Before the lecture I was pretty uninformed about immigration. I was not concerned about illegal immigrants coming into the country probably because it did not have a direct impact on my life. I was pretty naive because I did not see the problem with letting immigrants into the country. I did not understand why it was such a big hoopla…immigration control, patrolling the boarders and such…

But now, after the lecture, I have a better understanding of our nation’s problem with illegal immigration. It poses both positives and negatives for the US. A positive is cheap labor. Businesses benefit from illegal immigration and play a pretty large role in determining our immigrations policies. Illegal immigrants are used for free labor or labor paid at an inexpensive price. Illegal immigrations is the cause of suppressed wages. Although this is a positive for businesses, for workers it is not.

A thing about workers and illegal immigrants…Working American citizens are complaining that illegal immigrants are taking away “their” jobs. But the funny thing is, they’re jobs that these working American citizens don’t really want. For example, picking pears. An illegal immigrant probably isn’t likely to complain about that job. Whatever it pays, at least it’s something…and they take it. However, I’m sure picking pears isn’t a job the working American citizens are talking about.

So what else could it be? Pride. The American citizens are proud to be American and do not want anyone intruding. When I learned this, a light bulb went off. It just made so much sense. American citizens protest and worry so much about illegal immigration because they feel threatened. They are concerned that the America that they know and love will be overtaken by foreigners and aliens, corrupting our pure American society.

I also now understand that we can’t just let everyone in all willy-nilly. Limits have to be set. I’m glad it’s different now than how it used to be, when immigration laws and legislation were passed to keep non-Americans out simply because they were foreigners. Now it’s just to maintain control.

I’m curious about the issues other countries have with illegal immigration. Are they being flooded with illegal immigrants? Are their citizens freaking out? Do they feel threatened? Have they passed legislation prohibiting foreigners from entering the country? Are their businesses affected by it?

Everything that was discussed today about the current living of Native Americans put me in shock and disbelief. I was appalled at myself and humbled. After Sam brought it up, I asked myself the question he asked himself: what does that say about me as a person that I can just walk around on a land that is not inherently mine but stolen, covered with the blood of its rightful owners and not think about it?

Wow…

That was my thought for the portion of the lecture spent talking about Native Americans. The numbers and statistics of the adverse poverty, violence, and drug and alcohol abuse within Indian reservations is so serious. A particular statistic that stuck out in my mind was the 533% chance of dying Native Americans living in adverse poverty have compared to the same poverty non-Indians live in. As I sat there I thought here I am, putting the poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, and violence in the communities of my own people on a pedestal when there is a greater injustice and inequality at large.

Something very disturbing is how little most of us know about Native Americans. The story of the Native American history taught in most schools is brief and immensely watered down. The story told in the song “Don’t Drink the Water” is the story that needs to be told. A particular few lines in the song stood out to me.

“I can sleep more soundly
Upon these poor souls
I'll build heaven and call it home
'Cause you're all dead now
I live with my justice
I live with my greedy need
I live with no mercy”

This passage talks about the complacency felt about the genocide that took place. It also talks about the reasons for committing the vast killing of one people. It was fueled by greed, carried out with a lack of mercy, but justified by reasons thought up to feel better about the heinous act.

The video just made me feel sad. The visual made it real. Native Americans, a beautiful people full of wisdom and a colorful culture, are struggling. I question why it is so hard for them to recover. I also question what our country its people are doing to help.

By the end I was inspired. Inspired to appreciate the life I have, be cognizant of the current living conditions of Native Americans, and inspired to visit an Indian reservation one day.

Looking at the war from the perspective of a Middle Easterner definitely gave me a new way to consider the war in Iraq as a whole.

From the shores of the U.S. we send our troops to foreign lands to fight in the name of democracy, justice, equality, and for the safety and well-being of the American people. In the case of Iraq, this includes fighting for THEIR oil because of the “great need” of the American people. It’s considered an honor to represent any of the U.S. armed forces in combat.

However, imagining looking on through the eyes of those inhabiting Iraqi soil, I learned that the U.S. troops are seen differently. They are invaders. They are coming from across a vast sea and implanting their solders in a land that does not belong to them. They have come to take over and purge the country of its native culture and people. They are also thieves. Contrary to the reason for the war the American government tries to portray, the fundamental reason is the oil. It’s our resource, yet the Americans feel entitled to it? So they invade our country and kill countless innocent Iraqi people to take what is rightfully ours.

In addition, theses Americans aren’t just invaders…they are Christians. Christian Invaders. We see videos and hear news reports about them denouncing our faith and our God. Taking our oil is not their only motive. They are resolute on converting us to Christianity.

After this lecture, I am definitely aware of how the war can be perceived by the Iraqis. The American troops are not heroes and heroines in the eyes of the Iraqis. They are not performing any noble act. The Iraqis are threatened, offended, and sacred.

