I think that having so many advances in social media can help us in many ways. We receive information that keeps us from danger much quicker than we ever have. It helps us with work, efficiency and social interaction. I also think it is vital is crises. A century ago, we would have had to wait for the newspaper to tell us the next morning of last night’s events. Now, we can simply check twitter and read a news sources constant tweets. However, I also think social media can also be a very scary, dangerous thing. The riot that occurred the other night was entirely based off social media. One tweet leads to another and next thing you know Beaver Ave is full of students. The worst part about this riot is that no one really knew what they were rioting. There are so many mixed emotions involving this case that most people who attended the riot actually felt bad about being there, because they were not respecting the victims. I know that I went to the riot just to check it out. I did not do anything. I simply stood there for 30 minutes before I returned to my dorm room. That is what the majority of people were doing at the riot. When I asked people why they came, they said they were reading about it on twitter or facebook and didn’t want to miss out. I find this phenomenon very prevalent among Penn State students, and probably people everywhere. FOMO—as my friends and I call it or Fear of Missing Out. It’s the same thing when all your friends go out and you don’t want to stay in because you’re afraid something really fun will happen and you will miss out on it. As far as the riot, people just don’t want to miss if anything “epic” happens. As weird and twisted as this sounds, we are making history right now. The riot was a moment in time that will be remembered forever and people want to be a part of that, even if it is for the wrong reason. I also think this has a lot to do with the bandwagon mentality—one that social media promotes. Since “everyone” is doing it, so should we. If there was no facebook or twitter, people would have their own opinions and not be so easily swayed by others. Upon hearing about Joe Paterno being fired, many students would have been upset but would have had no desire to yell about it on Beaver Ave. Cue social media and a few angry kids starting a trend across the university. Even though everyone wasn’t angry, people want to jump on the bandwagon and be angry like these few vocal tweeters and facebookers.

I don’t usually feel uncomfortable when people are talking a different language around me. Maybe its because I think they are probably not talking about me since I’m sure they have better things to talk about. However, even if they were talking about me I wouldn’t be bothered. Talking about people i.e. gossiping is a universal human trait. If these people were Americans they would simply wait until I left the room to start talking about it. I know that a lot of people feel uncomfortable at nail salons because they think the Asian women are talking about them. I genuinely don’t think they are. They are probably discussing what they want for lunch or what they did last night and would just rather discuss it in their native language instead of a second language that would probably take a lot longer to speak and process. I can see it from their perspective because I plan on going abroad next year. I am considering going to Italy or Spain and although I took four years of Spanish in high school, I am nowhere near a proficient speaker. In Italy, I would know literally none of the language so I feel like even if I tried to learn it, in both of these countries I would be speaking English to my fellow students. I would hope that foreigners wouldn’t be offended. If you think about it I would be in a country where everyone speaks a different language so they could potentially all be talking about me. This is how foreigners must feel in the U.S. They aren’t going to cater to us worrying about them talking about us, because that is probably how they feel everyday. I also don’t mind when there are signs in other languages like Spanish. It’s not like there aren’t also signs in English. The Spanish signs do not negatively affect me in any way and I don’t understand why people are so against them. I think that some people are just inherently racist and don’t even realize it. I think that if people don’t have any racism in them they almost wouldn’t even realize these signs or people speaking other languages because they would be entirely accepting of all other races and cultures. As we talked about the 6 steps in class, I think people at steps 5 and 6 would be more accepting of this. Since most people are not in these steps, most people are even a little bit opposed to foreigners and their actions. I am certainly not yet at either of these steps and although I don’t really mind people speaking other languages I do feel like I judge them for it or think lower of them because they don’t speak English. It’s not something I am proud of but it is just a latent thought.

