Wake of Echoes

When I was in third grade, a family of Vietnamese refugees moved to the small Eastern Washington town where we lived at the time. The family was large and included two school-aged boys, Wa and Him, who started going to our school. Wa was in my class and I wanted to make them all feel welcome, so one day after school, my sister and I walked to their house and knocked on the door. Wa’s family welcomed us inside and gave us watered down Coke to drink. None of them spoke English, but they smiled and nodded at us while we drank our Coke. I don’t remember much else about the experience except that my feelings were all positive, they were super nice and I was glad that our little town had taken in refugees from a war-torn part of the world. I tell this story to remind you of who I am. To soften you for what I am about to say next. Because I STILL want to accept refugees from war-torn parts of the world and from our neighboring countries to the south. My heart bleeds for people despe...

When I was a sophomore at Arizona State University , my English teacher assigned a research paper that was a significant part of our grade. I only remember two of the requirements. First, it had to be relevant to my major (journalism). Second, I had to cite reputable, scholarly sources to back up my thesis. When I met with my teacher and told her my idea: American mainstream media demonstrates a liberal bias when reporting the news , she strongly encouraged me to choose another topic. "You won't be able to prove it," she told me. As it turned out, she was wrong. I not only earned an A on my paper, I convinced her I was right. Now, can I convince you? I'm not Biased ... YOU Are!  Let's start with those who see things from the other side of the spectrum...with what is probably the most popular stance on the issue today: cafepress.com Turn off FOX News! You've seen this bumper sticker, right? Or one like it. Most of them suggest people who wa...