Celebrity Infatuation

I decided to focus on websites based on America's infatuation with celebrities. Contemporary American identity is over saturated with celebrities and so called celebrities. Sites such as www.perezhilton.com give the public access to all the latest Gossip from their favourite actor, sports person or non talented people from money eg. Paris Hilton etc

Celebrity at this moment in America is epidemic, and it's spreading fast, sometimes seeming as if nearly everyone has got it. Television provides celebrity dance contests, celebrities take part in reality shows, perfumes carry the names not merely of designers but of actors and singers. Without celebrities, whole sections of the New York Times and the Washington Post would have to close down. So pervasive has celebrity become in contemporary American life that one now begins to hear a good deal about a phenomenon known as the Culture of Celebrity.

Today, you could say that Americans are divided less by race, class, or political ideology than they are by their participation in celebrity culture. We are divided into two main groups: the famous elite and the unfamous masses who watch them. While the ranks of the famous swell, the unfamous masses bring with them varying degrees of sophistication to the spectacle, all of them making subtle and not-so-subtle emotional and intellectual investments in the illusion. 

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=741717786cef60ec29ba336423fc615f&eu=zJsp-e7qCSxmw7cE7_avqg

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004.
As of January 2011, Facebook has more than 600 million active users.
Users can create a personal profile, add other users as friends, and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile.
Additionally, users may join common-interest user groups, organized by workplace, school or college, or other characteristics.

Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerburg "I'm trying to make the world a more open place by helping people connect and share."
Facebook was a key spark in the spread and organization of the recent revolts in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya. Back home President Obama praised Facebook as an example of American innovation in his January State of the Union Address.

Forbes Lists:
*52 Forbes Billionaires
*19 in United States
*35 in Forbes 400
*40 Powerful People
As of May 2011 Zuckerburgs Networth is $13.5 Bn

Facebook has affected the social life and activity of people in various ways. It can reunite lost family members and friends.
Facebook's role in the American political process was demonstrated in January 2008, when Facebook teamed up with ABC to allow users to give live feedback about the "back to back" January 5 Republican and Democratic debates.

The Social Network is a 2010 drama film about the founding of the social networking website Facebook, and the resulting lawsuits. The film was directed by David Flincher and features a cast including Jesse Eisenburg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake.

Google

http://www.google.co.uk/webhp?hl=en

The website I've chosen that I feel best represents America is the Google home page. This may seem a slightly abstract choice but to me it encapsulates most things that America stands for. Google allows the world to be at your fingertips or a click of the mouse within a desired framework. You can do anything, find anything, promote anything and say anything you want with it. To me it draws parallels with the America's democratic system and the freedom that allows. The opportunities and possibilities that are and have been made available by Google mimic those that America has represented to the world as achievable within its borders. The idea of the 'American Dream' spread around the world and people flocked there in pursuit of it. Similarly in pre-Google days finding/doing things was painstakingly hard but nowadays I imagine it is one of the most frequently visited sites the world over. This draws another comparison in that it could be viewed as yet another example of America's 'soft power' , a part of a vast sphere of cultural and political export of its values over seas. Google is a multinational corporation, a spear head of what lies at the heart of American values, capitalism. The founders are pristine examples of the benefits and possibilities of the American dream, rising from modest backgrounds to being billionaires with just an idea and some hard work. All of these reasons fit to show that Google, the ideas behind it and the possibilities it represents best encapsulates America for me.

USA vs CHINA

http://youtu.be/E9NDM05kwIk

Whats behind the souring of U.S. and China relations?
When Barack Obama became U.S. President, the conventional wisdom was that relations would improve.
The high point came when Obama made his first visit to China in November of 2009 when both sides hoped cooperation would reach a new level.
But what has happened since has been anything but.
The video shows the rundown of what they know.

The video talks about a speech made by Hilary Clinton in which she denounced China's reaction to dissent as a "fool's errand," saying Beijing was trying to stop the course of history.

It then goes on to mention money matters. China selling Washington bonds over $6billion arms sale with Taiwan.

Cyper security with Google, and Human Rights issues are also mentioned.


Quotes from the video:

I think it's really Ironic how much the Chinese hate the US yet, they come to study and even take English names..  LOL


Sadly your rant was wrong in many areas. First the U.S. economy is hardly brittle it is the world largest even in the most severe recession in 70 years. The U.S. economy is largely supported by its own U.S. consumers unlike China. The U.S. has many trade imbalances in favor of other countries not the U.S.'s, our consumer base it that powerful. China did not invent the rocket it invented a tube filled with black powder shot from an arrow that rained fire, we call that fireworks.

USA spawned from a very powerful modern Empire the British Empire, it had a head start. China has been a brutal war zone for hundreds of years, before it all before the collapse of the Han Dynasty; China was at least 200 Years ahead of Europe in the arts and sciences, let alone the Americas. The US got its roots from the British Empire and a lot of its money from profiteering of WW1, and the floundered with it now brandishing a massive debt.

China and America's Relationship

http://www.aasc.ucla.edu/uschina/timeline.shtml

I chose this site because whilst covering issues such as Economics and Beijing's view on Obama it also has a timeline which shows events in both China and America which have shaped their relationship from 1784 with the beginning of U.S. China trade through the Chinese Exclusion Act ' which bans immigration of laborers (and their wives) from China for ten years and disallows them from becoming American citizens through naturalization. Leads to a “bachelor society” of Chinese immigrants.' showing the hostilities against Communism up until 2009 where two Chinese Americans are appointed to the Obama cabinet.

 The First American Fast Food company opens in 1987 (KFC).

Subjects looked upon on this site include right to Religious Freedom which Americans take very seriously where as this was forbidden in China during the cultural revolutiuon of 1966-1976.

'Though the number of believers are difficult to determine because many have kept their faith hidden in the face of the Communist Party’s traditional hostility towards religion, a separate survey conducted by the East China Normal Univeristy in 2007 found that nearly one quarter (about 300 million) of the population may be religious believers, three times the official figure of 100 million.'

