Post Mortem #1

Questions to ask yourself about us citizens is about how people dont know a lot about her culture and how Americans do not support US immigrants."i ask 3 questions where are you from? how did you get here? who paid?"how the novel is about how Naila has been able to make her own decisions her whole life but her family's one rule was they will choose her husband. when time comes Naila finds someone she is in love with but her family does not agree with her finding her own person and does not want her speaking to him anymore. "we always meant to take you and Imran to Pakistan every year"(Saeed 37) Americans can be more welcoming and be more accepting to everyone then just people who were born in america.

With Immigration comes all the additives that are with it, like the language barriers, the struggling of getting a green card and mostly housing and work life. But immigrants shouldn't feel that a card that just so happens to be green can define if they are a citizen of the United States. From the Ted Talk "What marrying an Immigrant Taught Me About Culture Bias" Kyle Quinn He exclaims how he noticed the people around him changing because of who he is married too and he used the green card as a example of how hard it is to "fit in" here. "It takes at least three to four year, a big investigatory process, numerous interviews, hefty fees before your even considered for the permanent green card."(Quinn) Not only does the green card take time but getting through the border is a process of its own. The Radius of Us is a book that shows the gang violence that two people from very different backgrounds endure and they try to find each other to make each other feel safe.  " We were there for a really long time,like hours and hours. Then the guard came back." (Marquadrt 99) The process of immigrants coming into the US is quite complicated with all the different requirements it is hard to be come a official US citizen 

Some things that we as Americans can do to help immigrants settle easier in our culture is to be less judgmental and not as biased when Americans and immigrants are present.

“What marrying an immigrant taught me about cultural bias” By Kyle Quinn opens the horizon of many listeners on how cultural biases can affect how immigrants view America.  The lore behind this quote is when Quinn and his wife go to the BMV, and face cultural biases by the front desk workers at the BMV. When Quinn's wife attempts to renew her license. "Her tone changed entirely when she found out i was an american” (Quinn) This quote can further explain how judgmental Americans can be when presented with an immigrant. In the book "Out of Nowhere" by Maria Padian, it talks about a young man named Tom Bouchard. Tommy was born and raised in Anniston, Maine. And goes to a predominantly white school with very little diversity. Tommy plays Soccer for his school and has made himself a household name with his soccer team. "Can I ask you something? What's wrong with making the classroom an English-only zone" (Padian 122) This quote continues to show the ignorance that immigrants can face in the light of Americans. 

Some things Americans can do in order to help immigrants settle easier is to be less judgmental and more accepting of the fact that immigrants will not know the American culture as soon as they migrate.

In Jose Antonio Vargas’ Ted Talk called “3 Questions to Ask about your U.S. Citizenship,” he discusses the topic of U.S. citizenship, and what defines a U.S. citizen. In his discussion, he talks about how America is an idea, and so is citizenship. How it only exists because the settlers came here freely. With this in mind, Vargas thinks people don’t have the right to ask the “3Qs” unless they can answer them also. Where did you come from? How did you get here? Who paid? He asked a stranger where he was from. The stranger replied he was American, and he was white. Which is true. However he didn’t know where his ancestors were from. Which most Americans don’t. So in Vargas’ opinion, means they don’t have the right to ask where someone else is from. Vargas also goes on about how “bogus” the U.S. citizenship test is. How immigrants can memorize answers, if they even know how to read or speak english. The immigrants don’t even know the importance behind the questions. Do the immigrants even know what they are applying for? His 8th grade class was assigned to read “The Bluest Eye.” Which as an example of the effect our judgment had on immigrants. “Why does Pecola Breedlove, this young Black girl at the center of the book, why did she want blue eyes? Who told her to want it? Why did she believe them?” (Vargas) This girl wasn’t normal to their standards. The other kids wanted Breedlove to look like them. For example, having blue eyes. Immigrants are already struggling with being in a new placement, while feeling out of place. So pressuring them to try and fit our “set standards” is wrong. Americans can better help immigrants, by accepting their looks, and who they are. Don’t pass judgment when you don’t want it passed back. 

