And also I forget what exactly sam was saying about the picture he showed of one person standing by a bunch of unharvested crops, but if their were immigrants willing to do the job that wouldn’t have happened and that food would not have gone to waste. Why is it that american’s feel they are too good to get dirty and have a “not so prestigious” job ? What makes us all think we are better than that? Money is money right? … I may have gotten alittle off topic of the question, but I just started typing and its what came to mind

But there are stories behind these people. They are not all drug traffickers or criminals (besides the fact of it being illegal to cross the boarder) many of them just want to make a better life for their family. I don’t see the harm in letting people come work for a year to earn money for their family and then leave. Like sam said many of them don’t even want to stay in the United States they just want to make money and then go back home. And why should it really matter, I mean work would be getting done a lot cheaper and probably at a better quality. Americans are lazy for a lot of the part and I think having hard workers come and work for cheap would make people here in the US work harder and try to keep their positions. (not saying that the immigrants would take high up positions). Just in some cases.

I’m sure they didn’t have a green card. But then we claimed it as our land and just start making up rules and regulations. Granted rules are necessary. Sam always finds a way to open my eyes to things I never saw before or even took a moment to think about. Humans are bizarre creatures. I don’t know why but I keep thinking about that video he showed us earlier in the semester about how we are all just a bunch of monkeys. A lot of the times we don’t even ask why we are doing things that we do In our everyday lives we just do it. I wonder how much people really think about illegal immigrants more than just “Mexican trying to jump the boarder”. I mean I suppose, before this class, if I were to think about immigrants I would think about it as many people probably do… just poor ‘mexican’ trying to get into our country

I guess the thing is, is that I haven’t really even thought that much about illegal immigrants. I don’t think I am shocked that it is businesses that have so much influence on the illegal immigrant situations, I mean obviously if the immigrants are looking for work and will do it cheap it only makes sense that the business world has a hand in it. I do find it interesting though, after talking about imiigrants as much as we have in class this past week, that it’s almost silly. What I mean by that is, I never really stopped to think about what it is that makes it illegal. Like we talked about in class we are here because somewhere along the line our ancestors were immigrants. When the Europeans came over and pushed the inidians out of their land.

I think it was a great way of showing how it is to be in someone else's shoes. Throug hout his lecture I could actually feel myself getting tense because of how things seems to upset me. I would never have thought to think about the Middle Eastern people in this way if it wasn't for Sam. I also realized during this particular lecture how much I don’t pay attention enough to the news and what is actually going on. I had no idea that the war was based so much on oil. I assumed a lot of it had to do with the incidents of 9/11. Also another thing that really got to me was at the very beginning of class when Sam talked about a hypothetical event. He flipped the switch on us before we even knew what he was doing. When he asked how we would feel if China just started to come over here to get coal because they NEEDED it. How would we feel if they said it was just the way they were used to living and had to have it. At that point I started to see where Sam was going. He then asked the class who we thought should be in charge of the coal if this situation was actually happening. The answer was the peoples whos land it was on. At least it should be under control of the country which it lays. I do understand that the US needs/wants more oil and we need to keep a good supply for how much it is used. But to be at war over it, it seems so crazy. When we were asked to be middle eastern people during the lecture it really opened my eyes, and im sure many other students eyes to what is really going on. For one, we only see what we want to see. Regardless of where we are from or what we believe, usually it is easiest to believe what is being presented on the news or to feel rage when a friend sends an email about our enemies. (in our case during class, it was the Americans) But most of the time what you see isn’t even all necessarily true. If you were to research more into what is being spread around you would probably find that it was a rare case that you just witnessed through video via email/tv or what have you. This also made me realize (which I have been more aware of lately) but just because we are at war with a country doesn’t mean that all of their people hate us or are out to get us. I feel that those people who do seem to still appreciate or have good feelings toward that US are better people than I am. If a country was at war with my homeland because of something they want to take away that is rightfully ours I really don’t think I would have a hard time coming to terms with them in any nice manner. I don’t know if I would say it was his BEST lecture there are quite a few lectures that I really enjoyed of sams this semester but it deffinetly was unique and really made me think. When people say put yourself in someone else’s shoes you can try and imagine but it is very rare to get the impact that sam made us experience in class on Tuesday.

