Senator Letter #3

Dear Mr. Senator:

I am an 8th grader at Frank Borman Middle School in Arizona. I have a few thoughts I would like to share:

How would you like it if you were judged by your race, your ethnicity? In today's world with all the talk of terrorists and whatnot, people are finding more and more opportunities to be racist or not tolerant to different ethnic groups. It has grown to an extent that even children are afraid to go to school because not only their peers, but their teachers pick on them. And that is completely wrong! Ethnic tolerance is crucial for a healthy, harmonious country. Don't you agree?

We all have the fear of being hurt, but we have almost no restraint when it comes to hurting others. "Treat others the way you want to be treated" no one seems to listen to that saying anymore. Since 9-11-01 this whole country, and almost the whole world are terrified of being the terrorists' next victims. We even go far enough to point a blaming finger at the neighbors or friends we've known for so long just because they're Muslim. Sure they come from the same place and supposedly have the same religion but they're not the same people.

At school, we are "taught" by a program the district runs to be kind to all races. They have the right idea in mind… they just don't know how to express it well. Because even when we had that nice little school wide program two out of every three Muslim kids get beat up. They don't care. The families that have nothing to do with all those attacks are paying the price the idiots who hijacked that plane should be paying. "No cruel or unusual punishments" they say. Isn't that cruel and unusual enough?

I'm writing this trying to convince you to pass a law forbidding people to be racist and ensuring ethnic tolerance as a nation. Too many people have been hurt because the law does nothing to ensure their safety. I want a law saying that even though some blacks have committed murder, all blacks won't be considered murderers. If the terrorists attack again, I don't want some ten-year-old Muslim kid getting beat up because of it. If the kamikazes rise again, may no Japanese family get deported to some camp. I want to ensure the safety of all the races that have been considered killers because of what their kin did.

All in all, I have finished expressing my concerns on the subject of ethnic tolerance. I hope my outlooks have shed a different light for you. I myself have suffered nothing because of my race or ethnicity. But my past friends have and as a child, it affected me deeply to see their fear. I wish to see no other child be afraid of going to school, a supposedly safe haven. Ethnicity has nothing to do with soul or personality, I hope you see that too.

Sincerely:



Alma Preciado