Immigration Reform Essay example -- Immigration US Policy

â€Å"We are nation of immigrants. Some came here willingly, some unwillingly. Nonetheless, we are immigrants, or the descendants of immigrants, one, and all. Even the natives came from somewhere else, originally. All of the people who come to this country come for freedom, or for some product of that extraordinary, illusory condition. That is what we offer here—freedom and opportunity in a land of relative plenty.† (Middletown Journal 2005) We have created the land of free. Nonetheless, there have been a number of Immigration Acts in the United States. The first one was the Naturalization act of 1790. Then the immigration act of 1965 passed, and immigration restrictions applied to Mexican Immigrants for the first time. Nearly 30 years later in 1986, the immigration Reform and Control Act was, created which granted amnesty to immigrants that had lived in the United States before 1982. Nevertheless, this later act made it a crime for employers to hire undocumented immigrant workers. In order to create a successful Immigration Reform Policy, the government has to consider several socioeconomic areas including border control, worker programs, education, and the economy. â€Å"All the elements of this problem must be addressed together† (Bush 2006) Who is controlling our borders? We must secure our borders to prevent illegal crossing. The United States recognizes illegal immigration, has been an issue for decades. Creating a successful Immigration reform policy will decrease illegal crossings. In addition, implementing more experienced Border control officers; will decrease the use of military personnel. In addition, allowing military personnel to secure our Nation not just the Mexican borders. The new policy will a... ...itehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/07/20060705-6.html Bush, President George (2006/06/15). President Bush Addresses the Nation on Immigration Reform Retrieved July 36, 2006, from Web site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/07/20060515-6.html Bush, President George (2006/05/15). Fact Sheet: Overview Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Retrieved July 31, 2006, from Web site: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/20060515-7.html Civil Rights Org. (20060529) Senate Approves Sweeping But Flawed Immigration Reform Bill Retrieved July 31, 2006, from Web site: http://www.civilrights.org/issues/immigration/details.cfm?id=43795 Gale, Thomas. (June 8, 2006) Senate passes immigration reform bill with vouchers for ESL, civics classes In Report on Literacy Programs, 18, p75. Retrieved August 20, 2006, from InfoTrac OneFile via Thomson Gale:

