Its great that we are exposed to these stories, so we can understand different struggles. I also like how the classic struggles that everyone knows about aren't stressed. The only thing I noticed about the readings is that they were very pessimistic about the lives of these people. For instance, the article about te native americans made it seem as if every woman was being raped and struggling to survive. I am a small part native american, not enough for me to go around saying that I'm indian or collect a scholarship, but enough to know that full native americans are not living in a hellhole waiting for someone to save them. I can understand why the focus was on the negatives, though. Many people think of those struggles as being in the past, and no one is too concerned with indians anymore. I think the point of all of the stories was to stir something up inside of us by hitting our emotions. The more sympathetic we feel, the more we will care about the people, and about the subject in general.