Reflection on Social Issues Reaserch- The Arizona Law

I read a New York Times article and a USA Today article on the Arizona Immigration Law. Both articles explain the law in horrifying detail. For example, it is against the law to not carry immigration papers and police can ask people for their papers if they find reason- as in they look Hispanic.

This is very racist to me. In the USA people aren't allowed to be targeted because of their race. Although there has been a lot of drug smugglers recently, they won't be the ones walking openly around Arizona; it will be the innocent people who came for hope.

As this law has been enforced it has separated families and unlawfully persecuted people who didn't want to go through the trouble of carrying immigration papers with them everywhere they went. This law has left people feeling disrespected by their government for who they are and the dream that they have almost achieved.

This law, while it had some positive intentions (targeting drug smugglers), this isn't the way to do it. This law needs to bee revised to help the USA instead of cause distrust and racism. As Roger M. Mahony said this law is "Nazism". While the Jews were murdered in Europe because they weren't "perfect Germans" (blond haired and blue eyed) the Hispanics are being targeted in Arizona because they look like they are Mexican.

This law is unfair and "The system is broken," as Senator Harry Reid said. This injustice needs to be fixed!

Reflection on Social Issues Reaserch- The Holocaust

I read Krystyna's Story and Irena Sendlerowa's Story. These two stories are about people in the holocaust. The sacrifices told about were unbelievable.

Krystyna went into hiding as a 7 year old. She stayed in Poland's sewer system with her family for over a year. Krystyna didn't have a choice other than death, but she pushed through the horribleness of the sewer with a positive attitude.

During  Krystyna's stay in the sewer, sewer workers brought the families food everyday. It was dangerous to help the Jews, but the sewer workers felt that it was only right to help out.

Irena Sendlerowa made a sacrifice that she didn't need to make. She smuggled 2,500 children out of the Warsaw ghetto which was punishable by death. In fact, Sendlerowa was caught and sentenced to death but bribed her way out. Irena believed that no one deserved the cruelty that the Nazis were inflicting on the Jews. On March 15th, 2007 Sendlerowa received the Nobel peace prize and later said in an interview,

"I was brought up to believe that a person must be rescued when drowning, regardless of religion and nationality."

This quote proves that people did have beliefs against the Nazis, and some made sacrifices to help Jews.

Irena and Krystyna are role models in the bravery and sacrifice they had during the Holocaust. Although their stories aren't widely known, the fact that they did happen makes a big change for those few that have read them.

Social Action Project: Finding Social Issues That are Unfair to my Rights

List of Various Social Issues I've Found:

• The Mississippi Pardons- Two sisters in a Mississippi jail will probably won't be pardoned after stealing $11 and being put in jail for life. One of the sisters has failing kidneys. The Mississippi governor has a history of pardoning male murderers.
• Our Banana Republic- The tax cuts that President Bush created for the people who receive the top 2% of salaries in the USA are about to expire, but their is talk of renewing them. The money that the rich people are saving could go towards schools, which need the money.
• There's Only One Way to Stop a Bully- Schools are required to teach anti-bullying to their students by most states. Unfortunately students aren't being taught in the most effective ways. They aren't being taught to defend themselves, which could limit bullying.

My Response to The Mississippi Pardons:
After reading through this article I was horrified. This article hints that the sisters are being treated unfairly because they are women, which is not right and illegal. The Eighth Amendment states that no cruel or unusual punishments can be uses against a criminal. This does describe cruel punishment. For a person who is in a life threatening medical situation, to keep them from medical help is definitely cruel.

As well as being illegal, the evidence against them is very weak. Teenagers who made the actual robbery pointed their fingers at the women, and the sisters went to jail. If you or I were in a situation where we weren't treated fairly, I know that I would be angry- probably the same for you.

The author of the article makes it clear that the sisters are in this situation because they are women. After serving sixteen years of their double-life sentence, the sisters want and need out. In the United States, women are supposed to be treated equally to men, but this situation shows that not all has changed. If men can be pardoned in worse situations, then women can be pardoned too.

My human rights, and those of others are important to me. The person being denied their rights could be me. It is a scary thought that people in the government can take away rights that cannot be taken away. This can be changed, so why not now?