American Son Blog 5 and Conclusion

In the final chapter of Brian Ascalon Roley's book, the final events showed that the whole family's relatives came to visit.  And when Ika was with her relatives, she becomes the total opposite of her usual self.  She was all happy and having a good time especially when she went to Disneyland and bought a sweatshirt for herself.  Later one her relatives shows off to all of them how great and successful her children are.  Like, "Soon, though, my mother's cousin Tai Pei starts talking about her son who woroks in Silicon Valley, how he bought a new Mercedes and plans on building a guest cottage behind his house for her to live in her old age.  Somehow, the conversation gets on to all their children, the colleges they go to, and their jobs.  I pretend not to listen.  Mom quietly fingers her empty wine glass, her head slightly lowered.  Father Ryan notices this."(192- 193).  This means that his mom is embarassed that her kids did not turn out the way they should be and felt that her relatives are looking down on her on how her kids are a bunch of nobodys.  Conversations like this tends to happen a lot in my family and to be quite honest, I feel the same way Ika and Gabe felt hearing that conversation.  My cousins inherited their parent's very high intellected minds and went to the top schools in the Philippines, graduated with top honors, and worked at high end jobs that make them earn significant amounts of money.  And I am jealous of them because I am everything that they are not I am smart but not as smart as them and I never inherited my intelligence from them as well.  It is really frustrating to hear the conversation over and over again and it makes my ears want to explode.
Later on Tomas comes in not well dressed with his tattoos showing to the family.  One of his cousins comes in and notices that he was stoned, in other words, got high from drugs.  This disgusts Tomas' cousin so bad and that Tomas is now out of control.  Then Tomas was seen forcing his younger cousin to hold hos colt pistol and trying it out.  Tita Dina, the mother complains to Ika of what she saw.  Ika explains to Tomas how disappointed she is on him and Tomas kept on denying what he did and asked Gabe for support but he does not do anything.  Later on the mother that was hit by Ika's continues to harass her by demanding 800 dollars to pay for the damage.  Tomas tells Gabe that they arrived at her house and her son, Gabe's friend, was there alone at the house.  And later, both brothers beat him up and Gabe felt better and stronger about being Tomas's accomplice and he knew that the taste of it was bitter.  Then Tomas theatens the child when he said, "If you tell anybody about this we will come by and beat your mother... Listen to me.  When people ask you who did this, and you are dying to talk, I want you to remember this conversation.  I want you to remember the things you said about my mother and how much we hate you for it.  And I want you to imagine all the things we could to your mom."(215).  After leaving the place, the story ends leaving the fate of the family especially the brother's fate uncertain.
From reading this book, it represents the darkness of embracing gang culture in America and how it can take you away from being successful and being in school.  Blending in with this culture can lead to consequences that cannot be undone and will follow you for the rest of your life.  That's the privilege you get for being influenced by this culture of America.  If you keep your morals and virtues intact and strive hard in school by putting a little bit more effort even through the tough times, you will become successful and you will become a champion not only in school, work, home, but in life. 

