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		<title>gdp's Comments</title>
		<language>en-us</language>
		<link>https://www.intensedebate.com/users/757406</link>
		<description>Comments by CastorPollux</description>
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<title>Race Relations Project : Letter from an Inmate</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment70074724</link>
<description>While reading out his letter, my heart is touched. However, an easy step should not be taken whether to let this guy go free or remain in the jail cell. It could be true that he has been rehabilitated and he is no longer threat to the society. But, what is the purpose of the punishment? Throughout the history, the punishment was focusing on restitution which adopts &amp;lsquo;an eye for an eye&amp;rsquo; theory. When you caused the pain of another, you should feel the pain. Later, people became to believe focusing on the restitution solely is not effective and some researches supported it by claiming that recidivism rate is so high when such application was employed. Then, they focused on rehabilitation side. A theory which emphasizes on people who can be changed was supported, again, some studies which showed the recidivism rate became lower when the incarceration facilities used methods to rehabilitate them. The one thing that must be taken into consideration is &amp;lsquo;deterrence&amp;rsquo; purpose. This purpose is divided into two sub-categories called &amp;lsquo;general deterrence&amp;rsquo; and &amp;lsquo;specific deterrence.&amp;rsquo; While former focuses on general public the possible punishment that they would get if they commit the same crimes as the criminal did. It raised the fear of the community members so that they will avoid breaking rules and latter claims on the criminal so that he or she would not come back the prison. Well, this person who wrote letter would definitely say that he would not come back to prison since he knows what it means to be behind the bars. But, how about others, general public? If we let this guy to go free, then I wonder what is the standard would be like to free other inmates with similar convictions as well. The basic concept of law, or judiciary at least, is justice and fairness. Where did the fairness go? It would be ok to let these guys go because it is special case? Then, which cases are not special? Furthermore, who is going to decide that? It is really easy to say that a special committee can be formed with many experts. If I agree that one, I should wonder what the general public would think about it as well. Would it be really OK to let murders who were sentenced life in jail without the possibility of parole? When this question rephrases like: Would it be OK to let the, somewhat, good persons in the letter be freed? For latter, many of us would say &amp;lsquo;yes&amp;rsquo; but how about the former question? Most on inmates have reasons that forced them to commit the crimes. But, what reasons would be OK or not OK? As an alternative, I propose an idea where these rehabilitated persons, as they claimed, could have little bit of more freedom than other &amp;lsquo;Bad&amp;rsquo; and &amp;lsquo;heinous&amp;rsquo; inmates. For example, they could have extra hours to be on yard or some recreational services can be provided them. Where the money comes from? It&amp;rsquo;s from them. They should work such as making products with abandoned woods or concrete. They are paying for their extra freedom.  </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 24 Apr 2010 03:05:59 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment70074724</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : What about people who can only &amp;amp;quot;afford hard work&amp;amp;quot;?</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70068004</link>
<description>It&amp;rsquo;s true that one&amp;rsquo;s financial situation forces them to cross border illegally. However, there are other available means to immigrate to United States without paying a large sum of the money. For example, H-1 visa (sometimes referred as &amp;lsquo;investment immigration&amp;rsquo;) requires at least five hundred thousand dollars to invest any business in United States but there are other ways that requires much lesser than that. However, there are two problems exist with such method as well. There should be at least a couple of thousand dollars required at minimum to process the fees and the quotas are so small so that applicants must wait at least 3 years to enter United States. I believe there Is noting that can be done since we cannot control the demand. </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 24 Apr 2010 02:40:08 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70068004</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : Creating Terrorists</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/creating-terrorists__trashed/#IDComment68471729</link>
