I agree with you for the fact that I too, took advantage of what I had available at my school. I was in the band, but I never really appreciated the wide array of instruments we had and the nice facility where we practiced. Our school was renovated for my last year there and was incredibly nice. After taking a glance at the urban school in the Oprah video, I am more thankful for what I had. I also agree with you about nepotism but I also know that it is an unfortunate fact of life where, ‘it’s not what you know, but WHO you know.’ It does suck but even so, I’m trying to know more people because of it.

In watching lesson 14 on Affirmative Action, I was immediately thought provoked by the video experiment performed by Oprah where suburban and inner city school kids traded schools. It made me think about how inner city students are essentially screwed out of a successful education and life if something isn’t done to help them. The inner city schools have a very low budget, which in turn gives them a low amount of resources. They then can’t pay good teachers to give a good and challenging curriculum to the students. The students then give up on their education and may end up dropping out. After they drop out, they are then prevented from making a better life. So they stay in the inner city area and their kids go through the same cycle. So the cycle is never ending and it is the same way with the suburban school kids, who go through in cycle with more money and they end up having a good and successful life and their kids then go through the same thing. I think that the ‘poor cycle’ also occurs in rural areas. In a rural area where a lot of kids graduated from high school, but not many students attend or finish college. I spoke with a girl the other day, and she said that she is going to be the first college graduate of her family… and it is 2011. I just felt that her situation was wonderful and unfortunate at the same time. I feel that way because in many other families (suburban especially,) there are legacies of the grandparent’s college and the hope that the grandchildren will follow in their footsteps. And because of their extensive education and work experience, they were able to send their children and grandchildren to the college of their choice. My point is that in our society money determines education level and education level determines the amount of money you’ll make in some situations. So it is again, a never-ending cycle and unless the urban schools get more funding or better teaching, the present students will continue to move in the cycle throughout the rest of their lives for them and their children. I know that it isn’t easy for schools to get funding because in order to funding, they may have to do well on state tests like in Pennsylvania. But if they do not have the money to give the right education, how can they be expected to do well on the tests? Should they just be given more money and then monitored for success? How could we dig these schools out of the pit they have been in for years?

Wow, that is such a sad story of Dr. P. When you said about his Visa expiring, I like you, immediately thought that someone offered to marry him or something drastic to get him to stay. But to hear that people vandalized his house and treated him so badly just because of a label is so disheartening. I agree with how sad it is that we cannot give compassion to those who want to come to our country to do better for themselves and like your doctor, many immigrants would do a lot better for our country and their community.

In this lecture, I was immediately interested in the fact that the original European settlers were the first illegal immigrants. I never thought about that before and I wonder how many other people think about that. It definitely was humbling, but like Sam said, we do not like to think about things that make us uncomfortable—especially if that means that we would think about the Native American’s land every time we walk around outside. Another thing that I thought about is that, we took the Native American’s land as terrorists essentially, and all we give them are pieces of land with barriers that we call their ‘reservations?’ I know that that is another issue entirely but it is definitely thought provoking. Why wouldn’t more people stand up for the Native American’s rights as original land-owners and let them have more rights? I know that it is just because the colonists thought that they were a threat because they were different and that the colonists wanted to only be around people like them. But what has changed in the last 500-some years? We still don’t want people in our country who are unlike ‘us.’ Who are not from our country or don’t speak our language or perform our customs.
I do not condone illegal immigration, but I am not going to tell the people that they are unwelcome in our country. Why can’t they become legal? I would like to understand what holds these people back that they are prevented their citizenship but I know that they are certainly desperate to get away from the despair they are facing in their home country. It is unsettling to think that there are people literally dying to get into the United States. Why do they even want to come here? We give them horrible jobs and then complain about them taking those horrible jobs that American citizens do not want to do. Then we harass them, beat them, and finally take them back to their country of origin. And then they come back. Why? I think that if I were in their position that I would probably give up. Obviously they see the outcome as worth more than the price they have to pay for it. Again, I’m not saying that I think that they should come in illegally, but shouldn’t we as citizens of the country of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness share those values to others trying to attain them? These immigrants-legal or illegal are most likely trying to come here so that they can pursue their happiness and make the lives of their family, children, and grandchildren worthwhile and better. Maybe they just need some help and compassion?

I completely agree with you on the question of nature or nurture with what kids play with or how they dress. I feel that it would be nature for a little 3 year old boy to try on his sister’s dresses, but I feel that it is nurture then for the parents to put the dresses in the 3 year old boy’s closet for him to wear everyday (like what parents did for a boy I babysat for before). I feel that the parents should have let the boy try on the dresses if he wanted to, but I felt that it was too far for the dresses to actually be put in his closet (unless he asked for it—but he’s three—what 3 year old knows what he wants?) I feel that what those parents did is similar to making a little boy only play with trucks. That boy from my story only had dresses in his closet—so to me, it was like the parents were almost making him dress like a girl.

