Reflection 4: Broken Beauty

Home of the Free

Is not the United States of America a symbol of immigration all by itself? Our country, created and built by so many ethnicities, is the quintessential of symbols. The US was created for those who are leaving former homelands where they were oppressed. Where their religion, lifestyle, skin color, was not accepted. Where they could not work, could not make a name for themselves; these people chose to come to the United States, a place of hope and beauty.

Throughout the years, the United States has entered the fourth stage of demographic transition, some even believe that the United States (along with some other countries) may even be entering a fifth stage. The multiple ethnicities and different religious groups that make up this country, and their willingness to put aside differences, to cooperate with one another, is the reason as to why the United States is so great. 

Even at a young age, Reyna Grande understood this, stating in her book on page 65, "I continued to think that there was beauty everywhere around us." And that is all we can think, that we must perceive and believe. For life as an immigrant can be much more challenging than that of a citizen. And as we grow older, we realize that everything is not as it seems. That people are bias and discriminate, and we can't change that. As Reyna Grande later goes on to state on page 65, "it was a place of broken beauty." For we later see, that the beauty we perceived was not as it appeared. Not everything is perfect, we can not persuade others to accept people who are different, yet we still strive to. Maybe someday, it shall no longer be a place of broken beauty, but merely a place of sheer and utter splendor.