Bellelo "The Jeremiad and Race in America"

A Jeremiad is a long literary work, usually in prose, but sometimes in poetry, in which the author bitterly laments the state of society and its morals in a serious tone of sustained invective, and always contains a prophecy of society's imminent downfall. The most recent example I can think of was on March 18, when Barack Obama voiced his view that although the nation’s founding document was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, nonetheless “the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution.” His dream, like King’s, was deeply rooted in the American dream. Obama, King, Roosevelt, Douglass, and Lincoln offered a jeremiad that we might call progressive, one that asserted a deep faith in the nation’s promise, articulated at the founding but always painfully incomplete. It is a jeremiad because he was speaking the truth about reclaiming the community’s fundamental goodness and promise. However this progress takes time due to two things, the powerful potential of American ideals, and the courage of American citizens.
In Obama’s speech, he managed to do it without explaining why he was willing to associate with and take advice from an obvious racist with dangerous, divisive views that he infected others with. And he didn't bother to address why the other congregants in his church were clapping, dancing, and shouting approval for the slurs the Rev. Wright was making!
Ask yourself this question, "If someone I met made a habit of speaking vile and offensive racist slurs on a repeated basis, would I choose to associate with them on a close, friendly basis?" If your answer is yes, then Obama is your man. He chose to make a racist a close friend, and to consult with him on his most important choices in life. He chose to associate, commune, and congregate with people who boisterously supported a man as he made some of the most vile slurs and promoted some of the most depraved lies known to man; lies that only our most hated enemies would ever repeat. Those are Obama's actions. Judge Obama by his actions, not simply by what his mentor and advisors say, but by what Obama does after they say those horrible things. And please keep in mind that his close personal advisor has not withdrawn, repudiated, or even apologized for those hateful smears on the reputation of this great nation.

Parker Jeremiad

If there was one thing in society today that I believe needs lamenting, it would be the fact that, as people of America, we're not necessarily as accepting towards other religions as we should be.

One example would be of something that I recently had happen to me. The other day, I was talking with an old family friend and he said to me, "People who aren't from this country need to go back where they came from and take their beliefs with them." At first, I wanted to punch him in the face, but then I tried to explain to him that the United States stands for freedom to believe in what you want. After trying to convince him for about 5 minutes, I just gave up because sometimes, people are so hardheaded and so ignorant that nothing you ever say will get through to them.

I see this situation in an even bigger context with the issue surrounding putting the mosque near ground zero.

One of our basic rights as American citizens is the freedom of religion, but we aren't as receptive towards other religions as we should be, especially when it comes to Islam. 9/11 was indeed a horrible day, but associating anyone who is Muslim and anyone who studies the Islamic faith as terrorists is just being ignorant. I cannot believe that people who love this country and love everything it stands for are just willing to turn their backs on fellow Americans because of something that didn't even involve them. This whole situation is extremely shameful to me and I just can't believe there are people who let hatred blind their judgement this much.

I have no idea how to fix this problem. It has to come from the person. If they could only put themselves in a Muslim person's shoes, then they will truly understand how harmful their actions and their words are.

Lighter - Unnoticed War

Since October 7, 2001, the US has been at war in Afghanistan. The US took action and declared this war because of the attacks on the World Trade Centers on September 11,2001. Many people have let this fact slip away from them, because it has been going on for so long. It has been almost 9 years exactly since the US declared war on Afghanistan. The topic needs lamenting because many US soldiers have died in this war and we have not really accomplished the “main goal” of the war. The said “main goal” of the war is to find weapons of mass destruction and so far the mission has been unsuccessful. The war in Afghanistan has become somewhat irrelevant to the average American person. The majority of people know that there is still a war on terror but need a reminder of it every once and a while. It is upsetting to see this because we have troops of our family members and friends putting their lives on the line for us but we are not giving the proper recognition to the soldiers. This is not to say that everyone lets the war go unnoticed but the support of our troops has greatly decreased since the time of the declaration of the war.

Gonzalez

I see that there is a big problem in the US that there was not about 12 years ago and it has grown and i have no idea how to put an end to such mess. Everywhere i would go back in my home town I would see it everywhere, I thought coming to Loyola University would be a place where there would be no such thing, but i was wrong. 12 years ago if one person would be seen doing this then they would be made fun of in such a way that would not make them want to step out side of their home again. Now it looks like they have taken over and people like my self are out numbered. What is this problem you may ask? MEN WEARING TIGHT PANTS!!

It was a cold day December 14, 2001. I was 9 years of age at the time and the worst was to happen to me. I was playing basket ball out side with me friend when we see the unexpected, a teen wearing tight jeans. He was heading my way rapidly with such an anger, and till this day there is no reason to why he did this to me. He went up to me and pushed me and I fell on my back into a puddle of mud. Its been 9 years that that has happened to me and I still have nightmares of the day that has happened. I wounder sometimes how would I be like if he did not do that to me, if I was not affected by it in anyway. I probably would have been a really good scientist, I could have created a cure for cancer. I cant though, because anytime I want to do good, I am afraid that a man in tight jeans is going to hurt me.

