Personally, I wouldn’t do anything if I saw a bunch of immigrants on the side of the road. I am not going to go out of my way to help them because I don’t even have a job myself, let alone enough money to provide thirty people with food like in the video. I commend the man in the video that helped the immigrants, but he had things in common with them people first hand. If I had some left over food that I wasn’t going to eat I might spare some, but I’m definitely not going to dedicate my life to providing for poor immigrants or even change my daily routine. I also think the video that we saw was one of the worst case scenarios because I live in a pretty urban area and I never see just a group of immigrants looking for work. It’s not like it is an everyday occurrence for most people. Those people only gather there because they know he is going to provide them with food. The people weren’t even as grateful as I expected them to be. That man was slaving all day long to provide them with food and they gave him a short “thank you” and some even had the nerve to ask for more than what they were given. It’s not even like the man providing the food could even live comfortably. The man had random rooms all over his house filled with food and such. I feel like people should be generous every once in a while, but there is a time when we all need to live for ourselves. Even his family members wanted a “normal” house, but they couldn’t because it was a mess. Once again, I’m not saying let the people sit there and starve, but also it isn’t one person’s duty to provide for a million other people. It should be a community effort where everybody did something small. The load shouldn’t be placed on one man and he shouldn’t feel reliable if nobody else wants to help out. Ironically I feel worse for the man slaving night and day to make 36 meals than the people out on the streets starving. He said everything is worth seeing a smile on the peoples’ faces, but I feel like there should be so much more to it. Maybe I’m not considerate enough, but more people are struggling in the world than just immigrants.

I don’t think I would necessarily avoid getting a bonus from having connections, but I can also say that I don’t go into a situation trying to communicate with random people I don’t usually talk to to get an advantage over anybody else. As far as I would go would be contacting like a relative or a very close friend, not like my neighbor who moved away a while ago and haven’t kept in touch with since. If the opportunity arises and somebody comes out of the woodwork to reach me, then of course I wouldn’t let my chances slip away. The fact is, everybody is going to try to get an advantage over their competition, whether it is for a job, scholarship, or whatever. However, I don’t think the fact that somebody is a certain color shouldn’t affect whether they get accepted or denied. Nepotism is the result of good networking plans and somebody should be rewarded if they can give the business good connections. The fact that we are Penn State students could be a huge benefit in the future. Most employers look at where a college graduate’s degree is from and Penn State is not only a good school academically, but is also has a very prestigious history. The fact that I am a Penn State grad can benefit me in the long run, which can be a deciding factor in choosing me or somebody from a different school with a reputation not as great. The only thing that bothers me is when I have to pick what race I am when applying for different things. I feel like when I choose “white” my chances are already lower than everybody else’s. I have no effect on how I was born so I don’t think it’s fair to be judged off of race. If I know somebody in the company my chances should rise, but not if I’m a certain color. Somebody’s hard work obviously led them to be respected by the corporation and if that person chooses to refer me honestly then there should be nothing wrong. There is one part of nepotism though, when somebody gets caught speeding or breaking the law they usually get a break if they have a relation to the police department. This is illegal, but it often goes unnoticed so it is very easy to get away with it. Somebody is deliberately breaking the law. I don’t care if it’s the Pope, it is still wrong and the perpetrator should be punished. Of course, this doesn’t really affects serious crimes, but even the small ones that I’d get in trouble for, everybody else should too.

After Tuesday’s class my view on terrorism changed, as well as my view on pretty much conflict in history. There are always two sides to a story and as an American; I was only exposed to the American point of view. I think a lot of people feel the same as me because just like in any other situation we usually make ourselves sound like the good guys. Nobody ever wants to admit to any wrongdoings, especially not something that is still occurring. I’m not totally going to take the other side though. They are portraying us the same way. That’s not out of the ordinary either. No matter who you are, you don’t want to give yourself a bad image. This was not totally unexpected in my opinion. If one country portrayed an opposing country as peaceful and joyous there would be a lot less support in the war. If our government stated that they were going to war in the Middle East for oil and stealing it from its true owners most people wouldn’t be in support of the war. The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon just added more fuel to the flame and added another incentive to go to war. However, showing Muslim extremists on television and in the media is a misconception for people in the Middle East as well as some of our own citizens. People look at the Muslim community in negative now because of all the bad propaganda in the news. Viewers only want to see the bad parts in the world rather than hearing about everyday life in the Middle East because it isn’t as controversial or entertaining. I guess I can blame myself for not being informed of both sides in the war. I would just watch television and think that was it. It is actually very easy to read up on the facts through a simple search on the internet or a book. I wouldn’t consider it ignorance because I just didn’t feel the need to know what’s going on because the war doesn’t have a direct effect on me necessarily. This soc class opened my eyes though. I found it to be the most important one just because we were told to look at the war through the opposite point of view. If we were to do that a lot more there would definitely be a lot less racism and discrimination in the world that we don’t even know of.

