I think everything that is happening now at Penn State, and has occurred with this scandal would be very different if Jerry Sandusky were a man of color, or Latino. Before this scandal occurred Sandusky was viewed as an all-American white male, who was a great football coach, a caring and trustworthy person, and someone who so many people would look up to. With the way that things and people are in America I believe it would make a huge difference if Sandusky were black, or Latino. No matter how hard people try to make themselves believe that they are not racist, the majority of white Americans are a little bit racist due to stereotypes that exist in our society. It is a sad reality but if Sandusky were black or Latino, it would not have come to such a surprise to society that these allegations against him about the shocking sexual abuse he did to young boys. People never would have thought that a perfectly white normal Penn State football coach that so many team members, children, and parents looked up to could ever commit such a crime. In class we talked about at thing called “white power”. Not only do white people feel superior to other races they are also treated differently. “White power” has become something that is instinctive rather than having to even think about it. The majority of white people grew up in a society that embraced stereotypes, and sometimes took them seriously. It is not white Americans faults for believing these stereotypes that society has created for us, because without thinking if you were to be asked a question of who in history has committed more sexual crimes, almost everyone would say a black male, a person of color, or a Latino, over a white person. People may argue that black Americans have created these stereotypes on themselves by acting obnoxious and getting into trouble, but if people were to carefully look into the facts, white Americans cause just as much problems as any other race, but they are not stereotyped or believed to in American society. I believe this scandal would have been completely different if Sandusky were a man of color or Latino, not because people of those races commit more sexual crimes than any other race but because in history he may not have been such a model for so many to look up to because as sad as it is to believe many people still in this day are very racist. I still believe regardless of any race, class, sexuality, gender, this crime that Sandusky has allegedly committed is beyond unethical, and absolutely disturbing, and he should pay full penalty for the actions he has done upon these victims.

First off let me say this, people who do not go to Penn State or are not associated with Penn State should not have much to say on what is going on right now. Obviously, every person is going to have his or her own opinion, and people are familiar with sexual abuse cases because they unfortunately happens everywhere, but when it comes to OUR administration, OUR football coach, and OUR emotions, outsiders do not really have an idea of what we are going through. I am absolutely SICK of going on facebook and seeing outsiders post things such as “how could you care so much about football and not the children who were abused” or “if you care more about Joe Paterno leaving than the sexual abuse, then you are retarded”. Let me just say that unless you are attending Penn State main campus or have been getting your information directly from someone on this campus, then you are most likely getting all of your information from the media, who suck at this moment. I refused an interview with a television station today because of what they are making this all out to be. Obviously, there were students who rioted and that is their fault that we are looked down on because of that, but when it comes to other things, the media has it all screwed up. Where is Curly? Where is Shultz? Where is McQueary? WHERE IS SANDUSKY? The media is focusing on all the bad things that our president and beloved football coach have done wrong and the university had to let them go so quickly to save face.
All that being said, I am certainly not saying that JoePa should have been given a pass or that we as a student body have done nothing wrong. But people need to understand that just because I attend Penn State does not mean that I have anything to do with a sexual abuse case that began when I was in elementary school. People need to understand that we are more than a football team and more than a piece of shit former football coach. We are SO many more things that than. Look at THON. THON raised $9.56 million dollars for kids with cancer last year. Hey, media, why don’t you come back in February and maybe show a little bit of THON footage instead of repeatedly showing idiots flipping a news van? Or how about show more than a 10 second clip of a vigil for the victims that had an attendance of over 10,000 people? The media has it so wrong and it is causing others to look at us in such a bad light. I have heard rumors of companies cancelling internships with Penn Staters in the spring because of everything that is going on, and to me that is absolutely sickening. It is sickening that the actions of one disgusting human being could have such a negative effect on 40,000+ students. People need to realize that although we attend this university, we did not commit the crime.
It makes me very sad that people are looking down upon us, especially since we used to be held up on the highest pedestal, but it will never, EVER stop me from being proud. I always have and always will love Penn State.

