How Does It Feel to Be a Problem Reflection

After reading Moustafa Bayoumi's book, I have seen mostly characters going through tough times and rising up from them and became successful in the end.  But the the question of the book itself can have many differen answers both good and bad.   Becuse today, they are the new blacks, hispanics, and japanese or in other words, their people are the new target of America all because of 9/11.  And because of this era of hate, there is no room for equality for Arabs and Arab Americans in the US.  But somehow and someday, they will rise above oppression and get their freedom and equality back and America can hopefully understand the Arabs and not generalizing them as terrorists but just normal human beings.

How Does It Feel to Be a Problem. Blog 5-7

I have finally read the last chapters of Moustafa Bayoumi's novel.  The first of the three that I read was about Lina's life.  Lina's life in America was a big concern for her family because she became one with the typical American teenage culture.  So in the beginning has gone flash forward where she is residing in Iraq on a family vacation with her mom and sister to meet old relatives that she has not seen since she was an infant.  But the whole purpose of the trip which Lina found out eventually was that she will be left behind to stay with her relatives while her family moves back to America.  The reason she had to stay behind is because her parents wanted her to stay away from the American culture for awhile and understand and embrace her roots as an Arab.  Especially seeing how Iraq has no rights and values like America has all because of Saddam Hussein. 
During the time when Iraq was under Hussein, there was no ice cream not because it was ascarce or too expensive.  There's no ice cream because in the country's perspective, it is setting a political opinion, illegal.  One lick can land anyone in trouble under Saddam's wrath.
Then the setting takes place in the past about Lina's origin.  She was born in Kuwait in 1979.  When her her sister was born, her dad was given a grant from Kuwaut to pursue a PhD  and admitted to Georgetown University. 
For her parents, living in ELkridge, Maryland was a dream.  Being able to reside in a high end neighborhood and having the promise of having an opportunity like this.  But for Lina it was different and it was part of every typical public school in America.  There was judging all around and it was piled with white, black, and hispanic kids.  Especially jocks, goths, and brains.  Lina believed that Elkridge was awkward because people will think of you differently because of your skin and it happens sometimes in DHS if someone looks different.  But it all changed when she went to high school.  Everyone liked her and it made her happy also she was put in to advanced classes causing her grades to sky rocket in to success.  Because of that, she cracked the grade stratifaction of her school. 
With many high school kids, she wanted to find herself and so she dressed and acted like themand her mom got furious about it.  And then she started putting makeup on the bus and smoking.  When she came home, she would rub off the makeup and lie about the cigaretes but her mom knew about it.  The arguments continued and her mom made sure she was watching appropriate shows and finishing homework.  "For Lin, school was freedom.  Home felt like prison."(159). 
When her sophomore year came in, she wanted to go to the Homecoming dance but her mom wouldn't approve but reconsidered with one rule, she was going to drive her there.  And it was a relief for Lina but only for a moment because her mom was watching her every move in the corner outside the auditorium.  Lina felt she was been double crossed.  The rebellion continued on and skipped more classes and her grades suffered and her absences kept coming in. 
And then she met Daniel and they began dating and skipping classes together.  Her parents felt scared that their daughter had a boyfriend.  So they would put locks around the windows on her bedroom but somehow picked them and ran away while her parents tried to stop her and her mom trying to run toward her.  Lina's mom triped and cried out in pain not only for tripping but losing her daughter.  This made Lina feel bad but kept running.  Eventually, she came back. So now the story goes full circle where she is stuck in Iraq and ot word that Daniel got caught with ops for a crime he commited.  Lina then returned to the US to finish high school and go to college but tragedy struck when her mom died and it devastated her really bad because of after all those tough times, she missed her and it helped her bring her family close.
Her father eventualy remarried and Lina met new people of her same ethnicity only to be betrayed that twom of her friends were terrorists and trying to spy and blend in with her.  The FBI found out about it and they were taken in to custody.
Lina then eventually got married to one of her best friends and was interviewed by Moustafa himself.  She told him that she wanted to raise her kids in Syria.  This was her decision because she did not want them to go through her experience when she was young and rebellious. 
After reading her story, being young and Arab in America is not always supposed to be all about discrimination and being the target of a crime they did not commit, being a young Arab can also mean being a part of the teenage culture and its consequences.  In Lina's case, she learned from it and became mature after that.  Now she will pass what she has learned to her children so they will not have to go and suffer from the same experience she has been through.

