I completely agree with everything you said about affirmative action. I also cannot count how many times I have heard that someone lost a job to someone else based on the color of that person's skin. It amazes how clueless people really are when it comes to topics such as this one. It also amazes me how people can be so quick to judge something that they know nothing about. People should get the facts of a situation or topic and then make an informed conclusion, not just go off ranting about something based on what someone else told them.
I also think that everyone has benefited from nepotism at some point in our lives. The first thing that we are told when coming to college, as Sam said, is to meet people and make connections. I can’t remember how many times I heard about networking opportunities with Penn State alumni during the semester. Contacts are unfortunately a big part of how we get ahead in the world. I know that I myself have benefited from either knowing someone or from my parents knowing someone that was in a position to help me get ahead. I don’t like to admit it, but it’s true.
The video that Sam showed was shocking and very sad. I do not believe that it is fair that some kids get all of the perks just because they go to a school with money. Every child deserves and should be given the same chance to succeed. The video showed a very typical stereotype in our society today: the inner city school was falling apart and had a very low graduation rate while the suburban school had the really high graduation rate and state-of-the-art facilities. How are the inner city kids supposed to compete with kids who are given every chance to succeed, with their teachers and technology. The suburban kids were literally put on the fast track to success. On the other side of this, how are the inner city kids supposed to succeed when the proverbial deck is literally stacked against them? It is unfair and unacceptable. I really hope that something was done to improve that school after this show aired.
I completely agree with Sam that people need to think before they start spouting off their opinion about affirmative action. What people do not realize is that affirmative action is not just program that puts people of color ahead of white people. I did a presentation on affirmative action in one of my other classes and I was shocked by how many people do not actually understand what affirmative action is. Most people in my class just believed that it was a program that gave jobs and spots in schools to people who did not deserve them just so that the company or school could meet some kind of quota, like they had to have so many people of color working for them so that they did not look biased. I know, after doing the research for the presentation, that this is not the case. One of the examples that I used in the presentation was a school in California that used an affirmative action program to get more white people into their science and engineering program because they thought that too many of their students were Asian. Not the type of affirmative action that we normally think about.
I completely agree with you that all one point, all of us were illegal immigrants. What makes that fact so much worse is that when our ancestors came to this country, they forcibly took the land from the people who were already living here. I also agree that people seem to think that at the border of a country there is some kind of invisible barrier that keeps people who are not citizens of this country out. There isn't, and unless someone puts a sign on every inch of the border, even U.S citizens would have no idea where Mexico ends and Texas starts.
I also find it interesting that when most people speak out against immigration, they forget that in order for them to have been born in this country, someone in their family had to have come here from another country. At one point in our family history, we were all immigrants. While everyone should come into this country legally, we must remember that America is supposed to be the place where everyone can build a better life. That is what makes this country so unique. Unfortunately, however, we sometimes contradict ourselves. In my opinion, I believe that in most cases, the sign on the proverbial door bears the message “Welcome to America. Now get out.” That is not what this country was meant to be.
I found it very interesting when Sam pointed out that history is written through the eyes of the victor. We never hear both sides of the story. The history books only tell the side of the story from the viewpoint of the side that won the battle. For instance, we do not learn about what actually happened to the Native Americans during the Trail of Tears or during any of the battles between them and the white settlers. We do not hear about how their land was stolen from them and their people murdered. While we cannot change the past, we should still hear what was done, the good and the bad, so that we can learn from it. I believe that the story should be told from both the side that won and the side that lost. Only then can we truly understand what happened.
Immigration is still a very controversial issue in today’s society. As Sam pointed out in the lecture, everyone focuses on illegal immigrants today. Many blame these people for taking “our” jobs. I was born and raised in the United States and I believe that illegal immigration is wrong. I also believe that what Europeans did to the Native Americans so many years ago when they came over was just as bad, if not worse. The reason the companies hire illegal immigrants is because they will do jobs that most Americans will not. I watched a video for a presentation that I gave in another class last spring that interviewed immigrants that worked on a farm picking beans in California. The farm owners ran a campaign based on the workers called “Take Our Jobs Please”. The goal was to employ more Americans and fewer immigrants. The Americans that decided to take part in the program would do the same jobs that the immigrants were doing in the fields at the time. At the conclusion of the program, only thirteen Americans had taken over jobs from immigrants.
I agree that part of what makes the United States strong is the fact that we are multicultural. We take the best of all countries and turn it into something unique. We are able to relate to most countries in the world because we have people that have roots in those countries. I believe that this is a benefit for us. We can respect most other cultures and are able to work with them. It is truly what makes this country unique. I also agree that business is very globalized. Most businesses make deals with companies around the world, and because of this the business world is very comfortable making deals and negotiating with people from all over the world. Business does not really care about who the person in the meeting is in love with or what they do in the spare time. Because of this, I agree that to make it in that world, you better be able to accept someone and move on.
I also think that there are a lot of stereotypes about what Republicans believe versus what Democrats believe. I know that I myself hold some of these stereotypes, although I know that they are incorrect. For example, the numbers shown for the question of whether or not a person would rather live in a diverse community. I was not surprised that more Democrats answered that they would rather live in a diverse community than Republicans. As Sam said in the lecture, Republicans can be stereotyped as racists. I know that I have friends who are Republicans that fit this stereotype perfectly. What we need to remember however is that Democrats can be just as racist as Republicans. The party that a person belongs to does not make them racist; the person makes themselves racist.
![[Avatar]](/images/avatar26.png){kind=avatar}
Thingamajig