America has long been known as a "melting pot." This term refers to the diverse population that makes up our nation. People from every race, culture and background come to America to start a new life here, and this has been true throughout our history. One of the greatest things about America is its cultural diversity, but these differences are also the source of many tensions.
Starting in January, our new president will face many challenges, both at home and abroad. Problems with our economy, foreign affairs, American image abroad, the education system, health care, unemployment, and so many other issues face us as a nation, regardless of our political beliefs. In your opinion, what can our president do to bring Americans together to make us stronger as a nation?
7 comments:
Hello to Ms. Springer's Class!
I was one of Ms. Springer's professors at Kalamazoo College and am happy to see that she is talking with you all about challenges that will face our new American president. In our college classes we often discussed what lessons Americans can learn about our country's position as a world leader from the ancient Roman Empire. Maybe you will want to ask Ms. Springer about what the ancient Romans did well and poorly when they ruled Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Hello again Ms. Springer's class! I think that we really are facing huge challenges in education--but maybe that is because of my career and where I stand with my school. I work in a community that while very socially, economically and racially diverse often struggles with the challenges being one community of differences creates. I would continue to hope that education could be the great equalizer in all this and my students would have the same opportunities no matter where they are from. Unfortunately, this is not always the case and can be disheartening at times. My school has a tax levy on the ballot tomorrow that is crucial to the survival of many of our programs (both in and after school) as well as lots of jobs (possibly including mine). So education reform (especially reworking No Child Left Behind) is really important to me. I would like to have our next president focus on that and our future instead of mistakes we have made in the past. Hope that wasn't too long or preachy! Ms. Alison Mizen, Cleveland Ohio
Our new President must call on all Americans to come together to face our nation's challenges. We can't afford to think of ourselves as republicans or democrats but rather unite as Americans. Race, religion, age, socio-economic status, or backgrounds can't be barriers for finding common ground. My wish is the next President can lead the charge for this kind of thinking. I hold the most hope of this happening through the youth of our country. I see great service organizations like AmeriCorps and City Year (comprised mostly of young Americans) making great strides in reaching out to help communities across the United States. No single leader can make this happen by him/her self or make it happen overnight. But what if each of us looked outside ourselves to find ways, no matter how small, to serve our fellow man, our communities, and our nation? Two quotes from former President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address given January 20, 1961 I believe would hold us in good stead now.
"All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin".
and
"Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what can you do for your country."
What will you do Ms. Springer's class?
Here is an intersting slideshow presentation on US-Aussie relations and where we are headed in the next four years. http://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2008/world/peter-hartcher-australia-us-relations/index.html
Last night, when Barack Obama made history by becoming the first African American president to ever be elected, he said in his acceptance speech: "this is everyone's victory!" This is a very exciting time to be in America, but it is important to remember that everyone also has a responsibility to be a good American citizen. There are things that everyone can do to help make America a great country, like volunteering for community causes, or even simply being a good neighbor and treating everyone you meet with respect.
What an exciting time we live in! We were able to elect an African American president with much hard work on the part of loyal supporters. It is a victory for everyone in the United States and illustrates the true meaning of Democracy.
How true that our new president will face seemingly insurmountable problems. In fact he will face some of the most critical issues any incoming president has faced in years. There isn’t one situation that is not as serious as the others. However, he has to get control on the economy because the economy rules so many other issues. Because of the dire nature of the economy right now, major banks are failing, stocks are plummeting, (impacting not only investments but thousands of people’s retirement income) thousands of people are out of work, formerly strong companies are have to consider merging with other companies, which in turn will cause the loss of jobs, people are losing their homes, unemployment is sky high. The cost of living is out of control from the price of food to the cost of bus, train and air fare. Here in Michigan the situation is horrible. We rank as the highest state in unemployment and had the highest rate of home foreclosures in October of any state. College grads are leaving in droves because teaching job, service industry jobs and business positions have disappeared. We have depended on the auto industry for so long and with companies like General Motors and Ford seeing their stocks drop and people unable to purchase their cars, our economy has dropped like a rock. The new president might consider setting up a team of the best economic AND practical business minds in the nation (and he must include Democrats AND Republicans, liberals AND conservatives) and direct them to come up with several practical and workable ways to turn this around. However, they will need to move quickly, not dragging their feet and digging in their heels to protect “their turf” as is so typical in politics. They need to come up with immediate programs, but also long term ways to deal with this. The government needs to lend a helping hand, but be very leery of creating a situation where sacrificing the basic principles of democracy occurs. It won’t be easy, but America has faced difficulties in the past and emerged stronger than ever!
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