After the lecture about illegal immigration my thoughts have changed. Although I still believe we need to get illegal immigrants out of the country this lecture mad me realize how much we need them. I understand that they come here and want to better their lives but why can they come to the country legally. We cannot have immigrants coming and going as they please after 9/11 we need to secure the borders to stop terrorist and drug smugglers from coming into the U.S. Growing up I always thought of immigrants in a negative way but I knew they did all the dirty work that lazy Americans do not want to do even if they are on well fair. I fell that Sam made the class realize the positive effects immigration has for our society. People need to realize that when you are poor you will do anything to provide for yourself and family. When I TA Eric told us his story about how his dad helped him and his family get into the U.S. I made me realize the measures people are willing to take just to get here. Businesses will always need workers and the illegal immigrants are always willing to work for cheap. If I was a business owner I would do the same thing, it is smart. Illegal immigrants that get caught in the U.S should be deported and they should not be given rights because they are not U.S. citizen. I know way back when I had ancestors come here but I was born here and I am a U.S. citizen. When Sam showed the class the picture of the illegal immigrant who was attacked by the dog I did feel bad for him but he should pay his own bill not the taxpayers. Taxpayers should not have to pay for illegal immigrants. As horrible as that my sound to some people they are not U.S. citizens they showed become a U.S. citizen. I would not want my tax money going towards an illegal immigrant medical bill when we have so many other problems that tax money is need for. I do realize that immigrants come here to take away jobs they do the jobs that lazy Americans do not want to do. They come here to better their life. If I were born in Mexico I would definitely do the same thing as some many other illegal immigrants. Why not this is the land of opportunity. This lecture definitely opened my eyes and made me more educated about immigrants in general. Most immigrants do come to the U.S. to stay here they want to make money and go back home to their families. I think most of society is ignorant to this fact.

When Sam should the video to the class, I think it opened a lot of people’s eyes. Sam has always talked about how the Native American Indians are experiencing the longest lasting genocide. After watching the video of Native Americans in the North Dakota Reservation I realized how bad of a life they have. Every person that video seemed to hate life and live a miserable life. The statistics Sam showed the classes definitely shocked me. Like the fact that people living in Haiti are living a better life than Native Americans, are you kidding this is the land of opportunity and they people that lived here first are the poorest people. The government thinks giving Native Americans casinos will solve all their problems but actually nothing has gotten better a most Native Americans are alcoholics. The life expectancy rate of Native Americans is lower than Haitians. It was hard to watch when the family was pushing the car so they could have a TV to watch. The statistics of Native American women are twice as likely to be raped is shocking, I bet no one in class new that statistic before Sam told us about it. The U.S. needs to give back to Native Americas and more than just an apology. They need to somehow get Native Americans out of poverty and on the same playing field as everyone else. Affirmative Action should be in set in place for Native Americans because these people are the ones that are the poorest in the country and live a rough life. Giving Native Americans a small reservation land is doing nothing at all to help them. People that considered themselves humanitarians should ask themselves what have I done to help Native Americans. When I was watching the video I did not seem like this was taking place in the U.S. it seemed like it was being filmed in a third world country. I love the Dave Matthews song, don’t drink the water, because it is true and it is a good song. To make is even worse Sam put up all the derogatory names that people call Native Americans. Most of these names I never heard of, I knew of redskins because of the Washington Redskins. This got me thinking; if I were a Native American I would hate the fact that sports teams name their team after my people and especially derogatory names. If I were a Native American I would demand that sports teams change their name. Name a team after Indians is in no way honoring them. What has been done to the Native Americans is not what the land of opportunity is all about. If anyone thinks differently they should put themselves in theirs shoes.

