en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/4271616 Comments by Grb5063 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/20/voices-from-the-classroom-156/#IDComment343927101 I thought this was a very interesting subject. I found the lecture to be very interesting, and the discussion that followed was interesting as well. I should first set the circumstances of my family. For the most part, my family is very religious, and they follow the Christian faith. If I had to guess, I would imagine it would be more acceptable to my family if I brought home a girl of different color. I should say that I do have a gay cousin, and my family has been very supportive of him and his partner. I really don’t think that my family would be upset with either. The reason I say that I think a girl of different color would be more acceptable, is because I do think my family prefers straight people. Even though they are very acceptable to my cousin who is in fact gay, I think they personally think it is easier to date a girl of different color. This question however, made me think of a different point that sam was talking about. He showed the different couples walking across the front of the room and showing that most of society would feel most uncomfortable with the gay couple even thought they were only holding hands. I think it would be interesting to look at what society is more likely to accept, when it comes to two males or two females. To me it seems that being a lesbian is much more acceptable than being a gay male. I really have no idea why this is, but as far as I have seen, it is certainly true. Most people when they see lesbians, they don’t think anything of it. But when people see two gay males, automatically it is disgusting, or some other adjective to describe the encounter. But, to get back to the original question, I believe there is a reason as to why my family would be more accepting to a girl of a different color rather than if I was gay. The reason is because most of my family would think that it is easier to be married t oa girl of a different race than to be homosexual. I think my family would justify most of their reasoning, to the fact that they think life is easier. Which, also brings me to another interesting discussion. The question is what kind of couple faces more scrutiny. I don’t know if two gay men, or an interracial couple cfaces more problems. Personally I think that two gay people would face many more problems than an interracial couple. For some reason, the fact that you are married to someone of another race is not as big of a deal as being gay. Again, though, I think this all comes back to religion. At this current time, it is more acceptable to be married to someone of a different race. At times past, this would probably be just as unacceptable as being gay. However we have come a long way, and therefore our beliefs have changed. Sat, 21 Apr 2012 03:59:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/20/voices-from-the-classroom-156/#IDComment343927101 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/12/voices-from-the-classroom-148/#IDComment338564188 This was an interesting question because I recently had a discussion about this with my mom. I went to Jamaica for spring break, and she was naturally very concerned about my safety. She told me many stories about Americans being taken advantage of because of their money, and many of the stories seemed very crazy. I asked her where she had heard the stories and she told me that it was from a friend, and that friend heard it from another friend. I think when we hear this chain in communication we should automatically be alarmed and question the validity of it, because there is a good chance the story has been altered as it has been told multiple times by multiple people. But I do find it interesting to think about who you are more likely to believe. For me, I think I would be much more likely to believe a friend. This is obviously not a good thing because we should always question when we hear stories and we should never assume a story to be true. I think a major problem is we hear one thing and automatically tell many people when in fact that may be an untrue story. The example of kidnapping rings true to me, because it really doesn’t happen very often as we saw in class. However, many people believe it happens a lot not only because we hear it on the news but because we hear awful stories of kids being taken. The problem is that a lot of these stories probably are not true. If we really took the time to look at all of them and check them for validity, im sure we would discover many inaccuracies. The problem is that we are okay hearing a story and then retelling it to a friend or two. What we do not realize is that story is then told by our friend, who continues to tell more of their friends. Before we know it a story that may not be true has been told and retold many times. I think we should always question the validity of things we hear, even when they are told by friends and professors. I do agree with Sam that we listen more to people who agree with what we think. This clearly isn’t a good way of going, but unforutnaltely many people do this. When somebody you agree with says something, no matter how crazy it may be, I think we are more inclined to listen and actually believe the story. We should approach every story the same way and question it until we can verify the correctness of it. I think many rumors are spread by believing stories we are told. I actually read a book about what makes certain stories stick, and other stories are not retold. The stories that are more interesting such as kidnapping or other people being injured, are much more interesting, than a true story that is not as polarizing. We all need to make an effort to check the stories we are told, so we are not spreading false rumors. Sat, 14 Apr 2012 02:13:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/12/voices-from-the-classroom-148/#IDComment338564188 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/15/voices-from-the-classroom-122/#IDComment317206928 I think it is difficult to to trust anything the media says because all news outlets have some kind of agenda they are trying to advance with their coverage of all events, not just war. Different news channels talk about different things because that is what they are told to report, and they have to listen to their bosses. To me this is scary because we clearly aren’t receiving