I think that safety is one of the many things that keep people in their “boxes” and they stay there in order to protect themselves. For instance, I want to take part in our study abroad program and go to Spain. Now while some of my family (my mom especially) is very eager for me to go and gain that new experience, there are other people in my family who only focus on the potential negative aspects of the trip. They say things like “You don’t need to go over there with all of those people that you don’t know”, “ You’re gonna be over there all by yourself, with no one to protect you”. They completely let their fear of experiencing something new and unknown cloud their judgement. On the other side of fear, I believe that a lot of people are just too lazy to want to try something new, especially if they have to go out of their way to do it. We are taught at young ages to stay close to certain people and do certain things and after a while this all becomes routine. We do the same things over and over again and to do something different becomes a hassle. It’s like the saying “If it aint broken, don’t fix it”. People feel as though they don’t need to go out of their comfort zone because it suits them, why would they want to change that. What I think people fail to realize is how much they end up losing by not branching out and exploring other option in anything from food to a different religion. We start to think “why would I want to try Indian food when I like hamburgers and french-fries?” Also I feel like here in the United States, people see our country as being number one in everything. People get caught up in this idea that everyone should and will assimilate to our lifestyles and culture, so there is no need to explore others. Our ego blocks us from experiencing other people lifestyles and cultures. Doing something like learning a new language is a burden. Some people think that knowing English is all they need to know and in many cases that just might be true, but it closes the doors to a lot of opportunities that engage in work with people from different places and walks of life. I feel like it so important to try new things and be open and willing to embrace them because those are the things that will change our lives. The world is too big and there are way too many differences in it to set ourselves into one routine our entire lives. It’s important to be brave and willing enough to confront the unknown and face whatever challenges or rewards it offers us.

I feel like a lot of this topic has to do with exposure. A person of any race that has spent a lot of time with people of another race becomes more comfortable with the people of said race. It may be the fear of the unknown. I feel like it may be hard for some people who don’t actually have any real contact or experience with people of a different race. Their perceptions of those people are most likely shaped by stereotypes and things that they have heard from other people or even from what they see on television. Say for example a white girl was attracted to a black guy, but had virtually no experience with the black race; and all that she saw on television were black men portrayed as thugs, players, and criminals. Of course this would cause her to question whether or not she wanted to be in a relationship with a black man.
People have a tendency to cling to and stay around the things that they are used to. Race is a very big thing that people cling to. People feel more comfortable being surrounded by others that look and act like them. In some ones post they said something that I completely agreed with. The writer said that people may be afraid to enter into a relationship with someone of a different race (or culture, religion, etc…) because they don’t know what that person wants or what they may be used to. This makes perfect sense because when you enter into a relationship with someone you want to have at least the slight idea of what they are used to. This is not to say that people of different races would not have anything in common, but instead to say that, feeling like you don’t know what a person is comfortable with (because of their race) or what they may be used to may be an intimacy barrier for some people.
Also, we cannot forget that there is still racism and prejudice in the world; and this is not just a black and white struggle, but a struggle among all races. It could be that some people are brought up with the notion that they are better than others, and even if they do not fully believe it, it is hard to shake those ideas out of the mind completely. Most of us are used to seeing the same kind of people in our families so the thought of being in a relationship and bringing someone home who doesn’t look like the rest of the family may scare people away. No one wants to be judged; it’s like being an out-cast, many people are scared to be different especially when it comes to dating someone of a different race.

I have to admit that at first the lesson caught me a little off guard because the speakers was pretty aggressive, but as class went on, I have to say that I did enjoy the lecture and understood the point that he was trying to make. I thought that parts of the lecture were cool because they allowed me to dig back into my own childhood and see how I went through the stages of racial identification. After class I thought about the experiment done in Brown VS The Board of Education and the experiment that was redone by the student; I started to think about the races of the dolls that I had when I was a child. I remembered having a nice mix of dolls(mainly black and white), but when I called my mother and asked her about the races of my dolls, she told me that there was no doubt in her mind that I had way more white dolls than I did black. I remembered having these really adorable dolls called Kenya Dolls, they were dressed in African inspired clothing and had tan skin, but as I began to recall then I realized that the Kenya Dolls had straight hair; this realization absolutely blew my mind. I started to wonder whether or not I would like the dolls as much as I did if they had Very dark skin and kinky hair. Aside from all of this I don’t think that I’ve ever been in any stage other that stage five. Despite things like having a large number of white dolls, I’ve always identified myself as being black and I have always been happy and proud to be so. I have never held any contempt for any other race and I have (from what I can remember) been open to other cultures and races. To me, just being a good person is enough to get my respect every race and culture has bad people in it and every race and culture has gone through struggles. Fortunately for me, I was raised in a household that is very open minded and that taught me to love myself and other people no matter what their race is. It also helps that I come from a big family and they do things every day that make me proud and make me proud to be black. These are people that I look up to and that are my support systems and it makes me happy to identify myself with them. I’m sure that in certain situations there are people of all races that experience some form of racial identification. There was one thing in class that really touched me and made me a little sad. When the very last girl in the experiment was asked what doll she identified as being bad she chose the black doll and then when she was asked what doll looked most like her, you could see that she wanted to pick up the white doll, but her eyes dimmed and she handed over the black doll instead. I feel sorry for children who find it hard or are ashamed to be who they are. I hope that in some point of their growth they realize that they are beautiful too.

