As a Christian woman I do not believe that God supports any sort of war because of the violence. I was taught that violence did not please God and we should always try to please God. Other people may have learned the saying “violence is never the answer”. Also as a Christian I feel bad that the world even has to go through wars because I find them quite unnecessary for people to have to fight to such an extreme. However, I do not believe that Christianity is the only religion that does not support violence. Most religions are on the same page when it comes to being non-violent and peaceful. I believe that violence only makes things worst, of course at times violence seems to be the only solution, but I do not think it is. Answering this blog question causes me to think a lot about the soldiers who fight in the war for their country because there is the saying that they are trained to kill, knowing that killing is wrong, so why is it justified in the military? I think that our country constantly contradicts itself because in one instant we are putting someone in an electric chair for murdering a person, and then sending people off to kill enemies which sometimes result in innocent people dying. I was never one to go really deep into the concept of war because just like race and religion it can be a touching subject. I am still sort of on the fence about it because I want the soldiers to protect us, but in the back of my mind I still feel that it is wrong to hurt someone else. I know a lot of people who have served in the military I am proud that they protect our country, but after really thinking about it, it is almost like suicide, knowing that you have a chance to die in the war. In an ideal world, we would not need military’s which would make it a lot easier on a lot of people who lose loved ones to violence. Talking about the war in Iraq always gets me frustrated because I always think about how these soldiers have to go over to another country for oil and lose their lives, to me for not a big enough reason. I think it is different when you actually know someone who gets deported to Iraq or Afghanistan and all you can do is pray that they come back home safely. That is why I understand why God does not approve of wars or violence because not only do people die, but a lot of loved ones can die spiritually after losing someone. It hurts a lot of people in the process, people who have nothing to do with the situation.

If Sandusky were African American or Latino this situation would have never went on for as long as it did. After it was reported to the police one time he probably would have been convicted and would be facing jail time right now. When I read this question there was no doubt in my mind that the situation would not be the same. It’s very sad that things are this way, and it is sad that people expect racial differences to occur. Furthermore, not only will it affect the Penn State body as a whole, but I believe it will have a bigger impact on the black and brown people on this campus. For example, with the robbery that occurred by the lion shrine black and brown people were hoping that they were not of their race and that they were white. As a black person I was very disappointed to discover that they were black because it reflects poorly on all of us as a whole. I cannot even say that if Sandusky were black or brown that there would be an even bigger uproar because the fact of the matter is, he would have been put in jail years ago. When it comes to black and brown people and criminal acts class or status does not matter. Some of the richest black and brown people in the world are still sent to jail, while rich whites get a slap on the wrist. I thought it was interesting when the boy in class stated “it is not that big of a deal, it’s not 9/11” and honestly I felt the same way. I was not saying that what happened to the victims was not that big of a deal because it is and I understand, but things like this happen all the time and is still happening, and this one story is blowing up so big that we can’t even see past it. All of these series of events got people riled up and their emotions are all over the place, and no one really knows just what they are feeling. The situation has gotten so big that all of our attention and focus seems to be on it as more and more issues about a variety of other things are being looked over. I can’t wait for the day where we can put all of this behind us, and the victims can finally have peace of mind. With all the media and focus on other things, the victims are being pushed in the dark, and I feel that this situation is only hurting them more. I pray that they can find peace through all of this and the strength to keep going on.

I was talking to my roommate the other day and we were discussing how when we go home and people ask us what school we go to, instead of saying Penn State with a smile, it’s like we are going to lower our heads with shame because of the recent events. We know that what happened does not reflect on us individually, but as a school it is as if we all could have done something more. I think that the recent events will only make us stronger as a school, and we will start to focus more on our prestigious academics rather than our football team. I am just glad that we have things to fall back on and football does not define this school. Yes, for right now we will be getting negative attention, but all this will die down. Every school has there issues and we will overcome this, it may or may not take a while but eventually we will come out stronger. However, if everyone turns there back on Penn State because of this incident, then it really will fall apart. I think the media has really portrayed out school in a negative way and is not focusing on key issues. Furthermore, the rioting just gave the media something more to talk about as we were seen as being aggressive, angry, and defending Joe Paterno and forgetting about the kids. When honestly, the majority of students on this campus feel that if Paterno had to go he had to go, but the way they went about firing him and not even letting him finish this last home game after 46 years was disgusting. Paterno is shown in the media so much, it is as if he was the one who molested the children. I agree with Sam when he stated during class that Penn State is apart of our identity and Joe Paterno played a major role here at Penn State, so it was as if a piece of our identity was being taken away. I understand how the outside is looking in and what they could possibly be thinking, but we are being judged harshly by the outside and I feel that they really just don’t understand. A lot of Penn State students have been trying to explain that if you do not go to this school you won’t be able to understand what kind of community we as students have here and how much pride we build in our school. So from the outside it may seem as if we are defending our school more than the victims themselves, but that’s not true, we are defending the victims but as stated in class it’s kind of hard to do that when you have no clue who they are. We cling to our school because it is as if someone is trying to tear it down and we cannot let that happen. No matter what people outside of Penn State say or think we will still try to stay strong and fight on...FOR THE GLORY!

