7/6/10
As I was watching the lecture I started thinking the same thing. My parents have helped me with little things in the past, but for the most part, everything was on me. This makes me wonder how I should approach this topic with my future children. Of course I’m going to want them to succeed, but do I want them to benefit solely from their last name or whom they know? We all know the saying “you’re supposed to want better for your children” and I know that I too felt left out sometimes and I wouldn’t want my children to feel as such. But it makes me wonder how much I should help them.

7/6/10
I think this was a great lesson and was something we could all relate to. Nepotism is a great thing and I certainly am thankful that it has helped me in the past. However, I have not received that much help from my parents and I got my job on my own. When I was in high school I worked as a waitress in a small restaurant. The owner had hired her nephew to work as one of the bus boys. He never did his job and was always talking to the waitresses or the cooks. He never got in trouble and the owner babied him. We all hated working with him because we had to pick up the slack and basically do his job as well. He definitely wasn’t serious about the job and knew he could do nothing and still get paid for it. I wish I could have it that way. Many people who ended up working there (who were in high school) got the job because they were related to the owners, or they knew a waitress. I also know of a girl from my high school that got into Harvard even though she didn’t deserve it. She skated through school and was very smart but never applied herself. Almost everyone on her father’s side attended Harvard so she is a legacy and thanks to all the donations her family makes to the school, she gets an easy in. That would be nepotism at it’s finest. This is showing people that if you are lazy, but know the right people, you’ll make it in life. Another topic of interest was the issue about the schools. Being an education major, this is something that gets discusses quite a bit. When we talk about how to better schools that are underfunded or not meeting AYP standards, there is always a debate on how to handle the situation. Some believe that those schools should hire younger teachers since they are more able to relate to their students and have new and fresh ideas. I have been told countless times that if you want to “better” the education of students then you need to place an older, more experienced teacher into the classroom. I somewhat disagree with that. Older teachers tend to be stuck in their ways and continue to use their teaching processes, whether or not they work. I know of so many teachers who don’t really care anymore because they have tenure. That is not what our schools need. Education is so important and I think that if more students had access to better schools and better teachers, they will be so much more successful. Poor funding should not be an excuse – all students should have an opportunity to succeed.

7/3/10
I agree - I’m sure the process is not an easy or fun one, but it needs to be done. We have immigration quotas and laws for a reason. Illegal immigration is not acceptable and, I too wonder where we draw the line. I have no problem with people immigrating to the United States, but it needs to be done legally. I have a few friends who immigrated here and some had to wait multiple years for everything to be cleared. That to me seems more responsible, they did everything that was asked of them and waited their turn. I know those families wanted a better life for themselves and their children, but they entered here legally, and I don’t think there is any excuse as to why people can’t enter legally.

7/3/10
I think it was extremely important that Dr. Richards mentioned a few times that illegal immigration is not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue; it is everyone’s issue. It is also an issue that will always be around. I get the idea that we need these illegal immigrants for the free market, and many business owners are grateful to have them around. But what exactly does the free market do for me? How does the free market benefit me? Illegal immigration is ILLEGAL. Many immigrants go through an extensive process to become legal citizens. If thousands of people go through this process and enter the United States legally, why can’t everyone else? There are thousands of legal immigrants in the United States so it is clearly doable. In my english class a few years ago, we were having a debate on the topic of immigration and if the U.S. should post street signs, banners, billboards, etc, in multiple languages. Half of the class agreed that new immigrants would feel more comfortable and would be better able to adapt if they saw their native language all around. The other half of the class argued that this is America, and our native language is English, therefore, everything should remain in English. Does posting signs and such in multiple languages encourage these new immigrants to learn English, or does it encourage them to continue using their language, since there really is no need to learn English? It was an interesting debate to have and I could see the pros and cons to both sides. One student said that her grandparents immigrated here from Romania and the town in which they live is basically all Romanians, and of course everything is in their native tongue. She expressed that due to this, her grandparents have no idea how to speak English and know nothing about the United States; because of that she said that she does not consider her grandparents to be Americans. They did not assimilate or even try to assimilate into the country in which they immigrated to. I believe everyone has the right to come here for a better life, but it needs to be done legally. We are all human and should be treated as such; we all want a better life for ourselves and our children. In a previous soc class we discussed immigration and talked about how majority of illegal immigrants are those who overstayed the length of their visa. We also talked about how the increase in illegal immigration causes an increase in pollution and poverty. From all the discussions I’ve had on this topic it seems like there are more negative aspects when it come to illegal immigration.

6/29/10
Like you I have been cheering my entire life. When I younger we had two boys who wanted to try out for the team, and the guys on the football team would call them gay at every practice we had. When we went to competitions I too, saw boys in bedazzled costumes, even when they had the choice of something more masculine. You could definitely tell their mannerisms were not like “normal” boys, and I’m sure they knew that as well. When I went to cheer camp there was always about three homosexual boys on other teams and the girls would always so “so and so is one of the girls”. The boys would always tell us how they knew from a young age that they were gay. One boy even said, “I tried out for the cheerleading squad – not the football team, if that wasn’t a give away, I don’t know what is.” So in the end, I do believe that people know from a young age if they are indeed gay. I do not think we have a choice when it comes to our sexuality.

