Writing Assignment 8

History Repeats Itself Once Again

On the outside, I try to be strong,
Oh, how I long to for normalcy again.

On the outside, I appear dangerous to others,
In reality I am the same person I have always been.

I never thought it would be me,
Me, the one who was mistreated.

It is in these times one must believe in righteousness,
Believe in justice, and believe in morality.

On the outside, I walk with my head held high,
The pain and sorrow burning inside.

On the outside, I am a hard outer shell, tough and sturdy,
For I know things will be normal again someday once and for all.


Evil stares, no eye contact from my peers, and awkward whispering and pointing abruptly stop when I enter the room. It was only a little over two months ago that my life was normal, I was treated like all the other students, and the beginning of my Junior year was getting off to a great start. Then one day my life was turned upside down and I am treated like a criminal.

Just last week as I was walking home, a boy in the eighth grade asked me, “So did your family have anything to do with the plane crashes? I’ve seen pictures on television that say it was all planned out.” I was utterly stunned and amazed at the question, the first time it was asked, but now I had almost grown accustomed to similar questions. All I could do or say is shake my head and keep walking. When I arrived home I told my mom what the boy had said to me and she said “Rhagda, over and over again in history, we can see when there is a crisis people become paranoid and start accusing anyone and everyone that could be at fault. It is going to be tough for a while but we must remain strong and hold our dignity up high.”

As I sat in history class the next day, my memory was filled of accounts when people had become panic-stricken and because of this many people were mistreated and even killed. I remembered learning about the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. In the town of Salem, Massachusetts the Witch-hunt resulted in the executions of 20 people and the imprisonment of between 175 and 200 people. Wow, this was in 1692 and people thought others were witches so they killed them?!?! It sounds ridiculously silly now but at the time it was a very serious issue.

As my teacher continued to talk but my mind raced to another point in history. The crazy number of 110,000 stood out in my head. That is how many Japanese and Japanese Americans from the West Coast alone were sent to camps known as “War Relocation Centers” for which President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized this Executive Order 9066. This was in 1944 that the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the exclusion, removal, and detention, arguing that it is permissible to curtail the civil rights of a racial group when there is a “pressing public necessity.” The government apologized and justified their actions by saying that is was based on “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.”

That night after dinner, I wrote in my journal about another critical point in United States history when people were overcome with hysteria is during the 1940’s and continuing until the late 1950’s the scare of communism was on the rise. Thousands of Americans were accused of being Communists and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before the government committees and agencies. Those targeted I remembered were usually employees of the government, those in the entertainment industry, and educators. These people lost their jobs, destruction of their credibility, and even imprisonment. Most all of the trial verdicts were later overturned and declared illegal.

After thinking about all the previous accounts of individual’s rights violated over and over again, I suddenly was struck with fear myself and started panicking. Will my family lose their jobs or be imprisoned for decisions that others have made. Will we have to suffer consequences due to the fact that who flew the planes into the buildings were from our ancestral country, the country for which I have never stepped foot in, and my parents have not even visited. The suicide attacks made by the Hijacking of the aircrafts by the al Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, has not only taken nearly 3,000 lives but also put fear and anger into all civilians of the United States.

I heard my mom talking to her brother, who lives in California with his family. After over hearing parts of the conversation I could not help but ask her what had happened by her reaction on the phone. She said he could not really talk about it much to him on the phone but she had received a letter written by him, the first letter she had remembered receiving in years. He said that his phones had been tapped and that the police came to his door asking questions about the attacks. They even bothered him at his jewelry shop interrogating him about any information he had about the attacks. He responded honestly because they told him they had record of him talking about the attacks after September 11th. He said of course he would talk about the attacks because he had some friends that had worked in the World Trade Center and his entire family was devastated. He told the police that the entire country was devastated and how could he be blamed for simply talking about what had happened. The police had questioned him three times that week and threatened his business license if he did not provide more information. My mom informed me that our aunt and cousins were terrified and refused to leave the house.

Now we not only have to be intimidated to go out in public but also scared to talk on the phone freely about politics and current events to our own family. We have to watch our emails because the government is now free to track that as well. Because of September 11th, people have given up some of their rights due to the fact that they think the government should have the right to be able to have open access to our private conversations. Targeting a certain group seems so ancient because we live in such a diverse society, but yet again the cycle continues.

I discussed with my mom the other student’s reactions to me after September 11th, it was now a nightly discussion topic. My friends, or my so-called friends, the people I ate lunch with just a few months ago have excluded me from their table. I now bypass lunch and instead sit in the library reading articles that pertain to the attacks. Lately, what has perked my attention is reading about the U.S. Patriot Act, which was passed a little less than two weeks ago on October 26th. This bill passed by an overwhelming 98 to 1 in the Senate, and 357 to 66 vote in the House. Due to the terrorist attacks, this bill was passed to dramatically expand the authority of American law enforcement, and can be used to detect and prosecute other alleged potential crimes. There are many frightening elements regarding the Patriot Act. First being that most Federal courts declared it unconstitutional because it interferes with civil liberties. Secondly, articles say that only a few of the hundreds of people who voted for the Patriot Act actually read the text. This is how they are justifying interrogating my uncle and his family.

Everyday when I come to school I wish I did not have to be here because I am treated differently from those around me. My family is treated differently at the airport, in the grocery store and even at work. One would think that after so many cases of people mistreating others, our society would learn by the accounts of history, but that is not the case. History seems to forever be repeating itself, no matter how many times similar situations arise. My uncles family continues to live in fear and are punished because of choices other have made but they are suffering the consequences. When will the judgments stop, will life ever become normal again? Will people stop judging me because of my religion or the characteristics I possess? How can this stop if the government is encouraging it and even participating in the irrational behavior?

Writing Journal

What are the implications of designing a piece which joins the imaginary (characterization) and the real (current event)? Have you read any authors who do this regularly in their writing? If so, which authors? As a reader, how can one determine how reliable the depictions are in a piece of literature which presents itself as autobiographical? Are there more “reliable” forms for depicting/communicating real historical events, especially to future generations, than the personal account? If so, what might they be? If not, why not? What impression did the writings on the walls of the Museo Storico della Liberazione di Roma have on you? Why did you choose to write about the event you did for this piece?

I think the implications of designing a piece which joins the imaginary and the real event are to make it very believable and realistic. It is easier to show emotion in a real scenario because one can be very specific to the catastrophic event. There is no formal way of determining how reliable the depictions are in a piece of literature which presents itself as autobiographical, but based on historical facts one can make their own judgments from what they have learned or if they decided to do more research. The impression that the writings on the walls of the Museo Storico della Liberazione di Roma had on me is sadness and sorrow. After learning about interment camps in history classes it still felt so foreign, but after visiting the museum it because reel and extremely depressing. I chose to write about this specific event because I researched a lot about the Patriot Act and was very disturbed when this was passed. Also, by choosing this event I could add in other historical events that tied in with the points I was trying to make.