People often speak of immigrants (particularly Mexicans) as “hopping the border”, but it is much more than that. When Eric told his personal experience with illegal immigration, he told how he was shot at when he was just five years old. Immigration isn’t as trivial as just “hopping” a border. These people risk their lives in order to come to our country and to try and make a better life for themselves and their loved ones. Illegal immigrants must have extreme faith in the belief that they can positively change their lives by coming to this country and I feel that this should not be punished. Although illegaly crossing the border is a crime, I don’t want to call immigrants criminals for this reason; I feel that shooting at those families with innocent children is a bigger crime, even if it is just to scare them off.
Jorge is definitely more selfless than any person that I know and his actions are definitely what I would believe that most Christians would admire and respect. Jorge also has a special connection with the poor workers in the video because he was once and illegal immigrant as well. He can more easily identify with the struggles and hardships that those men are currently facing. During the video one of the workers said that the meal that Jorge had given him was his first meal in three days. Just to hear those words was heartbreaking and at that moment I wasn’t thinking that it served him right for being a criminal; I was thinking that there was a poor man just trying to make a better life for himself and possibly his family and due to the laws about immigration that we have in the U.S., he and others were stranded outside and starving. I feel that people like Jorge are people who make this world a better place. I think that what he is doing is very righteous and I am surprised that he has been able to keep his project going every day for years now. I would definitely say that Jorge’s actions model that of our lord; He is willing to give up his own comfort in order to help those who have less and I think that he does more than anyone that I know would be willing to do.
I feel that most Christians (theoretically) aspire to be as selfless as Jorge, but for some people it may be a little harder. From what I got by watching the video clip of Jorge, it did not seem like he had a family of his own (meaning a wife/partner and kids). Although he may have still helped the poor workers, I feel like having a family may make other less inclined to do so. Still, I think what he is doing is great and it would be even better if people would join in and help him.

I feel that when discussing issues such as rape and abortion empathy is key. It is sometimes very easy to declare something and judge something or someone that we do not know. Its situations like this where we have to put ourselves in other people’s shoes. Many times issues don’t really affect us as much as they would if they had happened to us or someone we love. You can make a law that prohibits abortion, but just imagine how women who are raped and get pregnant feel. Not every woman who has been raped can mentally handle birthing the child of the person who raped them. In the 70’s women who couldn’t afford abortions would go and get them done by sketchy quacks with hangers and other unsanitary tools, putting themselves at risk for diseases and infertility. If abortions were banned I feel like people wouldn’t go as far as to use a hanger to abort the babies, but I wouldn’t put it past some (sketchy) doctors or people who have some medical training, to take advantage of the situation and perform abortions for extra cash.
I feel like it is important to ask yourself how you would feel if your mother, aunt, daughter, granddaughter, and so on were raped and became pregnant. Giving birth (though for some people extremely painful) is in itself a miracle and it is sad to see that miracle stopped, but I can also understand how any joy that would have been taken from that miracle becomes marred by a hideous attack like rape. I know that if it happened to someone in my family or my-self for that matter, I would want to have the ability to make the decision of whether or not they or I wanted to keep the baby. When people are raped they are no longer in control of what is happening to their bodies and I feel like that must be one of the worst feelings in the world. So I can only think that to have some politician who doesn’t know them from a can of paint, dictating to them what they are allowed to do to their bodies would be very painful as well. What about when children are attacked and become pregnant. I don’t think that the decision whether to abort the baby or not should be up to the law. I feel like that is a private matter that should be discussed and decided through that child’s family and medical adviser. Rape can severely damage a person’s psyche and in turn damage the relationship between the mother and her child. The mother could resent the child, causing the child to have an unstable upbringing, and so on and so on.
I feel like a law banning abortion is something that speaks for people, who would rather speak or choose for themselves.

