That’s a good question. I came from a predominately white school with very few blacks or Hispanics. My school consisted of whites and Asians, so I’m used to be around other races a lot. But I feel the setting always changes depending on where you party and with whom. I never partied in high school, but school dances were all the same, no one knowing how to dance and just fist pumping and stuff like that. However when I learned how to dance, people assumed that it was because I’m black and it was in my genes. It was not seen as something people wanted to do, but that it was cool at the same time, which made it awkward for me because I was the only one plus people were either cool with dancing or made fun of it. So I had to conform to how people usually danced in high school, which sucked. When I transferred to college, I wanted to go to a place where I could meet black people and talk and associate with people of my kind. So I went to Penn State Schuylkill, and the 1st party I went to have guys grinding with girl with their dicks on their asses, which was weird to me. I saw it as offensive and demeaning to women, but again eventually I conformed and understood why they did it and how girls feel about it. I don’t really do it or like to do it because it’s weird at times and unnecessary because it is sex with clothes on, so dry sex. Eventually I found a group of people who actually like to dance so when I go to parties with them, it consists of actual dancing which I like. That group is mixed and has all races. So I’ve experienced a lot of different predominately ethnicity parties and it is weird at 1st but I had to deal with it my whole life, so I do not feel uncomfortable after some time, just reminds me of home or a different time in my life. After some time, I stopped caring about what I’m doing at the place of festivities, because there will always be a time where you’ll feel awkward, bored, or asking yourself, “why the hell am I doing this?” but not all places of festivities are the same or have the same ethnicity groups, so you just got to deal with it, or create your own dance that fits the song. I do not do the same thing I would if I was at a different party, I pretty much go with whatever dance people are doing at the moment and just enjoy it, because I’m there to party, get drunk, and meet new people, not sulk about how weird this feels that I’m the only black person there, because I bet the other people at the party probably feel weird that you are the only black person there also. If they do not care you are there, neither should you. If they are welcoming you with a drink and telling you to have a fun time then have a fun time.

On the male aspect of the question, this is hard to say because every male is different. In my opinion, I feel guys will not ask a girl if she hit her climax because of a few reasons. First, because in the middle of sex, you are not supposed to be talking unless you have that talking relationship during sex, then by all means, do it; but if not, that’s just weird. Second, I feel during sex, the guy is supposed to be filled with confidence and once he has to ask if the girl as climaxed it ruins the guy’s self-esteem. I feel for guys once a male has sex it dignifies him as a man, so if he has to ask if the girl is enjoying herself he feels less of a man. Third, guys are also full of themselves in general, so when they are having sex they feel they are tearing that shit up and aren’t paying attention to how the girl is responding, but that comes with guys need to step of their ladder and talk to their partners afterwards or whenever it is convenient. For me, I have asked my partner if she has climaxed because I care more about her pleasure than mine. I do not care if I do not finish, if she is satisfied than I have done my job and I am pleased, that’s just how I work. However I do not 100% blame guys neither because of porn, guys feel that is how sex should be. In the porn videos a guy is enjoying himself and it seems the girl is pleased too, but I never seen a girl said she is done in porn; it is always the guy who finishes and then calls it a day. Girls do not help the cause when all they are saying throughout the video is asking for the guy to finish and disregarding their own pleasure in this moment. So I feel guys watch that and feel that all they have to do is please them and forget how the girl feels, as long as you get off, and then everything went well. Also we learned in class that girls are more likely to get an orgasm once they are in a relationship and having sex with a person they really have strong feelings for, but the media portrays that having sex in general, whether it is a hook-up or a relationship with please a female. So maybe based on that, guys feel that even if they insert, they are pleasing the girl no matter what and relationships are pointless as long as your having sex. There are so many factors to why guys do not ask girls if they enjoyed themselves, but I feel that these might be a few.