<description>This is a sad and shock situation. I can neither justify the woman&amp;rsquo;s bombing nor criticize it. Same thing applies to the Russian government, too. I want to discuss about this problem within the perspective of international law and the steps that United States took back in Cold War period and now. In international law, there are four factors that must be satisfied in order to be considered as a Nation-state and they are 1) self-governance (government), 2) territory, 3) sovereignty, and 4) population. In this case, the woman&amp;rsquo;s original nation had its own territory and population for sure, and administration unit, maybe since it was under Russian&amp;rsquo;s influence, but I must doubt whether it has had sovereignty.  In the real world, it is even possible for geographic region which insist on its characteristic as a nation-state. One of the clear examples is Taiwan. This nation was founded when people who sought democracy in Chinese main land&amp;rsquo;s escaped from communists during Chinese revolution period (&amp;lsquo;civil war&amp;rsquo;). This nation actually had its own government which can be proven by the fact that there were some nations that had established diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Secondly, it had its own population and territory since there were people living there for a relatively long time. Thirdly, it had its own sovereignty and it can be again proven by the fact that, after China insisted on &amp;ldquo;open door policy&amp;rdquo;, China established diplomatic relations with countries as long as they cut off the relations with Taiwan. However, what is happening right now? Because of China&amp;rsquo;s big influence, many nations try to avoid talking about this problem even though Taiwanese cry out for their status as another &amp;lsquo;nation-state.&amp;rsquo; There are some nations that still have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but it is too small in comparison with the time period before China&amp;rsquo;s active diplomatic activities. In the United Nations, Taiwan is not claimed to be a country, but rather a part of China. Besides Taiwan, how about Tibet? or Uighur? Back to our original posting, how about those nations who were unable to be separated from Soviet Unions after the collapse?  As we have learned from U.S. history class in high school or college, there was once a time period called &amp;ldquo;Cold War&amp;rdquo; and this period produced many terms which caused students pain inasmuch as they need to memorize it for a quiz or an exam. Maybe, you are familiar with &amp;lsquo;Iron Curtain,&amp;rsquo; or &amp;lsquo;containment.&amp;rsquo; Yes, this period can be explained very well with a single phrase, i.e. Communism v. Capitalism. Some may claim that it is better to say communism v. democracy but I want to point out both communism and capitalism are the theories in economic system while democracy is under the category of politics. Anyway, where is the spirit that U.S and other western powers (NATO) had during the cold war? I meant they used tons and tons of money for propaganda that Redwing agenda is so wrong and even used some geographic regions in disputes to fight. Vietnam was the product of that time period. Does United States no longer wish to help weak nations because communism was proven to be ineffective and there are very few communist nations left in the world? I feel it is the time that United States withdraws from its position as the World Police which US claimed back in time and start to avoid the problems other nations have. Obviously, United States, then, must stop giving pressure or tell other nations what to do. The basic principle of this nation should not be forgotten. And, when that principle once became a live heart of this nation, it is time to be the leader. The lack of support from other countries made these terrors to be occurred. Having an interest about these cases would be little bit of hope for those people in the article.  </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:51:28 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/creating-terrorists__trashed/#IDComment68471729</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : Christian Invaders - the turnaround</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68468203</link>
<description>It was a quite refreshing moment when the class was told to be ordinary college-age students living I Middle East. When other settings were remained in same, the only issue was that they do not understand each other. (US vs. Middle East) From the mass media which usually talk about the extremist or radical people even though these groups takes only a few percentages. Lack of knowledge and failure to see the whole picture rather than parts led this kind of conflict. If there was enough communication going back and forth between these nations, it would not be this serious. However, our leaders and their leaders used religions to keep their pride which made the situation worse.  </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:12:46 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68468203</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : This is totally off the hook</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66946726</link>
