en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/758527 Comments by SB32 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/stories-for-uplift__trashed/#IDComment71577858 I think both of these videos are very heart warming clips. The one with the little boy that we saw in class was one of the best videos I have ever seen. His reactions alone made the video for me. Just how innocent these little kids are just makes you step back and think a lot after while watching this video. It’s a shame that racism exists and that even kids this young understand that they are not supposed to be together. It just goes to show you no matter how hard we work together in this world, their will always be some type of hatred going on. We have made some great strides over the past 100 years, but we need to do even more to get where we need to be. Will we ever get there? I don’t think in my lifetime we will, but hopefully some day in the distant future we will. The other video that talks about the kidney donor is also a very heart warming video. It just goes to show you that there are still good people out there who are willing to help others. We need more people like this in the world to get us where we need to be in terms of race relations. These videos were perfect videos to end the semester and begin finals week. I have to say that I enjoyed this class during the semester and even though I disagreed with most of Sam’s viewpoints, it was a very interesting and rewarding class. I can honestly say that years down the line this will be the class I remember most, just because what this class stood for and what it means. I hope that this class can reach enough students and that this race relation project can continue and hopefully improve and move more all over the country. It really is an eye opening experience more then just another class. Hopefully these videos touch everyone and people can see just how other people in the world are just like us. People that just want to have a good life and enjoy themselves in this world. In closing, I think that it is a shame that we have to live with such racism in the world. Just imagine the things we could do and accomplish if we just look at everybody as people, instead of by race. Think of the things we could do to help the whole world as a whole. Each culture brings something to the table and so does everyone in this entire world. Why don’t we all just sit at the race table and agree that there should be no such thing as race anymore. Until we do that, we will never move forward. Sat, 1 May 2010 00:41:42 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/stories-for-uplift__trashed/#IDComment71577858 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70008166 Well, I agree with the one post I saw when I was scrolling down and it said in all capital letters, that those immigrants who do make it here are LEGAL immingrants. If they are not legal immigrants I do not believe they should be given the same rights as those ones who have done what they need to do to become citizens. These legal immigrants put in their hard work and to make it here so they deserve better opportunities then those who are not legal. This question doesn’t really make sense calling out some girl in class, get the facts straight player. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:04:16 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70008166 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/south-park-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment70007609 I am a casual fan of South Park and I have to say I think the show is hilarious. Yes, they do really push some buttons to certain groups of people, but what they do in my eyes is usually just harmless. People get too serious and upset over things when they should realize that this show is just too poke fun at things and for humor. First of all why do these Muslims care about what a show like South Park or for any show for that matter say about their religion. If they truly believe in their own religion, why worry about what other people say. It’s almost like they are trying to blow this up into a big deal to get their own selves some attention. I think anybody who worries about what other people say usually don’t really believe that what they are doing is truly right. These Muslim’s just need to take a chill pill and relax. If everyone that this show has gone after and made fun of decided to come out and threaten them, then almost everyone in the entire world would be after them. They have poked fun at Jesus, Satan, Christians, Jews, fat people, skinny people, hicks, and even just America in general. You can just about name anything and I’m sure South Park has done some type of episode about them. When they made fun of Kanye West, he actually came out and said they he had to laugh about it because of the way he portrayed him. I know for sure that they made fun of him way more then they went after the muslims in the recent episode. So, what I’m trying to say is why are they so worried about what other people think? America is a country where freedom of speech is one of our special rights as people. These South Park episodes as well as Family Guy, The Simpsons all have the right to say exactly they way they fell. If you do not like, then maybe you should not be living in America, or better yet, just don’t watch or listen to what they have to say. That would take care of all problems. People just look for reasons to stir up controversy and these muslim people are no different. I don’t understand why they are so serious about there religion and how other people look at it. If that’s what they believe in then they should only be worried about that. To sum this up, South Park has the right to say what they want on their show due to the fact we live in a country that allows this to take place. I’m pretty sure South Park won’t change, so these people who are mad about it should just move on. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:00:26 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/south-park-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment70007609 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/if-men-could-menstruate__trashed/#IDComment64217135 I’m actually sure almost every male is pretty well educated about a girls period. We have had sex education classes throughout grade school and high school that taught us all about this. I don’t think it will ever be completely ok to talk about because it is just disgusting. Now you can say if it happened to men then things would be different, but it doesn’t and will never happen so it is just stupid to talk about it like that. So I believe that most men know what happens when girls go through their periods and that we are well educated. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:41:29 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/if-men-could-menstruate__trashed/#IDComment64217135 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment64216413 I think some of Sam’s viewpoints are completely ridiculous, especially some of the things he said in class on Thursday. The whole talking about a girls period issue was just flat out ridiculous. He kept bringing up the question “Why don’t we talk about it?” The reason is because it is just disgusting. Now he said that if they were bleeding from the fingers it wouldn’t be that big of an issue and I will admit he’s right about that, but that is not the case. So since that’s not what is going on and a period works for a girl, it makes sense that people don’t want to talk about it. What I’m trying to say is you can look at it in a different light, but in reality it doesn’t happen with your fingers, so his viewpoint is idiotic. Moving on, I do believe that we should question things that go on in the world, but only to some point. Sure it is good to question things and look at things with a different mindset. It makes you see things in a different light and understand certain things you may not have understood while looking at it the way it is. Having said that, in this class it is said that we have to question things to move forward in the world, which is right, but how long do we have to question these things and talk about it? Are we just supposed to keep questioning every big issue and then keep questioning every single little issue that stems from it. If we keep doing that then we will be stuck in the past and therefore never move forward. I believe we need to question things, but then just let them go and leave them where they are at, the past. Things need to be resolved and then we should move on, lets not keep questioning things for the sake of just questioning things. To sum up what I’m trying to say is that too move on we need to forget. If you think about when your in a fight with your parents over something, what do you do? After you both cool off, you talk about the issue and resolve it, then move on. You don’t just keep questioning because then you will never move forward from the disagreement you had in the first place. In closing, I completely agree with the 14% of people who said Sam was way off the mark in what he was talking about in class on Thursday. I find it even more absurd that Sam seemed kind of mad because people didn’t agree with him, because he thought he was completely right. I thought this class was supposed to be about letting everyone hear the issues and have their own thoughts. This isn’t about just agreeing with Sam and believing everything he says is right, which he thinks. We have to remember this is a class and not a cult meeting. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:35:41 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment64216413 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment63028108 I like this question a lot because I too thought the same thing when texts where coming up on the screen. As a white male, I feel like I can really take jokes well about my race. I was laughing pretty hard in class with some of the things people were saying on the text screen. Now I don’t know why it seems like colored people can not really take a joke as well as white people. Maybe it has something to do with the guilt issue, but it really is an interesting observation. I look forward to looking through the responses and see what people have to say. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:12:47 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment63028108 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63027476 As a white male, I have to say that I do feel a little bit of guilt for what happened in the past in our world’s history. I feel bad how we treated other races and people and acted as if we were a superior race to others. I know I myself really had nothing to do with any of the actions by my ancestors, but I do feel a small amount of guilt for what they did. The one comment above I do have to agree with. In middle school when we were taught about our nation’s history, I feel if some of the information was sugarcoated or watered down. Sure it talked about slavery and about taking the Native American’s land, but it made it as if it was not that big of a deal I feel like. I do not know if this was just because of how they way they wanted to teach us or if it was actually watered down so that our generation would not think very much of it. I remember learning about how we came over to America and took over the Native American’s land. The book and my teacher made it seem like it was a smooth transition and the Native Americans just let us take over parts of their land. It really wasn’t until I took this class that I really could understand how exactly our country got started. If you would have asked me what the biggest genocide in history was before I took this class, I would have easily said without a doubt that it was the Holocaust. I use this as an example because this is the difference of how we are taught at a young age compared to as we are older. I firmly believe that middle schools are sugarcoating certain things so that our generation will start to forget and move on about things that have happened in our past. Now this could be either a good thing or bad thing. I feel like it could be good just because maybe this is how we can finally get over our race problems. Sure it is ignoring what happened to an extreme, but if they don’t know what happened then maybe we can move away from prejudice. As I say that, I think that would be one option, but it may not be the best option. As this class has taught, we should learn about what happened in the past and change things to better the future. The more we know and can understand what happened in our past, the more we can work together and hopefully get further down the line to get later generations to realize discrimination is wrong. So, rounding this all out, I do feel a little guilt, but I feel like if we can work together than we can change things for our future generations. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 20:08:25 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63027476 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59980866 I have to agree with the first poster and say that I too laughed when I first read this blog topic. I never have really noticed that most of the participants in this show are white. I didn’t really put too much into and just saw the commercials and thought none of it. After I looked at it in this “light” I realize that most networks really do only have white people as the main characters in shows life this. I don’t know if it is a race issue or not, but it is definitely something to take notice of. Sat, 6 Mar 2010 03:30:09 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59980866 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/why-is-this-racist-really__trashed/#IDComment59980422 As a white male who has played basketball his whole life, my dream has always been to play professional basketball. Growing up it was my goal to play basketball for my entire life. I did whatever I could to get myself to become a better player and hopefully potentially make a living off of the game of basketball. Of course I didn’t make it to that childhood dream, but I would do anything to play professional basketball. Having said that, I would without a doubt, never, ever, play in any type of league like this man is trying to make. To me, this is like something that would have happened 50 years ago. A league with all white men is completely racist. Not only will this fail as a business project, but this is almost like taking a complete step back in terms of race relations. When you talk about playing in a professional basketball league, it should be about playing with the best players that are available. It shouldn’t be about the best “white” players you can find. There shouldn’t be a league with its own race. It is just not right and shows just how much racism is still left in America today. We have passed laws that deal with discrimination and to me this violates just about every single law that the government has made. The funny thing about this is that this man, who has decided to try to get this league off the ground, really thinks this is a genius idea. I don’t know if he has been living under a rock or what. First of all, when you pay to watch professional basketball, you usually watch to pay to see the best talent and the best players in the world. This league will not showcase that. This will only show SOME of the best “white” players in the world. Now I know some people will play in this not because of race, but just for the love of the game. Some people don’t look at this as a race issue, when in actuality it really is. I consider myself one of those people who would love to play no matter what, but in terms of what this league’s image is already seen as by people, I would not in a million years play in this. After taking this class, I don’t think there could be any type of “X” amount of dollars that could get me to play in this league. It remains to be seen if this league will eventually go through with this idea and put this product on the court, but if it does it will be sickening. Like I said before, this will fail as a business venture and it will fail as a social issue. Sat, 6 Mar 2010 03:26:01 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/why-is-this-racist-really__trashed/#IDComment59980422 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/question-on-discrimination__trashed/#IDComment58848887 As a white person myself, I have to say that I for one would help anyone or any person no matter of color or race. I do think however, that in the example of two people with equally similar resumes, a white interviewer would choose favor a person whose name isn’t “normal”. It’s a shame that the world is like this, but looking around in the world, you can see it happening. I think our generation has become better with this issue and would choose a person with the best possible qualities for a specific job if they were an interviewer. I think we don’t look at people as black or white, we look at them who is more deserving. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:35:25 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/question-on-discrimination__trashed/#IDComment58848887 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58846841 I have to agree with the first poster and say this was probably one of the most eye opening things so far that I have seen in this class. I was in disbelief watching that video with the experiment that ABC News conducted. It was amazing to see what people would do when they were put in that type of situation. This experiment as a whole really shows how much we in America have to go before we can put racism and discrimination behind us. Someone said in class and I have to kind of agree, I was shocked that there were 22 or so people that didn’t do anything at all and went on with their business. I don’t necessary believe it was because they agreed or disagreed with what was happening, but I think it was because they were afraid to say something. It is kind of disappointing that, that amount of people wouldn’t do anything, but maybe because they thought it wasn’t their place to do so. I feel like most people don’t really like getting into confrontations. I can even admit, I’m not that big of a fan of getting in confrontations with people, unless I feel like I need too. If I saw something like that experiment going on with the lady being harassed, I think it would be time to stand up and say something. Every human being deserves to be respected. People say that certain types of people are bad and that Americans should hate them. For example, people who dress like they are from the Middle East and practice Muslim religion are considered to be bad. Why should a whole race of people be considered bad because of only a few people in their race who do wrong? Couldn’t you say that about whites too? What about blacks? See no matter what your race is, there will always be “a few bad eggs” in the bunch who give us a bad name. We have to look and see that only a small amount of people from each race do such evil or bad things. Why should a small amount of people determine the stereotype for a race? There are plenty more people that practice Muslim religion who have done great things for the world. These are people who live every day and help others just like other regular people. Once we start seeing people in this light, then we will finally be able to get over racial issues and discrimination. When will this happen? It is sad to say, but it probably never will happen. There will always be people in the world looking to put others down because they are different or not like them. Our generation can make a choice and stop acting this way; so maybe, just maybe it will not be like this in the future. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:28:31 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58846841 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-six__trashed/#IDComment57662679 I believe that lesbians are more accepted than gay men for a couple of reasons. One is that I believe that being a man is looked at characteristics of being tough, loving sports, and chasing women. Most stereotypes of gay men have none of those. They are looked down upon as inferior to the straight male. I don’t think they will ever be really acceptable by straight men. Most straight guys would tell you that they enjoy watching two girls together, because it’s most straight men’s fantasies. So, I don’t think that gay men will ever be fully accepted by straight males or by anybody, even if things change. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:14:50 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-six__trashed/#IDComment57662679 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-five__trashed/#IDComment57662258 I have grown up and have been brought up by a catholic family my whole entire life. I went to a catholic school for grade school and have attended church regularly my entire life. Having that being said, I disagree with the catholic church’s stance on gay marriage. There are many people I know in my life that are homosexuals, including one of my aunts and some of my close family friends. I have no problem with their choice of lifestyle. I believe that everyone should do whatever makes them happy. If you like someone of the same sex and choose to be homosexual than that is your choice. I don’t think it is anybody’s right in the world to tell you, that you can’t do that. If that’s what you want to do, then so be it. This is one of the only issues I disagree with about my religion. I just don’t understand how someone can tell someone, “Hey you can’t do this because I don’t think it is right, even it makes you happy, you shouldn’t do this because I don’t believe it is right.” That is basically what the catholic church and some government officials are saying to people who choose their lifestyle. I look at this issue and compare it to back when African Americans were not treated equally by white people. There was so many struggles for so many years, but after a while we realized how wrong this was to not treat another human being equally. It doesn’t matter about what color your skin is, you should be treated the same was any other person in the world. We have made great strides since then and now African Americans are being given the chance to live happily and succeed in ways they were not able to do before. I strongly believe that this is the same process that gay marriage will go through. A few years ago this was widely opposed, but over the years people have become more and more favorable of gay marriages being considered legal and giving them the same rights as other marriages. So, I think in the upcoming years this will finally be a non-issue and gay marriages will get the rights that they want, and in my opinion what they deserve. Now, even though I think that one day the government will come to grips with this issue, I firmly believe that catholic church will not change its stance on it. There have been few to minimal changes over thousands of years with the catholic beliefs and I think this will become no different. Should they change their beliefs on this? Maybe. Will they change their beliefs on this? Never. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:09:57 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-five__trashed/#IDComment57662258 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55549736 I actually saw Avatar in theaters when it first came out. I have to say the movie was amazing. The special effects and the storyline made this one of the more interesting movies I have ever seen in my life. How James Cameron came up with this storyline was behind me. It took him over 4 years to make this movie and watching it, you can see why. I have to say that I have to disagree with the fact that this shows anything towards Native Americans. I do not think this is meant to be looked at like when people first came to America and stole the Native Americans land. I for one think people look too far into things and this movie is a prime example. I also do not believe that there was a way to show a white man as a hero. If you ask James Cameron, this movie had no intent to do any of those things. People just find a way to look deeper into things and complain about everything these days. I think this movie was more to show how people of earth take for granted everything and will do anything they can to make themselves better off. In the movie, the whole point of them being on their planet is to get this rear diamond which sells for millions. I really believe it was a shot at corporate America and how they do whatever they can, however they can just to make more money. All in all, this movie was just made for pure enjoyment and someone like Brooks just wants to make a name for himself by trying to point out things that really aren’t anything at all. This movie wasn’t about a white man standing up to be a hero; it was about a person standing up for the rights of other people. Someone who saw what was going on was wrong and decided to take action against all of it. If you watched the movie, one of the humans who helped the avatars was actually a Mexican female, so you really can’t argue that it was about