China is surfacing as one of the nations super powers and I think teaching the language is a good idea. By teaching Chinese, schools will help people become bilingual to another language, which is going to have major effects on the upcoming economy and the world, but also helps people understand the culture of the Chinese. When I was in high school we had three languages: Spanish, French, and German. Spanish had the most kids taking the classes, while French was second and German third. I saw it interesting how in the New York Times article it talked about how schools were beginning to wane out German. I noticed this in high school as the numbers in German decreased year after year but I thought it was just our school. I think Chinese in today’s society could be much more utilized then German.
I was a French student and enjoyed taking the class and learning the culture. Many people perceive language classes as only learning the language day after day. I would disagree because I learned so much about the French way of life, what they eat, how they talk, the cities and land forms, and more. I think it is such a good idea for other schools to implement Chinese into their curriculums, so that students will not only learn another language but also learn more about a different culture from their own. I was fortunate enough to travel to France with my class for 10 days and it was the best time of my life. I can imagine going to China would be equally as exciting. My high school superintendent was recently over in China because my school is apparently looking into the new language as well. My friend Molly is the daughter of the superintendent and she got to go along on the trip. She said it was a great time and described how awesome the culture was. I am sure many other people would have the same enthusiasm given the chance.
The other thing I found extremely interesting was how the Chinese government is paying teachers to come over to the United States to teach. I know that the school pays something to the teachers who are coming over, but for a government to pay their own people to go across seas just to teach the language is a huge step. I think that China sees that it is evolving to a big power and is willing to compensate their own people to travel to teach about their language and culture. I am very intrigued to see where this all goes over the next several years and if Chinese will overtake French and ultimately Spanish one day in the classroom.

Affirmative action is a subject that really can get me going at times. From the day people were born, nepotism has affected our lives. No matter what a person does in life it is all about whom you know and politics. By being born into a certain family, a person will be helped out or hurt in the long run. Being born into a family of CEO’s and high class people, a person will have a better chance of being well off in life. The process of having advantages begins when a person is still younger and in school. If his/her parents are good friends with a soccer coach or even with a teacher from back in the day; automatically there is a benefit. I dislike how our society is determined around this nepotistic lifestyle, but there is no way to change it. No matter how you look at it, you are determined to do well in life on who you know, who can pull some strings for you, and who is going to go out on a limb to help you out. If someone is getting the benefits of nepotism I know they do not necessarily mind it all. Reversely though, when someone is absolutely qualified for a position, and they do not receive it because, for example, the boss’s son was a shoe-in for the position, this is where I feel it is wrong. Once more, I feel there is no real way to stop this process.
Affirmative action can also be seen in relation to nepotism. This process puts less qualified people in positions that they may not deserve. Now an argument would be that it puts everyone on an even playing field. There are pros and cons with this statement though. I feel that in college selection processes having an even playing field with affirmative action is a good idea. I do not believe affirmative action should be implemented in jobs. I would rather a person who is performing heart surgery be the best of the best, not the second or third best that got in because of affirmative action. The college level is the playing field, you need to do well there first, and after when searching for jobs everyone is equal and the best should be taken. Now if a person, who affirmative action protects, is the most qualified for the job he or she is going to get the job regardless of affirmative action. Where affirmative action hurts our society is when there are not enough people of one race working at a company and the company must hire said race over a more qualified candidate. This hiring of an employee because of affirmative action not because of qualification ultimately hurts the society at a whole. College should be the playing field and everyone should get a fair opportunity to make their mark, but once college is over I feel affirmative action can hold companies back from being the best they can be.