<description>It has been quite long that since the Hentai culture has been established. I read a book regarding culture in Japan and one unique characteristic of this nation is that some wives actually let their husbands to have sex with a prostitute. In this example, it is easy to say the cultural conflict exist in terms of Western vs. Eastern. However, I believe that the issue cannot be easily determined to be that. Before doing that, the comparison between two nations is necessary. In the video, there was a couple and the girl agreed that the game is not that offensive to her. It is true that criticizing one&amp;rsquo;s decision of choosing types of games that he or she plays would be limiting one&amp;rsquo;s freedom. Let&amp;rsquo;s just think of United States as well. Pornography is allowed and they are even divided by some categories &amp;ndash; X, XX &amp;hellip; (the increasing numbers of X means the more hardcore that the pornography would be) By the way, I learned this from Communications Law class, so don&amp;rsquo;t get me wrong. Back to our topic, Japanese pornography usually has mosaic on actors&amp;rsquo; and actresses&amp;rsquo; genitals while United States does not prohibit it. Furthermore, Oregon is known for having generosity toward obscene industry while Japan is famous for it as a nation. My question is that can we really make the criticism about it? I mean, obscene materials are consisting of the &amp;lsquo;real&amp;rsquo; people in United States as well and some of them have stories including most kinds of situations as the Japanese game in the question had. Well, you can claim not all people watch it but only few. Same rule applies to the game in question on CNN. Not all Japanese people buy those kinds of games and play them, but few manias or so-called &amp;lsquo;O-ta-kus.&amp;rsquo;  No matter what the similarities and difference Japan and United States had in terms of obscenity, this news was like a bad sign of our future. The focus should be made not on whether the game is cool or reluctant but whether what does this incident mean. I do not know why but people are becoming immune to those from old times such as movies and games. Since they were not feeling enough pleasure, manufacturers or producers are trying to make their products as violent or sexual as possible to make the most profit as possible. Both United States and Japan are capitalist countries so they are not really there to be criticized. The most crucial part of this news is that those games can be transferred digitally &amp;ndash; this means that anyone in the World who has internet access can play this game. This is bad for both manufacturers and us (I mean &amp;lsquo;we, the people&amp;rsquo;) since &amp;lsquo;they&amp;rsquo; miss the potential customers and &amp;lsquo;we&amp;rsquo; feel reluctant about it.   </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 10 Apr 2010 03:57:33 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66946726</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : Nothing About the Census is Easy</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/nothing-about-the-census-is-easy__trashed/#IDComment65690781</link>
<description>I cannot even think about using the term &amp;lsquo;Negro,&amp;rsquo; or other N words, in front of others including African-Americans and even non-Black people not only because I was taught that his term has very offensive meaning but also the environment that I was put in, United States, had a cultural norm or mutual agreement that the use of this term is prohibited. I think I saw this issue from one previous blog posting. I remember I criticized Census Bureau for having that term as well as its reasoning for using this term. It may be true that there are other African-Americans who would like to describe themselves as &amp;lsquo;Negros&amp;rsquo; because they assumed that the answer must be filled in perspective of the government who used to call African-Americans as &amp;lsquo;Negros.&amp;rsquo; It makes sense. I never said that Census is idiot but that was a stupid excuse. I would rather spend the money given for this &amp;ldquo;survey instrument&amp;rdquo; for educating them. Let&amp;rsquo;s take a close look at it. Sam said &amp;ldquo;If it[the term Negro]is not there, they&amp;rsquo;ll be confused and not mark anything.&amp;rdquo; (Sam) It is true. But, couldn&amp;rsquo;t they be more proactive? They will be &amp;lsquo;confused&amp;rsquo; if the term is not on the list. Why would they be confused? It is because, in my opinion, Census, or the government in general, did not take enough actions to acknowledge those people who are still concerning the perspective of government first not their own thoughts. It would be self-contradictory in the event that Census reasoned that they did not expect people still like to be described themselves as &amp;lsquo;Negro. &amp;rsquo;It would cost much to let those people to describe themselves as &amp;lsquo;African-American&amp;rsquo; or &amp;lsquo;Black&amp;rsquo; rather than &amp;lsquo;Negro.&amp;rsquo; That is why it must be done gradually. We should not expect to remove these words in the next Census survey. Rather, targeting for 2030~40 Census would be appropriate. Some people may not understand why they should be bothered with these things. But, let&amp;rsquo;s take our time back to mid 20th century. It was natural for persons of color to use separate facilities including bathrooms, seats in the bus, and even educational institutions and these facilities usually have worse conditions in comparison with those for Whites. Nobody could dare to complain it until the movement began. Everything comes from a small, tiny thing. This thing can be idea, event, and so on. For example, it was one event Boston Tea Party that Americans made their minds to fight for independence. Furthermore, it was a Stamp Tax which Britain imposed taxes on every product they are selling in America that led American colonists to make a famous phrase &amp;ldquo;No Taxation without Representation.