As a person of color (black) I grew up knowing that there were a higher amount of black, Hispanic, and Asian men and women in prison than there were white men and women. Still, I was disturbed to see that the statistic that showed the likelihood of youth in juvenile courts being transferred to the adult system compared to whites who commit similar crimes and have similar records showed that blacks are 18.4 times more likely, Hispanics are 7.3 times more likely, and that Asians are 4.5 times more likely than whites. I figured that those numbers would be high, but not nearly as high as they are (especially the blacks). My mother tells my brother all the time that he has to work extra hard and be careful just because he is a black male. It’s crazy, but you can actually see the worry in the eyes of mothers (especially single mothers) who try so hard to raise their sons, but know that just because of their skin color that they are at a greater risk to go to prison and or be judged more harshly. Just this week my brother asked my mom if he could go trick- or-treating with his friends and my mom said to him, “No because you know what people are gonna think when they see a bunch of little black boys together”. Statements like that just show how people already know how unfair the justice system can be and how prejudice and biased peoples thoughts can be about things that they don’t know and the implications that those prejudices have on others around (and far away) from them. I agree with one of my classmates who said that the levels of racism and prejudices in our own country may start to decrease as the older authorities (judges, police, etc…) pass on and people from our generation and younger start to take position. As far as the percentage of black people using and selling drugs compared to white people, although they may be the same our media and peoples prejudices make them hard to believe. It’s much easier to assume that a black male standing on a corner is selling drugs than if a white person were doing it. Even though they may not admit it many people automatically associate people of color with crimes like using and selling drugs (among many other things). I feel like if the actual amount of people who committed crimes were presented that the percentages of races committing the crimes would be more equal. Only time can tell if statistics like these will ever change. It’s up to people to stop their biases and challenge stereotypes so that they can actually see clearly and give the right people fair chances no matter the color of the skin.

First I would like to say that I was happy to see that Sam played this clip from the show “What Would You Do?” My family and I used to watch it every Friday night.
I don’t believe that all of the people in the video were racists or that they were discriminating against the black male or both males (in relation to the female bike thief). I think that there may have been some people who would have stopped to confront the white male just as they did the black male if given a chance. Still I do think that others may have been being discriminative and just denying it because they were going to be on television.
I cannot say that I was really surprised by the outcome of the events. Not only did the area seem to be inhabited by a large population of white people, many of the passerby in the video seemed to be older in age. These two factors alone could pretty much lead anyone to the same conclusion that was met at the end of the video.
Although many people try to abstain from discriminating against others, many things that we hear and learn from the past including ugly stereotypes lodge their way deep into our psyche and become entangled in our subconscious (or conscious for some people). Many of the stereotypes that we have today are the results from our history. Black people were brought over as slaves and looked down upon, thought to be dirty, violent, and mischievous. Now I’m not saying that the people in the video or that all white people for that matter believe those things, but I do think that after hundreds of years of those perceptions being pushed through generations of families that duller, more diluted perceptions of black people hang in the minds of white people ( especially older ones).
The location of this experiment, the experiences of the people involved, and the age of the actors in it are also very important. I live in Northeast Philadelphia and if the experiment was done in a park in my neighborhood, which is predominately white (although that is quickly changing) I truly believe that people would have confronted or at least said something to all three bike thieves. Just from everyday experience people in my neighborhood see just as many mischievous white people in the neighborhood as they do black and just as many mischievous girls as they do boys. The one thing in my neighborhood that would probably stop people from confronting the thieves (that may have been similar to the people who didn’t do anything in the video) is the ages of the thieves. Yes people in my neighborhood wouldn’t necessarily care about the race of the thief, but they may worry that the older thieves might not be as intimidated by them and that they might retaliate violently.

Webster’s dictionary defines affirmative action as “an active effort to improve the employment or educational opportunities of members of minority groups and women; also: a similar effort to promote the rights or progress of other disadvantaged persons.” I’ve never really thought a lot about affirmative action. I don’t even think I’ve ever heard any of my family have a discussion about it. The most that I’ve heard people talk about affirmative action is in movies. From what I can remember at the moment, one of the earliest times that I remember hearing about affirmative action was in the movie American History X when I was in middle school. I’m actually on the fence when it comes to supporting affirmative action. I agreed with our class’s Hispanic volunteer when she said that she believed that people should be hired because they are the most qualified for the job. Whether you receive a job or not shouldn’t be affected because a company has to meet a certain minority employment quota. The World English Dictionary defines affirmative action as “positive discrimination a policy or programme designed to counter discrimination against minority groups and women in areas such as employment and education.” I understand the meaning of “positive discrimination”, but I also believe that any type of discrimination is wrong because someone whether it is the minority or the majority will end up with the short end of the stick. However due to certain histories, many minorities in this country were forced to start off with the short end of the stick and continue to have disadvantages that stem from hundreds of years of slavery and oppression. Like Sam said in class there were some opportunities for minorities to be treated somewhat equally, but the government stopped that from happening and in a way I guess affirmative action could be a step towards leveling out that inequality. It’s easy to say that it is fair that the most qualified people get the job and unfair that a person get it because of their race or gender. On the other hand many white families have the money that they do because of how unfairly minorities (including women) were (and still are) treated. If a white male who had a better resume for a position at some company loses the job to a minority (including a woman) because of affirmative action is it unfair. Well at first you could easily say that it’s unfair because the white male was more qualified, but what if the minority didn’t have the same opportunities to have experiences that would enhance their resume because they were a minority. The minority having a slightly less impressive resume wouldn’t necessarily mean that they could not do the job just as well as the other applicant. I truly don’t know what side I take on this subject. I feel like I could support it, but completely understand why others don’t and vice versa.

