soma's blog

is said to be a carefree time where one spends her or his days in perpetual euphoric intoxication.
For some—for many—that is unfortunately not the case, one must recognize.
As for me, it was fucking wonderful: Climbing trees, wrestling with my brother, basking in the sun, watching cartoons, dancing to Madonna, playing with toy cars, making fun of my sister, or being frustrated at the fact that “Lead’0-9” would not fit into my “Lead’0-5” pencil whenever the situation would arise –that sort of thing.

But shit got harder, evidently so.
As soon as elementary school ended, we’re plunged into a world we’re not totally ready for.
Middle school and high school, I realize only in retrospect, are microcosms of the society that  Read More »

There’s so much that could be discussed about when dealing with the idea of “White” or “Whiteness”. From what I’ve observed, the idea of being “White” is strongest in Protestant Europe (Britain, the Netherlands, etc.), and the people of Catholic Europe adhere to their ethnic identity. I see “White” in the United States as a culture; an Anglo-Saxon-based one. Of course, just like anywhere else, the culture varies by class and region. However, being English-based, this culture is not the traditional one you would imagine, like Polish, Spanish, Italian or French, for example; but, rather, it’s more individual-based, meaning that members of this group do not see themselves as a collective. It’s a culture nevertheless.  Read More »

I don’t recall exactly when I started hearing the phrase “person of color.” I remember hearing about being “brown” and “brown people” when I was younger. But of these two, and especially the latter, I never felt any personal connection.  It wasn’t until I got to college that I started thinking about why that was.  Read More »

I don't remember how it was brought up, but I remember talking to my grandma about applying for Salvadoran citizenship...mostly 'cause I thought it'd be cool, it'd be to cool to go to Cuba legally, or something; possibly to vote in the most important elections.  Read More »

This is a letter to the editor I sent to the Boston Globe earlier today. This will most likely not be published.

Affirmative Action in the University of California never granted "preferential treatment" to anyone based on race/ethnicity or gender; it did, however, use those two as factors among others to consider--the operative word here being "consider"-- for admission. According to the rebuttal to argument against Proposition 209, Clause C was included to allow sex to be considered only in a “bona fide” qualification in order to prevent, for example, the law requiring unisex bathrooms. What this implies is that, although females and males are both human, social convention dictates that there are social differences between the two that provide for very different life experiences due to their sex/gender; the same goes for race and ethnicity: although under the law all Americans have a right to higher education or, running for office, for example, there are cultural and structural barriers that prevent equal access to these. Legal equality does not mean social equality. This is not to say that individual members of these ethnic groups cannot reach success despite hardships; but when a substantial segment of an ethnic group is cyclically not going to college, living in impoverished, violent neighborhoods in metropolitan areas with a relatively high availability of job opportunities, something is definitely wrong. While affirmative action cannot remedy the failures of the K-12 system, it can provide access to qualified individuals, as reform in the K-12 system is something that will take years for state and local governments to act.  Read More »