You had a really good post and I enjoy reading it, and this class has truly though us on how to look at things at different angles, all of your comments really had me thinking about the immigrant situation. However Immigration is very complex and their will always be a difference of opinion on this issue, but being able to look at things at a different point of view do give a broad understanding of these issues and by actually being able to put ourselves into the shoes of an immigrant and see it how they see it or even experience it how they experience it can really bring some understanding of this very diverse topic

I believe that mostly everyone thinks or talk about immigration since this country is made up of immigrants, there are a lot of struggles that immigrants have to endure in this country in order to be accepted and to feel accepted. my parents are immigrants and this part of the lecture really open up my eyes on immigrants and also their impact on business. Sam made an interesting point and how immigrants and how they are an essential part of our economy. I am not sure how I really feel about the issue about illegal immigrants I never really give any thoughts to it, but I am really thinking about it now, for one thing I know it is extremely hard for a illegal immigrant to make it in this country and it is true that they do perform the jobs that American citizens refuses to do in order to make a living and feed their family. I know that there are issues of citizens that pay taxes and on the other hand there are illegal immigrants who works under the books and do not pay any taxes at all which is a kind of an unfair balance, but at the same time it is quite understandable that these illegal immigrants do not have a choice and accept these under the books job because if their immigrant status. But as a child of parents who are immigrants I can somehow relate to some of the things that illegal immigrants have to go through because I heard my parents speak of some of the things they went through when they first came to this country and they were illegal and could not find a job, because of their status, could not get an apartment also because of their status and also the struggle they had to endure to become an American citizen, so this is why it is easy for me to relate to illegal immigrants. Also there are the issues of non English speaking immigrants and how they should learn to speak English, this I tend to agree with because if you decide that you are moving to a country and it is where you will call home then you should learn to speak the language of the place you will be calling home. But as Sam has pointed out how second generation immigrants do learn how to speak the native language and culture which is also true, the new generation is now more inclined to adapt to the American culture. However we can all agree that America is the land of opportunity and this is why people wants to immigrate here and become a part of our society and our American culture.

It was quite fascinating to me when Sam mentioned that gay and straight couples and how they deal with children and also the adoption of children. I really do not agree with the adoption of children by a gay couple. I am not saying that a gay person is not capable of taking care of a child because they are human beings and should be able to take care of a child, I just thing that it is a little unfair to the child to grow up in a home with either having two mothers or two fathers as their parents. I believe that it can and will confuse those children. I honestly believe that being gay is a choice but if that is their preference who am I to knock them for it because I am pretty sure there are many things about me that people do not like but who are they to say if I am right or wrong or should not make some of the choices that I make

This has been another very interesting lecture, the statistics on multiculturalism is absolutely fascination. This lesson as well as many of the previous lessons really teased my mind and really left me thinking. I really wonder how diverse people are, my close friends and the people that I associate with. I am a democratic or at least I think so, I believe in freedom and people having a voice so I guess that makes me a democratic well something like that. I am very comfortable with diversity in my neighborhood, my neighborhood is very young therefore there is a large scale of diversity. I am of mixed race which are Asian, Black and Indian, and my girlfriend is white soon to be wife. I get along with all kind of people and I have a very diverse group of friends which I find them all very interesting and I enjoy spending time with my friends. Professor Sam stated that America is a multicultural nation, and I can clearly see this. Because this country is made up of immigrants I do not thing that immigrants should not be able to exercise the customs and their cultures when they enter into America. However I agree that all Immigrants should be able to speak English and if they do not they should learn to speak it. Just as if I decided that I will move to Spain then I will most definitely will have to learn to speak Spanish in order to be able to communicate with other Spanish people that I come in contact with on a day to day basis. I do not expect the Spanish government to change the way in which they do things in order to accommodate me because I do not speak Spanish, for example re-write their newspaper in English to accommodate me or other form of communication and other news. The LGBT portion of this lesson has allowed me to get some perspective, however I do feel that there are many gay people who are really bold or as to say flaunt how gay they really are. Professor Sam stated that they do not flaunt it because it is not part of the norm or unexpected so I guess it is more noticeable, which really makes a lot of sense to me now. What is also interesting is that by 2050 the US is predicting to be almost half of non-European immigrants, also the statistics that Dr. Richards have showed in the lecture of the different encounters that we have had with people of different races. The part of the lecture about homosexual and the many laws that is there in some places that can even put them in prison for engaging in sexual acts and also can be illegal in some places was surprising to me, I was not aware of this. But based on my religious beliefs I truly believe that a person chooses to be gay and they are not born gay they give in to these urges and it becomes them.

Yes I agree that it was very interesting when Sam compared the experience of life of colored people and the tale of two amphibians who experienced both “land and water”. Being a certain color and being the minority can also be difficult at times for those who are the minority and they always have to prove that they are worthy and are equal even though they are considered the minority. I know when I went out on job interviews and I am being interviewed by a white person, my whole personality will change and also my mannerism and it is completely different from when I interview with a black person I feel that I do not have to let my guard down and I do not have to be extra careful about how I answer the question and how I present my self. Now I wonder about this was it all because of stereotype?

