en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/3537289 Comments by DaniVanGheem http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/01/voices-from-the-classroom-20/#IDComment229064355 The United States is known as the largest melting pot, bringing in numerous ethnicities into one diverse country. Walking across campus I can hear various languages of different origins. When the question is asked if immigrants should have to speak English, I think the answer is both yes and no. I believe on one hand that if an immigrant comes to the United States to become a full citizen, then yes they should learn English. I also believe that in the citizenship test immigrant take they must be taken fully in English; so therefore, they must learn English in order to become a full citizen. However, on the other hand if the immigrants don’t want to learn English or become an American citizen, that is their own personal choice and I would respect that. It is their own personal decision and it may be a disadvantage to an extent, but that is what they want. We have no right to force someone to speak a language if they are not going to be a citizen. There are many immigrants who have their children who fluently speak English come with them to the Doctor’s office or to a meeting to help them translate. If they want to do that, it is totally up to them. Their life may be harder, but they want to preserve their native language and their culture. Also, I think over time just being exposed to English they will pick up on some words and phrases just living around it. The complaint that many people have is that businesses now have products listed in English and Spanish. Well that is a business decision not some type of government mandate or anything. Businesses have taken notice of all of the native Spanish speakers in the country and have put Spanish on the products in order to make more money. It all comes down to money and it is not about not trying to have Spanish take over the English language. Furthermore, the Spanish language is projected to overtake the English language so maybe we should stop complaining and start adjusting ourselves to other languages. We are the melting pot country and there is nothing wrong with immigrants who want to preserve their culture and part of their culture is their native language. When I hear another language I think it is beautiful and exotic. I would love to be fluent in another language other than English. We do not need to force someone to speak English; they will pick up some English without us forcing it on them. If they want to become citizens they will have to learn English, so they will understand what they are sacrificing. All in all, we should respect their decision whether or not they decide to learn English. Tue, 29 Nov 2011 02:57:41 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/01/voices-from-the-classroom-20/#IDComment229064355 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/10/voices-from-the-classroom-73/#IDComment221962218 (Part 3) I attended the event and was happy that we could show the world that we are compassionate and reasonable human beings and we do care about more than just football. As we are moving on from all of this I think it is important to remember that these events don’t define us. We are not Sundusky we are not the ones that caused this and we should still be proud to be a Penn Stater. There is so much good that comes out of our University and that is what we need to continue to show the world. Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:25:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/10/voices-from-the-classroom-73/#IDComment221962218 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/10/voices-from-the-classroom-73/#IDComment221962116 (Part two) I have heard that students are upset that the media reported us in a negative light on the riot, but it was all true and it was happening in front of the media so it is their job to report on what is happening in front of them. Now it wasn’t all of Penn State that was at the riots and this must be reminded to the general public. After the riots I saw a story on the Daily Show showing Penn State students in a negative light because of the riots. He compared our football to religion and was very critical of us as students for caring more for a football coach than the sexual assault victims. I believe we need that criticism to show the world that we are not that. Then on Friday of last week there was a candle light vigil held on Old Main Lawn. Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:25:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/10/voices-from-the-classroom-73/#IDComment221962116 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/10/voices-from-the-classroom-73/#IDComment221961870 After all that has happened last week, there definitely has been a change in the way that the rest of the world views Penn State. In light of the Sundusky scandal attention was first on Jerry Sundusky himself and how the University failed to report the charges to law enforcement. As a journalism student, I believe the media plays a very important role in the government and is almost like the fourth branch of government to check the powers of everyone. The media need to look at the University and its chain of command to see why it failed, to see why no one said anything to the police and why these innocent boys have not been protected. However, this attention shifted with the unexpected events on last Wednesday night, when the board of trustee decided to fire out President Graham Spainer and head football coach and legion Joe Paterno. Student reacted out of angry and took to Old Main and the streets to show their outrage with the board’s decision to fire JoePa. This then put Penn State students in a view to the world that we only care about football and not about the real victims in all of this, the young boys who were alleged sexual assaulted. (Continued) Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:24:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/10/voices-from-the-classroom-73/#IDComment221961870 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/03/voices-from-the-classroom-65/#IDComment218374672 I believe that Americans are seeing only the cost of immigration rather than the benefits because we need a scapegoat to explain the