&amp;rdquo; A sequence of such events led the freedom in this country. When the small thing is ignored or not cared, then our next step forward better society would take so long.  </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 3 Apr 2010 03:23:14 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/nothing-about-the-census-is-easy__trashed/#IDComment65690781</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : What About Multiracial People?</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65688822</link>
<description>As other people here, I feel sorry for you too. Well, I see so many things about trying to identify yourself and selecting which team you want to play on. Needless to say, it is easy to say but hard to do it. For example, it is easy to say &amp;lsquo;let&amp;rsquo;s not lie because it is against Ten Commandments&amp;rsquo; but people sometimes confront the situations where so-called &amp;lsquo;white lies&amp;rsquo; are needed. The only thing that I can say to you (the person in the clip) is that you have a couple of hundred people, at least, who can understand this kind of issue. </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 3 Apr 2010 03:02:06 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65688822</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : Native Hawaiians.  Ever think of them?</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/native-hawaiians-ever-think-of-them__trashed/#IDComment64293042</link>
<description>Hawaii is a clear example of &amp;lsquo;Red Land.&amp;rsquo; As we learned from the class, it sounds little bit weird they have not been granted their status as indigenous group. Even though Alaska was purchased by United States, those natives are indigenous groups. On the other hand, Hawaii was taken with power; these people are still not protected under indigenous. As United Nations&amp;rsquo; Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples emphasizes, indigenous groups have right to culture and self-determinations which mean they can live in their traditional lifestyles with their own government.   &amp;ldquo;By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.&amp;rdquo; (Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Article 3)  As the author pointed out, the disproportionate ratios of distributed wealth caused the situation where &amp;ldquo;Native Hawaiians make up 28 percent of the state&amp;#039;s homeless who received outreach services&amp;rdquo; (Niesse)  On this &amp;ldquo;Red Land,&amp;rdquo; it is reasonable for them to have their own government. Definitely, there will be changes that will be faced with reality. Making this area as preserved area cannot be done since so much development had been made, and, therefore, letting them have their own political system is something the government that can be done at least.  Applying the concept of free-will and determination perspectives to this case, these people did not make the decision to be poor but it was only a consequence of their ancestry&amp;rsquo;s decision to survive from the Western power. If they were treated fairly at that time, then would they still be suffered this much? Nobody can be sure about it since they might make some mistakes or, technically, wrong &amp;lsquo;decisions.&amp;rsquo; However, they could have the opportunity to make a decision at least. I think it is the government&amp;rsquo;s responsibility letting them have the opportunity and, since it was not given, they have to provide some kinds of compensation in terms of politics. But, Jamie Story seems disagreeing with this idea &amp;ldquo;&amp;quot;It is not the role of government to try and make up for past wrongs,&amp;quot; said Jamie Story, president of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii, which promotes free markets and small government.&amp;rdquo; (Niesse)  Well, then who should be responsible? If it was regarding individual levels, I would agree with him. For example, the idea all races other than African-Americans should be apologizing and trying to make compensations for the past wrongs seems kind of unreasonable because it is individual level &amp;ndash; we are not sure whether their ancestry owned or freed slaves. However, if it comes with government level, it must be dealt seriously. Same thing stands here. If the government cannot, then who could? In United States I mean. The United States we believe to be the nation that respect culture.  </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 27 Mar 2010 04:00:14 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/native-hawaiians-ever-think-of-them__trashed/#IDComment64293042</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : If men could menstruate...</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/if-men-could-menstruate__trashed/#IDComment64289706</link>