This is a very interesting subject and is a big eye opening article. I think that it is ridiculous that people are getting so worked up over the racial questions on the census. We are spending over 11 billion dollars to make the census. I agree with Sam, in that, I am sure there was plenty of thought from the committee that made the form which goes out to everyone in the United States. Now the main concern about the census which is getting people upset is the word Negro. Negro has been recently brought back on the census. I have never grown up using this word nor do I know anyone who has but further looking into the word I found that it refers to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether African decent or not. The word Negro means black in Spanish and Portuguese. Nowhere in the definition does the word refer to slave. The one lady, in the video, was getting upset and asked “That’s actually on the form?” She also continued to say “when I think of that word I think of slavery.” When researching the word I found that its usage was accepted as normal, even by people classified as Negroes, until the civil rights movement. People could argue against me and say well it is after the civil rights movement so this word should not be used on the census. This is where I would push back and say well the civil rights movement happened in the 50’s and 60’s.
Today, there are many people that are still alive that had been born in the pre-civil rights movement. Now if this was an acceptable term back then, and that is how they were raised up, then a majority of those people would still classify themselves as Negro since it is what they were taught when they were younger. I talk about it a lot in discussion group how my grandparent’s generation is not up to date on the current race situation. It is because they were raised in that same pre-civil rights era and it is what they were taught growing up. I know not many people born after 1950 would classify themselves as Negro, however the elder generation of black people most likely still refer to themselves as that. The other thing about this topic is, is that it is one box to check on the form. It says Black, African American, “OR” Negro. Nowhere does it say “and” or anything like that. It is one box to check and it all depends how a person would classify him or herself. If a person who classifies themselves as black checks that box, it doesn’t mean they are Negro, it is just a different term some people refer to themselves as and should not be so scrutinized by other people.

I found the end of class, on this past Tuesday’s lecture, quite interesting. This idea was not on a topic of race relations or anything really pertaining to race but on an example that turned into quite a fiasco. Thinking back on what we were talking about on Tuesday, Sam was trying to make an analogy of how whites will never know how it feels to be a person of color. I think we were talking about this analogy before this big discussion started. Sam made a connection to how men will never know how it feels going through bleeding (aka having a period). Now I thought this was fine and was a good parallel to what we were talking about, but what I found extremely interesting was how he started bringing in his personal life into the discussion. I do not think many people have a problem with talking about bleeding, although I feel Sam could have used a better word or words to describe it. I think people got upset when he started talking about his wife’s menstrual cycle. He said something about how his wife’s menstrual cycle is real heavy and it comes every like 26 or so days. Around this time people started to get worked up.
I do not think it has anything to do with the natural body process, but rather that he told 700 some kids how his wife menstruates. I do not need to be sitting in a class having images of what he is describing in front of the class. On top of having him telling stories of how she yells in the bathroom and how he knows it is that time of the month. I do not know many girls that would want 700 plus students knowing all this detail about their private life. It may be different saying “my wife is having her period now” but when getting into detail about how it happens I think is crossing the line. I think the most outrageous thing Sam said in the class was how when she is done in the bathroom he asks her not to flush it down the toilet so he can go look at it. He called this a beautiful sight to see in the toilet. I do not know what is beautiful looking about blood in a toilet. Now the process of bleeding and the menstrual cycle is a beautiful thing I would agree. This is how life is created and that is a beautiful gift. If he intended to mean this I would agree, but I would find looking at blood in a toilet not the most attractive picture. All in all I do not believe people got upset over the topic of a menstrual cycle. Rather I think when Sam started bringing in his wife that crossed the line and put pictures in to people’s minds that would have been better elsewhere. I agree with the girl asking the question. Having a menstrual cycle is an amazing aspect of life because it means being able to give birth, but I do not think people want to envision Sam peeking in the toilet and admiring his wife’s blood.