downfall of our current economic state. The economy has hit a low and unemployment is everywhere. It is in times like these that people often are looking for an answer to the problems in the economy; this is where the immigrant comes into the picture. In fact, this blame onto a group of people is just like in Germany during the Holocaust. The Jews were what Hitler used as a scapegoat to blame for Germany’s failing economy. Now the immigration hate is on a smaller scale of course, but still is a biased view that perpetrates negative stereotypes that must not exist. The number one argument that I hear people around me say is that immigrates don’t pay taxes and are using up all the resources that us as American only have the right to. First off, this statement is contradictory because just years ago we were the immigrants coming to this country and the Native didn’t push us out and we took all the resources. Secondly, from what Sam told us in class immigrants in fact have taxes taken out of their tiny paychecks but don’t reap any of benefits. They pay into federal, state, and local taxes out of their paychecks that are normally just minimum wage and don’t get social security or worker compensation. They are not reaping the benefits of the federal programs like so many American are everyday, but we don’t seem to have such and issue with that because they were born here. Since when does where someone is born bear so much on a person that we dehumanize a portion of people and deny them human rights like the right to healthcare? Now people would argue back to these, “What about the immigrants who are working under the table.” Well yes they don’t pay taxes so they tricking the system. However, compared to the immigrants that work legally the number of under the table immigrates is very minimal according to Sam in class. If I had not learned any of this in class I would have never been exposed to the truth and would be just as ignorant as the people who use immigrants as a scapegoats. It is a shame that a narrow group of immigrants that work under the table get pushed forward as the main stereotype and classify what all immigrants must be like. I think facts like these need to be given to the public. Furthermore, people need to be taught things like this to be more educated open minded people to be able to see the truth in all the myths that surround immigration. Mon, 7 Nov 2011 23:59:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/03/voices-from-the-classroom-65/#IDComment218374672 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/27/voices-from-the-classroom-57/#IDComment215034772 Last class did leave the interesting question of if we should give our land that we took by force to the rightful owners, the Native Americans? Personally, I think that we have become so disconnected with the origins of the United States that we should not have to give back the land because that would displace millions of us who came as immigrants to this land. However, I believe it is our responsibility to education future generations of the truth about the horrific acts we as colonists did to gain that land that truly isn’t our own. The whole Thanksgiving Day celebration of the coming together of the Natives and the settlers overshadows the true genocide that we committed on these people out of pure greed. By paining Indians as the bad guys and savages like we see in old cowboy western movies we fail to see the true nature of the situation. We were the bad guys… us the cowboys ran in a stole the land that did not belong to us and now claim that it is only ours to keep. Another responsibility I believe we have to the Natives of this land is to help them out of the extreme poverty they face everyday. I was shocked to see Sam compared the life expectancy of Native Americans living on reservations (which are modern day prison camps) to the life expectancy of a third world country like Haiti. I never would have thought that in American we had masses of one culture living in such extreme poverty and distress, yet no attention if any is given to their struggles. We need to help them overcome the high suicide rates, the high school drop out rates, and the overwhelming number of Native Americans living well below the poverty line. I am wondering now why is this the first time I am learning about all of this? Why has their struggle been pushed aside and into the shadows? Are we embarrassed that this is what we caused? If we are embarrassed, then we need to use that embarrassment to motivate ourselves to step up and help the descents of those that didn’t ask for us to come and destroy their homes and displace their lives. With over five hundred tribes just in the United States, Indian reservations are not completely disappeared. We need to offer our aid to those that we first harmed. Maybe we could set up education programs in the area to motivate the young Native Americans to reach success and take them out of the cycle of alcohol, stress, suicide, death, and of poverty. If we don’t help them now we are no better than generations before us that destroyed their lives in the first place. By letting them suffer in the silence and ignoring them we will have to live with our conscience knowing we let them die without a chance to survive. Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:42:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/27/voices-from-the-classroom-57/#IDComment215034772 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/20/voices-from-the-classroom-51/#IDComment211787543 (last part) This is contradictory to the cause they are trying to symbolize. Friendships should be based on the personalities of the person and not the external factors like race. Someone who is of a different background and race may in fact have the same exact interests as you do. The friend, who is friends with people of the opposite race of them to fit in, may have no other choice. If I lived in a mostly black community chances are that a few of my friends would be black. In this case they are not a poser they are just befriending the people that are in their environment. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:48:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/20/voices-from-the-classroom-51/#IDComment211787543 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/20/voices-from-the-classroom-51/#IDComment211787447 (part two) . On the other hand, there can be people that are like posers to be classified as cool, a rebel, or on the opposite just to fit in. The cool friend just wants to be looked at as a person that everyone wants to be. They go and find friends of the opposite race to appear to be cool and not based on the basic things friendships should be formed from. However, the cool kid friend may end up making true friendships with the other races, but his/her intention for befriending the opposite race was not correct. The rebel kid who befriends the opposite race does it to be a symbol against the norm and to be considered an individual. This can be both helpful and hurtful to friendship in society. By breaking away some of society’s chains that only allow us to be friends with people that look like us, is good. However, when the rebel friend looks to befriend people just because they are of a different race, they are looking past personalities and only on skin color. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:48:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/20/voices-from-the-classroom-51/#IDComment211787447 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/20/voices-from-the-classroom-51/#IDComment211787249 When someone hangs out with a group of people that is not of their own race it only makes them a poser if they are doing it for the wrong reasons. I believe that true friendship in mixed groups of races does not label someone who is a poser. In fact, many people in stage one that don’t see race at all can’t be a poser because they are not doing it to be cool because they see no difference in a black or brown person versus a white person. For example, I remember when I was fully in stage one as a young child. In kindergarten my best friend was black and I wasn’t friends with her because I thought she was cooler because she was black, I was friends with her because we both loved ponies and the color pink. I wasn’t aware that her race was different than mine; I didn’t even know what race was. All I knew is that we liked the same things and that is what made us friends. That was true friendship for good reasons. (Part one) Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:48:01 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/20/voices-from-the-classroom-51/#IDComment211787249 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/13/voices-from-the-classroom-45/#IDComment208813841 The choices people are not the only thing that can land them in welfare, but it is also the outside factors that society puts on everyone. However, if I would have never come to college to learn about this I would be shaped by my white culture and think that only lazy black people are on welfare. This shows how easy racism and native thoughts about other races can be passed down through generation. That is why education about other races is so important. (Last part, 3 parts total) Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:28:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/13/voices-from-the-classroom-45/#IDComment208813841 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/13/voices-from-the-classroom-45/#IDComment208813705 . It is important that we expose myths like this in races so that we are not as shaped by the race factor. Not only does race shape our ideas about the other races, but race can even shape our change of success in the world. For example, the experiment with a list of black sounding name and white sounding names were sent to a list of real employers. Each time it showed that the white sounding names had a much higher change of a call back for an interview that the black sounding names. This is evidence that racism is still harbored deep into our society in ways that are not even known. Personally, I believe race has shaped the way I view things. Coming from primarily white culture, racism is something that was prevalent in our town. As a young child, just listening in on conversations about things such as welfare, many people in my town took the freedom side of the debate and argued that most people on welfare were just poor blacks that were just too lazy to work. Here at college I now see that most people on welfare are actually white and are children. In addition, it is more than the freedom side of debate. Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:28:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/13/voices-from-the-classroom-45/#IDComment208813705 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/13/voices-from-the-classroom-45/#IDComment208813581 Race shapes each of our lives everyday without us knowing it. This is similar to the way that the invisible strings society pulls us on like a puppet. Race shapes the way we see the world around us. For example, in class we watched the short documentary on the extremely poor white family that lives in a rundown trailer. The mother had no working car so she had to walk ten miles each way to go to her minimum wage job at Burger King. Sam then polled the class and asked only the white students if they think that people of color feel less, the same, or more compassionate for the poor white family as they did if the family was a black or brown family like themselves. The white students mostly put that they thought people of color would feel more compassion if the family was their own race. However, when the black and brown students in class were polled we found out they feel just as much compassion if the family was black or brown. This shows that white culture views the people of color as more compassionate to their own races, when in reality the truth is just the opposite. Mon, 17 Oct 2011 18:28:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/13/voices-from-the-classroom-45/#IDComment208813581 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/06/voices-from-the-classroom-36/#IDComment206047458 It is evident that women dress in way that is created from a male centered society that puts pressure on how to look to attract a male. I will admit when I go out I can often fall into this stereotype of dressing with the shorter dresses and low cut top and high heels. And of course acting like high heels are comfortable, when really your feet are screaming and your body is freezing because it is 40 degrees outside and your bar legs are numb. While it would be much more