When it comes to talking about my views of other races, since taking soc119, I’d say that they have changed in a “positive” way. Sadly class wasn’t as “mind blowing” as Sam always made it seem, but I do give him his credit, because my eyes were open to some of the issues that we discussed in class. Mostly though, because I don’t necessarily live everyday with a blind eye turned to the world around me, all the things that we discussed in class did not surprise me. Don’t get me wrong; some things were pretty eye opening/jaw dropping/shocking, whatever you want to call it, but not everything.
A major reason why most things were already obvious to me was because it was pretty much my life on a PowerPoint. I am an African American…I associate myself with being African American, and lots of the issues we discussed in class were pretty much how Whites have it better than AA’s. Yes there were other comparisons with lots of other races as well, but in terms of the information presented about blacks being poor, stereotyped, racial subjected to violent actions, etc., I already knew these things, because essentially I live that life everyday. Personally I thought that it was common knowledge for people to know these things, but by the responses people had in class as well on the #soc119 hash tag on Twitter, that belief of mine was clearly combated with the actuality of the situation- everyone didn’t know.
That brings me to a point about other races: “How could you really not know?” that question ran through my head a lot during lecture. In fact it’s running through my head as I write this blog as well. The fact that so many people could really be that absent minded about the battles other races fight each and every day, really didn’t sit well with me at first. It made me see them as pretty ignorant people. Throughout the class though that view definitely did change. I began to see that, although people were highly ignorant about other races in the world, they were at least willing to learn about them and that’s why they decided to take the class (this does not include the people who just decide to take the class just because they heard it was an easy A). It showed me that people are willing to open their eyes, and their minds to what’s really going on. I that respect, I’d actually like to congratulate Sam on his class on race and ethnic relations. He most certainly tried to make it so that we would challenge our views about other races and I definitely can say in the respects of certain things, like “White people always wanting to live in ignorance” that I definitely challenged that view and most certainly don’t believe in it as much as I used to. Although Sam may have crossed the line sometimes with remarks and statements he made, I can definitely say that, looking back on the class, it’s okay, because it was with good reason. I don’t necessarily have to agree with the statements, but I can do nothing but agree that it was for a reason that most certainly was for bettering of our beliefs and opinions of other races.
To wrap this up, I’d say that the biggest lesson I’ve learned in the class and about other races is this: Although we are all heavily disconnected with one another, that can be changed with open and honest discussion about, not only our differences, but our similarities as well.

This has truly been an eventful and trying time for Penn State. Emotions have run high and low, all within such a short time frame. Looking back at the panic, during the hurricane, it still gives me that feeling of “Is this really happening?” Indeed, could this really be happening to this prestigious institution that has prided itself on its spectacular reputation in, not only athletics and academics, but school pride as well. Could the university that is home to the largest student run organization in the world (THON), really have it’s bed shaken this hard? It’s an eye opener and a jaw dropper all at the same time.
Not to go through a full recap of the events, because I’m sure that shouldn’t have to be done right now, I’d just like to say that this “scandal” has successfully made me go through and feel any and every emotion I can think of. It’s the true definition of an emotional rollercoaster. Through it all though, I did take some very value lessons from this whole ordeal. They’re things that I’ve always been pretty much conscious of, but due to what has transpired, they came to the light-they hit me as if I was the deer in their headlights.
Firstly, I realized that no matter how much good someone does, one “wrong” can make all the good unimportant. To think that a man who dedicated his life to the institution he was a part of, could lose everything because of actions he didn’t do…it doesn’t even matter what I think about that, because (one of the other things I’ve learned, is that it’s not what you feel that will get you results, but what should be done next-to say it in the least) complaining and feeling sorry, angry, or any other emotions won’t bring him back to his throne as head coach. It’s more important to pick up the pieces where you can and take the proper steps toward restoring what was lost.
I know this has been pretty vague, and broad and pretty much all over the place, but I’m trying to speak from as less of a biased mind as possible. Because they biggest lesson this has taught me…opened my eyes up to rather, is the idea that it’s not about who’s right, or who is wrong. It is about simply understanding the situation and then, taking the appropriate steps toward fixing it. If you think injustice occurred, you’re first step should be to understand the situation from both sides and determining the appropriate steps towards fixing that injustice. It’s the same for the other end of the spectrum as well (if you feel like no injustice was done). If you cannot understand the who, the what, the how, the when, the where and most importantly, the why, how can you say what’s right, or what’s wrong? For me, I understand all of those and that’s why I can say that I am at a calm with my emotions. I’m ready to take what I’ve learned from this and move forward with restoring what has been washed away.

