Read Reid's Blog

March 21, 2004

I lounged around the house today. This included finishing a book about Japanese American internment during WWII. The more I think about internment, I become more cynical about the US government. Perhaps times have changed – we obviously have a different President and we live in a time of greater acceptance, greater diversity, greater equality. But still, I see parallels – the US Patriot Act, racial profiling, the treatment of Middle Eastern people in the US, wiretapping, Guantanamo Bay. I sometimes feel like I should be doing something about all of these injustices being committed, but it seems like a daunting task to go out and make a difference. Lobbying, letter writing, and having “conferences” and “meetings” can only get you so far. Knowledge is power, but it cannot overcome inherent biases and beliefs in politicians who have control.

I also visited Andrea today. Of course, I’ll be doing that everyday this week. I originally said I was going to stay home and do stuff, but then I got bored and missed her, so yeah, I went over to Wash U. We hung out and she studied while I slept, read, and thought about classes for next quarter. We ate at Bears Den – I had a quesadilla which was really good. Wash U. food rocks! Then, back to Andrea’s room where I hung out more and sat around.

Tonight I played Tetrinet. Holy crap that’s addicting. I also started “Asian American Dreams” by Helen Zia. It’s good but the first couple chapters are a repeat of Takaki’s “Strangers from a Different Shore.” I’m excited to get to more contemporary issues though – Asians and the model minority myth, affirmative action, etc etc. I guess I can say I’ve already taken a course at Stanford, Intro to Asian-American History, that has really sparked an interest in a potential major for me. I’ve gone on a reading binge of Asian-American literature as of late, so hopefully taht will lead me to some good end. We shall see, we shall see.