Class on Tuesday was a very eye opening experience. I have always thought, to myself, that this issue was a problem, but Tuesday in class I saw it while it was on the “race table.” I feel like this has been an ongoing issue for years and will continue in the future. Since the majority of people are white, I feel like they are more scrutinized for what they are saying. While sitting in class today and soaking in everything as it happened, it was very interesting as to people’s reactions. When Sam asked the white people in the class to answer the question of “what it means to be white” I thought it was a fair question. Though many people answered the question with a “nothing” or “it is just a color,” one immature student said something along the lines of “ignorant and obnoxious black girls in the hub.” Now this statement was completely uncalled for and something that should not of happened through this new technology of texting the screen to get direct feedback from the class. Watching the reaction of not only the black people but also some white people was particularly interesting. Everyone knew what this anonymous person wrote was wrong and it is something this person would most likely not say out loud. As people gasped and everyone made a huge deal over this text, I thought about what had happened. Thinking about this text, I saw the race card at work. This text is considered “racist.” Now in no way am I agreeing with what this person wrote, but I do feel what white people say is questioned more than what black people say.
Now on the other side of the table, black and brown people were asked the same question. The same thing happened as in the white people case. Some people took the question seriously and some made jokes. Now I would not consider what the black and brown people said as bad as what the white person texted but none the less, there were texts saying demoralizing things about white people. Saying “whites suck at sports and are benchwarmers” is not a flattering thing to say. Now as people read these replies many shrugged it off and laughed. Is this an act of racism? By definition I would say it is, but in today’s society there is no such racism against whites. Brown and black people are quick to jump all over whites anytime they say something remotely close to racist, but whites do not jump all over black and brown people ever. I feel like this dates back to the time of slavery and has been upon us ever since. Black and brown people for as long as they are in the minority will always be quick to jump all over white people. Even whites will get on the case of other whites when something bad is said about black and brown people. We all know it is wrong because of what brown and black people had to go through. With this said, I feel like this racist bias will always be this way as long as whites are the majority. There should be equal accountability but there is not. A white person will always be analyzed for any comment he or she says about a black or brown person but in the reverse case I feel as if black and brown people can say what they want and no one can say anything back because this would be considered “racist”.

It is very interesting to hear this girl’s point of view. Looking back to when I was growing up, I had the same perspectives as the children mentioned. We watched movies and made hats out of construction paper with feathers on the back to look like “Indians.” Growing up as a boy scout and later becoming an eagle scout there was much emphasis put on Native Americans. On numerous occasions Native American topics are talked about and the order of the arrow is all about brotherhood under a certain tribe. Even with all this focus on them, not even in scouts do people focus enough on the genocide or the Native American aspect. There is a merit badge called Indian lore which all scouts must take with the requirements to give the history of one Indian tribe, make replica clothing of a certain Indian tribe, and much more. Nowhere does it say anything about Native Americans and after listening to this question it sparked my attention.
Even America sports team’s names have names like the Cleveland Indians or Washington Redskins. When in reality, it would be politically correct to use the name Cleveland Native Americans instead. I agree to an extent with the question at hand. I feel that many people need to be educated about this genocide of innocent Native Americans who owned the land. Now, I do not think 3 and 4 year olds should be taught directly about this mass killing at such a young of an age. Rather, teachers should begin calling them Native Americans instead of Indians. Young students would then have more of an idea about this culture as they become older. As students move up in grade levels, I think they should gain more knowledge on the terrible things that our ancestors did to the native people. I do not feel like this is our generations fault nor we should be blamed for what former Americans did so many years ago, but I think we need to respect the Native American culture. The fact of the matter is this is their land. Looking at the Dave Matthews song “Don’t Drink the Water”, I had no idea of the underlying message behind the song. Being an avid Dave fan and enjoying this song, I was unaware of what he was trying to get across. Dave sings about how we (as colonists) came in and killed Native Americans for the land and how their blood is in the water. The song’s message has a strong significance and I think people need to be more aware of this significance at a younger age. By starting with introducing young children to Native Americans instead of Indian and then all the way up to the full on message of what happened to these extraordinary people. In conclusion, I agree that in growing up we are raised learning information about Indians and our educational focus should be altered, but at the same time I challenge society to step back and realize that this is not our land. By educating correctly we may not be able to fix what happened but we can show respect by teaching their culture accurately.