The next chapter comes from another Arab named Omar.  He is determined to get a career in the news media and has applied to many news organizations and not one of them has called him back because not only was he an Arab, but because he was an intern at an Arab news organization.  The Arab news organization was shut down because ost Americans believed it promoted terrorism and report about it all the time.  But they do not promote but talk about it as an issue in the Middle Eastern Society. 
Later on he was interviewed by Moustafa and talks how qualified he was being both fluent in his native language of Arabic and English and that a big reason why he is not employed is because of discrimination.  So he is now one of many other Arabs who have no employment because of prejudice and is not giving up on getting what he deserves, a job and equality.

The final chapter I read was the story of Rami.  He is a Palestinian and lives in America.  During the 9/11 attack, his father was arrested for being accused of being a terrorist.  Money was a concern for the family to pay the lawyers in getting his father out of prison.  This was when he came to embrace the religion of Islam.  His father was taken out of psion but is on probation and possibly going to be deported.
Later on Rami would go to colege and met Ezzat who would eventually be his best friend.  Mohammed was an amazing debater and he even came to clashes with Rami about his faith if he was required to choose it and asking him if there if Allah exists and it made Rami's faith grew stronger and learned the deeper meaning of it.  Later on he met with the author of the book himself and he would soon later become Rami's professor and is completing an undergraduate degree in English Literature.  Rami and his friend, Mohammed took Moustafa to every conference and prayer session that they have been doing to strenghten their faith and took them to where they do their da'wa work.  Rami and Mohammed host a Web site calle FreeQuran.org and its purpose id to send Qur'ans to anyone who is Muslim or non-Muslim.  But an even greater purpose was to show everyone that the Qur'an does not promote terrorism and it only helps you to become a follower of Allah, not becoming a terrorist.  The feedback that they get was that people believe it after reading it but at the same time there are negative comments from people who discriminate and generalize Arabs as extremists.  Then finally Rami lectured to students at his old high school about his faith and sharing it with fellow Islam followers.  Rami is a devout Islam follower with spreading the message that Islam is not a religion of terrorism and being a terrorist or suicide bomber is not considered Islam and those acts are illegal in their faith.  Most people today make misconceptions that following Allah makes you a terrorist but the truth is, its not.

Death Penalty # 3

1.      The aspects in the stages in a capital case that is designed to protect the rights of the accused are the opening statements, defendant’s case, mitigating circumstances, the defendant’s appeal, and clemency.  I believe that this system is sufficient to guarantee that only the convicted will be guilty because with its long process and careful examination of the defendant to determine if guilty or not.

2.      Out of all the methods of death, I believe the most humane is lethal injection.  The method that is considered “cruel and unusual punishment” by the Eighth Amendment has got to be the gas chamber because it was the same punishment used by Nazis to exterminate Jews in the Holocaust.  Jews were killed unethically because of this method.  No criminal should suffer the same way the Jews died.

3.      From looking on this data, I believe most of the states have accomplished exterminating criminals that roam the streets and cause chaos.  This can benefit the people because it can keep them safe from danger.  It makes criminals think twice as well.  The state by state data tells us which methods of death are used or not used.  The regional and other trends I saw were the timelines of approving which method is better than the other and which method was better.  And I also found facts and court cases that led to the approval of the method.  When it comes to equality, justice, and arbitrariness, the data tells us that these issues are sufficient for justice for the victims, equality of letting the inmate be punished severely, and arbitrary is beneficial to the choice of punishment without restriction.

4.      This info influences my previous response because it gives me proof that most of the states approve the death penalty and uses it as well.  The data telle me that the economy of deaths happens mostly in the South and the ethnicity is mostly white that serve the death penalty.  The public opinion in data states that most people are in full support of the death penalty.  My point of view about the death penalty is that it is the perfect sentence to punish the criminal and the data overall is accurate and convincing.  Because it is accurate and matches with the links from the previous questions.