They should not “have” to speak English but I do believe that they should learn it because the United States Constitution and laws are written in English and I consider it to be our official language even if it is not declared. The reason I believe they should learn English is because if I were to go to any other country they would expect me to learn their language. Now some Americans do sit on high horses and take the situation to another level, but I am not. I am simply putting myself in the same situation, if I planned to go to Africa for even a summer I would take time to learn the language that the majority of the people speak and try to at least have a descent conversation with someone. I understand that there are a lot of languages spoken in the United States and that’s exactly why I think that everyone should learn English. It is unfair for someone who is Hispanic to receive a translation over someone who is French, Italian, etc. In order to get rid of confusion and frustration learning English can eliminate a lot of problems. I am not saying that they should not speak their language, but if they are going to live in America it would be beneficial to learn English. Likewise, English speakers who are going to live in another country should take up learning that language. The main reason I believe non-native English speakers should learn English is to defuse confusion and help them survive in the U.S. because not being able to speak English can put them at a disadvantage. I have read and heard about many cases where someone who is not able to speak or understand English, signs or agrees to something that they are not able to comprehend and there are many consequences. However they do not “have” to speak English, we should not force anyone into doing something they do not want to. We cannot force anyone to take classes to learn English or send them to jail for speaking in their native language. Honestly, Americans are the ones who are not as bi-lingual or multi-lingual like other countries. I think we should take initiative to learn other languages because the world is a diverse place, and being stuck in a ignorant bubble of we are American and everyone must follow us is not going to work. We can’t keep thinking of ourselves as higher than other countries because we all live on the same planet and we are in this life together. We can not change where we were born and what race or ethnicity we were born into, we should only embrace ourselves for who we are and where we come from, while respecting the culture of others.

I think that immigration in the United States is fine, but because we are becoming overpopulated it is becoming a problem. People from other countries cannot all be citizens of the United States because our country is not that big. Illegal immigrants are very tricky because in certain situations I think that it is fine like in extreme cases. Everyone is struggling to survive and it is hard on some people in the country where they live. Some of my family members on the other hand our very prejudice of immigrant illegal or not, they feel that they should go back to their country and not run anything in ours. Whenever I hear them making a comment about calling immigration on some people it makes me sad because I know that if some of my family members think this way then I know that other people do to. I also agree with some arguments that people make about them taking jobs that other Americans would not think about taking. The unemployment rate could be lower if people lowered their prides and take jobs that they would not necessarily want but might need right now. Immigration helped American from the beginning and I believe that it is still helping us. However, there are laws and we have to abide by them even if they seem unfair they just have to be changed. For example, when blacks could not vote it was unfair, but we had to abide by it and in the long run we protested to change that law. I still wonder why people want to come to America when they are not doing so well in their country because in my mind it seems harder to become successful in America and illegal immigrants have to worry about being caught their entire lives. In high school I often thought about the fact that if an illegal immigrant’s child was born in America and their parents got caught, they would have to leave their child in America. I remember hearing a story about it, and it was very sad because the child was very young and it caused a lot of uproar. I don’t know if that is still the law, but it did make sense in a way, but caused more pain than intended. I have know idea what is going to happen in the United States if we do not control immigration because it will soon become very overpopulated and I feel that global warming will increase a lot more. If the United States continues to grow so rapidly we could find ourselves in deep trouble. Overpopulation may not seem like a big deal right now, but it can cause many problems on top of the ones that we already have.

