In the Hunger of Memory, Richard Rodriguez touches upon the major topic of affirmative action in the chapter, Profession. The topic originated and became relevant in the 1960’s after civil rights activists accentuated the fact that minority’s did not have the same opportunities as other ethnic groups. When explaining the topic, Richard becomes transparent and presents a cascade of both pros and cons. He states that affirmative action ironically creates injustice for victims who really are in need by not being able to distinguish who reasonably needs it.
However, affirmative action should stay intact and it is completely moral in the context of questioning whether affirmative action serves for all types of people, whether it is race, religion, gender and most importantly social class. During the westward expansion, the country promoted the ideology of the manifest destiny which its goal was to make settlers travel west of the Mississippi River disrupting the sacred lands of the Natives. The push to move west initiated an act called the Homestead Act in 1862, which allowed settlers -preferably white- to be granted 160 acres of government land.
This kind act from the government- although it ratted out thousands of Native Americans – allowed white settlers to prosper in life by creating a booming farm which was enough to maintain a stable life. Questions can derive on how the government cannot act as considerate during the Homesteads Acts and assisting the hard working individuals who sacrifice a myriad of hours to meet the expectation in jobs, and education.
In the last chapter of the book, Hunger of Memory, Mr.Secrets, Richard Rodriguez argues that his parents should be alright with the fact having details about private life involving family in his essays. Although, adding additional details from Richards life can emphasize the idea of having a private and public life, yet it can ultimately result in deleterious endings. For instance, modern age influencers who turn to social media as a platform can have their lives jeopardized by exposing very personal details such as the location of their homes, and the recognition of other family relatives.
Notably, bloggers who film their everyday life, exposing very personal details to a large audience for entertainment purposes. Prominent bloggers such as Jesse and Jeana who were once the face of YouTube and the couple who set the foundation for vlogging, separated after years of showing their everyday life. Additionally, streamers become confronted with the invasion of privacy severely by being swatted by a full swat team, live. In 2014, Jordan Mathewson, also known as Kootra was swatted on stream by numerous police officers. Not only does this put the life of streamers at risk but it also opens up a conflict of having the time of police officers not being put into productive activities.