In my book Rani Patel In Full Effect by Sonia Patel it talks about a young Indian girl in Hawaii. Rani is bullied and teased for who she is. She lives with her mom and dad, who are in an arranged marriage. One day Rani is out and catches her father cheating, which was something she has suspected without proof.  This event turned her life upside down, and she shaved her head in response. Rani’s father is a terrible person, who has abused her and caused suffering to the family. He emotionally abuses the mother which makes her constantly want to end her life. Growing up Rani has always fixed their marriage problems, and stopped her mother from ending her life countless times. During these times, her dad sat watching, doing nothing. Rani knows this is a situation she can't fix. The mother  has always obeyed her husband, done all the work, and overworked herself. She never stood up for herself, choosing silence. However the father comes home and says he wants the girl he’s cheating on her with to come and live with them. After Rani and her father have an argument for the first time about the situation. The mother finally stands up for herself and says she wants a divorce and tells him to get out. Coming from a culture where husbands are god and arranged marriages are the only option, this is huge. Rani is struggling with all this change but she pushes it down because she thinks it could be worse and she shouldn’t be complaining. She uses music, writing rap, and poems to cope. After every event so far with her dad and her mother, she goes in her room and listens to music and writes rap/ poems/ She also works a lot at a shop, and at a restaurant. At the store she meets an older man that is 28 years old who she has fallen for. The man's name is Mark.  They have become friends, but Rani wants more. She tells him about how she writes rap/ poems. This is something no one else knows about her. As she expresses herself with this man they grow closer. 

One thing Americans can do is to stop the disgusting and rude comments to immigrants. Immigrants are already struggling enough to fit in with us and our culture. They shouldn’t be burdened with insults and comments. “I’ve heard worse. Back in Connecticut, the white, black, Latino, and non-Inaian Asian kids bonded over their relentless tormenting of me. Hey brownie, I saw you eating a brownie. EWWWW. Gross, you cannibal. Feather or Curry? Must be curry because you stink. Go back to India, you cow lover.” (Patel 50-51). Rani struggles to fit in with their culture. Others won’t let her and try to push her away with words. How can an immigrant fit in with our culture if we don’t let them. Make them feel at home. Don’t make them like they are at a hateful party. A party, where they are the center of attention.

My ted talk Grammer identity and dark side of the subjunctive by Phuc Tran is about how the Vietnamese language does not have the subjunctive case, which means you can not express things that might or would happen. This made learning english hard for his dad, who was not used to a new way of expressing his thoughts. “I'd say "Dad, listen, you can say: if it hadn't rained, we would've gone to the beach." And my dad's response: "That's stupid." "Why do you wanna talk about something that didn't happen?" Fair enough.” (Tran)

My book Love hate and other filters by Samira Ahmed is about an Indian girl named Maya, she wants to go to film school but her parents want her to go to a different school and get married. She must balance the traditional Indian lifestyle her parents want with her own dreams. After a bombing by a muslim man who shares her last name, she and her family become the targets of hate crimes. “Inside, I’m squirming. Nobody here but Hina knows my secret…NYU is my dream school. I’m not going to the University of Chicago if I can help it.” (Ahmed 8)

I think one thing americans could do to help out immigrants is to provide more education, maybe funding schools in poorer or making books, fees cheaper for everyone, so older people like Phuc’s dad can get better at learning the predominant language of the new country.

In the cholo tree, a fourteen years old Victor, was just released from the hospital. he barely survived being shot. but afterward his mother accuses him of being a gang member (cholo). even in his own school "they see a brown kid, they see a banger." and even though he shows how he isn't, he has a smart girlfriend, he wants to be in art school, and he loves reading. why should he be treated differently by his skin color and unfortunate circumstance. and as shown in the Ted talk "But I don't want you to think it was a cakewalk, that America opened its arms wide and welcomed me. It's still not doing that." (Bhojwani) This shows how the US isn't very welcoming to immigrants and we are quick to criticize. 

we can and should be more welcoming to immigrants, we should show them welcoming we can be. not how cruel we can be to them. and maybe show them the true meaning of the "American Dream."