The Beliefs and attitudes of both countries I feel are in many ways polar opposite to one another but it is mutually beneficial for both parties (especially America) that they maintain a good relationship as China starts to rapidly catch up to and may even surpass America as a world super power. America as the only super power in the present day wants to hang onto this and so needs to keep China 'on side' in many ways, trade, military etc

 

China America

http://www.uschina.org/

This is a website from the US-China Business Council devoted to the relationship between China and the USA. This is a nonprofit organization that works from 220 companies that do business with China. The site provides information, advisory, advocacy and service programs for its members. It has been working like this for 3 decades. Generally this organization wants to help build up a commercial relationship between the US and China for the benefit of the US economy.

They have a magazine called 'The China Business Review' which students, companies and business men can get a subscription on. The site is mostly in favor of the US economy and I see this site as a barrier for China to become a larger economy than the US because they will have an economic relationship.

The site contains reports from meetings between the two countries. It also states their trading agenda and the US exports to China. It also shows statistics and analysis of events and their trading relationship.

Sino American Relations

The website I found is a report by the Congress Research Service of The Library of Congress that discusses US-China relations and the implications for US foreign policy.

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32804.pdf

It is from 2006 so is not the most up to date account of the situation between the two countries but does go into significant detail of China's economic/political expansion in the world and also internal affairs. It seems the most significant threat perceived by the US is not that China is aligning itself with Americas enemies or hostile countries but that they are insidiously trading more with allied nations. America is finding its grip on commodities threatened in countries where it previously was the dominating trade partner.

The two other main areas of concern are to do with China's secretive approach to its economy and military spending. Politicians and Department of Defence officials promulgate that China is massively understating its expenditure on the military and this is a cause for concern because put quite simply people want to 'know their enemy' and nobody likes surprises. In relation to their currency the US is disgruntled that China is underestimating it and therefore giving significant advantages in the world marketplace and within its own economy.

There are many other discussion areas in the report such as long standing disagreements over Taiwan and North Korea but what surprised me was what the level of significance attached to some things you would think would be higher. The main one being the fact that China is a one party communist state. Though it is not aggressively expanding or attempting to revolutionise other countries to be communist as Russia was during the cold war it is still a non democratic system. The US has championed itself as the leader of the 'free' and democratic world, even using it as a part excuse for military intervention in other countries before so the question has to be asked, why do they condone it so freely with China?

9/11 Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0eC3uns3pA&feature=related

This is a video of little bits of news reports that are very rarely shown in memory of 9/11. The guy who uploaded this video has a very stubborn view of 9/11 being a conspiracy of the American government and he uses this video as evidence to support his argument. The video footage he uses are from a two hour DVD at the website: http://www.MaeBrussell.com. This is a website of a women who collects research material for her interest in conspiracy theories in America since the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

The view of the uploader of this video is that 'it [9/11] was clearly a hoax, as many people around the world now believe' He believes that Bush and Obama made people believe certain things about the attack, for example:

'Four planes can't crash and leave no wreckage'

'The fake video of Flight 175 approaching the Twin Towers has the plane traveling too fast'

He shows hereby that he believes videos were being made by the American government supposedly to provoke an image of America being an innocent nation and being attacked from outside.

This person remembers 9/11 as an event that should be looked at closely. He remembers 9/11 with respect to the people who died with critical eye for why these people died rather than purely grief. He defines this event as yet another event that has been published through media in a questionable way. I had personally never looked at any conspiracy theories about 9/11 and had, just like most of the world, seen this as a shocking, painful, sad event through what we see on television and read in the paper. It is hard to think that America would do something on such a large scale to itself and kill thousands of its own citizens to create an image of innocence. It is never to be ignored that this is, however, always a possibility. I am of the opinion that the event might be dramatized through media and that every article you read might not be entirely true, but I do not think there is more behind it.

9/11 will still always remain quite mysterious with the little evidence there is of the terrorists and their goals.

9/11 Rememberance Video

This short film was shot on 11 September 2010 in New York from 8pm to 11pm and from different angles from the city.
The Tribute in Light is 88 searchlights placed next to the site of the World Trade Center to create two vertical columns of light in remembrance of the September 11 attacks.

Throughout the film the artist puts in the number of victims and countries who lost people reminding people that although the attack took place in America, it affected the world as a whole.
As you can see in the final list, United Kingdom had the most deaths followed by South Korea and then Canada.

The music has no words which I think is to show how speechless everybody was towards the disaster that happened out of the blue.


The lights have caused confusion for thousands of migrating birds, trapping them in the beams, and requiring that the lights be switched off for 20 minute periods to allow the birds to escape.

9/11 Commemorative Vids

Here is the famous commercial Budweiser produced after 9/11. They aired it only once which was during Super Bowl XXXVI in January 2002. This one-minute spot features the beer company's trademarked team of Clydesdale horses trudging across snow-covered ground into New York City where they stop to gaze upon the Statue of Liberty and the city's skyline before lowering their heads on bended knees in a gesture of respect. This advert doesn't allude to the incident, show any footage or even give any detail at all about the message, you are supposed to recognise what they are paying tribute to because of the sheer enormity and 'one offness' of the 9/11 attacks.

The other video which I chose is very much like many of the other tribute videos which can be found on youtube and various other sites across the internet. This clip uses a song with the lyrics 'Where were you when the world stopped turning' as the backdrop. The reason for the use of this music is because of the sheer audacity American people felt that someone would have to actually do this to them on their home soil. I wonder how many times American people have used this song to highlight events in the middle east, Africa or anywhere else for that matter. Obvioulsy 9/11 was a terrible tragedy but only could the world stop turning if something happened to America.