comfortable to just go out in sweat pants and sneakers, that dress is simply not what is engraved in our minds as attractive. Some girls can say that they dress up to look cute and feel pretty for themselves. I think that may to a point hold some truth, but we fail to see the deeper forces that shape our (girls’) minds into thinking that we have to dress like a slut from a porn video to attract the attention of a man. This idea of dress is then for us to feel wanting and liked by the opposite sex, and not necessarily a sign that we want to hook up. The complaints from males and the attention that we get when dressed like that is what builds our self confidence and what makes us truly feel pretty to the opposite sex. This is re-enforced by the attention of males that often judge females on only certain physical features when they first met us. For example, you don’t see a girl in turtle neck and sweat pants dancing in the club, because no matter how pretty her face is no guy is going to dance with her over a short skirted high-heeled girl exposing a lot of skin. However, this risky dressing does give the wrong message to males that we (girls) are looking to have a quick hook up. What we really want it just to feel wanted and to feel attractive to the opposite sex (assuming we are heterosexual). It is important to keep in mind that most girls are not going to clubs and the bar scene to find their husband and prince charming. That is not going to the place where guys judge you on your personality. We understand that so guys’ mindset is going to be to judge on the physical assets to give their attention. Therefore, girls alter their dress to meet that perception that we expect men to have of us. In addition, girls have pressure from other girls to confirm to fit this dress. If all of your friends are dressed up in heels to go out you are not going to put on your Nikes because you want to fit in and feel accepted from your girlfriends and from the opposite sex. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:03:51 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/06/voices-from-the-classroom-36/#IDComment206047458 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/02/voices-from-the-classroom-28/#IDComment203657460 Finding out my college roommate was gay may make me feel a slight bit uncomfortable at first. Coming from a very small conservative town, I have not had much exposure to diversity and homosexuals until I came here to college. In fact, while in high school the only openly gay kid I knew had to drop out of school because he was picked on so much. In response to the first question I would be more accepting most likely if they told me right up front that they were gay. I don’t think it would be too much of an issue. I will admit that because I am not used to seeing openly gay people it may make me slightly uncomfortable at first because I am not accustomed to it. However, once I got to know them as a person and see past just their sexual orientation I am sure that I would become friends and not feel so awkward. The only way in which I would feel uncomfortable would be if she were to hit on me. This isn’t just because she was gay; it would be because they live with me. If I had a straight roommate of the opposite sex who hit on me that would be just as equally uncomfortable, because of sexual assault issues and things of that nature. If my roommate were to wait until later on in the year to tell me that she was gay, I may feel uneasy. I would wonder why she didn’t tell me in the first place. However, now that I think about it I don’t come right out and say, “Hi my name is so and so I am straight.” That is not criteria when you first meet someone to tell them what type of people you are attracted to. In addition, the pressure that homosexuals feel to be treated equal and not become a target of bullying can be why they would be uneasy about telling me right away. Maybe she wanted to get to know me and feel comfortable enough to open up to me about her sexual orientation. I would hope as soon as she saw that I see them for the person inside that she would be able to come out to me. Also, if my gay roommate brought some someone of the same sex home I think it would be pretty obvious to me. Although, before she would bring home someone I would like her to fill me in on being gay so that I am not shocked. If my gay roommate told me that they were attracted to me that is when I would freak out a little bit. I would tell them that I am straight and we can be friends and that is all we can be and hopefully that would be the end of the awkwardness. Thu, 6 Oct 2011 01:19:36 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/02/voices-from-the-classroom-28/#IDComment203657460 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/27/voices-from-the-classroom-21/#IDComment200122574 Throughout society it is an underlying assumption that women are more innocent than men. The explanation for this can be explained in the fact that because women are the child bearers they have more compassion and motherly side that makes them innocent. As a female, myself I do note that in general women tend to be less aggressive than men, less likely to start physical fights and so forth because of science. It comes down to the fact that women don't have the levels of testosterone pumping through their bodies creating the aggressive feelings. However, to go along with what Sam was saying on the freedom and determinism discussion, there are also other factors outside of it that shape the innocence of women. As a child we are filled with the ideas of what it means to be a girl or a boy. Girls play with dolls and are filled with "sugar and spice and everything nice." On the other hand, boys play with cars and rough house, and aggression, to a degree, is encouraged to becoming a man. The media plays a key role in this throughout history. We are hit with messages from the media that the girl is always in need of saving and always innocent, while the male character is the hero that comes to the rescued, but is able to hold the aggressive characteristics. This is seen from Disney movies all the way up into adult dramas and other genres. It is unfortunate that we have to see genders in such a one sided way that it has shaped our ideas about what we should act like as a boy or as a girl. Furthermore, when a woman