Wounded Knee

The Wounded Knee Massacre or "The Battle" others may call was a deliberate and terrible act from the U.S 7th Cavalry Regiment. The soldiers one day before the the Massacre escorted the Lakota led by "Big Foot" and set up for the night. The Native Americans had no Idea what was going on. The next morning the U.S soldiers began to take away the weapons of the Native Americans and began to become suspicious as would I. One soldier shot one of the Lakota for not giving up his weapon the massacre of the Lakota began even there own U.S soldiers were killed by friendly fire. I cannot believe how nervous the government was becoming over the spiritual gathering of the Native Americans praying for a flood to kill all the White Americans in the Americas. I believe that was just a excuse for the government to exterminate the Lakota tribe and take there land.

Before reading the text, I did not know about the hardships that people in Ireland faced. I could not believe that families partially cooked their potatoes, leaving the center still hard, to digest them slower. i never knew that there was suffering before the famine or that over one million people died from hunger. To escape the starvation, people boarded a ship where they would face more starvation to reach America, a land with "riches growing like grass." Once they reached America, it seems like they were encouraged to forget their journey and create a new life. In the reading, it states that the Atlantic Monthly predicted there would no longer be an "Irish question" or "Irish vote" and instead, just people "one in feelings and practically one in race." Why does everyone have to take the same position and be a single race? I think it would have been interesting to read more about why there was this push for the "melting pot." Why did people need to be similar?

Racisim

Every time I read or learn more about the history of Native Americans, I am shocked at the way they were treated. It's astonishing to me how white males could show absolutely no compassion or sympathy to people just because they could not relate to or understand them. In our reading, "The Indian Question," it obviously seems ridiculous that Wovoka claimed the "Ghost Dance" would protect his people and get rid of white men, but it is also just as absurd to think about how the white soldiers felt threatened enough by these harmless, uneducated people to arrest them and then shoot at them with no warning. Within minutes, generations of Native American families were wiped out. The sentence, "Hundreds of Indians lay dead or wounded in the icy ground, along with scores of soldiers, most of them hit by their own fire," is a prime example of how this was one of the greatest misunderstandings of mankind in history. It seems like it will never be fully understood how humans could treat each other so poorly, not only in this situation but also with slavery, the treatment of African Americans up until the civil rights movement, and even the holocaust. Even today, in the year 2010 we still have parts of the world where people absolutely hate each other. It makes you wonder what needs to happen for people to think clearly?

Both the Irish and African Americans were trying to find work in America around the same time, but they were competing against each other. I think that if these two groups, along with other minorities tried to unionize in some way they might have had an easier time finding work. One thing that I really liked about the readings is that it gave insight to how Irish nuclear families worked in Ireland and America. If I were to change or add anything, I would have incorporated the lives of children in Irish families more. We got to see how the lives of the average Irish mother and father went from a day to day basis and I think it would be interesting to give more insight to how children assimilated into American culture.

Stylistic Issues

Since this is a general response and it's early in the year; and as such the content has not reached a point in which this sort of response would exclude some pertinent material, I feel as though it's nessecary to address this texts fatal stylistic flaws. The main flaw in this text is it's glaring and conistent generalities that permeate virtually any sort of logical, or linear thought process. It seems as though this author sincerely likes the sound of his or her own voice, espicially in conjuction with big words. Often times you can find the book randomly throwing out vocabulary which is either obscure (sometimes to the point of irrelevance) or never defined.
I will not quote the entire passage but basically from page 31 paragraph 3 and downward in that same paragraph the author essentially just talks a lot about something that could easily be explained in lamens terms. He or she seems to have the need to make simple things MUCH more complex then they really are. In this passage the author is talking about the myths this country has come to adore. Naturally, the author makes this sort of assertion "...Of course, we must suspect such a discourse and interrogate its operation, ideologies, assumptions and exclusions." Firstly, this presents two problems. Firstly, this implies that leaders using these sort of myths are doing so in almost a malicious manner in which to persuade otherwise disassimilated inviduals to join some sort of "american only" ideal. Secondly, and more importantly, it implies that anyone cared. I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but I wouldn't just assume everything being presented in front of me was true, espicially about undoubtably unverifiable facts considering the time period and those presenting the facts. It's truly mind boggling to me that anyone would read a text from one of original voyages to america and just accept it as absolute fact. I find this sort of text almost insulting. This author presents these sort of "revolutionary" skepitc notions about stories past in a manner which is purposefully hard to understand. What is difficult about doubting a 15th century account of an imperialistic adventure?
To be fair, I'm not sure if it's truly the author or if there really is that many naive people in this country, but long story barely shorter, this book feels like it's talking down to me about something I already know.

Turning to America

It's crazy to think that immigrants come to America to better there lives and are still happier in the slums and ghettos of America than in their own country. They believe in America, in a better life for themselves and their families. I agree with the book in that these immigrants do have a
"'hunger' to posses the dream, to be taken up by America". Even though they are looked down upon by most Americans and payed low wages, they still believe it's better. Yezierska believed that education would open their possibilities of social change, leading to economic change. To turn America into a "transnationality" to create all equal. The author also said "Ethnicity in America is precisely this blend of antagonism and coalescence, a mix if different voices struggling to be heard, some restricted and silenced, whilst other dominate, and yet always with the possibility of finding expression and authority."

Dividing a people

The Dawes Act was used in order to organize indian land and to facilitate their assimilation into society. American Indians were suppose to benefit from this parceling of land. Unfortunately, the reverse happened, and I think it just strengthened tribal bonds even more to their traditions and way of life. Private ownership was intended to create a more independent way of living. The tribe, as a people, were broken up into smaller families and were to learn to care for their land on their own, for themselves. American Indians do not share this type of mentality. They do not "own" nature, though they created it and learned to utilize it the best. They look out for all, not just themselves. When they run, they run together. They are one herd, not a bunch of small ones. For the Navajos, the sheep was their sustenance, because it was who they were, not just what they did. The Navajo father said to his son, "So with anyone who comes to you and tells you to let the herd go, you mustn't let the herd go, because as soon as you do there'll be nothing left of them..." The herd: sheep, a tribe of people, in jeopardy of dissolving. When the government stepped in, thinking they knew what was best for a group that already knew what was best for them and who knew the land far better than the government, all "good-intentioned" plans failed.