en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2407113 Comments by Luketron7000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145181953 I would like to think that I would try to help these people. I have to admit; I don’t think I could devote my life to that cause like the man in the video. But regardless, I wouldn’t turn my back to people who are living in the streets and fighting their hardest to find work to support their families, and barely themselves. If we are to disapprove of them being here, then we are denying them the right of the American dream. Sure they may be illegal immigrants, but they are trying their best to make some money to support their families back home. We don’t have to give them the best jobs and give them free homes, but we should at least give them the necessities of life. Food, shelter, and water are the basics of life, and no human should be denied those essential things. There is a typical saying of people, and even in South Park, where people say those “Mexicans er takin ar jerbs.” No country, state, community, or town wants more unskilled labor, but these people are taking the lowest of working conditions and doing it unwaveringly to make some cash. Back home, when I was in high school, I use to volunteer at the local food bank and distribute food from a food truck on certain Saturdays. People who were eligible for this food (mostly poor white people) sat around and waited for their food rations. I saw many people who freeloaded, who weren’t gracious about getting the food or the help we were trying to be. Often times, single mothers would drag their kids along while they puffed on their cigarettes. This kind of behavior always concerned me, cause I feel they weren’t trying their best to obtain “success” in life. However, there was always a few, maybe only one, that would be so appreciative, and you could tell by looking into their eyes that they truly need the food. It’s the smile I see on their faces that I think it’s important to help those who truly need it. Much like the video, I think the man gets a lot of reactions from the people who truly need help. They are no freeloading like many lazy Americans (who hate immigrants most likely anyway). There was one man who hadn’t eaten in 3 days, so how can we not deny them something as simple as a hot meal? I think it’s important as a nation built on individuals with drive and aspiration that we aid those who try to do those things. Help the weary who are trying, not the weary that sit around and just wait for the next hand me out. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 18:26:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145181953 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/do-you-agree-with-foreign-aids-use-of-pictures-of-children-119-blog/#IDComment142232784 I was amazed by the photos of these children in class. Ernso did a great job talking to us, I even felt inspired by his dedication to get Haiti back on its feet. The history of Haiti baffles me, and it really amazes me how Haitians have been able to stay on their own feet and get through all the poverty for hundreds of years. I mean we are talking discrimination of an entire country here, even the US embargoed Haiti back in the day! I really feel like what he said was true, that Haitians get a second chance to change everything and rebuild their country from the foundation up. If Haitians are our fellow men, we should support the country with the means to be able to support themselves. These are everyday people just like us, trying to find a living and feed their families. The lack of opportunity must be frustrating for the entire population. The starving children, going to bed each night hungry, is a result of little work and little ways to support families in Haiti. I hope this project really gets into gear for next semester’s students. I don’t feel like I’m creative or passionate enough to think of a great idea that can help people down in Haiti. I truly think there is bound to be one, probably more, out there that could think outside the box and get a good idea going that could help Haitians get back on their feet and provide them with a means to catch their own fish, just not receive it in a can. Haiti is a result of hundreds of years of racism, slavery, and poverty. The Haitians, I’m sure, contain as many brilliant young minds of anyone around the world, but they don’t have the means to utilize it. It will take years to reverse the degrading environment Haiti has been stuck with ever since it was first used as a sugar cane growing colony. It’s time for it to start over, and become a nation that is no longer the poorest in the western hemisphere. With our help, and the help of all the neighbors in the Caribbean and America’s, Haiti could rid of the children who go to bed hungry every night, and give them an opportunity to make something of themselves and make themselves happy. Imagine if you were born in Haiti, you could be the one with a bloated stomach wanted only the bare necessities in life, not a fancy new ipad 2. Wouldn’t you wish that someone more better off than you (basically the entire world) would only give a small amount of what they had to help you out? I know I certainly would, which is why I hope this project can help even a few in Haiti. Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:14:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/do-you-agree-with-foreign-aids-use-of-pictures-of-children-119-blog/#IDComment142232784 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment140765235 I found that learning about the opposite sex was more enlightening. Honestly, these are the kinds of lectures I wish we had more of! I never knew some of the statistics, such as only 1/3 of women experience orgasms with sexual intercourse. I’ve always assumed from movies, television, and friends (locker room talk) that girls experienced as much, if not more pleasure as a man with sex! Some of the aspects of the lecture didn’t surprise me. I may be a man, but I’m not an idiot. It’s hard to believe that most men actually think in the way that the “man-oriented world” wants us to believe in! I always saw it as a joke, and that only a few people act that way when it comes to sex and women. I guess it turns out that more men than I thought don’t even think about the women when it comes to sex. I think it’s a shame that girls have to act and dress a certain way to be noticed by guys, and that guys only have to wear a t-shirt and jeans! Like what happened?! Like my dad always told me, you’ll never understand women, and I will always agree with that. But a discussion like the “Needy Penis” lecture was a great way to expose me to some real life explanations and tips. Hearing these things from others besides my hormonal bro’s, it gives me a much different look on the matter. I think it’s difficult for a man and women to experience mutual pleasure. Unlike a porno film, I think real life is much different when it comes to the sexuality between two people. Men and women are definitely different, and for a lot of different reasons. I think it’s essential that everyone, including myself, yearns to reach out and understand the opposite sex, or at least try to. I can’t say I’m an expert when It comes to women or sex for that matter, I’ve experienced enough when I say that there is definitely a difference in the way a man and a women’s mind works. A good joke my professor told me is that for a women they need a special time, and for men they just need a place. I think it’s funny because it shows how differently our brains are wired, and to come to an agreement in the middle is probably challenging for both parties! Men need to start understanding the needs of women, and throw their locker room mentality out the window. And women need to try to understand men, and that our primal instinct is to spread the seed! The faster we understand each other, the happier a man and women can be together. Thu, 7 Apr 2011 16:10:36 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/what-was-more-enlightening-the-information-on-your-own-sex-or-the-opposite-sex-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment140765235 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/after-this-class-do-you-still-blame-terrorism-119-blog/#IDComment140516426 At the beginning of class I also noticed all the angry sentiment towards terrorists. I’m not here to say that I sympathize with terrorists, or that what they do is justifiable. I have always held the feelings that there are good people and bad people all around the world. Terrorists, in my opinion, are just frustrated people due to their circumstances, and are trying to make a change for themselves and the people around them. Sam’s lecture definitely strengthened this point, by putting us in the shoes of an Iraqi citizen. It’s hard to understand our enemies, but I always try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and try to realize that their lives must be truly terrible if they are willing to give up their lives for a cause or change. My parents are extremely conservative, and it makes me cringe when my dad says things like “we should just nuke the Middle East” or “we need to kill everyone to solve that problem.” Because as a human being, I recognize that there a good-natured people everywhere on this planet, and terrorists are terrorists to many Middle Eastern people. However, if we are to truly eliminate terrorists, killing them isn’t the answer. The more provocative we are as a nation in involving ourselves in the Middle East, the more resentment there will be against us, and the more likely terrorism with spawn and spread. The easiest way to solve this problem, in my opinion, is also the hardest thing to do. That is to understand our enemy, instead of killing them. It’s going to be hard, frustrating, and expensive. But in the end it’s worth it. If people are to live in harmony, we have to come together. If we don’t want bright young Americans dying overseas, we have to stop the fighting, start the helping. How would we feel if Iraq was a powerful nation, and came over to the US and had soldiers and patrols all through our streets, and harassed our fellow citizens? What if they took our jobs and our precious natural resources that belong to us? Much like the lecture I would be very angry and frustrated, I would even want to fight back at a certain point. So how can we say we want to kill all these terrorists and Muslims, when we are over there doing the exact same things to them?! I understand that terrorists are a threat, and that they are a huge risk to our national defense, but if we want to ensure the safety of future Americans, we need to work on fixing the poverty and frustration in the Middle East. I hate terrorists; I think they do terrible things to terrible people. In fact, one day I hope to work in national defense and stop these guys from harming innocent people, but if we are to truly eliminate them, we need to eliminate problems in the Middle East. Wed, 6 Apr 2011 16:50:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/after-this-class-do-you-still-blame-terrorism-119-blog/#IDComment140516426 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-factors-in-your-race-make-it-difficult-to-date-outside-your-race-119-blog/#IDComment137077176 