For anyone who is familiar with South Park and shows like it...Family Guy, The Simpsons, etc...you know that the writers and creators really like to push the buttons of every facet of culture, religion, and other current topics. I often watch the show because the characters are funny, childish, satirical, mocking, improper, ironic, and a whole host of things that make me laugh. The most recent episode made a spectacle out of all the past 200 episodes of the show. Celebrities like Tom Cruise, Rob Reiner, and Steven Spielberg were made fun of in addition to Jesus, Krishna, Budha, and other religious prophets. Mohammed, the prophet of Islam, was depicted as wearing a bear costume because the world would not be able to handle him being seen in the public eye without causing mayhem. Does the show turn people off because of the things and people it chooses to make fun of? Yes, undoubtedly. But for anyone to think that the true intent of the show is to demean someone's name and to make them feel bad about adhering to a certain religion or belief is something I wouldn't bet on...with possibly the exceptions of Scientologists and Barbara Streisand haha. But seriously these shows spare no celebrity or cause in their satire. I've seen them bash presidents, celebrities, dead celebrities, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Mormons, politicians, countries, Jared from Subway, and even PETA. But the show isn't making fun of the individual per se, the show is taking a jab at the cultural impact and personal impact these things have on our lives. Really, the show can make you think about the faith we can have in certain religions or policies and laws or leaders. We live in a country where we don't have to silence our disapproval of anything. We are allowed to express ourselves and comment on the way our country is being run. Yes South Park is "Politically" Incorrect...but more often than not it is morally correct and points out the flaws in our logic. The show is bound to make a few heads turn in disgust, but so be it. They have succeeded in making a show based on the ridiculous extremes of human interest. I'm not saying that people should not feel a certain way after viewing the show. They would be in remiss if they did not have a differing viewpoint. But they should take that conversation to the next level and find a way to brake the barrier set up between differing sides and make a bridge to understanding. Otherwise all we get is more threats and more laws and more policies and on the other side we get more satire and more anger and more frustration. Seems like South Park always has the right thing to say at the wrong time...or maybe it's the other way around. I guess it depends on your view.

Props to Sam, that was not an easy lecture to do. I came into the lecture today with some understanding that this war in the Middle East was about somewhat about oil and occupation. I've always felt a certain way about this war. I remember back to 2003 when we first invaded Iraq and I was all for the invasion because I wanted retaliation for the 9/11 attacks and I didn't want to see more harm coming to innocent people because of these terrorists. What I didn't know then, that I've leaned over the past few years is that the "enemy" is not these nations or governments as a whole, but small groups of religious fanatics who use the word of God to further their mission. These poor souls who live in the Middle East who are just trying to live their lives and survive the war that surrounds them. I can't imagine what it has been like for them to try and protect their children and families from the destruction of their homes and neighborhoods. This class did a lot to get me to understand what the people of Iraq and Afghanistan must feel about Americans. To connect things together about the different political powers saying we are on a crusade, or must "chase them back to their caves", or that we are on a mission from god....blues brothers vibe haha. But seriously with the news reports about the christian mission workers in Iraq and the words of political candidates McCain, Palin, and Gulianni as well as General Patreus and President Bush how can someone living in the Middle East not think that America means to destroy their lands on the basis of a spiritual guidance. I would certainly think so. I don't know if I'd join the insurgency because of the way I've been brought up here in America as a peaceful person but had I grown up in the Middle East in a normal society and then have my land stripped of it's resources and told by foreigners that we mustn't resist their occupation otherwise we will be destroyed, I might feel differently about fighting and would want to protect my homeland even if it meant giving my life for the cause. During my discussion section before class today, some of the people in the class stated that they felt that they didn't know why they hated our country so much, but that because of 9/11 they wanted to see them all destroyed. I was just amazed that someone could harbor those feelings without knowing why the opposition feels the way they do. I know I used to feel that way, but now I know better and after today's lecture I feel an even deeper understanding of the situation. I think what this class gets you to do best is to take an interest in viewing topics from a new perspective. I feel I'm pretty open-minded about most issues. Some more than others I have a formed opinion but that's only because the bubble on the topic has been burst for me and I've examined things in a new light. I used to think vegetarians and vegans were crazy but for the past 8 months I've been one...and that is because I took myself out of the singleminded views of the topic. I guess I'm getting a better understanding of the power of ethnocentrism.

