My opinion on illegal immigration has not changed. I went to a high school that was run by Christian brothers. During my time there the 2006 controversy regarding illegal immigration emerged. In all of my religion classes we were always taught the same message. Immigrants are humans and should not be denied a chance at a better life. At first I did not really buy into this thought process. I was stubborn and considered myself a republican (even though I knew nothing about the republican party). However, it did not take long for me to realize that immigrants were humans.
My school had a unique program with a local church named St Hyacinth. This church provided a place for local Immigrants(both legal and illegal) to come take part in various programs. Some of these programs involved daycares and learning how to use a computer. I was lucky enough to volunteer and help out with these programs. It was definitely a great experience. It kind of reminded me of volunteering at a soup kitchen in that it opened my eyes to a world that I had never seen. During my time at St Hyacinth I learned that many of these immigrants(mostly Mexican) were hardworking, religious and just overall great people. It definitely changed my perspective and my opinion on immigration.

Another example that taught me to respect Immigrants involves a Christian Brother that spoke to my religion class in high school. This Brother lived in Philadelphia but spent most of his time in Mexico. He talked to us about a lot of things. His points were very similar to Sam’s in Tuesday’s lecture. One of his points that I distinctly remember dealt with calling someone an “Illegal.” I still don’t know how I feel about this point but it is something that most people never think about. He talked about how no one can be “illegal” and how offensive it is to categorize someone in that manner. He was basically trying to say that by calling someone “illegal” you are not recognizing them as a human, you are labeling them as an object. Again, I don’t know how I feel about this. It is a very deep and heavy thought but I do see where he is coming from.
Overall, Immigration is a very complex thing to talk about. There are so many facets to it and everyone seems to have an opinion about it. I find it extremely difficult to have an honest discussion about it without someone becoming extremely angry. No matter what your opinion is, I think every human being deserves respect.

To answer your question, I was very surprised and saddened after I listened to the Dave Matthews song and read the data. I have definitely heard about the indiscretions and genocide that have been committed against the Native Americans, but was never really was educated on it. I am positive that it has been ten years since I was in a classroom where the treatment of Native Americans was discussed. Even then I remember that discussion lacking substance and being extremely short. On Tuesday, you only lectured about this topic for probably thirty minutes. In just that short period of time my thoughts and feeling regarding Native Americans changed significantly.

Prior to this lecture, I did not have a strong opinion about the treatment of Native Americans. This is not because I am a cold hearted person but it is a result of not being educated about it. Obviously this lack of education is somewhat my fault in that no one is stopping me from reading and researching this topic. However, I also think the American education system and our society as a whole should be blamed as well. You talked about how the worst act of genocide in history was committed in the United States on Native Americans. After you said this I immediately thought about the holocaust. I tried to fathom the idea of no one discussing the holocaust and basically ignoring it. It is a crazy thing to think about. How can we as a society ignore what happened to Native Americans?
Walking out of Thomas I was thinking about what is the next step? As a society, I believe we must recognize and acknowledge the oppression (and continued) oppression of the Native Americans. Obviously this is easier said than done. The first step in this process would clearly consist of becoming better educated on this topic. Whether this education is through discussions or schooling, it must happen. After this occurs I am somewhat unsure of what would come next. It would be nice to provide some sort of assistance to individuals living on reservations that would allow them live a better life. However I do not know if that is possible. I feel as if Native Americans have been oppressed and held down for such a long period of time. This results in a very complex social issue that may not be able to be fixed just by monetary funds and assistance programs. It would be nice to hear what possible solutions other students would propose.
Overall, I thought this brief lecture was very powerful. It resulted in me feeling appalled and somewhat depressed. I think it would be a great idea if you could devote the entire lecture time to this topic. I think it would be extremely interesting.

