I enjoyed listening to the lecture that Sam gave on Tuesday. With that being said, my opinion of the war in the Middle East did not change, mostly because I had knowledge of the topics that Sam discussed and already agreed with him. Before going to class on Tuesday, I had watched the trailer of the Christian Invaders lecture. From the trailer, I realized that the lecture would be about Christians in America and Muslims in the Middle East. For most of my classmates, they began to understand the other side, not the side of the United States. This lecture was not anything new to me because back home, my best friend is Arab and Muslim. Her parents were born in Syria and came to America in their thirties. She takes a trip to Syria almost every summer and would tell me the reactions of the people overseas felt about the war. To the rest of the world, the United States look like arrogant to think that they can come into whoever’s land they like and take over. From the beginning of the war, I have not supported it. I realized that the reason for the war was over oil, but the United States tried to cover up the real reason why we are over there. Of course one of the reasons stated for going to war was the September 11 attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda. Other reasons stated were that the United States wanted to help the Iraqi people create a democratic government. It was concealed that the war was over oil. I like how Sam made the class think as Arab Muslims from Iraq or Afghanistan. It made it easier for people to put in perspective how the Iraqi and Afghani people really feel. To them, the United States seems arrogant thinking we can go into anyone’s land and take what we want. We, the United States, try to cover it up by helping the Middle East create democracies. I believe that the United States is putting their nose into business where it does not belong. To me, it seems unlikely that the Middle East will ever be able to function under a democratic government like the United States. I feel that we are in the Middle East for the wrong reasons and are more of a pest to the people living there. I was glad to see that Sam was able to make the class realize the United States’ faults and reveal the misconception about Arab Muslims. By putting yourself in somebody else’s shoes such as Arab Muslims, the view becomes much clearer and no longer one sided. While Sam did not change my opinion about the war, he enforced what I already knew.

My roommate and I were talking about how different this case would have been if a woman had seen the act. A woman would have been mortified and immediately removed the child away from Sandusky. Typically, most women have maternal instincts and show more attention towards children. It is more personal and bothersome to women over men especially young men. For many young men, children is the last time on their minds, but for young women there is always the thought that someday they plan on having children. This type of mindsets probably played a role in how the events of the Sandusky scandal played out. Mike McQueary was a graduate assistant at the time of the incident. While Mike McQueary reported what he saw to Joe Paterno, a woman would have told Joe Paterno as well but may also went directly to the authorities. I believe that Mike McQueary did what he should by telling Joe Paterno, although, there is always the possibility that the Sandusky scandal would have be resolved earlier if it was reported immediately to the authorities. I feel like the issue would have been reported directly to the administrators rather than through a series of people if a woman saw what Mike McQueary saw Sandusky doing to the young boy. A woman probably would have pushed the issue more until something was done and Sandusky was charged. Most women have a soft spot in their hearts for children. Many times, a wife will take the side of their children over the side of their husband because there is such a strong connection between the mother and child. Now do not get me wrong, no all men and women act in the manner that I have suggested. Some men have the same affection towards children as women, while there are women who do not have affection for children to the great of extent as other women. There is no denying that this case would have gone in a different direction if women were involved. This seems evident when stated in the grand jury report that a mother of a child that expressed concern and felt uncomfortable around Sandusky immediately reported it to authorities. The mother did not hesitate, although she was not in a position where she had authority above her that she should report to. As the same point, Mike McQueary did have authority above him especially since he was only a graduate assistant. This makes it tricky if he was in the right to go only to his authorities or if he should have gone straight to the police. It is dependent on the person, male or female, on how they would deal with the situation. With all this being said, I believe that the actions of Sandusky would have been brought to the authorities and the public quicker if a woman had seen it. I realize this is generalizing that all women would act a certain way and I’m recognizing there are men who would have pressed the issue more.

I would agree that the Penn State student body is going through the five stages of grief. My roommate and I turned on the television at ten expecting to only hear about the news of Graham Spanier, but instead were surprised to hear about Joe Paterno. After hearing about the firing of Graham Spanier, we did not expect to hear that Joe Paterno was also being fired. We both looked at each other and said, “Is this serious? Did I hear that right?” We could not believe the news. We knew it was a possibility that it would happen, but the fact that it actually did completely blew our minds. That whole night was so overwhelming and I could not accept that this had occurred. As we stood outside Joe Paterno’s house along with other students, we were shocked to think that this man was no longer part of the university that he invested so much time into. As the night moved on, it was obvious that the students became angered by the whole issue. At the protest at Old Main, immediately after the news was released was full of denial and anger. The energy there was so powerful. The chants varied from the usual “WE ARE…” and “We Want Joe!” to outraged chants towards Sandusky and the Board of Trustees. The riots downtown definitely showed anger of the students along with badly representing our school. Although, I know that most of the students in the riot were there to chant and see what was happening, the few that destroyed property unfortunately are chosen to represent our student body as a whole. The students probably went through the phase of bargaining as well. We are constantly thinking about what we could do to change the outcome. I never imagined that there were be a football game, let alone two whole football seasons, without Joe Paterno. I can imagine that many students would do anything to get that back. I would say that this Thursday was the more depressing than last night because the information finally sank in. The whole campus seemed somber. Speaking for myself, I know I was really sad about the whole issue and was not in the mood to do anything but lie around and sleep. There were many times throughout the day that I thought people were going to break and start crying. Emotions were flying everywhere and so out of control. Although after Sam’s class, I feel that many students started to feel better about the issue. Now that today is Friday, the day before the Nebraska game, students have realized we need to accept what has happened and look towards other things such as the candle light vigil tonight and winning the game for the seniors tomorrow. I would not say the students fully accept it, but have come to the realization there is nothing that can be done to change the outcome. Joe Paterno will forever be the greatest head coach of Penn State football.