American Son Blog 4

Just earlier, I read two more chapters of American Son.  It is revealed that his grades have been slipping up ever since he has almots embraced the dark side and become like his brother.  Father Ryan, the priest and head of the school were Gabe attends, was a missionary from the Philippines and knew the customs of the country, talked with Gabe about it.  Father Ryan asked further questions if his grades were caused by life at his house and the way Tomas treats him but Gabe denies all of it.  Later, Aunt Jessica takes him to the new Catholic school that he will be enrolling in.  Not only does the school have better conditions inside and out, but it was really expensive.  But something made Gabe feel anxiuos about transferring to the new school and I guess the reason why he is anxious is because there were a lot of rich kids who are white and that would judge him for his socioeconomic status.  It is also revealed that only he and Aunt Jessica knew about Gabe's grades, not his mom.  If his mom ever knew, it would devastate her completely because he was the only son she can depend on.  Then Aunt Jessica explains to him, "Look.  Gabe.  Your mother had hopes when she came to this country.  In America you can becomne successful.  You can rise above. You can get education.  That's what she was taught by those nuns the Amercan Catholics sent over... But it's too late for her Gabe."(166).  Then she furtherly explains, "Anyway, Gabe.  I don't think she for anything for herself anymore.  She hopes everything for you... And let me tell you something more, Gabe.  Your mother has been talking to me.  Her brother, Betino- your uncle- has been nagging her to send you and your brother to the Philippines.  To stay with him and go to school over there.  You know what that place is like- the soot, the crime, the crowds, the people, the kidnappings, the humidity?  Do you remember?  How old were you when you came over here- eight, nine?  He wants you to live in his house where he can watch over you.  And why do you think he is offering to do this, Gabe?  Do you think it's because he wants your company?  To take you away from your mother?  No.  he says all this because he believes that you are not turning out right, and the reason he thinks that?  Well, he talks with your mother, and he can hear in her voice how worried she is.  How much it hurts her.  Are you listening to me Gabe?  Gabe?  Do you understand?  He can hear on a phone from five thousand miles away on a bad connection that your mother is in pain and lonely and disappointed and scared.  Behind a curtain of expensive static.  You and Tomas are everything to her.  You think she has dreams of her own?  What, to open up a shoe making business?  To become a millionaire?  To remarry or something, go dancing, live it up, have a good time? Like some young, happy-go-lucky single mother?  Come on.  You know what she's like.  She came to this country in the first place, Gabe, even back then, because she had dreams that her kids could have a better life than the caste droven slum you come from."(!67-168).  The whole passage shows that Gabe ios finally opening his eyes to how much his mom has been in agony for so long.  Even to the point that Ika is considering the advice of her brother Betino, to come to the Philippines.
In the next chapter, it seemed that Romas has gone soft on Gabe and decided to bring him to the parties where the bad kids go.  At onme point, one pof the parties was at a friend's house who's mom is in her 30's and let's everyone come to her house.  What's strike is that she allows people to smoke marijuana and have sex at her own living room.  This shocked me because moms are supposed to be mature, have values, responsible, and being a role model to their children.  Then the chapter shifts to the new school where Ika accidentally bumped on to a new and luxurious car that one of the mother's owned.  The mom embarassed Ika in front of everyone and never knew how to fight back.  This made Gabe uncomfortable.  Later they drive on to the mall and she nnede Gabe to help her out in the customer service line.  The sales lady was rude because even thoughboth Gabe and Ika needed help, she was still talking to one of her co- workers.  So Gabe talked with her about how frustrated he was and it was shown that he can be tough and firm but he has to apply it in life.  And it also shows that her mom is total opposite of her children because she could not talk and felt embarassed and was too dependent of them both.  And in the end, Ika showed a different side of her when she conversationally talked with a random woman who had so much common with her.  It showed that she was longing to be with her family and that wioth her family, she could be happy.  This happens to be the beauty of family because in Filipino families, we tend to watch over and help our loved ones and that getting together with relatives makes us overjoy with happiness.  

American Son Blog 3

Later I read the the next two chapters of American Son.  In reading the first chapter, it seems that both Stone and Gabe have made it to Meridan, Oregon.  They decide that they should spend the night in a motel to rest and continue tomorrow.  When they go to the hotel, Gabe noticed that Stone knew where he was going and which one to stop at because they passed so many motels.  This made Gabe uncomfortable because he felt betrayed and used.  In the hotel, Stone signed the papers and told Gabe that it was paid.  This makes Gabe curious on who paid it and what is going in so after asking the same question several times, Stone said that Gabe's own mother paid for it and she flew to Oregon earlier today.  So Gabe wanted to apologize to Stone for making assumptions on him.  Later they went to Denny's to meet his mom but Gabe never knew that her aunt, his step father's sister, to be there.  Both Gabe and his aunt were not getting a long because she was frustrated on Gabe following on the fotsteps of his brother, Tomas and then when his mom comes in, Gabe tells Stone that that's their maid.  But Gabe calling his own mother a maid created a big misunderstanding between Stone and Aunt Jessica.  Later Stone left and the rest went back to the motel.  gabe and Ika were the only ones in the hotel in the final scene.  At this time Ika asked Gabe he told Stone she was their maid and gabe continues to deny it.  She cried eventually and did not want Gabe to comfrort her.  This shows how disappointed she is about her own son who has traformed from a sweet and caring to to Tomas.  Filipino mothers tend to not be comforted after heated argument that hurt them in the inside.  I know this because my mother was like that everytime we disagree on something.
Betino then sends a long letter urging Ika to bring her children to the Philippines were they will be disciplined and have values by a real private catholic school.  He even said that it is no too late to take the offer.  Betino continues to explain thta the people continue to overexaggerate the crime in the Philippines but in reality, they are right.
In the next chapter, Tomas got a new explorer and already knew abouty Gabe's incident with his car and Buster.  Gabe promised that he would get Buster and pay Tomas back so Tomas runs errands for him so he can pay it off.  One of them was vandalizing the car of Eddy Ho, a former friend of Tomas, it did not work well because Eddy tried to stab Gabe to death.  But he was aved just in time by his dog and Tomas.  After that Tomas developed a soft spot for Gabe and they eat pizza and he tells Gabe that mom will make the same dinner and that we should lie that a client made them dinner.  But when they got home, she made dinner and it was something different.  What I have seen in this chapter is that it was rare that Tomas would care for gabe after disrespectinghim, insulting him, and beaating him to death once.  Also it shows that Ika is hurt that she was not being appreciated as a mom and she is not toough to stand her ground and be firm in disciplining her kids and in life.  A mom should be firm and strong and wiser has to be more respected when it comes to kids and in life in general.