The War in Iraq has always been a sensitive topic for me because I lost a loved one in the war. A roadside bomb killed my uncle and I will never forget the ultimate sacrifice he made for our freedom. When Sam brought this topic up in class it got me thinking, I always try to put myself in other people’s shoes but I never did it with the Middle Easterners living in Iraq. I did change my opinion about the war and made me realize that they are all not bad people over there. Just like in the U.S. there is people that are extremists just like over in Iraq. This part of the class I thought it was very interesting and eye opening. What got me so angry were the videos of the soldiers doing wrongful things to the Iraqis. Sam is smart enough to know that is not how all soldiers act in the war and it is just a few rotten apples not a rotten barrel so to speak. When soldiers enroll into the Army, Marines, etc the only thing they are aloud to bring with them with them beside what the government is providing them is a bible. Soldiers on their free time will read scriptures and become more religious. I have a cousin over in Iraq and I was talking to him on Facebook and he told me he is doing fine but for the first month of his tour he was living day to day. This is no way to live, the little free time the have and especially during war soldiers will read the bible because they know at anytime it can be their life that is over next. So I have to say I was shocked when Sam tried to make it seem like this is a religious war. I know he had quotes from former President Bush, but like Sam says he is a knucklehead. Sam doing this just reminded me of all the other crazy liberal teachers and tries to come from extreme points of view to get their point across. He did open my eyes but I think he could of left out the religious war or crusade part, to me it sounded totally ridiculous. What this war is really about is the three-letter word, oil. Oil is what this war is about the terrorist made the U.S. go to war with the 9/11 attacks. We always need the oil but the U.S. would have never been over there if the terrorist extremist never attacked us in the first place. While I was putting myself in their shoes, I came to realize that I would not be mad at Americans I would be mad at the extremist that caused all of this to happen.

In today’s economy, if you are smart, you should want to know another language. I think its essential to know another language if you have a job in business and like Sam told use in class Spanish is the most spoken language in the United States. For economic reasons like today, in my grade school we had to learn Chinese but they decided after I graduated to make the students learn Spanish. In high school I learned Spanish and I like the language. When I got to college and figured out that I want to major in Crime, Law and Justice, I thought it would benefit me if I knew how to speak Spanish fluently. Since I am interested in law enforcement I want to be able to communicate with Spanish speaking people. Also it would make me more valuable to the law enforcement employer and it would give me a high paid salary. My Spanish is not perfect yet, I can understand it very well but my speech is my weak point as of now. I still want to learn as much Spanish as I can after I graduate just because I think it would be cool to know another language and be able to communicate with people in another language. At my work back home in Philadelphia, I work with a lot of minorities. I work with Indians and Haitians; I try to learn words from each language, especially the curse words. Haitian is hard to learn, pronounce, and it definitely takes a lot of practice. The few Indian words I have learned I have mastered. When I talk to the older women in Indian they love it and they think I know more then I actually do but I can tell that they appreciate they I try to communicate with them in their language. My aunt is Norwegian and grew up in Germany as a kid and teen. Obviously my aunt and her parents can speak Norwegian and now my aunt is teaching her daughter, my cousin, how to speak Norwegian. When she was younger she could understand every word in Norwegian but she could not speak it. Now she has started speaking words in Norwegian and it is amazing how much this little girl has made progress. My roommate studied abroad in Spain last spring semester. During Christmas break he bought the Rosetta Stone for his computer and he told me it helped him so much. He was able to communicate with local in every situation such as bars, clubs, restaurants, etc. Like Sam said in class our country is becoming more and more globalized and more diverse so I recommend that everyone tries to learn a different language and learn more about a different culture.

In todays economy, if you are smart, you should want to know another language. I think its essential to know another language if you have a job in business and like Sam told use in class Spanish is the most spoken language in the United States. For economic reasons like today, in my grade school we had to learn Chinese but they decided after I graduated to make the students learn Spanish. In high school I learned Spanish and I like the language. When I got to college and figured out that I want to major in Crime, Law and Justice, I thought it would benefit me if I knew how to speak Spanish fluently. Since I am interested in law enforcement I want to be able to communicate with Spanish speaking people. Also it would make me more valuable to the law enforcement employer and it would give me a high paid salary. My Spanish is not perfect yet, I can understand it very well but my speech is my weak point as of now. I still want to learn as much Spanish as I can after I graduate just because I think it would be cool to know another language and be able to communicate with people in another language. At my work back home in Philadelphia, I work with a lot of minorities. I work with Indians and Haitians

