Racial profiling. All too common are these two words in the African-American population. Racial profiling is almost an immediate response when an African-American, most likely male, is asked “why was he stopped?” Whether it’s true or not has always been the debate between those who are culturally dedicated to African-Americans and those who believe African-Americans have unnecessary resentment. There are a variety of factors that play into my mind when this situation arises. I look at the individual saying the statement and take into consideration his/her personality and history with authority figures. A lot of individuals I know who are quick to pull the “racial profiling” card usually have had the roughest track record with authority. My favorite are those who find themselves in detention, stealing, or grounded and believe that the police are always out to profile them as delinquents.
I also take into account the way the story unfolds. I’ve had an incident where me and four other friends were riding in a car. We were pulled over by a police officer and very quickly the scene escalated to another two cop cars and a police van. I was outraged at why they felt the necessity to have so many officers for a stop that had to do with an expired registration. Of course, my attitude towards the whole situation was very negative from that point on, and any and everything the officers did just screamed “RACIST.” Later that night, I called my cousin who was a Maryland State Trooper. I explained the situation to her and asked her if I should report the officer to the police chief. She explained to me how she would have reacted in that situation. Her point was that if she was in that situation and she pulled over a car with five individuals in it she would want to make sure that she had control over the situation at all times. Calling back up is a precaution officers take for those “just in case” moments where a simple traffic stop might escalate into something more serious. From that explanation, I understood the rationale for their behavior and corrected my thinking.
I think that a lot of people find themselves in these situations and get emotionally attached to certain actions that force our reactions in a certain way. We fail to take the moment to observe the situation in its entirety and rationally make a conclusion as to why certain things happened.
Racial profiling could very well exist but I think too much importance is placed on it when attributing it to why police stops have been conducted on African-Americans and latinos. Perhaps their protocol in terms of what to look for are factors that these particular races are notorious for. Unfortunately, I don’t think there will ever be a secure conclusion.

Sagging your pants. It has become something that has been popular among the urban community, specifically with African-Americans. It has been looked at in different ways. While some people approve of it – obviously those who partake in sagging their pants – others find it degrading. Ultimately, it is a sense of fashion. It’s sort of similar to someone’s choice to cut up their jeans as a trend. As an African-American male, I’ve seen many cases of it from slight sagging to the extreme as depicted in the picture. I personally believe that some people engage in sagging for the comfort level. I’ve sagged slightly before because the jeans felt more comfortable slightly loosened up rather than tightly bound to my waist. However, the purpose of me doing so was never to have my underwear showing to the extreme. But getting back to the point – it is a choice. Yes, it may offend some people or make them feel uncomfortable but I feel like it can be a choice made during certain times that won’t make people that uncomfortable. If someone is in a casual setting outside and not in establishments or at functions where the dress attire can be looked at a certain way then I don’t see a problem. However, showing up places where attire is taken into consideration wouldn’t be the appropriate time.

I do think that any fashion statement one partakes in speaks on who you are as a person. Fashion is there to portray that so anyone who doesn’t approve of how saggy pants is portrayed shouldn’t engage in it. It’s sort of like wearing a suit and getting upset that people think you’re a business man/woman, important, or have money. Certain attire comes with those stereotypes and to avoid a stereotype you avoid the attire.

Now, do I think this law is necessary? Not at all. I think that the appropriate level of responsibility is on different establishments to set their standards. Restaurants can refuse individuals service based on their attire such as having no shirt or shoes on. I don’t think there is a need to pass a whole law forbidding it in public. You are not exposing anything but your underwear and as far as I know walking around in your underwear in public is not illegal. Maybe it is, but I don’t know. It’s still clothing, but common sense tells you not to walk around in public in your underwear because of how you will be viewed. Moving to encourage different establishments or venues to cater to such a ban would be more appropriate than making it a law. And again, it should address the most extreme cases of sagging as not everyone’s intentions are to be disrespectful.

