In my unit 1 assignment I took constructive criticism from our professor that led to a more sufficient and improved essay. I decided to restructure my essay with different ideas i had to not only improve it but to also include as much perspective into my school career.
Unit 1
Like most people I hate being forced to do something I don’t want nor enjoy doing. I think everyone can agree that being forced to do something when you’re not genuinely interested in is dreadful. It becomes an obligation rather than a positive experience which can make finding the motivation for it hard. This was true for most of my time in school until senior year. Throughout my whole academic career I was never really interested in any classes. I felt as though school was a burden. That was until I had people to motivate me, like my parents and my teacher. Without these people to help me I most likely that I would not be where I am today. Instead, I would probably be working a regular minimum wage job and being home all day rather than trying to further my education. Going to college was something I never really planned and much less wanted to do. Just the thought of having to be in school for an extra four years when I didn’t really have to irritated me. I felt as though school was an obligation instead of an opportunity to gain knowledge and keep you on track to success. But when I got to my senior year everything changed. I had a teacher who understood and genuinely cared. Having a good teacher and my parents to encourage me opened up my eyes and made me realize that I did want to further my education.
My grades were always mediocre throughout middle school, and as high school came it got worse. It was like my whole educational career was a downwards spiral. Having no support from my teachers made it worse. Teachers never showed interest. It felt like if I wasn’t a straight A student with perfect attendance then I wasn’t worth the extra effort. It made it very difficult for me to find the motivation to do anything when the very people who were in charge of education couldn’t care less. Not only this but the teachers would also allow students to do anything they wanted. There was barely any learning and even less respect in the classroom. I felt like helpless, like the education system was failing me. No matter how much I tried I just could not find the motivation to actually care about school. It wasn’t until my senior year that everything changed. My senior year was when I got an amazing teacher for my trigonometry class. My trigonometry teacher always showed that he cared and would not let me get off without doing my very best. If there was an area that I was struggling he worked with me after school to make sure I got it. He made sure I showed up and was on time to all of my classes. It was refreshing to finally have a teacher that cared for my education and even just me as a person. This sparked the motivation for me to do better in school and continue educating myself.
It is important to have a great support system during your education career. Without one, it can become very easy to lose sight of the the purpose of education and give up due to lack of motivation. I, myself, was almost a victim to this, however having a great teacher and amazing parents by my side to motivate and support me made me realize I had the ability to be great the whole time. They gave me the motivation I lacked in order to finish out my high school career. My parents’ played the most important role in all of this by constantly telling me to do my work and being on my case about it. If they had not been there to motivate me I would not have gone to college. I would probably be home all day doing nothing or working at a minimum wage job with no career. People like me prove to others that it is crucial to seek guidance if you need it. Guidance can come from a friend, family member, school staff member, or whoever you’re comfortable talking to. Even the smallest amounts of encouragement can go a long way.
In school I came to a realization that not all methods of learning work for me. It is difficult when you’re in a class and a teacher just throws a worksheet in front of your face. I’ve experienced this on multiple occasions, which also played a part in my lack of interest in school. For me, reading from a textbook or being lectured doesn’t help me retain any information. I enjoy hands on work , and group work that’ll allow me to learn and share new ideas with my peers. It is important to find new ways to help you learn, this can help with an increase in interest in the material you’re learning. One thing that helped me tremendously was setting goals for myself. Setting goals for myself allowed me to accomplish things I never knew I could accomplish and helped me stay focused In school.
Without people to motivate me like my parents and my teacher I would not be sharing my educational narrative with you today. Having these people in my life really made me change for the better. Without my trigonometry teacher to make sure I was doing and actually understanding my work I would not be where I am now. Furthermore, without my parents constantly hassling me to get my work done and to always do my best I probably wouldn’t have continued on this path. With that being said, if you’re like me and are having trouble finding the motivation and will to continue in school, or even outside of school take this as a sign to try new ways to better yourself. For me it was seeking guidance, finding a new way to learn, and setting practical goals for myself along with a solid support system that allowed me to find the motivation to continue my education and go to college.