9/11 Tributes

I've posted two tribute to 9/11 videos because i thought the comparables within them highlighted some key traits of how Americans view the event and themselves. Both videos have a strongly religious theme whether its the cross made by two metal girders from the towers or images of people praying, God is always invoked to watch over the victims and people effected. This shows the extent of the importance of religion to Americans for it to be at the forefront of such a unifying disaster. Jesus also features in a child's pencil drawing that shows him embracing the victims of the tragedy as he watches over it happening, (this seems a strange contradiction to me in that if he was watching over and protecting these people why didn't he stop it from happening??) again representing the importance of religion in the handling and acceptance of the aftermath.

As well as various images of the actual event both videos have manufactured images that represent integral images of American identity. One shows a bald eagle with a teardrop as it seems to gaze upon a picture of the two towers smoking, this is set to an American flag backdrop. In the other the stars and stripes are used again this time in conjunction with the statue of liberty and the words 'We will never forget'. Both seem to be attempting to show the strength and pride in the American spirit by using their most powerful emblems to invoke feelings of patriotism.

President Bush features in both videos as well, in one there are images of him condoling people effected and another of him almost welling up with just a hint of tears in his eyes, in the other audio of one of his speeches is played over images of the event. He talks about the unifying aspect of it and how it was a tragedy for the whole nation and also invokes God again 'May God bless America'. The use of the President displays how encompassing the event was for the nation and everyone in it, not just the ones directly effected.

Though these two people created these videos entirely separately and at differing times after the event the similarities between them are startling and speak to the shared feelings that Americans have in regards to the event. Even the musical soundtracks are very similar, both are melancholy extremely emotive songs designed to make you reflect on what you are seeing.

There were a couple of things that I found quite ironic, not within the videos themselves but in the surrounding advertising on youtube. To the right of the video were an advert for travel insurance with an emblem of a plane and the phrase 'choose the right travel insurance for you and your family'. The other was underneath where there was a link to click if you wanted to buy the music featured in the video direct from itunes. This seemed to represent to me the epitome of consumer capitalism, the very thing the terrorists were attacking that day!

Crash

It is clear that the film Crash is based around racism. It portrays the clichés and generalisations of different races and cultures in the modern day America.

The film shows how the different characters (making up for large proportion of America’s population) all have one thing in common: discrimination.

It shows you how people have double standards (e.g. they won’t listen to the Iranian man but they will sell the gun to his daughter because she speaks English properly and dresses more towards the Western culture) and how easily judgements are made based on skin colour.

What is shown strongly in the film as well is the act of racism in the police department and in politics. For example the district attorney needing a black vote so turning around a murder case by making out the white cop to look bad. The director puts out very clearly in this way that racism is being ignored and is meant to be ignored. People use racism in their power because the law doesn’t tell them that they will be fined or jailed for it. For example the racist white cop feeling up the black women, and when his partner complains about it he is told to forget about it because it will cost him his job.

These are the reasons for a sense of Black Nationalism to still be alive in the way that the black robber with braded hair complains about white people stereotyping him for being dangerous when he turns out to fit perfectly in that stereotype.

What happens in this film is that everyone is a racist and gets discriminated through racism. In this way all their characters crash and every individual seems to realize that they have all been racist and they have all been discriminated by someone from a different race. Beautifully shown in this film is therefore the fact that the white race is NOT necessarily the dominant race. heir cliché just tells us that they are 'safe' and 'rich' people.

The dialogue is strong and straightforward which is meant to show the true clichés about racism and it shows what people generally think but don’t say because it is made out to be racist.

Crash

http://www.scene-stealers.com/print-reviews/a-second-look-at-%E2%80%9Ccrash%E2%80%9D-the-worst-best-picture-nominee-since-%E2%80%9Cghost%E2%80%9D/

I found a number of reviews for Crash online the majority of which were positive, possibly due to the fact that the movie received an Oscar for best picture. The link above gives another opinion as I also found many reviews of people who despised the film. Many people felt that the main theme of racism was over done and un realistic.

'The people in Haggis’ version of L.A. engage in openly racist behavior, and every crucial decision is informed by racism or because of racist actions against that person. This one single theme, bashed into your skull throughout, is what makes “Crash” maddening, tiring, and finally, ridiculous' 

From my own point of view I enjoyed the film up to a certain point and could empathise/sympathise with some of the scenes in the film but I didnt feel close enough to the characters to really find myself truly engrossed in the film.

At its heart, the film is about mistaken identities, miscommunications, and their consequences. A man mistakes his girlfriend for being Mexican (she isn't); A gun store owner mistakes two Persian customers for being Arab, referring to one of them as 'Osama' when he becomes agitated from not understanding their language; A woman who's having the locks changed at her home doesn't trust the man changing them because he's got what she refers to as 'prison' tattoos and looks like he may be a Mexican 'gang-banger' (he's not); Two different parents attribute life altering deeds to people they rarely see (or don't even know) instead of to the people that are closest to them.

Crash!

The film Crash left me thinking it was an intense and thought provoking film.

I enjoyed the fact that Paul Haggis (directer and Screenwriter) created a film about people so real that none of the usual Hollywood cliché rules apply. A story about how people from wildly different walks of life, collide and intersect with one another. Each life is in some way personally affected, changed, damaged, or victimized by racism. They’re also all in some way guilty of racism themselves. The dialogue is intense and heavy as characters discuss topics such as race, poverty, and the American institution, and I think this film may help some people understand a little better where the other guy is coming from.
However I felt like we didn't see enough of the characters, we only encounter brief snippets which are chopped up and linked together in daisy chain fashion.
I also cannot help but feel that Karma/Dharma plays a part in the story lines. Which is always show in a Hollywood movie.

The first time I watched the film in 2005 I wasn't really watching the film, I was trying to link the stories of the characters together. Although now watching it after learning about America I cannot help but feel guilty when laughing at some of the lines in the film.
I think it is not a film that you could choose to watch for "film night" as it is not very entertaining. However it is one of those films where you watch it and it makes you think about what your actions are and which character you may connect more with.

Crash

This film, and the critics reviews I've since read leave me feeling slightly at crossed purposes. On the one hand the issues traversed in the film are engaging and relevant (though in some instances a bit extreme) to problems associated with race in America today, on the other from a movie goers point of view I was thoroughly disinterested in the structure and realism in the film.