Myself, I choose to stay away from sagging because of how I would like to be perceived. But I have friends and family who do sag and knowing their character I don’t perceive them as thugs or whatever. But I will definitely be the first to tell them when it isn’t appropriate and when it doesn’t matter.

In my own life, it is kind of hard to label whether racial identity and development was more positive than negative. I think that I was fortunate not to have had to experience some of the racist things those around me were unfortunate to have had to go through. I was put into schools that were primarily African-American populated, but was not secluded from other races. I think my institutions of learning gradually diversified as I grew older and my mother was able to find me schools outside of my neighborhood.

However, I did have slight struggles from time-to-time where I had to ask myself what was going on and if it was related to race. In High School was the primary time where jokes regarding race were used by various races and I had to learn the mindsets of different races. I was familiar with racial slurs; that wasn’t the issue. But the context of how others developed was lost to me. I had to think about if this Caucasian male who was calling me the ‘N word’ had the development of a racist individual. THAT forced me to learn more about my race. I had to observe and understand that African-Americans were raised differently than other races and vice-versa and why that was.

See, SOME African-American children are given those key phrases such as “don’t act up in front of these white people” or “you need to try harder than anyone else” which gives us different impressions. It makes you think (of course, not then because you were just trying to avoid a whooping) that we have to impress Caucasian people and act the way “they would act” to be considered proper or polite. You often see this represented when people say that they use their “white” voices when they are talking on the phone. I’ll admit that this mentality sticks with you into adult head (such as the “white voice” example). Even to this day I act a certain way and talk a certain way depending on the situation that presents itself. And I’m fine with that because when it comes down to it – people do judge but I don’t have to act any “appropriate way” throughout life. When I am with a certain group of people there are things I won’t say or behaviors I won’t display because it may not be comfortable for them to observe. But with another group it may be perfectly fine or humorous.

So, I’ve had to make sure that my mind was focused on understanding how someone’s racial mindset was before I could tell whether I had to defend my race or what have you. When it comes to these stages, I could jump around depending on the situation. I wouldn’t be able to tell you which stage I entered at which time or which stage I’m currently in. Race may subconsciously guide certain behaviors, but at the end of the day I’m going to make it as an African-American man whether there are individuals who like it or not.

The entire class on Thursday was very, very interesting from the presentation, the guest speakers, and our international guest. I enjoyed talking about a topic more specific and on something that literally affects everyone. Discussing how different nations perceive each other based on the actions of a few brought familiar feelings. Students at Universities experience this effect whenever they introduce what school they attend(ed). For example, the students of Penn State are constantly looked at and judged upon based on what happened with Sandusky. His actions have turned into a generalization of the Penn State community out of pure ignorance. Similarly, the students are constantly asked about the case as if it is something that we are entitled to know more about or as if we were directly involved and would have inside information. This happens because people cannot accept the fact that everything cannot be categorized and grouped. It is our way of making sense of everything by being able to associate characteristics to it. When we contemplate where we should go for vacation we go over the generalized characteristics we’ve developed about the place and people through our experiences and teachings. We may say that we want to go to Brazil because the women there are beautiful or that we don’t want to go to France because the French are rude. But common sense tells you that there are beautiful and rude people everywhere. Nonetheless, these are mental shortcuts that help guide us through life.

It was nice to be able to see the videos that were presented as examples of what an Iraq citizen might think of Americans if they saw some of these actions. For example, watching the tank crush the man’s car had my feelings torn. In one hand, I knew that our government wouldn’t give orders that called for tormenting anyone. However, I even felt compelled to through all of common sense out of the window and feel resentment towards American soldiers. I understood where the thoughts of Iraq citizens come from when they see prominent Americans engaged in actions like this. We are guilt of generalizations as well. With the “war on terrorism” we looked at Middle Eastern individuals as suspicious and automatically grouped them all together as possible terrorists.