  

How Does It Feel to Be a Problem. Blog 4

The next chapter I read in the book was the life of Akran.  Akran is a Plaestinian American and is also a full time collegfe student.  But when not at schhol, he stays at home with his family in two family house in Sunset Park.
He may have pride in his culture and heriatge but turning to the media, the culture is a target and a problem that Islam should be feared.  Lastly, Arabs were a problem to be dealt with in America.
Moustafa Bayoumi himself has known Akram for several years and eventually met and talked about his life story.
Akram's family owns the Mike's Food Center, a suopermarket where customers can shop for their needs.  The store means everything to his family because it puts food on the table and structure their lives.  Immigrant groceries are not uncommon and its purpose is to put immigarnt entrepreneurs on the economic ladder of America.  The term that Sociologists used to describe ethnbic entrepreneurs is called "middlemen minorities."  It means that ethnic entrepreneurs work as intermediaries between inner- city clients and the people who sell them things but don't want to deal with them directly.  Arab Americans are among New York's most middlemen minorities.
Abdel Salam, Akram's father bought Mike's Food Center in 1982 but he lived in the country since 1971.  He left his native country so he can have a better life.  The typical American Dream.  When he came to America, he looked for his own kind.  Abdel gripped on anything he could find like buying clothes and costume jewelry and sold them to get money.  Once when he had nothing, he found a stray cat and brought to a pizzeria place.  He convinced the man behind the coun ter about the features of the cat. Maybe the Italian tok pity on Abdel but it didn't matter because he was offered something to eat.  Abdel claimed it was the best pizza he has ever had.
He left peddling and decided to work in stores owned by Arabs and saved every penny he earned.  Abdel sent money home and did not go on a shoping spree until his brother, Khalil, would make themselves from workers to owners.  They eventually bought Mike's Food Center after that.  Abdel came with nothing and many years later, he is sharing his success wityh his family.  The store is now paying for Akram's college education and he would be the first in the family with a college degree.  Now that Abdel was successful, he wanted to find a way out.  MOustafa asked him why he did not wnat to stay here anymore and Abdel's answer was, "What's America to me?"( 125).  Implyiong that America has gone against him and every other Arab American because of 9/11.
During 9/11, customers came to the store to find out if everything is fine and that if they need anything, they canjust say the word.  This really struck me because even though most Americans would think that Arabs are enemies, these people believe in the opposite because they always go to the store to buy their things and that they knew the Akram's family for a long time.  I was happy that there were peopl who had a heart during that time of crisis.
Later on, Akram visited Israel and its war with Palestine so he can get a taste of his own culture. He realized that it had conflicts as well as America. 
Later on, when he was with Moustafa, he said, "America's not America to me."(145).  Meaning that Dubai is the new American Dream and every Arab wants to be there.  They want to be there because they want to escape the conflict in America, have a better life, and not being treated as enemies.

Death Penalty for Clifford Boggess

Along time ago, Clifford Bogess was convicted of murdering two elderly people because he needed money to get back to college and fix the motor on his car.
later on, Bogess held captive in a maximum security prison in Texas.  Because of his crime, he was found guilty by the court and sentenced to death.  Eventually, he died from the death penalty.
Historically, Texas has the most death penalties for criminals than any other state in America.
When watching the film, the debate was simple, should Bogess be sentenced to death or not?
In my opinion, he should be sentenced to death.  He should be dead because when watching the film, his backstory was that he was adopted and had the mind of a killer.  He had no remorse for the two people that he murderded.
Because of the murder of the loved ones of family,  it crushed the members in to bits of pieces.  And so death was the only way that brought justice to them.  Death may not bring back their loved ones but it would bring closure to the members of the family and make other families and not suffer from the same pain they have gone through.
The Mitigating Factors that prevents him from the sentence of death is that he believes that he was a changed man and a Christian.  He also believed that God will forgive him, He is his lawyer, and that his artwork is his last work.  The Aggravating Factors of Bogess' case was that he was mentally insane and made up his mind of kiling the people with no remorse.
When being held captive, he believed that he was a changed man.  You can try and change especially Boggess himself but the convictions of people and Bogess himself will folow them for the rest of their lives. 
Also Boggess can look at his life as an artist or a Christian  for societal value but he will remain a killer.  There's no change at al whatsoever.