Both John F Kennedy and Abrahim Lincoln stand for equality and everyone being presented equally. The separation of who the world makes seem is important is the problem that the United States has. John F Kennedy states, “So in many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and The shadow of disappointment set up on us. We have an alternative except to prepare for direct action, whereby we will present our very bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local and national community.” This is demonstrating how African Americans are made broken promises. The things said to them mean nothing because there is little to no action put behind them. Abraham Lincoln wants actions put towards remembering people who put action into our country. Lincoln states,”The brave man, living and dead, who struggled here, has consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but you can never forget what they did here. It is for us to live in, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have this so normally advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great asking him in before us, the from these honored that we take increased devotion…”. This is demonstrating how the people need to take action on making sure that the actions people took for our safety and country are counted for. Both of these individuals for actions of change and want them to stick. The country looks at these problems but they aren’t fully addressed. In Birmingham the people asked for the segratings signs to be taken down. Some were taken down for some time and returned back to their place. The problems of the United States have not been solved.

After reading “The Gettysburg Address” by 16th President Abraham Lincoln and “Inaugural Address” by 35th President John F. Kennedy, I have made the connection that what they are saying is similar. The overall message is about equality. Their remarks do not refer to the same situation but they do relate to each other. The problem that Abraham Lincoln thinks the United States needs to solve is the problem of equality. He believed that all men are created equally. And JFK brings up the point that we are united as a nation, referring to the equality of black people and stated “we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty” expressing that he would pay any price to see equality among people in the United States. Is that problem solved? The answer is obviously no. As any normal person can see we live in a society stemming full of systemic racism and  major inequalities for minorities. And “President” (I will use that title lightly) Donald Trump thinks it does not exist. Not only that but the racist police that shoot unarmed, innocent black people that can amount to a list only from the shootings this year. There should not be a list like that at all. And it does not just affect black people, the Muslim ban proposed by “President” Trump was extremely racist by targeting Muslims entering America and ones that already live here, and extremely UNCONSTITUTIONAL. So, no these issues have not solved.

Nguyen says “I would like to make a board accurate statement about immigrants children in schools. I would like to speak for them(us). I hesitate; I cannot.” What she was trying is that she wants to make a accurate statement about immigrants children in school because other people have different perspective of immigrants children. In other words, the way that people treats immigrants is different to how people treats the white. So she wants to give a statement to tell people more specific to teachers at this timeline that we should treat the immigrants children with a little more respect or not to discriminate them just because of race. The reason being is because white people doesn’t know what the immigrants had to go through in order to get where they are now. For example, “If it was my turn to read out loud during reading circle, she’d interrupt me to snap, ‘You’re reading to fast’ or demand, ‘What does that word mean?’ Things she did not do to other students.”(Nguyen, Paragraph 8) This means that Nguyen’s teacher Mrs. Alexander did not show respect to Nguyen and a hint of discrimination because she treated Nguyen differently compare to other students. She would get mad if Nguyen was reading to too fast and demand her what that word mean, showing that she shows no respect to Nguyen based on her Vietnamese background. The reason being that Nguyen was hesitate to not speak out her statement was probably because of her personality. Nguyen personality was a shy and quiet person and she probably have kept her personality for awhile with some minor changes as she grew up. For example, “For, in addition to my excellent marks, I was nearly silent, deadly shy, and wholly obedient.”(Nguyen, Paragraph 8). This means that because she was quiet and shy person, she became hesitate to make a statement. Another possible reason is that she believe that students can change what’s best for them and seeing that change may cause others to do the same thing.

In Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant, by Jose Antonio Vargas, the two terms “undocumented immigrant” and “illegal alien” are used  in the article non-interchangeably. The two terms both refer to essentially the same type of person, however, the connotations of each term are pretty different. The term “undocumented immigrant” is quite literal. It suggests that the person being referred to was not born an American citizen, therefore they immigrated to the United States, yet it shows that said person does not possess proper paper work in order to be legally considered a citizen, hence “undocumented”. “Illegal alien” on the other hand, suggests someone as foreign as an alien to Earth has invaded this country and done something very wrong in order to be here. This term is much more negative and hurtful in comparison. People like Vargas who come to the US at a young age don’t know another home, this is their home. As Vargas states, “I grew up here. This is my home. Yet even though I think of myself as an American and consider America my country, my country doesn’t think of me as one of its own”. In Vargas’ case undocumented immigrant would be the better term to use because it is straightforward. The term suggests nothing more than someone who needs official documents to be considered a citizen by law. Additionally, the use of this term compared to “illegal alien” helps to normalize the situation that many people like Vargas find themselves in. Illegal alien suggests something much more heinous than the actual situation, and this rhetoric serves to perpetuate negative stereotypes surrounding undocumented immigrants, who much like Vargas are productive contributing citizens, not foreign monsters.

In paragraph 28 of “The Good Immigrant Student”, Nguyen says “I would like to make a broad, accurate statement about immigrant children in schools. I would like to speak for them (us). I hesitate; I cannot.” I believe what she means by the “broad, accurate” statement that she wants to say is that not all immigrant children want to stand out. Throughout the entire story, she describes how she just wanted to be left alone, stating “I wanted to disappear. I was not brave enough to shrug my shoulders and flaunt my difference; because I could not disappear into the crowd.” For her, it was difficult to fully assimilate into the world where others see her as a different kind from them, something her step-mother wanted for her and her sister. This would apply to many other immigrant children, some being very shy and never opening up to teachers or other children, and bring afraid to speak. However, she is not really able to make this statement because she is not the type to be rebellious. For her, being the rebellious type of person required to have a sort of bravery, something she repeatedly says throughout the story that she does not have. Furthermore, after saying that she cannot and that she hesitates to say this, she also talks about how her sister was more of the rebellious type, disliking school and “choosing rebellion rather than silence.” in way that feels like Nguyen is comparing herself to her sister to further show this.

The terms “undocumented immigrants” and “illegal aliens” carry different connotations with them. Personally, when I hear others call people “illegal aliens”, I feel that it is a form of disrespect towards individuals in these situations. Saying someone is “illegal” makes them sound like a criminal regardless of who they are. When you hear “illegal”, you think drugs, human trafficking, murderers etc. Anything that is seen as maleficent usually comes into mind. “Undocumented immigrants”  I believe is a much better term to call someone in this certain situation. People in Vargas’ situation should have the option of being called what they want regarding their legal status. I do not think it is fair to have to label certain people for this reason or any reason at all. The way I see it, it is unfair and it affects the opportunities of these individuals. Growing up with undocumented family members, you learn to understand why it is wrong to have to label someone and you get to see how these labels negatively impact ones self esteem, mental health, opportunities etc. Many undocumented immigrants do so much to contribute to the country, as Vargas stated “ [he] was paying state and federal taxes,” though he was using an invalid social security card he still decided to pay taxes. Apart from that many of these individuals manage to assimilate into the country, unfortunately based on the way they look, they are not accepted no matter how “American” they may seem as Vargas points out “ they don’t want to assimilate, they are a drain on society. They’re not talking about me, I would tell myself. I have something to contribute.” These individuals grow up in a place they see as home, actually the only place they know as home but are labeled as “illegal” and are not accepted into the society because of the way they look which is cruel. They are denied certain opportunities as Vargas points out, he was denied certain jobs, internship opportunities and aids because of his status. They try to live up to the American Dream; some fail, some live it. However, sometimes those who live it, such as Vargas, are living with lies which just weighs them down and exhausts them, all so they can have a better life and move on. Fortunately acts such as the DREAM Act have tried to help these individuals with their situation. Many of these individuals are called DREAMERS, which I think is a better term to call these people because it fits them perfectly since in reality all they want to achieve is the American Dream.