Crash utilises humour to convey the racial tensions and prejudices present but this in turn makes the viewer uncomfortable because they become aware that their acknowledgement of the jokes may be down to similar prejudices within them. A similar thing occurs when dealing with the problem of the white TV producer who feels that his black actor doesn't sound 'black enough', this speaks to how a (probably) majority white audience needs to perceive black characters on television. This again would make the audience aware that they are probably guilty of similar preconceptions.

The sequences that make up the movie feel very forced. The storytelling style of having lots of intermingling characters lives crossing paths is one that has become more popular in recent years but in Crash feels incredibly fabricated. It doesn't allow the film to flow and tell the stories but stunts them which draws attention to the message or lessons associated with each 'crash' and then you, as a viewer, begin to feel like your being preached to. It also 'shows' you too much of the story, telling obvious things that the audience have already worked out and therefore end up having a negative impact to the significance of the message.

True to the topic being discussed it seems the people who made Crash have been very careful to finely balance the race ratio's of perpetrators to victims so that no discrimination can be discerned. The film also deals with other urban issues in America such as poverty, drug abuse and gun crime as well though these all take a back seat to racism.

Overall I didn't enjoy the film as entertainment but felt it was a good representation of how the American public perceive race issues in their country, as well as maybe how it is in reality. But being a white English man who's never travelled to America I'm not sure I'm qualified to comment.

Sikhs in America

http://www.sikhnet.com/

Sikh simply means "seeker of truth."

"Who am I, and what am I here for?"

'the Sikh way of life offers a down-to-earth spiritual path for every-day people.'

Scientology

http://www.scientology.org/

Scientology is a twenty-first-century religion.

Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by author L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), starting in 1952.
Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion , and in 1953 incorporated the Church of Scientology in New Jersey.

Scientology teaches that people are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature
Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counseling known as auditing, in which practitioners aim to consciously re-experience painful or traumatic events in their past in order to free themselves of their limiting effects.

Study materials and auditing courses are made available to members in return for specified donations.
In other countries, notably France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Scientology does not have comparable religious status.

8 Dynamics:

• Self - survive as an individual
  
• Creativity - making things for the future
  
• Group Survival - survive as a group
• Species - survival through mankind
• Life forms
• Physical Universe - matter, energy, space and time
• Spiritual
  
• Infinity - is also commonly called God, the supreme, Being or Creator.
  

Today, Scientology operates eight churches that are designated Celebrity Centers, the largest of these being the one in Hollywood.
Celebrity Centers are open to the general public, but are primarily designed to minister to celebrity Scientologists.
Entertainers such as John Travolta, Tom Cruise and Kirstie Alley have generated considerable publicity for Scientology.

Top Twenty Religions in the United States, 2001
(self-identification, ARIS)

Religion	1990 Est. Adult Pop.	2001 Est. ADULT Pop.	2004 Est. Total Pop.	% of U.S. Pop., 2000	% Change 1990 - 2000
Christianity	151,225,000	159,030,000	224,437,959	76.5%	+5%
Nonreligious/Secular	13,116,000	27,539,000	38,865,604	13.2%	+110%
Judaism	3,137,000	2,831,000	3,995,371	1.3%	-10%
Islam	527,000	1,104,000	1,558,068	0.5%	+109%
Buddhism	401,000	1,082,000	1,527,019	0.5%	+170%
Agnostic	1,186,000	991,000	1,398,592	0.5%	-16%
Atheist		902,000	1,272,986	0.4%
Hinduism	227,000	766,000	1,081,051	0.4%	+237%
Unitarian Universalist	502,000	629,000	887,703	0.3%	+25%
Wiccan/Pagan/Druid		307,000	433,267	0.1%
Spiritualist		116,000	163,710	0.05%
Native American Religion	47,000	103,000	145,363	0.05%	+119%
Baha'i	28,000	84,000	118,549	0.04%	+200%
New Age	20,000	68,000	95,968	0.03%	+240%
Sikhism	13,000	57,000	80,444	0.03%	+338%
Scientology	45,000	55,000	77,621	0.02%	+22%
Humanist	29,000	49,000	69,153	0.02%	+69%
Deity (Deist)	6,000	49,000	69,153	0.02%	+717%
Taoist	23,000	40,000	56,452	0.02%	+74%
Eckankar	18,000	26,000	36,694	0.01%	+44%

Evangelical Lutheran Church of America

http://www.elca.org/

Lutherans come from European followers of Martin Luther, a German theologian who taught closer following of the bible than the Roman Catholic church was doing back in the 1500's. Coming from many different, predominantly Scandinavian, countries when they first settled in America there were many different branches seperated by language. Over time as they became 3rd and 4th generation immigrants English became the language of worship and so different congregations would gather and form 'synods' or church bodies and eventually all come together under three main bodies, Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. The later is the largest and made up of a combination of The American Lutheran Church, The Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches and The Lutheran Church in America. In this way Lutherans seem to be working counter to most other Christian groups in that they are joining forces and solidifying whereas most others splinter off into multiple sects.
Lutherans have three core beliefs at the centre of their faith, these are:

We are saved by the grace of God alone -- not by anything we do;

Our salvation is through faith alone -- a confident trust in God, who in Christ promises us forgiveness, life and salvation; and

The Bible is the norm for faith and life -- the true standard by which teachings and doctrines are to be judged.

So they are a mainline Protestant denomination that adhere to the Bible and its teachings but their focus is very much on helping their neighbor and not judging other peoples views. Though they discourage it they accept that in certain circumstances abortion can be morally responsible and they have a positive stance on openly gay clergymen. This gives them a very moderate-liberal stance which is not something other Lutheran groups share being as they are reasonably conservative.

Mormons

http://mormon.org/

The religious group i chose to focus on are the Mormons. This is because the majority of settled European Americans would have been Protestant, Catholic, Jewish etc hence religions which were brought over and carried on in America and not started there. The Mormon religion or Latter Day Saint movement was founded by an American named Joseph Smith Jr. in the 1820's, in western New York.