<description>In my country, it is one of four duties for men to serve in military and it once became an issue between feminists and some groups of men. Those men claimed that women need to serve the military for relatively shorter time in terms of equality while feminists claimed that women give births and have periods in their lives. When the congress considered giving extra points for job applicants who finished their military service, these feminists resist it reasoning that it is unfair. If men experience the periods, then women would have to serve in the military. That sounds very fair  </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 27 Mar 2010 03:21:41 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/if-men-could-menstruate__trashed/#IDComment64289706</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : What are all of you thinking about Asians?</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians__trashed/#IDComment64287082</link>
<description>The term &amp;lsquo;Asian&amp;rsquo; tends to include Asians and Asian-Americans unlike Black people are divided into African-American and Africans. Among Asians, they distinguish themselves by using the term of &amp;lsquo;F.O.B&amp;rsquo; and &amp;lsquo;Twinkie.&amp;rsquo; As you pointed out, there are more percentages of White people who live somewhat poor and we just assume all whites are rich and middle class at least. I think same thing applies to Asians too as long as Asians are distinguished from Native Americans. Furthermore, East Asians (China, Japan, Korea), Southeast Asians (Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand&amp;hellip;), and South Asians (India, Pakistan) are under the category of same &amp;ldquo;Asian.&amp;rdquo; The comparison of median income among races needs to be little bit more specified by these different regions of Asia since those from India are upper class in Caste system and it is mostly reasonable to see these people are richer. </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:50:00 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians__trashed/#IDComment64287082</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : Prom or No Prom:  Just Don&#039;t Let the Queer Students Dance Together</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment63112335</link>
<description>If it happened in other nations where the level of resistance regarding homosexuality was high enough, then I would not be surprised like this much. However, it was happened in the United States which protects the freedom and respects the law.  What I do not understand is that it was school board who actually canceled the event. If it was done by a private school, I would not complain this much. It is public system which has to protect students&amp;rsquo; freedoms and rights even though there are stricter limitations than adult citizens have.  I cannot deny Ms. McMillen brining a same-sex date and wearing a Tuxedo to the prom which is not occurred frequently can be a unique situation. But, can we blame a prom participant for wearing a green suit or yellow shoes? I do not really think so. I wish to talk about the punishment (or the sanction that was imposed on the article) as well. Cancelling the whole prom looks very cruel. As she had stated in the article, &amp;ldquo;As we learned from the first lecture, it is really hard to describe a race. I think asking one&amp;#39;s race would cause confusion of identity if the study materials that we learned were considered.&amp;rdquo; I have to doubt the purpose of school board in making such decision.  Some students may thank her for letting them to skip the event since they did not feel like to attend the prom, but majority of students, in my opinion, would think her the cause of this whole incident. I feel like it is school board&amp;rsquo;s strategy to give her some kinds of disadvantages because they opposed the idea of homosexuality. If we see the statement that school board made &amp;ndash; &amp;ldquo;&amp;quot;private citizens will organise an event for the juniors and seniors&amp;quot;&amp;rdquo; &amp;ndash; it became a little bit clearer. If an individual wants to invite another with same-sex as his or her date, school board will not do it. Come on. For seniors, it is their last memory in high school and should school board escape from holding the responsibility then put the burden to students? I mean, let&amp;rsquo;s think about it. Which groups of private citizens are most likely to organize such event for high school juniors and seniors? Well, big corporations and local businesses would donate some funding partly for their relations with local residents. However, it would be parents who would carry most burdens. Then, it became more complicated. There are some parents who would oppose to support for prom due to various reasons. It can be their financial situation or even the same reason that the school board had. The difference between school board and the parents is their status as &amp;lsquo;public branch of the government&amp;rsquo; or as &amp;lsquo;private citizens.&amp;rsquo; Hence, the parents who had belief of opposing homosexuality are not to be blamed as the school board.</description>
<pubDate>Sat, 20 Mar 2010 07:59:47 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment63112335</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : Prom or No Prom:  Just Don&#039;t Let the Queer Students Dance Together</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment63112689</link>