125 years. For one hundred and twenty-five years, this university, The Pennsylvania State University, has been an institution for higher learning that has prided itself in being one of the most globally recognized institutions for higher learning. It has been an institution that has been recognized not only for it’s outstanding football presence in the NCAA, but for it’s academic standings, for it’s contributions to the fight against pediatric cancer (through the student dance marathon: THON), for it’s many contributions to agricultural research (more so in the earlier years of this institutions life), for it’s huge alumni network across the world. Penn State has been an institution that has had a reputation so grand that it is hard to believe that in just 5 days this reputation we have made for ourselves for over a century, be challenged by the media and the masses for the actions of a handful of people.
We (as Penn State students) know what has happened to us, to our University; to the people we cherish here. We know how people see our university now. We all know (at least, I feel it’s pretty safe to assume) how we feel about the media’s portrayal(s) of us, about the scandal, about the members of this scandal, etc. By no means do we as students at this STILL prestigious university happy about the way the things are looking. We are not happy about the negative responses and remarks that people are sending our way, because of what has happened here. We are all a bunch of emotions, feelings, actions, opinions, etc., but the one thing we all without a shadow of a doubt have in common is that we are Penn State students.
The negative emotions…the emotions that have been exhibited by us (as a whole), the students on this Pennsylvania State University campus, should be completely understandable. We can all agree on that (hopefully). The issue with how the outside world is viewing us now is not about our emotions. It’s about our actions. It’s about what they see on the television screen. They are not here on this campus with us. They will only ever know what is told to them and shown to them and what is shown to them, and told to them are solely our actions. Most importantly, what are they going to remember? They’re going to remember our actions AND even more specifically, our most recent actions that they are given the opportunity to see. If what they are seeing from us (what the media is reporting) is light posts being ripped down, news vans being flipped over, students getting maced/teargasesd and students running from the police, can any of us really expect the outside world not to see us as “idiotic, misguided children?”
I am not saying that I agree with what they think of us. I understand why they would make these assumptions and accusations, but like I said I do not agree with them. Personally it’s not about agreeing with them or disagreeing with them. It’s about taking their remarks, keeping them in mind and taking necessary steps toward changing them. Sure we could call them “idiotic” or “uninformed” because they don’t know what’s really going on, but why fight fire with fire? Why not bring so much water to their firefight that they leave it freezing? They can and will always say what they want, but we can and will always have the power to shape this university. We’ll always have the power to do so much “good” that people will jump back on our bandwagon without anymore utters of bad words about us. We have this power, so why not use it?

Should immigrants have to speak and/or learn English? Yes! I totally think they should. I know and understand that America…the United States rather, does not have an “official” language, but that does not mean this nation is not engulfed around a specific language. However, regardless of the fact that it has not been “set in stone,” our language is English. The majority of the people speak it, if I’m not mistaken. Should English not be considered our “official” language simply because people have immigrated here from literally all over the place (in reference to back when the USA was founded)? Should it not be our “official” language, because Native Americans were technically the rightful people of this land and probably spoke in native tongues? Or should it just not be our “official” language because no one decided it was important enough to tell the world “Hey we are claiming this language. It’s ours. It’s what you should expect when you come here?”
For me, I see it like this: There are too many languages in this world for me to think of all of them, or even count all of them for that matter. They all have their respective places where they are spoken fluently amongst the people indigenous to whatever region that may be: Spain speaks Spanish. China speaks Chinese (from my understanding Mandarin is the most common one? I could be wrong) France speaks French and so on. What is the difference between them and the USA? They declared those to be their “official” languages. But my thing is, why does there have to be some big declaration as to what language you speak? It can’t just be solely for the purpose of having you documents all concurrent with each other. But to save a long story, at this day and age, we know those countries to speak those languages and it is not because they declared it to be their “official” languages, but because the majority of their people speak it and it is their first (and sometimes only) language. When it comes to the United States, I don’t see why it’s so troubling to associate this nation with the English language. Prior to immigration being a “problem,” was English not spoken by the majority of the people? Isn’t English still spoken by a majority of the people?
Moving back to why I feel as though immigrants should know English, I feel like they should know it because, regardless if it’s our “official’ language or not, it is the language spoken by the masses here. If you are coming here, and I am sure it is like this for other countries and nations as well, to be able to function within the society of the masses, you should be able to communicate with them. I have not been out of the country yet, but I am confident that if I were to go to another country to per se live there, I would have to know that native language to function, with maximum capability, in their society. I feel as though the same thing should be done here in America.