For my unit 2 assignment I barely changed anything. I felt like this was a really strong topic for me to talk about and help find evidence to provide a different point of view for readers
Unit 2
Research Question: Why was cannabis made illegal despite objections from the American Medical Association?
Why: The purchase, sale, consumption, and possession of cannabis was made illegal in the 1930s despite objections from the American Medical Association. The AMA was advocating for the drug’s benefits on and its medicinal use so why did it ever become illegal? Like many of our country’s laws at the time was making cannabis illegal rooted in racism, sexism, or classism? This is a topic that I’m genuinely interested in because there are far more harmful things like alcohol or cigarettes that aren’t illegal so what prompted our government to ban it?
Introduction:
Marijuana had been used in America dating back as early as the 1800s. Americans used it for seizures, stomach aches, vomiting, and for pain relief. The drug that can now put someone in jail for several years was once used in America as an over the counter pain relief medication. During this time Americans never even thought twice about the drug, and viewed it only as kind of medicine. However, all of that changed after the Mexican Revolution. In Mexico marijuana was a big part of their culture. Mexicans used it for spiritual and relaxing benefits. After the Mexican revolution there was a large influx of Mexican Immigrants into the United States. When they came into the United States Americans were introduced into a new way of consuming the drug and for different reasons. Instead of appreciating the culture or rather just letting them be, American politicians used it to further their own anti-immigration, xenophobic agenda. This decision fueled by hatred is something we are still reaping the consequences of to this day. Without the medicinal benefits of marijuana there have been countless people who have suffered unnecessarily, simply because they live in a country where everything is related back to the color of your skin. Not only has it caused unnecessary physical pain for people it has furthered racism and built it into our judicial system even more than it already was. By making marijuana illegal America stripped away a very vital piece of Mexican culture from Mexican immigrants. Today the criminalization of marijuana has been used as a way to lock up and even kill African Americans and other minorities. When an African American is caught with marijuana by the law, statistically they are punished harsher than any other race or ethnicity. America uses it as a way to put young black boys behind bars or in a casket. For this reason, many people have been fighting for the legalization of marijuana both recreationally and medicinally. And while it has been working slowly it is still something that is very controversial today.
Source 1:
Burnnet, Malik, and Amanda Reiman. “How Did Marijuana Become Illegal in the First Place?” Drug Policy Alliance, 8 Oct. 2014, drugpolicy.org/blog/how-did-marijuana-become-illegal-first-place.
This article written by Dr. Malik Burnnet and Amanda Reiman who work for The Drug Policy Alliance discusses the history of marijuana use in America while simultaneously explaining why it is was made illegal. The Drug Policy Alliance is a non-profit organization based out of New York City that works to fight for the end on the war on drugs. In this article Dr. Burnnet and Amanda Reiman explain how marijuana got into the states and why politicians were so against its consumption. The history on how and why it became illegal begins when the Mexican Revolution ended in the early 1900s. During this time there was a large wave of immigrants coming into the United States from Mexico. Like with most immigration they brung with them their culture, including the healing plant marijuana. Before people knew what the plant was they didn’t know they were actually consuming it themselves. Since the 1800s marijuana was used as an over the counter pain relieving medication in America. They weren’t aware that the plant they had been consuming for years was the same plant that they looked at so negatively simply because it was being used by Mexicans in their own culture. As a result, politicians made it their mission to criminalize marijuana, so that they can force Mexican immigrants to assimilate more into American culture. While politicians were shifting the public opinion to support their own agenda they were completely disregarding the opposition of the American Medical Association. In this article, Dr. Burnnet and Reiman were exploring the racial bias that prompted them to want to make marijuana, a significant part of Mexican culture illegal. They talk about how politicians used the Mexican’s consumption of marijuana as a way to make them seem “disruptive” and as trouble makers. This source helps me answer the question of why marijuana was made illegal in the first place. Evidence shows that it was not for the safety or wellbeing of the American people but it was actually because of the extreme racism and xenophobia that was in America at the time. Dr. Burnnet and Amanda Reiman claim that protests pushing for marijuana’s legality have been taking place since the 1970s due to the fact that the only reason it was ever made illegal was because of racism and xenophobia. By criminalizing marijuana Americans set back the clock on progression in solving racism in this country. Something that is still being fought to over come today.