Although Gimpel Appeared to Be a Fool, He Is a Man of Wisdom Essay

Although Gimpel appeared to be a fool, he was really a wise man. Gimpel the fool through clever characterization, underlying symbolism, and an in-depth point of view, the short story â€Å"Gimpel the Fool†, written by Isaac Bashevis Singer, clearly reinforces the age-old concept that repentance, along with good deeds, will ultimately be rewarded in time. Gimpel’s whole-hearted yet gullible characterization weaves an important pattern in the story’s meaning. â€Å"Gimpel the Fool† is a story of laughter and sadness. Gimpel was a boy that had a reputation of being a fool since his early age. People were always playing tricks at him. Although Gimpel appeared to be a fool, he was really a wise man. He showed he was a wise man by loving the children that were not his, being a believer in his religion and by not taking advice from the Devil. There are many ways in which Gimpel appeared to be a fool. First the young men of the village spent a great deal of time m aking fun of poor Gimpel. It appeared that he was taken in by their stories to an extreme degree. Even as he went about his employment in the bakery, the townspeople continued to tell Gimpel fantastic tales that became more and more fantastic. An example of people making fun of him was the following: â€Å"Gimpel, there is a fair in heaven; Gimpel, the rabbi gave birth to a calf in the seventh month; Gimpel, a cow flew over the roof and laid brass eggs. Gimpel, while you stand here scraping with your baker’s shovel the Messiah has come. The death heaven arisen. What do you mean? Gimpel said. I heard no one blowing the ram’s horn! The kid said. Are you deaf? And all began to cry, We heard it, we heard! Gimpel, your father and mother have stood up from the grave. They are looking for you† (Singer 79). Because Gimpel believed everything that everyone told him he became the foolish boy of the town. The reason why Gimpel believed what people told him was that all of these stories were kind of real to him. Each story of each person would reveal any want and desires that they might have in their â€Å"psyche†. That was why the story was so easily to invent. The worst trick that the townspeople did to him was the marriage to Elka. Elka was the town’s slut. She already had a child that she said was her brother. Gimpel, being the fool that everyone knew, believed every word that she said. Then Gimpel marries Elka without knowing all her real story. Even though the people of the town knew the truth no one told him anything. In addition, on their wedding day a guy brought a crib because Elka was pregnant with another child from another man that was not Gimpel. When they started living together Elka did not allow Gimpel to use the same bed with her. After four month, Elka appears with another baby. She tells Gimpel that the baby was premature. Then Gimpel tells her â€Å"Is he not a little too premature.† However the thing was that Gimpel never slept with her so he must n ot have how babies were formed (Singer 82). Another thing was that Elka was always with other men instead of Gimpel. At one time Gimpel caught her with another man, but she denied everything. Elka â€Å"swore and cursed† him. But he continued with her even though she was not faithful to him. In many ways Gimpel was a wise man. The love of the children was very important to Gimpel. He always thought that there were his. When Elka became sick she told Gimpel the truth that the kids were not his and she was never faithful to Gimpel (Geimer850-851). This was Gimpel’s reaction: â€Å"What is there to forgive? You have been a good and faithful wife. Woe, Gimpel! She said. It was ugly how I deceived you all these years. I want to go clean to my Maker, and so I have to tell you that the children are not yours.† After he knew that the children were not his, he did not disown them. He continued to treat them the same. When he went to retire he took most of his money out of the bank and divided the money in to equal parts for each one of them (Singer 86-87). Furthermore Gimpel’s Religion beliefs are very strong. He was Jewish and his beliefs in the religion did not let him be a bad person. Even when he knew the truth of him being mocked by other, Gimpel does not care. The only thing he does is forgive everyone and continue his life. An example of this occurs when Gimpel find Elka with another man and he goes to the rabbi to tell him what happened: â€Å"I said to the rabbi, What shall I do? You must divorce her at once, said he. And what if she refuses? I asked. He said, You must serve the divorce, that is all you’ll have to do. I said, Well, all right, Rabbi. Let me think about it. There is nothing to think about, said he. You must not remain under the same roof with her.† This shows that he was a religious person, because he went directly to the rabbi did not go to anyone else. Because he was the fool, everyone knew he does not get upset; and he forgave Elka and he dropped the charges that he made of her cheating on him. He said that he saw a shadow and he was wrong about Elka being with another man (Singer 83-85). Gimpel shows his wisdom, too by rejecting the devil’s influence. At the end Gimpel gets a visit from the devil, and this is what happened: Devil: Gimpel, why do you sleep? Gimpel: What should I be doing? Eating replace? Devil: The whole world deceives you, and you ought to deceive the world in your turn. Gimpel: How can I deceive all the world? Devil: You might accumulate a bucket of urine every day and at night pour it into the dough. Let the sages of Frampol eat filth. Gimpel: What about judgment in the world to come? Devil: They have sold you a bill of goods and talked you into believing you carried a cat in your belly. What nonsense! Gimpel: Well then, and is there a God? Devil: There is no God either. Gimpel: What, is here, then? Devil: A thick mere. Then one night Elka appeared in Gimpel’s dream. She told him to do not do that, because the only person he was deceiving was himself. After all he did not take any advice from the devil (Singer 87). The story â€Å"Gimpel the Fool† was a wonderful and humorous story. This story presents a humorous psychological study as well as an analysis of the nature of reality. This kind of story can only be done by a â€Å"Jewish writer†. For Singer people do not have to be â€Å"insane† to make this kind of story. From the beginning, Gimpel was not sure why people treated him like a fool. His apparent foolishness consists in his taking the line of least resistance to avoid the â€Å"world† around him. The people around him mostly created the world that Gimpel lives. Gimpel the intelligent â€Å"or sainted fool† was an invention of â€Å"Yiddish fiction.† The way that Singer showed this character was in a different way that concludes that Gimpel was a creation of â€Å"irony† in way (Siegel 365). In conclusion Gimpel was a saint, he looked and acted like a fool because of his innocence. He showed that his foolishness was intelligence and because of his good heart he never let anyone suffer not even himself. The rejection of the devil showed his beliefs in God and the possession of a good and understanding heart. Forgiving everyone of what they did to him was a wise thing to do. Here on earth it does not matter much if you are a fool like Gimpel who forgives and forgets; it only means that people can pick on you and make fun of you. However, in God’s view it is the most important and amazing thing to do. Gimpel himself showed everyone that being a fool has some benefits.

