en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/759872 Comments by anita61 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-health-care__trashed/#IDComment69984288 Wow this is a great question and after reading the multiple responses posted by obviously ill informed and close-minded individuals I felt like I definitely had to respond to this issue. The responses that really got me upset were from those people saying that immigrants should not be given the same healthcare as citizens. Are you people dumb or just plain ignorant? God this just makes me so mad at the people in this class. Maybe its just some people who feel this way, but that is definitely more people than I thought would be so ill informed. Im an immigrant myself and have healthcare provided to me. My whole family also just recently got healthcare. I did not have healthcare provided by the government until my mom got married to a United States citizen. When I got sick we couldn't afford to go to the doctor. When my grandmother had cancer we had to pay cash while my mom was a single parent in college and working at the same time. We barely got enough money for my grandma to get the operation. If we didn't get her the operation she would have died and it would be the fault of ignorant people like you! We are not illegal immigrants. We came here for a better life and work extremely hard for everything we have. When you ignorant people declare that we don't deserve the same rights because we are not citizens it is just ridiculous. There are many different reasons for why some individuals cannot become citizens. Coming from Russia it makes it that much more difficult. Half of my family is in Russia and my uncle is a general in the Russian military. If the military found out that his whole family(us) became citizens they may renounce him from his position. There are other reasons as well but this is a major one. So before you make stupid remarks you should all get educated about the matter. Also I don't understand why the majority of you think of immigrants as "pear picking, uneducated losers". Are you serious ???!!!! Because most of the doctors, lawyers, and business people I know are immigrants. The people who are providing healthcare for you are themselves immigrants! If it wasn't for them your asses would be sick or worse dead! Wow sorry for the rant but I am just so freaken mad right now!!!! Immigrants are very smart, work hard, and deserve the same rights as you natural born citizens. My family and I are permanent residents of the United States and reside here completely legally. We deserve the same benefits of this country as you do. Do you not realize that your families were also immigrants. They were offered healthcare when they came here weren't they? So now that you are citizens you have the audacity to declare who should and should not be offered healthcare. I don't think so! Those of you who don't agree, I don't care because I know I am speaking for all immigrants when I tell you off. If god forbid in the future immigrants are prevented from receiving healthcare, the blood of millions of people will be on your hands. Im done with my rant, its ultimately up to you to get educated or continue to be ignorant baboons! Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:39:10 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-health-care__trashed/#IDComment69984288 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68390822 Wow where do I start. This class was definitely an eye opener. I never had any doubt that other countries hated us. Coming from Russia I know many people who think of Americans as arrogant dumbasses. Im not justifying their remarks and opinions because I love the United States and the people I am surrounded it. However I understand where they are coming from. The United States shoves their nose into everyones business. Its not like they are trying to help the nations. We don't see them going into countries that would provide no benefit to them. They always go into places that can get them money or an advantage in power. Most of the time the counties arrant asking for the United States to get involved with their problems but the United States gets involved anyway for their own personal gain. I know that the majority of Americans are opposed to the many pointless wars fought in the quest for power but the corruption in our government needs to stop! Soon the whole world is going to hate us, we are getting very close. Im sick of traveling to places and hearing people call americans dumb and arrogant. I understand where the Muslims are coming from. Why wouldn't you defend your home and your oil. If someone came into the United States and started to steal our resources and kill our family members wouldn't everyone feel some way about this? This is ridiculous. All the propaganda going around is also not helping the issue. The videos we were shown in classes of cars being pushed off roads by the United States military, and being shot at multiple times and run over by tanks is absurd. Obviously the people watching this media are shocked and want revenge for such unjust actions. Sitting in the class as if I was muslim and living in Iraq I felt an anger at what the United States is doing. It is ridiculous! Why are we killing innocent people to get oil. It is not ours and we for some reason think its okay to take it away from the people who its rightfully belongs too? What is wrong with us. No wonder there are so many people wanting to kill us. Did you see the amount of people who raised their hand when asked if they would want to kill if they were in that position? I honestly understand where the middle east is coming from. I am not saying that it is okay to kill american soldiers who are good people with families waiting for them at home. I think that the corrupt officials should be the ones being shot at. We need to put an end to this corruption one and for all, or innocent people on both sides are going to continue getting hurt. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:06:16 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68390822 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66903691 Video games are an escape from reality. People play video games to get away from their everyday lives and become someone they want to be in reality. This is why these "rape" video games are so troubling to me. Why would anyone want to escape into a fantasy world of rape. Rape is not a joke, it isn't funny or harmless. It is the same as killing a person. Rape victims experience a lifetime of pain and shame. Why do people want to play in a fantasy that brings harm to other people. I personally think that any video games that involve killing or rape should not be sold. I have to admit that I have played Grand theft auto and shot innocent people to get their cash, but after playing the game I realized how stupid I was. Why would i waste my time in this virtual reality of stupidity when I can live in reality. Why waste your life away in front of virtual characters? Many people think that video games are harmless. This is often true but their are many exceptions. There are so many people that killed family members and other people after playing video games. Virtual reality can manipulate a persons mind into taking stupid actions. I was just watching a show about the youngest murderers and 50 percent of them killed after playing violent video games. They killed their family members to reenact the game and many other innocent people. What has our world come to when a ten year old has the capability of killing his own flesh and blood. I find this completely ridiculous. These rape games also have the potential of bringing on serious consequences. One person made a comment that "after playing a video game it isn't like I want to go out and kill people and have sex with prostitutes like in the game grand theft auto". I understand where this person is coming from but he has to realize that although he probably wont take such action there are many people who cant distinguish virtual reality from every day life. After playing these video games for long enough they decide to bring the fantasy into the real life. This is when the "fun" games that don't seem to be harmful result in fatal consequences. After all the killings that took place after other violent video games I am scared about how this video game will impact society. Will men go around raping women, thinking thats okay? Japan needs to stop producing such horrid games and we as a nation of intelligent people should stop buying them. The only reason these games are still being produced is because there are people who buy them. If no one was interested in this game it wouldn't be on the market. Sat, 10 Apr 2010 00:25:01 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66903691 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/is-quality-the-question__trashed/#IDComment65610388 Affirmative Action, Nepotism and all other types of inequality are just completely ridiculous and must be stopped. I know its almost an impossible task but we need to try. In response to affirmative action evening out the playing field like Sam said I think that often times this is not the case. I am a premed major myself and work extremely hard for my grades. I am constantly studying very hard and pulling all nighters at least two times a week. While my friends are out drinking on the weekends I am busy sitting for hours with my nose in the book. My roomate and many of my other floormates get at least 11 hours of sleep every night meanwhile Id be lucky if I get 5 hours. If I have to work so hard then everyone must be willing to put in equal efforts. It shouldn't matter if the person is a minority or not. When Sam was talking about equaling the playing field I definitely don't think that the playing field is even when affirmative action is used in medical school admission. When students are admitted into undergraduate school they are already placed at equal footing with others. They are allowed to take the same classes, go to the same free tutoring services, office hours, and much more. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities that everyone including any person of a minority to get involved with. This is when we all get to the same position in the playing field. At this point it is up to the efforts of the individual to get ahead and gain admission into medical school. Affirmative Action and nepotism should not be involved in giving people unfair advantages that they wouldn't normally have. I was actually walking home with my black girlfriend the other day after a premed seminar meeting. At the meeting we were discussing the requirements required to get into medical school. We were told that to be competitive we must have at least a 3.5 gpa and very good mcat scores. We were both very nervous that we wouldn't manage such a high grade point average with the extremely difficult courses we are taking. After discussing out concerns for a short while she said " well my gpa doesn't have to be that high. I can probably get by with a 3.3 since im black and colleges want minorities and don't expect grades that high from me. This got my pretty angry. If I have to work extremely hard