It’s sad that this sort of “malpractice” will continue to go on because some people really don’t care about generalizing the world. They have been content with their ignorance and close-mindedness and wouldn’t be willing to change it for anything. Others just won’t have the right role models in their life letting them know that their behavior and thinking – when generalized – is inappropriate. Hopefully, with more classes and presentations such as this one people will get the point. The only problem is, like Sam said, you have to close your laptop and PAY ATTENTION… but as we saw there were still people who would rather leave than be schooled on something everyone’s guilty of.

Enter text right here!Jeremy Lin’s claim to fame is a prime example as to why there are classes such as Soc 119 addressing racism and sexism, today. As a species, we have evolved in ways that simply bury our misfortunes. We have tail bones that serve no purpose and parts of our physical make up that we could live without. This is similar to our beliefs and views of each other. Although racism has seemingly developed from periods where certain races were viewed negatively by other races there still are lingering ways we exhibit it. Jeremy Lin, an Asian-American, is seeing this effect. The stereotypes and prejudices that he faces as an Asian individual are still alive despite being buried by our caution to outwardly admit it. Who knew he would be able to play the sport of basketball as good as, and even better than, some individuals who it is assumed that they would be the best?

The tweet that Jeremy Lin sent when he was signed to the Knicks about being asked if he was a trainer upon entering Madison Square Garden is disturbing enough. Had an individual of the same build but of the African-American race been in his shoes that question may never have been posed. Are we ready to admit that prejudices and stereotypes still guide our way of living, supposedly, normal? If you think about it, only abnormal things catch our undivided attention. We are not perplexed by an 6’ 3” African-American playing well at basketball. Yet, Jeremy Lin is almost viewed as an idol because he doesn’t fit the stereotype. Or should this matter be viewed as simply being astonished at the uncommon denominator? Maybe it isn’t our racial views that draw our attention to Lin. Maybe it’s just simply the fact that Jeremy Lin is an uncommon sight to see in professional basketball. Yes, his race attributes to us finding it uncommon, but nonetheless, it is more factors, if this was the route we wanted to take, that make it astonishing. I’d like to believe that it is the latter. I’d like to believe that, with myself, I view the entire situation as uncommon and not a racial matter. But I’m not perfect and do think that this will affect my view of Asian individuals. We all should have the mindset that it is an individual choice to fit into stereotypes, not an inherited trait. In fact, there are individuals of every race who would be viewed as astonishing simply because of their color and I’m not sure if that’ll ever change.

Using Asian stereotypes to illustrate my point imagine if more Asians became prominent individuals of the NBA. Let’s imagine that the next Kobe Bryants were of a different race than African-American. This would become common for the NBA and the stereotype of Asians would change. However, it would still affect another race because any other race who exhibited profound skills in the NBA would see the same popularity as Jeremy Lin. I’m not sure if we can ever be color blind as a people, but do feel as though our actions and words can be enhanced to where we are not making it all about race. Now that we have witnessed a great Asian NBA player, we can attribute it to Jeremy Lin being a hard-working and talented NBA player, not a hard-working and talented Asian-American. In this way, we are giving him the credit that he deserves and not simply saying, in essence, that he is a “different” kind of Asian.

I am enthusiastic to respond to this question because I’ve never heard it asked before. I believe that it is important for individuals to look at how they were raised and if that is an indication towards what they identify towards. In the United States, racial categories are too complex to base it off of physical identifiers such as color of skin, hair texture, and features. These physical identifiers only tell us about the genes we’ve inherited from our parents. However, as Christie (I’m not sure how to spell her name) has shown us that it sometimes comes down to how we were raised that give us an indication of what we should identify as.

In my case, I am African-American in both physical and non-physical aspects. My skin is dark, my facial features are common to African-Americans, and my family resembles the same aspects. I was raised as an African-American and therefore wouldn’t know what other races have contributed to my make-up. My hair is slightly different from other African-Americans which lets me know that there may be other races involved in my genealogical make-up. Regardless, I am more convinced that I identify with the correct racial group. Everything about the way I was raised – the type of food I eat, the way our family interacts, and the way I view life – reflects this view.