I have never been an advocate for war, but I complied with the reasons the public was fed justifying the war on Iraq. It’s quite saddening and humbling actually, realizing there are bigger issues. We are here in America worrying about the safety of our troops when there are innocent Iraqi families being killed by our troops. And for what? Oil that we have no initial right to possess.

This lecture definitely enlightened me more about a man’s body, but along with that I was also enlightened about a woman’s body. Everything Lorie and Sam were saying in class matched up perfectly with my own experiences. The lecture actually confirmed a lot of feelings I have had.

It was very interesting to hear about sex and sexuality through the “masculine lens”…most interesting because it is something that is so integrated in our society and in our culture that it is “hidden in plain sight”. How our culture generally thinks about what sex is and how sex “should” go is all looked at through a male perspective.

One of the most striking points of the lecture was the point that men are all about penetration. Penetrating is all they’ll capable off and that doesn’t change. Where as, on the other hand, a woman’s sexual organs have a bit more going on and change over time. Our feelings our feelings and fore play are essential for us to be fully aroused. All of the contrasts between a male and female body regarding sex and sexuality were very intriguing.

Another point in the lecture that I found very interesting was how these differences in sexuality between males and females can be attributed to a reason behind sexual assault and dissonance in heterosexual relationships. If men and women just understood more about their own body and well as the body of the opposite sex a lot of confusion could be avoided. The idea of “No means no!” for example. Our ideas about sex are so convoluted that it’s near impossible to have “No means no” be stated just that clearly in a sexual situation. The man is looking at the situation through the “masculine lens” as well as the woman, which complicates things because men and women are different.

Something else the lecture enlightened me on was its basic topic – calling the penis “needy”. It was ironic to me because when I was first confronted with the differences between my feelings about sex and sexuality and the contrasting feelings of a man’s, I don’t believe my first thought was “What’s wrong with ME?” I first questioned the desires, reactions to stimulation, and arousal of the male.

Nevertheless, I was enlightened about both the male and female body. As much as we want to be equal there are fundamental differences that should be heeded. This lecture was rockin’.

It’s hard to say whether it’s “better” or “worse” to be in one stage rather than another. If the stages of developing racial identity are a natural progression then I think it would be neither good nor bad to be in one stage rather than another…because then we would just be in the stage we’re supposed to be in at the time we’re supposed to be in it.

But I think the question of whether being in a particular stage is “good” or “bad” lies in the idea of this ideal world of racial harmony we wish to live in and the stage(s) that most correlate with that—the pseudo-communitarian and humanitarian stages, but the latter even more than the former. Sadly, not too many people get to that last stage; the stage where help, living, socializing, etc. is all color blind. Not blind in the sense that it won’t play a factor because I just don’t foresee a world where it wouldn’t. But blind in the sense that, essentially, color does not matter. Thus, I do believe that if any stage is better to be in than any other it would be the Humanitarian stage. The more people who reach this stage the better off our world would be.

Nonetheless, I definitely feel where this young man is coming from. I feel as though I most closely identify with being in the pseudo-communitarian stage. I’m not angry at white people and I don’t hate them, and I’m also not all about Black people stuff either. I feel like I have the potential to relate to people of all races. However, I still look at life through a racial lens. I catch myself thinking of race in situations where it may not even apply, or even thinking of race where it may apply. Right now…let’s just say I think a lot about race. But I do not necessarily feel bad about being more concerned about being more inclined to help people of my own race over people of another race. I feel like there is a lot of work to be done within Black society and there needs to be people who tend to that need.

I realize that help shouldn’t be color blind and other things along those lines, but I’m just not there yet. There are more places, people, and cultures I need to experience to become more open minded and receptive of other people before I can call myself a Humanitarian. It’s definitely a place I would love to eventually reach.

Sigh…white privilege. It’s this ubiquitous presence that looms over the lives of people of color and presides in our society. As like most people of color, as Sam explained, I became aware of this at an early age. I’ve been awake for a while now.

White privilege is something I am fairly familiar with. As a person of color, it’s frustrating and restricting. To know that I am automatically disadvantaged in life because of my skin and my white peers and essential counterparts have advantaged because of theirs. And I suppose it’s not even actually white privilege today that bothers me so much. I’m aware that a lot has changed and our society is taking steps toward equality. My race is less likely to hinder how much I excel in life today than some years ago. But I suppose I’m bothered most with just what encompassed white privilege years ago and how that has affected today. For example, I first noticed white privilege when I traveled from my neighborhood (predominately black) to nearby suburbs and other places that were predominately white. I noticed that the white neighborhoods were cleaner, felt safer, and the people appeared to be more pleasant compared to the cleanliness, feelings of security, and individuals in the community in which I lived. Of course at the time at such a young age I didn’t know it was “white privilege” per say, but I knew it was something. I understood the concept that White was better and I was a part of an “other”.