Source 2:
Little, Becky. “Why the US Made Marijuana Illegal.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Aug. 2017, www.history.com/news/why-the-u-s-made-marijuana-illegal.
This article written by Becky Little discusses the history of marijuana and its legality in the United States. Becky Little is a well known journalist from D.C. She has written articles for people like history.com, NPR, The Washington Post, The Smithsonian, and more. In this article she talks about marijuana’s benefits. She then proceeds to explain how the drug was largely used for its healing and pain relieving effects. However, when they saw Mexicans using it for spiritual and calming purposes they tried to demonize the drug, eventually making it classified as one of the most dangerous drugs on the list of federally controlled substances, meaning drugs that are illegal under federal law. Furthermore, Little also tells her theory about marijuana’s future in the United States. Her belief is that with continuing efforts on shaping society’s views on the drug it will eventually become legalized. I agree with Little. During the 1970s protesting for the legality of the drug became very popular. With more and more people using and advocating for the drug it helped shed light onto the real reason it became illegal in the first place. Since then states have one by one been legalizing the consumption of marijuana both medicinally and recreationally. Many people are viewing this as progress however it ties back to Becky Little’s claim that the legalization of marijuana has been becoming legalized because the consequences of being caught with marijuana was effecting more and more white Americans. I agree with this claim as well because when the recreational consumption of marijuana started gaining traction in the 1970s more and more white people were using it. This because known as hippie culture. When hippie culture became more and more popular people started to see the benefits of marijuana and didn’t want to see their people suffering the consequences that come as a result of the criminalization of the drug. With that being said, the legalization of marijuana was rooted from the same reasons it was made illegal in the first place, racism. Once white people saw their people facing the consequences that people of color were facing it made them realize that marijuana shouldn’t be illegal in the first place.
Source 3:
Tikkanen, Amy. “Why Is Marijuana Illegal in the U.S.?” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/story/why-is-marijuana-illegal-in-the-us.
Amy Tikkanen, the author of this article is the General Corrections Manager of Britannica. In this article Tikkanen is telling the history of how marijuana became a federally controlled substance and why it had remained a federally controlled substance for so long. Tikkanen’s claim in this article is that marijuana was illegal and remained illegal for so long because of racism. I agree with Tikkanen because after extensive research on the history of the plant’s legality and benefits my opinion is that the criminalization of marijuana was nothing but a tactic to keep white Americans on a pedestal while trying to demonize minorities and people of color. Tikkanen also explores the theory that the criminalization of marijuana wasn’t actually rooted in racism but rather that it was just a way for the head of the brand new Federal Bureau of Narcotics to gain popularity and public support. However, this theory can be quickly debunked once one notices all of the mean and racist things that was said about Mexicans, simply for engaging in their culture. This theory can also be disproven when one takes into account that the drug had been being used by Americans since the early 1800s as an over the counter pain relieving medication. The hatred for the drug had only started when Mexicans brought it over when they immigrated along with their other parts of their culture, which were just too much for Americans. This article further answers the initial question of why America made marijuana illegal in the first place. With the answer to the question being racism. The criminalization of marijuana started off as a way to keep Mexicans from bringing their culture into the United States and force them to either assimilate to American culture or to just show them their culture is not actually welcome then. This article supports my claim and the author’s claim that the only reason America ever made the sale, consumption, and possession of marijuana illegal was because of racism. It also supports the claim that the reason it continued to be illegal despite research showing the consumption of marijuana was stemmed from racism as well.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the question of why marijuana was ever made illegal in the first place has only one answer, racism. It has never been a secret that America has a racist past, however many people don’t know exactly how racist and how deep the racism went. The criminalization of marijuana was a prime example of that. Despite the fact that marijuana was already being consumed by the American people for its medicinal benefits, everyone was completely against its consumption when they saw Mexican immigrants consuming it. Mexicans introduced it into the states under a different name however, it was known that it was the same drug. When advocating for the criminalization of marijuana, politicians tried to justify it by claiming that marijuana was making Mexicans disruptive and rowdy. Politicians also told the public that consuming marijuana was going to make teenagers addicted and making bad decisions like hanging out in jazz clubs. Jazz clubs were mainly used by African Americans and hispanics. White Americans did not want to associate their children with Mexicans and African Americans because they did not like them for no other reason other than they were Mexican and black. However, the United States’ racist history with marijuana does not stop there. Since the 1900s, marijuana has been used as an excuse to lock up black men and women. Before marijuana was so heavily restricted the punishment for when you’re caught with it was so much harsher, with years behind prison. Cops took this as a way to lock up young black men and keep them off the streets. To this day that is still true, with millions of black men behind bars for marijuana possession when the only reason it was even illegal was to keep them locked up behind bars. As a result, the reason that marijuana was ever made illegal in the first place was not for the safety of the American people, not even for economic reasons, but rather because of nothing other than the ignorance, racism, and xenophobia that embodied Americans and still continues to embody some Americans today.