Well said GreekForHire. Today's lecture was a tough topic to cover, and I think Sam struggled to get us to see the points he was trying to make. I'll say that for my part I did not eat the second piece of chocolate...however I did have some melted bits on my finger that I licked off so maybe I did. My reasoning for not eating the second piece of chocolate was because I felt something from the video shown. I don't know if I felt bad or like not eating it would be a positive response to the issue but I just didn't feel right eating it. I don't think however you should feel bad for choosing to eat the chocolate because unless you are gonna go on a bender and cut it out of your life completely then you are kidding yourself. Sam ate the second piece, but like he told us he lives with the knowledge of what consequences our lifestyles have on these third world nations. I've known for a while now that the steps we need to take start with understanding that there are things within our power that we can do to enact change. For starters we need to accept the information given to us by experts and researchers and scientists. But before moving from ignorance to despair we need to pause in the middle and figure out what we can do to reverse the process. The next step is what Sam told us today, which is to learn to live with that knowledge and like with anything that means holding onto the knowledge and being reminded of how our actions effect peoples worldwide not simply burying it in the back of our minds. After that, the things we can do are very simple. We can alter our lifestyles by choosing fair trade products or consume goods produced by businesses and corporations we trust. We can tell our friends/family/co-workers/neighbors about these issues and spread the knowledge. From there we can help our communities to change and slowly the nation and world can change too. I myself have given up meat for the past 8 months because I no longer approve of the way we grow, sell, and market it in this country. I've given up soda and other like beverages for more than 3 years because of the negative effect they have on our nation's health. Am I going to do that for chocolate? Probably not. It's not my cause. But I will take knowledge with me and share it with others, in fact I already told 2 of my friends what I learned today at dinner =) But yeah to bring it back to the question posed...I don't think people should feel bad for eating the second piece. Chocolate is delicious, it's loved by many people all over the world. The fact is that a lot of things technology, food, clothing, and other goods are made in part by slaves or people under slave-like conditions. Am I going to give up all that stuff? Again no, but I will continue to educate myself and as a future teacher, educate others. Don't feel guilty about eating the chocolate, feel guilty if you don't feel anything at all(good or bad) for these poor souls. Feel guilty if you come to the next lecture and don't remember a thing from this lecture. But until then, I suppose I'll find some way to make myself feel better. Maybe I'll take a stroll up to a parking structure and shout out into the starry night CARPE DIEM! And maybe that will inspire some change...

What's the big qualm of balck people not wearing shorts? I see black people in shorts all the time! In fact, wasn't Michelle Obama wearing shorts for the first time in like 5 presidencies or soemthing like that? And last time I checked she was black. I think we get bogged down too much on little stuff like this when the bigger issues at hand are the inequalities that still plague this land. So what if there are a bunch of black people wearing shorts in an LL Bean magazine?! That just means we've won the battle for black and white people to be advertised equally wearing shorts. Now can we please focus on how to curb the drop out rates of inner city, mostly minority children? 4/4

The catalogue may have a improportionate number of black people wearing supposed "white" clothing but so what? I see white people walking around all the time in supposed "black" clothing. Does that mean I should feel offended when I look in a magazine? I don't think so, maybe the magazine is trying to reach a new demographic of customers and broaden their appeal. Times are tough, I can't blame someone for trying to make a buck hahaha. That probably wasn't the point of showing the magazine pages...but really any time we see something that rubs us the wrong way we bark about it. Sam showed us pictures from the engineering building and they don't neccesarily reflect the actual numbers of students in that college male/femal wise or by race but they do reflect the different peoples of that college. Snd what's wrong with that? Isn't it good that people celebrate diversity and shwo that people of all backgrounds can be accepted into this place? 3/4

They do not indicate that you are better or worse than someone else or that if you are further along that you are a winner. In fact if you believe that, your probably still in the pre-awakening stage hahaha. But seriously, if we were all at the place Sam is at the world would be crazy!!! Everyone would do and say whatever they wanted and people wouldn't give a crap, or maybe they would...I don't know. Who wants to live like that? I think the point Sam is trying to get everyone to experience is that there really is no point. At least not one big point that will solve everything. There are a lot of little points about how people behave and what causes them to do so. I don't really understand the whole Jesse Jackson thing either but the LL Bean catalogue was kind of funny the way Sam was showing it. But I mean c'mon those comedians he showed in class can do it to. The way people talk and walk can be dissected and humorized just like everything else in the world. 2/3

There is no way to win, at least not in the grand scheme of things. We can't, it is just impossible. I suppose the only scenario in which a decided victory could be proclaimed is if one day there is no more need for a race relations class or circle discussions of race issues or what have you. But we can take little victories I believe. Unless I'm mistaken, the goal of these "stages" is a progression in your state of mind. 1/3

