en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/3109306 Comments by bplion09 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/30/week-8-%e2%80%93-lesson-14-affirmative-action/#IDComment170432226 Just like you this lecture got me thinking about how much nepotism has played out in my own life. I too have received jobs and opportunities through my connections. I have alway agreed with the phrase "It's not what you know but who you know" and after this weeks lecture I have grown to resent it. We have turned into a society where you don't get ahead based on merit, but on other factors like race and relationships. This puts undeserving and incompetent people at the top and for the first time I've realized how monumental this issue really is. Wed, 6 Jul 2011 22:02:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/30/week-8-%e2%80%93-lesson-14-affirmative-action/#IDComment170432226 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/30/week-8-%e2%80%93-lesson-14-affirmative-action/#IDComment170430130 Right from the beginning of the lecture, Dr. Richards caught my attention. I never thought of Affirmative action from more than one perspective. I always saw it from the position of it benefitting African Americans and people of other races rather than giving everyone an equal shot at various opportunities. When Dr. Richards said that most beneficiaries are white women, I was really surprised. Also, I never thought of the connection linking Affirmative Action to white men. It is amazing that most people judge it based on principal rather than how it is actually affecting their lives. The next topic of Nepotism is one that I fully agree with but never really thought about before. It’s crazy how conceited we are without even realizing it. And when I say that I definitely don’t exclude myself from it. I never really thought about how many times I have undermined someone else’s abilities based on irrational ideas. Before taking this class I always thought I was super open minded and really underestimated my own ignorance in regards to other races, religions, and people in general. The thing is that nepotism plays such a big role in our day to day lives when we don’t even think about it. I realized that little things like who we sit next to or we choose to be our friends or who we give any sort of chance to can all come down to nepotism so it is really something interesting to think about. Even after watching the lecture I still haven’t decided where I stand with Affirmative Action. If I had faith that people in our society were fair minded and didn’t judge based on race or name than I would say get rid of it but we can’t give everyone the benefit of the doubt that makes this a tricky subject. I feel like AA is being used to correct the mistakes of the past. We are giving minorities a new advantage to make up or everything they were against before. It is good because it does provide minorities with opportunities they may not have received otherwise by at the same time it undermines their intelligence. Instead of rewarding them based on merit, it is now because of skin color or gender, and I see this as weakening to the progress of our society. Education is where we can start to correct this problem. By creating educational institutions that are level in status across the nation we can insure that everyone is offered the same opportunities from the beginning. Wed, 6 Jul 2011 21:54:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/30/week-8-%e2%80%93-lesson-14-affirmative-action/#IDComment170430130 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment169456472 I agree with the points you made in regards to the video of the guy ranting about immigration. I too see that immigration has become a part of American culture and see it as a trait that sets the United States apart from other countries. The eclectic range of races, religions, and cultures is what makes up the US. I felt the overall theme of Dr. Richards lecture was to draw attention to the hypocrisy that is involved in people rejecting illegal immigration. I agree with you about improving the regulation of immigration. Perhaps levitating the intense rules to get visas so that more people immigrate legally and we can keep better track of them. Mon, 4 Jul 2011 00:19:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment169456472 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment169453477 Out of all the lectures so far, this week's lesson about Immigration had me thinking about my family's migration from India to the United States the most. My parents moved to the United States with my oldest sister in the early 80's. The move was possible for them because of family and friends that had moved here previously and were able to help my family out with a place to stay and temporary employment. My parents are legal immigrants but I never spoke with them about the process they went through in getting their visas. I can imagine the process was tedious and costly so I can imagine why many people forego the legal process and resort to illegal immigration. I am in no way saying I agree with illegal immigration but I can definetly understand why it occurs. There were many points made in the lectures that caught my attention. I understand how big of an impact immigration has on government and the economy but I didn't know the scope of it until now. It is pretty clear that illegal immigrant contribute to our society by taking on minimum wage job and working for less than any American would accept. This shows how our businesses manipulate the system and put our own citizens at a disadvantage. I was unaware that illegal immigrants paid taxes by stealing social security numbers. The fact that businesses would accept the wrong social security numbers once again shows how much the immigration system is manipulated. Dr. Richards made a point to comment on how different