to get good grades everyone should be putting in the same amount of effort. I understand that affirmative action benefits me as well since I am a white women but I don't want any underserved advantages. Why cant we all be rewarded for our hard work not personal characteristics. Nepotism is when a family member or friend gives some position to someone they know who may be less qualified than others. I feel that this is more fair than affirmative action. A family member and friend have to care about their loved ones. If they trust those people and want to help them out with a position they should be able to do so. However this should not be done in any types of college or graduate school admission committees. This should only be done in a discrete and personal manner. I think in general people need to work for everything they get. When people start taking responsibility for their actions our society will change for the better. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 20:43:46 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/is-quality-the-question__trashed/#IDComment65610388 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment64262225 Periods, Bleeding, Menstruating, time of month, or whatever else you want to call it, it happens! We cant deny it happens, and feel ashamed to talk about it. Like Sam said, if it wasn't for periods we would not exist. So why are we so reluctant to talk about it? Ill tell you why, its because we live in a society governed by men. If we lived in a women's world this would not even be an issue, and everyone would discuss their menstruation openly. I feel in the past women were silenced in many different ways. From not being able to work in many jobs, to being seen as less intelligent their has always been discrimination towards females. Believe it or not I think the "not talking about the time of the month" is also part of this silencing of the past. Men did not want to be concerned with the needs and struggles of women. It was up to women to take care of whatever needed to be taken care of. The men's job was to work and bring home the bacon, the female was supposed to keep everything else in check. The men did not want to sit around discussing how menstruation affects women, and why should they living in a man dominated world? Right? Well time are changing and I think this needs to stop. Women are getting into jobs they never thought were possible. From becoming doctors to engineers, or astronauts, the sky is the limit. Obviously there are still many more obstacles faced by women to get to this positions but it is much more likely to achieve than it was in the past. Why not make it easier for women. Why not keep fighting to take away even more obstacles. One of these obstacles is the openness of the "period" talk. If a woman wants to talk about it she should be able to without scrutiny and if not then thats totally fine too. She should however have the option to discuss this natural process without feeling judged by men. Im not saying that men should be looking at the blood in the toilet, elaborating how "beautiful" it is like Sam does. But you guys need to realize what we go through during this time of month. You may think that we act bitchy or emotional but honestly you guys would definitely act a million times worse if you have blood gushing out of your reproductive organs. So please try to be considerate once in a while. You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for this bodily function, so have some respect. Im not saying to have constant discussions about how heavy your girlfriend is bleeding, but if you notice that she isn't in a good mood try to respect what she is going through and understand. Lets start talking about what affects our lives, therefore taking down the barriers we built once and for all. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:56:01 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment64262225 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment63069803 I completely agree with the point the kid is making. I was thinking the same exact thing when comments like "white snob", "spoiled", "rich", and "blind the inequality", where being posted. These comments were posted by black people who all participated in an uproar overtime a negative comment was posted about them. I was actually even keeping track of the negative comments, and their was a much greater number of negative comments coming from black people towards white people. However, no one said anything, not any student, or Sam. When a negative comment would be posted about black people Sam would get on his microphone and make announcements on how we shouldn't be saying such negative things. When, on the other hand, numerous inappropriate comments were posted in regards to white people nothing was said. Isn't this hypocrisy to the fullest? If black people don't want negative comments to be made about them they should not be doing the same thing to white people. I find it completely unfair and very ridiculous. I think the reason for this difference in response comes from the fact that when something is said about white people it is taken as a joke, however when a white person says something about black people in the same type of manner it is automatically characterized as racism. I personally don't find being called a " rich, racist, snob" as funny and am completely offended by such comments. and are many other white students in the class. I think Sam should bring this issue up in class and see what other students think about this. Why is it okay for one group to post such horrible things through