This lecture did change my views on the war in Iraq. I thought Sam did a great job with this lecture and he put a lot of energy and preparation into it. It was one of the best lectures I have had at Penn State (Still didn’t top Professor Clemente’s “rules of life” though—I think Sam would even agree with that).
The points that were made in this lecture definitely made me think… a lot. It is very hard for me to even imagine being a citizen of an occupied country that has very little say in anything. Sam did a great job at trying to get me to think about being in this position. My heart goes out to the innocent civilians that have been affected by this war.
With that being said, my heart also goes out to the American soldiers serving in Iraq. Sam did mention that the majority of US soldiers do not commit war crimes and I hope everyone understands this. I am by no means excusing any horrendous acts that have been committed against Iraqi civilians at all. I am just hoping that after this lecture there is no sentiment towards US Military. I say this because there are two sides to this war.
The one side dealing with the Iraqi Civilian that has to live in an occupied country. The other side dealing with the US soldier (not a rogue soldier that was described throughout this lecture). Many of these soldiers do not agree with the War and actually have sentiment towards the politics behind it. This sentiment can be attributed to the risk of dying for a greedy cause or the rules of engagement they have to abide by. Most of these soldiers simply just want to survive, complete their tour and then get out of the military…for good. These goals become jeopardized when insurgents who are dressed as civilians try to take their lives. Now that we understand the Insurgent can we understand the common US Soldier? To me, it seems like the United States government is manipulating both the US Soldiers and the people of Iraq to get rich. The obvious question that arises from that statement is ‘if you don’t agree with the war then why enlist in the US Military.’ My answer to that is; most soldiers (like my cousins) enlisted before the War in Iraq was inevitable. They did so for various reasons; employment, court ordered, etc.
This topic is definitely very deep. There are many aspects to it and it is extremely hard to understand all of them. I am interested to see what you guys think about my point regarding the US Military. I hope I was clear enough and it made sense. Thoughts?

I have been in a situation where English was forced to be the only language spoken. In high school I traveled to Philadelphia for a school trip. This was my first visit to Philadelphia so I wanted to try a cheese steak. At this particular time the immigration crisis was starting to emerge and most of America had a strong opinion about it. The cheese steak place we went to (I believe it was Geno’s –anyone from philly can correct me) had signs and shirts that basically said this is America, order in English. At the time, I didn’t really mind the sign. I didn’t even think twice about it. Looking back on this situation though I question why the sign and shirts didn’t bother me. Being a Catholic and attending a Catholic High school, I was taught that immigrants should never be denied the right to a better life. It is clear the idea of ‘only speaking English’ was directed at immigrants and indirectly telling them, you aren’t welcome in the United States.
To say that an Immigrant (illegal or legal) is not welcome in the United States is a very dangerous thing to do. I think many people that believe in this concept are uneducated and ignorant. The most common argument made against immigration deals with the American economy. I understand that illegal immigrants do cost our country money (forgone taxes, incarceration bills etc). With that being said, many people don’t make that argument. Instead, they immediately say “They are taking our jobs, that’s why I can’t find work.” In reality, immigrants probably aren’t ‘stealing’ anyone’s job. They are doing work that the majority of Americans would never even think of doing. In a lot of cases Immigrants are not having a negative impact upon on our economy. They are helping it.
The point I am trying to make is that to deny an individual the right to speak their native language, you are basically telling them they are not welcome in the United States. Immigrants play a significant role in America. Many people do not realize this. It would be interesting to see how the people at Geno’s would act if they traveled to a foreign country where they were not welcome. Maybe this would force them to change their opinions.
In conclusion I think this topic is both controversial and interesting. In my opinion there is no ‘political correctness’ when people discuss immigration. What I mean by this is that people do not feel the need to filter their opinions. There is two distinct sides and both sides have valid and radical viewpoints. I am looking forward to hear the lecture regarding this topic. It will definitely be a great class.

I think this is a very difficult question to answer. Personally, I would think and hope that I would stand up to someone who made a racist comment. However, I am also aware that the answer to this question also depends on the particular situation. What I mean by this is that sometimes when an individual makes a ridiculous comment, I tend to just ignore it. I find myself doing this because in my mind I figure this person just wants attention and someone to argue with. This is probably a negative personality trait but many times I catch myself doing this.
On the other hand I have stood up to many people when they have made racist comments. Most recently I got into an argument with one of my roommates who made fun of the crisis in Japan. We were watching the news and they were discussing how bad the conditions are throughout Japan. My roommate blurted out how ‘he saw a group of Japanese girls on campus today.’ I just thought he was going to say something in regards of how bad he felt for them or something along those lines. Instead he tried to make a joke and said ‘they were all 9.0s.’ I thought this was extremely offensive and told him how I felt. These sort of jokes and racial slurs are very similar to the UCLA video that we watched in class. They are said out of stupidity and ignorance (at least that’s what I believe).
Although I stood up to my roommate, It was a relatively easy thing to do. I have known him for years and I am comfortable around him. I am not sure how I would act if a stranger said such a thing. A good example of this would be a situation such as being in the library elevator with a group of kids that you didn’t know. One of them says something like my roommate did and they all laugh. Personally, I think it would be hard to stand up to that. This is also an example of where my mindset of just ignoring these types of comments would come into play. In my head I would be thinking “wow these kids are so wrong, its not even worth saying something.” But is it worth saying something? I am not sure what the answer to that question is. I am sure the majority of people would say it would be worth saying something. It would be interesting to see how everyone in soc119 would say they would react in this situation. Any thoughts?