cultures are brought over with the immigrants and how this is one of the reasons immigration results in such animosity amonst Americans. My parents worked hard to learn English once they moved here and go back to school. I agree that immigrants must learn to assimilate into this society when they make the decision to migrate, but I think the collection of cultures and beliefs that have made their way to the United States is one of the things that really sets our country apart from the others. Mon, 4 Jul 2011 00:02:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment169453477 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment168154996 I completely agree with everything you said about the LGBT. I find a lot hypocrisy in the reason people give towards why they disagree with same sex marriage. I read on somebody else's post that they didn't understand how homosexuality was nota choice. They claim that since people get married and then divorced and say they are gay that it must be a choice. I liked that you said many people haven't had exposure to it so they don't know because I feel like that is exactly why some people realize it later than others. Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:01:43 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment168154996 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment168150136 This week’s lecture was really interesting. It is pretty obvious that the United States is one of the most diverse countries and multiculturalism is a big part of what sets this country apart from others. When Professor Richards spoke about multiculturalism he mentioned it is expected that by the year 2050 the population of white and other races will be almost equal. This estimation really makes me question what the future of racism, xenophobia, and ethnocentrism lies. We have already come so far with our societies acceptance of other races in the past few decades so this leads me to believe we are moving in a really positive direction. Like Prof. Richards said, the increasing globalization is doing wonders for business and cross country communication. The increasing amount of people moving not only to the U.S. but also from here to other countries is all serving to make the world a little smaller and the citizens a little more worldly. With this being said I can also understand how some people would see it as breaking up cultures. Many times people feel they understand a culture because of how it has been brought here or by who they learned it from but its possible that the customs were changed. The topic of human sexuality is becoming increasingly prevalent so I’m glad Prof. Richards took the time to speak about it. As college students and especially or us at such a large university we are often faced with so many different experiences and people that allow us to learn more about ourselves. Sexuality is a big part of that. I am not surprised that the majority of students support same sex marriage. I feel like at a school like Penn State we are able to meet so many different people and make so many different friends that we are almost forced to be more accepting of race and homosexuality. I think its great that more people are opening up to same sex marriage. Personally I just have never been able to understand why so many people are so aggressively angry about something that doesn’t even have any effect on them. Many people think its wrong because it inhibits child birth. I on the other hand think it is great because there are so many children in this world without parents and a home. Multiculaturalism and LGBT are topics are very similar in how they are effecting our society. Both are increasing in prevalence and with that I hope in acceptance as well. Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:36:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment168150136 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/22/week-6-%e2%80%93-lesson-10-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-people-of-color-stages-1-4/#IDComment165908987 I found the point about Asians claiming they are white really interesting as well. I am Indian but have extremely fair skin and I guess because of that I don't look like your typical Indian. I have been confused for a number a different races but it is mostly Hispanic. My family would even joke around when I was little by saying I was adopted. Despite this, I think the acceptance of different races in my community was what made me proud to be Indian and not pretend I was something else. Your MTV True Life example of this really made me think about that. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:50:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/22/week-6-%e2%80%93-lesson-10-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-people-of-color-stages-1-4/#IDComment165908987 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/22/week-6-%e2%80%93-lesson-10-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-people-of-color-stages-1-4/#IDComment165906863 There were a lot of interesting things covered in this week’s lecture that got me thinking. One of the first things was the correlation between popularity, grade point average, and race. When Dr. Richards was discussing this study and how colored people must manage their whiteness I felt like in a lot of ways he was arguing that colored people can almost choose which stage they are in. It is as if colored people ‘act’ more white, they are choosing a different stage- the pre-awakening stage where they assume they are white. He says that the pre-awakening stage is not acknowledging race, but we can only do that for so long until we are forced into awakening and must come to terms with the inequality and differences there are in our society. I thought the experiment on children and whether they chose a colored or white doll was especially interesting. It made me think