American Son Blog 2

Earlier, I Read the next two chapters of Brian Ascalon Roley's book, Americam Son.  In the first chapter, Betino sent another letter to Ika to tell her that hid daughter's are about to graduate from Ateneo and one of them is getting a degree from Harvard.  Betino continues to express his concern with Ika's two children not only for Tomas but especially for Gabe.  In the letter he said, "I think you are right to worry about Tomas's influence on his younger brother.  It is with great anxiety that I read both of his imitation in dress of his older brother and of their increased fighting."(57).  From looking reading this letter, it is implied that Gabe is gradually becoming a disrespectful rude, mean, and wannabe Mexican gangster in LA.  The letter thorouhly shows that Betino is continuing to offer her sons to come back to the Philippines where the boys can go to a private school with supervision and be disciplined.  Not like the ones in America that are permissive according to Betino. Betino continues to explain that the kidnapping cases in the Philippines are extremely exaggerated but the crime their is still bad but they live in a secluded area.  I have lived and grew up in the Philippines for 9 years and even though I lived in a seclude place, crime happens a lot every day near where I lived so kidnapping cases may be exaggerated but the crimes being commited in the country is something not to ignore at all. 
In the third chapter, the date was 1993 and it was somewhere in another California.  Gabe woke up early in the morning stole Tomas's car and his favorite dog, Buster, to sell.  This was probably a method of revenge to get back at Tomas for selling Johan in the previous chapter.  After malking the deal, he makes a stop at the gas station to fill the car with gas.  Gabe then said, "As I pump gas a family in a white BMW with plates that tell me that they bought it in Newport Beach regard my brother's Olds suspiciously.  Which tells me they have had encounters with gangs before.  They look sporty, the blond boys back with their colorful windbreakers, crusted with slat and rolled up to their pale knobby elbows.  Probably they werere on their way up to Mammoth for camping.  They look like they might bv nice people, but the oldest one mad- dogs me while the gentle- faced smaller one holds on to his brother's arm, then buries his face shyly into his brother's shoulder.  They probablythink I am Mexican.  I hook the pump before the car is filled and pay the attendant and leave."(61- 62).  Gabe's observation shows that wealthy Americans particulalry white people, make assumptions of people who are different than they are both in class and in color.  This may not be a big issue in America but its still a continous social issue because Deerfield's population is mostly white and wealthy and they judge peopel for all the advantages they do not have in life.  I wish rich people should be considerate that what they are doing is wrong.  They think that they are more superior than people who are in poverty but they are not as they seem to be.  Judging makes you a monster both outside and inside and people who live in poor neighborhoods tend to strive hard to success and it is a fact that happens a lot in life.  Later on he goes to a small town on the way to Oregon with motels and diners in the area.  At first he did seem anxious that people will judge him on his appearance but it was not the case.  They accepted him for who he is possibly because he came from a tough life environment just like the folks in the in the diner.   
Later on he made to another smal town and needed help in fixing his brother's car that broke down that night and so he got a guy to tow the car.  His name was Stone and at first Gabe was a little bit mistrusting to him but after offereing a drink and lunch, he did not seem so bad.  Stone later recommends Gabe to move his family to his town somwhere in California where its safe and non violent because Stone took pity for his family especially for Ika who was scared of drive by shootings.  From learning from these two chapters, there are a lot of misconceptions that people make of other people so it would be best that they should get to know the person first before judging them.

