I do think it is racist to believe that you are better than another race. However, I do not think it is racist to see how a population of people of a certain race lives, and acknowledge that you and people of your race live higher quality lives in the United States. It is important to just recognize not EVERYONE of that race lives like that. For example, a race that lives in a third world nation, can also exist here in the United States. Knowing and being aware of how other people are living, and believing that you have the power to make a difference—big or small is great and empowering. I really do not see it as being racist.

Unfortunately, I do not think that we can coexist. Although I wish it could be possible, I do not think it is realistic. I think there are two main reasons why we can never coexist. One, is competition—competition for money, power, resources. The second reason is religion.

Each religion has their own God, and each religion believes their God is the greatest one. Coexistence cannot happen unless people understand other people’s religions. They do not necessarily have to agree with them, but just understand and accept them. So many wars have been fought, and religion in some way or another has been involved. People justify violence and war by saying that God is telling them to fight. I am not saying that religion is the only factor—but it is definitely one of them.

Wow. I cannot believe this at all! First of all, rape is a serious crime. Sexually torturing women for entertainment purposes should, under no circumstances whatsoever, be a video game! Of course this video game would be extremely controversial, and of course it would be pulled of the shelves immediately. How did the video game even get to the point of even making it into stores? Another question I have is what made the creators of this game even think for a second that it would sell and make profit? The fact that this concept for a video game was even a thought in someone’s mind is quite disturbing to me.

In his post, Sam Richards says that people can use video games to release tendencies that they have in real life. This may be true. However, if someone has tendencies in real life of wanting to rape someone, he should seek immediate help from other sources. Raping women in video games is not the answer. Men who want to rape women have a serious mental disorder, and I do not think that video games are a cure for this illness. I think that men who get pleasure out of virtually raping women, will think that they will get even more pleasure out of raping women in real life. I think men like this would want to then it to another level—real life.

Also, this video game caused quite a stir for women activist groups. A main reason for this is because the game is so unbelievably degrading towards women. In addition to raping women, men can also make women’s skirts flail up, along with other things. These “other things” are apparently too graphic for CNN to show on television! This video game, as I see it, really treats women as nothing more than objects.

I was very glad to hear that the video games were taken of the shelves at stores. However, people were still able to find the games on the internet. It is just a shame how anyone in our society could easily access them.

Sam Richards asks the question, “How many of you men reading this would play this game with your male friends and a couple of beers?” Although I am a woman and cannot answer this question, I instantly thought of all of my male friends. I can honestly say that I do not think any of them would. Yes, they are all interested in sex—of course! However, I really think—and hope—they would not get pleasure out of raping women in video games. They would go to pornographic websites, and watch pornographic videos to get pleasure form sex instead. I really hope that there will not be any more games made that involve raping women.

I wish that everyone had the same attitude as the girl in this video clip. Every woman, regardless of outward appearances, should be proud of who they are. Unfortunately, I feel that it is so much easier said than done. As a woman, I try to tell myself to be happy with the way I am. However, I still continue to critique myself daily. I pick up magazines and watch television and cannot help but to compare myself to such “beautiful” women. It is a shame that society makes women, like myself, feel the pressure to be this idea of “perfect”. Everyday I work on trying to just enjoy the body that I have.

I think that most men feel the need to conform to society, like women do. However, the ways they feel they need to conform are different than women. Women feel the pressure to be thin, big chested, etc. Men, on the other hand, feel the pressure to be “built” with big muscles, tall, etc. This is evident at the gym. Usually, the cardio room is filled with women and the weight section is pretty much occupied by men. I think this pressure to look a certain way is definitely due to media, for both sexes. While it is true celebrities come in all shapes and sizes, MOST of the women fit into a size two, and MOST of the men have six-packs.

I consider myself to be a “chocoholic”. I can never turn down chocolate. Therefore, in class, as soon as I ate the first piece of chocolate, I could barely wait to eat the second piece. During the video, I was shocked at what is going on in other parts of the world. It made me very upset that to this day, there are still human beings that have to endure slavery. The way those people are tricked into thinking that they are going to be working a paid job, and then receive no money devastates me. The way they are treated is inhumane—no one should have to live life like that.

After watching the video, I personally did not feel guilty—I was not responsible. I have nothing to do with what is going on in that part of the world. If it was up to me, and I had the power, money and resources, I would end the slavery in a heartbeat.

As much as I love chocolate, I could not eat the second piece RIGHT after seeing the video! The images and information from the video were all so fresh in my mind. Nonetheless, I knew I was not going to give up chocolate. Why? I know that by giving up the kind of chocolate I love—Hersheys, Nestles, etc., would not make a difference in the world. Companies in the United States have already purchased the chocolate made. I knew that after some time passed, I would be able to eat the second piece.

The experience I had in class reminds me of another similar experience that I recently had the other day. As I was walking to the library, I could not help but see those unavoidable, huge signs that showed how animals are treated in order to be made into food for humans. It was very hard to see those disturbing images of animals being beaten, branded, skinned, and killed. I happen to have just purchased a turkey sub at McClanahan’s on my way to the library. I was planning on eating it while studying. I love meat; however, I could not bring myself to eating it after JUST seeing those images. At that moment I even thought about becoming a vegetarian. Then I realized that yes, of course I feel bad for the animals. Nonetheless, giving up meat is not going to prevent the abuse from happening. The meat is going to be sold and bought regardless. I also realized that it would definitely take me some time before I can enjoy meat again—just like how I knew in class that it would take me some time before I can enjoy chocolate again.