In today’s society LGBT awareness and acceptance has gone significantly up in the past decade. In past years many LGBT people would walk down the street together and be discriminated against and I don’t think this is a huge issue anymore. I do feel that lesbians are more socially acceptable then gay males however. First things first, women are extremely affectionate just in general. Two girls could be walking down the street holding hands and I would think nothing of it. This doesn’t mean that they are automatically lesbians. Many girls are very close with one another and walk and hold hands or have their arms wrapped around each other and this is an everyday occurrence. Now the counter argument would be that if you see two guys walking down the street, you can with pretty good certainty say that they are gay. Non gay men do not just walk next to a close friend and grab the guy next to his hand. This is all about masculinity.
Men are always trying to be as macho as possible and are not going to put themselves into that situation unless they are gay. Women on the other hand could do this at anytime and I wouldn’t think twice about it. Sam had many statistics on the board during class and many of them were shocking, especially the stat between gay men and lesbians. Many more women have tried and experimented sexual acts with other women then opposed to men with men. Yet when looking at actual gay males to gay females, the numbers are reversed. The percent of females was around 4% where men was up around 8 or 9%. Since more people in society have been exposed to and see more “lesbian acts” many more people are open to it. You can go to a party and everyone in the party would be cheering for two girls to make out. This doesn’t mean these girls are lesbians it just means that guys like to see girls making out with other girls. Now you would never go into a party where everyone would be yelling for two guys to make out. That just doesn’t happen. Guys are also very vocal and want to see girls together. Girls on the other hand aren’t really all about guy on guy action. They might be, but they aren’t announcing how much they want to see it where guys are screaming it. I feel that in today’s society that lesbians are much more accepted then gay males. When I say that I mean that even though not every girl holding hands with every girl is a lesbian, I’m saying that many people are more accustomed to seeing that and in turn are more accepting of lesbians.

I know one thing after reading this article; Andre Bauer is going to have a rough time in his upcoming election come November. He lost a lot of voter’s not only from the poor working class but also the upper-class who have hearts. Welfare is defined as government aid intended to help those with little to no income, including the working poor. Welfare is aimed primarily at families with children, older individuals, and those who are disabled and can come in numerous fashions; such as cash assistance, food stamps, and Medicaid.
Now welfare is a topic that many people have concerns with. Giving money out to people who do not earn it could give off the option to just stay on welfare because they’re getting money for free. On the other hand, there are people out in this world who work extremely hard and fight to just get by, who have numerous children and have a disability in the family. I feel welfare is needed for a few reasons. First, welfare goes to many families that are in dire need of money just to live with their families. Bauer is wrong when he relates to these people as animals. Though, he does have a valid point when he says that he feels welfare recipients should be required to submit to drug tests and attend parent-teacher conferences if they have kids in school. I also don’t know what the qualifications for welfare are but I think people on welfare should either have a job or be applying for jobs and not just living on the welfare checks.
This all comes back to what Sam was talking about in class on Tuesday. We all know Bauer was wrong for calling welfare recipients animals, but sadly if you are born into welfare or below poverty level family it will be extremely difficult for you to move up vastly in the socio-economic scale when you become older. This lack of movement is partially because your family may not have enough money for you to get a good education. The parents of welfare children may not have much of an education either. Starting on welfare should not deter someone away from trying to succeed. Life can be what a person makes of it and when the going gets tough you have to fight harder. One of my favorite quotes of all time is, “Life is like a toll road, the more you put in, the further you will go.” If you want something go out and fight until you achieve it. Rather than calling people on welfare animals, communities need to support one another and help people reach their goals. I feel strongly that our future in this world is now and we need to start building up today’s youth. Everyone should worry more about helping welfare stricken people with getting a good education and a strong caring from home. This help includes starting with the welfare families pushing their children, inspiring them, and making them set goals.

