Inhumane Borders

As a first generation immigrant from Poland, I have found these past couple of weeks’ lectures very intriguing. My mother and father came to the states after winning U.S permanent residency visas in a polish lottery. My sister and I stayed behind with my grandma while my parents established a life in the States. A couple years later, my mom came back to Poland for my sister and me. We had to go to the immigration agency were we pleaded our case of why they should grant my sister and I a visa to the United States. The likelihood that we were going to be granted one was very slim because both of my parents were legal residents of the U.S and it was almost obvious that if my sister and I received visas we were going to the U.S and never coming back. Because my parents did not have citizenship they could not sponsor us and so the only way to live in the U.S with my parents was through these visas. I still remember the day when we stood in a line for 5 hours all to get to a run-down building with a window and talk to a man who was the determinate of whether my sister and I would be able to join my dad and mom in their new life in the U.S. The way to get these visas is practically the luck of the draw. Everyone pleads their case, most people do lie and the key is to present information which would convince the administrators that you have a reason to come back to Poland and your intentions are not to overstay your visa’s deadline. The man with whom we spoke to was strict, and granted my sister and me the shortest visas possible, which we were fortunate enough to get anyway. The conditions in Poland at the time were in no way justifiable for how my parents wanted to raise us. A country that had recently got out of communism did not hold much promise for the dreams my parents had. Thus, it was pure luck that we were able to immigrate to the U.S, and after my sister’s and mine visas expired we were here illegally. Receiving papers on an expired visa is the only way one can become a legal resident. However, those cost over $10,000 dollars per individual and over 7 years of waiting. Needless to say my sister and I were illegally living in the states for about 7 years until we got those papers. I am extremely fortunate for the way everything played out in this whole process and out of all of the things that could have gone wrong, everything seemed to go according to plan. Unfortunately, my story is one of a kind and many immigrants I know are not as fortunate as we were.

Most parents, in the U.S and all around the world, want nothing but the best for their family. When there is not much hope for the desired life in ones country, they are forced to look to other options. Is it fair immigration borders constrain families to certain conditions that are less than ideal? Is it humane that parents with certain aspirations for their family are not able to realize their dreams because of social restrictions? Presently, society puts this inequality on many immigrant parents. Upon my recent visits to Poland, even now, decades since communism ended, most of the people speak “America” with the thought that it is in fact the land of promise. It is very rare that if you were to ask someone if they were given the chance to go that they would say no. The reason for this is not very obvious until you get to live in the peoples’ shoes. Their life is incredible in the sense that many of them have no aspirations because they know that certain things are just not in the cards for them. Many people end up working minimum salary wages which are not sufficient for the cost of living. With these realities, is it fair or even humane for countries such as the U.S to restrict immigration from people trying to simply provide a better life for their families? Obviously I have a biased opinion but I say no and I have many beliefs regarding my response.

I believe that the boundaries set forth on immigrants by the U.S are not what are not the sole restricting factor. It is the citizens, the microcosm of the U.S society, who put the real boundaries on immigrants trying to fulfill their dreams. Whatever kind of law the U.S puts forth against immigration, serious go-getter people will find a way around that law and will end up immigrating to the U.S regardless. The effective constricted boundaries come from the U.S citizens who are unaware of the privileges they have. When speaking to my friends about immigration, I am often very surprised at the defenses they have against immigration. There are these racist fears instilled into them that all immigrants are from Mexico and it seems that many of them have the instinct that soon this country will be taken over by these immigrants. When I mention that I am an immigrant too they often replay, “oh but that’s different.” This bothers me extremely because I do not see a difference. There is no difference between the dreams my parents had when planning their immigration, and the dreams many parents have from Mexico. It does not matter by what means one immigrates over to the U.S whether it is by a visa which expires or by sneaking in through the border, both means entitle the same purpose. I question why it is a patriot’s biggest fear that their country will be taken over when the true intentions of any immigrant are not to take over but simple live a better life. I also wonder how if this fear started evolving back in 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act, why it is still instilled in people if after all these years it has not been realized. The point is if no single race has taken over the U.S and this fear has been instilled in people for centuries, then when is this fear going to disappear? I also think that this fear is selfish because it is not realistic and many people, who are against immigration, have not really thought about the true intentions that immigrant come to the U.S with. If those who have this fear had a better understanding of the purposes and situations people who want to immigrate have experienced, I feel as though there would be unionization. Essentially we are all humans, be it first generation immigrants or 15th generation immigrants, our parents all had the same goals. All individuals have very similar general morals for providing for the families, and why is it that today some individuals feel that it is ok to turn down parents from wanting a better life for their kids. The concepts of assimilation are topics in which pertain to this fear that again could be resolved through unionization. Sympathizing with immigrants will not solve everything, but it is an important step that those who have these fears should experience.

