Response Entry 4/25

Tyler Burrell

Professor Jackson

Writing 2

4/25/18

Response Journal

            So, I’ve been listening to J. Cole’s album on repeat since its release on 4/20, and there’s a specific line in one of the songs where he raps about how the white men who tend to write history books tend to white out their sins. It is sad that Abraham Lincoln is represented as a hero for African Americans but in reality, him freeing the slaves was a war tactic. Yes, he did sign the emancipation proclamation but not for the greater good for all humanity he just didn’t want the south to win the war.  There is no doubt in my mind that the star-spangled banner is racist because everyone tends to leave out the third verse on Francis Scott’s key most famous song. We are taught to respect these songs but in reality, some of them don’t even respect African Americans as a race.

April 23, 2018 Journal

This picture of the two officers taking/deporting the Hispanic man really breaks my heart. I know a lot of people who are in America illegally…or undocumented as I'd rather say. When my parents built our house 25 years ago the land they purchased was cheap. So we have a lot of it. 11 acres to be exact, which I know most people won’t understand what that is but it’s a bit bigger than Washington Square Park. It’s hard taking care of all of the land so about 12 years ago my dad hired someone to cut the grass, trim the trees, and deal with weeds. His name is Esteban and when we first hired him he was an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. He has a wife and, now, three daughters. His daughters are American citizens because they were born on American soil and now Esteban and his wife are citizens (they obtained their green cards about six years ago now). Most of my dad’s employees at his pizza shops were undocumented for a long time, but now they all have their papers and are legally living in the states. I know my dad has a huge soft spot for people that have come to America illegally in search of a better life, because that’s exactly what he did. At the age of 16 my dad left Sicily and came to America and bounced around from job to job, state to state, trying to find himself a better life than Sicily could offer him. Because of this, he opened his arms to the people who work/worked for him. He made them family. I’ve grown up around all of his employees. A lot of them have been at my birthday parties when I was younger and to this day call me “Carmelita” whenever I come to the pizza shop. When I see pictures like the one on the screen it breaks my heart because all I can think about is how that easily could have happened to my dad’s employees who I look at as extended family. Or even scarier, it could have happened to my dad.