I think it is very interesting that one day white people will be in the minority in the United States. We are so used to this being a white-centered society that I don’t know if that would change. White people would still be in power even though there are less of them. It would take many, many years for the power to switch. However, I think day-to-day life would change immensely. As a white person, I don’t think I would feel as comfortable in my everyday life. If I am constantly walking into rooms and environments where the majority of people do not look like me, I think I would be a different person. I would probably not be as outgoing and not be as much like myself as I am now. I would have to work hard to assimilate into the other cultures that I am surrounded by. I think that I would finally realize how minorities are treated now. I would understand what it is like for minorities to walk into interviews today. They walk into a room full of white people and constantly feel different. If white people are the minority then the room will probably be filled with people of color. I will be the odd one out. As a white person, I can’t say that this doesn’t freak me out a little. I guess I have become comfortable with my position as the majority. Although the minority judges the majority, it doesn’t matter as much because there are less people doing the judging. Once a larger group is judging me it will probably take a larger tole. It is similar to peer pressure and bullying. If one or two people are bullying you, you can brush it off. But, if a large crowd begins to outnumber you, the bullying becomes severely detrimental. On the other hand, maybe if the white people become the minority there will be more equality in the world. There will no longer be a need for affirmative action or special scholarships for ethnic people. Things like that will hopefully become just merit-based. The most qualified person for the job will get it. This is obviously in an ideal world but I think once white people become the minority we will get closer to this ideal. However, the reverse could also happen and we could begin to receive special privileges for being white since we are now the minority. There will be scholarships for whites only and colleges will want to boost their number of whites attending. This could be used to my advantage, but I also believe that if any of these changes occur it will happen over many, many years. I will probably not live to see them play out.

I think that if a person hangs out with all people who are a different race than themselves, there could be a variety of reasons behind this. I don’t think this person is necessarily a poser because there could be different circumstances. We are too quick to judge or label someone the “token black guy” or the “token white friend.” I think that sometimes, someone may have grown up in a culture where people of a different race surrounded them and this is truly all they know. Take for example, my town that is predominately white. The few black people I was friends with were only used to having all white friends, so they thought this was completely normal. If they went to college and continued to hang out with all white people, they would not be posers, they would simply be continuing to do what they have done their entire life. Some people might say that they are trying to “act white” but in reality they are just acting the culture (white) that they have become assimilated to. Another example is one of my best guy friends here who joined a “white” fraternity and he is black. He grew up in Long Island in a very mixed town. His best friends are a mix of races, but he went to a catholic school with mostly white people. He is used to having a mix of friends so upon coming to Penn State he looked into the “black” frats and didn’t like how it didn’t have all different races. Instead he joined a “white” fraternity. Although it is predominately white there are a few Asian brothers, an Indian brother and a few black brothers. Andre likes this better than just a “black” frat because he was brought up assimilating to all different cultures and races. I think there are situations when someone can be considered a “poser”. If someone has grown up all their life hanging out with their own race and then suddenly tries to switch and fit in with the other race, they may be considered a poser. If they try to act how they assume the other race would act but they are not being themselves, then they could definitely be called a poser. With that being said, I don’t think there is anything wrong with trying to hang out with different races, especially when you come somewhere like Penn State which is very diverse. It is okay to try to hang out with them, but you should still try to be yourself. One can learn from just observing and not trying to force yourself to be like this other race. If you hang out with them enough, you will pick up on how they act and it will come naturally. I don’t think this is being a poser at all.

I don’t think gay inequalities will be diminished before racial inequalities. I think that if anything, racial inequalities will be eliminated first. I think that we are already on our way to diminishing racial inequalities. Think of how far we have come form just a half a century ago when black were treated as second-class citizens. They are now widely accepted in communities. Interracial marriage, while looked down upon by some is also accepted. Gay and Lesbians are treated as a sort of second class citizen and I believe that someday it will be more normal to have a different orientation other than straight, just like it is normal to be black or brown. I hope that someday there aren’t such strict categories. If someone is attracted to their own sex, they are not necessary “gay” just like if they are attracted to the opposite sex they are not labeled “straight”. People will just follow their desires and if that means have relations with the same sex or the opposite sex so be it. I envision a day when someone will ask you if you’re dating anyone. They will then ask if it’s a girl or a boy. I think sexuality is actually that ambiguous and in a time far, far away, it will be perfectly normal to be attracted to one or both sexes. However, I don’t this will happen for several decades, maybe even centuries. In the year 2011 people who are attracted to their own sex cannot even marry in most states. Until this hypocrisy is eliminated from our government, no change will occur. Even then, we would have to wait until our generation has died off and a new generation entirely ignorant of a time like ours lives. They will have heard of a time when gay people couldn’t marry, but it will seem very odd to them. This is just like how I have heard of a time when blacks were second-class citizens but it seems very weird to me since some of my best friends are black and brown. This is why I think racial inequality has a better shot of being diminished sooner. I know my Grandfather grew up in a very segregated time and definitely has some latent racism in him because that was simply how he was raised. Once his generation has passed, and even my parents’ generation who lived in the civil rights movement have also passed, there may be a chance of racial equality. My children’s children will hopefully read in history books about how blacks were discriminated against and be in awe. They will be involved in mixed race relationships and friendships. They will not be able to imagine treating their best friend of different race how their ancestors in the history books did. I really hope there is a time when both racial inequality and gay inequality will be another topic in history class, but unfortunately I know I will probably never live to see the day.