Personally, I would not marry someone of a difference race, ethnicity, or religion. This being said, it does not mean I do not have friends or family friends that are of a different race/ ethnicity or religion. I respect all races and religions, I am just could not see myself marrying or committing the rest to my life to someone else of a different race or religion. Some people on this post said that they would wonder what there parents would think, say, or act. Knowing my family they would not judge me on that, they would respect whomever I would want to date or marry. Ever since I was young, call me old fashion but I think the same race/ethnicity should stay with the same race/ethnicity. When I see people that are in a interracial relationship I do not give them weird looks or judge them I just could not see myself like that. What I am attracted to is a women of the same race and religious beliefs as me and I do not there is anything wrong with that. Most of the time religion and ethnicity go hand in hand so if you are religiously tied that you cannot marry someone outside of your ethnicity. When Sam brought up the example that when a interracial couple is walking down the street would you call them a sell out, I would have to honestly say no. I know attractive women of other races that I would love to date but marriage is a different story. I do feel like I did marry a person of a different race I would get sick of all the looks, comment, questions because I would get sick of it, why wouldn’t they just let us be and except us for who we are. As people become more educated and more open about race, I think there will be more interracial marriages. If racism ever dies off, I think it will, people will become more accepting and less ignorant. What I think it comes down to for me is comfort, who do I feel comfortable with, and that would be someone of the same race as me. If you cannot be comfortable around the person you love and you cannot be yourself then the relationship could not succeed. With the whole religious part of the relationship, I do not want to change my religion to something else, I do not want not want to change my religion to something I do not believe in. I like the religion I am it makes the most sense to me I not the perfect Christian but it is the one I agree with the most. All this being said this is how I feel now I am not looking to get serious any times soon but I would not be shocked if my wife was a different race.

I think affirmative action is a good idea but it does have its both positive and negative sides. Affirmative action helps those that are at a disadvantage and helps them live a better life style. Affirmative action gets rid of white privilege and gives everyone an equal playing field when it comes to finding a job. What I do not like about affirmative action is that it is based on race. As a society we need to stop making everything black and white. Employers should take the best-qualified people for the job the skin color should not be the determining factor. An employer should not take someone who is less qualified if they are a minority just it discriminates against a white who is qualified for the job. I feel affirmative action gets rid of work ethic because jobs hire minorities out of necessity instead of them being qualified and the best fit for the job. Affirmative action but makes up for all the discrimination from the past and prevents it from happening in the future. Affirmative action tries to do any with the superior race and make sure every race has an equal opportunity. Affirmative action is a way to take action and put an end to racism. I do not believe that affirmative action has gone to far to correct racial injustice. The Civil Rights Act was enacted to for programs such as affirmative action in order to stop racial discrimination that minorities were facing daily. Affirmative action does not only help minorities better themselves it helps them move up in their social class and also helps those who have disabilities. Affirmative action creates a neutral playing ground for those that have had disadvantages in the past do to race and discrimination. It also makes employers get rid of inappropriate qualification standards and preferential treatment. I like how affirmative action benefits unprivileged minorities get into college so they can better themselves and get a job and move out of low-income status. Although affirmative action eliminates racial discrimination it is not a cure all there is still discrimination and there is still people that have hatred for others. I think minority women also greatly benefit from affirmative action. A lot of jobs hiring these days are looking to hire women so minority women defiantly benefit the most. When I think of affirmative action I do not think of those minorities as lazy, I think of past injustice. The minority teachers at Penn State are beneficiaries of affirmative action. As a society I hope one day we can move on from affirmative action in the way that face is a factor when getting into college or job, not the deciding factor. Colleges and companies should be diverse because that is how the real world is and people need to know how to be respectful of everyone does not matter of their race or gender.

In todays society I think people are more racist toward Muslims then blacks. We are currently at war with extremist Muslim terrorist so I think that plays a major part in why society is more racist toward Muslims. These terrorists are people that have no regard for human life so when a Muslim is at the airport and they get searched because of past event such as 9/11. All the Muslims get put into the same group with the terrorists even though they are a different religion. The U.S. does not want another terrorist attack to happen so they need to have such high security. Do I think it is fair that every Muslim gets checked in the airport no but we need to think of the bigger picture and that is safety for everyone living in the U.S. For me I have reason to not trust Muslims. This past Presidents Day marked the 6-year anniversary of my Uncles death. He was a special agent for the Air Force and was killed when a roadside bomb blew up the bus. Before people judge me, put yourself in my shoes. I never had anything thing against Muslims before this happened and I still do not I just have a distrust of Muslims. At my work back in Philadelphia I have friends that that are Muslim and they are good hard working people. I am proud that of my Uncle making the ultimate sacrifice and I am so proud that he did something that most people thought was not worth fighting for. I think America has come along way with racism towards blacks. We have made a lot of progress but racism towards blacks is still not completely gone. Barrack Obama is the president who is half black and white, he was hope and motivation for blacks all over the U.S. I do not like how Sam Richards makes everything black and white when in my eyes I do not think it is that way. When cannot fully move on the past wrong doings people make everything either black of white just except people for who they are not the color of their skin. I hope that one day there will be no discrimination but I am a realistic person and I do not think this will be possible due to racism. I think there is a difference between discrimination and patriotism. There is nothing wrong with having pride for your country and standing up for what is right and standing up against those who try to bring us down. Sam Richards showed us the video in class about the Muslim women being discriminated against when she was trying to get coffee from the coffee shop. Discrimination like this is wrong but this goes on more often then everyone knows. I know if I was in the coffee shop I would of said something to the store clerk for not serving the Muslim women.

