en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/1116863 Comments by SaraMae22 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85064882 I agree with you. I think that it’s horrible to know that there are students who struggle because of their school. What happened to this whole no child left behind? Millions of dollars were poured into this program and for what, this exact thing to happen. Those students from that poorly funded high school cant possibly be up to standards with the education system. There needs to be something done about this. Many Americans work hard for there tax dollars and something needs to be done about education. This is the most important thing for young children and it should be sacrificed because of poor funding. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 02:38:09 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85064882 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85064333 Another thing that I found interesting was about the 10 commandments and where people placed them selves. I almost found it funny to see how people placed themselves. With each question they made themselves look and sound like they were saints and did nothing wrong. Then to take it one step further and place others in a category is something. Like Sam said in the lecture you point a finger three are pointing back at you. I think that an amazing saying why are you going to call someone out on something when you are three times worse then them. I think that this world is so full of judgmental people and cant step past worrying about others they don’t see what really going on in this world. If people just lived their lives and took their blinders off we wouldn’t have the issues we do today. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 02:33:28 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85064333 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85064318 There are many children in this world who suffer and one thing is education. The first time I watched the video I just kind of brushed it off thinking o well you know that sucks they go to a crappy school but the second time I watched it, a whole different idea came to mind. These children go to a crappy high school where im sure that there is crime and drugs. They are trying their hardest to make something of themselves but are stuck between a rock and a hard place. How do you change that situation for students who can’t help the way that their school is? I feel horrible knowing that I go to a great school, get the best education and there are these student who would kill to be in my spot. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 02:33:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85064318 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85064294 7/7 Taking a good look at this weeks lecture I think that many of us know what affirmative action is, although we may not have know the formal definition we have all be effected by it. First off I thought that it was pretty ironic that nepotism and affirmative action both had the same meaning, of having the upper hand with something because you know someone. I think that there has been a situation that all of us have encountered that affirmative action has not occurred. I know personally I have had many jobs and opportunities because of this. To be quiet honest my career is based around affirmative action. My father in law is the sheriff of Lycoming County and I am a criminal justice major, when I apply I am to put his name down because that looks excellent on my application. I have been raised on the idea its all in who you know. Without knowing someone you really can’t get far. However, there is always a flip to what some see as a great thing. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 02:33:12 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85064294 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83586854 I think that your comment is very interesting. I know that feeling of being uncomfortable. i have gotten my nails done several time and they don’t speak English, as a matter of fact I don’t know what they are speaking but I know when i get them done I’m always like excuse me, uhh what did you say. Personally I think that immigration is okay but they should at least know the language of our country. When we travel we try to learn the language or have some understanding of how to speak so that we can integrate into their society. Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:54:58 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83586854 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83581612 July 4th This lesson was very interesting because I think that it’s a topic that many people have an issue with. In our minds we think that because someone moves to the United States they are expected to conform to the culture and society but that’s not always the case. Americans think that immigration is a horrible thing and yes i admit that i was one of those people who thought why you are coming to this country you have your own to live in. However, i really didn’t understand why there are coming until now. In my eyes American is great but to these people it’s like heaven. They have so many opportunities to make their lives so much better. Their dream is to come to American and make money for their family; they sacrifice their lives to make themselves better. It made me mad when I heard that people were calling immigrants lazy however, in fact they are not lazy they walked thousands of miles to come to the land of the free and work for next to near pennies. People get so mad when they here immigrants working in the United States but yet why are they getting mad. I think that they are lazy and don’t want to get out and find a job so they are going to complain about immigrants working. These people who come to this country do the jobs that we as Americans don’t want to do. If they need the money let them work. It’s almost like these people are damned if they do and damned if they don’t., no matter what these immigrants do they will always be complained about. I have stated this before about our country, most people who have come to this country are immigrants and have traveled here because they want different opportunities then what their country can provide for them. So why do we have an issue with immigration if we all are technically considered immigration? I wish people would think before they say something. Another thing that I found interesting was about language. Yes I am guilty of having an issue with people not speaking English. One time I was standing in a line in Florida and this group of people all they spoke was Spanish and I found it very annoying. I don’t know why I found it disturbing but I know that when I left the comment of this is America speak English came out of my mouth. Now looking back on that comment I think that I was young and didn’t understand the foundation of this country. We are all unique and without different people in this country I don’t think we would be the land of the free and have so many different cultures to call home. Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:35:26 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83581612 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment82888666 I absolutely agree with you.. i myself have had many gay family members and at first i didn't know how to take it. Well of course i would except them for who they are and love them because they are my family but was a little hesitant at first. Like what you said about women flaunting and gay as well. I have seen a couple of gay people flaunting it but not as much a straight people. Women should be ashamed of themselves for doing what they do. last year around this time i went to a local club and there was a sexiest ass contest, first off it was gross but there must have been hundreds of guys video taping this on their cell phones to put all over the internet. Right their not only degres the female race but we do it to ourselves. no wonder men treat us they way that we do because we put ourselves out their for it to happen to. honestly everyone had the choice to flaunt thier sexuality but in my opinion and this is only my opinion keep it to yourself. Tue, 29 Jun 2010 03:03:10 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment82888666 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment82884647 6/28 How we feel as people is something that we can only understand. As humans we think that we know everything about someone and how they feel but we are wrong. Watching the gay lesbian and transsexual lecture i thought that it was interesting. I had a different perspective of what the lecture was going to be like until i watched it. When the point of what would send you to hell almost all of those i would be put into the fiery depths of hell for. You have to think about what god really wants you to do. I am a strong believe in God and his following but there is something about the bible and its rule. I think that people made this up and we are expected to conform to it. Why would god create gay people if he was going to send them to hell for being that way, it just doesn't make sense. Looking at the multicultural lesson I found many points interesting. The one that sparked interest inside was about the republican and democrats looking at the numbers it made the republicans look like they were racist. Looking at the numbers it showed that liberal demarcates wanted to live in more diverse communities verses republican. Looking at our nation we are founded on many different races and ethnic backgrounds which the United States gets the name land of the free but what doesn’t make sense to me is that we have issues when it comes to different cultures. Yes I understand that when people from other countries come to live here they should learn our language and culture. However, like Sam stated in the lecture we can change people we have to except them for who they are. I think it gives our nation character with all these different people in the world. It makes me sit and think that at one time we are all immigrants in this nation and yet we still have the need to discriminate against one another. Its almost like we are never satisfied with how things are that we have to constantly be negative towards one another. The other thing that I found interesting about the lecture was the rap song in thirty different languages. Looking at the way that these artists are acting and singing you can almost understand them even though we really can’t. This just proves that we can have so many different cultures doing something in common. The way that these rappers are moving and their hand motions are almost like rappers in the United States. It’s really interesting because we sometime just think that rap pertains to the United States but it really doesn’t. As humans I think that we all have our blinders up and we don’t realize what is really out in the world. Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:53:55 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment82884647 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81324381 I agree with you.... I don’t think that blacks should feel guilty for native Americans but on the other side i don’t think that whites should feel guilty about slavery either. However, many still do and i am one included. I don’t know if it was because I was raised in a family where my step mother was racist and my real mother is not so i was getting that diverse side of the spectrum. I look at people for who they are and not their color. I think that this world is made up of so many people and that’s okay but what’s not okay is the fact that people are trying to change themselves into something that they are not. Why is it that we discriminate against another race but yet we want to look like them? I thought your comment about how people are so into plastic surgery was something that is very true. People are getting to the point that they don’t even look like there are supposed to be. Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:42:16 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81324381 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81323133 During the lecture the video about the 101 year old lady being mugged and the multiple videos that accomplice it was something that many need to closely pay attention to. Yes it was wrong for that man to do that to a woman of her age. She didn’t deserve beating for walking out to the door. Not only does this reinforce our thinking that we can’t trust others to be polite in public but I don’t think that this was an act of racism. As whites we just assume that violence comes from blacks and because that man was black of course he would do something like that. It angers me because that was a random strike of violence and not because the elderly woman was white. The second video reinforces that concept stating that it wasnt racism and that blacks aren’t afraid to talk about race like whites are. Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:33:02 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81323133 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81323117 . I kind of found it disheartening when the one girl was talking about how she wanted to keep her hair natural and her mother did not approve of it. Personally I think that we are born the way that we are. Some of us have straight, kinky, or wavy hair and that’s how we were supposed to be, why change that. Another thing that I found interesting was about the dolls. When they were showing that experiment i tried to place myself in the shoes of those children and think about what color doll i would pick. Now i would pick the black doll but when I was 5 I would have picked the white doll, but not for the reasons that these children did. When they gave their explanation to why they chose the doll it was because they felt the white doll was good and the black was evil. Wow who puts that into their heads? There are just as many white people in the world who are evil and there are blacks who are too, but to tell your children that is another thing. I have a four year old sister and I think that I may conduct that study and see what doll that she picks. Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:32:51 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81323117 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81323006 6/23 Once again another lesson that makes your question if you’re doing what you think is right in this world. After i watched these two lessons it opened my eye a little bit too how black/brown people are really dealing with this world. The thing that really made me think was the video “A girl like me”. In previous lessons bleaching cream was talked about but I guess I never knew the extent to which some people take this product. These black girls feel the same way that white girls do. I know where I grew up being white in the summer time you were made fun of, so many of my friends would spend hundreds of dollars just to get tanning products or even get spray tans. Here these black girls are bleaching their skin because in their minds they think that white is beautiful. They are constantly dealing with insecurity about how they look and the kind of hair that they have. I think its weird how blacks are doing things to look white because they think that it makes them better and white people are trying to look black by tanning and perms to their hair Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:31:53 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81323006 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment80199364 I agree with you I think that its hard to be yourself and understand who you are. I think that society and trends of others make you feel like you are supposed to conform to a certain way of life. When you were talking about whites being put in an awkward position i think that it is true. Most whites feel like they are pushed into a wall and don't know how to get out of it. As being white i think we often try to search for the right words and things to say so that it doesn't offend anyone. When you were talking about being followed in the store I have seen that before and honestly it has offended me. You know why do blacks have to be stereotyped for so many things and whites do the same amount of crimes. I don't think that its fair for blacks to be followed in a store becuase someone else ruined it for someone else. In society hopefully people can look past color and know people for who they are and not what they look like. Tue, 15 Jun 2010 03:13:23 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment80199364 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80197166 I think that you are right as humans we don't understand what it is like to be someone else until we experience it. Like with your mother how she dealt with that point in her life where she knew what it like to be a disabled person and yourself you know what it is like also. I think it is something how people sit and make fun of someone who is disabled but you know that person didn't choose to be that way. When you were talking about political correctness I think that whites struggle with this because we’re always being scrutinized for what we say. I think we are looked upon different and our words are looked into more because of this whole race issue. Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:48:43 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80197166 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80193054 6/14/2010 This week was very interesting because not many people put themselves out there to talk about white people. The most interesting part of the entire lecture was about the six steps to racial identity. It really makes you think about where you stand and how you think. When the idea of how your sense of self is shaped by others around you is to. The saying birds of a feather flock together couldn’t be so true to this. As someone who grew up in a family that was pretty much normal is an understatement but we have never experienced living with mentally challenged people, having multicultural people, or even having a handicapped person, so we don’t know what it is like. It is so true to say that you don’t know what someone is going through unless you are around them. I think it is something that people need to do is to spend time around a mentally challenged person. We have been around them, seen them in a store, or possibly made fun of one for their disability. Most of these people did not choose to be that way; they did not wake up in the morning and say that I want to be mentally retarded. So why do people feel the need to mock and make fun of these people? Why do we need to stereotype against a group too? Like Dr. Richard said you need to live in their shoes to see what they go through. This country is about difference, the US was created by people of difference who wanted to escape being conformed to something they were not. Today it seems that people are trying to make others conform to how they are. People don’t understand what it is to be like a mentally challenged person, they have never put themselves out there to live the life of something they are not use to and this coincided with race. The second thing that I found interesting was about the political correctness. When they were talking about the California sign about what type of person this depicts really makes you think. California is stereotyped as where Hispanics move to for their opportunity in the United States. I found it offensive about the sign why would someone pick that out knowing that it would offend a majority of their population? When Carlos interviewed the man about this sign you could tell that he was uncomfortable and didn’t want to answer the question but once the camera was supposedly turned off he said that the sign was for wet backs. Fist off that is rude and being a political figure he should be ashamed of himself. We all knew looking at that sign who it was intended for and that it should be removed. I don’t understand what makes a person think the way that they do but that person really needs a reality check and people should really evaluate if he is the best man in a politically appointed job. Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:04:55 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80193054 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80192647 6/14/2010 This week was very interesting because not many people put themselves out there to talk about white people. The most interesting part of the entire lecture was about the six steps to racial identity. It really makes you think about where you stand and how you think. When the idea of how your sense of self is shaped by others around you is to. The saying birds of a feather flock together couldn’t be so true to this. As someone who grew up in a family that was pretty much normal is an understatement but we have never experienced living with mentally challenged people, having multicultural people, or even having a handicapped person, so we don’t know what it is like. It is so true to say that you don’t know what someone is going through unless you are around them. I think it is something that people need to do is to spend time around a mentally challenged person. We have been around them, seen them in a store, or possibly made fun of one for their disability. Most of these people did not choose to be that way; they did not wake up in the morning and say that I want to be mentally retarded. So why do people feel the need to mock and make fun of these people? Why do we need to