7/7/10-Reply to SillyJuice
I agree with you, the video that was shown was pretty sad, but I must say unfortunately school budgets are based on tax bases and usually reflects the income of the area in which the school is unless state funded. On a side note, I came from an affluent town with a “good” school system and I can honestly say that the highschool shown from the suburbs is very rare and brand new. Most highschools in this country do not look close to that. I also went to a private catholic school where 90% of the students came from wealthy families and the other 10% were on scholarship and that school was in very poor shape as well. So in essence, it was horrible to see but, the reality is a state of the art school such as the one shown is very rare.

07/07/10-Lesson 14 Comment
Initially going into this lecture I would say that I am not a supporter of affirmative action, but I am going into this lecture with an open mind. Because I have viewed affirmative action from a very close-minded standpoint I feel and would like to learn more about it. It was pretty interesting to see that affirmative action accounts for ten percent of new hires, students etc. I initially had thought that it mostly applied to people of color, so I was very surprised to find out that most of the beneficiaries of affirmative action programs are white women. Also, the beneficiairies that are people of color are from the middle class. After not initially supporting affirmative action I already had quite a realization because I grew up with a single mother. I was lucky however because my mother worked for a successful fortune 500 company as a credit manager and was paid very well. Because of my mother's job I was awarded a very good childhood, nice house, good school, nice clothes, vacations. It hadn't occurred to me until now, but I may owe my great childhood to affirmative action. My mother very well could have been hired under an affirmative action program because she is white and of course female. This was a very shocking realiztion for me. I had initially not supported affirmative action because I felt that in the field I am obtaining my Major in (law enforcement) that many over qualified white individuals were losing out on jobs to much less qualified people of color. I still feel that this is the case because I have seen it first hand and have been told “it was to fill quotas” so the part about it being illegal and unconstitutional I don't think that the N.Y.P.D. got the memo. I feel that when it comes to law enforcement the color of someones skin is irrelevant, it should be the best qualified and best performer who should get the position, when the job entails having lives in your hands affirmative action shouldn't even come into play. Nepotism is something that I can't say that I am not a supporter of. It helped me in my current job which is a great launching platform for law enforcement. I have had many jobs that I have obtained through nepotism and I am fully aware that affirmative action is put in place to combat this. I just feel that although nepotism is out of control in the field of law enforcement so has affirmative action. There is no happy medium and it seems as if we are in the midst of a see-saw battle between both. But, I don't think affirmative action will ever catch up to Nepotism.

07/04/10-Lesson 13
This lecture was quite shocking. The cartoons at the beginning of the lecture really turn the tables on many Americans current way of thinking about immigration. You could apply what is happening now to the events that happened to the Native Americans many years ago. I really enjoyed the homeland security shirt with the picture of the Indians posing with rifles. We owe much of our current way of life and support of free market capitalism to immigration, which I had not previously thought about. And arguing against immigration is indeed a support against socialism. I did not see this really until the Doctor brought up the Pear farmers in California. And the fact that immigration is not a Republican Issue or Democrat issue but just an ISSUE. That needs to be handled. When the politicians get together and fight about it rather than look at it and see how it helps us and how we need it, problems occur. This was seen when the pear farmers could not hire enough immigrants because of border constraints that came from when the politicians were bickering back and forth to see who had a tougher stance on immigration. I feel that the government should have reimbursed the fruit farmers the 10 million dollars that they had cost them because of acting like children and not paying attention to the real issues at hand. I do feel that the support for Congo the Dog not being put to death is indeed racism in it's purest form. I can attest to the fact first hand that if he were an american Citizen the dog would be as dead as Abraham Lincoln. When I lived in Florida I would hear about dogs attacking people unprovoked constantly and pretty much all cases were those in which americans were attacked. Black or White the dogs were put to sleep so this is clearly a racial issue dealing with immigration. It was quite interesting to see the waves of immigration over the years and the networks and reasons that they come about. I always wonder when I see footage of people immigrating many eyars ago on ships what they would think of the cruise industry these days and the fact that Americans cram on ships as a leisure activity in order to vacation to the destinations that those immigrants were trying to flee in search of a better life. In the past I would say that I was very against immigration feeling that they were more like invaders and liabilities rather than a significant portion of our economy. I now see that we need to figure out how much water needs to be running from the spicket at all times for the benefit of our country and our people immigrants or citizens.