The Ted Talk “Grammar, Identity and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive” is about different languages. How people view them, struggles with them, and more. Phuc Tran says, “I hate it when grammar is used to belittle other people.”(Tran). The first section of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz is about Oscar's poor life. He does not do well for himself and sets himself up for failure. His toxic household is not very helpful in helping him actually change. He goes through many ups and downs searching for women and friends. “Oscar, Lola warned you repeatedly, you're going to die a virgin unless you start changing…Cut the hair, lose the glasses, exercise. And get rid of the porn magazines…”(Diaz 25). His family tells him if he doesn't change himself he won't be able to find someone to love him. In your book is someone held to standard based on their upbringing? How does this impact them? Oscar is completely held to a Dominican man standard, and gets very depressed from the failed attempts of finding love and friends. 

In the Ted Talk Immigrants make democracy stronger, by Sahu Bhojwani, it explains how immigrants face adversities after they have left their native country, weather it be through discrimination, unfairness and brutality from enforcement, homesickness, and having to adjust to America in general, “the citizenship fee was going to be more than double from 95 dollars to 225 dollars,... government positions had no idea how scared immigrants were of law enforcement.” (Bhojwani). Immigrants leave their native country to usually find new opportunities in a welcoming new place, but just find themselves trying to navigate a confusing and heartless world. In my story, The Other Americans, a family of North African immigrants try to adapt to the American culture, which isn't necessarily hard, until the patriarch of the family is hit by a car and killed. This is a big loss for the family both financially and because the family obviously loves their husband and dad. They carry on as normally as they can while also trying to find out who took their dad and husband from them. “The detective just asked a lot of questions. Did he have money troubles, did he use drugs, did he gamble, did he have enemies. Like that. I said no.” I remember being puzzled by these questions, which were so different from those that swirled around in my head” (Lalami 9). This quote and the one for my Ted Talk highlight how Immigrants may be treated differently by law enforcement or by people in power, simply for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If Americans were less prejudiced towards immigrants there would be less fear, stigma, and racist stereotypes around law enforcement, and less negative ideas around immigrants, because most immigrants are actually just here for a chance at a good life and are willing to work hard for it. 

The book The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah doesn't take place in America, it takes place in Australia, and it doesn´t specifically discuss anything about assimilating the main Afghani girl Mina. However the other main character, Micheal, his parents are anti-immigrant and are the leaders of an anti immigrant group called ¨Aussie Values¨ people who are a part of this group believe that If immigrants are going to live in Australia they must assimilate, so when they see any bit of their culture, they are quick to call terrorism. ¨With reports of halal food funding terrorism overseas, can you confirm whether you know where the money you spend on halal food is actually going?¨ (134 Abdel-Fattah) If you want people to assimilate better, shaming them on live television is not the best way to do it and should cease immediately.

The Ted Talk I will be using is, “Grammar, Identity and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive” is about different languages. How people view them, struggles with them Tran says, “I hate it when grammar is used to belittle other people.”(Tran). In my book infinite country, Talia is being held in a correctional Felicity for adolescent teens but she is trying to get out of there as fast as possible. She comes up with what she thinks is a good idea which is to tie up a nun to try to escape. She is trying to get out so she can get back to her home in Bogota were her dad has a plane ticket to the USA waiting for her. If she is to miss this flight she might also miss the chance to reunite with her mother and sister who are already there. They were separated when trying to get in. Talia says "I miss my mother" (Engel 42) If they didn't separate people while migrating it would be so much better for everyone. 

Because america needs to make sure that when people come into the country we are not separating family's so that they have people they know around them. 