I’m pretty sure that no one answered this question because whites are not going to be THE minority in the future. They are simply going to be a minority. I’m taking it this was another one of Sam’s “I’m going to wow the class” moments. Honestly, there is nothing really wow about it (I’m talking in pertinence of this particular topic). With the immigration rates, how long would one expect whites to be the majority? Could one really assume that they would be the majority forever?
Before I go any further into this blog post, I want to take the time out to clarify a couple of things for those who might be missing a couple of apples, or just seem to uses your oranges before your apples (jump before you think). A majority…what constitutes a majority is having ATLEAST 50% of the population (in context of what we are talking about). So anything less is not the majority. People love to think that oh if they make of 46% of the population, they are the majority. Sorry, but that 54% is the majority of the population.
To pretty much answer the question of how I feel about it, I don’t really care. It’s not something that I really focus my attention on, or think needs a drastic amount of attention. I am also not surprised, considering all the people that are immigrating into this country, for one, and the fact that same pretty much compared whites to everyone else (who isn’t white). Regardless if that’s what he was trying to do or not, that’s the message his words (key words: his words) lead us, or just me, to believe he was getting at. So basically, you have Asians, Hispanics/Latinos, Africans, and African Americans VS Whites. I know there are a lot of white people and all, but really, how much longer could they possibly the majority in this country? I know I keep asking that question, but it’s seriously something to really think about. Instead of being all surprised that whites percentage is dropping really think about it. It’s clearly a disproportioned weight distribution on the scale. Personally, I think a better question to ask is: “Is it fair to compare whites, to not just one, but all other people from different ethnic backgrounds at once?” Okay comparing Whites and Blacks and saying that whites are the majority is one thing, but to compare them to blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and say they are slowly becoming the minority…don’t you think that’s kind of what it should look like if there are various kinds of people on one side and just one on the other? This is pretty much just how I see it. I really don’t see how it can be so shocking. If it was Whites are becoming the minority to one specific/particular other race, than maybe it could have been a “wow” factor, but considering the question, that’s just not the case.

I do not by feel that those who hang with a group of friends that is mostly of different racial or ethnic backgrounds then themselves are posers. My main reason in why I think this is because I hangout with plenty of people who don’t register as black and I know for sure that I’m not doing it to pose, or act “white” or any other race that I am not.
For starters, I consider myself to be African American. I live in the inner city streets of Philadelphia. I’ve always attended schools where the student body was predominantly, if not completely, black. So yes, my social circle consisted of pretty much all black people as well. However, I’ve also had friends of different racial backgrounds mixed in my network(s) of friends as well. I guess you can say I’m one of the lucky ones who didn’t build up racial pride to the point where it blinded me from the reality of other races being as important as my own. My number of friends who are of different ethnicities has drastically increased since coming to University though and it’s partially why I came here to Penn State (to introduce myself to racial groups that I hadn’t had an personal interactive experience with yet). This can be taken however you want to take it, but I cannot hang with all and only black people all the time. It’s for reasons that have nothing to do with color, but at the same time, the way I see it is, if I wanted to be around all black people all the time, why would I not just go to a HBCU?
I like to keep a good mix of friends and I even try to integrate them. I understand the importance of breaking the racial divide. We, as a society, have to be able to understand each other and how can that really be done, if we are all separate. I understand that there are various factors that could lead members of society not to want to dabble in other racial realms: lack of comfort, ignorance of their people, guilt, etc. At the same time however, how long can we really let these things hold us back? How much longer can it be acceptable for blacks to continue to blame whites for all their problems? How much longer will whites have to wear the guilt on their shoulders?
I know I said some general things and I know that they might not apply to every single person of every single race or ethnic background, but it does hold some truth to it. I know this because I have seen it, heard it and in some cases, watched it, with my own two eyes. So if you’re looking for some type of quotes or findings from an accredited sociologist, or if you’re expecting to see some type of statistic telling you to see this to hold true, or that not to hold true about the population, stop, because none of that is going to be in my blog post. You should not need anyone’s opinions or statistics to see what’s going on in the world around you. You should be able to open your eyes and see the racial inequality. Even if you could not see it at home, because you were in a environment with all white people, or all Asian people, or like me, in an environment with all black people, that excuse does not matter here on campus, because there are too many people, from to many different places with stories to be heard. There’s too much diversity on this campus. To leave it without even experiencing any of it, you will really be cheating yourself out of the opportunity to explore the rich environment that consists of diversity and culture and learning about other people that you may not have met any other way.
To bring it back to those who hang with others that are not like them, race wise, I feel as thought they are the ones, who didn’t let those invisible, yet extremely visible walls between races, prevent them from experiencing the world and all that it offers in its diverse group of people. No they are not posers. No they are not traitors. No they are not idiots, fools, or naïve little children. They are living today, with the dreams of tomorrow.

