This is a really good question cause I haven't really thought about it. I don't think Sam has really changed my views on any of these issues but he has definitely opened my eyes. Before this class I probably wouldn't have been able to tell you the difference between race and ethnicity or I wouldn't have known how many slaves there are in the world. I understood that people of the white race tend to be favored but I had no idea how much. It was really eye opening to actually see the numbers and statistics in front of me.

That's pretty funny and it would be awesome if it worked like that but unfortunately it doesn't. Even though you aren't buying the clothes the clothes are still being made in those sweatshops. Someone out there will buy it. The only way to actually stop the slavery and sweatshops it to get to the root of the problem and stop it. With things like fair trade brands and petitions to stop companies from purchasing materials made in these sweatshops we can help get rid of the problem. This is also kind of like the chocolate thing because if didn't eat the second piece of chocolate you'd be wasting what they slaved over. It would be rude to not eat their hard work after knowing what they went through to bring that piece of chocolate to your desk. If you bought a shirt and then found out it was made by slaves and you threw it out you would be throwing away what they suffered for. I think this is a funny way to help out the cause, unfortunately, it really won't do any good.

I would feel guilty if I hadn't eaten it. It was sitting there in front of me after I just saw how much pain and suffering went into getting that piece of chocolate into my hand. Why would I waste that second piece of chocolate? He worked so hard for nothing and I wouldn't want to see all of his painful work be thrown away. He was enslaved in order to produce those cocoa beans and if they are already in your possession without you knowing how they came to be, you should feel bad not finishing what this boy produced. If you had known before hand what you were eating and then decided to still buy and eat it, then I would feel guilty for knowingly eating his "flesh". After I watched that video it did make me not want to eat the chocolate because the thought of eating something that boy slaved over sickened me, but it sickened me more to think that all of his hard work was just thrown away. That video really did get to me though and I don't want to buy anymore chocolate unless its fair trade, I don't really eat much anyway but I definitely will be on the lookout for fair trade chocolate. I hope that a lot more people in class felt the same way I did after watching that video.

It is too difficult to try to group people into categories anymore. I understand the benefit of having a census and having people define themselves. But it is almost useless to try and fit everyone into a category. There are too many racial lines that have been blurred. So many people these days identify with more than one race. People should not be seen as a color it is too difficult to define. Remember when Sam pulled like twenty people down in class and had someone else try to group them into hispanics, latino etc.? More than half were wrong, we saw people from all over the world and they were all grouped into a title. If you are from Colombia you shouldn't have to classify yourself as hispanic or latino. What if they would just want to be considered Colombian? I have Italian, Irish, German, Austrian, and Polish in me but I am white. It is unfair to have to classify people by their skin color.

This is kind of a weird idea to think about. I've never really felt threatened by the fact that I might eventually be a minority. Just thinking about it now I had two thoughts. First, I just pictured going to Penn State and then instead of having mostly white people it will be mostly black and brown, and even asian. Although I'm assuming the minorities that will surpass white is probably black or brown. It seems odd to think that most people walking down the street would be black, but not in a bad way. It would just be different because I am used to seeing a majority of white people. I can't imagine going to my hometown and seeing just as many black and brown people as white people. But then I had my second thought: my hometown is like 92% white and it probably won't be changing too much. I am from a rural town and it's surrounded by farm lands, it's a typical while suburban area.
It will be kind of cool to see how my area changes, and even Penn State. It would be weird to see myself as the minority in school or just in general. I haven't ever really been in that kind of situation. Even though we will technically be the minority, I still see the white race having the privileges. Like we saw earlier this year, white people have a higher income than all of the other races. That probably won't be changing even though we will be a minority. It might be easier for black and brown people to get a job but as Sam said, white people get their money and build a business or what have you and then pass it down to their kids so their kids are already in a privileged position. White people tend to start their lives already ahead, even though we will be a minority that probably won't change. It might mean that more black and brown people will be starting off their lives in a better spot though. I am also curious to see how the prison system will change too. If white is going to become a minority and there will be more black and brown people does that mean that prisons will contain nearly all black and brown people. As we learned more black and brown people get convicted than do white, with less white people to convict and more black and brown, does that mean that even more black and brown people will be convicted? Overall, it is kind of exciting to see what changes will occur in the future. I hope that as whites become a minority the racism will completely fade away.

I remember reading a section on perezhilton.com (yes the gossip site) about how it was offensive to still have the term negroes on the census application. This was before Sam explained to me why it was actually on there, but I remember reading it and thinking there has to be a reason that word is on there. It couldn't have just slipped by the system. The census people can't all be racist. I assumed that it was because they were just trying to include as many different ways that one would identify themselves. Then Sam explained to us that negroes is on there simply because that's how people still identify themselves. It isn't a mistake, older people still identify with that term. It does seem like we are trying to be so politically correct that were actually doing the opposite. It's a catch 22, most people see negro on the census and are appalled that in this day and age it can appear on a government document, while on the other hand that is still how people define themselves and if you didn't put it on there they wouldn't check a box. Society will never be able to be politically correct to everyone.

