I feel like those protesting South Park and other “politically incorrect” forms of media fail to realize several things about the freedom of speech. The first thing they forget is that freedom of speech cannot be selective. In a nation where these groups have the luxury to be able to protest without getting shot, they have the nerve to declare that other people can’t say anything deemed offensive to themselves. When freedom of speech is involved, one of the most important things to remember that it includes controversial opinions, even ones that express hatred or discrimination. We see images of Ku Klux Klan rallies and cross burnings, the Westboro Baptist Church protesting at the funerals of dead soldiers, and other forms of hatred at its worst. But while we may hate it, it is a right as an American citizen to be able to hold that right with no threat from the government. Naturally, we in turn have the right to disagree with them, and we have the complete ability to do so. Perhaps that’s something we forget sometimes. We have every right to say what we think, we just need to do that more. Otherwise, the ideals the United States stands for are at risk.
I was able to watch the new episode of South Park, and throughout the episode there were a series of censors on the screen where Mohammed should have been. The episode also bleeped out the word “Mohammed” and even completely censored a monologue at the end of the show. At first, I thought this was a well played meta joke that the South Park creators planned. But today I saw a statement on their website, noting that “Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle's customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn't mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too.” Looking for confirmation, I found several sources (including one from the New York Times website) that confirmed that Comedy Central had indeed heavily censored the episode prior to it airing. I was fairly taken aback to this decision. At first I reasoned that this was maybe a part of a marketing scheme to hype up the show, but I feel like that would be a fairly low thing to do. But I suppose this whole ordeal isn’t the right thing to do either. I’m fairly certain that this course of events is far worse. South Park lampoons everybody (even in the recent episode it portrayed Buddha ripping lines of cocaine and Jesus watching internet porn), but now at the sign of a threat everybody clamps shut and doesn’t support their own rights. Sometimes we need to fight for our basic constitutional rights to exist, otherwise they hold no merit.

I’ve always been a huge proponent of teaching foreign languages in schools. The world today is rapidly evolving into a state of globalization, where contact between all nations is instantaneous and a daily part of life. With obvious language barriers looming, there becomes an importance in being fluent in at least one foreign language. Learning a foreign language truly opens up new opportunities for people, ranging from exciting careers and connections to travel and vacationing benefits. Learning a foreign language also helps people learn by proxy about other cultures from around the world, which in turn helps to reduce the ethnocentric attitudes people sometimes develop. In my opinion, the benefits of learning a foreign language cannot be overstated.
With all that in mind, I thought that the New York Times article was pretty distressing news. The article notes that over the past decade, thousands of American foreign language programs in schools across the country have been cut from the budget. In a time where the world is getting smaller and smaller, news of this nature can’t bode well for the United States. Getting caught behind the rest of the world in the capacity to speak foreign languages is not what a world power allows to happen. But with this sobering news, it could provide us all a microcosm of the decline of America’s influence on the world. A rebound is necessary in order for the decline to level out.
The second topic the article discusses is the silver lining in their analysis of foreign language programs in the United States; the number of Chinese programs in schools is rapidly growing. This has been accomplished by the Chinese government partially paying the salaries to teachers that travel to the United States and teach Chinese at schools there. In an education system that seems to always be strapped for cash, having the Chinese government help pick up the salary for Chinese teachers makes them more inclined to hire them. No other nations provide this kind of service, so other foreign language programs are losing numbers while the Chinese departments have been steadily growing. The results of this program are already showing results; it has been estimated that about sixteen hundred schools now have the capacity to teach Chinese.
In my opinion, the article presents a bittersweet view on the state of foreign language programs in private and public schools in the United States. On one hand, having so many programs shut down due to a lack of money is distressing to hear. On the other hand, it’s nice to see that the Chinese government is able to help fund these programs for schools in the United States. It is my hope that in the future more governments will follow suit.