Although the roots of this religion are rather strange as are most religions in my opinion what makes it kep to America is the fact that the 'visions' which Smith recalled were of Jesus in the America's and also portrays the indigenous peoples of the Americas as Israelites. He also claims to have translated these stories from golden plates.

The headquarters are in Salt lake City, Utah.

This religion was able to flourish to gain over 14 million worldwide followers and this may be due in part because it was started in America, a place where any religion is free to be practiced. It may not have been as prosperous in a Christian dominated Europe.

This church also pratices plural marriage which is not legal in America but is a part of their faith. Another factor is that 10% of a followers income goes straight to the church much like how taxes go to the government. This is not only true of the Mormons but also other new fledgling religions such as Scientology.

The two stories I chose are Antojos and The Human Body

My choices are The Kiss and American Surprise

my choices are: A Regular Revolution and The Drum

My Choises are: The Rudy Elmenhurst story and Daughter of Invention

My two chosen stories are The Four Girls and Trespass.

Immigration

latino Immigration

http://www.migrationinformation.org/usfocus/display.cfm?ID=766

An artical written by Kristen McCabe & doris Meissner, January 2010, disscuses the issues of Immigration in the United states as a whole. They say that,

"Immigration, perhaps more than any other social, political, or economic process, has shaped the unoted states as a nation"

Which is really a far state to make as Americans are there as a result of immigration. The artical goes on to talk about the Immigration laws before 9/11 and after. Its says that the most significant thing was the USA Patriot Act, which then President, George. W. Bush signed october 2001. Baseiclly it allowed law enforcement to allow suspected terrorists to be, "Searched, monitored, detained, and deported; strengthened border enforcement and allowed for the detention of foreign nationals for up to seven days while the government decides whether or not to file criminal or immigration charges"



Machete is a 2010, Robert Rodriguez spoof film, dealing with undertone latino immigration plot. Obviously from the trailer the Latino's are the good guys and the republican white folk are the bad. in the actual movie, events are exaggerated and the Congressman himself shoots and kills Latino immigrants trying to cross the border. 'Machete' has a lot of controversy over this race issue, most importantly tying it too Arizona, saying how the movie basically portrays all white Americans as racist. However this movie is the type that should not be taken seriously.

Latino Immigration

ANTI: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageNavigator/about.html

I found a site on immigration from a 'national, non-profit, public-interest, membership organization', called FAIR. Looking at the name of the organization and having a glance at the site, it seemed like neither a pro nor anti-immigration organization. However, when I read the ‘About FAIR’ part it said that ‘FAIR seeks to improve border security, to stop illegal immigration, and to promote immigration levels consistent with the national interest’ which made me realize that this is not so much a ‘fair’ organization for both sides of the immigration issue, but for the American ‘national’ side of the issue.

They address illegal immigration in a quite positive but quite naïve way, in the sense that their aim is to ‘stop illegal immigration’, as if it is something that can be fixed overnight. Illegal immigration has politically and economically far too many advantages to be stopped and on top of that there is no easy solution for the trespassing of the non-secured 2000-mile border.

In the mission statement it is mentioned that their goal is ‘to educate the American people on the impacts of sustained high-volume immigration’ and to put forward an immigration policy that would be best for the nation. I want to point out here again that I see no sign of seeing the ‘fair’ solution concerning the immigrants. I think therefore that the name of the organization does not explain the intentions of this group, although its main ‘motto’ is to find an immigration policy that suits everyone.

PRO: http://www.naleo.org/

NALEO is another non-profit, non-partisan organization ‘facilitates the full participation of Latinos in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.’ Basically this organization believes that immigration is and has always been a phenomenon in American history and therefore they believe that even though there is vast amounts of Mexican-American immigration like never before, these immigrants should be treated like any other and should be included into the nation. NALEO is also known for the fact that they have made it possible for Latino and Latina to become state officials and have a say in the politics of the country. Their policies seem realistic and accurate and take into consideration the vast amounts of immigration in the last decade and its problems, e.g. ‘The NALEO Educational Fund provides national leadership for important public discussions on the key issues affecting Latino participation in our political process’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY0aqohWduc

This is a video of Bill Richardson, the president of NALEO, on CNN talking about Immigration and border control. Having seen many of his speeches and talks, his main aim seems to be that ‘American should stop demonising immigrants’. In another video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY0aqohWduc), he explains that it’s the media that makes the immigrants come out like they are criminals, when really they are the people that clean the toilets etc. His opinion is mainly that he sees immigrants as people who come to America seeking for happiness and that these people should not be rejected but should be included into the nation.

Anti and Pro Latino Immigration

http://kellenebishop.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/the-heartstrings-that-will-bankrupt-%E2%80%9Cus%E2%80%9D/

This a blog by Kellene Bishop about the negative aspects in her opinion of illegal Latino immigration. The major point which she focuses on in how much money is being spent on these people.

"There are approximately 5.5 million children of illegal immigrants living in the U.S. presently who are recognized as legal citizens.  As such, the parents of such children are able to literally live on your dime without contributing to society in the form of taxes, community activism, or contributing to the law-abiding culture of our society".

She appears very anti immigration and shares her own opinions on how she feels parents are being perceived by their children for "breaking laws" by entering the country illegally and also how these children will vote when they grow up.

"How do these children grow up and vote?  Do they vote for the best candidate who promotes honor and virtue?  Or do they vote for the person who’s most likely to keep their parents in the country".

She also shares a point that she feels would the fourteenth ammendment have been drafted in the same way if her forefathers had known that millions of people from one country would be immigrating to the US and not just the immigrants who made a "difficult" journey through ellis island.

 http://www.hoover.org/publications/hoover-digest/article/7568

This article focuses on "The Welcome Effects of Latino Immigration" by Michael Barone.

It comments on the importance of the Latino population in the US and makes an interesting point that a lot of Americans know little or nothing about the history of these people but that they make up such a large proportion of the population.

