Leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. fought hard for all races to be treated as equal. Before the mid 1900’s schools were very segregated and different races were not allowed to attend the same school. White people in one school and minorities in another was how it was for many years. Separate playgrounds, theaters, and churches kept people away from interacting with each other. This can be a factor that contributed to the separation that races suffer with today.
The fact that schools today are more segregated than before says that we are not taking proper measures to move away from segregation and towards equality. We as Americans are comfortable with our children being surrounded with children of the same race every day and not sharing special childhood moments with children of other races. The fact that we do not have more interracial schools says that we are okay with our children not getting the full experience of life. By allowing our children to go to school with students of other races we will express the importance of equality and working together in society. In the real world most people do not work with one race and it is important that we start exposing our youth to different races from a young age.

Is said that the United States has come a long way from segregation and racism. We as Americans try to pretend and act as if racism is gone and no longer exist but this is wrong. It is important that we address the fact that the country is still dealing with segregation and that something should be done about it. In large cities such as Philadelphia and New York there are areas that are predominantly one race and public schools in these cities. In the inner cities school tend to be mostly African American or Hispanic. In suburban areas schools tend to be majority Caucasian. This may seem like nothing but it is actually a big problem in society.
Research has proven that schools are segregated more today than in the 1970’s. It may seem unrealistic but it is true. Just as schools were segregated during the early 1900’s schools are segregated now. People fail to realize this but it is something that should be paid close attention to. The fact that schools are so segregated and people do not care or even notice means that the world is settling with the practice of racism and segregation. This says a lot about our society and culture as a whole. This says that we are okay with being divided.

In the ads and commercials I don’t think it is a problem to show pictures of impoverished children but I do think it’s important to make viewers know what percentage of people that the poor make up. Organizations should also let people know the importance of helping these children instead of letting people draw conclusions from pictures. These pictures do make people feel sympathetic but because people see them so often they get tired and the sympathy turn to agony. People feel forced to donate but instead of pictures there should be statistics and encouraging people to help these poor children.

All countries have ghettoes and suburbs. On the commercials made by foreign aid organizations there are only places of poverty shown and this gives Americans a negative impression of these countries. Although these countries do show signs of poverty they also have places of riches. In Africa there places that have huge homes with great amounts of land. Before the earthquake in Haiti there were areas that were houses to the doctors, lawyers, and people who had money of some sort. Americans are not shown these places therefore people are not aware and are stuck with stereotypes about people from these countries. It is the jobs of these organizations to make sure Americans are aware of all of the social status in every country and to also know the importance of helping the lower social class.

Many islands such as Haiti and continents such as Africa there are many poor and under privileged people. There are children that cannot help themselves and struggle for a meal week. School is not an option for these children and many of them are surviving with one or no parent at all. There are many organizations that reach out to help. These organizations create commercials and websites to persuade Americans or people who have it to contribute and donate money to help these children. Even though Americans do a great job of donating money they are giving a wrong impression of what these countries are actually like.

Although it is important to spread the word about foreign aid it is also important that organizations send the right message the right way. I feel like the pictures of young children and the conditions in which they live is a not fulfilling the purpose that it is meant to serve. On commercials such as Feed the Children young children are shown in bad conditions and viewers are asked to help by sending money and making monthly payments to the orgs. Most of the time the children are shown without their parents, in half built homes caring for themselves and three other siblings. The message that these children in these countries need money and food to survive is not at question but the question on how the country is being portrayed is a question to be addressed.

In a country that is so diverse it is a shame that everyone does not speak one other language other than their own. With thousands of different cultures and ethnicities I think it is important that everyone starts to broaden their horizons and learn at least one other language aside from one that he or she is use to. We always talk about ways in which to prevent racism but we never think of why there is racism. There is racism because we do not know anything about other culture and therefore we are stuck making assumptions about other races and ethnicities. We do not stop to learn about other people, how they live or eat.
Today there are many professions that recommend or even require an employee to know a second language. Languages that are popular are Spanish and Chinese. These languages can be found on the back labels of beauty products and furniture boxes. The labels are not on these products for no reason. They are on there because there are a great number of people who do not fully understand the english language and find it helpful to have their language on products. Just as immigrants must learn to live in America and speak a language other than their own we Americans should learn to speak another language.
If a job required me to learn a language I would gladly be willing to learn the language. When it comes to jobs one must be willing to learn new things. Learning a new language is not the end of the world and although it will take a while it will be beneficial in the future. Learning a new language will also open an employee up to many oppurtunities. Depending on the job employees may be asked to travel to different countries or deals with clients that speak another language. Although it is important to learn another language for the sake of learning about other cultures know other languages means more money. In class Sam said that a person who knows more than one language can earn up to 40% more than someone who only knows one language. I would want to believe that Americans would be willing to learn another language but I do not think that this would the case. Foreign language is a required course in most grade schools but as soon as student graduate from high school they stop taking foreign language courses. If foreign language was required in college I believe that more people would willing to learn another language and learn as their second language. Because learning a language is hard work people do not take the risks of starting to learn a new language.

Sometimes I wonder why white men don’t try to start up a conversation. I think that if they were more comfortable and we black women wee more comfortable that there would be more interracial couples. Most black women have a thing for white men because they are fresh and new. They are romantic and kind. Black men are great also but it is something about white men that attract black women to white women. If black women and white men become less intimidated and just start to engage in conversation. If we start to engage in conversation we will get to know each other aside from the stereotypes that we have.
In conclusion, I believe that it is us black women that make it hard for white men to talk to us. If we show that we are not hard to get and are interested maybe they will show that they are interested in us. Interracial couples are such a great thing in today’s society. This shows that the world is moving away from deep racism slowly but surely.

In a world that is influenced so much by media the rate of interracial couples are on the rise. White men with black women and back women with black men is what is more often than ever and many people question why that is so. This is due to the fact that people are starting to see the world outside of black and white. They are also realizing that emotions are way deeper than skin color and that race is not the ultimate factor in healthy relationships. But even though it seems as if there are many interracial couples many people are sill afraid or intimidated to pursue people of other races. As a young black women I often wonder why white men are intimidated to talk to us black women.
I believe that white men are hesitant to purse black women because I think that they have stereotypes for us. Any people think that black women are bossy, rude, and ghetto. All of these stereotypes are not true and it feels bad that they see us that way. White men seem to be intimidated by black women because of what they THINK we are. They probably believe that we are going to turn them down in a rude manner. But the truth of the matter is that we are in fact interested in white, I know I am.

Coming from Philadelphia I was used to diversity and having an open mind so sitting in a class on about thirty and being the only black person did not bother me because I knew that there were people in high school who had to sit in a class of black people. Besides I never really experienced racism and I didn’t plan on experiencing it. Race never occurred to me until I began to speak of it when SOC 119 started. Because my parents pressed the importance of equality I never realized that other people were racist. When coming to Penn State I felt that there should more diversity but it didn’t occur to me that the numbers are decreasing.
I feel that here at Penn State there should try to push diversity for many reasons. If someone at is not used to something when he or she goes out into the real world after college they will not be able to deal with that certain thing. This is how I feel about Penn State. I feel that everyone should get comfortable with people of other races so that when it comes time for us to go out in the work field we will not find it difficult to work and communicate with people of other races and ethnic groups.