Unit 3
My unit two topic was the history of the legality of marijuana in the United States. More specifically it was about why marijuana was ever made illegal in the first place. After an extensive amount of research into it’s history it had become very obvious that marijuana was made illegal because of racism. As a result there are several different genres that can successfully convey this information. Whether they’re traditional or not. Since this is a topic about informing people almost anyway where people will view or hear the information would suffice. It’s more about spreading information than making an argument. With that being said, an essay or article would be the obvious choice if we’re looking for something more traditional. However we’re not and therefore, I believe the best 3 possible “new genres” that will successfully be able to tell the history of marijuana in this country are, a podcast, an informational video, or a Ted Talk. Being that there is no real target audience for my topic but rather it’s just for anyone who’s interested in history, these 3 genres would be able to get the point across thoroughly. Podcasts, Ted Talks, and informational videos tend to be short, concise, and straight to the point. As a result, it would be easy to keep people from all different backgrounds interested. While all of these things can be short they can also be much longer, for people who want the full in depth history. Informational videos can even be interactive, which can make it even easier to gather an audience and help inform people on the real reason as to why marijuana was criminalized instead of what they try to tell us. Moreover, they’re things that can be streamed repeatedly. Something like an article or magazine will be lost once it’s thrown in the garbage, however what’s put up on the internet stays there forever. This means it can reach a larger amount of people over time.
The topic I initially chose was that of the criminalization of marijuana in the United States. I chose to research how and why marijuana was made illegal in America if it’s common knowledge that marijuana can be use medicinally. Being that I’m not arguing anything and just merely sharing information, I don’t really have an argument to make nor do I need any evidence to support my argument. The new non-traditional genre that I’m choosing is an informational video. The reason being is that videos can be accessed by almost any and everyone. Videos can also stay online forever and have a chance at going viral. As long as the video is kept to about a minute it is very likely that hundreds, thousands, and maybe even millions of people might see it. By having such a large audience it can help educate people about why marijuana was criminalized and how the plant is not an enemy. With that being said, this video won’t have a specific target audience. It’s targeted more for people who like to learn about history, but also for anyone who wants to know the truth. Moreover, I believe that an informational video is the best way to be able to share the real history behind the criminalization of marijuana.
Reflection
Since the end of semester is nearing every day, reflecting on this course, it has been a roller coaster. Beginning the class was very smooth. I was very nervous knowing that this was going to be my first year in college and it was going to be remote. Our first intro assignment had me at ease after seeing how my classmates were also worried and nervous, I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one. Then when our first major assignment came up I wasn’t really at a panic. The professor gave us all feedback on our drafts and it helped me find inspiration in what I wanted to incorporate in our first major assignment. I could also say the same with our unit 2 assignment. I felt that it was the most fun especially being able to come up with our own questions and research our topic. It wasn’t until the last assignment where I was having trouble. I didn’t have much motivation to keep on carrying out with all my work in my classes. Summer is approaching, the weather is getting nice and the last thing i want to do is be in front of a screen doing schoolwork. I pushed through, and i’m proud to finally be done with my first semester in school.