This was a great article as well as a breathe of fresh air, per se, from the usual blog topics/questions. Happiness can be many things. It could be a goal, a thought, a feeling, something purchasable, and so on. It really just depends on the person and their definition of it.
For me happiness is pretty much a state of mind. It’s something that lingers in my conscious as well as my subconscious. To achieve happiness, it’s not as much as “doing” something that is supposed to make me happy, but just enjoying life, day to day. For instance, I don’t have to win the lottery, or be bombarded with compliments and ego boosters to be happy. Don’t get me wrong, those things would make me happy, but I don’t need them to be happy.
I like to lead a very simple life. Since I’m in school, its pretty much wake up, go to class, get food, do work, hang with friends and just enjoy my day(s). Seems so boring, considering that’s pretty much what everyone else pretty much does (unless you don’t go to class, or hang out with people. You can take those off the list if they don’t apply), but that’s all I need to do. The “fun” either overlaps those tasks, or it fills in the gaps. For me, at the end of the day, when I look back on my day and I had fun, had some really good laughs, and ate some food, than I will be happy (Fun/laughing + food= happy camper). It’s really just that simple for me.
Now to touch on the articles a little bit, I thought it was very interesting. The most interesting one to me, was number 3. “Money Can buy happiness…sort of.” Lots and literally, I mean lots of people always take a side on this matter as to whether money can really buy you happiness. Like the article said, stress and anxiety are high when you’re constantly worrying about your house being repossessed. It doesn’t even have to be your house. It could be your car, or furniture that you’re renting, or not having money to buy groceries for your family. These are pretty much situations where money is needed to fix the “problems” and when you do get that money, suddenly that stress and anxiety is relieved, even if only for a short amount of time.
My stance as far as this topic goes is one in the middle, but slightly closer to money can actually buy you happiness. It all pretty much depends on what you want, what makes you happy, and if money is what it takes to get you those wants that make you happy, then in turn, having that money is going to make you happy. At the same time though, I feel as though, although it might make you happy, that happiness cannot last forever. Various reasons affect the reasons why it won’t last forever and I think the article, gave pretty good insight into explaining things.

I literally chuckled when I heard the question. Why do women wear short skimpy clothing and men wear whatever (basically)? I feel as though women dress skimpy for difference reasons; they are trying to appeal to men, they want to appeal to men, or they are dressing that way simply because want to. Like Sam said, it’s a man-centered world, so everything is pretty much in the perspective of what man sees and what man wants. Men as well as women are conscious of this. But it does not by any means it’s some type of commandment or law set in stone, that women have to look this particular way to appeal to men. They by no means have to, so when they do, I feel as though it’s mostly by choice.
Before I go any further, just putting this other confirmatory idea out there, yeah it’s “hot” or sexy and I enjoy looking at girls in their high heels and dresses (or skirts), but even that it only some of the time. Believe it or not, you can have on high heels and a dress and look a full-fledged mess (Yes women when you think any ole dress and heels combination is sexy, think twice, because it’s not always the case). That is not something I want to spend too much time on, so we’ll move on from that. Back to the topic at hand, long story short yes us men, admire your short skirts and your dresses and heels, but at the same time all it tells us is that: 1. You want to see those clothes on the floor soon (easy pickings) 2. You want all the attention (from guys) on you and not on other girls or 3. You’re easy. Whichever one is in your head is irrelevant, because, to me, they all shout out choice. “I want to be easy.” “I want guys too look at me.” “What easier way to let a guy into my pants, than to not wear them.” It’s all your choice.
Now on the guy side of the equation, before I even say why we don’t dress up, I just thought I’d throw a question out there: What is a “dressed up” guy? I’m sure we all can agree that there’s more of a selection when it comes to female clothing than male clothing. So I ask, how much more can we put on, or take off, to enhance our look?
To answer the question though, I’d say it’s simply because we don’t have to (Now before you go saying why do women have to or anything of that caliber, let me finish). We don’t have to, because women don’t set a standard (from my observations). You can argue whatever reasons you want as to why that is so, but for this question I don’t feel the need to go into that portion. Now to bring things back to the women side, you don’t have to either! I have seen, with my own two eyes, women looking much better which jeans and a nice shirt on than girls in skirts and they still get attention from guys. As “doggish” as this next sentence is going to sound, it doesn’t really matter what you have on, it’s all about whether or not you’re putting out or not, but that’s a tangent.
To wrap this up, women whether you are doing it because you want attention from men, you think it’s what mean want, you want attention on yourself you are still making that choice for the response that you desire.