<description>If it happened in other nations where the level of resistance regarding homosexuality was high enough, then I would not be surprised like this much. However, it was happened in the United States which protects the freedom and respects the law.  What I do not understand is that it was school board who actually canceled the event. If it was done by a private school, I would not complain this much. It is public system which has to protect students&amp;rsquo; freedoms and rights even though there are stricter limitations than adult citizens have.  I cannot deny Ms. McMillen brining a same-sex date and wearing a Tuxedo to the prom which is not occurred frequently can be a unique situation. But, can we blame a prom participant for wearing a green suit or yellow shoes? I do not really think so. I wish to talk about the punishment (or the sanction that was imposed on the article) as well. Cancelling the whole prom looks very cruel. As she had stated in the article, &amp;ldquo;As we learned from the first lecture, it is really hard to describe a race. I think asking one&amp;#039;s race would cause confusion of identity if the study materials that we learned were considered.&amp;rdquo; I have to doubt the purpose of school board in making such decision.  Some students may thank her for letting them to skip the event since they did not feel like to attend the prom, but majority of students, in my opinion, would think her the cause of this whole incident. I feel like it is school board&amp;rsquo;s strategy to give her some kinds of disadvantages because they opposed the idea of homosexuality. If we see the statement that school board made &amp;ndash; &amp;ldquo;&amp;quot;private citizens will organise an event for the juniors and seniors&amp;quot;&amp;rdquo; &amp;ndash; it became a little bit clearer. If an individual wants to invite another with same-sex as his or her date, school board will not do it. Come on. For seniors, it is their last memory in high school and should school board escape from holding the responsibility then put the burden to students? I mean, let&amp;rsquo;s think about it. Which groups of private citizens are most likely to organize such event for high school juniors and seniors? Well, big corporations and local businesses would donate some funding partly for their relations with local residents. However, it would be parents who would carry most burdens. Then, it became more complicated. There are some parents who would oppose to support for prom due to various reasons. It can be their financial situation or even the same reason that the school board had. The difference between school board and the parents is their status as &amp;lsquo;public branch of the government&amp;rsquo; or as &amp;lsquo;private citizens.&amp;rsquo; Hence, the parents who had belief of opposing homosexuality are not to be blamed as the school board.</description>
<pubDate>Sat, 20 Mar 2010 04:00:10 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment63112689</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : Prom or No Prom:  Just Don&#039;t Let the Queer Students Dance Together</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment63112564</link>
<description>If it happened in other nations where the level of resistance regarding homosexuality was high enough, then I would not be surprised like this much. However, it was happened in the United States which protects the freedom and respects the law.  What I do not understand is that it was school board who actually canceled the event. If it was done by a private school, I would not complain this much. It is public system which has to protect students&amp;rsquo; freedoms and rights even though there are stricter limitations than adult citizens have.  I cannot deny Ms. McMillen brining a same-sex date and wearing a Tuxedo to the prom which is not occurred frequently can be a unique situation. But, can we blame a prom participant for wearing a green suit or yellow shoes? I do not really think so. I wish to talk about the punishment (or the sanction that was imposed on the article) as well. Cancelling the whole prom looks very cruel. As she had stated in the article, &amp;ldquo;As we learned from the first lecture, it is really hard to describe a race. I think asking one&amp;#039;s race would cause confusion of identity if the study materials that we learned were considered.&amp;rdquo; I have to doubt the purpose of school board in making such decision.  