To say that Americans are not willing to do the hard labor Mexicans are willing to be put in is generalizing entire nations. It is not that Americans are not willing to work fields, it is the fact that many Americans have more opportunities and are financially secure enough they do not have to put in the effort of such tough labor. Immigrants who cross the border for work do not have many options. They need to start making money fast to help provide for family that is still back at his or her homeland waiting for aid. It just so happens that the states that closest border the Mexican/ US border have an economy that is more geared towards agriculture, thus more jobs in the field. Now after seeing the video in class we can see how hurt the agriculture has been affected since Alabama passed a new law to try and eliminate illegal immigrants. Under the law identification would be required much more often, and so in order to avoid jail many illegal workers are fleeing. Instead of helping out jobless Americans though, Alabama is instead slowly watching their crops die since they do not have the manpower to attend to all of them. Americans still have enough options that it is no wonder that many of them are quitting after a day or two working ten plus ours in the heat hunched over. Others simply have too much pride to accept such a low level job in the first place. If we searched across all of America however, there is not doubt in my mind we would find plenty of individuals willing to work the fields. There is still plenty of poverty in America and plenty of citizens who would be willing to work, but it is unrealistic to expect Americans to migrate across the country for a job as such. Mexicans are willing to do the migration because their circumstances back home are not only poverty, but many South American countries are becoming increasingly dangerous to reside in. Lastly, to touch back on the pride issue a little more. I think another factor is what Sam had touched on in class. Since they are new to this land many of the illegal workers do not feel entitlement. They understand that they have to start at the bottom and hope to work their way up. That is why this country has managed to thrive. New immigrants come in waves and during those waves innovations are made, the economy is boosted, and we continue to grow.

Immigration has become a huge issue in our country due to the fact that we are connected to South America and that we are currently in an economic recession. Although it seems as if immigration is some new trend, its not. As discussed in class, immigration has been going on for years. Immigration is the bases of America. We have seen in recent years though the debate over the language spoken in our country. The dominant language in our country is obviously English. Many Americans believe that English should be our national language. This leads to the debate over whether immigrants should have to speak English or not. To start out I just want to say, honestly, how can you say someone HAS to speak English? There is no way to force someone to speak a language. Yeah maybe if someone working at a restaurant or a store can’t understand the customer then they could ask them to leave but that’s not making them speak the language. It will just make life really difficult for that immigrant. People think that if we make English the national language of the United States then some how that indirectly forces everyone to speak English. But it doesn’t. It doesn’t really change anything. Right now I feel as if people don’t give immigrants enough credit. Obviously they are going to have to learn some English, like just enough to get by. Or their children will have to and be used as a translator. Either way someone is going to have to learn the language. But as Americans I don’t think we understand how hard it is to just pick up a language. If we just up and moved to a different country you would have to learn the language. But the fact that you “crossed the border” doesn’t automatically mean you speak the language, which is what I think a lot of Americans expect out of immigrants right off the bat. It would take sometime and a lot of trying. I think many immigrants to the United States are trying and honestly I think that’s good enough. They need to try the language and work at it or else life will just suck for them. I don’t think any of them come here thinking they don’t have to even try the language. If they did they would be in for a wake up call. This is like what Sam was saying about none of them demanding signs in Spanish. Places just put those signs up because it’s economically beneficial. In conclusion I do not think that immigrants HAVE to speak English. The government can’t force anyone to speak a language unless it involves arresting or fining people for speaking a language in public, which would spark a whole new debate about rights. I think that immigrants should try their hardest to speak English because it will just make life easier for them and us who only know English.

I think that the fact that white people will be the minority is a fact that many people don’t like to talk about. It is something that is taboo and I think it will create many interesting situations for us as a country as we go forward. One of those situations is the issue of affirmative action. Would we stop giving preferential treatment to the people we label as minorities today and then start giving it to white people? That would mean that white people would be able to obtain loans easier and get into college easier, just to name a couple of things. This could create a lot of debate because the majority of college students would most likely be white, but they would be the ones that would receive special treatment, I believe this would cause major problems in the academic world as well as our society as a whole. Another thing to think about is the business world. Many products would have too be geared to black or brown people more because there would be more of them than white people. Additionally, the entertainment industry would have more black and brown actors so that people could relate to them better. The idea that people will strive to be “white” could change because as the current minority, mainstream culture may shift to them and make them more proud of who they are. This could change a lot because than the perception of status, wealth, and other areas could totally be altered. Overall, I think that some people that everything will stay the same but I do not think that is true at all. Many of the things we encounter today have to do with whether we are the minority or majority, whether people realize it or not. I think it will be interesting if these points that I have made end up happening, and if so how we combat these issues as a society to overall make this country work well. As we look towards the future I think hardcore conservatives are going to have to change their viewpoints or they are going to butt heads with this new minority. Not in all cases but the people we currently know as the minority are predominantly democratic. We saw this in the last election. This shows how politics can be involved in these issue as well. If they do not change they will corner themselves and lose a lot of supporters. If they want to win any elections in this scenario they are going to have to be willing to compromise or move their viewpoints toward the middle. Lastly, I think that they will not change and democrats will have a stronghold in politics but we will have to see as we look towards the future.