The lecture being white was quite interesting, the lecture and the video slides were very interesting and to me entertaining. It was interesting learning about color and racial identity difference and also the similarities. The awakening stage of people figuring out there differences between themselves and others was also quite interesting. I believe that there are so much to race and culture that people fail to realize, because everyone live their lives so differently and are so caught up doing their own things that they fail to realize what race and culture really is and what it means. Dr. Richards talked about people of color who find whites and people who are the majority to be annoying since they are the majority together with people who did not move into the awakening state. I can truly understand this and see why they will be annoyed and angry if and when you are the minority. People just need to be a little more open minded and learn to accept everyone as they are and we have a beautiful world because of our blended society. A garden does not look beautiful with one color. I honestly believe that there are so much assumptions where race is concerned which always leads to misunderstanding. As much as white and black are different from each other there are plenty of similarities as well and if people will take the time to learn the difference and the similarities they will be more accepting of each other. These lectures have opened my eyes to so much regarding race, things that I thought is not what I really thought is not how it really is so this has been a great learning experience for me. I never realized how much really goes on around me where race and color is concerned, now it is become so clear to me. Racism is such a touchy subject and although we have come so far regarding this issue, it still remains a hot topic. The study that was done with the small children and if they would pick up the white baby or if they will pick up the black baby. This clearly shows that race is something that is embedded in us even from an early age and these kids believe whole heartedly that white is better than black, they are not fully aware of it but it is very apparent. It is also amazing that when the little girl was asked to pick up the baby that is bad and she automatically picked up the black baby, she is only mimicking what society has taught her, and this can be really sad. I believe if children are taught about race and how to treat everyone equally from a very early age this world will be a better place.

I tend to agree with you and because of the may years of social injustices of the past, their really should be more effort and more social programs in place in order to correct these social injustices. But do these programs really work this is another questions, because we have come so far with this issue and I must say that their have been significant changes and improvement where this issue is concerned. If we take a look at affirmative action, it is a big controversy and some people think that it should not have existed and some think that it is no longer needed, especially since we now have a black president they believe that it is evidence enough that affirmative action is no longer needed, but that is a whole other topic in itself.

The continuation of the lecture in week 5 what it means to be white definitely addressed the issues on what it means to be white. After the first lecture I was really thinking a lot about the subject itself, and all I could do was smile to myself. I realty thought that white people did discuss their whiteness, but I guess this is just another stereotype. I was really astonish to know that white people really do not identify with their race which explains the issue of how addressing race among white people can really impact the issue itself. I can truly see why white people learn to treat everybody equally in an attempt of avoiding being labeled or to be seen as a racist. I believe that all race to a certain degree are conditioned to not bring up race in an effort of not being labeled as a racist. I honestly believe that often times that there are many white people who are labeled as racist when in fact they are not racist at all, and this is what I believe because of the fear of being labeled as a racist when a white person is around black people, they are not sure how to act and what to say because almost anything they say or do can be labeled as being a racist and that can be a really difficult thing to be living with to have to be always be careful and mindful of what you say or do when you are around a particular group of people, and it can explain why some white people would rather not be around black people at all not because they are racist but the fear of being labeled as being racist. I know that Sam use an example about when he was labeled as being a racist by someone, who did not have a clue that he was indeed a race relation’s professor, but because of the fact that he did not agree on a particular issue, he was then labeled. This kind of thing happens on a day to day basis, and the racist issue will always be a topic and will always be around. What also amazed me with the lecture was finding out that one of the awakening stages leads to white supremacy, but to me I believe that that particular stage really have something to do with the person actually being racist, because at the same time it is a choice. The part of the lecture about appropriation of identities how will a person know when it is the appropriate time and when it is deemed necessary and useful to identify a person by his/her race or by the color of their skin, and this is probably what white people have the biggest problem with and really do not know how to address this problem because they do not want to be called a racist.

Great lecture and such an eye opener, and I agree with you about the excitement of discussing race relations in this class. I must admit, I was very curious about this discussion and quite eager to see what we will be learning about race. The pre awakening part of the lecture was interesting. I myself never really thought much about the significances of race since I am of mixed race and my girlfriend is white, but never really stop to think about some of the things that I have learn in this lecture.

This lecture was very interesting on “whiteness” it had me thinking quite a bit on what it is to be white, I never heard anyone discussing their whiteness. I really do not think that anyone really sit and try to understand what it really means to be a white person. I never thought that white people talked about their race but only about other people’s race. After this lecture I realized that there are so many things and so many different habits that people have and things that they do without realizing what they are doing. Everything that people do and say has become so race-centered and almost everything is and can be labeled as being racist. I am mixed with Black, Chinese, Indian and a few other different race, and I never ever thought about what it would be like if I was white until now, quite fascinating thoughts. I wonder if my life would have been any different from what it is now, and if maybe I would be more successful and more rich, because that is how white people are viewed as being more successful, more rich and having more opportunities. But seeing that I have as equal opportunities as white people have I do not thing that my life would have been any different from what it is now. This lecture opened my eyes about the importance of my self and my identity and what it mean to me and people around me. I really do not thing that there is a set way of how a person should feel about being white because then it will be saying that there is a certain way that a white person should feel. I believe how it feels to be white varies from each individual. My girlfriend is white and she seems just as normal as I am and any other race. She never talk about her whiteness or a matter of fact my blackness or the other race that I am mixed with. We do make jokes about our races but it is purely just jokes. But now as I took this lectures it makes me wonder about the kind of jokes that we each make about each other races. This lecture brought some awareness of how different each race are and how differently we think even me and my girlfriend that I mentioned is white. I can truly see that although we have so much in common and we both like almost the same things and each other, that we are still so different in our cultures, in our daily life and how we see the world as a whole.