I thought the bike thieves’ video was very interesting but also not very surprising. I think there is definitely a stereotype against black people thinking they steal things. The media perpetuates this. I can think of several movies and TV shows that have young black males stealing in one way or another, whether it be a car or a piece of candy. It also speaks to the socioeconomics of our country. Because there are many poor black people, we assume that all black people are poor and therefore would steal a bike. I’d like to say that if I passed the black actor stealing the bike I wouldn’t assume he was stealing it, but I think subconsciously I definitely would. I grew up in a town that was mostly white and we had one apartment complex called the Depot, where a lot of low-income black people lived, so my mind goes directly to this stereotype of black people. I, however, probably would not have reported the theft if I saw the black guy or the white guy. I have a certain amount of apathy when it comes to things like that and I would have hoped that someone else would call 911 or go to the station. I think this is definitely a bad thing that I wouldn’t do anything about such a theft, but I think the American public, as a whole, is very apathetic. We are always assuming that other people will do the right thing, and that we don’t have to. I also found the girl thief very interesting. I could not believe some males were actually helping her steal. This was shocking to me. I know that beautiful women easily sway a lot of men, but they went as far as being an accessory in a crime. I think it speaks to how sexist we are as a culture. You didn’t see any females stopping to help the boys steal a bike. Again, the media perpetuates this sexism. TV and movies are filled with scantily clad women. This promotes sexism and allows males to treat females in a certain way. It also allows females to act a certain way, i.e. the bike theft. It was okay that she was stealing a bike because she was pretty and was showing a lot of cleavage. I thought it was very interesting that the females did not allow it to happen, however and they seemed threatened by her as all of their male partners were hitting on her. This is another way that sexism evades our culture. Females have to fight for attention from males and must wear less and less clothing to do this. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian promote this idea.

I watched videos on the Blaise sisters. They are both struggling to make a living making clothing in Haiti. Clorene makes bags and other clothing. She cannot make a lot of clothing very quickly because she only has eight employees. She has very little resources but uses the ones she does have in a very unique way. She uses old jean material to create handbags. I think this is very innovative. I think it is hard for these people to compete on a global scale and sell their apparel outside of Haiti because other countries can create clothes faster because they have more manpower and resources. I think that Haiti needs to boost their economy, however it seems it is difficult to do this because they have so few resources and money. Living in the U.S. I feel that I have been very sheltered. I don’t even think twice about how products are made and whether or not the people selling them are getting enough money. It think this apathy is very prevalent in American youth and even Americans in general. We are so focused on our own daily problems, and even our national problems. We don’t even worry about other country’s struggles and don’t realize how much worse off other people have it in the world. When Sam said in class that the poorest 10% of Americans have more money than two-thirds of the world, I was floored. Sometimes you see ads on TV and realize that people are struggling, but it doesn’t really hit home. Watching these videos really emphasized to me how much Haitians are struggling. Anaes is trying to sell her bags for up to $40 because she has to pay so much for resources. I understand her logic, however some of those bags just won’t go for that much. I think that if we help the people of the world who are struggling like this, particularly in Haiti, we could really boost their economy and help them out. Maybe we could sell resources at a reduced rate to these people just so they can get a jumpstart on their production and their profit. The American government could also start a public relations campaign encouraging Americans to buy foreign goods to help a nation like Haiti. There was so much support for Haiti when the Hurricane hit I feel like there would be plenty of support now. Universities could also sponsor trips to Haiti and have students see first hand how these entrepreneurs are struggling. They could even go down for a summer and be an extra labor force. We need to help the countries that are less fortunate than us. We should be doing it out of our own compassion, not to better our nation’s economy or help us in any way.