Race in America

Race in America has been an issue for several years.  Even though slavery has been abolished and the Civil Rights movement changed the face of this sacred country, nothing has changed.  In reading a few of these articvles in both CNN and Exploring Race in the Chicago Tribune, what I find most striking of them all was that Americans wanted churches to be segregated on Sundays.  This makes me upset because not only is racial discrimination a never ending battle in the country, but also some African Americans and whites had to say who does and who does not go to church due to the fear of a hostile environment because of racism.  In the US alone, only 5 percent of churches are integrated  and its only for the sole purpose of not errupting racila tension in a religious institution.  What I do not understand about this issue is that that can they just get a long especially in worshipping the same God.   These match up with Andrew Hacker and Tim Wise's articles because it shows that Blacks cannot have the privilege to have an integrated church the same way they cannot live in suburbs or neighborhoods that have a major population of white Americans.  There was no difference in this issue but the big change was that it had to be also about a place to worship.  My "hidden bias" did not have any impact on this case because I had no preference between African Americans and white Americans.  

Hidden Bias

The results did not show that I have hidden bias and I was not surprised about it because I am a minority and I treat other minorities with the same respect they gave to me.  The reason behind my test results is because of how I feel toward whites and blacks and I welcome both with open arms.  I have no questions about these tests.  The information did not enhance nor change my views in understanding my result.  The conclusion I can make about stereotypes, bias, and prejudice is that it is all built in to the minds of white Americans and there is no way to undo it.  Hidden biases do not influence me because I do not have any hidden biases.

American Son Blog 1

The book that I am reading for Issues class in the moment is called American Son by Brian Ascalon Roley.  The book represents the story of a Filipino mother and her two children, Tomas and Gabe, who immigrated to America with the help of her ex husband who was an American soldier.  Their mother believed that once they moved to America, life will be so much better because America is the place that everyone wants to be.  They believed that America gives them everyone equal opportunity and privileges that are beyond their wildest imagination like a better  lifestyle, better work ethic, and better education.  But things are not always as it seems for them.  This is the issue itself, that America has not fixed the problem of underdeveloped places in their states and its violence has not been wiped out from the face of the earth.  I know this because I am a Filipino born and raised in the Philippines myself and I came to the United States almost 5 years ago and I have felt the same experience with Tomas and Gabe's mother.  Coming to America, I thought it was going to be a piece of cake and everything would be easy but I was dead wrong.  Me and my parents had limited income and living the American life with limited rights because we were visa holders.  Even through the times that were the toughest of the toughest, we made it through and still happy by the way we lived.
In the first two chapters, Betino, the brother of Ika, the mother of Tomas and Gabe, wrote to her from the Philippines.  The news was that her daughter graduated from Ateneo University, one of the elite universities of the country, and is preparing a party in their home.  The rest of the note shows that Betino expressed deep concern for Tomas because he has stayed in America for so long, he has embraced the Mexican gang culture in the country. Now that he is a self proclaimed gang member of the Mexicans, he makes gang signs and says anything with slang.  But worse of all, he has lost his discipline and values because us Filipinos live by that code of honor.  Tomas' dirty transformation made him lose his respect for himself and particularly, his mother and brother with no shame whatsoever.  Betino considers his sister that if the boys remained in the Philippines they would have been more disciplined, respectful, and showing honor to people who are older than them and especially coming back will strengthen their faith specifically, Tomas.
In the chapters, the family lives in the South side of Los Angeles, the underdeveloped and dangerous town in the city where gangs and violence come together to burn the town.  Ika has two dead end jobs to support them, Tomas, sells dogs for celebrities, and Gabe helps out around the house.  Their life is nothing different to their life in the Philippines because both places are in poverty with a few  hardworking and a lot less wealthy classes.  It is revealed that the family did visited the Philippines back then but Ika did not like it as much as she used to because she was complaining a lot during the whole visit because of the high temperature.  His sons told her that you are used to this but she said its different now.  This tells me that she does not want to go back to the Philippines but at the same time, she does not want to live in America anymore because of the influence that it has brought on Tomas and possibly, Gabe.  So Ika has no choice but to stay in America because its her only option to at least get better benefits than the Philippines has to offer.  Later on, Tomas has an offer to sell a dog to an actor in far north, the total opposite and wealthy town in California.  On their way, they stopped at the mall to eat and it was filled with wealthy people that are probably white.  As they were eating, a few people stop and stare at them but Tomas does not show that he notices it.  This is skepticism that has been "programmed" in to the minds of people with better advantages and they would judge people differently because they have not seen a lot of the likes of Tomas and Gabe around their clean and privileged town.  That is similar to where I live currently, Deerfield, the majority are wealthy white people.  So there is not a lot of diversity and when they see someone different, they look down at them for what they look like and wear.
There's more judging when they came to the neighborhood of the client because the neighborhood is filled with mansion with built in cameras.  This makes Tomas more uncomfortable but does not admit it because their car is the Mexican's vehicle of choice through the eyes of wealthy people.  It was unveiled in the chapter that Tomas got pulled over by cops because they thought he was a drug dealer and a gangster because of the condition of his car and outfit with tattoos and a bandanna.  While on the way, Tomas continues to insult Gabe because he believed that Gabe messes up a lot and says that I am better than you.  But actually its the total opposite because during the dealing, Tomas was nervous and never knew how to step up to the offer he was given and in this time, Tomas lost all his young and tough attitude.  So this means that Tomas throws all his mistakes in to his brother because Gabe is easily taken advantaged and Tomas wanted to get his mistakes off of his chest.  Another reason why he does this is because Gabe is the nice one of the two and he is jealous of him because he was more intelligent than Tomas can ever be.  This is a tough life not only socially but personally.