The idea that Americans think immigrants should learn to speak English is a ridiculous concept to me. When our ancestors came to America, they did not speak English. By forcing immigrants to speak English, it seems that we are stripping immigrants of their culture. The transition of coming to America and living their home is difficult enough that language becomes a comfort and memory of home. I could not imagine if my great-grandparents were forced to know English well when they came to America from Poland. If that were the case, I would probably never have the chance to hear Polish spoken in my grandparents’ house. My grandmother and her sister would always speak Polish because it was easier for them to converse between each other. My grandmother knew Polish before she learned English. So to ask immigrants today to learn English is hypocritical because most of our ancestors did not know English until they came to America. Perhaps, I take this stand because of my grandmother or the fact that I am minoring in Spanish. I think knowing other languages make us cultured and I enjoy hearing other languages. It is so fascinating to me. While many Americans complain about immigrants not knowing English, many of them are actually bilingual. Most Americans cannot say that. I cannot even say that even though I am learning Spanish, it is very minimal and there have been very few times that I have actually spoke Spanish with someone else. As Americans, we are hypocrites and place ourselves on a pedestal. Many times, when American students go to study abroad in Europe, Africa, or Asia, they continue to speak English rather than learning the language of the area they are studying in. If Americans do not accept themselves to learn the language when they study abroad, how can we expect immigrants to learn English? Lots of times, Americans do not even know how long immigrants have been in America to give them a chance to learn English. I assume that most immigrants want to learn some English eventually to make a smoother transition and better chance of finding work. Immigrants come to America to form a better life for themselves. Why should Americans care if immigrants prefer to speak in their native language? It is their comfort level, just like when Americans go overseas, we rather speak English to communicate with others than try to speak a new language. For immigrants, it makes the transition to America easier by speaking their native language with others who speak their language too. I do not understand why Americans cannot accept this because we do the same exact thing. When Americans think that immigrants should have to learn English if they come to America, they need to realize that they are taking away their culture and any piece of home that they had left. It is ridiculous to expect immigrants to learn English before they come to America or to speak English once they get here.

The idea that white people will eventually become a minority is so foreign because white people have been the majority for such a long time. I would say that it is weird, somewhat scary, but also relieved that white people will become a minority. It would be weird because for all of my childhood, I was a majority, then as an older adult, I become a minority. I have noticed that for older generations it is more difficult to get accustom to new things such as technology and different price ranges for similar products. I feel that it would be an issue for the older generations to deal with the shift in society. It would be a hard adjustment for those who grew up as a majority. Minorities do not receive the same benefits that a majority does, such as white privilege. Being a white person, there are more opportunities present to you based on social and economic benefits. The majority tends to be better off because they are in control, holding more executive positions than minorities. Therefore, majorities are able to keep ahold of the reign and determine who gets the job and who does not. If whites become a minority, I will actually be able to put myself in a minority’s shoes and see life through their eyes. I would probably notice how difficult it is to be successful whereas being the majority, I would say that I assume that I will be successful due to the fact I have more opportunities presented to me based on my race. I would be a humbling experience to be a minority because I have noticed that white people believe that they are better than other races and feel obligated to be privileged. Also, as a minority, white people would not feel white guilt anymore or the need to constantly be politically correct around other races. As a majority, you are an easy target for ridicule and speculation about how the social system works and the blame for the corruptions within it. Not everyone in the majority is to blame for why things are the way they are, but at the same time, minorities are under speculation for trivial things such as shoplifting when shopping based on their skin color. It would be quite the different experience living life as a minority rather than a majority. Minorities also have to deal with stereotypes such as not being hard working and being lazy, that white people, who are actually lazy do not deal with. I mentioned before that it would be somewhat scary to no longer be a majority because life would be so much more difficult with all of my privileges of being white taken from me. It was be an interesting world to see white people become the minority within the next several years.