07/04/10-Reply to SaraMae22
I agree with you Sara, many Americans feel that when immigrants come to our country they are fully expected to give up their culture and all aspects of it in order to assimilate to our way of life as Americans. People get upset and say that immigrants take up too many jobs, but in reality they are all the jobs that Americans complain about or do not want. It seems that most Americans want to have their cake and eat it too. Many of these people are trying to make a better life for their families back home so in effect are not lazy at all and overcome extreme odds to even lead a meager life in this country.

07/04/10- Lesson 13
I must say the political cartoons at the beginning of the lecture made a very impressive point. It pretty much turned the tables on the current view most Americans have on illegal immigrants. I especially enjoyed the Homeland Security shirt with the Native Americans. I never quite paid attention to the fact of how much we as a country needed immigration to function properly and not fall into the ways of socialism. If we want to maintain our ways of free market capitalism we must rely on immigration to function. The lecture definitely made me realize that it is not a political issue it is plainly just an issue. This was obviously seen that in 2006 when the politicians started rabble rousing, the borders were constricted and the fruit harvesters could not obtain workers to pick fruit and ended up losing 10 million dollars. I feel that the government should have reimbursed the fruit growers that had lost a substantial amount of money because of this. The analogy of the spicket that the Doctor used to describe what the country tries to do with immigration summed it up perfectly. In order to operate under free market capitalism, we need to determine the right amount of water that needs to flow in order to operate the way we do without the overabundance of immigrant flooding that so many seem to have a problem with. Regarding the case of Congo The Dog in Princeton New Jersey, I definitely feel that it is racist, because if the dog had attacked a caucasian american, no one would be fighting for the dog's life, no citizens and certainly no politicians. When I lived in Florida I would hear about instances of dog's unprovoked attacking humans who were all United States citizens and in every case the dog was put to death, and it wasn't a white thing either because most of the victims were black individuals. So in the case of the man raking leaves and being attacked it is definitely a case for racism. It has become very evident to me that in order to successfully maintain a healthy economy, immigration is very necessary. It was pretty neat to see the networks of migration and the fact that immigration occurs in waves. We also can't expect that immigrants will entirely integrate into our culture and forget theirs all together. Whenever I see videos on immigration dealing with hundreds of people crowded on ships and then coming to ellis island or other various ports, and spending a week to a month on ships, I always wonder how they would look at cruises today and people go on ships as a form of leisure leaving for the places they were escaping from.

6/30/10-Reply to kac5293
I also found it to be true that most liberals would check that they would like to live in a more diverse area because it is the politically correct thing to say and in most of their decisions policitical correctness influences their answers tremendously. It does indeed seem to me as well that quite a few liberals go our of their way to seem to be non-racist to either secure votes politically and or just to get more people to like them and agree with them in general. I also agree with you in the fact that I do not think people dont want to live in diverse communities because they are interest but because they want to feel comfortable and at home in their surroundings, you can see this all over the world. Not just in America with KoreaTown and China Town, Little Italy etc. It's okay with the living in Queens example I live outside of the city and fully understand where you are coming from, whenever I take a trip to see the Mets at Citi Field, I know it's bad to say but it seems as if 70 percent of the crowd does not speak english as a first language.

