KabilBlila

KabilBlila

22p

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13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Letter from an Inmate · 0 replies · +1 points

This letter really touched me and made me think, which is apparently the point of this class as Sam is always saying. I think that everyone has a preconcieved notion about people in jail, and even more of a notion about inmates in jail serving a life sentence. This letter made me change my ways of thinking, and absolutely changed my opinions on people that are serving life sentences.
The preconcieved notion I had in my mind was that all people in jail for this long are the scum of the earth and belong to be there, and i bet this is the notion that almost all, or most people share. When I hear about people in jail for murder and rape and what not, I think that they are bad people and should suffer longer then anyone else should suffer. Its not really about deserving it but more about being the shitty human individual that commits such an act. That is why the letter was so eye opening.
I dont have much experience with jail, as I have never been in one or had one in my neighborhood. The only memory I have with jail is my cousin being arrested a couple of years back and spending a jail in my month. My cousin was an immigrant who came over when he was fifteen and I was eleven. I looked up to him as an idol and thought of him as a role model. However, once he went to high school and got mixed in with the wrong crowd he started doing bad stuff. Eventually he got kicked out of high school and moved to another state. A couple of months later my mother got a letter from him stating that he was in jail with his blood pasted onto the letter. She cried all night and didn't fall asleep. I was still younger at the time but i felt remorse. This was the first time I guess that I felt that someone was in jail that either shouldn't be or maybe he didnt fit in with the rest of them.
The main thing that the article did for me was think that men and women inmates like this need to be utilized for other things instead of just sitting around in a cell all day and going to a courtyard for an hour. Prison is meant for rehabiltaiton and once someone is rehabiltated then they should be allowed to contribute to society. Im not saying that these people need to be babysitting children, but there has to be some sort of jobs that they can take. In a society where mistakes are often looked over, we need to do a better job of allowing people to continue on with their lives and make up for their mistakes.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - What about the men? · 0 replies · +1 points

Men have to conform to society in a few certain ways, but not nearly in as many ways as much as women do. I feel the main reason that people have to conform is because they feel they need to be perceived as the norm. The norm is set by whats on television, whats in the movie theaters, whats on magazine covers, and etc. The women that are on all of these outlets are mainly women in show business, who are beautiful and have tremendous bodies, exemplifying the word perfect. Perfect face structure, perfect eyes, perfect smile, perfect chest, legs, everything. Guys on the other hand have more of a variety when it comes to this. Sure, there are good looking guys that are being showcased in the media, but there are all different kinds of guys. Fat guys, really skinny guys, weird looking guys, old guys, and so on. Its a big difference trying to look like Megan Fox then trying to look like Seth Rogen. This is one of the main reasons that men don't have to conform as much as women do.
Another reason is that men are rarely asked to change their image or appearance. Growing up I would throw whatever clothes on, leave my hair the same way it was when I woke up, and start my day. Sure, I would get dressed up for weekends and what not but for most of the week it was just a different pair of sweatpants and a different random tee. Girls are always judged by what brand their wearing, how the colors match, do the shoes go with the outfit, and all of that. They are constantly reminded of this by other girls who are also wearing just as expensive clothes with expensive shoes, and they constantly strive to look better then each other. Guys on the other hand don't take much notice to what other guys are wearing unless its something really nice or something really dirty.
It's just built into the female system to care more about what other people think about them in regards to their looks and appearance. Body issues are always prevalent whether it be face, chest, or lower body. They are constantly reminded of this by girls showing off their cleavage, wearing the shortest skirts, and so on.
The only thing that men somewhat conform to is athletics. Its always embedded into a young boys way of thinking that he should be involved in sports. Thats why certain guys are always looked at as weird if they choose to sing or dance at a young age instead of playing basketball or baseball. You always want to go over to a guys place and watch the game, and not a soap opera. Other then that I can't see many other things that guys are forced to conform too.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - What about the men? · 0 replies · +1 points