The Mock Trial Recap

We have spent a long time talking about the issue of sexual harssment in class.  Some of the definitions of the offensive act are unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.  In order for us to understand the horrific nature of the crime, we had a mock trial.  The first case was a sexual harssment when Elise Roberts had a tough taking offensive jokes and other acts by her co worker especially when Kevin Murphy took the risk of posting a picture of a swimsuit model from the magazine and with her name across tho photo.  When the trial was over, the verdict was that Kevin Murphy was found guilty of sexual harassment.  I agreed with the result and verdict of the trial because one of the compeling facrs was that the photo was hung up, Elise came to the supervisor but the supervisor did not do anything about it, and Murphy's harassment met the standards of the crime by saying derogatory comments, comments, jokes, and slurs, and displaying pictures/ poster  targeted toward Elise.  If I ever had an opposite opinion, what I needed to hear in the trial is that there were no witnesses in the work place to support her case.

The next case that I was a part of was the case of David Jones and he was charged of not sexual harssment but rape or in othewr words, sexual assault.  The crime of raping an individual particularly a female, is the act of having sexual intercourse without the woman's consent.  After the trial and getting the results, David Jones was not guilty of raping his then girlfriend, Susan Williams.  I was not happy for the result and I did not agree with the verdict.  The most compelling facts that helped David win his case was that there was no evidence that Susan was raped because she took a shower after the incident and no witnesses saw nor heard the rape take place.  These were the most constructive facts to consider because they proof and sufficient eveidence that he did not rape her.  If I ever had an oposite opinion in this case, I would want to hear form the prosecutors that they had witnesses listen and hear the rape take place and that Susan never showered so the evidence would have been kept in her system.

After looking on the aftermath and causes of rape and sexual harassment, I believeve that these two offenses in America's society is on the rise and it makes both men and women a target and living in an unsafe environment.  People who commit these types of crimes should understand the regretful consequences that will affect their lives forever.  So far, sexual harassment has not been a significant problem in DHS but it can potentially be one and the culture of DHS detracts sexual harssment because the school believes in their First Class motto and it strict consequences when commiting a crime.  The consequences of sexual harassment should be adressed in an assembly conducted by a group of experts that can give a long lasting impact and inportant message of commiting rape and sexual harassment.