I think welfare is a very interesting topic. I have always thought it was generally a very good way to help those who are unemployed. In the recent years, unemployment rates have been so high, I’m sure welfare has been very helpful to many people. I know that my dad was laid off in the early 2000s after the dot-com companies crashed. He worked for a high power company that helped people network online. There was so much hype surrounding the Internet, they were able to capitalize upon it and my Dad was able to make quite a bit of money. Sadly, after two years he was laid off. Although my mom works he is the main “breadwinner” for my family. My parents hadn’t saved their money well in these two years; I remember we had gone on several vacations in those two years. We did not have to go on welfare, but I remember times being very tough for us. We had to cut down on many things and I learned to live a completely different life. My dad couldn’t find a job for almost a year. I understand what it is like to live in an “unemployed family”. I think this is why I have an appreciation for welfare. However, I do see the other side to the argument. I understand and definitely acknowledge that some people abuse welfare. For many, getting payments not to work is the perfect way to live. IT makes them less motivated to find a job and they could last on welfare for several years. This is definitely detrimental to those who actually need to be on welfare and are fighting to find a job. They are taking up money that could be going to those who are actually motivated. Still, I don’t believe welfare should be done away with. I think instead, those on welfare should be closely monitored. Similar to probation officers, there should be officers who check in on families on welfare and make sure that they are looking for a job. They could even set them up interviews and help them network. This would even open up more jobs for people. The other solution is to offer welfare to less people. If there is less money to go around there would be less a chance of people abusing this money. However, since most of the people who are on welfare are children, it probably would not be a good idea. There should also be more prerequisites. People who should automatically get welfare are those who are mentally or physically disabled. In the end, I have mixed feelings about welfare and I’m not sure if I can provide the perfect solution. It is a topic that I will probably wrestle with for years.

When Obama first began running for president and really came into the spotlight, I identified him as an African American. Although I have generally liberal views, I think the thought of having an African American president was very intriguing to me. I wasn’t old enough to vote in the 2008 election, but I would have voted for Obama. In reflection, I’m not so sure if I would have voted for him because I agreed with his views or just because I wanted to see the long string of white presidents come to an end. Overall, I think it is good for our country to diversify our leaders and it would have been just as monumental, or even more so, if a female such as Hilary Clinton had taken office. Dating back to the American Revolution, this country has prioritized white males and they have almost always held positions of power. President Obama is the first person of many (I hope) to change this tradition. As Obama’s presidency went on, I learned more about his background and race. I learned that he is actually a mix of races and has white blood in his ancestry. This did change my opinion a little, although it probably shouldn’t have. I realize now that many black people have white blood in their ancestry. However, at the time, I guess I had less respect for the movement he was creating. While I was glad there was a president with mixed race, I was sure that one of the former white presidents had some mixed race in their blood from many generations back. The fact that he is mixed race does not really affect my opinion on his politics or his decision-making. I generally side with democratic decisions and though he has struggled to bring our country out of the recession, I agree with a lot of what he has done in the white house. I specifically commend him taking away the don’t ask, don’t tell rule. I think that although he did not deliver on some of the changes he promised as president, he has done an overall good job. However, if Obama was white I’m not sure he would have won the campaign. I think the black population in America had a lot to do with encouraging others to vote for him. Also, the youth, who are generally more open to diversity had a huge amount to do with his win. I know that my grandfather, an eighty-eight year old man who is stuck in his racist ways did not vote for Obama simply because the color of his skin. If Obama was white, he might have had a vote from my grandfather, and others like him, but he would not have had any from those ready to instill change.

Although I grew up in a predominately white suburb, I am very open to relationships with other races. This is different than most of my friends however. Whenever I have talked about it with my best friends from home, they have said that they have no problem being friends with other races but would not date someone from another race because they are simply not attracted to other races. While this might be true, I also think that since the only people of other race in my town were black and impoverished, my friends saw all people of other races this way. Although there are very intelligent and wealthy black people in the world, all my friends had been exposed to were the African Americans who lived in my town. I guess my view on interracial dating is different because how I was raised. My parents have always taught me to be open to people that come from all ways of life. From a young age, I have always been accepting of those different than me. Also, my aunt who is white and extremely catholic actually married a Muslim man. I grew up with him around and have always called him my uncle. Maybe seeing this relationship made me open to similar relationships. I have never dated anyone of a different race, partially because I live in such a white town, but I am definitely open to it. Coming to Penn State, I have met so many people of different races and my absolute best friend at school is actually a black male. To me, the color of his skin does not define him at all. His girlfriend is actually white and they seem to be very happy. They have, however, faced some difficulties. Her parents didn’t like that they were dating. Although they never said it, they might have subconsciously not liked the color of his skin, because they never came up with any other valid reasons to dislike him. Interracial couples definitely face scrutiny in society. It is a much easier road to date someone of the same race, but if I truly fell in love with someone of another race I would pursue it. The uphill battle we would have to face would hopefully only make us stronger as a couple. I also think that my friends from my hometown are slowly realizing this as well. As they have all gone to college they have been exposed to many more races and have realized that the only kind of attractive isn’t blonde hair and blue eyes. One of my friends studied abroad and fell for a Spanish man. Technically, this is another race. For a girl who said she would only ever date white guys, she has definitely come around.