back to when I was a young girl and went to buy dolls. I realize that most of my dolls were white, but I do remember getting especially excited when I found a doll that was tan or looked Indian like me. If I were to guess I would have thought that girls typically picked dolls that looked more like themselves so I was surprised to see that they typically picked white dolls and find it really sad that they dislike their own skin color enough to do that. The commercials about housing for different races were also really sad. I find it crazy that that kind of racism still exists and people an base so much just off of a name or accent. I did have a question this though. I’m curious to know which stage people who have undergone racism are in. Clearly they are past the pre-awakening stage because they are forced to acknowledge race but the resentment they must begin to feel towards other races is what confuses me. After that he spoke about whether Penn State is ‘too white’ or ‘not white enough’. I have had this conversation a few times now and I have always been surprised by what other have to say. I personally have always felt like Penn State is extremely diverse. I’m not sure if this is because I have a diverse group of friends or what, but a lot of people I have spoken too say that it is actually one of the least diverse schools. I went to a pretty large and diverse high school so it is weird that I still see it as a diverse college. I guess the only reason for this is because Penn State is so large that it is hard to tell. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:42:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/22/week-6-%e2%80%93-lesson-10-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-people-of-color-stages-1-4/#IDComment165906863 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-3-4/#IDComment164411323 I can definetitely relate to a lot you said i your post. My freshman year I lived in supplemental and I had one white roommate and two Asian roommates. I thought it was really cool to have tow Asian roommates and always listened as they told me stories about China and Korea and I too never used Asian as a descriptor for them. But people who came to our room would always ask if it was weird to have two Asian roommates. Being an Indian, technically I am Asian too so I never knew how to answer that question. But it definitely made me think about all the times racial descriptors are used unnecessarily. You mentioned that the awakening stage can lead to white supremacy. Personally I think these days white supremacy is something lives on mainly through beliefs that are passed down in ones family and can diminish with the awakening of one generation. Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:58:15 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-3-4/#IDComment164411323 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-3-4/#IDComment164404059 I found this weeks lecture especially interesting because I feel that out of all the lectures so far, this I the one I’ve been able to relate to the most. One point that drew my attention was Dr. Richards’s discussion on guilt. I think guilt about race is something that most people have dealt with whether they be white or of color. Although he has discussed Native American genocide before this was the first time I have actually thought about what could have happened on the land that my house is on. I am not white but his lecture did the trick in revealing the guilt I feel towards people of other races who have been mistreated in the past. I think that these days individual people, white or not, don’t necessarily feel guilty about their own actions but about actions of their ancestors. Dr. Richards also covered this in his explanation of patronizing and paralyzing. Today more people deal with patronizing for others. But paralyzing guilt fills ones life so easily in the smallest ways. With one innocent comment or action, depending on the way it is interpreted, you can quickly be labeled as racist. And when this happens just once, just as Dr. Richards says, it can keep you on edge. I’ve noticed a lot of irony when it comes to this almost to the point when I sense at reverse discrimination or the ‘reversal’ stage is becoming a prevalent theme in our society. After the Civil Rights Movement, we as a society seemed to be moving in the right direction but at some time did we pass the point where we viewed ourselves as equals and into a place where discrimination and racism when in two directions? Examples of this include stereotypes turning into jokes, people of different races starting to make fun of white people, and in other cases race just being a topic of taboo. With the all resentment that white people must be feeling right now as described in the lecture, then I’m curious to see how race relations will develop in the next few decades. Another point of the lecture that really stuck with me was the video about the twins who sang about white supremacy. Growing up, my parents never pushed Hindu beliefs down my throat or tried molding my views on the world and about other people. Instead they encouraged me to explore other races and cultures. This being said I find it interesting that these girls have such strong beliefs about white supremacy and during their interviews they seemed so ignorant and like they didn’t really know anything historical about what they preached. It made it pretty clear that racism lives on mainly through what has happened in the past and the lingering resentment of our ancestor’s actions. Once we can move past this, guilty feelings and passive attitudes about race will diminish. Sun, 19 Jun 2011 23:20:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-3-4/#IDComment164404059 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-1-2/#IDComment162912249 I had a similar experience to yours in light of Dr. Richards lecture. I too felt thrown into the "awakening" stage after listening to it. But unlike you I am not white so I thought it was interesting how many different effects this lecture had on people of different races. I understand why he explained the first two stages in terms of white people because we are here in the United States, but as someone who isn't white I found myself examining both sides of Racial Identity-- format he "white perspective" and the "people of color perspective". While I did this innately, I am curious to know if white people had the same response to his lecture and looked at his points from various points of view. Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:06:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-1-2/#IDComment162912249 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-1-2/#IDComment162910331 Although this lecture is all about identifying ones self as a “white” person, I am not white, I am Indian, so with every point made I tried my best to understand it and then analyze it from the point of view as an Indian. I also tried imagining myself as a white person on a different level than I have before. I realized that being an Indian plays such a larger role in my life because I live here in the United States. I think about it all the time whereas if I were white I would never really notice it since that is the norm. This led me to discover that we only learn to define ourselves in terms of what sets us apart relative to where we are. I think I know myself and my own character based on observations I’ve made in respect to those people around me, but it I instead grew up in India I would think of myself as different. This is interesting to think about because I know I would in essence still be the same person with the same family, physical traits, and basic morality, but my attitude towards others and how I perceive myself would be drastically different. I feel like this is ultimately what Dr. Richards was trying to get across through his lecture. I find it interesting that we use the term “white” to describe people too. While writing this post and trying to compare myself with some who is white I feel a little ignorant that I am comparing a race with the a color of skin and not another race. This makes me question if its even harder for “white” people because its harder for them to really know who they are. In general people don’t say I am German, Irish, British, etc. They say “I am white” Whereas people from other cultures embody their ancestry and describe themselves as Indian, Korean, Hispanic, etc. I feel like this commonality and habit is almost the reason most people find it hard to break through the Pre-Awakening “barrier”. Over all I think I got a lot out of this lecture. I learned the importance of exploring yourself not only in respect to your immediate environment but the world as a whole. I find this especially important because I live in a country where that is not my heritage. I realized that my whole life I’ve been identifying myself and an Indian living in America, and not as an just an Indian from India. Hopefully through the next few stages of Racial Identity, this will be easier to do. Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:59:01 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-1-2/#IDComment162910331 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160819629 I found this week’s lecture especially interesting. I think our own success is something everybody should assess. A lot of people take their own fortune for granted and fail to appreciate how much luck really does play into where we get in life. After Dr. Richards ran through both free will and determinism, I do think it is all situational but I believe everybody encounters both. Unfortunately, there are children born in poverty in third world countries and in most of their cases their bad fortune (including as stated in the lecture both geographic terrain and actions of their ancestors) will inhibit the positive outcomes of any hard work. This situation doesn’t punish the individual because of their race but because of their luck and the fact that their position inhibits hard work from being effective…which may go back to them having bad luck. Consider me extremely ignorant, I know to an extent we all are, but from personal experience I’ve seen both sides of the spectrum. My parents moved to America with barely any money and with hard work were able to make something out of themselves and provide my sisters and I with everything we would need to succeed. With us being Indian, you would think they wouldn’t achieve as much success as they did. On the other hand I have a cousin who is eager to pursue an acting career. He has found luck doing small theatre shows with his highlight performing on Broadway’s Les Miserables, but his path to success has been a difficult one and he is still struggling. A lot of this has to do with his race and the lack of parts available for Indians. I find it hard to pinpoint any few causes or proofs for inequality even when you think about individual cases such as the ones I described. While I do believe racism exists I see the patterns in the statistics diminishing in the next few decades. From my experience as a student, I see all of us working extremely hard and given the same value of education here at Penn State. It is such a diverse school but I have seen students of so many different races achieve the success they aimed for. One thing I do agree with is the inequality that exists with the justice system here. The idea of criminality being associated with people of color is a common trend. And I agree with the fact that this often has to do with the fact that slum areas are mostly populated with people of color. Ultimately racism does exist but when someone has the right amount of luck and hardwork, they are able to achieve the success they yearn. Thu, 9 Jun 