So I feel like white privilege is unfair. And it’s especially unfair how white people live and exist in a world where they have the upper hand, but yet are not aware of this privilege they have. It also upsets me on how large of a scale white privilege has affected people of color and how deeply rooted issues residing within people of color are somewhat related to white privilege. For example, the video that was showed in class about the experiment performed with young children and their preference between a black doll and a white doll. It was really disturbing and disheartening to see children identify the black doll as the “bad” doll and to know that the doll’s color was a characteristic contributing to the doll being “bad”. Just thinking of how white privilege plays many rolls in this idea planted in young children's heads and how the development of white privilege is all tied into what the study revealed….it’s all just a bit enraging.

And another thing that bothers me that whites are privileged with is the freedom they have to be individuals. Rarely are white people “that white person”, whereas people of color are always their color. There will not be many times in my lifetime where the color of my skin will not be taken into consideration.

Fortunately, however, I can honestly say that white privilege has not affected me personally too much. Aside from the restrictions that come along with being a member of the Black race, white privilege has not directly stared me in the face. It only disturbs me when I attentively think about it. After writing this response I feel like I’ve backslid a stage in the development of my racial identity…

So as I read this article I mostly felt insulted. I felt insulted because “Mass rallies in Washington, voter intimidation at the polls, creating ethnic studies programs at colleges to promote racial self-awareness -- it sounds like a script from a civil rights documentary”. Exactly. The white majority is using the means minorities (people of color, women, homosexuals, etc.) have used to gain rights the white majority already possessed…and still do.

In the article, Colby Bohannan, founder of the Former Majority Association for Equality, was quoted saying “Living in America, you hear about this minority or that minority, but it's never been used in the same sense for Caucasian Americans”. This is true because they’re not. In a general since I mean. As far as having scholarship funds and organizations dedicated to their advancement as a people, yes they are a minority. And I don’t want to seem ignorant or closed minded, because I suppose essentially…ideally…it shouldn’t matter. Color/race shouldn’t matter. However, regardless of whether whites are becoming outnumbered as a race, they still maintain a majority status in our society.

It’s just frustrating because it seems that many white people are ignorant of how our society is constructed around race and their position in it. It’s frustrating because this article spoke of the white people who seem to have the story twisted thinking they are slipping to the bottom of the barrel. Personally, I believe they’ll never get there. Are they sliding down from the top? Possibly. And if so, slowly…like molasses. But, in the grand scheme of things, I just don’t see where in today’s society whites are becoming any type of minority.

James Edwards, a white nationalist according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, was quoted in the article saying that blacks have received special treatment at the expense of white interests. According to Edwards, whatever mistakes towards blacks have not only been “corrected”, but “overcompensated for”. I disagree with Mr. Edwards on this one. Overcompensated for? Until racial discrimination against blacks is utterly eradicated I don’t believe it is a true statement that blacks have been overcompensated for their hardships. (I only mention the eradication of racial discrimination against blacks solely in response to Mr. Edwards comment). Say all of the “preferential treatment” blacks receive (as Mr. Edwards calls it) is eliminated. Then where would that put blacks in society? I’m pretty confident that the disparities would be grand.

In light of how insulted I felt by this article, I appreciated the optimistic ending. Charles Gallagher, a sociologist at LaSalle University, was quoted: “When you take the long view of human history, change is slow, but change happens.” The thing that disturbed me so about this article was that it discussed people who believe so much changed has happened that there needs to be a movement fighting the racial discrimination against them who already have the scale tipped in their favor.

This question reminded me of a quote in the movie The Longest Yard. Caretaker (Chris Rock) is speaking to Paul Cru (Adam Sandler) about how “white boys all ways deal with that depression”. Then, after Caretaker mentions that he doesn’t personally understand why says, “Hey! You’re white! Smile!”

As a person of color, I am all too familiar with the general perspective of people of color that white people don’t have anything to complain about compared to their own lives. This can be understood because of the disparity of privilege of white people compared to that of people of color, or rather its absence. It’s like…black and brown people look at white people a say “What are you complaining about?”

I believe it’s also how people of color are raised. I believe there is this predominantly deterministic philosophy within the culture of black and brown people which branches out to other portions of their lives. Racial oppression still exists and I think a way for black and brown people to deal with it is to be outspoken about it. It’s something people of color can relate to one another, whereas black and brown people can’t connect to a white person through complaining because the white person wouldn’t necessarily understand/feel/empathize with the “color struggle”…if you will.

As for the poverty stricken White population, there thing is "We CAN'T complain". Although they’re white, their social class overrides their race. Society perpetuates this idea that there is this standard that everyone has to live up to—the ideal white person. This entails being a member of, at least, the middle class. These low-end, rural whites have failed at maintaining this standard and end up feeling shameful and embarrassed. It seems like they have no right to complain, or that’s what society makes it out to be anyway. As opposed to black and brown people, poor whites have nobody to point the finger at, no institutions to blame for their hard knock life.