I am in the middle of the road with this situation. But I have to say I learn more toward that fact that there is more police in urban areas. I come from a family on police officers so I know the ins and outs of police work. Police officers make arrest based on their discretion. Some police officers discretion is not prefect but most time the time their discretion is justified. The reason I am in the middle of the road on this because of New Years of this year I was beat up by a black police officer when I was trying to get my girl friends jacket. I did not do anything to get beat up so that is why I understand both sides. But people need to understand that police officers enforce the laws that politicians make. After police officers make an arrest in the courtroom the prosecutor is the one who has the most power in the courtroom not the judge because the prosecutor is the one that decides what the defendant gets charged with. Police officers take unnecessary heat all the time, what other job requires having a gun on you at all times. I live in Philadelphia where police shootings as horrible as it is, is a common thing. Eight police officers were shot this year alone in Philadelphia. To take back the order in the city the police officers have to be tough in order to arrest these horrible criminals. Cop killers do not belong on the streets they belong in prisons. As a criminal justice major I have studied tons of research. In my juvenile class I learned that blacks mature sooner than whites. On average blacks start puberty at the age of 10 were whites start puberty at the age of 11. This head start of going through puberty means a whole year of deviance before whites hit puberty. This also means that blacks have a bigger chance of getting a record than whites. Statistics show that blacks are the ones that commit the more serious crimes. Most drug dealers have a job front on deal out of their business. In Philadelphia blacks hang on corners dealing drugs so it is easier for police officers to arrest the black drug dealers and users. I think another fact that leads to the high arrest rates of blacks is society. Society puts them in a situation were they do whatever it takes to live a good life even if that means committing a crime. I have to disagree with Sam Richards when he says whites have white privilege. But I do think there is some racism but you cant put it on the entire law enforcement. In every barrel of apples there are some rotten apples.

I think free will and determinism both factor into why I am here at Penn State. My mom is one of nine and grew up in a poor neighborhood called Olney in Philadelphia. She worked hard to get good grades and paid her way through high school and graduated from nursing school. My mom is a hard worker and applied herself to succeed. My grandparents had strong family values and instilled them in my mom and she did the same to me. My dad is one of seven and grew up in the same neighborhood we live in now called Fox Chase in Philadelphia. His mom was tough on the boys when needed to be but never thought they did wrong. His dad was tough and wasn’t afraid to punch of the kids that got out of line or got him mad. Growing up my dad tried not to be like his father so when it came to disciplining me I hardly got hit. My dad also went to Penn State is very a smart man. He joined the Philadelphia Police Force at the age of twenty and he moved up the ranks quickly becoming the Sergeant of Homicide. My dad has to brothers, my uncles, which went down the wrong path with drugs. So growing up I always knew the long run effect of people doing drugs and how it ruined families. I am young for my grade so I hung around older kids a lot, some of them got into drugs and a few of them have died from overdoses. Growing up and seeing the effect of drugs on my family members and friends help me with my free will to stay clear of using drugs but it also help me to determine the people I associated myself with and those who I didn’t. Growing up I loved playing sports and after high school when I realized when I wasn’t going to play sport anymore I realized that I need to go to school and get good grades to make something of myself. My mom always told me “if you want to play hard you have to work hard”. I am born and raised in a white working class neighborhood. I live a good life but nothing was given to me, I had to earn everything that I have. When I was in high school my parents also encouraged me to go to college but at on point I didn’t want to go to college so they told me to go to trade school etc. They were always supportive and gave me good advice to help my future and me. When I finally grew up and applied myself I started getting better grades. I got myself into Penn State and I haven’t looked back. I am graduating this semester with a degree in Criminal Justice and I am doing an internship with the U.S. Marshals this summer in Philadelphia.