To be a true American, some people think that a person has to agree with everything our government says, right or wrong. My belief is that, to be a true American one must strive to make this country a better place. A place that can be respected and looked up to by the rest of the world, rather than shunned and feared as it is today. To say that I am only interested in one specific social issue would be a lie.
One person focusing on one problem will not make an impact. Being socially conscious is a big part of my life. I feel guilty when my life becomes stagnant, and I dont have any goals or concerns. Under the conformity of my button-down shirt and tie, I am wearing an American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, t-shirt.
It reads: Justice, Equality, Education, Involvement’, all things I stand for and strongly support. There are so many problems in this country that can’t be ignored, some so complicated, I doubt they will ever be solved in my time on this earth. I’ve heard over and over that, ‘Every journey begins with the first step’, and the fact that there are people out there like me trying to deal with problems other people create out of hatred, greed, or sheer stupidity, makes the world a better place. Some of the most important issues in my eyes are: poverty in the United States, racial equality, and nationalism.
The Term Paper on Martin Luther King Jr’s Place in American History
King, Martin Luther, Jr. (1929-1968), American clergyman and Nobel Prize winner, one of the principal leaders of the American civil rights movement and a prominent advocate of nonviolent protest. King's challenges to segregation and racial discrimination in the 1950s and 1960s helped convince many white Americans to support the cause of civil rights in the United States. After his assassination in ...
The best way I have found to deal with these problems is through writing. I live in a very diverse neighborhood where I am exposed to different perspectives and opinions every day. Writing manifestos, opinion articles in local newspapers, or ranting on web sites are my outlets of political philosophy. The only thing more important to me than expression is action. Food drives and community meals are my options as a seventeen year old to fight poverty in my community.
I also took part in ‘the homeless experience’, a 24 hour simulation of homelessness to see where I was most needed. Actually acting on my political or social views gives me an argument against people who see me as a ‘libertarian’ or a ‘commie’. Last year I got beat up outside of a club because of some critical comments I made on the state of the union. It was very ironic because I was saying that ‘nationalism was be comming out of control, and everyone is fighting to be more patriotic than the next’. One guy didnt agree with me, so he beat me up because he wanted to show himself and his friends how patriotic he was.
It was like living my own lesson! He was proving my point more and more every time he swung at me. Fortunately, I learned a very important lesson. Some people are jerks when they are drunk. I’m sure he wasn’t really a bad guy.
In conclusion I have come to realize that,’ To find a cure, you must understand’. Until I decide what i want to do with my life, I will stay educated on social issues in my community, and in the rest of the world. I will continue to talk to people and learn to see things from all sides. Finally, I will always do what I can to act on what I have to say, and I will never give up on the human race..