I feel like there are several reasons why it’s hard for me to date outside my race. First and foremost, I am a white male. I have dated across the race line, but I can still say that there are reasons why it is uncomfortable and requires me to think twice before jumping into a relationship. When I was 15, I dated a girl named Tianyu, she was adopted from China when she was a baby, and was 100% Chinese. For this story, it was necessarily, a problem with me, but her parents strictly forbid her from dating. Her father was Chinese and married a white woman in America, and he still held to a strict custom of not letting his daughter date until she was older. She also told me that he would prefer her to marry a Chinese man, which I thought was hypocritical since he married a white woman. Finally, the fathers figured out we were dating behind his back, and he threatened her that he would send her back to China with relatives if she continued to see me. Later, I ended up dating a black girl from my high school. She had a full afro and everything, I mean she was black by all means. When I told my parents they didn’t seem to mind that much, they joked with me but I didn’t feel uncomfortable. However, when we sat down at Thanksgiving dinner, my relatives soon found out that I was seeing a African-American girl. My family is super white, like they are still fighting off the Vikings from the English coast. The look my grandparents gave me and the disbelief on their faces filled me with so much guilt. For me, the main reason it’s so hard to date outside of my own race is the look and reactions I get from my family, the people I love most in the world. They are great people, but they definitely come from a different generation and have a whole other mind set when it comes to interracial dating. I mean, I can’t blame them, but as a 16 year old it was hard to see those reactions from the people you love the most about a girl I had interest in. Also, I think it also depends on where you came from on if you date outside of your own race. If you come from a town with a 100% white population, those people probably wouldn’t date outside of their race. However, in a city with a complete mix, I’m sure interracial dating is much more prominent and evident. I have dated girls outside of my race, but I have to admit when I see a interracial couple walking down the street I turn my head, and that’s why I love this class. Because it’s proving to myself I have latent prejudice, and I want to wrestle with these feelings and figure them out. Wed, 23 Mar 2011 20:07:30 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-factors-in-your-race-make-it-difficult-to-date-outside-your-race-119-blog/#IDComment137077176 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135371337 I absolutely love this video, because I 100% agree that sexual orientation doesn’t determine if you have the ability to raise children. Personally, I had a friend in high school named Taylor who was raised by her mother and her partner. I remember when I was younger, like around elementary school, and I was confused when my parents said she had two moms. However, she was a very capable and normal kid. The sexual orientation of her moms didn’t affect her, and now she even goes to Bucknell College. In my opinion in order to be a good parent you have to put extreme effort and care into your children. This requires infinite patience, positive incentives, and even sometimes being a little strict. But a person’s sexual orientation does not determine these things. Oh and there are literally thousands of different things that can make a good parent, hopefully I know them before I have them! But I think straight couples are just as likely to raise kids in a positive manner as a homosexual couple. It’s unbelievable that people stick so strongly to stereotypes and assumptions that they believe homosexual citizens are incapable of raising children. I mean look at the kid speaking; he by all means was an “All-American” kind of kid. The United State government, and with it the state governments, shouldn’t deny a person the right to love somebody that they truly love, straight or not. I’m sure there are studies done that show that gay couples are just as capable as straight couples when it comes to raising kids, and this evidence should be used. Examples like this kid is irrefutable, and in my opinion strikes down the opposition. How can they say it would harm kids when this young man is so well off? If people are truly loving and supporting, they should be aloud to raise kids. I mean isn’t allowing a well-off, stable, loving homosexual couple to have kids better than a straight couple that is unloving, unstable, and unconcerned with their children? Bearing children is so essential to the human psyche, and denying to anyone who is able to do it in a good manner is not just unconstitutional, but inhumane as well. I hope Iowa critically thinks about the issue, and doesn’t let their stubborn, conservative mind set get in the way. The issue here is about the kids, not the homosexual couples. So if Iowa continues to push for anti-gay marriage legislation a lot of families are going to be crippled, much like the young man’s in the video. Sexual orientation does not determine whether you are capable or not of raising children, and I firmly believe that statement. Wed, 16 Mar 2011 18:06:05 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/lgbt-families-theres-a-lot-of-fear-out-there/#IDComment135371337 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/is-it-selfish-for-people-in-poverty-to-have-more-kids-because-of-their-lower-income-119-blog/#IDComment131766877 I