All in all, through my personal experiences I have a very strong opinion on immigration. Luckily, with the sequence of event my family has gone through, I am here today as an American citizen. Although both my mom and dad took the citizenship test, only my mom passed. Her citizenship was passed down to my sister and me, while my dad still remains a permanent resident. Both of my parents do not speak the English language well, and because we live in a highly populated polish community it has not caused great obstacles for them. While my dad owns a business, I do often see him frustrated because people do not understand him with his thick accent.
Once, I asked my dad:
Why do you not go and take English classes like mom did?

He responded with something along the line of:
Don’t you see I don’t have time to take classes because I’m too busy working so you can have things your friends do. As for my English speaking abilities, I can speak English. My English may not be very good but that is not the problem. Those who want to understand me will understand me and will get past my accent, and for those who cannot understand me it is because they don’t want to. They label me as an immigrant and not as their own kind and no matter how well I speak their language, I will never be accepted by them.

I was very touched by those words because even I could not truly sympathize with him since I always thought that he could just go learn better English. It was not until I saw him at work that I realized it has not been his communication skills that have made him so successful but rather the respect he has earned from his employees. Because of this, he is able to provide more for us than he could ever dream in Poland. I am thankful for the dreams my parents decided to pursue even if it meant I was an illegal immigrant for quite some time. However, I do feel empathy for those who have a similar story as mine but were not able to get papers and are still forced to live in the boundaries society sets for them. Being illegal means one cannot go to college, get a driver’s license, or even find work like everyone else can. Living that life is unimaginable and it saddens me greatly that those individuals’ parents had the same dreams as my parents did yet are living their lives extremely differently. Wow, I feel so lucky.

From last Thursday's lecture on the US Immigration Policy I was caught a little off guard in my own thinking and the way I view immigration. The store owner who put up the sign that said "Speak English this is America. I reserve the right to refuse service," made me really think about how we react to things like this. My initial reaction was he is right. I think that those who choose to live in this country should learn to speak English, and that the tests to gain citizenship should be much stricter for comprehension and ability to communicate effectively. Additionally, I thought his sign was a freedom of speech and since he does own the business, he has that right. Yet, Angela said that he did not have the right to refuse service legally which makes me question then, why not? Why shouldn't a store have the right to refuse service to someone that he cannot understand? It is clearly poor business to turn away customers, but if that is what he chooses to do, why should I tell him no?

Yet then again, I started to think about the times I was in that situation. I traveled through London, Paris, and Rome three summers ago for three weeks and then again to Sweden last summer for a month. I thought about all the times that I felt stupid for not being able to speak the language. However, I learned very quickly that the more respectful you are-in no matter what language you understand, the more willing people are to help you. If you TRY to speak another language, even if it is "Good morning, would you be able to help me?" broken or not most people are not vicious and are not out to put down others. Clearly situations are a little different when you are visiting and in places where people expect tourists, but its common courtesy. There are over 500 spoken languages throughout the world and English is 3rd. That number is huge, how could you ever expect someone spoke your language if you weren't one of the top few?
Also, commenting on what a few people said in class, that Americans attitudes about traveling are that others should be expected to know English I think it’s a hugely falsified statement. Firstly, generalizing "Americans" is the first mistake. The ideal vision of an “American” is long out the window due to the wide diversity that lives within its walls. I know that my grandparents are very set in their ways and having fought in WWII, I know my grandpa's view of America is much different than mine. He is much less willing to help a “foreigner” because of the time in history he has grown up in. However, growing up in an internet savvy generation, I have been speaking to, and meeting people from other countries for most of my life. Every American at some point or another has come across someone who does not speak English. As stated before, if someone attempts to speak English- you are much more wiling to help them, or speak their language if you know it.

