“The Marginalized”
Summary
These are struggles we are exposed to in our communities in everyday life.
Polaroid like photographs displaying Las Vegas’ most marginalized area “North Town”. Known as a low income area, ghetto, with lots of destruction, homelessness, and lack of support.
In these photographs we centered our point of view on trying to capture and convey the idea that a nation truly reveals who they are by how they treat their most marginalized area, capturing the nation that does not give equal opportunity or easy access to such areas, even though it is known for the land of opportunity, strength, and equality in its founding. We believe citizens living in such areas are deprived of voice, equality, and basic resources. These citizens are both indirectly and directly excluded from the nation in all aspects: economically, politically, and socially. We agree with the Dominican-American author Junot Diaz that the United States denying equality and care in places like this undermines the country as a whole.
Areas such as North Las Vegas are kept marginalized by the nation's choice to ignore them. The homeless people along these streets are not legally allowed to spend nights in “public” places such as parks. Yet there is no investment in building more shelters or resources for them. Not only does the nation leave them at the bottom, but it forces others to not help. Within North Las Vegas other residents of the area are not legally allowed to hand out food or clothing to help them out.
The nation, by letting the marginalized areas struggle on their own, is demonstrating that they do not care about their citizens, once again proving Diaz’s statement. America as a nation, reveals their true values by not showing interest in their marginalized areas.
Canyon Springs HS and Leadership & Law Academy AP Lang Period 3-Roos
Students responded to the prompt: In 2016, Dominican-American author Junot Diaz observed, “As a nation, you don’t know yourself because of what you’re doing in the heart of your power. You know who you are and what your values really are by how they play out at your farthest farthest edges.” Diaz claims that nations reveal who they are by how they treat their most marginalized areas. Write an essay that argues your position on the extent to which Diaz’s claims are valid. Use appropriate examples from your reading, experience, or observations to support your argument.