Why are women seen as so innocent? This is such a funny question when you look at the picture of it all. They really are seen as innocent though. I think it’s real lucky of them. They could, and have, gotten away with everything. It’s kind of hard to blog about this topic without putting a “lol,” so if you see one here and there, know that I couldn’t help it.
One of the major reasons I think women are seen as innocent has to do a lot with the media and how they portray them. When you see any type of anything, mostly all the criminals are men. There are some shows, like Criminal Minds, that try to exhibit female criminals, but for the most part most criminals seem to be men. It’s not really “fair’ but what are you going to do? Point them out? Good Luck.
Another reason I think women get away with things is because they are up against men whom they will always have an advantage over, simply because they are women. If a man figures a woman out, it takes but so little effort to shut him up. What can I say; we are easy. But also, women’s motives are usually different when it comes to crimes. I’m not by any means saying that makes it okay, but it definitely makes it difficult to convict them sometimes.
When it comes to women and different races, I would definitely say that there are different assumptions based on their skin color. I feel like black females, or any female of color, are looked at like they are more of criminals than white women. My best guest would be simply because, although they are women, they are still black and we know how we get portrayed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pointing the finger or using anything as an excuse. I am just making an observation. Well more say stating the results of the things I’ve observed thus far, in my time on this earth. In what I’ve experienced, the next on the list to be looked at as criminals, would be people of Hispanic decent and then following them would be Asians. Lastly you have white women, as the most innocent on top. But the big question is, why are they so innocent. Out of all the women, why are white women seen as the crème de la crème? I honestly don’t know, but my opinion/thoughts on the matter are simply that I don’t hardly ever see them do things wrong, so one could argue that they are more “incognito” with their criminal endeavors but none the less, like I said earlier, it does not make it okay to be a criminal. That’s an argument for another day though. Lol

I would like to start off by saying that it is pretty cool to have the class get involved with the Haiti Project. Normally you’ll see people just trying to raise awareness about the issues going on, which is still good, but to actually make the class get involved is pretty interesting. After watching a few of the videos, I personally admire the entrepreneurs and their hard work and efforts towards creating a better community within Haiti. It’s always nice to see people trying to make a better community for themselves as well as others. I am excited to get into my group and see what we can come up with to contribute to the help effort.
One thing the videos opened my eyes to was the side of “business” that being a part of the general public doesn’t grant you access to and that’s the manufacturing portion of it. I felt sort of bad, like wow this is how these entrepreneurs have to make there clothes and this is what they have to do to get supplies to make food. It literally was an eye opener for me. At the same time it made me gain an appreciation for them as well. Even with the little tools for labor that they have, they still manage and do what they can; A deed truly worth applauding.
The most inspiring part about the videos was their work ethic. It was great. It gives a sense of relief to know that not everyone is a bent on doing the least amount of work possible just to get by (you find that a lot in the US and I have found it in a lot of my own experiences). At the same time, I can’t say I was expecting it. When profiling individuals in a community you’re going to pick the best (granted that the cause is something you want to grab others attentions about- this Haiti project), so it’s kind of a given that they would have good work ethic, but the whole media aspect of this is a entirely different story. Back on topic though, whether the best or worst, it was inspirational to actually get a chance to see people in developing countries and what they are doing to make things better for themselves as well as their children, families and communities.
As far as the group projects go, I think there are some potentially great things that could be done to help fund/finance the entrepreneur’s endeavors and I can’t wait to talk about them in my group. The idea of the group assignment kind of reminds me of recitation where we have to talk about issues in society. The difference this time is we are going to converse about ways to possibly improve issues society and with that being said, I’m going to wear my creativity on my sleeve.