Sam isn't always a crowd pleaser that's for sure. I'm starting to realize his method for teaching though. As one of his students, I call bullshit every time he says the next words out of his mouth are gonna be the most shocking of the semester. Often his topics are very interesting, but he uses the perk-up-your-ears method to exhaust. Anyway, the topic of gender issues and bleeding have gotten a rise out of most of the class. Sometimes even moreso than race. Maybe because that is something we all have issues on because instead of an infinite amount of races or ethnicities or cultures...there are only two sexes. And you would think that would make things simpler to understand if there are only two ideas to grasp, yet sometimes figuring out the differences between men and women are even more perplexing than black and white. I definitely don't know all there is to know about women, and even men for that matter! But I don't want anyone to confuse that just because I don't go out of my way to understand everything about the opposite sex doesn't mean I am disgusted or revolted by the idea of gaining that knowledge. I guess for the most part I've just always felt that what goes on in a person's body, whether regular or irregular regards a certain level of modesty and outer respect from others. If a close friend of mine who was a girl felt it was necessary for her to tell me she was having problems due to her period I would try and be as sensitive as possible to her needs. I don't really need to know about the bleeding part because really what good would it do? I mean people don't really enjoy talking about bleeding in general just because it can make some people squeamish or ill. I work a lot with the Red Cross blood drives here on campus and I see blood all the time and it doesn't really bother me that much. But I still see people come in to donate or support their friends and have to look away from the needle stick or the blood bag. It can be an uncomfortable thing for some. I can't say that I would really be equipped to understand something that doesn't happen directly to me. I think that with 3+ billion other women on the planet there is a pretty good support system already. But I would never want to make a friend of mine or girlfriend feel like I didn't care that she was in pain on a regular basis. I have the utmost admiration because their sex is the one that conceives and bares children. I wish I could understand better but really if it is something that is not directly in my face every day it's hard for me to focus and connect to.

Well I wish I could say I'm surprised by this course of action but I'm really not. I don't think this would have happened in a Northern state, but I could be wrong. I'm glad that her family and the ACLU is sticking up for her. Really, I don't understand what the stigmatism is in people's minds about being around gay and lesbian couples. More and more each year there are more media attention to gay rights and gay celebrities and gay movements. I've known several people who are gay and lesbian and they all have different ways of expressing themselves. Some want to be open about it, some are more closed off about it, and some don't hide the fact they are gay but also don't go out of their way to tell people. What does the school board think is so terrible that these girls could be doing that would upset the other students? I mean it is a prom, the night's activities basically involve going out to dinner with friends, showing up all clean and looking nice, having some fun on the dance floor, and maybe a smooch here or there. There might be some post prom activities but the school doesn't need to know about that as long as they advocate making safe choices. So would the other students be that offended if this girl wore a tux and danced with her girlfriend? Maybe they would, I don't know. I've never been in a Mississippi school before so maybe the climate is very anti-gay down there. It just seems unnecessary to me to cancel the entire prom because of one lesbian couple. I want to know what the parents of the other students think about this. Do they approve of canceling this function over such a small thing? If they do, then I think there is a much larger issue at hand and that it needs to be addressed. I can't believe that in the year 2010 someone's sexual orientation in America would preclude them from attending public events. I know that people have views against the practice either moral or religious or political but I have never met someone who would be outraged enough to cancel a dance over it. Can't we all just accept each other for who we are? I mean, I'm not gay so I don't understand the attraction to men because those feelings just don't exist in me. But I can understand that another person might find beauty in a man where I don't because not everyone views the world as I do. If everyone thought the same, life would be pretty boring. I used to be weirded out by gay and lesbian people because I was misinformed about them and what it meant to be gay. Now I feel nothing positive or negative about the issue. If one of my friends told me they were gay, well I might be a little surprised if it was out of the blue...but I wouldn't stop being friends with them and I wouldn't bar them from having dinner or hanging out or doing any activity I'd do otherwise with them.

My reaction to the video is that it seemed a little much to react over considering the the noose and the party. It just seems to me like innocent yet clearly misguided college kids looking to have some fun. What it turned into was a firestorm about race and hurt feelings. The headline on the video was something like "Is UCSD a racist campus?" I mean come on. There may be some substance to this video but to have a meaningless conversation with two minority people about how they feel just seems like the media is trying to escalate the situation into something bigger...that was my impression from just watching the video. After reading the article I was a bit more concerned about the situation. It seems like the University of California is having problems with students instigating racial or hate crimes all over its campuses. I don't know if any of the incidents are related or if they are copy cat crimes or if it's all just poor judgment but I'm really tired of college campuses becoming the battle grounds for racial equality and acceptance. I mean, it's not like the topic shouldn't be acknowledged in college, but why does it always dissolve into an argument? I always sigh when I pass by the HUB or the Allen Street Gates or the Willard building and hear people shouting their heads off about their ideology(do they think people are stopping to listen to what they say? No, they are getting a brief amusement from you making a fool of yourself.) Then, their political or sociological opponents will stand on the opposite side of the street and yell right on back, gaining some support just because they tend to be on the more popular side of the issue...sometimes. But why is it always an argument? I feel bad that people of minority groups feel that the only way to respond is to make an uproar and attract as much attention as possible. My attention and patience for dealing with things that way is very small and I do not feel like making a commotion is the right way to address your feelings. I'd much rather sit down and talk about the way we feel and discuss routes and measures to address what injustices people are feeling on their side of the table. The black students at UCSD have a right to feel their campus climate is being upset, I don’t blame them. I blame the media for in turn making the events look like the campus is on the verge of a racial melt down. Why would ask two people with a biased view to have a discussion and not bring in people who were related to the incident or see how a white person felt about the issue? That video from the school chancellor said she was working to make changes according to guidance from the black student group. It all just seems one-sided to me.