To be perfectly honest, the discussion on the “needy penis” was very overrated. I don’t think it was very informational at all. I already knew most about the topics that were discussed besides the fact that men are “needy,” in which I don’t agree. I was also disappointed that this is a race relations class and we talked about sexual relations for the whole class. In my opinion, this class was purely for entertainment. If that was the case, the class was a success because I’m sure it kept most students’ attention more than race discussions every class. I went in to the class very excited and optimistic, but walking out I felt like the class was praised more than it should have been. I was expecting a life-changing epiphany for lack of a better word and I just walked out feeling the same as days before.
In other peoples’ cases I could understand why people could change the way they think because of the class. However, I was already aware of most of the issues that were discussed so I wasn’t really affected at all besides the many comedic aspects of the lecture in which I found very fun and lively.
In the end I don’t really think a woman’s mind can be generalized as it was in class. Not everybody thinks or feels the same way about sex, but I feel as though women were all depicted as the same in this particular class. There is no doubt that some women enjoy different things than other women. Some women could enjoy the intercourse factor in sex while others could enjoy the foreplay factor. One cannot make that generalization for a whole gender based on what a large amount of women feel. I also didn’t really understand the part when we discussed what women wear when they go out to parties and other social events. Of course women want to appeal to other people just as other men wear nice clothes to appeal to other people, whether it be in a professional or social environment. Of course everybody wants to dress comfortably in sweats, but in many situations it just doesn’t fit. Normal girls don’t wear sweats and t shirts to parties because they are looking to make an impression, just as how we dress up to make a good impression for prospective supervisors in professional enviroments.
I don’t mean to down-talk the talk on the “needy penis,” I just feel as though it could have been carried out in different way in my opinion. It doesn’t mean it is wrong, but I just don’t necessarily agree with what we talked about in class.

There are multiple factors that would divert somebody from dating outside of their race. I am a white male and I have dated a Puerto Rican girl a few years ago. There was nothing wrong with it. She was accepted and all, but there were still underlying tones that caused me to feel like people thought I’d be better off with a white girl. My friends and family would often make jokes and it was all in good fun, but sometimes I felt like they weren’t totally jokes. Even around her household I would be the “white boy,” not boy or Keith. I was not offended by this, but at first it was just a little awkward. This did not really cause any major problems in the relationship, but I can understand how any person could feel uncomfortable when jokes are made.
Other people could have had a different experience to me. For the most part, my family and friends are very relaxed people. However, my grand pop used to be very racist years ago before I was even born. My mom told me a story about how when she was in high school she tried to bring home a Hispanic male and my grandfather wouldn’t even let him in the front door. Today, things have changed, but there is definitely still racism today.
Another big reason why people wouldn’t want to mix races is because of what their children would look like. Most people have a sense of pride in what their ethnicity is. In order to maintain that, people wouldn’t want their kids to look any different than themselves. That doesn’t necessarily make them racist; it just shows that they want their offspring to be raised the same and take pride in the same things. The same thing goes for religion as well. A household with you different religions would be kind of difficult to live in. There would be arguments over which religion to raise your child in and such.
I would possibly date outside my race again, but I’m actually more attracted to white women. Not because I’m racist or anything, but they appeal to me a lot more. I’m not saying there isn’t a possibility that I’ll date outside my race because anybody out there could be your match and you might not even know it. Who knows? Maybe I’ll end up with a black woman in the future with complete opposite skin complexity. Sometimes it is just better to stay within your blood, but if you don’t experience any of these problems I actually encourage at least trying it out.