I am more interested in knowing how those individuals who could fit into more than one racial category – physically and non-physically – seek identification. For example, the interracial families where there exist one Caucasian parent and an African-American parent. It is interesting to see how a lot of mixed children in this situation identify as African-American despite having some genealogical make-up of Caucasian. I think that a lot of people may seek paths of acceptance and that determines what they publicly identify as. A lot of individuals see African-Americans who are lighter as more attractive (in aspects of looks and other characteristics) and are therefore pulled in that direction of accepting that identification. However, a mixed child who does not resemble the typical Caucasian would be hesitate to call himself/herself Caucasian because it is clear that they are not only Caucasian.

This is similar to how individuals develop into females and males. Although, physically, one may be categorized as male they may have been raised to reflect characteristics of females. I believe this is evident when there are males who dress, talk, and act like females. Perhaps their background doesn’t offer sufficient encouragement to identify as what they’re physically categorized as. Of course, there are exceptions for those who just do not fill comfortable with how they were born. I am interested in reading the responses from other students.

There comes a point in time where people need to not take things so seriously. Reminiscent of the past are reminders in the way people speak and behave. You would think that we all have learned from the tragedies of the past such as slavery when it comes to putting a particular group of individuals into solitude. Yes, there are legal differences to those who are citizens of the United States illegally or legally. However, our mentality should never take away from the fact that these are still human beings - individuals - like ourselves, doing what they can to survive.

Change is inevitable. This world would not be where it was today without change. What would have happened if those before us took the same mentality? Instead of engaging in activities that encouraged the America we live in today, they banned anything that wasn't in their ideal picture of the perfect country. Many of us screaming to ban immigrants would not be here or would probably not live the same lives and have the same experiences as we have now.

I would like America to make moves to solve illegal immigration through efforts that make the need to immigrate illegally unnecessary. Provide individuals a more obtainable way of getting to their dream. As of right now, people are fighting for their dream - unfortunately, that's at the cost of comfort for some of us who would rather live without immigrants.

Immigration has been one of those topics that are just as devastating as poverty, violence, and drugs. However, these crucial topics have become all too natural for us to ignore. We have built the habit of "expecting" these things as parts of life rather than challenging them to create a more peaceful existence. When it comes to immigration, I've never taken the time to acknowledge my stance on the subject. I consider myself a very respectful individual in that we are all human beings given these privileges of life to enjoy. I have to be honest and admit that when I think about an immigrant I attribute it to those foreign individuals in America who can barely speak the English language. But when it is pointed out to me that everyone but the Native Americans would be considered immigrants I don't disagree. I think what happened to the Native American people was very wrong. I believe that their existence today should be more fruitful or at least prideful. Am I in any position to change it? Probably, but it has become a topic hidden in the shadows for me. Just as I pass homeless people on the street as I go into the store to buy more unnecessary things, I blindly go through life trying to make my own situation better.

I hope that their future finds some uplifting as our nation becomes more and more eager to make amends. However, I feel as though we are passively being taught to set aside some important issues for them to be unearth when we are already numb of their effects. This topic should concern me, but the sad truth is it does not affect my every day living and that makes it irrelevant to me and probably to others as well.

I think that it is our responsibility to correct the mistakes of our past, especially if we are aware and knowledgeable of them. This goes to the example Sam presented in class about the daughter of the American woman who robbed a Native American of her land. Does the daughter hold the responsibility of giving it back? If she is aware and knowledgeable of the wrongful act the daughter does have the responsibility of doing something about it.

The questions are: what should we do? What's appropriate to do? When do we do it? How do we do it? Who's going to do it? Etc., etc. We will see how important immigration and the Native American people become as our country evolves.