The Latinos seemed to have forgotten when looking at the Kerner Report which believed that America would be split into two societies black and white. They didn't take into account the immigration of Latinos into America because the rush of Latinos since the Immigration Act of 1965 was almost entirely unpredicted. These claims turned out to be wrong as Black people are alot more integrated today than in the 60's. People argue that being such a  divide between language, religion etc that America will seemingly split but "Ethnically, religiously, and regionally, there have always been many more than two Americas, and Americans have, for the most part, been able to live together and build the most tolerant, affluent nation in the history of the world".

The article mentions that generally Latinos are hard working and don’t find it difficult to find work.

"These are people with an exceedingly strong work ethic and a strong loyalty to family. They have gone through bewildering experiences with determination and strength. If they seem silent and stoic at work, the atmosphere on their streets is a lot like Little Italy a hundred years ago".

Latino America

Border Angels was founded by Enrique Morones in 1986, they are a non-profit organization supporting humanity.
The organization consists of volunteers who want to stop unnecessary deaths of individuals who are traveling through the Imperial Valley desert and the mountain areas surrounding San Diego County. As well as the areas located around the United States and Mexican border.
The high percentage of unnecessary deaths have been results of extreme heat and cold weather conditions, also some have sadly been the results of racial-discrimination crimes.

Enrique Morones’ father grew up in Mexico City, moving his family to San Diego in 1954. He worked for Aeromexico during the day and at a market at night to earn enough money to pay for a quality education for his five children. Enrique was the first member of the family to be born in the USA

Enrique has a long history of firsts and accomplishments,

• 1st two time President of the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce;
• 1st Director then Vice President in Major League Sports with the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball
• President and Founder of House of Mexico in San Diego's Balboa Park
• First Director and founder of Mexico's Border Commission and advisory group to Mexican President Vicente Fox ad part of Mexico's Institute of Mexican Abroad

Grassfire, is an organization who has put up billboards that express their anti-immigration stance. The billboards found along the highways say “Stop the invasion: save our border.”
The billboards can currently be found in West Virginia, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Georgia, and California.
A Michigan activist by the name of John H. Tanton claims to have organized the anti-immigration movement by founding and providing financial support to some groups.
The network consists of 13 anti-immigration groups which include the American Immigration Control Foundation, California Coalition for Immigration Reform, Federation for American Immigration Reform, Pro English, and Project USA among others.

Through their national petition, they hoped to quickly get one million grassroots citizens who by signing their petition oppose any form of amnesty, and who are demanding our government secure our borders by building an effective border fence, and strictly enforce existing laws.

"The sad fact remains that the federal government is refusing to secure our borders. Their continued failure has only emboldened Mexican drug cartels that now control parts of Arizona -- spreading violence and fear among American citizens living in these border areas." "While this lawlessness grows – threatening the lives and liberty of U.S. citizens, the President continues plotting ways to advance his open-border agenda, and grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens – many of which have criminal histories and ties to enemy nations."

Total signers: 212,838

http://www.grassfire.com/117/petition.asp

Amexica

This video is not 100% pro immigration but is interviewing a spokesperson for the anti-deformation league who is trying to raise awareness of the discrimination leveled at Latinos by hate groups that has been adopted by the mainstream media in the conflict over illegal immigration in South West USA. It contains various clips from news shows where authors, politicians and well known names like Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs are shown to be using defamatory language or 'codewords' to describe the influx of Latino people into the region. She suggests that in using words like 'invaders' and 'illegal aliens' these people are trying to paint the Latinos as a threat to American values and instill a fear within the population that is then not only held in regard to illegal immigrants but to legitimate ones as well and hate-crimes have happened as a result. The news clips even at one point show someone Glenn Beck is interviewing describe the situation as 'a war, but the Mexicans are the only ones fighting it'. This kind of inflammatory rhetoric has already come under fire with the Gabby Giffords shooting earlier this year and it seems to be similar culprits i.e. the far right, attempting to utilise it to exploit fears and curry favour when discussing other contemporary issues.

This video is a mix of various prominent Latino community leaders and politicians talking about the issues associated with immigration in the South West or as some of them deem it 'Aztlan'. When listening to what they are saying there is a feeling of injustice, they feel cheated of the territory that was originally theirs and though the politicians are careful in regards to how confrontational their language is the other speakers out right declare that Latinos should take it back. When you hear this and the see the demonstrator images and redrawn maps of the USA it becomes easy to understand how predominantly white conservatives at the other end of the nation are getting concerned about what the aims of this ever increasing section of their society are. Though there are some extreme views expressed by some speakers the majority are talking about assimilation and acceptance that they want from the rest of the country. The images of protesting crowds are holding masses of American flags and waving them with gusto, would they be doing this if they wanted to annex the South West back to Mexico?

African americans

Black African Americans are treadted In the United States of American comepletly differantly to across the world, starting from the very beginning of the counrty's discovery and is an issues that very much dicussed even to today. even thought American has come a long way from were it was at the beginning of the 20th century, it still shockingly not enough. And i believe there is far to much rascism there then protrayed.



Here is an interview with Singer Jill Scott, where she talks about the historyand the battle of African americans and how its still shows today but obviously in a smaller way. she also discusses how Manly Black women face the worst of it.

"So theres this kind of quite pain, its quite but its there. I dont fell that way when im in London, I dont feel that way when im in paris, and i dont feel that way in Holland its just this history of United States hasn't necessarily been brushed away, and we have to deal with it."

African American Separatism is a movemnt that firmly believes that White American's Dominate. often some believe and seek for a seprate homeland where they can belong without any prejudice. Most Black Separatism ideas are that they generally do not believe that they can not procress in society that is dominated by white majority.

With the break throught that Barak Obama has had in him becoming the first Black president of America, it certanily has had an effect on the american socitey and they the way they view black americans. Before he won, Actress Sophia bush puts things into prospectus about before his election, the country had been in a mess.