is guilty of something horrible it is hard for us to wrap our minds around the idea of innocence broken. For example, the countless cases where women are murders are seen as unbelievable because we have this constant idea that gender has to be defined by only certain characteristics like innocence. But in reality we are all complex and should not be reduced to only a few characteristics. This translates into the question of race and how one race is more innocent appearing on the surface. However, just like the case in gender it is wrong to categorize a race, gender, or other appearance into expected actions. This is how our racism is developed over time and how it becomes such an issue within our society. As stated in class the relationship between drug use incarceration and actual users of drugs is not linked, showing the racism that is clear in our society and in our criminal justice system. All in all, we need to break away from the ideas of certain innocence in a gender or race and realize that humans are complex in nature and cannot be defined by one set of characteristics. Wed, 28 Sep 2011 01:26:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/27/voices-from-the-classroom-21/#IDComment200122574 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/20/everyone-respond-to-this/#IDComment196984966 After today’s class I was very excited to see how our class can make an impact in the country of Haiti. I first read the two articles about how to help in Haiti. I was amazed at how much helping in turn can end up hurting the country and their entrepreneurs. For example, I always thought that sending shoes to a country where many children don’t have shoes would always be a positive action. But after reading about the sandal maker in Haiti that is losing a lot of business from all the new shoes handed out for free I now have a new perceptive. I guess the situation in Haiti is the true example of the saying if you give a man a fish he will eat for a day, but if you teach a man to fish he will eat for life. The problem with just sending items to Haiti is that we are not empowering the country to be able to thrive for themselves after our presences is gone. I watched the videos on entrepreneur Anaes Blaise and her handbags. I really liked the bag with the paintings on them. I thought they were very original. To appeal to a Penn State culture see could make some bags in blue and white colors and that would really sell to this population. That could also be applied to other universities school colors. Her supplies were quite expensive for the paint, so looking into a company that sells this craft paint in bulk would be a great benefit to her company. Also, as far as the wool that is made I am sure that some sort of fundraiser event, like a dinner where your admission price is two different colors of this wool, could raise enough to supply her for a good amount of time. With this we could keep in mind what colors she uses the most to recommend for donations. As far as the design of the bags, I agree with Sam that the straps must be more stable in order to hold books and such. Maybe consider different sizes too. As a petite girl I don’t like a huge bag that overwhelms me so different sizes appeal to a broader audience. I also watched the video on entrepreneurs Madame Lamour’s video and buying in bulk is another good option for the business to be able to expand. The clip also said they needing a marketing strategy. I believe for this if a list of bridal companies farther away but could be reached for meetings through video chats it would broaden her selling power. This means that she would need Internet installed in at least one of her shops. Money for this would be an investment that we could donate to, because it would really help her business expand in the future. Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:58:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/20/everyone-respond-to-this/#IDComment196984966 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/13/voices-from-the-classroom-8/#IDComment193496433 When I look at someone I automatically make assumptions of them based on what they wear, what they talk like, and more specially what their body type is. Most people do judge, it is what a first impression meaning is all about. I am not saying it is right to judge, but more that the thinking has been ingrained in our heads to automatically judge. For example, like the question asked, “What certain characteristics make someone an athlete?” Well just like we discussed in class whenever I see someone that is very tall I think they must be good at basketball. However, what I found interesting in class is that while yes height may be an advantage in one way, it is not everything. In class Sam told us about when a United States basketball team traveled to an Asian country to play a game. What they found is that the Asian team (Asians not known for their height, excluding Yao Ming) had perfected their three point shots. This clearly gave the Asian team an advantage over the taller United States team. Another assumption that I would jump to about people’s characteristics and their athletic ability would be the classic myth of short Asian or Russian girls always must be gymnasts. I am sure being smaller makes it easier for some of the moves, why do we assume only certain races or nationalities are good at a sport and not another. I think it was an important concept that we learned in class that it is not because the girl is Russian or Asian that she will be better at gymnastics than an African American girl, but rather it is the fact that they have had more training and practice and because the society we live in molds us into the stereotypical expectations of certain classes. For myself, with my body type I was told I was not good for basketball, since I stand at barely 5 foot 1 inch. However, who is to say that if I would have been raised with the encouragement that I am made to play basketball and I will be the best player out there, maybe I would have gave it a shot. Then I would have practiced and got the training to make me a competitor on the court. However, I was told that since my father was good a soccer, that I would be too. So I started at age six and played all the way up until my senior year of high school. I played other sports like softball, again because my mother