Week 1: Juxtaposition

-
Today makes one week since Trump was sworn in as President. I wouldn't believe it if I wasn't there but it began raining immediately after he was sworn in. I don't believe in superstitions like that but I must say--it felt eerie.

Trump swearing in
I call this post juxtaposition because of something that happened this week at school. If you don't know that word don't feel dumb. I didn't know it either until I was sitting in grad school classes and people kept saying it. Eventually, I looked it up. It means when two things are happening side-by-side or at the same time and they can be compared or contrasted.

Image result for Juxtaposition
A funny juxtaposition
https://satanicviews.wordpress.com/tag/juxtaposition/
Mr. Trump did a lot of things this week but there was an interesting juxtaposition that occurred in my world that I would like to discuss. On Wednesday at about 1pm central time, we had a presentation at school by Angel and Demetrius. Angel is Mexican-American and Demetrius is Greek-American. They are members of what is called the "Dream Team" at school. The Dream Team is a club that was put together to help support "undocumented" students at school and just to educate the student body about the lives of undocumented people. Angel, who is extremely shy by the way, presented to about 80 junior boys while Demetrius managed the slide show. The focus was separating facts from myths.

Meanwhile, in DC at the Department of Homeland Security Trump was announcing his first executive orders on immigration. The monumental order of the day was for the construction of "The Wall" along the Mexican-American border. As Angel was separating fact from myth the president was ordering the construction of a wall. Quite the juxtaposition.  
Since I teach Social Science/History, I am familiar with the use of a wall to keep people out of a location. It's a time honored tradition. The Chinese were the big winners with their "Great Wall" but everyone did it. The interesting thing about walls is, in history, they have never worked. There's a lot of walls I could bring up but shall we just go back to 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall? Spoiler alert: it fell; as did the Great Wall of China and every other wall that has even been built to keep people in or to keep people out.  
Image result for fall of the berlin wall       
Fall of the Berlin Wall
http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/berlin-wall
Are we prepared to see this picture in 10, 20, 30 years on the wall Trump has ordered us to construct? Do we want to separate family's with a wall like the Soviets did when they built the Berlin Wall? Ronald Reagan said "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" What would Reagan think about Trump's wall? Reagan said speaking to Gorbachev on that same day "if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe... tear down this wall!" Do we not seek prosperity for Mexico and the United States? Trump's building a wall. Reagan tore them down.

Angel is only 16 but he's a smart dude. He had some facts for us that I'm not sure Trump is privy to.
1. Only about 50% of undocumented immigrants in the US are Latino or Hispanic let alone Mexican. Mexican immigration is actually on the decline.  
2. About half of the undocumented immigrants in the US come to the US legally through customs but their visas expire and they stay.

I checked up on Angel's statistics and they check out. You can check them out here if you wish.

Reagan thought walls were detrimental to prosperity. Angel says that 50% of undocumented immigrants come from places other than Mexico and on top of that half of them cross legally through customs.

With this historical knowledge and current stats, one begs the question: why build a wall?

After Angel's presentation a student of mine asked me a question. He said, "I was born here but my parents came on a work visa. If they get deported what is going to happen to my sister and I?" I looked him in the eye and I said. "I don't know."      

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 29, 2017 at 9:06 AM

    Thank you, Mike. We all need to find our way to be an upstander right now. I'm so grateful for your reflections and all the amazing work you do each day to help students understand the powerful role they play in shaping history. Although I'm not in the States, my refugee students here in Rwanda are being directly impacted by the fear and misinformation being spread by the Trump administration. They've spent their entire lives in a refugee camp waiting for the "American dream", so let's continue fighting to keep it alive! -Ashley

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mike WalshJanuary 29, 2017 at 9:22 PM

    Thanks for reading Ashley and for sharing your experiences in a refugee camp. It's been great to watch so many people here and around the world stand up against the executive orders of the past few days. The "people" can make a difference.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownFebruary 5, 2017 at 2:49 PM

    Out of curiosity has your school started creating a plan for those kids that are left behind if a parent is deported? If so would you mind email it?

    *If you have students with DACA please encourage theme to renew. Kids that don't have DACA yet shouldn't apply until the Administration makes a decision on DACA.*

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mike WalshFebruary 6, 2017 at 5:18 AM

    Hi Jules! Yes, I believe the school has a plan and that they are working with students to make sure that they re-up with DACA. Thanks for checking. I'll see if I can learn more and have you look it over. Your expert advice would be helpful.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Inconvenienced Majority

-
I am a member of the Inconvenienced Majority.  As of today, April 18, 2020, over 700,000 people in the United States have been confirmed to have COVID-19. Over 37,000 have died. 22 million have applied for unemployment in the past four weeks.  Yet, here I sit, healthy and employed. I am one of the lucky ones. The fact is, there are a lot of us. The vast majority of Americans, over 90%, are healthy and employed right now. The only direct effect COVID-19 has had on us, is that it has inconvenienced us. Hence the name, the Inconvenienced Majority.  We’re working from home or in a relatively safe environment and those paychecks are still rolling in. We’re far away from the emergency departments and intensive care units. We’ve finished at least one TV series and a few books. We’ve set up Zoom calls with our friends and family. We’ve finally cleaned out the tupperware drawer or the garage. We’ve tried our hand at some new recipes or hobbies. We’ve donated to some honorable c
Read more

I killed Adam Toledo

-
I killed Adam Toledo. Maybe after a little reflection, you will confess that you did, too?  Media outlets will tell you that a Chicago Police Officer killed Adam Toledo. However, I paid for the bullet that entered his chest. The officer may have fired the gun, by my votes and my tax dollars authorized and trained him to use it.  That officer patrols the streets at night while I sleep safe and sound in my bed. “Shots fired” ring through the static of his radio and he responds, running down an alley after a man carrying a gun. He does that for me. Why? So I can sleep safely and soundly. I pay him to do that. If you live in Chicago, you do, too.   But you know what else helps me sleep safely and soundly? Blaming the death of Adam Toledo on that same officer. That’s what it’s all about right? Me sleeping safely and soundly.  Tonight I’ll pay someone else to watch over “my” city while I sleep. Meanwhile Adam Toledo is dead, the officer that fired the shot wishes he was, and I’ll sleep safel
Read more

Step Into the Past

-
When I was riding around DC the day before president Trump's inauguration, I looked at the diverse students on my bus and wrote these words. “ I see in these students’ hope for our country. My eyes tear up as I write that phrase. Let me write it again. I see in these students hope for our country. ” These students were teenagers then. They are in their twenties now. On president Biden's inauguration, fourteen days after January 6, 2021, another young person in their twenties took the stage. Stole the stage, I should say. Amanda Gorman recited her beautiful poem, The Hill We Climb . There is one line in her poem that I think reveals our country’s path forward.   American is more than a pride we inherit, it’s the past we step into and how we repair it. I began writing over four years ago for the first time in my life, to defend the “pride” I inherited. As I wandered around the National Mall the day before president Trump’s inauguration, the placards spoke to me. I was bewildered
Read more