It's ridiculous to say these theme parties are racist. Where did she even get that idea? The theme parties that people throw around here are CEOs and corporate hos, anything but clothes, tennis hos and golf pros, toga things like that. The only racist theme party I can think of would be Jersey Shore. It's almost not fair to call that a racist theme though because it's based off of a tv show which is based on a culture, not a race. It doesn't seem like anyone else who is commenting thinks that these theme parties are racist either. The basis for these parties isn't usually to make fun of any certain kind of group. Normally, these parties are thrown so that all the girls wear as little clothing as possible. I can't think of one party that would be racist toward black people.
It is really narrow minded of her to say that all these theme parties are for white people. It may seem like that around Penn State because a majority of Penn State is white. But that doesn't mean that there aren't black people at these theme parties. She is talking about being racist but I think she's being a little racist herself for assuming that these theme parties are racist and thrown by white people.
Of course these parties are considered stereotyping, that's the point of the party. You are supposed to dress how a stereotypical tennis or golf pro would. It's fun to dress up and that is the point of the party, it's not to poke fun at people who play tennis. I've never heard of a tennis or golf player being offended that girls are dressing up in little pleated skirts and visors. It's not offensive, it's just a theme. Theme parties are supposed to be fun, there supposed to change things up from the average party. It's all about the fun.
I think if anyone were to throw a racist party they'd probably get beat up anyway. If you were to throw a blacks in ghetto party and told your friends to dress up as a crackhead how many people do you think would actually come? I would probably think it was a joke. There's no way anyone I know would actually take it seriously and dress up and attend something like that. There aren't racist parties like that because that would be racist. If people are going to be racist they probably aren't going to throw a party to celebrate their hate.
I think this girl needs to get a little perspective, she just needs to go to a few theme parties and experience the lack of racism for herself.

I think a black person would be more inclined to hire another black person. It is not because they are racist, and I think half the time it's not because white people are racist either. People tend to stick to with their comfort zone. Think about most everything in life, what pizza place do you order from? It's because you're comfortable with it, you could try dominos over pizza hut but you don't because dominos is average to you. It's what you eat all the time. It's not that pizza hut is bad pizza but you just stick with dominos. Another example is in groups in classes. You tend to pair up with a person of the same sex, not always but probably most of the time you look to the nearest girl (or boy). It's not because were being discriminatory against boys (or girls), were just more comfortable. And it gets confusing because people will read this post and say well I have a ton of white friends or a ton of black friends and I always look for a guy to pair up with and yes that might all be true but I think our general instinct is to go toward what we know.
I would be curious to see what the statistics are for black people hiring employees. It could either make or break my assumptions. While there is still a ton of racism in the workplace, I think we are over-analyzing what racism really looks like. Those statistics may be true but it is unfair to call that racism. It's merely sociology at work. I think racism is the wrong word to use in a situation like this. It is just unfair, not racism.

It doesn't matter. Everyone on this Earth has the capability to love and care for another human being. It makes no difference in gender. I would assume most people would say women are probably the better choice for same sex parents but I would disagree. I have learned just as much from my father as I've learned from my mother. I've definitely learned completely different things from my mother and father but that doesn't mean that can't happen with same sex parents. They're two different people. And what about families with divorced parents. Some kids only have one parent. There are all different kinds of families out there and I think it's wrong to say that one type of parent is better than another. It isn't about who raises the kids it's about how their raised. And since same sex couples can't make their own baby (without help), they have to make the decision to adopt or artificial insemination, it can't just happen. They prepare themselves for the "burden" of a child, they planned to raise him so they are already in a better position than probably half of the parents in this country. Basically, I don't think it matters if a male or female couple raise a family, both will turn out normal kids if they love him.

This is exactly why we need to make gay marriage legal. It is outrageous that something like this can happen in this "free" nation. We are all taught that anything is possible in America, we can be who we want to be. As long as we aren't gay, that is. It's completely unfair that we are such a diverse country but we still can't accept this concept that two people can fall in love and they happen to be of the same sex. I understand that this case is probably extremely rare, but that doesn't change the fact that things like this shouldn't happen. Our country shouldn't be able to tell us who to love or marry. It's completely absurd that our government has the power to not let people get married and hasn't changed! They can make the decision to drop an atomic bomb but it's still up in the air whether two people in love should get married? How does that even make sense. We live in a world where anything is possible these days. Except gay marriage.
It may seem unnatural to have two dads or two moms, but not to the kids growing up in that family. Who are we to say that's wrong, that's their family. We have dogs and cats and treat them as family, yet we don't judge those people. We judge a family with two moms because it's not normal, but what's normal really? A lot of kids grow up with only one parent most of the time because of divorces, we don't judge them either. Families are all different these days. It doesn't matter what the average family is, it just matters that your family loves you.
People need to relax and stop resisting the change. It's going to happen eventually why delay it? I don't understand the protesters and antigays. They're people! Who cares what they do with their private life it doesn't concern you. Let people be who they want to be. There is always going to be tension about gay people but people just need to open their eyes and mind. I'm sure a lot of the gay haters know a gay person and might not even know it. For example, one of my friends is against gay marriage and is generally against gay people, but she watches Ellen all the time and loves her. How can you say that her being gay is wrong? It makes her who she is and why so many people love her. It seems a bit hypocritical to me.
In general, people need to relax, grow up and learn some tolerance.