I at first missed the “Avatar” train while everyone around me was so ecstatic about it. I had very little knowledge about what the movie was about or who was in it. Even when a few of my friends and I decided to go see the movie, I was still unaware of what to expect. After coming out of the movie however my thoughts had changed drastically about it. We went to see the movie in 3-D which was an eye opening experience. The only thing I could say while leaving the movie was “incredible.” However, my other friends, who are huge critics of everything, had opposing opinions. “I could have watched it on mute and enjoyed it more than I did with the sound” and “It looked sweet but that was about it” is what I heard on the car ride home. Even with our differing opinions of the movie, we all could agree on one thing, the movie was revolutionary. It visually changed the look of cinema and will be looked back upon for years as a movie that took films to a new level. However, my opinion toward the “white messiah” nonsense that Brooks is writing about, I can agree as well as disagree with.
I will give it to Brooks that “Avatar,” a movie about a white guy coming into another culture and leading a crusade against his own race, is presenting the American culture terribly wrong. You can not disagree that this portrayal is what happens in the film. I have heard many people compare this movie to a remake of Pocahontas. Growing up seeing Pocahontas and Fern Gully, I thought these movies were about humanity and trying to save the environment. When viewing the films I never thought about the “White Messiah,” but after reading Brooks’s article it definitely makes one think and contemplate what he has to say. It appears as if he is right in saying that films seem to reprocess the thought of using a white man leading revolts against his own race.
Nonetheless I would not look at this thought as a “white messiah.” Rather, I see it is a group destroying something of nature for money and greed. I envision it as an environmental or social movement over a white savior. The world may know that it is doing wrong but wealth gets the better of people and they push on. These movies are all tales of a man from the destroying race that goes and learns about the native people and sees what they are doing. He then decides that they should not have to be wiped out for money. I would now ask Brooks a question, “who is trying to destroy the population of the natives?” The answer would mainly be the white race. So, ultimately, it would make sense that a white man is going to go save the culture rather than a Black or Asian man? If it were a predominantly black group that was coming to attack the natives would a black messiah be coined? I feel like it makes more sense that the beginning attacker would later realize he is wrong and proceed to save the target race rather than someone outside the plot line. In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed the motion picture, “White Messiah,” thoughts or not, I feel like it will be one of the most revolutionary movies of the next 20 years.

In this day and age one word could describe air travel. This word would be precautionary. Ever since the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 our nation and countries across the globe have escalated security on airplanes and in airports. This event devastated our land and will be looked back upon for centuries to come as one of the worst days in America’s history. Although the success of another attempted attack is unlikely, the thought of possible devastation is always in the back of people’s minds. Recently, the failed underwear bomb that was attempted has resurfaced these thoughts and did not help the situation. Security in airports and airplanes has risen so much as to not allowing passenger’s access to their carry-on luggage an hour before the flight lands.
I myself did not know what a teffilin was the first time I read the post. I was confused on what had happened until further reading of the full article. I agree that the airline assistant did overreact to the situation because the boy was only trying to pray and carry out his daily rituals. After reading the article I see nothing wrong with what the young man was doing on the plane. If I was put into this scenario, and had no knowledge of this ritual, I too, would think it was suspicious behavior. In my opinion, the airplane assistant should have checked into the situation before throwing up the red flags and calling in the entire department of defense. What I understood from the article is she approached the man and asked “what are you doing” and he responded with “praying”. She should have furthered the conversation into asking about the bands on his arms. Most likely, the boy would have answered in detail about what he was doing causing less commotion. Our country is built around sticking to the “code.” This code is following and maintaining strict guideline procedures when the thought of possible danger arises. The airline attendant saw something suspicious, and took the situation further than needed before prying for more information. Though when putting myself in her place and being put into a quick unusual circumstance, I may have gotten suspicious and acted quickly as well. The airline stuck to the code, landed the flight quickly and checked everything out.
I do not see this emergency landing and inspection as an act of racism. However, what I do notice is a protective airplane stewardess and a vast culture gap. Simply understanding and inquiring on what these prayer materials were would have saved everyone a lot of grief. The culture gap that exists in today’s society is why I think the Jewish people that were interviewed were laid-back about the topic. Americans are blinded by our own culture and do not take the initiative to find out about other cultures and rituals that happen throughout the world. The people that practice using teffilin understand this. Americans need to broaden their horizons and not jump to conclusions right away. Just because a few people out of a whole race did something seriously upsetting, by hijacking a plane, does not mean that every person, that practices their same culture or other unfamiliar cultures, are terrible and intending harm. This unanticipated event was based off a young man trying to pray and practice ritual. He, as well as others, had to go through an entire ordeal because of a lack of cultural and religious awareness. Instead of dwelling on possible situations, people of all cultures, races, and religion need to familiarize themselves on communities foreign to their own lives.