I’m inclined to believe that there is not so much of a “second step” as much as there is a series of things people can do when presented with this problem. But before any of these steps occur, I feel like one needs to legitimately follow step one (recognize the slavery issue and take it seriously) first. Assuming that people do this, I think there are several important things to do that make up “step two.” With the second step, the world can come much closer to a place where slavery is truly in the past.
The first thing people can do is share their newfound thoughts and feelings with the people around them. We communicate with friends, family, classmates, teachers, and other people on a daily basis. What if we each picked one person to share our thoughts with? I’m certainly not advocating that people preach endlessly to others (unless you feel inclined!). But what if each of us talked about it with a parent, sibling, or friend? Once they know, then they can begin the first step and begin to think about the impact of slavery on daily life. If things go well, then they can share their thoughts with people they know, and a network of informed people can begin to grow.
The second thing that can make up “step two” in this process is contacting local politicians about the issue at hand. When a good sized group of people become informed about an injustice then contacting their representative would be the next logical thing to do. Nothing can really be done unless representatives bring the issue to Washington DC. It probably seems like a daunting task to bring up, and the news about chocolate companies blocking such a discussion is disheartening to hear, but if enough people use their voices then maybe people will finally listen.
A third thing people can do is simple; make more conscious decisions when buying products. There are many slave tainted products and industries out in the world, from metals to clothing to precious stones. But if people consciously look out for “free trade” products, then they can be assured that the product they bought was fairly bought and sold from the place of origin to the stores. It might take some more searching or some more money to buy, but in the end you are contributing to a greater cause by not buying products manufactured by slaves.
In the video we saw this week with the slaves from the Ivory Coast, one of the freed slaves makes the claim that eating chocolate was like “eating his flesh.” I never thought of the impact I had made when consuming these products, but it has at least gotten me to think about the issue for the first time. It’s an excellent first step, and the previous steps I mentioned can make up an excellent second step as well.

I agree that it was certainly interesting to observe the reactions of my fellow classmates when this topic was brought up. Watching people leave the class and the reactions of everybody else made me think, “so what really is the big deal?” Clearly something was causing discomfort amongst the class.

My first reaction to this issue was that it’s a no-brainer as to why people may view menstruation as “gross.” Think about it; the topic pertains to anatomical things like blood and female reproductive organs. A combination of the two can clearly make people uncomfortable. It’s not fair that people would simply leave upon hearing the word “period,” but this at least provides us some sort of explanation as to why people were reacting the way they were.

My second thought was about the reactions of the men in the class. While women seemed to take it in stride, the men in the class had reactions ranging from confusion to disgust. The reasoning for this is simple; men do not experience menstruation cycles, so men are unfamiliar with most (if not all) things about it. People react badly to what they do not know about; it’s a fear of the unknown. It may sound silly, but it makes sense. If men knew more about this natural phenomenon, then would their reactions have been less extreme? I am confident they would have been.

One thing Professor Richards brought up also made me think deeper about this issue. He told the class that without menstruation, none of us would be here. As gross as people thought menstruation was, he brings up a valid point. Why is something so vital to life so taboo? It is easy to go back to the whole anatomical nature of the issue, but that does not lower its importance to life. It was an interesting point to bring up. Maybe if we saw it less of a “disgusting” thing but as a natural part of life, it would not be such a huge deal.

I think this whole issue goes back to sex education in the United States today. When I learned about menstruation, it was explained to me as some kind of mysterious phenomenon that lacked proper explanation. It naturally confused us, and at such a young age that can turn out to be the exact opposite of what sex education should accomplish. Things like menstruation and other things pertaining to human sexuality should be better embraced in society as natural. I know many people would be against such action (“Think of the children!”) but do they deserve to be left in the dark? The more menstruation is explained as natural in sex ed courses, the less of a taboo subject it will become.

Given how male dominated the sport of American football is, I found this accomplishment to be quite a surprise. It’s good to see that this woman had a goal in mind and didn’t let anything get in her way until it was accomplished. Even her father refused to hand her that goal. But instead of simply giving in to what was determined “normal” for women, she decided to take up the sport later. Because of her efforts, we now have a woman head coach for a high school football team, a previously unheard of idea. It could open up opportunities for more women in male dominated sports.
I can also relate to this story on a more personal level. This story reminds me of when I was on my local middle school football team, and one of my teammates was a girl. At first, I thought it was completely unexpected and unusual. I had no idea that any females even liked football, much less wanted to play it! As the season went on, it became less and less of a noticeable difference to me. She became less of a “female teammate” and became more of a “teammate that happened to be a female.” Like Natalie Randolph said in the interview, it’s only a matter of time before females in football become a normal scene. All it took for me to see that a female teammate was nothing strange was some time.
This article also reminds me how limited professional sports were only recently due to limits on race. There were segregated leagues in many sports before things began to change. Even after leagues were integrated, there were growing pains to contend with; I’m reminded by the stories of people heckling Jackie Robinson when he broke baseball’s racial barrier. Even recently, there was a lot of news during the year the Indianapolis Colts won the super bowl because the coach was black (the losing team’s coach was black as well). If I recall correctly, these two coaches were the first ones to make the Super Bowl and it was the first time a black coach won it all. Its nice to see that the gender barrier in professional sports is disintegrating as well. Who knows what other sports will soon have female coaches, or will have more players that are female.
This article also reminds me of the previous entry on this site about racist sports fans in European soccer leagues. This tells me that while progress is being made with diversity in professional sports, there is still much work to be done. It may take some time for fans to get used to different kinds of people in sports, but I’m optimistic things can change.