this time was good at it. But why does it have to be about what society and parent think we will like and be good at. I loved playing soccer, but maybe I would have liked playing basketball just as much. Thu, 15 Sep 2011 02:10:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/13/voices-from-the-classroom-8/#IDComment193496433 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/06/voices-from-the-classroom/#IDComment190552803 Today in class Sam did pose the question, “why can’t we just be Americans?” I think we all want to be a part of something that makes us feel special. We want to feel that connection to others that are “like us.” Just as Sam said we, as Penn State Students are part of a culture that makes us feel like we belong. Saying that we are Americans is too broad to make us feel that unique classification that makes us different and maybe better in our eyes than the rest of the crowd. Also, if you take into consideration that America includes Canada, Central and South America we are talking about a huge array of differences that does not distinguish ourselves from others. We want to feel important to our smaller and exclusive groups so that we can praise our own successes and look down at the failures of other groups. Furthermore, this feeling of being part of something bigger than one’s self is part of Maslow’s laws of needed to belong. No one wants to be the last one picked in the game of kickball, we want to, no we NEED to belong. These senses of belonging starts at a very young age were we feel the need to find people in our own cultures and subcultures that will accept us. However, the one good thing about childhood is that there is still some sense of innocence and blindness to other’s differences. But then when others around us point out those differences that separate us, we become aware that we need to belong to a specific group that is most like us and not in a broader sense. I never really noticed before that we don’t say I am American, until it was brought up in class. But now that I think about it, I don’t think I have ever heard that answer from anyone because we need that smaller culture to further define ourselves and allows us to belong to people that are truly closest to us in appearance and thoughts. By identifying as Germans, Welsh, Irish, Italians, Dutch, and so on we make a point to classify ourselves down to the most precise that we can in order to belong and also to hold onto a culture of our ancestors that has died out in one’s generation of families. I think this goes back to the statement made about the United States of America classified as the “melting pot.” We all are immigrates to this country and are defining ourselves back to our roots because that is what we feel the most loyalty and connection to in an overwhelming broader culture. When you ask someone what is American culture most may not be able to pin point one or two answers. But if you ask one to define Irish culture you will hear beer, red heads, and luck. That is belonging and that is what we desire to have as human beings. Wed, 7 Sep 2011 03:09:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/06/voices-from-the-classroom/#IDComment190552803 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/08/26/what-do-you-want-to-know-before-its-all-over/#IDComment187528028 One thing that I would like to learn about race and ethnic relations is why did the white race become the superior race? Furthermore, who decided that white people would be the superiors? I understand it dates back to the old European days, but why did white Europeans think they were above say people from South America or African or the Native America Indians that first lived here in the United States? There are some conclusions that I could draw like how the European countries were farther developed with the industrial revolution and the enlightenment period. But how do these few developments make one race so much better than the other. And wasn’t it the Native America Indians who first taught the colonists how to farm? Looks like we didn’t know everything. Then we go and destroy of all their land and describe a peaceful civilization as savages. I understand the need for power, that drive to be the one on top, the one giving the orders and enjoying in the glory. I am sure every race want to be a superior. What I don’t understand is how one day the white race came through to be the superior race? Another conclusion that I could make maybe to answer this is the clear distinction in numbers. There were a lot of Europeans in the time period. However, the continent of African has over fifty countries! Another conclusion could be the richness of the land. For example, Europe had great soil for crops and was able to become an export in many areas. The new Americans of course become the largest exporters of cotton making millions for our country. However, those million were made with the blood and sweat of African slaves. So maybe what the land had to offer helped to make its citizens wealthier and then boosted them up to superiority. Then again think about the Middle East. The Middle East is full of something we have always wanted and needed for many years, oil. Yet these tan skinned people did not become the superior race over the Europeans. I think I want to know the answer to this question because it is important to know the mindset of why white people were, and sometimes still are in some places, considered the superior race to other darker skin tones. To know the answer to this could probably help future generations to break down the walls that separate races. I am not going to say completely get rid of racism because I know that may not even be possible, but to get closer in a way where race is no longer such a big issue with most people. Maybe one day white won’t be seen as always better than black, and maybe people will stop associating black with a bad connotation. Sun, 28 Aug 2011 22:43:48 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/08/26/what-do-you-want-to-know-before-its-all-over/#IDComment187528028 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/14/intense-debate-registration-id/#IDComment187150464 Hello I'm Danielle Van Gheem Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:19:13 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/14/intense-debate-registration-id/#IDComment187150464