p2:Even the older dark skinned females in the video felt inferior and ugly because of their hair of skin color. Even today, every model on the magazine covers is usually light skinned and has straight or curled hair. Even black models such as Tyra Banks are lighter skinned and usually have straightened hair. As a role model for young women, these models are portraying that it is beautiful to be light skinned with straight hair and therefore many dark skinned girls try using skin bleaching cream or buy wigs to cover up their natural hair.
It is a shame that our society still portrays dark skin as inferior. However, our country was a lot worse say 50 years ago. You would never see a dark skinned female on the cover of a popular beauty magazine, but in the past 20 or so years the color barrier has definitely changed for the better. I think this is still a problem, but as a country we are making progress into complete equality.

p1: The video we watched in class yesterday was definitely heart wrenching. It is sad that children of such a young age are exposed to discrimination without even making into the real world. There are many reasons for this. One reason could be the fact that the children are only exposed to what they see on television, which for the most part is white. Another possibility could be the fact that the colored children were brought up in their own household that lighter skin was better. Whatever the case may be, it is still horrible.
The video seemed like it was recorded in the 90’s or so and society has adapted since then, but I was still boggled. Many changes have been made, but let’s take Barbie dolls for example. Just recently has Barbie produced different color dolls, but even then there is still a predominately amount of white dolls compared to any other race. Another student also brought up a good example in class yesterday. Only in the past year, has Disney introduced a black princess into their movies. That could be a huge reason for such results in the test conducted. These female figures depicted in the movies could be role models for any young girl. Not only are they all light skinned, but they all end up being beautiful and almost perfect. Any dark skinned girl can look at these movies and want to be treated like royalty as these princesses are depicted. Any young girl wouldn’t consciously reason that each of these princesses are special because of their skin color, but they all share that in common so they just associate skin color with being better without even realizing it.

p2:The idea that there is a sociological transformation is very true. A poor person is generally not accustomed to the fame that comes with winning the lottery. They will be all over the news; family members would come out of the wood work, as well as other people looking to use them for their wealth. This is not an easy transformation. The wealthy lifestyle is also a lot different than a poor or middle class lifestyle. I’ve had a personal experience with this. I didn’t grow up in the best neighborhood, but as I was getting older and ready to go into high school, my parents stressed that I needed the best education that I could so eventually I got into a private school on financial aid. This environment was very different than what I was used to. Everybody was at least middle class if not upper middle class. Most people acted a lot different than the kids I grew up with. At first, it was hard to fit in with everybody, but eventually I settled in through sports. This experience of mine is on a very low scale compared to being very poor to extremely rich so it is very realistic that many people have difficulties.
As long as you are careful with what you do with your money you should be fine. In my opinion, the best idea would be to save a lot and not move into an extremely wealthy area. You should use the extra cash so you can live comfortably, but don’t overdo it because you never know what may happen. Shopping is definitively an addictive habit and it is hard to stop once you’ve started. Soon enough you’d be in the hole right back to where you were before and you won’t have the means to support yourself.

p1:Winning the lottery would definitely be very nice to an extent. You just have to be able to manage your money wisely in order to remain happy. Most people that suddenly get rich just go off and waste money on a lavish lifestyle for a short amount of time because that money won’t last forever. Most wealthy people that worked for their money know how to remain happy because they have the means to keep a steady income coming so there is a good chance that they will always have a good amount of money. On the other hand, if people are poor one day and suddenly get rich, they usually take advantage of the money and blow it on houses, cars, and other unnecessary items. There will be a point when this catches up to them. Eventually bills will begin to outweigh their finances and they won’t be able to survive.

p3: On the other hand, Tammy made one good decision and that is that she is actually walking ten miles to work on a regular basis and working to provide her children with as much as she can get. Some families use their kids to get as much welfare as possible so they do not have to work. In this particular case, I feel like it is reasonable for Tammy to get back onto welfare because walking two hours to and from a bad job is just insane. It is a nice thing to have pride in you, but sometimes reality should overrule one’s pride.
In conclusion, in this specific situation Tammy is taking the wrong approach. She is a single parent with a bad job and four children so it would be smart for her to go on welfare. It is partially her fault for having a messy house, but if she had more aid and strict discipline she would be better off.