6/30/10-Lesson 12
The numbers in this lecture definitely caught me by surprise. I never really put thought to the hypocracy of conservative republicans or republicans. I myself am a republican and feel that the Doctor is making a lot of sense in his argument regarding hypocracy considering this country is supposed to be a “melting pot” yet a significant portion of the country does not wish it to be. I like to think of myself as someone who embraces multiculturalism having grown up about an hour outside of New York City for most of my life. Because my “suburban” town lies within an hour of the city it is a “bedroom” community of New York City meaning that a lot of people that work there live in the suburban areas on the outskirts of westchester county (the county that NYC is in) I have seen the inevitable rise in the minority population in our community as well as their assimilation. It sounds horrible but one significant event I can remember is since I have been 11 years old (im 25 now) my entire neighborhood about a mile long and 50 households was indeed 100% white. I know this for a fact. Then two years ago a black family moved in up the road, seem very nice and their kids are always playing. But, for 9 years it was 100% white and I can't lie some people were shocked when they had moved into our neighborhood. I can't help but think hoe uncomfortable they must have felt when they moved in. They pretty much fit into the 13.8 percent of people who wish to live in a neighborhood that is 100% white. One part of the lecture that really stood out to me was the discussion of how many times you have done things with people of color. I found it funny because I have shared saliva with a person of color but I have never sat down and ate dinner with a family of color. I just happened to find that pretty interesting. Looking at the learning to speak a different language example given by the Doc, it is quite true. You will make infinite more money if you learn the dominant language say japanese or chinese because they are international business hubs. There is a great line in a favorite movie of mine called “Layercake” one of the crime bosses states “The art of good business is being a good middleman”. If you have the bridge of language to connect two people your possibilities can be endless in the world of business. I find it unnerving when I come across a spanish person speaking spanish within the U.S. arguing, I would make an attempt to speak our language when I would make a great attempt if I were in their country? When our ethnocentricity drives them from wanting to learn our language and stick with their language, culture their comfort zone so to speak.

Reply to DanceDiva2191- 6/23/10
I was also amazed by the Girl like me video in the sense that the young girl was unable to express herself and be a part of her culture. The fact that her own mother had told her to stop must be earth shattering. I come from a family where you are supported no matter what and because of that I consider myself very lucky. The mother probably did not even realize she was having a drastic effect on her daughter, probably even saying that in passing. But the fact of the matter is, you should always support your children regardless I feel. Regarding the children choosing the dolls, I don't think it had anything to do with them thinking black was truly bad, but more so that they see how society reacts and how society chooses, therefore influencing their choice. The skin color may not have even occurred to them, they may have just thought of an instance where the question was posed to someone else in a certain way and they chose white as well.

Lesson 10-6/23/10-The study with the dolls was quite shocking. I was very startled to see that children so young were already taking part in racial decisions. The number of black children that chose the caucasian baby was very surprising. I recall the number being 15 out of 21 black children choosing the white dolls. It seems that from the current culture that very young children are already becoming part of racial issues which is very disturbing. This is also seen from the story that the Doctor talks about when he was at dinner at some friends house who were black, and the black child is told by another four year old friend that she is dirty. It seems that the situation is not improving and that at a younger and younger age children are being exposed to racial tension. At a young age myself I actually was lucky enough to find out what it was like to be a minority as a white male. My experience coincided with Pop Warner football when I was 9 and 10 years old. I grew up in a very affluent town in Connecticut, however there was one very small section called Scalzi park which people would say is in the “bad” section of Stamford. Because there was only one football team in the town and it happened to be stationed out of that area the team was about 75-85% black. This thrust me into being an outside of sorts at a very young age, and I was fighting to be accepted on my football team for most of the season. Luckily, I had a taste of what it was like to feel different far before most white people if in fact they do at all during their life. I myself can be guilty of circling the wagons. I have routinely hung out with people that have my same beliefs for many years in my young adult life. I guess almost everyone can have the habit of doing this, because who would want to hang out with someone that does not agree with them in most circumstances? I can see how every ethnic group can succumb to tightening their wagon circle, people naturally want to hang out with others who they feel comfortable with and agree with them. Regarding the Jena 6 gathering I Initially felt that the second phrase lended to the immersion stage. Because the woman is pretty much saying, Why would these white people be here? When in fact it wasn't a matter of race yet, human rights in general and the color of the people there should not have been in play. I thought the Doctor made a great point in saying that in order for a person to understand race and let it go they need to experience all these stages first. Kind of reminds me of American History X where Edward Norton's character dealt with immersion and became a humanitarian.

Reply to JJlayton-due 6/20/10
It is very true, we have wash clothes on display all over my house because my mother insists on decorations yet no one in the house ever uses a washcloth. The wet dog smell thing kind of surprised me though because I have never head it and I have been around quite a few black people in my life and they definitely would have let me in on something like that, probably kidding me about it. I do remember seeing Dave Chappelle making fun of white people in a stand up routine because we did not use washclothes, I remember laughing because I thought it was so true.