"Everyone has been so disheartend by the state of our nation. we are like this beautiful, classic building thats just hasn't been taken care of, and things are falling apart and we are not takening care of each other, or our country or us standing in the world well at all."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mg8iAzHTkG8

This video is set up by the New York Public Library. It is a debate about the possible death of Black Nationalist Culture. The guy in the back left corner argues that Barack Obama created the idea that Black people are to blame and so are White people (and in that sense creating peace). Then he argues that Black people are definitely not the people who brought slavery up and that Black people didn't invent the Jim Crowe laws and he basically says that Obama's statement is wrong. However, since Barack Obama is the president, his audiences (the people in America) pick up on what he says and believes that its a 50/50 situation and that there is no reason to think back at the unfair times of slavery and separatism. This is eventually how they believe that Black Nationalism has come to its end.

I think it was inevitable that black nationalism would come to an end in the 21st century, because people in America (and in the rest of the world) made it seem like the times had changed when Barack Obama, a black president got elected, and made it seem in fact like times of separatist/ racist thoughts were over.

It is worth mentioning that when i was going through Youtube.com to find a video on this topic I found quite a lot of videos of people expressing their views in a different way saying that Black Nationalism should have been seen as racism too. Meaning that the thoughts behind Black Nationalism and the way Black people are becoming racist towards White people nowadays should be seen as bad. I personally think this are wrong ideas and that the past can't just be forgotten and changed. What happened, happened and that can not be forgotten in the Black Community, but apparently so, times have changed.

This is the link of the video with the extreme view against Black Nationalism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em55RSIS--s&playnext=1&list=PL996DF7B9A1D71A9F

UNIA-ACL

http://www.unia-acl.com/

The site I've found is for the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League. Originally founded as the UNIA by Marcus Garvey its power was greatest in the 1920's and since the 1940's has divided and most of its influence has disappeared. It's ideals keep pretty much true to those it was founded with in that it seeks political, social and physical separation of all races to enable them to promote their own ideals. It also strives towards the 'creation of a powerful Negro nation in Africa'.

The extent that this organisation has fractured and lost support over the last sixty years perhaps suggests that the mode of thinking is outdated and not aligned to modern peoples views and desires. Though it is separatist in thinking it is not racist in anyway, it doesn't portray African Americans as superior but merely suggests that there are differences between every race and that the only solution is division of the respective societies. This differs from many other separatist thinkers and groups in not wanting to seek retribution for the ills delivered to Black people during centuries of oppression. It seems perhaps then a segway between the two major camps of thought containing as it does the spiritual harmony and conduciveness of Rev. Martin Luther King while maintaining the reactive physical divisions wished by militant groups and Malcolm X.

It seemed rather odd to me that Marcus Garvey promoted such an ideal of returning African Americans back to Africa because he was originally from Jamaica. After reading more it seems that though his efforts before he was deported were concentrated in the USA his concern was with the plight of Black people the world over as he had traveled to many countries and discerned general trends for their mistreatment everywhere. This perhaps atones for why back to Africa than and independent nation elsewhere.

Nation of islam - Farrakhan

I chose a brief video which shows Minister Louis Farrakhan (leader of the Nation Of Islam) talking about the White Man as being the devil. I already knew who Farrakhan was but after watching "Malcom X" by Spike Lee I learned more about the organisation in which he has power over at this time.

The Nation of Islam believe in separatism as opposed to Martin Luther King's "dream" of integration. Seperation is seen as a kind of last resort if no terms of equality can be reached:


In an 13 April 1997 interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Tim Russert asked Louis Farrakhan to explain the Nation of Islam's view on separation:

Tim Russert: "Once a week, on the back page [of your newspaper] is The Muslim Program, 'What the Muslims Want' [written in 1965]. The first is in terms of territory, 'Since we cannot get along with them in peace and equality, we believe our contributions to this land and the suffering forced upon us by white America justifies our demand for complete separation in a state or territory of our own.' Is that your view in 1997, a separate state for Black Americans?"

Minister Louis Farrakhan: "First, the program starts with number one. That is number four. The first part of that program is that we want freedom, a full and complete freedom. The second is, we want justice. We want equal justice under the law, and we want justice applied equally to all, regardless of race or class or color. And the third is that we want equality. We want equal membership in society with the best in civilized society. If we can get that within the political, economic, social system of America, there's no need for point number four. But if we cannot get along in peace after giving America 400 years of our service and sweat and labor, then, of course, separation would be the solution to our race problem."

Instead of promoting equality between races the Nation of Islam is an organisation based on Islam which believes that the black man is the superior race, this view can be seen as understandable becasue of the turmoil in which their race has been sujected to in America's history but this is just driving a bigger divide between people of different colour than bringing them together.

Belief	Traditional Islam	Nation of Islam
God	Allah is one, who has no partners	Wallace D. Fard came as God incarnate (God is the black man)
Muhammad	The final prophet of Islam, no one comes after him	Elijah Muhammad is the prophet to tell about incarnation of Fard
Race	All are equal regardless of color of skin, judged on behavior	The original black race of man is superior
Creation	Allah created the universe, first humans were Adam and Eve	Black scientists created the plan which repeats every 25,000 years
Qur'an	Revealed to Muhammad from God through the Angel Gabriel	Black scientists created and revealed the Bible and the Qur'an
Sharia law	Sacred rules and laws of Islamic life, based on Qur'an and Sunnah	Not followed, created own, such as 4-6pm meal or avoid white-flour cake meals

Black Power

Kamau Kambon is a former North Carolina State University visiting professor of African-American Studies.


This video was recorded right after Hurricane Katrina. Could a White person say the same things? (3mins, 4.30mins, 6.45mins, 8.30mins)



Dr. Kamau Kambon is in support of black folks moving to a new country under control of a Black government. He says that white people will control our economy, our politicians, our foreign affairs, etc. According to the Dr. black people will finally have a voice in the world. This would then according to some "stop a coming a war against whites".