It’s actually quite annoying to hear black and brown people complain so much sometimes, particularly because of this determinism theory mindset that seems to reign supreme in black and brown communities. I feel like the concept of free will is overlooked and many black and brown people do not realize the amount of control they DO have in determining the course of their life. However, I realize that for black and brown people complaining sort of serves as a way to get the word out about the discrimination and prejudice that is still around. But then on the other hand, it seems like it serves as a crutch or sometimes a cop out for the people of black and brown.

Throughout my life I can recall many instances where I have been told about and shown those less fortunate than I. Jobless, penniless, hungry, and homeless. However, this has only been in the area of my hometown, Philadelphia. I have yet to venture across the globe and witness the gap between living in America compared to living in other places.

A piece of information Sam shared with us in class is something I believe I will carry for the rest of my life. He told us that for everyone on this Earth to live as the average American…there would need to be FOUR Earths. This fact dumbfounds me. It appears that the threshold of satisfaction for the average American is so much higher compared to those of inhabitants around the world. It reflects America’s greed. We also live in a very individualistic society. We are focused on self achievement and self satisfaction and it is not a common cultural practice to put others before us. It will be the demise of humankind. Resources are depleting at a fast pace because many people are consuming them up without much regard about what might be left for the person next in line.

I have feelings of discontent and a modest amount of guilt. In class, same asked us whether we have feelings of guilt for the way we live our lives. My choice was “Disagree”. It wasn’t “Strongly Disagree” or the last option which said something about not feeling guilty but being frustrated about the disparities in the world because in part I feel responsible. On the one hand, my life chances and forces outside of my control have contributed to my opportunities and how well off I am. And on this hand I don’t feel the guilt. Now, in no ways am I rich, but in the perspective of the “Haves” and the “Have-nots”, I have quite a bit. This is the hand that carries the pinch of guilt. And for this reason I feel partially responsible. I have a lot so I feel as though it is my responsibility as a human being to care about the well-being of other humans. I have a home, an education, and a number of other resources I can turn to, whereas there are so many others that do not.

In class, the largest number of the responses to the guilt question was “Agree”. People feel guilty. In response, Sam said people shouldn’t feel guilty because “guilt” is a very accusatory and impeding word. However, I believe it can perhaps be motivating. It has encouraged me to do the most I can to help the less fortunate. Donate to charity, community service, buy fair trade products…

I believe if all of the “Haves” just give a little to the “Have-nots” it will make a change…lessen the gap. If we all just pitch in a little…donate to charity, volunteer our time, purchase fair trade chocolate…a difference can be made. And as Sam said in class, we can’t save the world all at once, but day by day, a step at a time, person by person a large change can eventually be made.

We most definitely have a responsibility to do something about the inequalities in this world. Now, everybody can’t go out and be Superman, but we can all play a part. And I believe that now we are informed individuals we are held even more responsible. What we can do, and I feel are very much responsible for doing, is educating others.

Now that the 700something of us in the class know that these inequalities exist in family income, the level of education people of a particular race group attain, and numerous other life chances, I believe we are now all held accountable for informing others. A LOT of people do not know these things. Some people are ignorant because others want and keep them ignorant; others are ignorant because they believe they believe in some variation of Manifest Destiny, that their people belong on top; and then there are those who are ignorant because they just so choose to be.

For the people who choose not to know, we can only hope for a light bulb to click on in their head someday. For the people who believe in some natural/divine ordinance justifying their dominance, I believe it’s our job to bring them down to Earth. In order for inequality to somewhat diminish, I believe we are responsible for informing these people that there is nothing related to their skin color, brain size, or body structure that resulted to being at the top of the social hierarchy. We have to encourage these people to realize that human beings are 99.7% the same (approximately). We are responsible for encourage these people to realize that these inequalities are man made.

An example of the people who are kept ignorant is the “King of the Mountain” demonstration in class. By chance, White, heterosexual, Christian, able-bodied, upper class, men are the “kings” of the “mountain”. And because they are the “kings” they make the decisions. They want to look out for their own, so they have construed and manipulated institutions to create these disparities among races. They tell the “sub-dominant” races to “stand over there” and “you can’t be over here”. A major reason why the sub-dominant races comply is simply because they believe that the “kings” that just so happened to be the first ones to the top of the mountain are supposed to be there, and their rightful place is below the kings.

Since we now are aware of this “King of the Mountain” phenomenon, we are responsible for informing others who are victims of it. To empower them to take control of their life and not be subjected by their life chances because they do not have to be. I strongly believe it is our job to inform others about what we know to contribute to diminishing the inequalities in our society.