Diana Nuez

Mr. Medina
Humanities
March 7, 2014

Struggle: Its Implications and How it Affects Us
Struggle is something people have to put up with whether they like it or not. Some
may claim that struggle is suitable. They say that because struggle can give you a sense
of experience. Others assume that struggle is damaging. Much research has been
presented on this topic. This essay will argue that regardless of what some believe,
struggle (racism and poverty) is multidimensional and has implications that can impact us
negatively.
Struggles are multidimensional. We notice this in Breaking Through. For
example, one of the struggles Panchito experiences is being undocumented. The effects
of Panchitos struggle are living in fear and being deported. Some examples from the text
that provide evidence of this situation is when he says, I feared getting caught by the
Border Patrol(Jimenez, 2). As I got older, my fear of getting deported grew(Jimenez,
2). But what I feared most happened that same year. (Jimenez, 3), and I followed the
immigration officer out of the classroom and into his car marked BORDER
PATROL(Jimenez, 4). Panchito is constantly in fear due to his poverty.
Along the lines of struggle being multidimensional, we can also analyze its
implications (see figure 2). Once again using Breaking Through Panchito struggles with
poverty. Poverty affects Panchitos health, treatment, education, and living condition.
There are examples from the book that show the implications of poverty. One example is
Panchitos home is really shabby (Jimenez, 10). This shows how poverty affects living
conditions. Another example is that Panchito had to put up with teasing from one of the
neighbors (Jimenez, 20) and it shows how poverty affects treatment. The third example is
that Panchito had to leave his school (Jimenez, 3-4). The last example is that Panchito
had to put up with ringworm in a bad way and that shows how poverty affects health.
Poverty is extremely affective.
In addition to Breaking Through, examples of people in poverty are also found in
various internet sources. Poverty affects treatment. According to www.answerbag.com,
Its easy to pour scorn on someone in a bad situation, and claim they only have
themselves to blame if youve never been there yourself most of us do it to some group
in society at some point in our lives. Its easy to look at some smelly guy with a bottle in
a paper bag sitting under a bridge and think Id never let myself get like that. if youve
never been faced with the real possibility of it. This shows how people dont ever expect
the unexpected even though its as common as poverty because they trust in not losing to
such a terrible fate. According to CommonDreams.org, In at least 30 state Legislatures
across America, predominately wealthy politicians are quite impressed with themselves
for considering bills that would limit the meager amount of state help given to needy
families struggling to make ends meet. This shows that the wealthy are technically
making sure that the poor people stay in poverty by making them give more. According
to wikipedia.org, Unemployment rates for African Americans are typically double those
of Caucasian Americans. African American men working full time earn 72% of the
average earnings of comparable Caucasian men and 85% of the earnings of Caucasian
women (Rodgers, 2008). This shows how poverty affects different races treatment in
unemployment. Poverty affects treatment in all of these ways. Sometimes you may not
even realize youre a part of it.
Poverty also has a great affect on education. According to an article by Eric
Jensen (Teaching with Poverty in Mind), Recent evidence (Harris, 2006) suggests that
the complex web of social relationships students experience-exerts a much greater
influence on their behavior than researchers had previously assumed. This process starts
with students core relationships with parents or primary caregivers in their lives, which
form a personality that is either secure and attached or insecure and unattached. Securely
attached children typically behave better in school (Blair et al., 2008). This shows how
poverty affects kids behavior in school, which causes bad grades and other bad things.
Another example from Childrens Defense Fund. (Ending Child Poverty. N.p., n.d.
Web. 16 Jan. 2014.) explains, Our vision is to end child poverty. We must invest in high
quality education for every child, livable wages for families, income safety nets like job
training and job creation, the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits, and work supports
like child care and health coverage. We also work with partners to educate families about
benefits for which they are eligible. This shows how at least some people are trying to
stop child poverty to help them get the education they need.
Those arent the only examples for education! According to billmoyers.com, A
new study showing explosive growth in student poverty suggests, tough, that we have
misidentified the problem. What if we have actually been teaching the right skills in US
schools all along math and reading, science and civics, along with creativity,
perseverance and team-building? What if these were as important a hundred years ago for
nurturing innovative farmers and developers of new automobiles as they are now for
creating the next generation of tech innovators? What if these are the very characteristics
of US schools that have made us such a strong public education nation, and the current
shift toward a narrower agenda just dilutes that strength? What if, rather than raising
standards, and testing students more, the biggest change we need to address is that of our
student body? This shows how some people are reflecting on what may have caused
student poverty in the first place and try to fix this. Another example from
www.dosomething.org explains, Children from low-income families often start school
already behind their peers who come from more affluent families. 40 percent of children
living in poverty arent prepared for primary schooling. This shows how poverty affects
kids primary schooling. Education is really important, so isnt it right for everyone to
have a full education, poor or not?