So what am I trying to say here? I dont want to get into to it to much, but if it was up to me, we should terminate all men in tight jeans. Who knows how many people have been affected by men in tight jeans and will not speak up to tell someone like I did. There has to be a stop to this madness before it gets out of control.

Brennan Saving Private Ryan (XC)

Jeremiads are long stories, usually told in prose, that show an imminent downfall of society. As I stated in class, I feel that racism is an element of today's society, which needs lamenting. Throughout my entire life, my parents have stressed the idea to accept everyone equally no matter the color of his skin, his culture, or his religion. My experience with racism is much different than any other 18 year old, Catholic, White girl you will meet.

I grew up knowing that many of my dad's cousins and siblings were in interracial marriages or relationships. I had mixed cousins, and family members of African American descent. Whenever I would tell my friends this, of course they never believed any of it, which is why I feel racism is an element of American society that needs lamenting. In the Declaration of Independence, our country's founders wrote "all men shall be created equal." Even when these words were written, men were far from what the founders considered as "equal." Today, racism is not nearly as prevalent and terrible as it was in earlier times, but it still exists. Knowing that my family members are still seen as minorities and inferior to other races makes me extremely uncomfortable. Laws/ideals and actualities seem to contradict one another in American society. Although Americans have come a long way from the times of the Jim Crow Laws, or the bus boycott, it scares me to know that my country is not practicing what it is preaching. Tradition plays a key role in determining one's moral standing, and when something as horrible as racism is passed down from generation to generation, it tends to stick.

This image is ironic in my experience with it. I watched every World Cup game this past summer, and I witnessed the "Say No to Racism" banner and ceremony on a daily basis. The ceremony was run through so quickly, the players sometimes forgot what they were supposed to say, and the crowd was never reverent. I feel that this shows that racism is not a key issue in many people's lives. I know this image doesn't show Americans, but racism is a global issue. Even if these men truly were against racism ad truly wanted to speak out against it, the fact that there is still an international ceremony and company based solely on promoting an end to racism is a scary thought. There are never exact answers to if, how or when racism will end, which is why I chose it as my jeremiad. I think the founders had it right, but not on every level. Hopefully one day the Declaration of Independence will truly be a declaration of freedom, independence, and social equality.

Cassimere Jeremiad

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."- The First Amendment

When the Founding Fathers were writing the Bill of Rights, the first thing they wanted to ensure was that all Americans would have the right to practice their religion of choice in peace. However, recently in New York, there have been hundreds of Americans protesting the construction of the "Ground Zero Mosque" (which is actually an Islamic community center, and about five blocks away from Ground Zero). Americans seem to be ignoring the very principals this country was founded upon. Therefore, a jeremiad I would write for today’s Americans would warn them of the dangers of unequal sharing of constitutional rights. If we start picking and choosing which groups of people are allowed to have these rights, then we become the country that our forefathers never wanted us to become.

Part of the problem, I believe, is the fact that most Americans think that all Muslims are terrorists who want to kill us all. Most of them just want to live their lives in peace without feeling as if they are being discriminated against. Americans just need to suck it up and admit that there is no real reason that the Islamic community center should not be built. They may not like the idea of an Islamic center so close to the site of the World Trade Center, but that’s just tough. Muslims are citizens too and they deserve the same rights as everyone else, and if we deny them these rights, then we become the tyrants our forefathers were escaping when they founded this country.

del Valle Good

The title "Good" seems fitting for the film for many reasons. I think in this film John Halder is constantly battling with a definition for the word good, he battles with deciding whether or not his actions and decisions are good, but has a tough time deciding what he means by "good". The ultimate question is if "good" is what he sees as morally acceptable or if "good" is fitting the role expected of him by his country, family, and peers. He begins with a clear view of what he believes to be right and wrong, and what he sees as good, but as the movie plays on, we see him being persuaded and his views and opinions seem to change. Its then, when he sees the influence of others changing him, that his definition of "good" is blurred. He knows he values family and pride in his country, and that is "good" to him, however he also does not believe in the reasons for the current Nazi war, so which is more "good" pride and support in his country, or personal beliefs in moral values? By the end of the movie he finds his final and secure definition of "good" and goes with his intuition and follows his pride and supports his country, all while still maintaining his personal views.

I think because of the movie's way of showing Nazis as people, and showing a personal view point of one in particular, who had exceptional patriotic qualities, is why it was not published in the United States. Giving the "enemy" or the Nazis a face, and at that a relatable, well rounded face, would have made people in the country slightly reconsider the Nazis, and possibly not view them to be as bad as we had known.