can't keep giving up when people like Trump are elected and we can't keep giving up when the people we support keep losing elections of all sorts. We have to remain strong and be willing to fight. We have to channel our fear and sadness and anger into finding justice and fighting these bills. We have to make sure our representatives and the rest of the country don't forget that we are here and we aren't going anywhere. We can make the world right, it may take a while, but we can do it. Maybe I'm just too hopeful for my own good, but I believe things can change. We just have to keep fighting.

Free Education

A classmate of mine wrote about their belief to have a free college education in the United States. I definitely agree that college should be a free option, but in the argument it would've been nice to see some facts included with it. It is true that a free education system could lead to many positive things such as more people getting better jobs and more people be able to get an education in order to be able to be less ignorant about many things in the world. But maybe there could have been some speculation as to how we would go about fixing the "issue" of having to pay insane amounts of money in order to attend college. Maybe there could be some mention of how many people don't want to pay more taxes just so other people they don't know or care about can go to college for free and other aspects of the opposing party. The argument itself is a good one, a lot of people can agree that free education could lead to a much healthier life for everyone, but talking about the reasons why people are opposed to the idea would be nice as well.

Different is Scary

If you haven't heard of it by now, North Carolina's bathroom bill was one that was seen as extremely discriminatory. It was a bill that originally required transgender people to use the bathrooms that corresponded with their birth certificate and forbade local areas to have protection for those in the LGBT community. But when it was repealed, the law got rid of requiring the birth certificate requirement but still kept schools and other government institutions from being able to let transgender people use the bathrooms of their choice.
 When this bill originally came out everyone supporting it wanted to say it was all for the safety of their children. These people were saying that if trans females and males were allowed to be in the bathroom that corresponded to their identity, what's to stop molesters from dressing as a man or women to go into a bathroom to try and abuse a child, or anyone else? Now, while I'm not saying that this has never happened, I am saying that it isn't as common as people want to think it is in order to make this law seem fair.

When I was first hearing about this bill I knew from the beginning it was only passed because people are uncomfortable with transgender people. It's as simple as that. I know plenty of trans people who are just like you and me--going to college, living their lives, trying to be happy. They are no different from us. They were just born in the wrong skin. Now, it's okay for you to disagree with that statement, what's not okay is to treat them as if they're something other than human. People need to use the bathroom, it's just a bodily function we've had since the day we were born. It's a natural phenomenon. So why can't trans men and women do something as natural as that? It's because people are scared of different things. We're a species of routines and rituals--we don't like change. Different scares us. But I always liked to ask myself a question when this law was being passed. If trans men and women were going to be forced into the bathroom that went along with their birth certificate, what about the ones who have gone through physical transitions? I always found the answer to be funny because the supporters of the bill would be just as uncomfortable as before--a women standing next to a trans man with muscles and a beard or a man standing next to a trans woman with a feminine body and make up on. In every angle of these bills the supporters will end up uncomfortable, so why even try to pass them in the first place?  If the bill requires trans men and women can't go to the bathroom or their choosing and places aren't allowed to have all gender bathrooms, then what is their option? Basically, their options are to suck it up and hold it, which depending on how long they have to hold it can cause harm to their bodies.

We need to stop having such a perverse view of transgender men and women. They are no different than any of us. They want to be happy, they bleed red, they have the same emotions as the rest of the people in this world. They are human just like the rest of us. Instead of fearing the unknown and refusing to understand one another we should be trying to do something in order to educate people. There is nothing wrong with being different. We were all born to be unique. We should rejoice in our differences because without our differences we wouldn't have the things we're exposed to today. We have to be able to see different people as human. It's a shame to look around and see human beings treated unjustly by other human beings for being who they are or for things they can't control. We have to fight discrimination. We have to find compromises that aren't being unfair to others. We have to be willing to work together for things we agree on while respecting things we don't agree on. If we don't our entire existence will never be a positive one.

Left vs. Right. Or Meet in the Middle?

On the tenth of March, 2017 Mark Duplass writes an article aimed at both the left(liberal) and right (conservative) sides of America for them to try and find common ground. He talks about the generalizations of both sides and agrees that some of them are not always wrong, while talking about there being a grey area between the two sides. Now, Duplass admits to his ideals not being researched and mentions how his being an actor may not be the most credible thing for some of the people of American. But in him admitting these things it almost makes him more credible; he’s not trying to make it sound like he’s always right. When he gets past this moment, he begins with his argument.

In his argument, he claims that the left and right should be trying to work together instead of just arguing about our differences. In finding common concerns or interests we could all do things for the better of our country and this world. While contemplating throwing a party for his 40^th birthday, Duplass decides instead to have a small get together of his friends which are a mix of liberals and conservatives. When he gets them together they have a conversation about the causes each of them believe in to try and find some common ground that they can try and work together to fix, hypothetically. When they talk about this they all agree that “children, hunger, and clean water were causes that [almost] everyone” could agree on. Once this was discovered they all donated to a fundraiser started by Duplass and his wife to donate money to a children’s charity. Conservatives and liberals got together and made a little money to help an organization that advocates for children.