Although, I have continued to eat chocolate, the video certainly made an impact on me. It made me see the reality of what goes on in other parts of the world. It made me truly appreciate my life and made me feel very fortunate. I pray that one day the slavery will end.

This is a very thought provoking question. Personally, I think that taking away welfare completely would cause even more problems in our country than we already have now. I think that welfare should only be thought of as a temporary solution. It should only be assistance to help people get through hard times until they are able to stand on their own two feet. If welfare is taken away, the people who really need the assistance will most probably wind up on the streets. Furthermore, in many circumstances, taking away welfare will affect children as well. How can you take welfare away from a mother who is using the money to feed her child and keep a roof over her head.

However, I feel that the system can easily be taken advantage of. If people on welfare are happy or okay with living on welfare, and know that they will keep receiving it, they might not even try to become independent. This raises the question of whether or not taking away welfare will encourage and motivate people more to go out and find a job. However, what happens when a hundred-and-ten percent effort is being made by a person, but that person still cannot land a job. There seems to be no answer! We need to come up with a way to improve the distribution of welfare to weed out those who think of it as “free money”. Getting rid of it completely is not the answer though.

I personally know someone on welfare. For years she has been on and off welfare. I know that she would much rather have a job and work for her money. She is ashamed to be on welfare but knows that the alternative is much, much worse. The thought of taking welfare away from this woman completely, scares me.

With regard to social status, I think that cutting off welfare will definitely increase the amount of people in the country living in poverty. Welfare eliminates a lot of the degrading differences that can be seen by others in society. Welfare allows people who cannot support themselves to somewhat “blend in”; subsequently they are generally accepted by society on a day to day basis. Without welfare, many people in society would be sleeping on the streets, and digging through trash to get food to eat.

Welfare puts people in better situations and allows them to function somewhat normally in society. Despite this, the conditions that people on welfare live in are still not ideal. In order to better the conditions that people on welfare live in, these people need to find jobs. People’s social statuses becomes higher when they are working and receiving higher income.

Of course it makes me mad to know that there are people out there who cheat the welfare system. Nonetheless, I feel better thinking about those who desperately need assistance, and are able to get it from the government.

I never thought of it this way. Is it possible for affirmative action to hurt us? Affirmative action for minimum wage jobs is one thing-- but affirmative action in jobs in the medical field is another thing.
In order to qualify to work in the medical field, a person has to be well educated with years of experience. I feel that affirmative action in schools is what gives people of all races an equal chance to get to that high level of profession. Affirmative action allows more opportunities for people to learn, study, and possibly work their way up to working such important jobs. I really do not think that doctors are given their jobs based on affirmative action, but on qualifications.

Sam Richards did changed the way I look at certain issues. He told so many stories, made so many legitimate arguments, and gave us so many facts that really made me stop and think.
One lecture of Sam Richard’s that particularly stands out in my mind is the LGBT lecture. I left class that day with a whole new perspective on the LGBT community. I never really knew where I stood on the issue, or how I felt about it. Sam Richards made me understand the LGBT community more. He made it so clear as to why no one should discriminate against the LGBT community. I left class that day with my mind made up that I fully accept and respect the LGBT community.

When this video was played in class, I could not believe what I was seeing! At such a young age, children are already aware of the racial stereotypes in society. If this video is not a wake up call, then I do not know what is. Black and brown children should not be thinking that their race is inferior. Nonetheless, there are black and brown children who do think this! They truly believe that white people are superior. Why is this? Why is the young black girl in the video not proud of her race? Why does she prefer to have lighter skin?
There is definitely not just one factor that contributes to this distorted way of thinking. Nonetheless, I notice that white children are given so many “white characters” to admire while growing up. Black children are not given nearly as many “black characters” to admire. I believe that giving black children characters that resemble not only their race, but beauty as well, is something that can be done to help alleviate this terrible situation.
Growing up, I clearly remember how much I loved Barbie. She had the perfect hair, eyes, and body. Of course, I wanted to be everything that she was! She embodied beauty. When I would go to the Barbie aisle to pick out a new Barbie, I remember that there was usually only one or two types of dark skinned Barbie dolls amongst shelves and shelves of white dolls.
Therefore, it is not coincidence that when we googled “beauty” in class, all of the results that came up on the first page were women who resembled Barbie. They were all thin, with straight and shiny blonde hair, and of course, white skin.
Also, I remember growing up and idolizing the Disney characters Belle, Arielle, Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty. Just like Barbie, all of these characters embodied beauty as well. Not only did I consider them all to be beautiful, but it seemed as if everyone else thought they were beautiful as well. They were also ALL white skinned girls. At this time, there was not one black Disney character for young black children to idolize.
However, I have noticed that today, Disney has made an effort to develop characters that represent all of the different races-- not just all white females. For example, Pocahontas is Native American and Mulan is Asian. Very recently, for the first time, Disney created a black Disney princess, Tiana. Tiana starred in the movie “The Princess Frog“. This is wonderful because finally, young black girls can feel proud of their dark skin. They have their own Disney princess to look up. It is just a shame that it took THIS long for Disney to do this. Hopefully this is only the beginning, and there are more Disney characters of different races to come! This will not completely eliminate, but help to solve the serious problem that is clearly affecting children at a very young age. We can overcome this, one step at a time.