Some students may thank her for letting them to skip the event since they did not feel like to attend the prom, but majority of students, in my opinion, would think her the cause of this whole incident. I feel like it is school board&amp;rsquo;s strategy to give her some kinds of disadvantages because they opposed the idea of homosexuality. If we see the statement that school board made &amp;ndash; &amp;ldquo;&amp;quot;private citizens will organise an event for the juniors and seniors&amp;quot;&amp;rdquo; &amp;ndash; it became a little bit clearer. If an individual wants to invite another with same-sex as his or her date, school board will not do it. Come on. For seniors, it is their last memory in high school and should school board escape from holding the responsibility then put the burden to students? I mean, let&amp;rsquo;s think about it. Which groups of private citizens are most likely to organize such event for high school juniors and seniors? Well, big corporations and local businesses would donate some funding partly for their relations with local residents. However, it would be parents who would carry most burdens. Then, it became more complicated. There are some parents who would oppose to support for prom due to various reasons. It can be their financial situation or even the same reason that the school board had. The difference between school board and the parents is their status as &amp;lsquo;public branch of the government&amp;rsquo; or as &amp;lsquo;private citizens.&amp;rsquo; Hence, the parents who had belief of opposing homosexuality are not to be blamed as the school board.   </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:59:47 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment63112564</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : What happens to multiracial people?</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-happens-to-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment63106605</link>
<description>As we learned from the first lecture, it is really hard to describe a race. I think asking one&amp;#039;s race would cause confusion of identity if the study materials that we learned were considered. Which side they should be on, then? A survey form of 2010 Census has been sent to most residences and it includes a category of mixed race. However, in real life, people do not give out the choices to choose from. Physical appearance tells about his her race. For example, I am always an Asian regardless of which country that I came from when talking about White became more specified.  </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:40:43 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-happens-to-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment63106605</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : Is anyone else getting this stuff?</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/is-anyone-else-getting-this-stuff__trashed/#IDComment63102581</link>
<description>When I read the book, I thought the author of this book shares pretty much common thoughts with Sam, and here is the reason why! Now, I can call it &amp;ldquo;like the husband, like the wife&amp;rdquo; style since many contents of the book provided another (or non-common or philosophical) perspective that I have not thought of. Especially, the first part of the book which talked about the brother-in-law who can be called a person with least biases and stereotypes but finally labeled as a &amp;ldquo;racist&amp;rdquo; due to his jokes made the complexity hidden behind the general talking which connects to the &amp;ldquo;reality&amp;rdquo; </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:25:11 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/is-anyone-else-getting-this-stuff__trashed/#IDComment63102581</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : This Is Getting to Be Too Much</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/this-is-getting-to-be-too-much__trashed/#IDComment59992294</link>
<description>For me, this video seems to raise an issue of whether the action of putting a noose in the library and leaving KKK-style hood on the campus would be protected by First Amendment via free speech clause and whether the protest held by groups of minority students are purely understandable or somewhat over-reacting. I would say it is argumentative and understandable for former and latter respectively.  The first issue would be argumentative because those who put such stuffs have freedom of speech inherently but the means of expression and the tools that symbolizes cruelty were over the limit. It is true that we cannot stop ones from having conceptions, or sometimes referred as &amp;quot;streotypes or biases,&amp;quot; against other people even though it is related to race issue. However, as a mature citizen, one must be little bit careful when expressing his or her opinions. In this case, it was not done in private conversations with his or her friends but in public setting. On the other hand, the loose would be up to the interpretations. If African-American see this, the first interpretation would be regarding &amp;#039;racisim&amp;#039; but if it was interpreted by those who are crazy about hunting, it might be just a tool for hunting. To be honest, I do not know how the loose looks like in this case and the one back in early centuries so I may be making a wrong argument.  On the second issue, I am not saying whether the protest should or should not be taken in place, but that reaction was truly understandble. By the way, what does KKK represent? Isn&amp;#039;t Ku Klux Klan the group of people who showed great amount of disgust toward persons of color and even committed heinous crimes against them solely based on grounds of race? These students should have had threat to their safety because of that. If it was not a KKK-style hood, I think it is more likely that these students will use other means to appeal the issue. Furthermore, the totality of this case would make the protest more legitimate. These two incidents were not only ones but several other types of incidents were occurred in the past. The minorities who were believed to be targeted for the past incidents would take them as offensive as well. However, this KKK thing blew up the balloon which was filled with anxiety from all minorities.  