The last sentence in this news report was what stuck to me the most; “She also said that when she asked a teacher about the school's ban on same-sex dates at the prom, she was told she had to remember where she was.” Many of us at Penn State probably have no idea what the state of LGBT issues are in places like the deep south, and news reports like this show how troubling it has become. The immaturity of the school is astounding. It is clear that their excuse to cancel the prom dance (the issue was “distracting to the educational process”) is a thinly veiled excuse to shut down two girls who love each other. It reminds me of the immature kid who plugs his ears with his hands and screams “La la la, I can’t hear you!” whenever things didn’t’ go his way. What was the school district thinking this action was going to do? Now that this incident has reached exposure around the world, I don’t see how the district can defend itself without looking blatantly ignorant and bigoted.
This issue reminds me of the relatively open and accepting environment my high school was when it came to LGBT issues. I went to a public school just like the one in question, but our attitude towards the LGBT community was remarkably open. Several years ago, for example, we decided to play “The Laramie Project” as our school play in the spring. Unfortunately the Westboro Baptist Church caught wind of this and declared a protest against our “fag drenched” school district. They came and did their spiel, but the show went on. I think this shows that there is a segment of people in public school districts that stand by LGBT rights, and that this Mississippi district does not accurately represent the underlying attitudes of many administrations in other public school districts.
Perhaps the most damning consequence of this whole ordeal is the inevitable disdain students will now have towards Ms. McMillen and her girlfriend. Prom is a big deal to many people, and to cancel it is an extreme measure that is sure to make students upset. Where will that anger be placed? It’s very likely that Ms. McMillen is going to take the "blame" from other students. People may think that she is responsible for “ruining prom” or that she is “pushing her ideas onto other people.” The reality is that all she wants to do is go to one of the biggest nights of her life with the person she loves. She has said to reporters that “a bunch of kids at school are really going to hate me for this." This shouldn’t have to happen, even if there is only a small chance of this occurring. Hopefully we can all use this as a catalyst to push LGBT issues to the forefront of our consciousness.

When I was younger I had the opportunity to visit an Indian reservation in rural Arizona. Having been able to have such an opportunity, It is obvious just how life changing the discovery of oil on a reservation can be. Typically everything on a reservation is run down, broken, or obsolete. Very little money flows through these reservations and squalor is rampant. Such a huge infusion of money due to oil discovery has the potential to change fortunes around. It is possibly the first lucky break these three tribes have had in at least several hundred years. The only major downside I see from this article is how attached the three tribes may become to revenue seeking oil companies. If they are not careful, they may end up trading all of their land in exchange for money from oil companies. At first glance it almost seems ridiculous that native Americans would be so adamant on selling their land for money. But given the circumstances, this possibly is an opportunity they could ill afford to pass up. They just need to be careful not to let it get to their heads. These oil rigs will damage the environment and drive the ecosystem out of the area. These effects certainly go against what natives stand for, so they need to make sure that they do not get too greedy.
An idea that sprung to my head was that these three tribes should distribute this revenue beyond just their own borders. They have every right to benefit from this cash, but to me it would be nice to see them help other Native American tribes as well. There are many other reservations out there that desperately need help and receive little of it, if anything at all. There appears to me many of millions of dollars to be had in this venture, so why not donate some of it to help other tribes out? This act of philanthropy could go a long way in helping disenfranchised native Americans out. Things like a new school, new paved roads, and improved housing can go a long way.
In a historical perspective I found it interesting that these Native Americans, perhaps for the first time in hundreds of years, are being paid back fairly for their land. For too long the United States found it prudent to offer fraudulent treaties (or just ignored treaties in the first place) and forcibly removed Native Americans from land. It is unfortunate that it took a highly desired resource like oil to switch this policy, but it could be argued that it was one of the few things capable of cutting through the issue. But in these circumstances, as long as these tribes don’t get too greedy it could turn out to be extremely beneficial.

This video was tough to watch on several levels. The first thing to come to my mind was how counter productive it would be to separate this family. Clearly both moms love each other in the same way that a husband and a wife does. But they cannot avoid immigration laws simply because marriages between two people of the same sex is not recognized by the American government. To imagine that thirty six thousand families are in the same predicament is mind-boggling. To know that half of those families have small children only makes things worse. It’s clear that the children in the case seen in the video are well cared for. Both vouch for keeping their family together. In a world where two parent families with well raised children are important, splitting this family apart would be a terrible idea. There are surely negative financial consequences for losing a parent, creating a money problem that never should have occurred. In addition, one parent being forced to spend time between kids and work is definitely not ideal. Two parents can better share this load. By sending one of the parents back to the Philippines, we risk destroying the stability of the family. Is it worth it? In my opinion its not a fair decision in any respect. Laws need to be created in order to recognize that a couple of the same sex has the same rights as a more traditional couple. These new laws need to expand beyond the problem shown in the video as well. For example, same sex couples don’t share the same hospital visitation rights that traditional couples enjoy. Traditional couples also get tax benefits that same sex couples often do not have. Perhaps the most damning thing is that same sex couples, even if they are stable and filled with love, are not recognized by the American government in the same way traditional couples are. Lots of work needs to be done in order to fix all these issues, but I am confident that new legislation will be passed at some point in the near future.