the truth about all the issues. Even worse than this, is there are people who watch certain channels exclusively, and believe everything they say one hundred percent of the time. They don’t realize that there is certainly false reporting and they should be doing more than just watching one news channel. These people then go on believing a certain way about something because of a news clip they saw on Fox News. Blindly believing everything we hear is very dangerous in this technology age. One person hears something and then immediately posts it on facebook, then all their friends see the post and assume it is true, and they go on to tell their friends. Meanwhile the story is based off of false reporting by a news agency. If people realized that news companies don’t tell the truth all the time or don’t tell the whole story, we wouldn’t have such a problem. But, people think they are actually being told the truth when they watch the news. Instead, people should be going to multiple news sources, and try to collect as much information about a topic as they possibly can. Personally, I like to watch and read all different things, to try to learn what is true and what is inaccurate. It is very important to try to distinguish what is being presented as fact and what is presented simply as opinion. Many people are unable to distinguish the two which can lead to major problems. Although I do not, I think it would be a good idea to watch the news of other countries to get a completely different perspective. We always get the American side of things from our news agencies, but if we watched different country’s news, who have different agendas, we may learn different things that are not presented at all in the united states. What bothers me the most about our news here, is that everybody says they present both sides and are neutral. If companies were honest that their news is one sided, then it would be easier to distinguish what is simply political games, and what is actual reporting of an event. Unfortunately I don’t see the problem getting any better in this country. Fri, 16 Mar 2012 02:19:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/15/voices-from-the-classroom-122/#IDComment317206928 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/29/what-more-do-you-want-to-think-about/#IDComment306771067 I think the whole idea of racism is very interesting because what we have learned about in class is different from what we usually think of when we think of racism. In general we assume that racism means a white person is discriminating against a black person. But what we have learned in class is that white privilege is so engrained in our society that black people discriminate against other black people. To me this is more alarming than anything else we have learned. It is obvious that white people discriminate against black people because we see it around us or we hear about it throughout life. But to hear how deep white privilege runs that black people are less likely to give a mortgage to other black people shows how deep it runs. The other example was during an interview. A person interviewing a white person sits close to them, but anytime a black person is interviewed, the interviewer consistently moves back. This would be alarming if this was only seen when the interviewer was white, but it is unbelievable that even black people move back. To me, this form of racism is even scarier than when we see open racism. At least we can see that racism and although it is wrong, it doesn’t seem as scary. But the hidden discrimination that we don’t see openly, is scary because that is harder to fix because it is so engrained. The other part of the class that really stood out is the video that essentially said “we’re all monkeys.” I thought the message was very good and it simplifies life so much. We all need to look at life differently and look at it that essentially we are just monkeys. That’s what this life all boils down to. We get so worked up about things when in reality we should just be thankful for what we have. Often times we just take things for granted, but this is the wrong approach entirely. As people we need to stop taking things so seriously, and just realize that we are all monkeys. We try so hard to be happy in everything we do. We work all day because we want to have money to buy physical possessions, but in the end a lot of the time we are still unhappy. What people don’t realize is we are still just monkeys. Both of these have really struck me as very interesting parts of the class. The one thing that I think would be interesting to look at in the future this semester would be gender. I know this is a class on race relations but I think looking at gender inequalities would be interesting. Sat, 3 Mar 2012 03:53:51 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/29/what-more-do-you-want-to-think-about/#IDComment306771067 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/23/voices-from-the-classroom-113/#IDComment300858555 I think the only way to change the problems we see are through education. People aren’t educated on the topic of race, and therefore are ignorant. The only way to change this pattern is to educate people and we can begin to have conversations. While people are still ignorant, it is difficult to have real conversations, because people end up frustrated. Classes like this one begin the education process, but there needs to be more. Older generations have a mindset already that is difficult to change. They have lived a full life and have their own minds already made and I think changing their mindset would be difficult. But what we need to do is take what we are learning and go out into the world with it. We will be graduating one day and we need to try to change the world with our generation. There is change seen in every generation. Clearly we can see a big change over the past 100 years. But, we still aren’t in an equal world. There are still inequalities and that isn’t right. I found it very interesting about the job interview aspect that we learned yesterday in class. The fact that blacks are discriminated against in the job interview prospect is one thing. But I found it interesting how the discrimination is still there when there are black employees. On top of that when blacks know they are discriminated against, they say they should work harder. This is certainly admirable, but they should be asking for equality. I also thought the example with the interviewer example