That is a good question. In my opinion I feel that guys and girls both do that when they are drunk, no matter what the ethnicity is. It’s not pertaining to a specific group of people whether it’s women or minority women. For guys it is nerve-racking to just walk up to any girl and start to “spit game” to them, especially if you do not know how they will react to what you are saying or if they have a boyfriend. Yes you say, “well, they do not have to hit on me, we can just talk and be friends.” but no matter how we approach the situation, girls will see it as “we are hitting on you”, when some guys just want to meet friends. I’ve been accused of trying to talk to someone who liked me however I told the person from the beginning when we first started talking that I just wanted to be friends. Some girls just always think that when a guy approaches them or is talking to them, that the guy likes them or only wants sex, which is not always the case. Also, I have some white friends who do say that they are more nervous to talk to black girls or other minorities because they feel that they are too white and they don’t have the “swag” to talk to that girl of that ethnicity. Which sounds dumb, but minority girls don’t help the cause by having such high standards for a guy, which mostly their standards are for the guy to have “swag” compared to who they are as a person, which makes some guys feel that they have to chance from the beginning. Plus they feel intimidated by minority girls because of they act and how loud they are. They are afraid to talk to them sober because of that, so when they get drunk, they aren’t afraid anymore because they feel invincible and they say, “whatever happens, happens”. So yea I guess that’s true that white guys feel the need to talk to minority women drunk sometimes, but only cause they feel intimidated sober cause of their attitudes and they feel they do not meet the par what the type of guys they are into. But in the long run, it really is just women in general that guys are nervous to walk up to them and just try to talk to them. That’s why being drunk makes it easier because you have all this drunken confidence and also you can blame it on the alcohol if for some reason you say something really dumb. But a real question is, why do guys have to approach girls at all, why can’t the girls approach a guy for once? I know guys are tired of always doing the work and trying to be the ones who have to impress females. Why can’t females impress the guy for once? So I hear a lot of questions on guys approaching girls and different situations on how that happened, but why can’t girls approach guys for once.

In my opinion, based on Dr. Richards lecture on empathy and relating it to the Native Americans, I understand where he’s coming from with that lecture but at the same time I didn’t completely agree with everything he was saying. He said that if we really did empathize with the Native Americans we would give back their land and we would do everything in our power to bring them back up into society; however in there are so many factors to be considered. I think Sam thought to straight forward with this topic, but didn’t look at it a longer and broader point of view.
Yes the Indians do deserve reparations for everything they have been through, but we shouldn’t look to the past, especially when the ACTUAL people who caused it aren’t around anymore. That’s like me getting mad at all white people for slavery but I’ve never experienced it. I don’t have a right to do that; also I’m not looking for reparations. I feel reparation for us is affirmative action. Allowing blacks to have a better chance to get into college. But I see that as unjust as well. For centuries we were put on a scale lower than others, specifically whites. Why now do you think it’s okay to give blacks a “boost” to help them get into colleges. I see it as unjust and demeaning to our intelligence. We should be put on the same scale as everyone else and that means no affirmative action, let blacks work to get into a college so they can feel they deserved to be in the college they are in. We’re already seen as stupid, if you allow affirmative action you’re only making that statement worse for us, because we didn’t fully “deserve” to be there compared to other people with higher GPA’s. I’m fine with scholarships, because everyone as scholarships for their own race and under different criteria. The reason I brought up affirmative action mainly is because Native Americans are able to go into any college they want when they apply and that is definitely not fair. You may be benefiting the Indians but affecting everyone else who deserves to be in that school but wasn’t allowed because an Indian male/female, took their spot. I understand giving them an education so they can have a fair chance in life, but affecting other people isn’t right. Also we never talked about it in class, but some Native Americans are very wealthy because of casino’s, we haven’t they tried to help their own people? Like the man in the film we watch said, “We have to deal with the cards we are dealt”. Yes I understand they have a bad life, but we can’t look to the past, only better the future, so instead of affirmative action as a way of reparations, why don’t we have the president talk to the Native Americans and find a way to compromise and fix this issue. If we talk it out, I bet the issue wouldn’t be as bad anymore. Plus we never thought about it from the Native American’s perspective. What do they think about the situation at hand? Because for all we know, they understand the situation they are in, and us giving them reparations cause we feel bad for past circumstances, sounds like pity. They are a strong race and I doubt they want to be looked down upon as people who can’t fend for themselves. Unlike Haiti who asked for help, the Native American’s didn’t, plus we are helping Haiti because we want to, not cause we feel bad because we feel we caused the pain they are in. That’s the difference between those two situations. At the end of the day, I just feel we should converse with the Native American’s so that it doesn’t seem like we pity them by giving them all this free stuff. Let’s respect them enough, just like all the other minorities, to be put on the same, equal scale between all the races, in other words equality.

