BP 8

Question for Ulmer: 

Do you think that electracy is the way for future education? 

“The caveat is that whatever the digital apparatus is becoming, it is not more literacy.” 

Ulmer mentions a lot of the way that it was sort of an eureka moment when we started to see that there was a way to find ‘digital literacy’ but also mentions that there were a lot of ways that it “…masked the incommensurability of oral and literate productions.” 

Response to Silko: 

“When the military and police ran out of political suspects to torture and kill, they resorted to the random abduction of citizens off the streets. I thought how easy it would be for the Border Patrol to shoot us and leave our bodies and car beside the highway, like so many bodies found in these parts and ascribed to “drug runners”.” 

While reading this essay, it was extremely upsetting. Reading this part in particular because Silko wrote this article in 1994, which wasn’t that long ago. And that’s the part that’s upsetting. That Border Patrol got to do whatever they want, as far as murdering people who were just traveling alongside the border to get home. It reminds me of the photo that was released last year of border control whipping these immigrants while on horseback just like we are back to slavery days. This just breaks my heart because it just shows that since the 80’s nothing has changed regarding Border Patrol. It should be a lot more surveillance on how Border Control is regarding illegal immigrants or even just American citizens going along or near the border. 

Response to DeLeón: 

“Specialized vendors in Mexican towns such as Altara and Sasabe have cornered the market on camouflage backpacks, black clothes, water bottles, high salt-content food, and first-aid equipment. For inflated prices, border entrepreneurs will sell you things like black bottles of water that they ‘guarantee’ will decrease visibility and sneakers with carpeted soles that they swear will prevent you from leaving footprints.” (160) 

When people get ready to cross the Mexican-American border, they become rather desperate for any tools and clothing and equipment that will help them get away with crossing the border. Sadly during this time of desperation there will be people who will sell things with false promises in hopes of profiting off of your desperation. DeLeón mentioned in the beginning of the chapter that Lucho and Memo left to cross the border with only $26 worth of groceries and a few things to help avoid being bitten by snakes and being caught by border patrol during the night. It’s also mentioned that they carried black clothings with them to avoid being seen. So alongside the mindset of wearing black clothing, these ‘border entrepreneurs’ will go and use that same mindset to take advantage. The sad thing is that it is also mentioned that they would have to have a day’s worth of pay to get a slice of pizza, imagine how much they are trying to charge and how much they would have to work for a bottle of water painted in black.