Defining Racial Prejudice

Words such as racism, prejudice, and stereotype are often used interchangeably. While the definitions of these terms overlap, they actually mean different things. Racial prejudice, for instance, typically arises from race-based stereotypes. People of influence who prejudge others set the stage for institutional racism to occur. How does this happen? This overview of what racial prejudice is, why it’s dangerous and how to combat prejudice explains in detail. Defining Prejudice It’s difficult to discuss prejudice without clarifying what it is. The fourth edition of the American Heritage College Dictionary provides four meanings for the term—from â€Å"an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts† to â€Å"irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race or religion.† Both definitions apply to the experiences of ethnic minorities in Western society. Of course, the second definition sounds much more menacing than the first, but prejudice in either capacity has the potential to cause a great deal of damage. Likely because of his skin color, English professor and writer Moustafa Bayoumi says that strangers often ask him, â€Å"Where are you from?† When he answers that he was born in Switzerland, grew up in Canada and now lives in Brooklyn, he raises eyebrows. Why? Because the people doing the questioning have a preconceived idea about what Westerners generally and Americans particularly look like. They’re operating under the (erroneous) assumption that natives of the United States don’t have brown skin, black hair or names that aren’t English in origin. Bayoumi acknowledges that the people suspicious of him typically don’t â€Å"have any real malice in mind.† Still, they allow prejudice to guide them. While Bayoumi, a successful author, has taken the questions about his identity in stride, others deeply resent being told that their ancestral origins make them less American than others. Prejudice of this nature may not only lead to psychological t rauma but also to racial discrimination. Arguably no group demonstrates this more than Japanese Americans. Prejudice Begets Institutional Racism When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the U.S. public viewed Americans of Japanese descent suspiciously. Although many Japanese Americans had never stepped foot in Japan and knew only of the country from their parents and grandparents, the notion spread that the Nisei (second-generation Japanese Americans) were more loyal to the Japanese empire than to their birthplace—the United States. Acting with this idea in mind, the federal government decided to round up more than 110,000 Japanese Americans and place them in internment camps for fear that they would team up with Japan to plot additional attacks against the United States. No evidence suggested that Japanese Americans would commit treason against the U.S. and join forces with Japan. Without trial or due process, the Nisei were stripped of their civil liberties and forced into detention camps. The case of Japanese-American internment is one of the most egregious cases of racial prejudice leading to instit utional racism. In 1988, the U.S. government issued a formal apology to Japanese Americans for this shameful chapter in history. Prejudice and Racial Profiling After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Japanese Americans worked to prevent Muslim Americans from being treated how the Nisei and Issei were during World War II. Despite their efforts, hate crimes against Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim or Arab rose following the terrorist attacks. Americans of Arab origin face particular scrutiny on airlines and airports. On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, an Ohio housewife of Arab and Jewish background named Shoshanna Hebshi made international headlines after accusing Frontier Airlines of removing her from a flight simply because of her ethnicity and because she happened to be seated next to two South Asian men. She says that she never left her seat, spoke to other passengers or tinkered with suspicious devices during the flight. In other words, her removal from the plane was without warrant. She’d been racially profiled. â€Å"I believe in tolerance, acceptance and trying–as hard as it sometimes maybe–not to judge a person by the color of their skin or the way they dress,† she stated in a blog post. â€Å"I admit to having fallen to the traps of convention and have made judgments about people that are unfounded. †¦The real test will be if we decide to break free from our fears and hatred and truly try to be good people who practice compassion–even toward those who hate.† The Link Between Racial Prejudice and Stereotypes Prejudice and race-based stereotypes work hand in hand. Due to the pervasive stereotype that an all-American person is blonde and blue-eyed (or at the very least white), those who don’t fit the bill—such as Moustafa Bayoumi—are prejudged to be foreign or â€Å"other.† Never mind that this characterization of an all-American more aptly describes the Nordic population than individuals who are indigenous to the Americas or the diverse groups that make up the United States today. Combating Prejudice Unfortunately, racial stereotypes are so prevalent in Western society that even the very young exhibit signs of prejudice. Given this, it’s inevitable that the most open-minded of individuals will have a prejudiced thought on occasion. One needn’t act on prejudice, however. When President George W. Bush addressed the Republican National Convention in 2004, he called on schoolteachers not to give in to their preconceived ideas about students based on race and class. He singled out the principal of Gainesville Elementary School in Georgia for â€Å"challenging the soft bigotry of low expectations.†Ã‚  Although poor Hispanic children made up most of the student body, 90 percent of pupils there passed state tests in reading and math. â€Å"I believe every child can learn,† Bush said. Had school officials decided that the Gainesville students couldn’t learn because of their ethnic origin or socioeconomic status, institutional racism would have been the likely result. Administrators and teachers would not have worked to give the student body the best education possible, and Gainesville could’ve become yet another failing school. This is what makes prejudice such a threat.