2011 02:36:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160819629 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160804270 I liked your post and that you ran threw all of the instances Dr. Richards stated where racism leads to inequality. I feel like I didn't give it too much thought until him and your post laid it all out with these examples. I can appreciate that you admitted to your ignorance as a child when using terms such as "jungle fever". I am Indian and as a young child I too would say things that could be interpreted the wrong way without those intentions. I now realize that its so easy to say things or have underlying racist thoughts even if you don't mean to. And that could be the reason why these patterns of racism occur in our society. Thu, 9 Jun 2011 01:12:33 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160804270 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159753344 I thought your post was very interesting. I found it especially interesting that you stated that your Asian friends had parents who were their motivation to do well in school. I think that rather than biological differences being the factor that makes one group more intelligent than the next, it is our histories. Because it is more likely that Asians had relatives and ancestors who made numerous sacrifices and struggles to get to the United States and enjoy its opportunities, education and making the struggles be of worth is a value can could possibly be a factor in why their IQ and household income is higher. In this respect it is not due to biological differences but social differences. Sun, 5 Jun 2011 23:45:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159753344 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159749067 I found this lecture especially interesting mainly because of my own family’s history and our financial status. Both of my parents went to college back in India where they grew up. After they had my oldest sister they decided to make the big move from India to here. AS they make it a point to tell me whenever possible, they came here with little to no money and their only resource was my uncle who had moved here before they did. They stayed with him and despite the education they received in India had to work minimum wage jobs. Somehow, three daughters later they were able to build themselves up to everything we have now. They were able to send each of us to college (two of us being out of state students at Penn State) and are able to give us all everything we need. It is interesting to hear the statistics and facts presented in Dr. Richards lecture and then compare them to my own family. Because of my perspective it is hard to explain my parent’s success through anything except hard work and dedication but it is interesting to think that there are fundamental qualities due to our race that may account for it. Despite what statistics may say, I find it hard to justify race for one person being smarter or stronger than the next. The description of Biological, Socio-Psycho Cognitive, and Socio-Structural causes helped this case but I still find some unbelievable. In some cases the physical attributes seem justifiable due to the evolution of man in different physical conditions around the world, but as for intelligence, I don’t understand that point. Socio- Psycho Cognitive inequality, just like Biological inequality, may be another justification that I could see possible. One of the things I thought about when this was discussed was the movie Crash. One of the characters is a black man who goes on and on complaining about society and racism. He claims black people get in trouble with cops more merely because of their skin color. His character is a hypocrite because despite his complaints, he himself is a criminal and steals cars. He justifies his actions by saying that society put him in that position so he fulfills his role. Many people justify their lack of success on society when in reality it is due to their own laziness and lack of drive or motivation. My parents story helps me to believe that even with the bare minimum and fighting against so many odds, it is possible to create your own success and disprove societal norms. Sun, 5 Jun 2011 23:31:19 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159749067 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158313764 While reading your post I found a lot of similarities with what we got out of Dr. Richards lectures. The beginning of your post about us sometimes being narrow-minded is exactly how I felt about the lecture. I especially agree with your ideas on reevaluating traditions that may have become outdated and backwards in comparison to the forward movement of society as seen with the Catholic Church. The last thing I liked about your post was the end when you described the misinformation spread through the Internet. With sites like YouTube that are especially popular amongst the youth, it becomes easy to believe what you see in videos and at the same time become ignorant because of what you don’t see. In order to learn from videos it’s so important to watch them from both perspectives. Wed, 1 Jun 2011 21:14:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158313764 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158305580 I've always viewed myself as a pretty open-minded person and have always refused to group all Muslims into one overarching category as aggressive and violent people. And even though I try to disagree when people claim attacks are stemmed from Muslim beliefs and the Quran I have always tried to think of what else would drive such hate. Dr. Richards put a lot into perspective with his Christian Invaders lecture. I am neither Christian nor Muslim so I often find it hard to relate to either viewpoints but living in America makes it easy to be biased and makes it almost impossible to understand the Arab/Muslim