I feel like there are a number of different reasons for our current household income gaps. The girl who spoke on behalf of Asian families, Kelly brought up a good point that, like her family many successful Asian families that immigrate to the United States already come from money. They are not (all) poor people from the rural areas of Asia. Kelly said that her parents went to good schools in China for undergrad and then came to the United States to go to grad school. So it’s not like they have nothing once they arrive in the United States. I think that this is a very important point when you compare that to many Hispanic immigrants who do come to the United States with nothing. They don’t (always) have the money or even the previous education required to get higher education in the United States, but many consider it a better opportunity to succeed than where they are from. So of course their average household income is going to be lower on the household income scale. I also think that slavery, genocide (Native Americans) and discrimination also have had an impact on household incomes. Although the slavery that most of us are referring to happened hundreds of years ago I still believe that it had a long lasting impact on our society. Black people were put in a position where they were at the bottom of the totem-poll. They were the ones who worked and received little pay if any at all, while their masters received all the money. This money and power didn’t just disappear, it stayed in their families, while black families had to work even harder to try and overcome discrimination (that still happens today) and racism. The Civil Rights movement was not that long ago. Yes, some black people do make it, but many are still facing barriers that were set up hundreds of years ago. Many black people live in neighborhoods with schools that don’t have good resources, making them less likely to get a higher education and eventually a higher paying job. Also many black families have single parent households, which could also help explain the income gap. This leads to situations where instead of getting a higher education many kids drop out of school to get jobs so that they can help their families, thereby losing the opportunity to get a higher paying job. In the case of Native Americans, they were forced off their land into reservations that they still live in today. They live in poverty-ridden, designated areas where they are somewhat secluded from important resources that could help them thrive. Unfortunately the impact of the genocide that their ancestors suffered has followed them through their later generations, thus making them not even listed on the household income scale. As for the white income, I believe that their start in this country set their future generations up to succeed or at least have a head start among other races. I believe that these are some of the bases for various other reasons why the household income gaps are the way that they are.

I believe that Dr. Jones made a really good point. It is very easy to believe what comes out of someone’s mouth without researching or investigating the true story. We so often accept these skewed stories that have been passed down through several different people, all of them putting a different spin on it. Someone may tell a story that they’ve heard from someone else, but in their laziness (or even incapability to comprehend the story full or get every detail) may omit certain aspects of the story. So instead of relaying the message the way it was originally told they end up telling the same story with slightly different details. By the time the story’s gone through several different people who have all done the same thing the resulting story is completely different or missing valuable details from its original.
Dr. Jones’s exercise also made a good point of showing how details of a story can consciously or unconsciously be omitted from a story if the person telling it feels uncomfortable with them. Like instead of saying that one of the characters was called the “n” word, the storyteller decided to say that there were racial slurs were said. I feel like some people do this in order to protect themselves or shield others from things that they know can hurt their feelings or evoke certain emotions out of them. I don’t think that this lesson necessarily taught people anything that they didn’t know, but I’m sure that it made people more aware of the inaccuracies that can come from filtered stories rather than a direct source. I feel like people go through this their whole lives as if we are constantly playing whisper down the lane.
Another aspect of filtered stories was shown by the situation that Dr. Jones created in class. It seemed to show that sometimes people hear what it is that they want to hear. The girl before the last said something along the lines of the black guy in the story and the white guy in the story having a fight or an argument. Then when the last girl recited what she got from it she said that a black guy punched a white guy. Everybody laughed and to some extent it was funny (the whole exercise was funny), but I also thought why would she say or assume that the black guy was the one who got physical when in “reality” it was the other way around.
We all experience the skewing of stories all the time. There are countless times when I hear my mother retelling something I said or explaining something that I’ve done and just completely changing and misinterpreting the entire story. In truth it is hard to relay some messages exactly how they were given. So we just try to find key points so that we keep the essence of the story and depending on what the situation is this could be a good thing or a bad thing.