Poverty can also affect living conditions. According to ww.jrf.org, Poverty and
low incomes prevent people from accessing potential housing options, and make others
hard to sustainLow rents are important in reducing poverty. This shows how poverty
affects housing and other economy problems. Another example from
www.cliffsnotes.com says, Even though Hispanic Americans are almost likely as
African Americans to live in poverty, fewer inner city Hispanic neighborhoods have
undergone the same massive changes as many black neighborhoods have. Middle and
working class Hispanic families have not left their barrio, or urban Spanish speaking
neighborhood, in large numbers This shows how poverty affects peoples living
choices as in houses. According to heritage.com, 80% of poor households have air
conditioning. In 1970, only 36% of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
92% of poor households have a microwave. This shows how poverty affects having
everyday things in your house, which can lead to health problems. The way people live is
a BIG deal.
Poverty also affects health. According to www.childreninpoverty.org, Many
infants born into poverty have a low birth weight, which is associated with many with
many preventable mental and physical disabilities. Not only are these poor infants more
likely to be irritable or sickly, they are also more likely to die before their first birthday.
This shows how poverty affects children extremely negatively. Health problems originate
usually on poverty and can cause serious illnesses.
In conclusion, this essay has shown how poverty affects peoples education,
health, treatment, and living conditions. Some may argue that poverty is good for you. It
can give you a sense of experience. This may be true but I believe poverty is extremely,
negatively affecting and gives problems people shouldnt have because of its affect on
education, treatment, health, and living conditions.
Poverty isnt the only kind of struggle that affects people gravely. Racism is just
as damaging. Racism is the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or
abilities specific to that race, so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race
or races. In lesser words, racism is when people judge other people by their race and/or
skin color.
Racism and its implications are found in Breaking Through. This affects Panchito
and his family greatly and in many different ways. One of them was being called names
and being bullied. In page 103 it says, "I asked Mama not to make taquitos for my lunch,
because a few guys made fun of me when they saw me eat them. They called me 'chile
stomper' or 'tamale wrapper'." Another implication would be having different
expectations. In page 75 it states, "After he introduced himself, he picked up a folder with
my name on it and said, 'l see you graduated from El Camino Junior High School. Have
you thought of what you want to do after high school?" Before I had a chance to answer,
he added, 'We have excellent vocational programs in car mechanics, electronics, and
wood shop. We also have a program for future farmers." My last example would be that
racism causes relationship issues. In page 106 it explains, "Susan's parents don't want her
to go out with me anymore,' he said, teary-eyed. 'Why?' I asked, putting my arm around
him. 'Because I'm Mexican,' he said, raising his voice and hitting the steering wheel with
both hands."
There are also examples of racism and its implications in the movie, 42,
about the Jackie Robinson story. The first example would be when an officer told Jackie
to get off the field because blacks couldnt play with whites. This shows segregation
because the officer is making sure the blacks dont mix with the whites. Another
example would be how Jackie couldnt fight back against being called names. Being a
black, if he fought back towards a white it would get him in trouble. This shows how
racism affects treatment because of how he had to put up with being called names and
being pushed around.
There are many other examples of racism and its implications in the
movie 42. Another would be how blacks couldnt play with whites. This belief caused
trouble for Jackie because he wanted to accept the offer of playing with the Dodgers but
he didnt want to struggle with all the racism. My last example would be when a player
on the opposite team started calling Jackie a nigger and that he couldnt even hit the
ball or play. This made Jackie angry and frustrated so much, he had to get off the field
and smash his bat screaming to keep cool. This is an example of how bullying
contributes to racism and causes greater pain towards the victim.
Not only has J. Robinson experienced racism and its implications, it has also
happened to my dad. His skin is really light so, when my parents were still dating, people
would say he was Spanish or American instead of Mexican. This got him treated
differently throughout his life in Tijuana because of his skin. People would go up to him
to talk instead of my mom because her skin era mas morena. This was racist because
people treated my dad differently thinking he was a different race than my mom. Racism
affects a lot of people nowadays just as it did back then.
Poverty and racism can also cause stress. Opposing what I have been talking
about, Kelly Mcbonial claims stress (struggle) is your friend. First, she explains that
people that think stress is bad had a bigger chance of dying than people that believed that
stress was a good thing. Second, she says a hormone called oxytocin is released when
youre stressed and it strengthens your heart. Third, she explains how the way you think
about stress matters and you have to look at the bright side of stress. I disagree because
stress isnt always rich people stress. The real stress comes in when people act racist
towards us or when we hit poverty. That kind of stress is really had to get over because
that kind of stress is constant. It doesnt really go away ever. Racism stress causes
problems in which people may not be able to have the confidence to do stuff theyd like
to such as hang out with friends and socialize. People can become isolated with this kind
of stress. Poverty stress causes troubles in health as well as everyday living! You see,
avoiding stress isnt as easy as Kelly makes it sound.
Struggle, specifically poverty, racism, and stress, is multidimensional and
has implications that can harm us. Poverty causes problems with living conditions,
health, treatment, and education. The book Breaking Through shows this. Racism
causes people to be confused, frustrated and angry that can lead to self-hate and possibly
suicide. Finally, stress causes more deaths than cancer. It can affect peoples actions as
well as their emotions negatively. All in all, struggle is and will always be the greatest
fault in our lives.