Men have to conform to society in a few certain ways, but not nearly in as many ways as much as women do. I feel the main reason that people have to conform is because they feel they need to be perceived as the norm. The norm is set by whats on television, whats in the movie theaters, whats on magazine covers, and etc. The women that are on all of these outlets are mainly women in show business, who are beautiful and have tremendous bodies, exemplifying the word perfect. Perfect face structure, perfect eyes, perfect smile, perfect chest, legs, everything. Guys on the other hand have more of a variety when it comes to this. Sure, there are good looking guys that are being showcased in the media, but there are all different kinds of guys. Fat guys, really skinny guys, weird looking guys, old guys, and so on. Its a big difference trying to look like Megan Fox then trying to look like Seth Rogen. This is one of the main reasons that men don't have to conform as much as women do.
Another reason is that men are rarely asked to change their image or appearance. Growing up I would throw whatever clothes on, leave my hair the same way it was when I woke up, and start my day. Sure, I would get dressed up for weekends and what not but for most of the week it was just a different pair of sweatpants and a different random tee. Girls are always judged by what brand their wearing, how the colors match, do the shoes go with the outfit, and all of that. They are constantly reminded of this by other girls who are also wearing just as expensive clothes with expensive shoes, and they constantly strive to look better then each other. Guys on the other hand don't take much notice to what other guys are wearing unless its something really nice or something really dirty.
It's just built into the female system to care more about what other people think about them in regards to their looks and appearance. Body issues are always prevalent whether it be face, chest, or lower body. They are constantly reminded of this by girls showing off their cleavage, wearing the shortest skirts, and so on.
The only thing that men somewhat conform to is athletics. Its always embedded into a young boys way of thinking that he should be involved in sports. Thats why certain guys are always looked at as weird if they choose to sing or dance at a young age instead of playing basketball or baseball. You always want to go over to a guys place and watch the game, and not a soap opera. Other then that I can't see many other things that guys are forced to conform too.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - What about the men? · 0 replies · +1 points

Men have to conform to society in a few certain ways, but not nearly in as many ways as much as women do. I feel the main reason that people have to conform is because they feel they need to be perceived as the norm. The norm is set by whats on television, whats in the movie theaters, whats on magazine covers, and etc. The women that are on all of these outlets are mainly women in show business, who are beautiful and have tremendous bodies, exemplifying the word perfect. Perfect face structure, perfect eyes, perfect smile, perfect chest, legs, everything. Guys on the other hand have more of a variety when it comes to this. Sure, there are good looking guys that are being showcased in the media, but there are all different kinds of guys. Fat guys, really skinny guys, weird looking guys, old guys, and so on. Its a big difference trying to look like Megan Fox then trying to look like Seth Rogen. This is one of the main reasons that men don't have to conform as much as women do.
Another reason is that men are rarely asked to change their image or appearance. Growing up I would throw whatever clothes on, leave my hair the same way it was when I woke up, and start my day. Sure, I would get dressed up for weekends and what not but for most of the week it was just a different pair of sweatpants and a different random tee. Girls are always judged by what brand their wearing, how the colors match, do the shoes go with the outfit, and all of that. They are constantly reminded of this by other girls who are also wearing just as expensive clothes with expensive shoes, and they constantly strive to look better then each other. Guys on the other hand don't take much notice to what other guys are wearing unless its something really nice or something really dirty.
It's just built into the female system to care more about what other people think about them in regards to their looks and appearance. Body issues are always prevalent whether it be face, chest, or lower body. They are constantly reminded of this by girls showing off their cleavage, wearing the shortest skirts, and so on.
The only thing that men somewhat conform to is athletics. Its always embedded into a young boys way of thinking that he should be involved in sports. Thats why certain guys are always looked at as weird if they choose to sing or dance at a young age instead of playing basketball or baseball. You always want to go over to a guys place and watch the game, and not a soap opera. Other then that I can't see many other things that guys are forced to conform too.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - What about the men? · 0 replies · +1 points

Men have to conform to society in a few certain ways, but not nearly in as many ways as much as women do. I feel the main reason that people have to conform is because they feel they need to be perceived as the norm. The norm is set by whats on television, whats in the movie theaters, whats on magazine covers, and etc. The women that are on all of these outlets are mainly women in show business, who are beautiful and have tremendous bodies, exemplifying the word perfect. Perfect face structure, perfect eyes, perfect smile, perfect chest, legs, everything. Guys on the other hand have more of a variety when it comes to this. Sure, there are good looking guys that are being showcased in the media, but there are all different kinds of guys. Fat guys, really skinny guys, weird looking guys, old guys, and so on. Its a big difference trying to look like Megan Fox then trying to look like Seth Rogen. This is one of the main reasons that men don't have to conform as much as women do.
Another reason is that men are rarely asked to change their image or appearance. Growing up I would throw whatever clothes on, leave my hair the same way it was when I woke up, and start my day. Sure, I would get dressed up for weekends and what not but for most of the week it was just a different pair of sweatpants and a different random tee. Girls are always judged by what brand their wearing, how the colors match, do the shoes go with the outfit, and all of that. They are constantly reminded of this by other girls who are also wearing just as expensive clothes with expensive shoes, and they constantly strive to look better then each other. Guys on the other hand don't take much notice to what other guys are wearing unless its something really nice or something really dirty.
It's just built into the female system to care more about what other people think about them in regards to their looks and appearance. Body issues are always prevalent whether it be face, chest, or lower body. They are constantly reminded of this by girls showing off their cleavage, wearing the shortest skirts, and so on.
The only thing that men somewhat conform to is athletics. Its always embedded into a young boys way of thinking that he should be involved in sports. Thats why certain guys are always looked at as weird if they choose to sing or dance at a young age instead of playing basketball or baseball. You always want to go over to a guys place and watch the game, and not a soap opera. Other then that I can't see many other things that guys are forced to conform too.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - What about the men? · 0 replies · +1 points