6/29/10
The topic of China and how we as Americans should learn Chinese is nothing new to me. I have had several teachers in high school as well as college make comments about China, and how they will eventually be in charge. Being able to read and communicate in Chinese seems like it is becoming more of a necessity. I wish I had the interest and the will power to learn Chinese. I was discussing class selections with a friend of mine last semester and I was a little taken aback when he said he was going to take Chinese. This friend of mine is big into politics and confessed he wants to be president one day, so it actually seems like a smart and strategic move to me. The part about couples (straight and gay) holding hands was really good. My friends and I are always in the city and it is not uncommon to see gay men walking down the street holding hands. I never think twice when I see two lesbians holding hands, but there are two people in my group of friends who will always point things like that out. These two guys will announce to our group when they see a couple of the same sex holding hands, like its something we’ve never seen before. Maybe that is out of the norm for them, and they feel the need to point it out. Like Dr. Richards said there is nothing different about a straight couple holding hands and a homosexual couple holding hands. I certainly don’t think people choose to be gay. I think that comment the student made about it being easier to be black or brown instead of being gay was a really interesting comment. I totally agreed with her comment. A student who is black or brown does not need to hide behind their skin color or explain their skin color. On the other hand, I know of several people who have to explain why or how they are gay. Just as people have no control over their skin color, they have no control over their sexuality. I’m almost positive that every gay friend of mine expressed they knew from a young age that they were gay; proving that being gay is not a choice. It didn’t really make sense when Dr. Richards said that most gay people who have gay parents will remain in the closest because they don’t want others thinking they are gay solely because of their parents. If I were gay I think I would feel more relieved having gay parents. It seems as if they would have an easier time coming out the closet, and I’m sure gay parents would be more accepting to the situation.

6/22/10
I totally agree with your comment. We heard about the bleaching creams in class before and I knew they existed. I was not aware to what extent they were used though. I think it’s sad to hear how many girls wish their skin were lighter or how they wish they had straighter hair. It seemed like the one girl felt ashamed, or as if something was wrong with her because her skin is darker than that of her mother and siblings. I think if more people started to accept themselves there would be less of a competition to achieve lighter or darker skin.

6/22/10
I really enjoyed this lecture. I thought it was really interesting how the girl (who composed the video A Girl Like Me) included an experiment based off of the Brown vs. Board of Education case. Seeing how many children chose the white doll as the doll they would rather play with was a surprise. I would think that the children would rather play with a doll that resembled them, since it would be more relatable. I still don’t get why the kids chose the white doll as the “nice doll” and the black doll and the “bad doll”. I feel that if I were black I would much rather play with a doll that looked like me. I definitely thought the numbers would have been much different now, compared to what they were before. At the end of the segment the woman asked the young girl which doll is the bad doll and she pointed to the black doll, then the woman asked the child which doll “looks like you”. The child seemed to hesitate and looked somewhat ashamed as she pushed the black doll forward. You could tell she was associating herself with being bad. It is amazing how children associate good and bad with skin color at such a young age. I remember watching some talk show a few months ago and the one host was talking about how she took her kids to a toy store and her daughter, who is white, picked out a Barbie doll of the new Disney princess, Tiana. She proceeded to say how she and her daughter received stares and one person even asked, “Why is your daughter playing with a black Barbie doll?” I don’t know why other people would care what color doll a child plays with. Going with what Dr. Richards said, I’m guessing the little girl didn’t see color, or see color as an issue. Maybe this will serve as a reinforcer and children won’t have to see white and black as good and bad. The clip we saw about the mugging and beating of the elderly woman did not seem to be an act of racism in my opinion, but rather an instance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. That man would have done the same, regardless of who walked through the door. I don’t think it had anything to do with the elderly woman being white. I do, however agree with the white man’s response. I think it is wrong to leave out the fact that the attacker is black. Saying the man is black is not wrong, it is not racist; it is just providing a detail to narrow the search as to who the attacker was.

6/18/10
I agree with your comment on the white guilt. I don’t understand why anyone would feel guilty because of his or her skin. I can understand feeling sympathetic for those of other races but for one to actually feel guilty because their skin is white is absurd. There have been times when I see others being discriminated against and of course my heart goes out to them, and I do genuinely feel bad, but there is no reason for me to feel guilty because I am white. No one asked to be born white, or any race for that matter, so why should we feel guilty? No one, regardless of race, should feel guilty because of their skin color.

6/18/10
The first thing I wanted to comment on was the twins at the beginning of the lecture. Wow, that was excessive. I cannot believe that people would brainwash their children into thinking like that. When they made the comment about the Holocaust and said that there were not that many Jews around back then, I wanted to punch them. How could anyone say that? It’s a shame that parents teach their children to hate at such a young age. I feel bad that these girls are so young and have so much hatred inside of them. The parents obviously instilled these views onto their children at a young age, and it makes me wonder if the twins will instill the same views onto their children. What is going to happen when their parents aren’t around and they have to think for themselves and make their own decisions? They are going to get a big reality check when they get older. I also thought the commercial for the furniture store was a little ridiculous as well. It seemed unnecessary to put the race aspect into the commercial. I can see some people laughing at this commercial, while others probably got offended. It went hand-in-hand with Dr. Richards was saying about storytelling and how some people will say “this asian cut me off” or “this white woman cut me off”. The fact that the person was male or female, or whatever race, was not a vital piece of information to the story. I thought the commercial was pretty stupid and including the race aspect into was not needed. Another thing I wanted to touch on was how white people are told not to see color. No one ever told me how to approach race or how to discuss race. White people always have to watch what they say, as to not offend anyone. When Dr. Richards gave the example of sitting at the race table with whites and those of mixed races, and the topic of race emerges, the whites usually sit back in silence. That silence gives the impression that they don’t want to say anything because they are racist. In my opinion it seems like no matter what whites do, we can’t win. If we don’t make a comment then we are thought to be racist, if we speak out and make a comment about being white, we are still going to be labeled as racist. Even if we stand up for, or make a comment about other races, they will more than likely respond with, “you’re not black, brown, etc. you don’t know what it’s like” and those people, then in turn, normally label us as ignorant. It’s a lose-lose situation.