Another point that was brought up in class was about not teaching English as a second language instruction, and if we expect others to speak English-shouldn't we help them achieve that? The one point that no one did bring up in class which I think has the biggest impact on this argument is that, the US does not have an official language. When I first found that out in early high school, I was shocked- what do you mean English isn't official? It is the most spoken language and that of business, but it is not officially our language. More than anything, I think this puts a different perspective on how we should teach children when English is not their native language. Should we be expected to teach it, or should we hold the immigrant responsible? Back in the day, immigrants were expected to learn English without much help from the natives, either you learned and succeeded or you failed. Historically this is how "ghettos" formed, people with common beliefs, language, and customs gathered together to help support one another to transition more smoothly. I think that there should be school programs that help bridge the cap in understanding but only for about the first two years. However, where does that money come from to fund extra teachers? Public schools are strapped financially and many cannot afford to hire extra teachers for this. Should we require teachers to speak another language and hold them responsible for creating a balanced learning environment for these children? Obviously knowing another language could never hurt someone, but should we forcibly make people be fluent in a language as a job requirement? I think what you choose to learn is unarguably your decision and that is the beauty of not living in a country like China. No one is telling me that I have to be a plumber, a teacher, or a dentist before I am 5 years old. I want to say that the parents should be responsible for funding instruction for their children in merging their language skills and find private tutors, but that is also not feasible for most families. Also, there are immersion schools of other languages and maybe children who do not speak English should be required to attend one of those schools until their English skills are proficient enough to succeed in public schools. The topic of who pays for “it” will always be debated and someone will always end up on the short end.

Coming back to they store owner, I still think that he may not understand the phrase, "treat others the way you want to be treated," but I still think he had the right to refuse service as a business. He has obviously had one to many encounters with people who expect him to speak their language, and understandably it is frustrating. I don't necessarily think he was being racist, I think he was just clearly frustrated with the situation. Freedom of speech without falsifying a statement should still be employed in this country, and many times it currently is not.
I know I am guilty of the many of the assumptions and stereotypes that follow immigrants but I try my best to over look them. I hope that my children and grandchildren will be a little less judgmental of others and by then that immigration issues will have been dissolved through policies that support economic growth.

Do we forget about race if it means we get more money?

After the today's lecture 2/9/10 I felt the strong urge to write a blog post about job opportunity (with immigrants and non immigrants). I have a very strong opinion about it after having a personal experience involving job opportunities. It is not the employees of minorities that I am frustrated with/ I am frustrated with the CEO's and the managers of companies that bothers me.

What frustrates me the most is that many well educated people are losing their jobs to those who did not take the time to learn everything there is to learn about a specific field of work. Our society is moved by the need to have the next big thing, whether it be cars, purses, or a vacation home. Perhaps it isn't our government that controls or has the deciding factor over the economy, perhaps its the people who live such lavish lifestyles demand that our economy change and adapt to them.

My personal life story was that my father attended UW-Madison earning his electrical/software engineering degree. He worked his way through college (no help from his parents) and has made a name for himself. My sophomore year of high school he told me the company he worked for; Best Power was closing and relocating to Raleigh, North Carolina . My dad however could keep his job if he choose to relocate his family to Raleigh and re-interviewed for his position (my dad thought it was ridiculous to re-apply for a job he already had). He refused to locate resulting in losing his job. Later on my dad was required to train the worker who was taking over my dad's position, via telephone. The man was native born man from China, who was the only one willing to take the job (what was funny was they were paying more for this man then my dad since the new worker had his PhD). Aside from the fact my dad couldn't pronounce the worker's name and vice versa, my dad said the new worker had no idea what was going on when he started to talk about the company's product. The new worker was frustrated that he did not have all the materials required to learn the product to its full extent, it would have been smarter to have just had my dad keep the original job.

I'm not upset that other people in the world have basic needs like the rest of us. What upsets me is that people are willing to look past race and ethnicity when it comes to gaining more money. However when it means that people of different cultures and ethnicities (for example: people of African descent) become more successful, those who are viewed as White in our society claim that the people of “new found money” got to where they are because of Affirmative Action, and not solely on the fact that they worked hard to climb up the ladder. I feel like for the rest of time, people will be fake happy for others as long as it means, them themselves are still on top.