Men have to conform to society in a few certain ways, but not nearly in as many ways as much as women do. I feel the main reason that people have to conform is because they feel they need to be perceived as the norm. The norm is set by whats on television, whats in the movie theaters, whats on magazine covers, and etc. The women that are on all of these outlets are mainly women in show business, who are beautiful and have tremendous bodies, exemplifying the word perfect. Perfect face structure, perfect eyes, perfect smile, perfect chest, legs, everything. Guys on the other hand have more of a variety when it comes to this. Sure, there are good looking guys that are being showcased in the media, but there are all different kinds of guys. Fat guys, really skinny guys, weird looking guys, old guys, and so on. Its a big difference trying to look like Megan Fox then trying to look like Seth Rogen. This is one of the main reasons that men don't have to conform as much as women do.
Another reason is that men are rarely asked to change their image or appearance. Growing up I would throw whatever clothes on, leave my hair the same way it was when I woke up, and start my day. Sure, I would get dressed up for weekends and what not but for most of the week it was just a different pair of sweatpants and a different random tee. Girls are always judged by what brand their wearing, how the colors match, do the shoes go with the outfit, and all of that. They are constantly reminded of this by other girls who are also wearing just as expensive clothes with expensive shoes, and they constantly strive to look better then each other. Guys on the other hand don't take much notice to what other guys are wearing unless its something really nice or something really dirty.
It's just built into the female system to care more about what other people think about them in regards to their looks and appearance. Body issues are always prevalent whether it be face, chest, or lower body. They are constantly reminded of this by girls showing off their cleavage, wearing the shortest skirts, and so on.
The only thing that men somewhat conform to is athletics. Its always embedded into a young boys way of thinking that he should be involved in sports. Thats why certain guys are always looked at as weird if they choose to sing or dance at a young age instead of playing basketball or baseball. You always want to go over to a guys place and watch the game, and not a soap opera. Other then that I can't see many other things that guys are forced to conform too.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - What about the men? · 2 replies · +1 points

Men have to conform to society in a few certain ways, but not nearly in as many ways as much as women do. I feel the main reason that people have to conform is because they feel they need to be perceived as the norm. The norm is set by whats on television, whats in the movie theaters, whats on magazine covers, and etc. The women that are on all of these outlets are mainly women in show business, who are beautiful and have tremendous bodies, exemplifying the word perfect. Perfect face structure, perfect eyes, perfect smile, perfect chest, legs, everything. Guys on the other hand have more of a variety when it comes to this. Sure, there are good looking guys that are being showcased in the media, but there are all different kinds of guys. Fat guys, really skinny guys, weird looking guys, old guys, and so on. Its a big difference trying to look like Megan Fox then trying to look like Seth Rogen. This is one of the main reasons that men don't have to conform as much as women do.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - What about the men? · 0 replies · +1 points

Men have to conform to society in a few certain ways, but not nearly in as many ways as much as women do. I feel the main reason that people have to conform is because they feel they need to be perceived as the norm. The norm is set by whats on television, whats in the movie theaters, whats on magazine covers, and etc. The women that are on all of these outlets are mainly women in show business, who are beautiful and have tremendous bodies, exemplifying the word perfect. Perfect face structure, perfect eyes, perfect smile, perfect chest, legs, everything. Guys on the other hand have more of a variety when it comes to this. Sure, there are good looking guys that are being showcased in the media, but there are all different kinds of guys. Fat guys, really skinny guys, weird looking guys, old guys, and so on. Its a big difference trying to look like Megan Fox then trying to look like Seth Rogen. This is one of the main reasons that men don't have to conform as much as women do.
Another reason is that men are rarely asked to change their image or appearance. Growing up I would throw whatever clothes on, leave my hair the same way it was when I woke up, and start my day. Sure, I would get dressed up for weekends and what not but for most of the week it was just a different pair of sweatpants and a different random tee. Girls are always judged by what brand their wearing, how the colors match, do the shoes go with the outfit, and all of that. They are constantly reminded of this by other girls who are also wearing just as expensive clothes with expensive shoes, and they constantly strive to look better then each other. Guys on the other hand don't take much notice to what other guys are wearing unless its something really nice or something really dirty.
It's just built into the female system to care more about what other people think about them in regards to their looks and appearance. Body issues are always prevalent whether it be face, chest, or lower body. They are constantly reminded of this by girls showing off their cleavage, wearing the shortest skirts, and so on.
The only thing that men somewhat conform to is athletics. Its always embedded into a young boys way of thinking that he should be involved in sports. Thats why certain guys are always looked at as weird if they choose to sing or dance at a young age instead of playing basketball or baseball. You always want to go over to a guys place and watch the game, and not a soap opera. Other then that I can't see many other things that guys are forced to conform too.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - I really want to know ... · 4 replies · +1 points

