Title
Class Year
2014
Document Type
Blog Post
Publication Date
2-24-2014
Department 1
Center for Public Service
Abstract
Over a hundred years ago, my great-great grandmother fled Germany by herself to come to the United States to escape the abuse of her father. She had no connections in this country and nowhere to go. That same century my ancestors from Ireland crossed the Atlantic to make a better life in America. They were discriminated against for their religion and for their nationality.
Ana* and her husband, two hardworking Mexicans, paid a coyote to help them cross the Rio Grande into the United States ten years ago. They saw no future for their two young girls in Mexico and could not make ends meet. The family has struggled with racial profiling and prejudices since they arrived.
On the surface there are no differences in these stories. With other opportunities exhausted, these determined people uprooted their lives and moved to an unknown country, where the language, religion, and customs are different and friends or family are limited. [excerpt]
Copyright Note
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
Recommended Citation
Hauck, Emily G., "On the Fence" (2014). SURGE. 28.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/surge/28
Included in
Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Latin American Studies Commons, Race and Ethnicity Commons, Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons
Comments
Surge is a student blog at Gettysburg College where systemic issues of justice matter. Posts are originally published at surgegettysburg.wordpress.com Through stories and reflection, these blog entries relate personal experiences to larger issues of equity, demonstrating that –isms are structural problems, not actions defined by individual prejudice. We intend to popularize justice, helping each other to recognize our biases and unlearn the untruths.