I do not think people who hang out with primarily people of races outside their own race are considered “posers.” With that being said, people are still ridiculed about whom they hang out with and how they act. For example, black people can be called Oreos, meaning “white” on the inside and “black” on the outside. While white people get termed “wangsters,” meaning white gangsters. Personally, I think these labels are ridiculous. People of a certain race should not be expected to all act the same way. Whites and blacks have been stereotyped in terms of use of speech, clothing, and the way they walk. Whites are assumed to speak properly with articulation and act more professional than blacks. Blacks are thought to use more slang than white people. This idea is so skewed because there are people from both races that speak properly and improperly. It has been perceived that all white people are professional and superior in all aspects of life. This simply is not true. From my experience in college and high school, I have met white people that speak English poorly compared to black people who articulate their sentences and use sophisticated words. It is dependent on the person not the race. It seems that we can never reach a happy medium because if we only spent time with our race, we are considered shattered or worse, racist. But if we spent most of time with people of other races, we might be considered culturally knowledgeable or on the other hand, a poser (trying to be someone we are not). I could not imagine my life if I only spent time with white people because I would not be exposed to many different things such as language or food. My best friend from home is Arabic, so I have heard the language many times and have eaten Syrian food. The same has occurred at college; I have an Arabic and Latino friend. I enjoy it because I get to hear Arabic and Spanish a lot. I could not imagine my life without these people. I realize that I would not be considered a poser because I do not only hang out with a certain race. I think it is better when you take time to hang out with more people of a different race. It gives you a different perceptive on issues that before you may not have seen. The main message is that race should not matter at all. By calling someone a poser is calling attention to different races. I feel that people are called posers based on what it looks like from the outside and many times the person calling someone a poser does not even know the person or his/her personality. The whole concept of poser is absurd.

I would definitely say I am in stage two. I feel that white people are always securitized about being racism towards all races and are forced to be politically correct. We fear classifying someone improperly such in a race category that the person does not prefer to be associated with and being considered unknowledgeable or even worse, called a racist. When other people classify me into a race category, they automatically call me a white girl without any hesitation. For white people, it is the opposite. We hesitate to call someone black or African American. In a world in conversation project, one girl in my group called this man black and he clearly looked black and he corrected her, saying that he was not black, but rather he was Caribbean. The girl was immediately embarrassed and felt horrible that she offended him by calling him black. While at my high school, it was not like this situation. My friends who were black preferred to be called black rather than African American because to them being black was the same thing as me being white. It is always a thin line for white people to cross when labeling someone in a race category. Most times, people of color have different opinions about what race they are. It makes it hard for white people to know which race to use when classifying people. Unlike people of color, white people are normally called white and accept the term. On standardized tests, the races options are usually white, African American, Hispanic, Native Indian, or Asian. There are very few times that the term Caucasian is the option instead of white. I think this mostly has to do with the fact that Caucasian does not classify all white people properly as Caucasian does not actually refer to white people of European descent. The point is that for white people, there is really only one option to classify our race: white. Since people of color are not classified that easy, it keeps white people are there toes about which term to use and many times prefer to whisper that term, so that other cannot hear them and they do not offend anyone. We have to be politically correct because we are under such a magnified microscope when it comes to this issue mainly due to America’s history and our dominance. Many times, I prefer not to call someone by their race unless I know what they prefer to be called and am knowledgeable about their culture because of the fear of offending someone. An example is the stage 2 guy in class, who stumbled on how to classify the Muslim girl wearing a hijab. Since my best friend back home is an Arab Muslim who wear a hijab, I would not hesitate because I know what it is called and know about the culture and religion. These are the struggles that white people fight all the time when it comes to race.

As a girl, this question raises so many conflicting responses. About two or three weekends ago, it was really cold that Friday night and my friends and I were not in the mood to wear dresses, so we decided to wear jeans. I remember telling my guy friend this and he responded with “why don’t you wear a dress instead?” To me, it seemed like he was saying wearing jeans for a girl was a party foul. It is expected of girls to dress a certain way when going out to parties. We are pressured into wearing what guys want regardless of how we want to dress that night. Fortunately, my friends and I found out once we got to the party, it was a denim party. I was beyond happy that I did not take my friend’s advice to wear a dress. It has become a college phenomenon that girls wear dresses or high waisted skirts with fashionable tops to party, while guys wear jeans and a t-shirt (some dress it up a little with a polo or plaid shirt). If girls walk around campus in jeans and a sweatshirt on a Friday night, they are always looked at and down upon from guys and other girls for not wearing skin-tight clothes. Wearing minimal clothing to a party is the social-norm and everything different is weird. It has become expected of girls. An example would be a girl wear sweats would never get into a frat, while a girl in a tight dress and heels can jump the line and get into the house immediately. While I would like to put all the blame on guys, that is not the cause. Some guys have told me it does not matter what a girl wears, but it obviously affects which girl they are more attracted to or would rather dance with. While girls complain about the cold we endure from wearing tight dress with no jacket, wearing such clothing is empowering. This might sound odd. But girls get the feeling of “damn, I look good” when they look in the mirror when wearing a form fitting dress with heels. We are always trying to impress. There is a fine line between wearing a short, tight dress and wearing close to nothing. Many girls wearing a similar outfit can look classy and fine, while others look sleazy. My roommate wore a short dress and was worried what people would say, but to her surprise many people said due to the way she presented herself and acted throughout the night, she looked classy and not slutty. Some guys think because we are wearing a short dress that we are open to anything with anyone. Just because, I’m wearing a tight dress and heels does not mean I’m down for anything. Guys think girls are easy based on what they are wearing and that is not the case. This is why girls get offended when guys cross that line and disrespect them.