I am going to have to say, I am not sure what other white girls may think about this subject. Some of the responses that I have read above seem mixed about it. I understand the whole some families wouldn’t accept it and some girls don’t want to be judged in their “small” town but if you are attracted to someone regardless of skin color I say go for it. I am a white female, grew up in a small town around state college, very “hick” town with very “hick” people. I don’t know how they would act if I brought home a black boy, I’m sure they wouldn’t say anything to my face it is one of those towns that they might not say anything directly to me but after I walked by with a “black boyfriend” I would guarantee smart remarks and disgust.
I have never dated a black guy, and I think If I did it would take me some time to bring him around my family, my dad would throw a fit. But if I really liked him my family would just have to get use to it, and I’m sure they would. So my answer to this question is definitely YES. I would date a black guy. I actually have been finding myself very attracted to black guys when I pass by them or see them in classes. However I would never have the guts to every say anything to that person. I don’t think that it has anything to do with race, I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone that I found them attractive just randomly in a class or whatever. If I was in a party setting though I am sure I would flirt with a black guy if the opportunity would arise, and just see how it went. Pretty much the same thing I would do with a white guy.
Also on this topic, this questions asks about dating a black guy. I have answered that and while thinking about it have come to the conclusion that I would date a black guy. But I think my thing lately is wanting to “experience” a black guy. Like I can’t deifier if I am attracted to black guys recently because I would want to date one or just “hang out” with one. I find something very intriguing about black guys. This has been a recent discovery within myself, but none the less it’s there. I will also add though, that I find black guys intimidating too. I don’t have very many black friends (not that I wouldn’t want black friends), but I’m just not around them enough to not be intimidated or uncomfortable. People tend to stay in their comfort zones, and it just isn’t one of mine yet. However if a black dude would approach me and I found him attractive I’d be all about getting to know him and hang out with him.

I think it comes down to preference for every person with any relationship. But as a white female answering this question I would say, girls like guys approaching them regardless of color, and you don’t know if she is against dating outside her race. So I say, if you find a white girl attractive tell her, my bet is she may be just as interested but doesn’t have the balls to say anything. (clearly, that is the man’s department anyways regardless of color :)

The video that we watched about the black and white babydolls was extremely upsetting. I mean racial issues can be upsetting to think about at all. But to see such small children think of color of skin as bad or good the way we saw, was so shocking and just the feeling I got when watching it was,well i dont even have words for. I am white and as sam said white people usually dont even realize they are white till later in their lives. I cant imagine feeling so horrible about my skin color at such an early age. What do they think they will be able to amount to if they are already thinking so lowly of themselves. It is just a terrible sad thing to see. I was thinking the same thing about parenting when the girl said about it coming down to how the parents are with their kids. But after sam said that it doesn’t matter how much a parent says their child is beautiful and perfect and special etc. the girls are still usually never happy with themselves. I agree that it is deeper than just the parenting for sure. Also thinking about cartoons, when it was brought up that kids really don’t see black cartoon characters that has to obviously play a role as well. How can something like this be helped? If parents are telling their daughters they are beautiful, and we put black cartoon characters on tv and give them multi cultural dolls to play with etc. and that still isn’t helping where does the issue start? In a blog I wrote about previous in the semester I am not sure which one it was but I mentioned that I have heard that black women tend to be more accepting of their body and have a better body image than white girls on average. (I am not saying I agree with this it is just something I have heard before in HDFS classes that I have taken here at PSU)… and I guess after seeing these thing in this class I don’t understand how that can be true. I really don’t know how I want to say what Im thinking but…if color is such a strong factor in somethings like (bad and good in the dolls) how can anyone learn to look past it enough? Is it always on a black persons mind that they are black. I cant imagine having something like that always being on my mind. Like its unfair that they have to be burdened with something that seems to effect them so much. Before this class I also really truelly did believe that there really wasn’t much racism anymore but after seeing how businesses, banks, and housing changes just due to peoples skin color it really shocked me. It is just sickening.

3) If we consciously were to choice a seat and know we are thinking about who we want to sit by and why, then we are more likely to chose the “politically correct” seat. This is going to sound ridiculous but, I am not sure who it is that I would rather sit by or not sit by… but I do know that if I was consciously thinking about it and knowing that we choose to sit by certain people because of the way we may feel about them or their race etc. then I would probably pick to sit by someone that I would actually not sit by at all. It would make me feel like I was doing the “right” thing.

2. If someone were to ask me if I was prejudice or felt that I discriminated against others, before this class, I would most deffinietly say that I don’t discriminate at all. But after listening to some of Sam’s lectures it is hard to say. Consciously I still do not think that I hold any discrimination or prejudice towards anyone or group in particular. However I am sure that there has been times that I didn’t realize I was judging someone, or treating them differently when I actually was. It is kind of scary to think that our minds may be playing “tricks” on us. When we are consciously thinking we usually try to come up with the “right” answers all the time and do the “right” or “accepted” thing. We have all been hypocrites when answering questions others may ask us, but maybe we are just the same hypocrites to ourselves. Sometimes it is easier to lie to ourselves about the way we may feel, which is where these subliminal subtle thoughts and feeling come into play. It is the only way to actually be truthful about some things

1. Before Sam’s lecture Tuesday I have to say that I do not think I ever thought about who I was sitting next to. Most of the time when I come into class I am a little late so I find an open seat or have my one friend save me a seat so I pretty much just go wherever. After his lecture I started to really think about what kind of subliminal feelings or things I may do without ever even knowing it . I suppose it is something that someone else would really have to point out to you about yourself. It is really hard to analyze what you do on your own. However even though I found myself thinking about why I may or may not sit next to someone right after his lecture, later I noticed that it still didn’t cross my mind prior to sitting in a seat. It just seems like it is the natural thing we do we just pick a seat and sit there. It is very interesting to think that we are making choices without even realizing that we are doing so. Like how many times have a chosen to sit by someone because I was “judging” another person with an open seat by them without even knowing I was doing it.