America, our melting pot? or salad?

In the essay "On being a Mexican American" the writer talks about his childhood that was crafted by the mexican cultures and how over time, America changed him and he soon forgot about his culture.  This is a great example of how our country is a melting pot, theoretically that is.   When someone comes to America they come with traditions and a whole entire background of another country.  Some choose to hold on to these things while others choose to totally domesticate themselves into our American society.  Those who don't domesticate themselves are usually looked down upon or discriminated against in some way.  In our society, if someone chooses to show pride in a country that they are from, they are not American to everyone around them.  I find this very strange since America is supposed to be the place of diversity and everyone is supposed to be different.  Our country is meant to be a salad bowl, where everyone has a different purpose, a different idea, and a different culture, but still be able to be together and work.

King, Still King?

Before I say if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is still a king, I must answer the question of if he was ever a king in the first place.  He lead and inspired those around him.  He had ideas and shared them with our nation.  He died, standing for what he believed in. I think the more appropriate word for him, was hero.  Why not call him a king, you ask?  Kings are of the monarchy system.  The typical king in power, controlled everything and what they say went, although many kings were great they were rulers, Dr. Martin Luther King was a leader.  A true ruler, a king, works hard, does what they want, and stops at absolutely nothing to be great, and let's not forget about all the grapes they get to eat.  A leader, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr,  also worked hard, but didn't exactly do what he wanted.  He knew what he wanted and chased his dreams, but always thought about what would benefit others around him the most and took criticism very well. A great king was defined by conquest and the battles that they'd won, Dr. MLK didn't ever result to violence no matter what.  Lastly, MLK wasn't the law, he was against it, trying to liberate African Americans around him. So was he a king? No, but he was surely a leader, a hero, and a civilian.  His dream lives on today, as well as what he was.

Children of the Sea

"Children of the Sea" is a short story from the book "Krik Krak" by Danticat.  Danticat is a Haitian writer who writes a great amount of historical fiction along with nonfiction pieces.  In this story two forbidden lovers write letters to each other.  The man is escaping on a boat, from Haiti while the woman stays there with her family trying to run from the soldiers who are torturing the citizens for speaking out against the government.  The both of them are running far away from something and with this, they are being pulled further apart.  These letters that they are writing, are filling in the gap between them.  It was almost like when they wrote, their lover was right next to them.  Everyday, they must face the reality of the crashing society that they are forced to live in.  They have to wonder "What more is there to life?", "Will this ever end?", they may not ever find the answer and most people didn't stick around long enough to even search for the answer.  They were always expecting the worst, for many of them jumped into the sea, hoping that the sea would take them and that would be a new beginning for them.  The thing that this man and woman had was true love, and although all odds were against them, they had each other and the had love.  For some reason, this story made it seem as though love was something, not something but everything.  If they stayed alive for love, that makes me wonder why did all of the other people who hadn't found love stay around.  In Danticat's assisting nonfictional essay "We are Ugly but We are Here" she talks about Haitians who went through hell but still held their head up high at the end of the day.  To be honest, if I was the "ugly" that Danticat refers to in her essay, I'd lay down and die as soon as I had the chance because in a situation where you have nothing to live for and you are treated like dirt it's hard not to give up.  I know that most of the time we're supposed to be strong, but how can someone be strong when the people around them are weakening them.  I guess that leaves my entry open with a question, "Does everyone have something to live for, if so what is it?"