In my opinion to this blog, I feel that it is unfair to give a position to someone in the workforce purely based on association. Economically I feel it isn’t right either and is slowing down productivity because a less experienced person is trying to do a job compared to a person who knows what he has to do and probably has more ideas to increase productivity. I understand why people feel the need to give a job to a person who they know, because they probably trust them more or that person is having financial situations that they need help supporting. However giving that person a position that needs qualifications isn’t completely fair. If anything, make that person someone’s assistant to still get some experience and have them live with you or find them a place to stay and keep them financially stable. I know it’s a lot to ask for and a lot to do, but I feel we live in an age where if you want a job, you should work for it, for example, getting a college degree, getting a PhD, or working in a place that gives you enough experience to better the company you are trying to work for. No one should walk through life getting free ride because they are associated with a person. That individual worked his/her ass off to get the money he/her has, so you can’t take the easy route to get the same benefits. Economically I feel it’s unfair because we live in a time where technology and resources are increasing and getting better. I know as an engineer, our jobs are to increase and help the benefit of living for individuals and making their lives easier. This allows the world to increase and to become better as a whole, but we cannot just sit by and allow it to happen; we need to work on it. But that being said, working on it as a top engineer compared to a person who has never done any engineering in their lives before is a huge difference. If the world just worked with mediocre employees, it would take forever for the world to evolve. We would not get anywhere in the world. I bet DVD’s would have just been created if that were the case. I feel people should always be at their best for a job because there will always be another job out there for you if you don’t get the job, but at least be qualified and work for it, that’s all that matters in my opinion. Another issue I feel this goes with is affirmative action. For example, how students are accepted into what college. I feel it is unfair to allow a person with a lower GPA and less extra-circulars just because they are black or some other type of minority. Yes I understand that schools need a certain amount of demographics in a school so it attracts other students in the future to apply there. If the acceptance rate for minorities is low in a college, no minority will really apply there because they feel they won’t get in, but if it’s equally distributed, then people from all ethnicities will apply for that college. However some schools have an equally amount of distributed races and they still choose the minority. I feel that is unfair because someone else is better for the choice. I feel colleges do that, so they aren’t seen as “racist” in the eyes of the parents or anyone else. Parents will feel the school wouldn’t allow their child to get into their school because of their color, which is another reason why I feel minorities blow the “racist” card out of proportion and use it for their benefit to get what they want. If you are allowing minorities into colleges, do it because they worked hard to be there and they deserve to be there; don’t do it because you want to make it up to us because of what you did to our people centuries ago. No one asked for you to do that, because it looks more like pity than anything else. Out of all the minorities, Asians don’t get affirmative action, they actually get the opposite and that’s unfair also. I understand if you have too many Asians applying to the same school and you want a change in acceptance, then by all means, allow other students in, but if you can allow another Asian into the school he worked hard for, don’t turn him down because he doesn’t have a 4.5 GPA. Asians are put on a standard pole that isn’t fair. They are asked to be ridiculously smart and if they aren’t then they won’t get accepted. I have seen Asians with a 3.8 GPA and they won’t get into schools because they aren’t smart enough, while the black guy with the 2.5 will get accepted, which is stupid in my opinion. Everyone should be put on the same pole. Ultimately, you should get what you deserve, no special treatment and no over the top potentials. Everyone should be seen the same way, don’t treat a person different because they are your friend or if they are a race you feel should be doing better. Just look at everyone with the same eyes and expectations.

When girls were afraid to say whether they were on their period or not made sense to me because it’s an awkward topic to discuss and an embarrassing thing to admit. Yes Dr. Richards is completely correct about the invisible sting theory however it doesn’t just apply to women. Everyone is affected by this theory and it runs all our lives. A girl admitting she’s on her period is a natural way of life and should be comprehended by other people not to be judged. If she’s on her period it should be as easy as saying “I took a shit today”. It’s embarrassing but it’s a natural thing in life that people have to deal with and it should be answered honestly if someone asks. I’m not saying that girls should just walk out in the open declaring their period, but if someone asks they shouldn’t be ashamed to say it. Yes, there are things that are private that shouldn't be discussed, but that depends on the situation and what could happen in the long run. If your protecting something because you are afraid that you might get in trouble for it then I understand, that should be private, however something that doesn't affect anyone other than how they see you, shouldn't be private. It's who you are or something you are dealing with, that should be open for people to know. So people know who you are, or what your are going through at the moment so they shouldn't mess with you or something along those lines. In my opinion, it is as similar as when a guy announces that he just masturbated. Ejaculation is also seen as “inappropriate” in public to talk about, however it is also apart of life. Invisible Strings are apart of everything and they determine what is social correct or incorrect when in reality none of these things really matter. We do things because someone before us said that it was the “correct” things to say and to do in front of others, but why do we listen to that? We have no reason not to say what’s on our mind or what is going on with our bodies because others have experienced it too. If people were to be more open minded to a situation, then nothing would be deemed as weird to talk about. Another example of this is, homosexuality. Why is it that people feel the need to feel creeped out when a gay moment occurs or if a gay person compliments them? However when a female does it to another female it’s ok? Society has deemed everything and for some reason we continue to follow this path. I follow this path blindly too, and over time I’m trying to branch away from it, but it’s hard, and even then, you have to be accepted by others around you. Ultimately I would say that we all go through the invisible theory and in my opinion the only people somewhat free of this would be, the elders. I feel as time goes on, more and more rules are added onto this theory and allowing our generation and the next to be pressured into doing smaller and smaller things and being less open about ourselves and others. The media and the things around us also have a big influence on this theory as well, and since old people don’t know everything about what’s going on now, I feel they are the freest from this issue.