When applying for colleges, I did not apply to any Historically Black Colleges and Universities. I grew up in predominantly African American setting almost my entire life and I wanted to be around people who did not come from the same race or ethnicity. HBCU’s are predominantly African American and are in neighborhoods that are as well. The United States is mixed with all shapes, colors, and cultures and the world is even more diverse. If I were to go to an HBCU I would not have the same experience and I would limit my self to many opportunities. I also feel that when it comes time to apply for a job Penn State would be looked at over even some of the top HBCU’s. Today, I don’t think that HBCU’s are a necessity, mainly because they were created because blacks could not get into white schools, now we can attend any school. Furthermore, while they possess the great attributes they don’t depict the “real world”. Nevertheless HBCU's have a great sense of community, belonging and pride. African Americans who attend predominantly white colleges all their lives are more inclined to attend HBCU’s if they had a bad experience; however, people who attend black schools want to get out an explore. There are still some who are afraid to adventure and want to stay in a comfortable zone. The world is a very diverse place and in order to see it one has to explore and not live in a bubble. I believe it’s more beneficial for everyone to go to a school out of their element at least for a year to see what its like. At first I was a little afraid of coming to Penn State because of it being predominantly white. I thought it would be intimidating and something out of my element, when in fact it is a part of my element. It embraces a lot of my values and a lot of students here are similar to my self in some aspects. I love meeting new people and I feel that what makes it so special is that I can meet some one new everyday that is totally different from my self. I embrace other people’s cultures instead of focusing on my own, and I also have better connections to jobs and etc. I believe HBCU’s can only get me so far, if I want to really expand my self and fully develop in this world, I have to reach out to other ethnicities and cultures. Don’t get me wrong I love my culture, but just knowing about another culture sets someone a part, it makes them different, in some ways more knowledgeable about the world revolving around them and not ignorant.

Being an African American, race is always going to be a factor in my life whether I like it or not, but I hope everyday that we can overcome race and just look at people internally. I never understood why race meant anything to anyone seeing as though it only makes up 0.01% of our being. As a child I didn’t see race at all, I realized people were different from me but that did not make them any less of a person. At a young age I would probably see a person’s gender before I would their race. However, if children were to grow up without any bias the world would start to become a different place. I did not realize that I was black until I was taught that in school and was told about Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. I also did not see I was black until I went to camp in middle school and there were only about five African Americans out of almost fifty campers. After these I started seeing these different. In the 90’s racism was very much alive as it is today, but of course being as young as I was I could not determine what was racist. I noticed one time walking into a restaurant with my family that was filled with whites, everyone would stare at us, not like today people might glance and continuing their conversations and eating their food. Kids turned all the way around and stared their parents looked directly at us, and I wanted to know what they were staring so hard. My family was some what use to this growing up in North Carolina in the 40’s and 50’s, this kind of thing was not taboo. But I was from D.C. a diverse city with a variety of races. My view of the world started to change from innocent as I started to notice the many problems I was facing as a female African American. I thank God that I was exposed to different people at a young age because someone people never see other races and so their biases develop from what they hear or see in the media, and for blacks that is never a good thing. In my high school my teachers were diverse in the sense of black, white, and Hispanic. However, the students were majority African American and a few Hispanics. Because of this environment I was nervous coming to Penn State because a majority white school, I believed I would be faced with many challenges. I thought I would have a culture shock because it was so big an majority white, but I didn’t because there are people here who look like me and can relate to me. One time going to an event downtown, a man who looked as if he were Hispanic and drunk, yelled to a group of us calling us the “N” word and saying very explicit things, while my friends were very hurt by this I seemed to take it quite well, even though I had never faced anything like that before, it was as if I expected that one day it would happen. It’s sad I know, but being non-white you prepare yourself for things like this.

I do not believe that gay inequalities will be diminished before racial inequalities because these two things are going to be fought over for many years. Interracial marriage was made legal in the 1960s, and now interracial marriages can take place all over the country. However, gay marriage is only legal in a few states and they are still fighting for their rights of marriage. Also, religion plays a part in why gay and lesbian people are not accepted. Some believe that it is a sin and is not pleasing to God. However, there is a difference, some people believe this but still accept gays and lesbians. I am a Christian, but I would not discriminate against them because of it. I have a cousin who is homosexual, and I would hate if anybody treated him differently just because of his sexual orientation. I wish that one day these things would not matter and everyone can just be people, but honestly society always has to label people to a category, we try to figure people out all the time. It’s really sad that race and homosexual issues will never completely go away, but it’s always nice to remember that inequality is fading. However, in my personal opinion, the inequalities of minorities are a lot different from the inequalities of homosexuals. For example, if one were to see a black heterosexual couple walking down the street holding hands, it would be considered by society “normal”. If a gay couple were to walk down the street, people would probably stare, question, cast judgment. One time I was walking with a female friend and we were playing holding hands, she let go of my hand after a while and said “you don’t want people to think they we are gay”. I wondered why she thought that way, or why she cared what other people thought. Honestly, deep down I kind of felt the same way because in middle school I hung out with my two female friends all the time, and the other kids would call us gay even though we weren’t. It hurt our feelings a lot and we always had to defend ourselves. Little children can be really cruel, but they develop it from their parents. This reminds me of how we learn about different races in school, but gay and lesbians issues we never discuss. I do not know how we are going to get any where if the generations under us don’t understand and don’t learn about these issues. Furthermore, racial inequality might diminish first because we have a president who is both black and white, if an openly gay man would run for president, I honestly do not think that most of America would open up and accept him or her for who they are. We still have not even had a female president in office, there is so much that we still have to overcome, and it will not come overnight.