don’t think it’s fair of me to say that it is selfish or not for poor people to have children. However, my gut feeling has always been sadness, just because I have the assumption that the more children people have, the less money they will have to properly take care of them with. Some fantastic individuals have come from poor families with lots of children, but I feel the odds are against them just based on the amount of money they have. For example, if one were to go to college and get a degree in order to attain a better job, one would have to have money to help pay them through it. But then again you could take the free will approach and say that these people could get a job and pay through college and their other expenses. I have the latent prejudice that poor people who have kids will be setting up their children with a similar life and not climb up the social ladder. No matter way you look at it, people with less money have less connections, opportunities, and advantages than those with money. But who are we to judge how great these kids will turn out, or how good of parents are. Who knows, a kid from a large family that is below the poverty line could be the next president, although I highly doubt it. I feel like I have so many built in prejudices against low-income people that no matter their decisions, I would have a bias against their decision. It may only be truly selfish if people have the children knowing they cannot raise them in a supportive and positive manner. If parents are genuinely trying their best and truly love their kids enough to have more, then more power to them. After all, they say money can’t buy happiness, so maybe a poor family with a tight-knit family encounters more riches than any of us middle-class college kids could ever experience. Sure these kids won’t have as many opportunities as us higher-income kids do, but maybe this will teach them valuable lessons in life on work-ethic and money management. My mother always told me that kids with less comfortable lives learn to be independent at an earlier age and are more capable compared to someone like me who was babied and provided for my entire life. Is it selfish for people in poverty to have more kids? I think the general answer would have to be no. If it’s for a genuine purpose, I have no room to deny someone the right on having children. It’s a touchy subject, especially since our economic equality is so skewed. Maybe the problem wouldn’t be here if our economy wasn’t so skewed across the board. Wed, 2 Mar 2011 04:52:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/is-it-selfish-for-people-in-poverty-to-have-more-kids-because-of-their-lower-income-119-blog/#IDComment131766877 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/23/why-do-we-think-of-people-from-other-countries-as-so-different-from-us-119-blog/#IDComment130161206 I believe people see other cultures being so different from our own because we are so unexposed or unfamiliar with other cultures and base our opinions off of biased judgments and slanted media. I like to say that people are similar all over the world and live very parallel lives, but then again I’ve never left the country so who am I to say how they live? I try to just have faith that they live lives just like us, but it’s very easy to base it off of what I see in movies, pictures, and television. I think this is a reason there is an underlying element of racism or discrimination in most people, because we are unfamiliar with things outside of our little bubble of existence. Some say fear is not understanding or unknowing something. This could explain why we think others are living so different from us, because we truly don’t know how they live. Furthermore, it’s like what Sam says in class, we put us here and put “others” over there. We all live very busy and hectic lives, so our ability to meet other with different cultures or from different countries is very difficult. If we had the ability to travel and live among others maybe we could see how much our lives match, but for now our unfamiliarity will continue, and we will continue to assume they are different from us. In high school, I met several exchange students from different countries. I was very curious about how they lived and often asked them what the differences between their country and mine were. There was a student from China, Norway, and the Ukraine that I had significant conversations with about their lifestyle back home. Most of them said that we have small differences in how we live our lives day to day. I remember the girl from Norway saying we were very up tight about dating and sexual relations. The Chinese boy said we watched a lot of tv. The Ukrainian girl just said we were all socially awkward. I thought this was very funny, but maybe we appear that way because she was definitely from outside of America, and that difference probably put a lot of people on the back of their heels, especially to the 99.9% white population in my rural hometown. I hope one day I have the opportunity to travel abroad and live among people of a different country and culture of my own. The more I think people are exposed to the “unknown,” the less likely they are to judge based off of biased opinions. One day I hope we can all understand each other, and with globalization increasing, there may be a chance. I just hope It comes soon. Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:32:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/23/why-do-we-think-of-people-from-other-countries-as-so-different-from-us-119-blog/#IDComment130161206 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/what-did-you-get-out-of-king-of-the-mountain-119-blog/#IDComment128364721 I thoroughly enjoyed Sam’s race to the top of the mountain example. I don’t think many people take time to figure out how the main players in the world today came to be. Why is the U.S. a national superpower today and not South Africa? Why did the Europeans colonize in the America’s instead of “Native Americans” sailing over and taking over Europe. Many people think that certain people came to power through their sheer will to survive and their ingenious technique to adapt and grow. However, to this day, and throughout all history, it is constantly proven that people across the spectrum can be equally brilliant and sophisticated with their thinking. In an old history class, it was said that Europeans were smarter than other people around the world because the cold winters forced them to stay inside and “think,” which of course made them smarter than people not living in winter-like conditions. Instead, the people who get to the top are the people who start with the most abundant and most easy to get to resources. He mentioned we will be watching the video, “Guns, Germs, and Steel,” which happens to be my favorite book. From the beginning of human development, the people who “reached the top of the mountain” were the ones with readily available domesticated plants and animals, preferable weather conditions, and abundant metals and other supplies. Once groups of people acquire these advantageous circumstances, they have the ways and means of power. This is where the universal conflict of the “have” and “have-nots” come to place. Those with the “haves” will try to keep it that way, while the “have-nots” will always be trying to attain their unlimited desires. When players try to reach the top of the mountain, this can be seen as war. Even by the example, it illustrated that the person on top has the obvious advantage, for having a position above everyone else (more resources and advantageous conditions). Even to this day, the constant struggle for the top of the mountain will never stop. It’s impossible to distribute Earth’s limited resources to billions of people with unlimited wants. Human greed will always be a hurdle for attaining economic equality for all, and who is to say that economics should be fair. Are some meant to be on the top while others are not? Or is just determinism from history that affects people today. It’s unfortunate, but if two people with the same ability are trying to acquire a position somewhere, the one with the history of being “on top of the mountain” will usually prevail. Sometimes I wonder if I was born in a different family in a different country that my fate would have been completely changed, and the sad thing is, is that I think it would. Wed, 16 Feb 2011 18:22:43 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/what-did-you-get-out-of-king-of-the-mountain-119-blog/#IDComment128364721 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/what-the-most-beautiful-race-means-to-you-119-blog/#IDComment125759587 I don’t think there is a possibility for a “most beautiful race.” I don’t think beauty is even justifiable, since beauty is only a perception or an opinion. It’s like what my mother always told me, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” For someone to say a certain race is more beautiful than another is something that I find very hard to agree with. They say we develop as a child, our ideal image of a beautiful person, which is usually impacted by our family and environment. Since everyone comes from different backgrounds, how is it fair to say that what one person says on beauty has pretense over another’s? As a culture, I think we tend to lump and stereotype “beautiful” features like we talked in class. White skin, slender nose, and skinny frame. All these are just attributes someone can have, and doesn’t determine if they are beautiful or not. I think physical beauty is hard to capture in one image, much like inner beauty cannot be defined with one person. They are all just opinions, and can’t be determined. On the topic of dating, I would like to talk about people who close off their option by being extremely selective in what they see as beautiful. Some of my friends, whether they are male or female, say they like certain races more than others, or won’t even consider other races to date. For me, this aggravates me, just because I don’t think you can cut off beauty just by the color of someone’s skin. True beauty lies within, and how can people close off options just based on what they physically look like? Personally, I have dated several races: African American, Chinese, Caucasians, and even a redhead if you count that as a category. Out of all these girls, I didn’t see anything more beautiful compared to the other. They were very different of course, but it’s not their physical beauty that attracts me, it’s the beauty that resonates within them that makes them truly beautiful to me. Sure, since I grew up in a predominantly white area, I tend to find white girls more “attractive.” But I certainly don’t think white is the most beautiful race. I think people tend to date others who are the same race because, much like the friends blog earlier, it’s an issue of surrounding yourself with people you are comfortable with. They say when it comes to marriage; socioeconomic background is one of the most prominent factors when it comes to finding a spouse. Since, complete integration is obviously not evident, at least not for me, I think people see romantic partners to those they have been surrounded by their whole lives. Thu, 3 Feb 2011 20:57:54 