He is probably most famous for a speech delivered October 14, 2005, at Howard University, urging genocide of whites, saying, "We have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet to solve this problem of racial injustice.

"We have to exterminate white people off the face of the planet to solve this problem.”
“...because white people want to kill us.”



Kambon’s solution received slight applause in the room, to which he responded, “I don’t care whether you clap or not, but I’m saying to you that we need to solve this problem because they are going to kill us.”

Immigration

http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss

I have not looked at any one individual school and how they are portraying immigration but at the Californian State Board of Education who issue comprehensive guidelines on learning outcomes for children through all subjects. In the History-Social Science standards introduction immigration is shown to be significantly important right away,

'They recognize that America's ongoing struggle to realize the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution is the struggle to maintain our beautifully complex national heritage of e pluribus unum.'

This significance is re-enforced by the fact that students are to be introduced to the concept that a diverse population with a varied ancestry is a positive thing that makes America great in the First Grade (ages 6-7). Discussing issues to do with immigration with children so young creates an awareness of the importance of it in both a historical and contemporary sense.

Throughout the varying aspects of history and through the Grades, immigration is discussed in relation of cause and effect to virtually all major American events. Each and every time when it is discussed it's shown in a positive light as a quintessential factor that has made America great.

The amount about immigration taught is probably due to the fact that these standards are for California, a state with a large immigrant population, and as such perhaps there would be less influence of it in other states.

These standards are also slightly dated now having been issued in 1998 and though immigration from Latin America was high then in the years since it has increased massively so perhaps there might be a need for more teachings relating to that issue.

I found this weeks blog task probably the toughest in terms of actually pinning down a website with the relevant information. I wanted to choose a school in new york as I think it would have been interesting to see how they teach immigration from the 19th/20th century because the majority of the immigrants would have to settle or pass through New York. I spent hours going through new york schools websites and couldn't find anything of much use.

http://its.guilford.k12.nc.us/webquests/immigration/immigration.htm

The above link is for Guilford County Schools in Greensboro, North Carolina. It shows a brief overview on what these 5th graders will be covering also the tasks and processes which will entail.


"North Carolina Standard Course of Study: 3.02 Examine how changes in the movement of people, goods, and ideas have affected ways of living in the United States."

It doesn't really state how the subject will be taught to the student in the sense of how immigration is perceived but it looks as if the majority of the work is to be undertaken by the student to find out for themselves. The fact that they have to read an account from a child of a similar age to them from that time period may help them to engage and get a more realistic feel for the events instead of them reading an account by an adult. They also have to interview a person who is an immigrant from another country to America this will give them an insight from the actual person as to why they came to America and also to look at their classmates and see the different/similar reasons as to what motivates immigrants.


Students will:

• Students will use the internet in order to view original pictures taken during the immigration period at Ellis Island.
  
• Students will build their their vocabulary by completing a Word Search puzzle and by defining the words related to the project.
  
• Students will develop reading skills by reading a true account of the journey to America told by an immigrant child.
  
• Students will develop their interviewing and writing skills by interviewing a person who is an immigrant from another country to the United States and publishing their story on the web for others to read.

Immigration Teaching in American School

http://www.concordacademy.org/academics/academicscoursecatalogue.pdf

from: http://www.concordacademy.org/

The concord academy is one of the top 10 K12 American Schools in the US. it is a private preparatory school for grades 9 to 12 situated in Concord, Massachusetts. on their main website I found a link to their curriculum and under the subject of history it had a little paragraph about immigration called 'Immigrants in America: Beyond the Melting Pot'. While reading the paragraph I did not see a lot of difference with the lecture we had on immigration. There did not seem to be a direct feeling of telling the 'story' differently.

In the 'module' it examines the history briefly, but mostly asks debate questions like: 'We discuss when different groups arrived, how they were received and represented, and how they have made their ways in America.' which seems to show that there is a larger interest in what immigration has done for/to America and less in what the lives of the immigrants were like before they moved to America and how it affected their lives.

At the end of the paragraph it says that the Prerequisite courses for the course are American History 2 and Geographical distribution, which I find quite peculiar in the way that it doesn't seem important for this course to know what life in Europe, Asia etc was like. Even though this is a history course that involves history in more than one part of the world, for the American immigration it apparently does not seem relevant to know who these immigrants actually are. Debates like how the immigrants were received and represented come up during the course which might have some sort of hostility towards immigrants since they will be represented by the teachers as 'intruders' more than inhabitants of the same country.

However this course does debate questions like 'when different groups arrived,

how they were received and represented, and how they have made their ways in America.' which shows that they do show interest in the immigrants from the point where they entered America.

Overall, this is a quite exclusive school with quite a lot of immigrants since their motto is: 'Concord Academy (...)enriched by a diversity of backgrounds, so that is maybe why this school might have had to have this more neutral look on immigration to avoid any form of discrimination between its students. the more typical public American schools might have a more 'American-viewed' immigrant history curriculum.

Immigration

http://www.nchs.ucla.edu/

The National Center for History in the Schools (NCHS) has a threefold mission: to develop and provide teachers with curricular materials that will engage students in exciting explorations of U.S. and World History; professional development for K-12 history teachers; and to collaborate with schools in building their history curricula.

Through publications, professional development, and community engagement, NCHS links UCLA to teachers and students in Los Angeles and across the United States. They help the best thinking about U.S. and World History understandable for teachers and their students.

U.S History for us all is a section that points to web resources available for teaching US history. The pages are organised by the eras as outlined in National Standards for History. They provide Primary sources and lesson plans for teachers also interactive games for the children to use in order to learn more.

Era 1 starts with Three Worlds Meet (Beginnings to 1620)
Era 2: Colonization and Settlement (1585-1763)
http://www.apva.org/
Era 3: Revolution and the New Nation (1754-1820s)
Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
http://digital.library.pitt.edu/nietz/
Era 5: Civil War and Reconstruction (1850-1877)
Era 6: The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)
Era 7: The Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930)
Era 8: The Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945)
Era 9: Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)
Era 10: Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)