Our borderline cases project was about learning the situation in southern America and how it affects us. We learned about migration and refugees trying to escape the horrible conditions they live in and try to cross over to America, whether that be legally or illegally. We looked at individual cases focusing mostly on women and children. We researched the actual laws of what has to happen to the people who cross over illegally. We studied and tried to put ourselves in the shoes of a person who wants a better life in the United States because in his country, the government doesn't care about him. With this we looked at 5 essential questions to make us think about what we were learning:
1. Why do people immigrate to other countries? 2. What are the challenges they might face when entering a new country? 3. What is the difference between acculturation and assimilation? 4. What things are essential or necessary to achieve success in the US? 5. Is there an American dream? Is it for everyone?
With these 5 essential questions, we were assigned to focus on one of them and create an art piece answering the question. I started with question number 5, Is there an American dream? Is it for everyone? My first draft was a person holding a sign infront of the supreme court with the sign saying "The American Dream is Dead" I really enjoyed the drawing, but when I looked at it and asked myself how this answered the question, i couldn't come up with a response. So I decided to take a step back and analyze how I wanted to answer the question. Then, i realized that maybe i hadn't chosen the right question. I had a image in my mind and it would be answering question number 1, Why do people immigrate to other countries? For my final draft I drew a girl looking out of a window over the border, into the United States. What she see's on the other side of the border is a tree with leaves of money, and a plane carrying a flag that says "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN", a coined slogan for America.
Project reflection
This project really opened my eyes to what is happening with our neighboring countries down south. It really impacted me on all the different kids that travel alone and risk their lives for a chance at a better life in America. Not only is the journey extremely difficult but it's not even a guaranteed better life here in America. Minorities are discriminated, they get paid less, and there are so many prejudices that make undocumented immigrants seem bad that are myths. All in all, i really enjoyed this project and the eye-opener that it was for me.