en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/761768 Comments by Lia_1031 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-health-care__trashed/#IDComment70089082 I do no think that illegal immigrants should have access to a government-sponsored healthcare plan because it’s coming out of citizens’ taxes. I think that giving them access to it would be unfair to the people in this country who are not able to receive healthcare. People who are American citizens are sitting in emergency rooms dying because they are not covered, and doctors rather help the people who are covered. I think they should be allowed to live in this country, but they should become actual citizens before they try to receive all of the benefits that we as citizens have. I do believe everyone is entitled to healthcare, but people who do not pay taxes should not get a free ride. Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:01:09 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-health-care__trashed/#IDComment70089082 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70087982 I honestly do not think there is a problem with people who come here illegally, and try to make an honest living. What I mean by that is the people who come here and just try to work not the people who come and end up committing crimes. I think that they are the ones who deserve to be here. Honestly, it is not hurting us for them to be here. I wish people would stop saying they come here to take our jobs because the jobs they do are the ones that no American takes. So why should we deny them a right to a better life. I am pretty sure some of your family members were immigrants. In all actuality, the people who came here legally are the ones taking your jobs. That is something that all of you who oppose illegal immigration need to think about. Sat, 24 Apr 2010 03:56:46 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70087982 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/300000-whats-it-mean-to-us__trashed/#IDComment70086532 I think that students can just go on because it does not affect them directly, and to us college is the most important thing in our lives right now. Of course that would be important. The rest of the world however, may feel that its not important because it’s a dark country. This is the same thing that’s goes on in Africa everyday millions of people die because a small fraction of people want to kill a lot of people. I think that its sad, and I think we should help. How could we stand by and watch 300,000 people and do nothing about it? How could we watch young child not be able to find their parents, and parents unable to find their children and not be affected by it? I think we should want to help, but everyone thinks his or her situation is more important than the next that is the problem. We are so consumed by our selfishness that we are unable to see the real problems in this world. So to us 300,000 is not us, or we think that could never be us; however, just as fast as it was the Haitians it could have been someone in our family who was killed and buried under rubble. Our parents, our children, our friends could have been killed and it would have been the end of the world, but because it was no one that we knew we do not care. Just last week when Red Cross was hosting a blood drive for the people in Haiti I heard someone utter, “oh my god all of our blood is going to the people in Haiti.” I think that if we can donate over 1,000 pints of blood to defeat Michigan why can’t we donate some to help people who desperately need it? This to me is sad because people have not only lost their families; they have also lost their homes and their livelihood. How could we wake up each morning, and not think about it? I admit at first I was a little annoyed of hearing about Haiti, but this actually hit close to home because my niece’s family are Haitian. I thank God that none of her relatives were hurt in the earthquake, but they could have been one of the unlucky people who it did affect. For people in the media to look at them and say it’s their fault because they signed a treaty with the devil is outrageous. How could anyone’s death be the fault of something they did not do something you concocted to explain why they the people who won their freedom from France are doing so badly? If we all thought about just one of the children, one of the parents, one of the friends as our own I highly doubt that we would ignore the situation. Just think it could have been you! Sat, 24 Apr 2010 03:50:59 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/300000-whats-it-mean-to-us__trashed/#IDComment70086532 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/the-tyranny-of-radical-muslims__trashed/#IDComment68471084 I actually can understand what she is saying because I know Muslims who have said that this is not what is taught. This is not what Islam is all about. This is why when Sam says they are fighting a war against Christians I have to disagree. I do agree with one thing Sam said, it is all about power. Power and Religion are two different things, and should not be viewed as one. If we all knew what the Muslim religion entailed we would not believe that. I have never heard a single Muslim person who was not a radical say, I need to kill in the name of Allah. So I hate the stigma that is being attached to the religion because of what those misguided people did to our country on September 11, 2001, and to countries across the world. That is not Islam, that is hate and thirst for control. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:45:03 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/the-tyranny-of-radical-muslims__trashed/#IDComment68471084 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68470528 I understand that maybe they see Americans or people of western civilization as the problem, but I do not believe its Christians. If that were the case why did the radicals in their countries, the same ones who decimated the World Trade Centers, destroy the Christian churches in their own countries? When they attacked places in the United States and other countries around the world they did not attack churches or even seek out Christians; they attacked landmarks in westernized countries. I understand that they want to drive western influences out of their countries, but I do not agree the way they are going about it. The war in Iraq is largely about oil, and I could understand that any one would be upset if someone were invading your country and killing innocent people; however, that works both ways. Some of the soldiers are mistreating them, and do not get me wrong I actually stepped into the shoes of the Middle Eastern people. I get how they could view as a threat to their country, but not to their religion. Although, the websites did show images that could have been misinterpreted they were not images of children with weapons. If these people fear that we are threatening their religion why would these people turn to violence? I have not heard of anywhere in any holy book that God, of any name, condones the murder of his children. In the bible when people were being persecuted God told them to trust in him, not murder thy neighbor. So that part to me is just a little bit ridiculous. The murder of civilians in Iraq is horrible. I do not think that civilians should be brought into a war. I also do not think that those people should have murdered innocent people in all of those countries. I think a lot of what is going on with this war is miscommunication and lack of understanding. If both parties understood exactly what each other wanted everything could be avoided. Why would any parent want to teach their young child to hold a gun and murder another human being? That to me is just unheard of. Somebody has to be completely brainwashing the people to believe that it is right to allow an innocent child to get into an adult problem. Children do fully grasp the situation let alone partially grasp the situation. So why should they be allowed to participate in this problem? I do not believe that people actually believe that the war they are fighting is a war against Christians; I believe it is a war against westerners. I have actually heard of Middle Eastern people say they are trying to expel all western influence from their country, and western influence does not mean Christian influence. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:39:00 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68470528 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-might-be-the-second-step__trashed/#IDComment66849573 I feel that the second step might be the hardest thing to do because it means that we would have to stop helping slavery flourish, and we may say that’s easy. How easy is it when everything we own was most likely a product made by a slave? How can we stop fueling slavery when slave made products are so popular. Before walking into that class I am pretty sure that many of us did not know that people had to live that way in order for us to enjoy something so trivial as chocolate. I think that if we all honestly wanted to do something about it we could stop eating that chocolate, and start eating fair trade chocolate. What about everything else made by a slave; are we going to also stop eating or using those things? This is why this step may be the hardest, and why it does not have a clear answer or solution. Fri, 9 Apr 2010 18:28:43 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-might-be-the-second-step__trashed/#IDComment66849573 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/how-can-we-ever-win__trashed/#IDComment65693035 For me I believe I am probably pseudo-communitarian because I can acknowledge that other people have similar problems and I want to help, but at the end of the day I feel that I also need to help people in my ethnic group advance. I sometimes feel like it’s a duty. Why would you want to see someone like you struggle when you know there is something you could do about? Jesse Jackson lived through the civil rights era so I could understand why his primary goal would be to help those in his ethnic group. I want to become a doctor so naturally I would like to help people of all races, but in other aspects of life I really want to help people who belong to my background, to me its just like something I have to do. Sat, 3 Apr 2010 03:34:05 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/how-can-we-ever-win__trashed/#IDComment65693035 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/how-can-we-ever-win__trashed/#IDComment65693014 I do not think that you are necessarily in the immersion stage when you look at those photos and say, “they’re not black because black people don’t dress that way.” I think that most people are just responding to the stereotypes that have been put forth, and to what people around them believe about how a black people should act or dress. I know people who do respond that way who are in the immersion stage, but I also know people who are not in the immersion stage who would also respond that way. If everyone around you is telling you one thing you are more likely to began to believe it. Sat, 3 Apr 2010 03:33:55 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/how-can-we-ever-win__trashed/#IDComment65693014 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64286870 I think it was extremely heartbreaking that the black children would rather play with a white doll than a black doll. I think that because from a young age that some black children are conditioned to feel this way because this is the way their parents feel. I actually two friends who are uncomfortable because they are dark-skinned black people. One went as far to write a poem about how she felt