In the Ted Talk, “Why children of immigrants experience guilt -- and strategies to cope” by Sahaj Kaur Kohli, she talks about how the guilt these children experience can lead to mental illness. Sahaj explains how being the child of an immigrant is like always having this weight on your back that you have to succeed and you have to make something of yourself for your parents, because of how much risk they took to give you that opportunity. Sahaj says,  “the thing about chronic guilt is that it can force us to be small. It can tell us we must stay within the box. We shouldn't take up a lot of space. It kind of encourages us to distrust our own needs and wants, especially if they differ from the people around us and our immigrant parents.” (Kohli). I think this is a good quote and it very much relates to Julia in, “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.” In this book, Julia’s parents immigrate from Mexico to Chicago. Her parents have a very rough encounter while crossing the boarder, leaving them with no money, and her dad almost mute most of the time. Julia even compares him to a piece of furniture, “Although Apa is only physically present most of the time, like some sort of household fixture, I can’t imagine what it would be like to live without him.” Julia also has a sister who gets hit with a semi truck when she was 19. Her name was Olga and their parents always liked Olga more than Julia because she was the perfect daughter who never was in trouble, always had good grades, and was going to college. This leaves Julia with a lot of guilt especially since she has to live in her sisters shadow so much and she just can’t seem to be as good as her. This causes Julia a lot of mental problems since she feels so much guilt because of her parents sacrifices and with what happened to her sister so recently. I think the thing americans can do better to make immigrants experiences better is to make the border more open and accessible for people trying to cross over. No matter what these people are going to find a way across, and if you don't let them do it safely it’ll just make the process way more risky for everyone involved. 

In the Ted Talk by Phuc Tran called “ Grammar, Identity, and the Dark Side of the Subjective,” he talks about how grammar can be used as a tool. He goes into a deeper meaning about how grammar can alter between different languages. He explains his own life, and how he overcame these challenges. “Imagine then going from a language with no subjunctive.” It would be extremely difficult to fully understand what someone is saying when you aren't used to the way they are talking. In my book, “Like no other,” by Una LaMarche, there is a girl, Devorah, and a boy, Jaxon,  that meet unexpectedly. They got trapped in a hospital elevator while the power went out. They form a connection almost instantly. The only problem is the girl, Devorah, is Hasidic. This is something that her religion is against. Jaxon doesn't really seem to get that and tries to convince Devorah that it's OK to go against her religion, but this is her whole life. “The first ten minutes stuck in the elevator are some of the scariest in my life…the first thing that runs through my head when the lights go out is that I'm violating yichud.” (39 LaMarche) Americans could try harder to understand, and put themselves into the shoes of other immigrants. They need to realize for someone that hasn't been here before and isn't used to the way that things go, it can be terrifying. I can connect things to the ted talk and my book because the ted talk talks about different grammars, and how it can be hard to understand. In my book, Jaxon doesn't think about Devorah's religion and how it may affect her.

In my book, “Butterfly Yellow” the main events revolve around Hằng, a Vietnameese woman who was separated from her brother, Linh, during Operation Babylift, and is trying to find him where he now lives with a different family in Texas. Along the way she meets a “cowboy” named Leeroy with a difficult past. He is initially skeptical about helping Hằng find her brother but he eventually agrees to help her. Many setbacks are faced by Hằng but she is always able to overcome them. All of her strength is coming from trying to find her brother and that is what keeps her going and won’t ever give up. “It’s been six years, two months, and fifteen days since April 20, 1975, when the siblings got separated. Hằng did not need to explain that retrieving her brother equated to her life’s singular focus. Every twitch in her face said it for her.” (Lai 7) We see alot in the book about how Hằng tries to adapt to the new culture and how it can be very hard for immigrants to adapt, she has a hard time understanding english and american culture. Immigrants don’t get adequate education for our language, and are stigmatized in common areas. We should try to offer better language learning support for immigrants and Integration programs for them.

In the TED talk ““Grammar, Identity, and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive” goes into the idea of how grammar and language shapes who we are. The speaker, who is a Vietnamese immigrant himself, speaks about the challenges he faced learning a new language and how it changed his cultural identity. He speak about how English has the Subjunctive mood and how that openes up new windows for communicating with people. He then compares this to the Vietnamese language which lacks this and speaks about how America should try and support immigration by acknowledgeing people differences in their language and cultures. It overall speaks about including everybody evem if they have differences to you and to celebrate everybodies diversity. It answers the question of how Americans can do better to help ease immigrants into our culture by seeing the language and cultural differences that immigrants bring to the US. He wants us to have a mindset that is authentic and represnets the diverse natures of immigrants instead of predisposing them to expectations. "The subjunctive allows us to be creative, but it also allows us to become mired in regret... We all use the indicative and the subjunctive every day, and we can be mindful of when we're blinded by the subjunctive and when we're overlooking the indicative around us. And this way of seeing the world, it has real force."