texts meanwhile the others cant. If we are talking about inequality, and are striving to make the world we live in an equal place for all,. everything has to be equal. We cannot pick and choose where to keep the equality and when to disregard it. If one group is allowed to say negative things other people should not be reprimanded for doing the same thing. Until we start to have the same rules for everyone, we will not make the progress we need to make in race relations. Why do black people get to say what they think about white people with no consequences, meanwhile white people automatically get labeled as a racist. This is completely wrong. These kind of actions is what causes us to have a barrier between our races and engage in political correctness. Political correctness takes place because white people are scared to say what they are thinking. They think that they will automatically be characterized as a discriminatory snob who doesn't understand the inequality of the world we live in. I we want to have all the barriers down, as we walk through life we need to break down the barriers that separate us. Everyone should be treated equally and consequences should be equally reinforced. I strongly hope Sam addresses this issue in class, because I personally was really offended by comments black students were writing about white people but nothing was said. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:42:50 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment63069803 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/a-long-long-way-indeed__trashed/#IDComment59978210 The kid poses a very interesting question. What would a slave holder say if they were alive today? Im sure the words that they would say, wouldn't contain improvaland praise. We have come an incredibibly long way to get where we are today. Many leaders and inspirational figures fought very long and hard for the rights of African Americans. They worked for many years to change the opinions of individuals regarding our differences. They truly inspired millions of people. We have made great progress in how we think about people that are different from us. We now understand that the extreme prejudice we had towards African Americans was unjustified and completely out of place. We now show a greater respect for the lives of others and do not treat people like property. African Americans now have the right to vote, and all of the other rights white people have. We now have a black president of the United States. We have definately reshaped our country as a whole. Im sure these kind of changes would shock the slave owners of the past. They would find this completely absurd and foolish. This change of society took many years and is still not completed. There are still many changes that need to be made because discrimination continues to exist in our every day lives.Even though many people choose to believe that discrimination no longer exists and that all of us are equal.This belief, however, is not true. We live with barriers that prevent us from opening up to people that are different from us. When we go to a party, for example, that is held by people different from us we are very hesitant to approach them. The same applies for people of different races, when approached by white people, making them feel uncomfortable. Even though we claim that there is no discrimination, this is not true. Deep inside there are still various barriers that prevent white and black people from adopting children of different races. When applying for a job white people with a criminal record are chosen over African Americans with no criminal record. Both individuals have the same appearances and resumes, however white people still get picked. African Americans and other minorities are much more likely to be charged with crime and imprisoned. History has left a long lasting impact on our society and it will take hundreds of more years to fade away.Slaveholders today would see some of the markings they left behind and will be proud. We need to stop this from happening and change society to the point where these acts of discrimation no longer exists. We need to work together, to fix the world we live in and get rid of the discrimination history left behind. Sat, 6 Mar 2010 03:04:52 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/a-long-long-way-indeed__trashed/#IDComment59978210 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-question-three__trashed/#IDComment58890642 Nothing in particular really comes to mind when I look at you. I guess I would ask how you got to work the presentations for Sam in class. I think that is pretty cool and you do a great job with it. I wouldn't associate you with being a thug, or football player, or rapper. You just look like an average Penn State student, and since you are in this class you are obviously open minded and curious about other backgrounds. Most people in this sociology class are of very accepting nature, and I doubt anyone would jump to any conclusions just based on appearance. People at penn state are very well educated and often stereotypes and discriminatory behavior comes from a lack of intelligence and education on the matter. When I look at you I do see someone athletic because of the way your body is built, but that is definitely not a bad thing. Being athletic is good and you have a great muscular body! It has nothing to do with the color of your skin in my opinion and I definitely don't stereotype you as a football player right off the bat. If some people are intimidated by you, its probably because you are outspoken and get to the point. Many people