yesterday was interesting. When interviewers come in to a white applicant, they sit close to the person. But when blacks are being interviewed the people sit further away. But the scariest part is the fact that when the interviewer is black, we still see the same thing occurring. This to me is more alarming than anything. I think we need to continue to educate people because that is the only thing that will help. As this generation grows, I think we can have a big impact on this issue because we will be the ones doing the interviewing, and we will know what is going on. What is so important is that we are aware of these issues, so when we see them, we know what is happening, Right now people don’t know exactly what is happening, because they aren’t aware. As we continue to raise awareness on what is happening, we will continue to see improved conditions. Employers right now may be told the stats, but they are so set in their ways, that it is difficult to change any of their ways. I think between awareness and education we can continue to change what is happening. Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:27:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/23/voices-from-the-classroom-113/#IDComment300858555 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/16/voices-from-the-classroom-108/#IDComment295354393 I think that the reason some races are generally better at certain sports comes down mainly to convenience. It is easy for people who are in an inner city to play basketball. The town usually provides a basket and a court, and the people just need a ball and they can play. It is not very expensive and doesnt require expensive equipment to play. Because of this, basketball has been a sport in which people in inner cities, specifically blacks, play often. They start playing at a young age and are therefore better at it. They develop skills that make them more apt to play this sport. On the reverse side, hockey is dominated by whites, specifically Canadians. This is because it is more expensive and requires a colder climate. It is difficult to get ice time, and on top of that in order to get it, you have to pay a lot of money. Then you have to pay for the gear which too is very expensive. This clearly is a much more expensive sport. In order to be good at a sport, it requires a lot of practice. Often times, you can't just go out and play hockey, you have to reserve time. With basketball, you can go play, and don't have to worry about reserving anything. In order to do this with hockey would require a very cold climate and a pond, or some form of frozen water. In the cities, this is difficult to find, and therefore we see hockey is difficult to learn if you live in a city. Baseball is not as popular with black people because of space. I would imagine that it is difficult to find room for adequate baseball fields. On top of that, in order to get a good bat can be expensive. ON top of that, is the way baseball works. Many good baseball players play on travel teams starting at a young age. This can get expensive and may not be feasable to many people in an inner city. With basketball, you can start at an early age, and continue to play and develop your skills. I would be interested to see if studies show that different people now have genes that are more supportive of certain sports. It is possible to expect that evolution would begin to take over after a long period of time. Different groups of people may over time develop genes that are good for basketball. For example, blacks may begin to develop genes that make the taller and jump higher. Mainly because this would be adventageous for basketball. I have no idea what the statistics say on this issue, but it would certainly be interesting to continue to look at what evolves and what the numbers are on what kind of people play different sports. Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:22:48 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/16/voices-from-the-classroom-108/#IDComment295354393 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/08/voices-from-the-classroom-100/#IDComment289251585 I think it is a shame that we allow cultural stigmas to dictate what we think is good and bad when it comes to physical characteristics. I think we should be more open to the idea that some people are different because that’s what was necessary for survival. I never really looked at it like Sam talked about it in class. But, unless some of us had these features that aren’t “desirable” that race may not be here today. Really, we should embrace these features, because if you were to go back to your home, they would be considered desirable. But this goes back to the cultural problem that we have in our society today. We see people on the covers of magazines, and we automatically think that’s what we all should look like. In reality, we are all different and we won’t all look alike, so we should stop worrying about it. I also thought it was interesting when Sam talked about insulting our “creator” if we are unhappy with our physical features. I personally think that people who aren’t happy are in a sense insulting our creator. However, again I believe it comes from the cultural stigmas placed on looks in this culture. It is difficult to get away from the desire to look better and to be perfect. When in reality what is perfect to some people is not perfect to another person. If you do in fact believe that there is a God, I don’t think you could justify wishing you looked different. We were created the way we were because it was advantageous to have certain characteristics at some point along the way. Just because those characteristics aren’t essential today, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t appreciate where we came from. Understanding why we have certain features can also help us understand our ancestry. It would allow us to understand what our Great, great grandparents went through. I would also imagine that not only are we offending our creator by wishing we were different, but we are also offending our ancestors. They lived in a time when it was necessary to have a certain kind of nose, or color of skin. They know how important it was to have those characteristics, and if they heard us talking about how we don’t like that anymore, would almost certainly be insulting. I think this discussion begs the question how do we change the stigmas that are out there. I think in order to change our society, it all starts with knowledge. The more people understand how vital certain characteristics were, the more people will begin to understand. I don’t know if it is possible to change the current culture, but the only way to have a chance to do so is to continue to talk about these issues. The more ignorance there is, the more problems we are going to have. I think classes such as this one showing a different way are a great start to change the stigmas that exist. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 01:19:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/08/voices-from-the-classroom-100/#IDComment289251585 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-93/#IDComment283354578 I agree that we should just learn Spanish. I think too many people get upset that people speak Spanish in America. For some reason, people believe that you are only a true American if you speak English. If you dare to speak another language, that is unacceptable. I see no reason for this. We should speak whatever language we want. If some people want to speak Spanish that should be fine. It is understood that people who only speak Spanish will be at a disadvantage. But, if that is their choice, we should live with that. Also, people need to understand that speaking Spanish, makes you a more well-rounded person. If we are the best country in the world, we can adapt and learn a new language. Going off of that, I thought it was disturbing that in polls, people prefer a president who only speaks English. To me this doesn’t make any sense. We should want to elect the smartest, most qualified person available. If we don’t want people who speak other languages we are putting ourselves at an immediate disadvantage. It would be good for the country to elect a person who has the ability to communicate with many different people in different languages. It is very frustrating that there are people who are so ignorant as to not want the most qualified person possible. Getting back to the speaking Spanish idea, I think the older generations are the people that are reluctant. Most people think that English is the official language of the United States. When I told my parents and especially grandparents about this, they were shocked. People assume that we have an official language and that it is English. If people knew that there actually isn’t an official language I think that may change some peoples ideas on the issue of people speaking Spanish in America. For some reason people assume that if you speak Spanish, you are lazy and don’t want to learn English. What I would challenge to the people that feel this way is if they learned another language when they traveled overseas. I know I personally have gone abroad and have not learned the language of the country I am traveling to. I just assume that the people will be able to communicate with me. And many Americans believe it is natural for them to travel abroad, but not bother about the new language or culture. Yet, we expect immigrants to come to America and immediately know what is culturally acceptable. I think, as Americans, we need to be more understanding, and respect the fact that many people want to learn English, but just cannot. With that said, those people need to understand that people want to learn Spanish, because it makes life easier. The idea that we are giving in to immigrants by learning their language is absurd. We are simply trying to be the people we should be. We are trying to accept people of all kinds. I find it very frustrating that people get so worked up over what language people speak Sat, 4 Feb 2012 03:43:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-93/#IDComment283354578 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/17/voices-from-the-classroom-90/#IDComment269902664 Today’s lecture was an eye-opener for me because of the example that all of us are illegal immigrants in the eyes’ of Native Americans. We came into a land that they had conquered, killed and tortured many of them, and then kept their land. If any other country tried to do that to us today, we would all be outraged. With this in mind, the history books have been written in a way that doesn’t make us look like murderers but rather heroes. This is good groundwork for a way to view current immigration. There are two important sides to this argument that both need to be addressed. First, that there are too many people (like the video we saw today) that are completely against immigration in any way. These kinds of people have the idea that this is our land, and nobody else has the right to it, except the people that inhabit it right now. This is clearly an unproductive way of viewing it, because as we saw in class today, immigrants are very important part of our society. And in addition to that, this country is a melting pot, and therefore we should be welcoming to all people. The other side of this argument is that illegal immigration is bad. We certainly cannot just allow anybody that wants to come here without filing proper paperwork. But the problem is that to do that paperwork can take a very long time and some immigrants just don’t have the time to wait. So the system needs to be fixed without a doubt. I also thought about the idea of why people get upset that immigrants don’t learn English. I immediately thought of my grand mom who is very bothered by this. Most people believe our official language is English, which is not true. We don’t have an official language, because early on we were a country with many different languages. Although it is difficult to function, somebody shouldn’t be forced to learn English because English isn’t our official language. The other thing that bothers somebody is when directions are printed in Spanish. I don’t know why this bothers people either because there are always directions printed in English. People shouldn’t be bothered just because there is another language on the directions. There are times when I think we are coming a long way in this country. But then I see the comments that were left after that video, and I wonder what is wrong with people. It just goes to show that we need to continue to inform people that are against immigration, and talk to these people about the benefits of immigration. Many people are just ignorant, and we could fix that by informing these people Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:24:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/17/voices-from-the-classroom-90/#IDComment269902664