But we are all Americans...

Throughout history, many minorities have struggled to be treated fairly in our country. In Frederick Douglas's "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro," he discusses the struggles African Americans faced during the time of slavery. Elizabeth Cady Stanton argues for equality from women in her piece, "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions." Although both of these pieces deal with issues from the past, certain minorities are still not treated completely fairly today in our country "[where] all men are created equal," (Jefferson). 

If all men are created equal why are some people treated differently? Are some people just more equal than others? Why do people believe men to be superior to women? Why are people discriminated against merely because of the color of their skin? These are all questions asked by many people today regarding inequality. For many years the identity of America was thought to be just the white man. Today many people think of it as a diverse melting pot, however many people still do not. This is America! No one is purely American, everyone's ancestors came from some other country. You can ask any American what their nationality is and they will respond with something like German, Italian, Mexican, etc. My point being that no one is technically "All-American," so why should people be discriminated against because their ancestors came from a country where people have a different color skin? It is just mind boggling that people used to think that this was okay, and some people still do today. The Americans in the 17 and 1800's had just finished fighting for freedom from England and then they turn around and control slaves in an even worse way. Frederick Douglas says, "Would you have me argue that man is entitled to liberty? that he is the rightful owner of his own body?" Douglas uses an effective argument with creative persuasion techniques to prove why slavery should end. Obviously racial discrimination is not nearly as bad as it has been throughout history. Our country has come a long way since the times of slavery and segregation. For example, we currently have our first African-American president. However, it still remains clear that our country has a long way to go, and we may never get to the place where we should be. 

                             

Why Does Who Is Remembered, and How, Matter So Deeply?

Everyone is the person they are today because of their past. The paramount events that happen in people's lives drastically affect who he or she is today. Everyone carries an emotional burden of something that has happened in the past, and most likely it deals with another individual. In Tim O'Brien's novel, The Things They Carried, carrying emotional burdens is one of the central themes of the novel; most of these burdens are caused by the remembrance of other people.

In the episode, "In the Field," all of the men are mourning Kiowa's death. They all feel a sense of guilt and sadness. They will forever carry the memories associated with Kiowa, and the burden of his death will follow them for years to come. Many years after the war, O'Brien goes with his daughter back to the field in Vietnam where Kiowa was killed. O'Brien was trying to find closure for the death of Kiowa. "I looked for signs of forgiveness or personal grace or whatever else the land might offer,"(O'Brien 173). Tim needed to find this closure because he cared about Kiowa so deeply and thought so highly of him, that it was so difficult for him to cope with the grief. Tim O'Brien, and the other men, remember Kiowa as an honest man with a kind heart, and all of the good memories of him helping the other men deal with their regret and sadness over different situations make coping with his death so difficult. If they had more negative memories associated with Kiowa, it would not have been as difficult for them to deal with his death. This proves that the more positively one remembers another individual, the more pain and sorrow will be present when that person is no longer in his or her life.