side of this conflict. The News and media only shows us videos and images of war-torn families, soldiers helping foreign civilians and their daily and post-war struggles. I’ve realized how easy it is to be ignorant and naïve about the behavior of our own military since we only see them in a light that fails to highlight THEIR aggressive and violent behavior towards civilians as shown in the videos we saw in the lecture. Dr. Richards allowed me to see different perspective by envisioning myself as an Arab/Muslim. Just as we see and hear about videos of Muslims interpreting the Quran to support ideas of Jihad, they can see Americans do the same with the Bible. Also, they see us “training” our youth for war as well. Its amazing how much hypocrisy in prevalent in this conflict and closed-mindedness that would reduce the tension. Now I’m not saying that I’m against the American military and government now that I see things the way I see them, I just think it’s important that people learn to look at things from a variety of viewpoints when making decisions concerning war. This all ties back to the idea presented in the first part of the lecture—Ethnocentrism. So many people are guilty of this mentality and I feel that it is a big cause of racism that could easily be changed. In the second lecture Dr. Richards mainly focused on ethnocentrism as it pertains to the war and religion. The first lecture gave a different idea as it pertains to culture and tradition. His example about Spain and Bullfighting was a good one to put it into context. Being from Indian and growing up here in the United States has allowed me to look at other cultures and value their unique customs because I know how some of my families traditions could be seen in comparison to ones that are familiar to other Americans. But even regardless of this, some things people of other ethnicities do still amaze me and I can find myself judging them. Ultimately, ethnocentrism is such an important concept in exploring race and should be evaluated by anyone involved in the war. Wed, 1 Jun 2011 20:41:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158305580 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/22/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race/#IDComment156211498 You pointed out a lot of things about the lecture that i was thinking as well. You post really pointed out that there are so many ironies when dealing with race. The one you pointed out about how white people are trying to become more tan now and dark skinned people want to become fair skinned is one irony that I find really interesting. I feel it completely contradicts the early mind sets that people had. The hierarchy that put people with fair skin at top is almost being upheld by darker skinned people now who think that fair skin is the most attractive and beautiful. It is also ironic that white people are aiming for darker skin now hen that used to be something they loathed. Thu, 26 May 2011 03:47:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/22/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race/#IDComment156211498 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/22/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race/#IDComment156208532 This lecture addressed what most people think about when they think of race-- the color of ones skin. I think it is crazy that this can be traced back to Carolus Linneaus who grouped people into categories based on this factor. Maybe a few hundred years ago it would be a little easier to determine ones race based on their skin color but Dr. Richards proved through using student examples that it is impossible to do now. This of course has to do with colonization and interracial relationships. I personally know that I am all Indian because my parents were the ones to move to the United States, but because I am fair skinned and do not have pitch black hair I often am mistaken for being Hispanic or other ethnicities. This just goes to show that the line between defining races is progressively becoming more and more blurred. This makes me question just how distinguishable different ethnicities will be some hundred years down the line from now. Since the idea of race one that is has been created is humanity just evolving towards becoming a more racially assimilated population? I don’t know if this make sense but this is what was running through my head after the lecture because if so many of us have become this mixed in the past few hundred years…I am curious to see how we all look somewhere in the future. I like the beginning of the lecture when Dr. Richards described how when we see other races we often think they all just look the same. I admit I am guilty of it, but it is funny to actually think about it. Since I live here in the United States I feel like it is easy to distinguish one ‘white’ person from another. Also, it is easy for me to differentiate one Indian person from the next just because that is my background and I of course have spent a great deal of time around Indians. Unfortunately when it comes to African Americans or Orientals, for the most part they all look very similar. But something really weird is that when I went to India and was around people that actually live in India, they all seem to look the same too. This makes me think the whole distinguishing people’s faces idea just has to with looking at people you know or recognize. It is so easy to use race to describe people like “that Asian guy” or “that white girl” but ultimately this just goes back to political correctness. Political correctness is impossible to achieve if race is used as a description because clearly from the lecture it is impossible to truly know where we have all come from. Thu, 26 May 2011 03:35:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/22/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race/#IDComment156208532