As for stage one, sometimes I do not even think of race unless it is drawn to my attention. I barely ever think about it if not in certain situations. For example, if I am walking down the street and I pass a black female I don’t think to myself “Oh I am white, she is black.” But, on the contrary, in my discussion class when race is focused on, I see and think of the physical differences. So I guess in situations such as these, where racial differences are brought to my attention, I am in stage two. When prompted, I begin to see myself as white and others as black, Asian, Hispanic, etc. I think about my life and how it may differ from theirs just because of physical features and something we like to call skin color. I don’t normally think in negative ways, but I do realize the differences that I guess are created by society. Sometimes, I can see myself in stage three. If I see someone getting discriminated against or hear a negative thought spoken about someone just because of race I tend to get defensive. For example, sometimes my Grandma will make negative comments about the Hispanics in her small Connecticut town. I often find myself correcting her. I have a grasp on white privilege, racism, and racial inequality although at times I do not completely understand. Although, I can also see myself in stage four at times. I believe that I am not racist. And it makes me angry when the heinous actions of SOME whites are generalized to the whole white population. So if one white racially discriminates against someone, then in means all white people are racist, right? WRONG. I think this pinpoints the biggest problem in our society today: over-generalization. Over-generalization of the actions of few members of minorities and majorities that taint their entire race. It amazed me learning that most employers tend to hire a white guy with a criminal record and not a black guy without one. I’m sorry but how is that even a question. I wouldn’t care what race they were at all, if they had a criminal record it would be a no-go for me. Such examples like that, in which one is looking for a job but won’t get hired because of their race, are just despicable. I have no idea how the black people in the class felt after learning those statistics, but I think they were probably aware of this kind of racism prior to the class. I try my best to follow my thoughts and beliefs as well as to absorb the thoughts and beliefs of others so that I may change or improve upon my own. If I find myself in a situation I draw upon past experiences as well as follow what my gut tells me.

Girls realize the more skin they show, or the less they wear, the more attention they receive form men, especially horny, drunk fraternity men. For example if there are two identically attractive girls at a party, the first wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, and the second wearing a black skirt that showed the majority of her thighs. As a man I know for a fact, not only would I, but the majority of men would approach the girl in the skirt before the one in the sweatpants. There is also the competition between girls of who actually looks better. So I feel like it all goes back to us having a male dominated society. If society showed us (females) that men appreciated a smart/funny girl over a slutty/skinny girls than we wouldn’t feel like we had to flaunt it every time we’re around guys. Plus I feel like if there are any good men left out there, they should be able to see through any girl’s façade. Maybe that is just me expecting too much from the male species, but I feel like they should be able to see a girl that is genuinely pretty because not all of us get sloppy and let everything hang out. Whether we admit it or not, we do dress this way to get looks, compliments, and to attract guys. Also, almost every other girl at every party in State College will be dressed this exact same way, including all of our friends, so we want to look just as good if not better than the other girls. So what I am trying to say is that we do not dress one way and expect to be treated a different way. Rather, we dress in some way and expect to be treated in a more mellow version of the way guys perceive us to want to be treated and actually treat us in many situations. I do not think that just because we are wearing short skirts and heels that we are directly sending the message that we want to have sex, hookup with someone, or that guys can come up to us and grab out butts or touch us in some inappropriate way. Simply, we are dressing this way to look our best and to attract guy’s looks and attention, not their physical contact. They way someone dresses shouldn't dictate how they get treated. Guaranteed if this question applied to guys, it would be a completely different scenario. Leave people alone and worry about your own life.

I do not have anything against homosexuals. I do personally feel that the only act that is morally acceptable regarding homosexuality is to be an abstinent gay. I grew up that way and biblically I feel that the principles are a good foundation to live by. I know that gays are born homosexual and they don’t generally have a choice to be gay or not. At a young age, they have that feeling in their gut. The only problem that I would have is if we were sharing a room and they brought a guy back to have sex with them. I know it may be hypocritical because sex is sex. There should be no reason for me to be able to have sex with a girl and I not allow my guy roommate to have sex with a guy. But why do I have the right to judge and him not to judge me for it. But it simply just grosses me out to think about two guys having sex. I go grossed out just looking at one of the pictures of two guys kissing in class. I am a very respectful person and grew up in a very religious home. There is no tolerance for homosexuality in my home. But I do feel that as hard as it would be, my parents would accept me being gay. But since I am not, and I had a gay roommate I feel that my parents would be uneasy just as I would be. I do have some gay friends but living with them in the same room would change the dynamics because of how close we would be. Just because they are gay doesn’t mean that they would be attracted to me but the difference in sexual preference would be a barrier for me to keep somewhat of a distance. I would be worried if my gay roommate was interested in me. I actually had a bisexual guy hit on me and show interest. That was the first time I had an encounter with the same sex and there be a sexual attraction towards me. I felt uncomfortable and wasn’t sure how to handle it. But we are now friends once we have established what each other wants and got on the same page with things. Being in the teens is an experimental age and that is always a possibility when now a days there are so many opportunities to cross boundaries.