I think this is a great question, and one that I've pondered myself at different points in the semester. At the beginning of the spring in class, I felt as if I were learning a lot of new things, which I cant particularly say for all of my classes. The one thing that was definitely happening was that I was becoming a lot more informed, and the whole thing that Sam said about making us think was definitely true. I'm not saying that I would think about what happened in a previous class for hours, but definitely for an hour or two after class something from that class would resurface in my mind. There were also certain classes where there would be tidbits of information that I thought were either really thought-provoking or outrageous that I would share with my friends to see their opinions. I'm not exactly sure if I changed my opinion on certain issues as the question asks, but it definitely made me look at issues from different angles and from outside of the box.
Recently however, the class has not been doing this for me. Ever since the return from spring break I feel that most of the classes (not all) I have attended, have been rather dull or repetitive, which has made me zone out and feel that I'm not retaining any information to make me think differently about issues or change my opinion. For example, the whole stages that we went through during class was probably the most boring things we did this year. I felt that we could have done it all in one class, but for some reason it was spread out to about what amounted to two weeks worth of classes. I've talked to other people in my discussion group about this as well and it seems that many of them had similar sentiments. This is nothing new since it happens in other classes a lot, but it's different because this is supposed to be unique stuff that should be, or at least is sold as, thought provoking. It's not about knowing what the MLA format consists of, or what happened in a certain world war, or something about cells and membranes, which are all subjects that many students would not exactly view as thought provoking. I feel like recently this is what class has become, and that a lot of what Sam is saying is being tuned out. Some of this started with the whole "bleeding" class and I assume some students just felt that after that they couldn't really look at Sam the same way anymore.
I still have hope for the class as I know there's supposed to be some exciting things coming up in the near future, and I hope that it will go back to the way it is and make me think and ponder about race relations.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Nothing About the Cens... · 0 replies · +1 points

I understand what many people are saying that this is just people looking for controversy as always, but I can also see the other spectrum's point of view.
The main point that people aren't understanding is the point of the Census. It's obviously not meant to be racist and if I were a betting man I would assume that a certain number of the people that make the census are not white. It's main purpose is to find out how many people live in a certain area, and loose affiliation of their racial and ethnic backgrounds. Many people already think that completing the census is a bitch and choose not to do it, so how many people would complete the census if it were a detailed pamphlet? I'm not sure the majority of people wants to research all their ethnic background and their percentages in each one in order to please the census. Imagine filling out a census where you said you were 27% Puerto Rican, 34% Dominican, 16% white, and on and on. Would people then be happy instead of just bubbling in Hispanic?
As for the negro issue, I can see why people take issue with that. As the woman stated in the video her first thought was slave. Although many people don't think this, and I understand the willingness to get older African-Americans to complete the census, I don't think negro should still be on the census. I don't think an older African-American would refuse to complete the census because he didn't know that he was black or African-American, and refused to be called anything else but negro. This doesn't make much sense. Maybe white people don't understand this simply because they haven't been through it. I was really surprised with Sam's stance on this as I thought he would be more sympathetic to the issue. I know if I introduced my black friend as my negro friend, he would be offended.
I have somewhat of a connection with this because for a long time as a kid I never knew what to bubble in on those surveys or sheets before standardized tests. I'm half-Italian, (Sicilian to be exact) and half Moroccan. I knew that my Italian roots were considered white here, even though in Italy its a whole other story, and I was unsure about my Moroccan roots. Morocco is located in Africa, so I always thought wasn't I technically African-American? Not until later did I realize that most Northern African countries are racially considered white. But for that time as a kid, it was always uncomfortable and not assuring, and I never asked anyone because I always thought I was just supposed to know. So I can understand the point of view that the woman in the video was talking about who said she was Puerto Rican of Cuban descent and was white.