First, I want to say I love the show “What would you do” because it not only depicts how other people are thinking, it also makes me think about what I might do in that situation. While the show has funny moments, there is nothing more serious than finding out how people will judge you because of the color of your skin. I did not find it surprising that the black boy would have had more interactions with people, and more phone calls to the police. It’s very sad that it happens that way though. When I was watching another episode where a group of black guys and a group of white guys were vandalizing a car, of course the group of black guys had more phone calls to the police. Someone stated, “They did not look like they were from this area”. Why couldn’t a group of black boys be from the suburbs of New Jersey? However, the big thing that got me was that while the black boys were “acting”, a phone call was made about a suspicious car parked in the parking lot. The caller was calling about a group of black people who looked suspicious in the car. Those people in the car were family members of one of the black actors, who were simply sleeping and waiting for him to finish. So no matter what, if we are doing something wrong or not doing something wrong, we are still being called on and put in the spotlight. That was a very sad moment for me, because those people were just minding their business. It is always nice to hear what people have to say after they do something or not do anything, because sometimes it gives an explanation for their actions. In the bike thieves’ video when two black ladies walk by they said that if they were to see a white boy doing it, they would not think anything of it. A lot of people think this way; however, maybe it is just me, but when I see a teenager of any race, who is dressed as they were and looks suspicious I get skeptical. When I think of petty crimes being committed by teenagers, I think of teenagers in general without putting a race to it. Now, I may however put a gender to it, because teenage males seem to commit more crimes than females. However, I would not put it pass me that a female teenager could commit a crime. I believe the media and television lead us to think that black neighborhoods are danger, black people are danger, and they are the ones that commit the crimes. The reason I think this way is because even black people believe it. Honestly, I am afraid to walk anywhere at night, because no where is safe land whether white or black. My mother is a regular overprotective mother and she sees no difference, all she sees is me, walking without her, in some area with people she doesn’t know, who could possibly do me harm. My mother is even afraid for me to walk on campus by myself! She doesn’t care what race they are, she just knows that all people aren’t saints!

After reading through the information for the Haiti Project it was very interesting to learn about each entrepreneur. I thought that it really opened my mind and gave me more insight into what is going on in the world. I mean it’s not that I was ignorant to them, it’s just I never took the time to evaluate things like this, but this is a great opportunity. All of these people whether Clorene Blaise who makes clothes or Suze Fleuriza who makes products from peanuts, have an impact on the world we live in today. We don’t realize it every time we use something, wear something, or eat something. We do not realize how hard people work for the things we normally take for granted. Their businesses can be as successful as in other thriving business in society. Before knowing what the Haiti Project I thought it was just going to be research and then a written report, but I like the fact that we all going to be more hands on and trying to make a difference. In class, when it was showed that the U.S. only distributes about 0.7%, I was a little shocked because I felt like we gave more, but it showed me how we can really do more not just financially. If a disaster were to happen here, we would really need other countries to help us out, but I don’t have the faith that they will, and I they do a lot of the funds would go to people who are already in the elite class and that’s what’s happening in Haiti. The sad part is that Haiti has been one of the poorest countries in the world and yet we do the bare minimum to help. In my section today we talked about homelessness and one person mentioned that family and friends should always be willing to help, that’s how I feel with countries in the world. We are all neighbors and in order to keep the world going we have to help each other out. Last year a girl in my building went to Africa and came back and sold bags here that the women made back in Africa. When she received the proceeds she went to take their funds to them because she went every year. I commend her for making such steps to helping these women create a successful business. In order to make the entrepreneurs businesses success they first have to gather funds to market in America. Marketing in other countries will expand their business and help bring in my proceeds. However, they can’t do it by themselves so they are going to in help. This project will bring light to a lot of things and help everyone gain more insight.