Whenever a video like this shows up, I always try to put myself in the person’s shoes being shown on the computer screen. If I had go to through a situation where my wife had to be deported despite having kids and being married to an American citizen, I would be extremely distraught. It should be no wonder why the family in this video is upset at the very idea of a deportation tearing their family apart. If we try to imagine ourselves in the shoes of others more often, I think we can view everyone on a more human level and strive to make each other happier, not torn.

I agree that the “main” racial dialogue we hear is about the relationship between black people and white people. Even in my discussion group for this class the discussions are almost exclusively about blacks and whites. As I watched the video, I agreed with the notion that the civil rights movement is a huge factor to consider, more so than slavery. The movement was only around fifty years ago, so it should come as no surprise that its effects are still felt today. At an early age we are taught about the civil rights movement, from the people that led it to the significant events during those times. We see images of the movement, we hear speeches that define the times, and we even celebrate the life of Dr. King once a year. We learn about the civil rights movement on a fairly consistent basis for many years, perhaps more often than we learn about the times of slavery. This exposure inevitably must be at least partially responsible for bringing the black vs. white issue to the forefront, despite other necessary discussions being needed. In the future, however, I don’t see this remaining in the forefront of racial dialogue. Soon a dialogue between white people and other minorities will need to gain further attention. In the present day, the United States is still bringing in a lot of immigrants, especially from both Asia and Latin America. We can certainly still continue the discussion between blacks and whites, but as more Asians and Latinos come into the country, unanswered issues will pop up. We may not see this trend clearly today (partially due to our proximity from the US Mexican border), but as the “other” minority population levels rise the country needs to take notice. Otherwise, a already growing level of discontent between whites and immigrants may boil over, and as history has shown it can turn ugly fast. As it stands today, it should not be a surprise that the debate between black people and white people takes the center stage. The other discussions between whites and other minorities are still new, and the immense struggle during the civil rights movement is still fresh in many people’s lives. Perhaps the only thing needed to present a level playing field for all racial discussions is time. As the civil rights movement moves further back into American history, it will become less of a thing people witnessed personally and become “just” an event that occurred. Eventually, I believe the civil rights movement will naturally lose its position as THE racial issue as opposed to one of many. Meanwhile, the discussions between whites and other minorities will build steam and gain our attention.

I had the opportunity to watch Avatar in 3D over the break after hearing how amazing the graphic effects were. I was not disappointed; visually it was extremely appealing. It was probably the prettiest movie I have ever seen. However, my friends and I left the theater thinking how lackluster the plot was. It immediately reminded me of Pocahontas, except the natives were blue and the white people had giant mech suits with massive machine guns. I’m not saying Pocahontas or Avatar are bad movies by any means, but it shows just how old and tired the “messiah complex” style of plot has become. It gets rather boring watching white people, in their blind search for riches or glory, attempt in every single one of these movies to destroy natives in a heartless manner before a seemingly inferior opponent thwarts them. In the end, the superior force learns a valuable lesson, and the natives are left alone. It gets old.
I believe David Brooks brings forth a very interesting point concerning Avatar. He goes through the plot and points out all the times when the classic “white messiah” plot shows itself. From the natives being spiritual and peace-loving to the humans being bloodthirsty and greedy, he clearly hits the nail on the head.
James Cameron may have used that formula just to give his movie some sort of plot, but I think he could have thought of something more original. For example, what if the humans needed a certain resource that only existed on the alien planet in order to cure a disease that was destroying their species? This could have added an interesting factor that gives a sort of sympathetic aspect to their actions. Instead, we have the humans act like ignorant animals that only care about money. The same thing can be applied to other movies that follow this formula. Ignorant fortune-seekers harass the natives in Pocahontas, Dumb whites destroy the brave samurai in The Last Samurai, and so on.
This is where Avatar clearly messed up. It could have reached an elite status of being amazing visually and theatrically. Instead, while the visuals are top notch, we are left with a cookie-cutter plot that leaves much to be desired. At one point, the humans declare that they will use “shock and awe” to bring down the natives. The very idea of using that phrase in the movie is laughable, but it further helps support the claim that what people are watching is essentially cowboys and Indians set in the distant future. A fresh outlook is necessary for these kinds of movies. Otherwise we may end up with a flood Avatar clones that don’t look nearly as pretty and retain the poor storyline.