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/what-the-most-beautiful-race-means-to-you-119-blog/#IDComment125759587 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124387432 I tend to think that people flock together with their same race because it’s an issue with comfort. At least for me, I grew up in a town where it was predominantly white. Until college, I never experienced a variety and diverse group of kids. However, I don’t think it is entirely based on race. I think we tend to hang out more with kids with the same socioeconomic status and similar interests. I’ve met kids who grew up in extremely diverse communities, and they have no prejudices or stereotypes towards other races. They live along side these people, unlike some of us who grow up and only see other ethnicity and races through unrealistic stereotypes. They say the idea of racism occurred in the US because there was such a division between African American and whites in the states. There was a small amount of “minorities,” so racism appeared. Unlike South America, where the slave population was much greater, very little racism occurred, because everybody was exposed to all different kinds of ethnicity and race. Also, it might be part of human nature to group off. I’m sure people banded together to survive, and there’s a more than good chance they did it with people who were similar. On another note, I do love living in the dorm as Penn State. My floor is pretty diverse compared to what I’m used to. A lot of neighbors are African-American, which is really awesome. A lot of them have become my friends, and we are very similar in a lot of ways. I mean of course we have differences, but it still doesn’t destroy the fact that we get along. It’s a really cool experience, and even though I’m still not being completely submerged into a totally diverse community, it’s definitely cool to be around people of different races and backgrounds. I can’t explain why people tend to flock together; maybe it’s just a natural phenomenon, or a subconscious thing to do. I hope we learn in this class why we choose to surround ourselves with our same race. No matter how open-minded we say we are, we all tend to hang around people similar to us. Hopefully by the end of this class we can learn why we behave like that, and tear down the walls we put up and assumptions we have towards other race and ethnicity besides our own. I consider myself a pretty open person when it comes to race: my best friend at home is Chinese, I’ve dated both a African-American and Asian girls, and I’m friends with people of different races. However, I still have the tendency to hang around kids with the same race and socioeconomic status as my own. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 18:56:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124387432 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122657903 I thought the category exercise we did in class was extremely intriguing and interesting. I took it for granted how hard it is to differentiate people of different race. When walk around campus, I usually just think, “Oh that person is Asian, or Black.” But when it comes down to it, it’s much harder to label people based on their physical appearance. As I watched the girls try to sort the volunteers in the front, I was amazed at how much trouble I had organizing their race. I’m almost ashamed at myself for how I have been stereotyping races by their physical appearances my whole life. The truth is that there is no 100% true look of a race, and many people are mixed between many races. I think the problem for me atleast is that I grew up in a white middle-class neighborhood and went to a school in an absurdly prominent white school. Sure, not everyone was Caucasian, but 98% were. I think since I’m not exposed the to extreme diverse array of races, that I’ve stereotyped their look based on information I’ve gathered (not even from direct interaction) and based their looks off that. I think the experiment is the first to what I’m sure will be many more intense and critical aspects of the class we will see for this semester. I’m glad there is a class where we can do an exercise like this and not worry about offending people. After all, we are all people, and I think it’s important to see how others and ourselves view others. I think this is a class that will break many illusions we have about race, and change our outlook on our lives. I think Sam is going to teach us to leave our prejudices to races, and to people in general, behind us. I have to admit if I were one of the girls up there having t categorize people, I would have had a very tough time. I think to many of us this was a different thing than what we are used to, but I think getting out of our comfort zones is just what we need to break down the barriers between race relations. Once we are comfortable with ourselves, we will eventually learn to be comfortable with others. I’m not exposed to much, I live a pretty average life as a white, male college student. But I’m hoping this class will broaden my understanding of humanity. I want to know why my hometown lacks diversity, and how most of my friends come from the same socioeconomic class. The exercise was fantastic, because it was extremely simple and showed how little we know about actual race. Fri, 21 Jan 2011 04:16:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122657903 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cs%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122098889 Soc 119 Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:59:32 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cs%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122098889