In conclusion, this issue is obviously a high-profile case; if it is not, it should be. Hiding the ugly facts and reality would not solve anything. When this kind of conflict came in sight of our eyes, we are able to pay attention and there is much higher likelihood of solving the issue. </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 6 Mar 2010 04:53:17 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/this-is-getting-to-be-too-much__trashed/#IDComment59992294</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : Fired for a Scarf</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59988810</link>
<description>It is too sad that she lost job and it was believed to be due to headscarf expressing one&amp;#039;s religion in the United States of America that protects for the freedom of religion.  Even though the company tried to explain the firing was not because of her religion but that of her poor performance in work.  Well, I don&amp;#039;t think it is much compelling because she was kind of &amp;quot;new&amp;quot; in the area and the first step the company should take was not to fire her but to try to work it out. Furthermore, the limitations on color choices of headscarf (gray, navy blue, and white) were imposed but the manager prohibited that. Paradoxx. Illegitimate rationale. </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 6 Mar 2010 04:19:47 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59988810</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : This Is Getting to Be Too Much</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/this-is-getting-to-be-too-much__trashed/#IDComment59978990</link>
<description>I want to make a counter-argument about part of your statements regarding status quo thing. It may be true that some groups of minority students would benefit from a low average GPA or SAT scores but other students would get disadvantage of that. Currentyly, students from East Asia (China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong ...etc) and India tend to have higher scores in such criteiras. It means that they have to compete among themselves for a fixed spot. I agree on your conclusion in which time matters. It took a while for many of older Generations to accept the idea of equality and anti-racisim. It could be happened due to various efforts from every areas and, I think, the same thing should be occured in this case. For example, while showing their uncomftable feelings toward this incident, they need to seek for mutual understanding of their culture or lives with other part of the community. </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 6 Mar 2010 03:12:25 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/this-is-getting-to-be-too-much__trashed/#IDComment59978990</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : Native Americans: Question Two</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-two__trashed/#IDComment58928552</link>
<description>Offenders and victims exist in this genocide case. The victims were definitely Native Americans while the offenders were ancestors in United States. Now, those offenders who actually did killings and received benefits by that are buried in the ground. If the apology must be made, it should be the government in the first place. Even though every person standing on Red Land but the true issue should be how the descendants of offenders and those of victims would improve their relationship.  I do not mean that we should forget about it and pretend like nothing has been happened. We, as the descendants of offenders, should give more attention to those of victims. </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 27 Feb 2010 06:26:49 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-two__trashed/#IDComment58928552</guid>
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<title>Race Relations Project : Native Americans: Question One</title>
<link>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-one__trashed/#IDComment58922674</link>
<description>The experiment on pre-school children sounds very interesting. Well, I think they might respond in that way because they learn &amp;lsquo;the Little Indian&amp;rsquo; song and some children books contain the word &amp;lsquo;Indian.&amp;rsquo; In regards to the question when should we start the education, I should say it is happening right now &amp;ndash; it just takes longer time. We learned to use &amp;lsquo;Native American&amp;rsquo; but our grandparents or parents are familiar with &amp;lsquo;Indian.&amp;rsquo; When we become 50s and 60s, the outcome will be presented. Like this, the genocide needs to be taught as soon as possible and explained at children level. (We do not want the children to imagine the horror scene, right?) </description>
<pubDate>Sat, 27 Feb 2010 05:18:11 +0000</pubDate>
<guid>https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-one__trashed/#IDComment58922674</guid>
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