these days are scared of honest and straightforward individuals. Maybe I feel this way because I come from a very diverse school in New York. I know people of various backgrounds and appearances. I am used to seeing different styles and all kinds of personalities. It ultimately comes down to the point, of how open minded an individual is. If someone is not exposed to different backgrounds they are less likely to be accepting of people different than them and would ask some questions that are very different from mine. These people may assume that you are a thug, or rapper, or anything else. I think people should feel free to ask other people questions about what they like to do and such instead of assuming things right off the bat. You seem to have a preppy style and have a very well mannered speech. all characteristics indicating that you are an average, intelligent penn state student. People just need to get out of the bubble, and open their minds to others, maybe we will ultimately learn something. If people want to judge each other, tan everyone should be judged on the same basis. No one should be judged and stereotyped on the basis of the skin color. So to answer your question of what I would ask you, I would ask you the same question I would ask a white guy in the same clothes standing in front of me. Until the rest of society gets to this same state of mind the deep rooted racism in our nation will never go away. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:46:47 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-question-three__trashed/#IDComment58890642 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/another-reason-why-gay-marriage-matters__trashed/#IDComment57704807 I don't understand why the immigration law does not recognize same sex partners. Why are we tearing families apart? What do we have to gain from such discriminatory and negligent acts. A family is defined as a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not. Please explain to me how a gay couple and their children is not considered a family? One definition of marriage is any close or intimate association or union. Therefore gay relationships form under this classification. I don't understand why people can't accept the choices of other people. Why do they feel so strongly about preventing the happiness of families and try to tear them apart. I myself am very religious. I am christian orthodox and take many aspects of my faith very seriously. However according to the bible each of us commits sins. There isn't one person in the world that hasn't sinned in their life so we shouldn't be looking for the imperfections of others. Each person needs to take responsibility for his or her actions and not get involved in the lives of others. Why bring destruction to happiness and love. The bible also says that we should not declare who is a sinner and who isn't. That is up to god to say, and therefore we have no right to interfere with the lives of people. People need to focus on themselves and not interfere with others lives. There are so many scammers and drug addicts getting married so why cant people that are in love and actually care about each other be together. We really need to do something about this situation. Many gay couples are much better parents than straight couples and are also much better role models. In this video, a family that is living a regular life is bombarded with obstacles thrust upon them by society. The mom in the family was even handcuffed bringing sadness and distress to all her loved ones. This happened because the immigration law doesn't recognize same sex partners. This is ridiculous. Isn't church and state supposed to be separated. So why do we have all of these restrictions on gay marriage? Where are they even coming from? Right now the United American Families Act is part of the effort to allow same sex partners to petition for their partners to get citizenship. Hopefully this act will get passed so that at least the biggest obstacle in the way of gay couple happiness can be overcome. 36,000 couples are being separated by all of these laws.We are taking away the happiness of so many people. This has to stop once and for all. Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:43:11 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/another-reason-why-gay-marriage-matters__trashed/#IDComment57704807 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/why-is-the-conversation-always-about-black-and-white-people__trashed/#IDComment56576302 I completely agree with the statement that " it's black and white everywhere". I feel that almost every conversation ends up like an oreo cookie starts with black and then gets into the whiteness. When people end up talking about race they discuss the many problems experienced by black people and the injustice thrust upon them. Slavery, and political injustice in relation to income and education is brought about throughout our discussions on racial inequality. What happens after we start analyzing all the wrong that has been brought upon black people we look for those responsible. This is when we start taking a bite of the white middle of the oreo cookie. We see white people as being responsible for all the wrong doing. Black people are seen as the victims and white people as the victimizers. This should not be the case. Why does every conversation have to be about how white people are making it hard for black people to succeed in the world. I agree that slavery was a horrible thing and all the images of black people being abused is horrific. Although this is horrible we cannot keep blaming white