inferior to lighter skinned people. The other friend has tried her hardest to distance herself from black people, and every time a conversation about black people comes up she can only talk about their flaws. Her mother even asked her if she was ashamed to be a black person. Things like this have always made me feel bad, because I could never understand why people could hate who they or who are. I feel that because back in the day the white people told black people that light skin was the best skin, and the only black people who were able to be successful were the black people who were light. This even exist today because many black people feel that light skin people are always the prettiest, have the longest hair, and some nphc sororities used to exclude people based on the how dark their skin was. When I was a child I was only allowed to play with black dolls, and I actually never wanted for a black doll. I recognized that there were black people and people who were not like me because my neighborhood was not predominantly black. I actually remember the first time someone gave me a white doll from Christmas, my parents were extremely upset and I could understand it now. I never really thought that having a white doll was such a big deal until now. I feel that they are losing their identity, and forming self-hate at such a young age. I can even see it with my nieces, one of them is extremely like and the other is of a light brown complexion. My darker niece thinks my light skinned niece is white, and I can see that she is sometimes bothered by it. I even see it with my older sister; she always says I’m pretty for a dark skinned girl. I hate when she says this and often argue with her about it because I don’t think that she should say she’s pretty for a dark skin girl rather she is just pretty because she is a woman. I never really had this skin complexion problem because I’m neither dark skinned nor light skinned I’m in between, and we’re often the forgotten ones. I feel that because some people’s parents feel inferior this inferiority is reflected in the children, and I think this is a shame. Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:47:08 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64286870 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians__trashed/#IDComment64227882 I think that when you are apart of any group you indentify people within your group as individuals, and people of other groups as a whole. If you do not know too many people of another group, but they look all the same to you, you’re going to classify them together. Another way you classify people is by the way they act, or dress. I have found that some Asians dress like Americans, which are probably the Asian Americans, and some dress completely foreign. I disagree with the person who said we envy Asians, I do not think the reason we kind of ignore Asians is because they’re smart I think its because they often distance themselves from people who are not apart of their race. I know every race tends to segregate themselves from one another, but I have almost never witnessed an Asian person mingle with someone outside of their ethnic group. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:05:25 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians__trashed/#IDComment64227882 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/in-her-own-words__trashed/#IDComment64225557 As a woman, i actually have no problem talking about my period no matter who is around. Its just something people find uncomfortable, and i do not understand why it has to be so disgusting because when you think about it everybody bleeds. Why is that blood any different, any more disgusting than blood from your nose, mouth, arm, leg, or any other part of your body? I have never understood why it makes guys uncomfortable, and just to reply to the person a above me; Males aren't the shit because they would not be here if women did not get they're PERIOD, the thing you hate. Now to me hating something that is the sole reason for your existence sounds a little foolish if you ask me Fri, 26 Mar 2010 17:51:27 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/in-her-own-words__trashed/#IDComment64225557 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/a-long-long-way-indeed__trashed/#IDComment63119807 I think you are trying to say that race relations has improved, but when you think about it, it has not improved that much. Race relations have improved in some cities in the North, but when you look at the United States as a whole there are still many racist towns and racists’ acts. For example, at a small college in Ohio a student wrote “kill all niggers Feb 2”, to me that does not sound like race relations has improved too much. For people to think that it has is just really sad to me. Why should we settle for little improvement? I think that we should keep trying to I prove the world of race relations because if we learned about other people and their cultures, the world would be a much better place. In my English class a boy wrote an essay about the racism African American, Jewish Americans, and Middle Eastern experience, and for people to experience these types of things in this day and age is ridiculous. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 04:34:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/a-long-long-way-indeed__trashed/#IDComment63119807 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-happens-to-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment63099936 I think that because he is mixed both white and Puerto Rican he should respond to both questions because he is a member of both races. I think that more people expect him to identify as a person of color, but he is not just a person of color. I do not think it should just be what he was raised as because that is like he is denying a part of who he is, ignoring what makes him, him. I think the person who said that people are often identified as how they look even if they are multi-racial made an interesting point, but because this is a race relations class and we are being educated about race he should be able to embrace both sides. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:16:59 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-happens-to-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment63099936 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment62986067 I actually I think you are forgetting the person who responded to the question of what being white means to them they said, “loud ass black girls in the hub/computer lab.” If you’re offended by being stereotyped why people be offended by this? Not all black people are loud, and some white people are also loud? Why is that when a black or person of color is being loud they’re “being loud and ghetto”, but when a white person is being loud they’re just having a good time with their friends? I also hate when people think that ALL black people take everything back to slavery. It’s not always about back then it’s about what people are doing now and how things aren’t that much different, except people cannot tell someone how they feel to their face. For instance, if somebody felt like texting “nigs ain’t shit” why couldn’t they go up to a black person and say it to their face? Everyone stereotypes everyone, if they didn’t that person would not having been talking about loud ass black girls in the hub or the person who said white people have no culture. However, I think that as College students in a changing society we should try harder to improve race relations or just try to understand and get to know each other better. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:51:29 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment62986067 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-three__trashed/#IDComment58919879 I think that the Native American genocide is very sad for many people. I think that people are affected about it, but that do not know what to do. What can we do to help them now? America has changed and grown so much since then. I feel that because this did not directly affect the youth of today that we do not feel as responsible for it as we should. People do not show them any respect, and are treated like third class citizens in their own country. We should do something about it, but I do not think anything we do now will make up for all the damage America has caused to their people. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:48:51 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-three__trashed/#IDComment58919879 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58912502 I think that as Americans it is our job to stand up when we see a grave injustice. I feel that we should not be able to stand by and not feel that it is our moral obligation to defend the person being discriminated against. I feel that people who do not feel that they have an obligation to anything are just cowards. I think they are more afraid of whose side they would be on if they were to speak up. If it were him in the situation I think he would want to speak up, I’m pretty sure he would not feel that it is okay not to speak up. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:32:41 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58912502 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/animals-vs-humans-vs-welfare-cheats__trashed/#IDComment56531619 I used to believe that welfare was just an excuse for some people not to get a job, for some it is, but for others it is help. There is a large amount of people using welfare so that they will not have to work, but if you are on welfare and you try to get a job they take it away even if the paycheck does not cover your rent. The poverty line in America is lower than what it should be based on the cost of living in America. They have not changed the poverty line from what it was when people were making and spending a lot less than what they used to. I admit that some people who are on it should not have it, but there are also people who do not have it and should. Either way I do not think that it is ever okay for a politician someone who is a member of the government, making laws to call another person an animal because of their economic status. Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:10:05 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/animals-vs-humans-vs-welfare-cheats__trashed/#IDComment56531619 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment56530175 I do not think that his interpretation is exactly correct, but I do not believe it’s far off either. I have not seen the movie, but have seen some of the movies he mentioned in his article, and its true. The other culture, which the white man knows nothing about, is always in need of saving, but if you think about it when did they ever ask? The Native Americans, Africans, and Iraqis did not ask for Americans or white peoples’ help but for some reason America decides they need it. I think this is all to glorify the white race in many ways, I’m not saying that all white people are like nor am I saying a majority of them are, but some are. They hold on to the belief that after the strip these people of their culture that they have helped them. When in fact there was nothing wrong. I do not understand how you can put a democratic government in a country that is based on religion, and say you are doing it to help them when your country, not theirs is benefiting from it. Nor do I understand why Native Americans were seen as savages for following their customs and beliefs and forced to abandon them. This has been the case so many times before. Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:57:55 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment56530175 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/why-is-the-conversation-always-about-black-and-white-people__trashed/#IDComment56375589 I actually disagree with what you said, “people with a darker skin tone never truly gained a sense of what it means to be American or fully accepted or were fully accepted as American.” As a black person I understand what being an American means to me, but that definition is different for everyone. I think that there will always be a separation of the races based on skin color, because it is a way to make a person or group of people feel superior to someone else. At my friend’s college in Latrobe, PA there was actually a incident where a group of white students broke into a black students’ room took a bear and hung it for display in the common area of their residence hall. The white students could not empathize with the black students of the schools feelings of angry and shame. I think that because we cannot understand each other the conversation will never end. If you have never been told that you were not capable of doing something because the color of your skin you will never understand how it feels. I actually went on a job interview in my senior year of high school and was told my interviewer that I would not get into Penn State that it was a reach for me. This lady did not know anything about my academic records, but because of how I look she told me that I would not get accepted. I think its ignorance that separates us, we do not understand each other, and until we do nothing will ever be resolved. Another thing that a lot of black do not understand, myself included, is why white Americans can be called American without anything attached to it, but black people are called African Americans. I can count the times on one hand the amount of time I heard a white American being referred to as Irish-American, Italian American, or Albanian American. So why do we have yet another separation from the American Culture? If anyone does not understand what the American identity is here I really do not think it is Black Americans. My experience with this issue has been that white people are afraid to blatantly offend black people. I do not understand what they are so afraid of because black people are people like any other. For some reason no matter where you are in the world having a dark skin tone is shameful, and these people are treated lesser than other people. People all across the world go as far to bleach their skin to hide who they really are, because they are programmed to hate themselves. During slavery in the United States they used skin color to separate black people from one another, something that still goes on and has been a cause of genocides such as Rwanda in Africa in this day. Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:57:43 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/why-is-the-conversation-always-about-black-and-white-people__trashed/#IDComment56375589 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/racism-looks-pretty-good-on-this-side-of-the-atlantic__trashed/#IDComment54429999 I think that it is disgusting that people still fear darker skinned people. Because that’s all the fans, coaches, and teammates are exhibiting, fear and ignorance. For a coach to belittle a member of his teach in that manner, is repulsive. How could a coach try to motivate one team member by discouraging and insulting another? I recently watched the movie Invictus about the apartheid in South Africa. I found the movie both interesting, and shocking. I could not believe that just a couple of years ago black people had to have a card telling them where they were allowed to travel in their own country. A country that whites had come in and taken over. The blacks and the whites in South Africa had so much hate for each other that the blacks in the country cheered for other country’s soccer teams while the white cheered for South Africa. Neither side knew anything about the other, and when whites and blacks were forced to work together the presidents’ guards, they learned that they actually were not that different from one another. I cannot believe that there is such widespread racism throughout Europe, and that the government does nothing to stop it. Why should another person be allowed to demean another person to the point that they feel worthless? People from my high school actually experienced this European racism first hand. My high school takes annual trips to Europe, and while at a restaurant in Italy they experience extreme taunting, not as extreme as the soccer players faced but racism all the same. When they were leaving the restaurant the natives applauded them. Honestly, I do not understand why people feel that black people are lower than them. I went to high school with blacks, Hispanics, and whites; the people at the top of my class were not white. It’s just a shame that in this day and age racism is still so prevalent. I just read an article about a student at a college in Ohio who wrote, “Feb 2 Kill the Niggers”. How could someone write and plan this at an institution of higher education in 2010. After all our country has gone through, why is race still so important, and why do you have to hate someone just because they are a different race than you? We are all people, and the biggest difference between us is the way we look. We might all be different races, but we share a lot of commonalities. If we would just get passed our external features, we would be able to learn so much about one another. The fact that we are different just makes the world better, if we were all shared the same cultural and religious values it would be a very dull world. Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:06:52 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/racism-looks-pretty-good-on-this-side-of-the-atlantic__trashed/#IDComment54429999