Finally, I feel like some people that go to school at Madison really do not understand what it is like to hear one or both of their parent's have lost their jobs. If you walk around campus you can see how people of different cultures, races, sororities, fraternities, and student organizations look down on the other because they may have or not have the same thing as the other. To me it almost seems like a superficial world to see how one group can up the other, but yet I think that a lot of the time it is the parents who set and example for their children to follow. I mean idealistically does a college student need a BMW at a college campus? No, but it is the life that they have always know and that is something that will never change.

Like my mom says, “For some people this recession doesn't even phase them.” To me this is absurd, how can not every family be affected? This is how not every family can be affected, by not having their jobs be eliminated, by saving more and more money with every layoff that they create. It's called Capitalism and it is going to stay here as long as we have money controlling people's lives. I just wonder what our world would be like if we were able to start over, a clean slate, and give everyone a new chance to start over. I wonder who really would be on top and how some would deal with a new way of life.

Blog Post #1- Bazydlo

In last week’s lecture Angela Barian asked the class if we believe it is possible for society to be color blind. Although I have never thought about this question in depth, my immediate response was, no. It seems impossible that one human being can both consciously and subconsciously not recognize the color of another human being’s skin. Identifying and interpreting what we see through our eyes is simple human nature and something we have been trained to do since we were little. Interestingly enough, after thinking more about this subject I was brought back to an experience I had while babysitting years back- one that put a new light on this topic.

My freshman and sophomore year in high school I babysat my neighbors’ 7 year-old boy, Adrian. I have known him since he was young and my neighbors have always appeared as quiet, conservative people who were really into family activities. One night I came over for a routine night of babysitting to find one excited little boy. He was looking forward to a Cubs game him and his father were going to that weekend. Although I knew little about baseball I joined in with enthusiasm. As we took out a shoebox filled with baseball cards I was asking him about his favorite players. The family loved the Cubs and Adrian definitely had some favorite Cubs players, in particular Sammy Sosa. I knew he had seen a lot of these baseball players before because the family was always going to baseball games and watching them on TV. As I mentioned before, my knowledge of baseball was very miniscule but I was familiar with Sosa. When Adrian picked up a baseball card of a white male player and started yelling Sammy, Sammy I was reluctant to tell him that was not Sammy Sosa’s baseball card. He kept picking up cards both of white players and African American players asking me is this Sammy, or is this Sammy? I was confused on how this little boy who has watched the Cubs since he could remember, not know the general appearance of Sammy Sosa. Adrian clearly did not recognize or acknowledge that Sosa had darker skin. To him, it seemed as though skin color was as hard to identify as eye-color and both characteristics appeared equally relevant to ones physical appearance.

Though I did not give this much thought then, now I am very fascinated. Was Adrian taught not to judge appearance based on skin color or did he simply not see it? This idea is completely knew for me as I was born in Poland a primarily Caucasian country. Growing up I never saw anyone that looked different than me, I was used to everyone having white skin. I came to the U.S when I was 6, and that was the first time that I saw an African American individual. Interestingly enough, then, at about the same age as Adrian I did not react the same way as he did. I was indeed able to recognize the difference in skin colors. Through this experience I question why Adrian was different than I was. Is it because he had been exposed to diversity from a young age and did not use it as a mean of judgment, or is it simply because he was young and not yet affected by racial dividers? I would like to believe that Adrian’s exposure to diversity is what allowed him to look past the obvious physical differences in the baseball players. I believe the discussion of race is necessary and lack of it results in chasm because people really do see and experience race in different ways. In the example between me and Adrian, no one talked to me about race because there was no need for it and this definitely did not help me understand or accept racial diversity upon arrival to the United States. In contrast, Adrian’s ability to look past skin color was most likely the result of his exposure to it. The recent move towards “not seeing color” in our society is demonstrated in Adrian yet I truly do not believe it is the solution to racism. As mentioned in class, it would be more effective if race was celebrated and discussed in our society versus ignored. Ideally, if individuals could identify race and assume it to be as relevant to ones personality and character as eye or hair color, we would be one step closer to putting racial dilemmas behind us.