To my friend Sean’s blog question, I understand where he’s coming from with this subject because I have wondered the same thing. To answer this issue, I feel that it is very mixed between people and the situation at hand. However I feel that most people hold their tongue because of fear of being judged or seen as racist. There are people who say what’s on their mind and call people “niggers”; but that’s extreme because that’s an offense word that’s been in the English language for centuries. Don’t get me wrong, there are people who are in the middle and say what’s on their mind however don’t say offensive words, but in my opinion those are rare, cause I don’t see many of those people. When I do see people speak up against black people it’s either in a racist manner or a drunken manner. But I feel that those people who say words like that and other racist terms can find other words to use to take out their frustration on the black community. Nonetheless we as black people don’t help our cause of destroying that word by referring to other black people as “niggas”. Yes the word is said and spelled different however the definition still means the same thing essentially. So black people use that word “niggas” as a means of endearment between friends. Other races have started to use the word with their own kind to mean friendship and even say it to other black people. In my opinion it’s find to say because we say it all the time and refer to ourselves as “niggas”, so it shouldn’t be fair to get mad at another race for using the same word if we say it everyday. If we want to get people to stop saying that word, we as black people have to stop saying it ourselves, that’s the only way in my opinion to solve the issue to that. For people who don’t say anything this is what my post is mainly about. In my opinion there are more people who don’t say anything compared to people who do say something. I feel that people are afraid because they don’t want to be judged by the black community and the white community who have accepted black people. Racism is a big thing in this world and we are trying to eliminate it or have it reduced as much as possible. So when a person of another race sees a black person acted out of place, they just let it slide and say “it’s just a black person, being black” or they’ll say “just ignore it and keep going”. I’ve heard it said before. A lot of people just pretend that it’s funny and they just say, “It’s cool”. When in reality sometimes it really isn’t. I feel we as black people do things out of order so they can get away with it, knowing people won’t say anything & if they do say something, then they have the opportunity to call that person racist, so the black person can be seen as the “victim”. Which is completely wrong in my opinion.

As a person who has difficulty believing in God, in my opinion, if the world somehow got a newspaper saying, “God exists”. I would be fine with it, all I would want is some proof. We can’t believe everything in the newspaper especially when apparently we were supposed to all be dead a couple months ago (last day of the world) along with a reappearance of Jesus Christ. Both of those were stated in the newspapers and all over the news however neither of them ever happened. We are human we don’t know the future. We take everyday one step at a time like the next person. Who are we to proclaim such a giant event about to happen without any proof, just pure speculations and calculations of past “believed” experiences? To be honest, the bible could be false because we have no idea who wrote it. It could be a random man who made a book to make people feel closer to an imaginary character so they can feel “loved” or “watched” over. I wouldn’t call myself a full atheist because I don’t follow everything they do, but I don’t proclaim myself as a full Christian either, because I don’t go to church or have full belief in what I should be believing. I’m just a man who just goes through life believing in my morals “Do onto others as you would want done onto yourself”. I believe in good things happening in our lives and I thank God if he is out there because I can’t thank myself for everything, especially if some situations seemed nearly impossible for me to overcome. However, I don’t believe in everything that is said God has done or even if he fully exists, so I follow my path, and wherever it takes me, I’ll accept it. I believe that if God really does exist, then we should be doing things that are good. Don't think that since you believe in him/her, you’ll automatically be allowed in to the gates of heaven, because if that is the way to get into heaven then why even do good things, just do whatever you want and just be allowed in. I’d rather go to hell (if there is one) then go to heaven knowing I didn’t do any good things to really be accepted into heaven, I just believed in him. If God was shown to exist at the end of the day, I’d ask a few questions and then make a conscious decision to follow him or not; because I feel that I might be even angrier at God if he existed this whole time and allowed our world to be so corrupt and evil. People are getting killed everyday and there are people in the world who are hungry and alone. If God really existed, this wouldn’t be happening. Sadly, I feel that doing evil deeds are more successful in life than doing good deeds. The reason I feel that way is because bad people get away with things more often than good deeds are shown to the world. I rarely here in the news that a man walked an old lady across the street however I can see a 20 minute viewing of a man who kidnaps a kid and kills them a couple day a later. I just want to know why the world isn’t changing for the better in these types of situations? That would be my main question for God, however like I said before, it will take me some time to actually want to follow him or not once I think things over.