people forever. There are many white people who fought for slavery to be abolished and without them slavery would have still existed. There are many other races that have experienced great injustice. Millions upon millions of native americans where killed as their home land was taken from them. Why don't we talk about the tortures they had to endure? Everyday individuals do various backgrounds face discrimination at work, school, and in their everyday lives overall. Why do we only focus on the discrimination endured by black people. Why is it when we hear the word "racist" we automatically assume that the person hates black people when in reality it can be racism towards individuals of other races. We have become very narrow minded as to what we talk about and the problems of race we bring up.Why don't we bring their pain and suffering into the light. It is not fair that the conversation is always about black and white people. Why cant it be about native americans, or spanish people? I am not saying that we should not discuss issues regarding black and white people but we shouldn't forget other races. They have also suffered a great deal and we should respect them enough to bring their issues to the surface. Lets make the familiar oreo cookie into more of an m & m cookie with different races as pieces on top. Everyone has the right to be heard. Whether you are black, white, native american, spanish, or anything else your voice is important. Every individual has a story to tell and we cant make judgements based only on what we see in the media these days. Lets take the time to educate ourselves and look at what really is happening in todays world. Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:12:41 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/why-is-the-conversation-always-about-black-and-white-people__trashed/#IDComment56576302 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55529385 Avatar, Avatar, Avatar!!!! What is all the buzz about? I remember all my friends getting all excited about the film. Everyday they would talk about how the movie would come out in only a couple days. The movie theatre in my neighborhood even decorated the whole movie theatre in these "blue fantasy people". There were other great movies out like Sherlock Homes, but everyone was just going crazy to see this movie. So finally my friend convinced me to go with her to the movies. As we came through the doors she started begging me to see Avatar. I initially denied but then decided to give it a shot. As we got to the cashier she said 18 dollars. I was in shock, the usual 10 dollar movie in New York is intense but 18 dollars, really!? I remember looking at my friend and saying there is no way I'm going to see some random blue people jump around with a white guy trying to save the world. We settled on ice-cream and went to see Sherlock Holmes instead. Since I didn't actually see the movie, I cant really comment on what it tries to portray. David Brooks certainly has his view points that he feels strongly about. I did see Pocahontas and really liked the movie. I guess I might have liked this movie too but it was just not worth the money. I feel that David Brooks makes some good points about the "White Messiah" plot in many movies. Pocahontas definitely had this aspect in its story line. I find that almost all movies have this in common though, yet people go and see them. We don't look into the tiniest details in every movie and try to find its flaws. Why is there a fuss about Avatar then. Ill tell you why. Its because millions upon millions of dollars went into its production. A great amount of people went too see it and the commercials about it filled our tvs. I have came to the realization that a majority of movies have the same characters in need of rescue from the "white messiah". It is up to the producers and directors to create the plot and take it where they want to. Everyone goes and sees these movies, and many people of various backgrounds saw this movie. They did not see anything wrong with it. The director is trying to appeal to what people want to see. Don't you think that since the directors all do the same thing that is what people are interested in? That is what makes sense to me at least. If people enjoy seeing this movie there is no reason for David Brooks to critique it so harshly. I have many friends that aren't white see this movie and they loved it. We just need to relax and stop overanalyzing every little thing. If people want to spend 18 bucks to watch some blue creatures running around then let them. Fri, 5 Feb 2010 21:32:14 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55529385 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/i-guess-it-pays-to-learn-a-bit-about-other-people__trashed/#IDComment54419044 There are many different religions in the world today. Whether it is Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or anything else, religion comes with a great deal of different practices and rituals. Even those who are not religious will benefit from understanding these practices. That is definitely one of my reasons for taking the Sociology 119 class. I myself am a religious Orthodox Christian. I pray before I go to sleep and when I wake up. I go to church and pray for 12 hours straight on holidays like Christmas and Easter. My house is filled with portraits of Jesus and other saints. I understand why the boy started to pray on board of that plane. Every time I board a plane I also pray that god helps me and my family get home safe. I don't use teffilin of any sort since I am Christian, however I hold my bible and say my