For lesson 12, I found it immediately interesting and intriguing when Sam posted that Liberal Democrats are more than twice as likely to want to live in a ‘diverse’ community than Republicans. I wondered if the Liberal Democrats were truthful when they were surveyed or if they were saying what they felt they were supposed to say. Due to political correctedness the Democrats could have been stating that they want to live in a diverse community just because they didn’t want to offend someone or be looked down on. Another question that Sam posed is, what is a diverse community? I see a diverse community being a place where all races of all SES come together and live. However, in our country, very rarely does this happen and we either have cookie-cutter suburbs or run-down communities filled with crime. I feel that whether the Liberal Democrat truthfully desires to live in a diverse community rests upon their SES (Socio-Economic Status). If the Liberal Democrat is of high SES than, I see them living in a suburban area where it would be safe, more affluent, welcoming to families and a good place to raise children with nice schools. They may say that they would want to live in a diverse area but do they really mean it? What if we would treat the situation like the show, “Secret Millionaire?” On that show, affluent members trade in their mansions for a run-down studio apartment or a cardboard box. If we would put some of the democrats of higher SES in this situation, would they change their minds? My point is, that many lies are stated due to being politically correct. What if the liberal democrat would have been truthful and say, “Yes I believe that all should be fair and equal, but in reality, I do not want to live in a diverse community.” I think that the democrat probably would have been ‘thrown’ out of liberal democracy. On this subject matter, I personally do not feel that I would like to live in a diverse community because in reality, I tend to think of a dangerous place when I think of a diverse community. No, I do not want to live in a place where it is made up of one race, but I also want to live in a harmonious place, which will probably not be in an urban apartment, but in a house in the suburbs. I’m sure that many disagree with my stance on this issue, but because I’m being more blunt and not politically correct, I do hope that many will understand and perhaps think that others may think this way too. Everyone wants their children to be safe and grow up in a nice area—that may or may not be diverse (however you may define it.) Speaking of which, how do you define the word, diverse?

I thought that as well (about Asian's skin color), and then I remembered that they are called "Olive" :)

This is very interesting! I too was thinking, “Of course Penn State doesn’t segregate the students,” however I remember that my floors were always filled with white students and the Asians always roomed together and there was only a few minority students on my floors. I’m interested to look at my floor this fall to see if that statement remains true once again. I wonder if predominantly black schools do the same thing for white students (who would be the minority)? Did you get any ‘special treatment’ at your high school? I will definitely be looking for this issue as I’m on campus this Fall.

This is very interesting! I too was thinking, “Of course Penn State doesn’t segregate the students,” however I remember that my floors were always filled with white students and the Asians always roomed together and there was only a few minority students on my floors. I’m interested to look at my floor this fall to see if that statement remains true once again. I wonder if predominantly black schools do the same thing for white students (who would be the minority)? Did you get any ‘special treatment’ at your high school? I will definitely be looking for this issue as I’m on campus this Fall.

In response to the lesson 10 lecture, I found various things interesting and thought provoking. First I found Sam’s opening analogy to be very interesting and it was something that I’ve never heard before. The analogy was about a two-legged amphibian and the white fish. The two-legged amphibian represented people of color and was to represent how they live in both worlds. They live in ‘water and land,’ like amphibians. People of color go through the pre-awakening stage early in life and come to know their history and their family and culture sooner than white people. White people are the ‘white fish’ in the story and they only live in one world or the water. It takes much longer for them to go through the pre-awakening stage where they recognize their ‘whiteness.’ I enjoyed Sam’s story of how he discovered his whiteness at age 17 or 18. I would say that I discovered my whiteness—that I was actually a white person, in high school as well. I just remember, similarly to Sam, that I was looking in the mirror after watching television or something with people of color on it. I just remember thinking, “I’m white.” and “I wonder what it is like to be black.” So like always, I wanted to learn more about whatever I was thinking about and so its beneficial that I’m taking this class where I can learn even more about different races.
I also found it interesting that a person can be in more than one stage on any given day. For instance, one day they could be in the revisioning stage, and the next day they could be back in the pre-awakening or awakening stage. However, they still remain in the averaged stage and stay around where they are normally. It was also astounding to me that Asians consider themselves white. I wonder if this is true for native people of Japan too, if they say that they’re white. I also wonder if this is related to the fact that many Asians (like my foreign exchange student from Thailand), use skin-whitening creams. Is it because they want to actually be able to identify themselves as white? And do they then ever leave the pre-awakening stage? Do they forever see themselves as white and not another skin-color or race? I know that the foreign exchange student that I had from Thailand sand that people are looked down on in her country if they are dark-skinned. So they strive to be ‘white’ or lighter and that is probably they tell people that they are white as well. I also wonder if the issue of staying in the preawakening stage is constant in all Asian countries or if it is only found in a few prevalent countries.