I was shocked by the public’s reaction to the different bicycle thieves. I assumed that the reactions would be the same for each thieve since they are committing the same crime. I was so wrong in thinking that. I felt that each thieve did the same thing by pulling out a saw to cut the chain and trying to lift it up over the pole should receive the same reaction. Although with this experiment, I think they dressed the black man slightly differently than the white man. The white man’s clothes were more fitted. The black man’s shirt was much bigger and longer on him than the white man. Also, his jeans were baggier. Especially for the older generation, baggy clothes are considered to be dressing like a “thug.” People older than 50 automatically believe that people who wear baggy clothes and dress like a “thug” are worse people and more likely to be criminals than people who wear more fitted clothes. This is a stereotype that people who wear loose clothes are criminals. I noticed that most of the people who were so bothered by the black man stealing the bicycle, but it seemed acceptable when the white man or white woman was stealing the bicycle. To me, this represents that the public thinks that a black man is more likely to be a criminal over a white man. This goes along with the data that Sam shown in class dealing with employers employing black men versus white man. It is crazy for me to wrap my mind around the fact that the employers would more likely hire a white man with a criminal record over a black man with no criminal record. It is apparent that the black man is more suitable for a job and wanting to make a contribution to the society. I would consider this racism, even though I realize that Sam stressed a person of color cannot say that their race affected their chances of receiving a job. The data speaks for itself. It is so astonishing to me that a white man WITH a criminal record has a better chance of getting a job than a black man WITHOUT a record. It is so not fair. If I was black, I would be so discouraged to try to get a decent job knowing that it might go to a white man with a criminal record. The other part of the bicycle video that amused me was the one old man that willing helped the woman steal a bicycle. He did not even question her, but because of her looks it was acceptable. I did not expect the public opinions to be different. I thought they would all be bothered that someone was stealing a bicycle. At the same time, I understand why people did not stop. As Americans, many times we just continue to walk and do not bother people we did not know.

I read and watched the videos of two entrepreneurs, Clorene Blaise and Figaro Lewis that caught my attention. I noticed that the term microeconomics was used in both videos to suggest a way for the women to have a more effective business. Last semester, I took Microeconomics with Dirk Mateer; therefore I had some background on this term. In this context, the United States would sent the women bulk of fabrics such as cotton and over time the women would pay back all of the cost of the fabric. I noticed that Sam emphasized that the women did not want handouts but rather pay for the fabric like anyone else. It is obvious that the women want to keep their business going without outside help. They also wanted to expand their business, but cannot because they do not have the resources. Figaro, for example, has a very long walk to get supplies to make pastries. It is evident how long the trip is because it was video taped by driving in a car. People in the United States could not imagine walking that far just to get supplies to support their business and family. We take for granted that we have cars and other forms of transportation to get somewhere in a short amount of time. While watching the videos of Clorene Blaise, I noticed that there are only eight people working for her and the conditions of her working place. The sewing machines were so old that they looked like they were made in the fifties or earlier. According to American standards, this working area was not up to key. This summer I worked at Little League International, which completely opposite compared to Clorene’s business. Little League hires many employees during the year, but especially during the series. My workplace was so neat, clean, and contained up-to-date technology. I worked in data entry in a room that contained four computers and all the employees in the office also had computers. Clorene’s business, on the other hand, had no computers. Clorene and Figaro both wanted to buy small laptops to keep track and records of sales. It is crazy to not imagine having computers and multiple employees at big businesses in the United States. In the one video, Sam talked about the extreme heat and stood by the fan. From the video, there seemed to only be one fan to cool the work area and it did not seem effective. Here, we have air conditioners that keep rooms cool as 68. From watching these videos, I saw so many differences between the United States and Haiti. I admire the Haitian people for trying to continue their business and wanting to expand them to be more successful. This may be a stereotype, but it seems that the Haitian people work harder and have more want to work than some Americans because we have it much easier to get work than they do.