prayers. Some religious practices are just better known than others. When people see a bible most are aware that it is a book of religion. However when the people of the plane saw the boy wrapping himself in teffilin they did not know what to think. That is why I feel it is very important for people to educate themselves regarding religion. This would help them better understand the beliefs of others and decrease the stress of unfamiliarity. I however understand where they were coming from. We live in a time of constant terrorist attacks all around us. September 11th was just around the corner and many tragedies take place everyday. This has caused us to become very concerned with our safety. I am also from New York just like the boy. I am very familiar with the teffilin ritual because I constantly see people participating in it on the streets of New York. For people who are not from such a diverse area this may seem very bizarre and threatening. At a time like this the slightest bit of doubt in an individual's mind can cause a big commotion. In this case it was just a boy engaging in a prayer, however what if it was something more? What if there really was a threat to the lives of innocent people? The flight attendant did the right thing when she reported the boy. When the plane landed everything was straightened out without any problems. The boy will now be more aware of the feelings of other individuals and therefore avoid problems in the long run. The passengers also learned about a different aspect of the Jewish religion and will not be worried next tome they see it performed. Overall I believe that everyone has the right to pray on board of an aircraft. It just needs to be done in a more discrete manner of saying prayers. The ritual of the prayer can always follow when one gets off the plane and gets home. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 23:46:33 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/i-guess-it-pays-to-learn-a-bit-about-other-people__trashed/#IDComment54419044 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-r__trashed/#IDComment54089008 anita Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:31:17 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-r__trashed/#IDComment54089008 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2009/11/the-solution-to-the-race-dilemma__trashed/#IDComment53271135 Race is defined as the physical or biological characteristics of a person or group. A dilemma is usually seen as an undesirable or unpleasant choice. Our society knows the definitions of both terms, yet still groups them together. Why do individuals see their own biological characteristics as a problem? They go searching for solutions to something that is natural by characterizing it as a flaw. Our society as a whole constantly searches for imperfection lacking the base for judgment. We have reached a point at which we are not satisfied with our own skin color. Whether one wants to get darker or lighter we trap ourselves in the constructions of foolish thought. I don’t understand why people are changing who they are. Why is white seen as “perfection”? Can anyone enlighten me? Of course not, because everyone has their own ideas of what an ideal person should look like. I was shocked when a student from my sociology lecture used a skin-whitening product today. At first he seemed hesitant to try it, however the pressures of the class eventually overwhelmed him. As he rubbed the cream onto his hand, he lost a part of his identity. If we continue to trap ourselves under the “hype” of so called perfection we will eventually lose individuality. Is that what we really want? Why can’t we all realize that god created us the way we are. There is no need to change our appearances to fit a mold that doesn’t exist. It is in human nature to desire something we don’t have. Whether it is the perfect body, or the color of our eyes we keep trying to make ourselves look a certain way. I know many people that wear colored contacts to make themselves look different. Why do people think its okay to wear colored contacts and not okay to change the color of ones skin. It is all the same thing. Hypocrisy constantly governs our thoughts and decisions. I guarantee that most people who are against skin lightning are wearing colored contacts. They are changing their eyes from brown to purple and many see this as normal. We need to change the way we think about altering our appearances. When will we reach the point when “enough is enough”? People are wearing wigs, getting plastic surgery, and now changing the color of their skin. Will this quest for change ever end? Can we accept ourselves and be comfortable with the features we have? I was stunned when I saw the picture of the Asian woman’s transformation to a white individual. If I were to see her on the street after this change I would never recognize her. She has totally changed what she looked like to an extreme degree. I wonder if she still knows whom she is when she looks at herself in the mirror. Did she lose herself completely in her strides to fit the norm? How does her family feel about this transformation? So many questions arise when I look at the words before and after under the images of two completely different people. In the end we cannot stop people from changing who they are. It is ultimately their decision. I just hope we don’t reach the point when we completely lose our identities and our loved ones. Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:16:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2009/11/the-solution-to-the-race-dilemma__trashed/#IDComment53271135