In my opinion, the fact that Sam is saying that we are rich compared to the rest of world and compared to our peers is based on your own perspective of what “rich” is. In the world, there are a lot of poor people who are suffering with a lack of food and that’s why the commercials come up to help them. Because just a little bit of money from each of us will suffice their starvation. That is considered as poor, if you can’t help yourself get the things that are essential to live in life. However, there are a lot of people in the world who have a lot of money who can easily buy anything that they feel that they want, along with money comes power and they get what they want also. So we can’t say that compared to the rest of the world we are rich because there are so many people in the world that we can consider ourselves rich to some people but to others we are poor. To our peers we don’t know the financial situation of anyone of them, except for probably our close friends, so we can determine whether we are “richer” than our friends, but to others in our class or who go to this school we don’t know anything about them. For all we know, the person who is sitting next to me could be a prince who just wants a college education without being interrupted by the media so he lies about who he/she is to achieve his dream. With the amount of power the prince has, he could easily pull it off. So I don’t like to look at a person and determine whether I am richer or poorer than them. In my opinion, the definition of “rich” is not only just based on how much money you have, but also who you have to share it with. In movies, the richest man in the world will never be happy unless he knows he can share it with someone who truly loves him; not for his money but who he is as a person. Family is a big thing added onto what makes a man “rich”. For me, I’d rather be a middle class man, with a family who loves me and who will stick with me through thick and thin situations, than a man who is wealthy beyond comparison and can’t find one woman who is willing to stay with me without wanting a piece of my money. If I die or get injured I don’t want a gold digger taking all my money and then just leaving me for dead. A situation I would do if I were rich is to, pretend I was poor/middle class then have one of my workers pretend to be me. Once that would happen, I would have my worker try to get the same girl I’m trying to get however spend all the money he can to impress her, while I, pretending to be poor/middle class, talk to the same girl, but try to impress her with love and affection. If she chooses me, the one pretending to be poor/middle class other than my worker is pretending to be the wealthy man, than I know she is the one for me, who I know I can trust to be with me as my wife.

To be honest, if my child was gay I wouldn’t know what to do. I’ve never had a kid to know how it feels if my kid doesn’t live up to my expectations. However if my son is gay, I wouldn’t tell him that I feel he’s gay, because I might be wrong, he might just be really open with his sexuality. I want him to realize by himself that he’s gay and talk to me about it. Being gay no matter what never has its easy moments. Ultimately, I want my son to know that he has me still supporting him. For me growing up, having gay friends is nothing different from having straight friends. There are people just like everyone else, but they just like the opposite sex. In my opinion, nothing is wrong with that. They like what they like, so if a gay person found me attractive, I would feel it to be a compliment because at least someone finds me good looking. It’s not like the gay person is saying they would rape me, they are giving me a compliment and people should just accept it. I understand if you feel uncomfortable about it, because it’s kind of weird, but the world is a weird place, you just got to get passed some things and suck up your issues towards it, because it’s going to live/move on whether you want it or not, so just come in terms with it, or be mad or creeped out for the rest of your life. So I am pretty open with gay people, I do have a slight homophobia but I try to get passed it. If my son is gay, I have to accept him for who he is and what choice he has made. As a father, I should love him no matter what and try to guide him through life. The only way for me to achieve that is by giving him life decisions I have made, however being gay is something I never experienced. So the best I could do is to seek out someone who has grown up with the trivial experiences of being gay. I don’t want my son to feel like he’s alone in the world, so I want to be with him every step of the way. Don’t get me wrong, it will be weird to me when my son bring back his boyfriend, but I’ll try to have an open mind with it. If my son were to get married to another gay person, I would be happy for him because he found someone that makes him happy. Marriage is about being happy with your significant other, if you’re not happy, you shouldn’t be married. If you’re happy with another person who’s the same sex, then you should be with them. At the end of the day, I just want my son to be happy, I’m not going to be an asshole about the situation, and I need to be even there for him more.