Duplass concludes his argument with a pull to action. He mentions how despite most things disagreed upon, if we can all come together and support topics we can all agree need to be fixed, then that will keep growing and growing and lead to more good than bad. He wants both sides to step back away from all the disagreeing and focus on working together because more positivity can be made than all the negativity that stems from always having to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. As someone who deeply believes in things that are never “this or that” this logic makes a lot of sense. In a time like this we all need to come together, respect our differences, and try to find compromise for each side to be happy. It may be too good to be true, but I believe it can happen if we try hard enough.  

Dreamers

In an article published in The Washington Post, written on the 21st of February, Margaret Spellings writes a kind of letter to Trump about how he shouldn't break "America's promise to 'dreamers'". She speaks to the President directly, but also indirectly writes to those opposed to having undocumented immigrants in this country. 

Spellings went through the same things as the children under the DACA act. She came to the U.S. as a child, at the age of seven, with no say in the matter; her parents thought it would be best for her and her sisters so they went along with it. She did the same things the adults my age did when they first came here when they were younger. She went to public school, made friends, and studied hard enough to earn admission into the University of Houston. Texas became her home and she eventually went on to become a U.S. education secretary (2005-2009) and the president of the University of North Carolina.

In this article, she argues that Trump shouldn’t aim to take away the education rights of students in the DACA act due to the threat of deportation. She argues that despite coming from somewhere else, they share the same hopes and dreams for a better America because America has become a home for them. She uses some of the same reasons she mentioned from her story—they came here without a choice, they didn’t choose to break immigration laws. They came here and enrolled in our public schools, they became part of our community, and even celebrated our holidays. This is important to remember because these students shouldn’t be punished for something they didn’t even have control over.

Furthermore, these students don’t have it as easy as some Americans do when it comes to college. These immigrants must pay out of pocket for all their schooling expenses. Sure, some Americans must do the same, but most can have financial aid. These immigrants use their own money to go to school and get an education to be able to do good for the community. Spellings argues that they shouldn’t be punished because in them being able to go to school they have the option to become teachers, doctors and nurses, business owners, or even things as simple as being a good person in the community. All things every country can use more of. They share the same hopes and dreams for a better America, for a better life in general, and that shouldn’t be punished.

I can’t help but agree with what she is saying. While Trump is acting on laws that already exist—deporting immigrants with criminal backgrounds—I’ve read that they are arresting people with minor misdemeanors, and even here in Austin non-criminals are being arrested. If that is happening, what’s to stop them from trying to deport a family where there is no criminal background? There’s no argument that there are immigrants who are criminals, just like in any country there are always going to be people who go into places trying to commit some crime, but the ones who are trying to have a better life and aren’t harming anyone shouldn’t be punished for the actions of the true criminals. Immigrants are an important part of what keeps our daily lives going. They take up the roles no one wants to really do, like being maids in hotels to clean up after the mess some people leave, driving around neighborhoods wanting to cut yards for money. They work hard just like some of the American people. They are important.  They are human beings. Just like with groups all over the world, the masses shouldn’t be persecuted for the small minority that aren’t acting responsibly. An inscription on Lady Liberty says, “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore, send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” Lady Liberty is a symbol for freedom. She lit the way for immigrants coming to our country. Who are we to forget the roots of our national monuments? We used to hold them sacred. 

The Cabinet

On February 17, 2017, ABC News posted "A look at Trump's Cabinet picks" about the cabinet nominees Trump has appointed. Some of which have already been confirmed. This article goes through the details of Trump's process when deciding who he was going to appoint. Prior to his election, 170 people were already interviewed with 200 going through extensive reviews after the election. However, the article doesn't say if the 170 were a part of the 200, so my curiosity wasn't sated there.
To show some diversity in the cabinet, the article mentions some of the nominees being people of color: Ben Carson being African-American, Elaine Chao being Asian-American, and Nikki Haley being Indian-American. However, despite a custom that usually has some people of the opposite party on the cabinet, Trump's cabinet is all republicans.
This article introduces the nominees with short backgrounds, some including information about the controversies surrounding their different roles. But with each person listed, it leaves a link to find out more about that person, which I find very important because it gives the audience an option to do more research into the nominees.
Now, why do I find this article important? That answer is simple: we need to stay informed. These are some trying times we're in and the people that go into these roles are put there to try to give the American people a better education, continue to keep this nation safe along with our environment, and many other things. We should be aware of the backgrounds and current beliefs of these people so we can know who to trust. We don't have to be supporters of Trump, but we should all be aware of his hopes and the hopes of the people taking up these roles. Even his supporters should be aware of what he's choosing because maybe something he chooses will directly affect them and being informed will be what helps people fight back or support people more effectively. Ignorance may be bliss, but in times like these it is vital to stay informed.