Change or No Change?-intro to 1st eng. paper on borders

According to Gloria Anzaldua in Borderlands/La Frontera, we live in a society that divides communities based on imposed standards that are different from those of whom are the ‘legitimate inhabitants--the whites.’ She also mentions that these boundaries are something that is “unnatural.” A border is a division, boundary, or barrier between two or more objects, in this case between different races/ethnic backgrounds. In Gloria’s story, she refers to the U.S. - Mexican border and explaining how Mexicans who inhabit these borderlands are treated as “aliens” and “trespassers.” They are treated this way based on their appearance, race, and ethnicity. Similarly, in the 1960s, people of color-mainly blacks, were always known to be at the bottom of the racial hierarchy of America being denied of many of their rights. In the year of 2009, many Americans, especially the media, believed that President Barack Obama has erased the racial barrier within the U.S. being the first African American president. Even the N.Y. Times calls this historic event a “breakthrough.” However, many people still feel that things have not changed within America’s racial boundary since Barack Obama is now president of the U.S. Instead, America’s racial boundary between Caucasians and people of color have not been erased, but is gradually disappearing. It is gradually disappearing because Obama‘s election shows that he was not chosen based on race, there are new opportunities for African Americans, the involvement of more diverse young adults in politics, and the definition of an American is changing.