I thought the bike videos were very interesting. If I remember correctly the white man had a blue shirt and hat while the black man had a read shirt and hat. Though this seems insignificant, colors can have a large impact on the human brain. When the experiment came to the point where the black actor had to act like he was stealing the bike this was where it became more than just an experiment to me, it became “eye-opening”. As many citizens walked by they began staring down this young fellow while he was attempting to steal the bike, the same exact way the previous actor did, and it automatically became a huge scene. One citizen stopped and began to call the cops, as other citizens came by and began interrogating him. The second half of the video really stresses how we still haven’t approached, or progress in having a society that views every single individual equally. It was time to flip the switch and get a female actor to attempt to steal the bike. It would be interesting to see this same experiment performed except with a black male and white male both acting to steal a bike in the same park at the same time except maybe 100 yards away and see how people reacted. This would have allowed the same people to be present in both situations. For the people that stopped the black male and probably wouldn’t have stopped the white male, I don’t think their racist. Would the black people call the cops on the white kid instead of the black kid? Also, the scenario with the pretty girl was very comical. Most women that walked by tried to ignore the girl. There were some differences in the videos that could have accounted for the responses. The white man had a much bigger build than the black man. Honestly, if I walked past a large, ripped black man stealing a bike, there’s no way in hell I’m asking him if that’s his bike or not. Normally, I’m not a confrontational person unless my family, friends or my own wellbeing is in danger. There’s an outside chance I would have called the police if I truly believed someone else’s property was being damaged or stolen. The bottom line is that people will always find an excuse to express racism and sexism. There was absolutely no doubt that the white people were trying to steal the bike. In fact, they (as well as the black man) admitted on camera what they were doing. For some people, it is easy – maybe even enjoyable – to turn in a black guy, while it seems unnecessary to turn in white people (oh, I was young once too…). An elderly, married man offered to cut the chain for the girl himself! The results from this social experiment are absolutely sickening. It is clear that while on the surface slavery and lack of women’s rights are a thing of the long past, in reality we have not made too much progress.

After watching a few of the videos, I was inspired to help in any way that I can. I am excited for the Haiti project, because it will be one small step we can take to solve some of the problems Sam addresses in class. Before watching the videos I was aware that Haitians have very little money and resources so I was not surprised by the lack of materials that the entrepreneurs had. However, I was impressed by their hard work ethic and determination despite the limited resources they had at their disposal. I watched the videos on Euclid (the fashion designer) and Anaes (the handbag designer). Both women were exceptionally creative and had many great ideas. They simply lacked the means to get the resources they needed to create their products. For example, the paint that Anaes needs for her handbags costs fifty US dollars, which is extremely expensive for her. The yarn she uses for her bags is also very expensive. Because of the high prices she must sell her bags for high prices in return. Many Haitians in her area cannot afford her expensive bags so she does not turn a very high profit. Euclid faces some similar issues with access to materials. She also does not have the resources to get the materials that she needs to create her apparel. I think that there are many ways for Soc 119 students to help both Anaes and Euclid that simply involve providing them with the resources they need to create their products.
For example:
*We could reach out to stores that sell the paint and yarn Anaes uses, such as Michael’s and Pat Catan’s. It may be a long shot, but perhaps the stores would be willing to sell the products to Anaes and other entrepreneurs like her for lower prices. This would certainly not take away a large portion of the stores’ profits. They could even sell the finished products in their stores to advertise the Haitian entrepreneurs that they are supporting. They could give part of the profit back to Anaes and other entrepreneurs and keep part of it for themselves so that they would not be completely losing money.
*Soc 119 students could also hold a drive (similar to a book or toy drive) to collect the materials that Euclid and Anaes desperately need. There may be other Penn State students and State College residents that have excesses of the paint, yarn and other materials that the women need. Some of them may be willing to donate them to the cause after they are informed as to where their donations are going. Additionally, students and community members could buy the materials and donate them, as they almost certainly cost less here in the United States.
Overall, I think there are many ways that Soc 119 students can help the entrepreneurs that are really not that challenging. We simply have to recognize the resources we have available to us and provide them to the hard working Haitians who desperately need them.