white people trying to be heroes. I think Brooks’ argument is completely taking things out of context and I think he is just trying to make a buzz about something because he knows people will listen to him. After all, this is one of the biggest grossing movies ever, so why not try to make a name for yourself by making up something to get yourself some attention. I will not give this a second thought because I feel like his argument is completely made up. If he hadn’t done this nobody would know who he was. So, I do not agree with him at all. Sat, 6 Feb 2010 00:38:00 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55549736 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/racism-looks-pretty-good-on-this-side-of-the-atlantic__trashed/#IDComment54416809 I have been following soccer for just about all of my life and I know just how much racism is in the game by the fans. It is sickening that in one of the most recognizable sports in the entire world, there is still racism. Watching this video done by ESPN, shows a quick insight on just how soccer fans act oversees. The fans over there treat soccer as their number one priority in life. They are some of the most classless fans in any sport. This would never be tolerated here in America. Sure student sections go out of their way to find as much info as they can to try to get into a player’s head. That is the goal of fans and what makes the difference in sports with a home field advantage. They will scream and yell, sometimes even make signs so that hopefully they will get their attention. One thing that they would never do is chant racist things to the opposing team and its players. It is looked at as a line that you just don’t cross. Doing this goes way overboard and in my mind, can ruin the joy of a sport. Sports are about having fun and competing. There is no need to bring in racism to the mix. I feel like the USA gets a bad rep and is looked at as a racist country, but when you compare it to the countries oversees, it is no contest. How can the world’s biggest sporting event, the world cup, have this type of behavior by its fans. The world cup is probably the most watched sporting event when it happens every four years. It is watched by people all over the world and brings together people and their countries. I feel like any group of fans that show this type of racism do not belong in the stadium. They are not only embarrassing themselves, but their country as well. I just can’t believe that no matter what we do in this world, racism will never go away. We have came along way in the past 100 years, but no matter how much things change, some things always stay the same. There is no doubt there will be fans in this year’s world cup who use racism as a tool to get into a player or teams head. No matter what we do or say, some people will do whatever it takes to show just how they feel. It is extremely sad that we can’t shake this and weed this out of the world’s most popular sport. This would never happen in the likes of the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL. It shouldn’t happen in soccer or for that matter, everything else in the world. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:20:22 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/racism-looks-pretty-good-on-this-side-of-the-atlantic__trashed/#IDComment54416809 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-b__trashed/#IDComment54410500 happy gilmore accomplished that feat no more than an hour ago Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:13:48 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-b__trashed/#IDComment54410500 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/haitis-calamity__trashed/#IDComment53449387 I completely agree with what you are saying. I grew up in a catholic home and went to a catholic grade school my whole life. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. We may not understand this now, but I believe it is all a part of a bigger picture or plan. The disaster in Haiti is horrible. A nation that is so poor and so less fortunate then us, has been destroyed by these earthquakes. I can’t imagine what it would be like living over there right now with all of the destruction and chaos. I firmly believe though, that God is watching over them and has a plan for all of the people over there. I have believed in God my whole life and I really think he has a plan or journey for all of us. Natural disasters are something we can’t predict or control. The way the earth is made, things like this will happen during our lifetimes. It’s a shame this happens, but I really think that God has no control over what happens in terms of natural disasters like this. I really hope someday in the future we will gain the technology of being able to forecast events like this. We could save millions of lives and never have to worry about going through a situation like this again in Haiti or anywhere else. Now, I think that God didn’t kill those people, but it was his plan that their time on earth was over. As much as I hate to see people pass away, I feel like God takes people away from this world for a reason. A reason that we will not understand and probably never will be able to understand. With that being said, I truly believe that God takes people away to have people become closer. For instance, I did not know very much about Haiti before all of this, but now I have become very familiar with it. Think about all of the people who donate money to help their cause. Almost everyone in the United States is coming together to help those people. We all can imagine if that was us over there, how much we would need the help. Those people in Haiti really have no idea how much everyone is praying for them and doing what they can to help them. This is what God would want. He wants people to love their brothers and sisters and be there in time of great need. Right now, Haiti is in great need. It is our job as people of this earth to stand together and help our people rebuild and live over there in Haiti. After this is over and they start to get back to normal, there is no doubt in my mind they will be stronger than ever. I think God will make sure of it. Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:17:48 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/haitis-calamity__trashed/#IDComment53449387