stereotype against a group too? Like Dr. Richard said you need to live in their shoes to see what they go through. This country is about difference, the US was created by people of difference who wanted to escape being conformed to something they were not. Today it seems that people are trying to make others conform to how they are. People don’t understand what it is to be like a mentally challenged person, they have never put themselves out there to live the life of something they are not use to and this coincided with race. The second thing that I found interesting was about the political correctness. When they were talking about the California sign about what type of person this depicts really makes you think. California is stereotyped as where Hispanics move to for their opportunity in the United States. I found it offensive about the sign why would someone pick that out knowing that it would offend a majority of their population? When Carlos interviewed the man about this sign you could tell that he was uncomfortable and didn’t want to answer the question but once the camera was supposedly turned off he said that the sign was for wet backs. Fist off that is rude and being a political figure he should be ashamed of himself. We all knew looking at that sign who it was intended for and that it should be removed. I don’t understand what makes a person think the way that they do but that person really needs a reality check and people should really evaluate if he is the best man in a politically appointed job. Tue, 15 Jun 2010 02:00:49 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80192647 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment80192509 6/14/2010 Looking at this week’s lesson it was very interesting to completely learn a little bit about how white people are. In today society I think most people think that black people deal with racism but what many don’t understand is that we, white people are afraid to talk about race. I thought that it was interesting looking at the last 4 steps. As white I think that it is hard for us to discuss race without being thought as a racist. We also don’t want to talk about it because we don’t know how to talk about it. I thought that Dr. Richard was absolute correct when he was talking about people don’t know to talk about race because we’re stuck in the awakening stage. I think that it is true I grew up in a town that is predominantly white and to see a black person is rare unless you travel across the bridge. When a approached college there population was mixed and I didn’t know how to act. I watched what I said because I was not sure what would be taken the wrong way. I typically tried to avoid conversations that were about race or involved different races because I didn’t want to be stuck and labeled something that I was not. Looking now according to the stages I was in the awakening stage. Now that I have been fully integrated I still watch what I say just to make sure that nothing comes out of my mouth is offensive but I am not scared and try to avoid conversation. I started going to church more often and through that I just have learned to expect people for who they are and their skin color. I feel that God created people this way and he doesn’t make mistakes on anything. Another thing that I found comical was about the wash cloths. I never knew that reasoning behind it but I know a lot of black people who use wash cloths and I know a couple white people who don’t use them. I will admit that I don’t use a wash cloth but I use a luffa. I thought that the meaning was interesting because whites feel that their skin isn’t dirty so they don’t have to use a wash cloth but I am pretty sure that everyone skin is equally dirty. Another thing that caught my interest in the lecture was about the video of the white nationalist girl singers. I was actually kind of offended that these girls were acting the way that they were. When the one said about the holocaust never happened I just wanted to come through the computer and slap her. I think that their parents are brain washing them and that they need a reality check that this world is multi- cultural and was built on the foundations of different people. Tue, 15 Jun 2010 01:59:23 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment80192509 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79381199 I agree with you I think you make an interesting point about the man on the top. It didn’t come to me in the lecture but as I was reading your post I thought wow that makes sense. Whites need to be on the top of the mountain because we feel we are the best race. Those other races are not as good as us so that is why we discriminate against them. Its like in grade school when someone was picked on it wasn’t because they were different; it was because someone was jealous of you. I absolutely agree with you that white people are afraid of blacks and not having the power anymore, if we didn’t do the things that we did then we would lose control. Why is there a need to discriminate against people when were all alike we do all share 99.9% of biological area traits. Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:33:21 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79381199 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79355170 The third thing that I found interesting was about racism in criminal justice system was multiple things. The first was about how half of all prisoners in jail are black or brown. Once again many stereotype against black but if you look at the numbers there are a lot of whites that are in jail also. A large number of these people who are in jail have offense for drug uses. What has our world come to, most of our population is doing drug. The numbers are very scary because drugs are dangerous and can kill people. If you look at the numbers Sam put up about the drug arrest I personally would have thought that the majority of arrests would be black because they are the biggest population in jail but it was Hispanics who were the majority arrested for drugs. These numbers just blow my mind to think that someone would ingest a drug that would alter your mind and if you play with fire you are going to get burnt. You use drugs and sell them you are going to get caught. Wed, 9 Jun 2010 20:47:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79355170 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79355159 These men fought for our freedom and many who did, did not come home alive. How dare someone deny someone the right not to be a part of something? All those men wanted was some money so that they could start a home and make a family. If you really think about it if they got those loans then there wouldn’t be racial profiling and discrimination, our entire history would be changed. Another thing that I think was interesting about the lesson about the dominate group controls. I thought that it was something that people really need to understand because it’s a way of thinking. Everyone has the free will to think the way that they want but it is kind of interesting is that it’s the strongest and the fittest that strive and survive in the end. Wed, 9 Jun 2010 20:47:14 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79355159