That example only begins to scrape the surface of what makes this act of hate so wrong. It clearly is a no win situation, even if it was done as a joke. There is no excuse for an individual to write such a thing. In my opinion this is an indicator of how far as a society we have to go in terms of race relations. Maybe I am just overreacting. I just think its a step in the wrong direction for a society that is trying so hard to improve in terms of racial issues. It would be interesting to see what Sam thought of this topic. ______

Penn State university is already regarded as a 'white school'(Ive heard many people call Penn State this because of its lack of diversity.) I think I can speak for the majority of the student body here when I say that we are not proud of this title. It is kind of like the 'number one party' school ranking, it just reflects poorly on our university. The point I am trying to make could be explained in a short example. Imagine Penn State holding a highschool basketball tournament this spring at Rec Hall. One of the players playing in this tournament is deciding between Penn State and a short list of other schools. This player also is not white. As this player and his family are driving to the tournament they pass the "white power" grafitti on Beaver Avenue. Obviously he would think twice about coming to school here. He may even go and tell his family and friends about it and these people would inevitably think Penn State is a racist school. ____

I have never seen this, but I will definitely look for it next time I pass Beaver and Garner. To answer your question, this clearly is an act of white supermacy. Even if you could argue that whoever wrote 'white power' did so as a joke it still does not excuse the meaning behind it. For someone to write this on a brick wall is both racist and wrong, no matter what their intention was. It is impossible for me to understand how much racism still exists in our society today. Seeing "white power" spray painted on a brick wall only perpetuates these awful ideas. I am not saying that I am perfect in regards to prejudice thoughts, because I am not. Sam pointed this out to me when he did a lecture on the topic of latent prejudice. However I am almost certain(as I hope many of my classmates are as well) that I would never write such an offensive set of words on a wall somewhere. Not only does this look bad on Penn State but it also portrays State College as a whole in a negative light. __

I agree that this guy is extremely white. First of all when I think of someone being the stereotypical white person, I think of that person being socially awkward. I am not sure why this stereotype is associated with just white people but in this case it is definitely true. Within the first couple seconds of the video you can make the conclusion that this individual is socially awkward. His words do not have much of a flow to them and he makes awkward references about 'staring at other peoples zippers.' I think most of us at that point of the video would have cracked a joke about where the holster holds the gun. However this individual definitely feels awkward talking about this, which may make his comment extremely amusing.
Another stereotype that people associate with white people deals with clothes. When individuals think of what a white person would normally dress like, blue jeans and tucked in shirts come to mind. The guy in the video definitely fits this mold. Not only is he wearing blue jeans but he is also wearing a polo shirt, that is tucked in. After he pulls down his pants(hes also wearing gym shorts) he tucks his shirt into the gun holster. White people really like to tuck their shirts into things, and this guy is no exception.

Another stereotype that society places on white people is owning a gun. I am not sure about this stereotype because I am white and do not own a gun, nor do I know many white people who own them either. I guess thats the thing with stereotypes in that they are not usually true. Anyways, this individual fits this stereotype. Not only is he promoting the sale of a gun holster but he also seems well versed on firearms. He talks about the different ways he carries his extra clips and the different areas he holds his gun. This guy definitely fits the ' all white people own a gun' stereotype.

Overall the man in this video definitely fits the quintessential 'white people' stereotypes. i am not saying that these stereotypes are accurate or even relevant to most white people. However society has developed these stereotypes and most people relate them to all white people. In a perfect world we would not have to deal with describing races based on a set of characteristics that usually are not true. However as we have discussed in class, it would be extremely difficult to develop this perfect world. I do not feel guilty by writing this post and agreeing that most of the white people stereotypes clearly fit this individual. I feel that it is acceptable to have discussions like this if there is no hate behind your comments. However i am aware that most people may agree with this statement. Any thoughts?

In today’s current society people are more racist towards Muslim people. I believe this is true because of the attacks that occurred on September 11th. Immediately following 9/11 the American public blamed the entire Muslim community for these particular terrorist attacks. Looking back on our immediate reaction it is clear that we were not justified in holding the entire Muslim world responsible. I believe there are two reasons why the majority of Americans placed all of the blame on the Muslim community; outrage and a lack of knowledge. We as a country failed to realize that those who were responsible for these attacks were ‘extremists.’ The panel of Muslim students at the end of Tuesday’s lecture did a great job of pointing this out. One of the students spoke about how Americans fail to acknowledge the distinct difference between extremists and the rest of the Muslim community. She then talked about how there are also ‘American Extremists.’ I thought this was a great point considering most of us would not associate ourselves with Neo-Nazi’s or the Michigan Militia (http://www.michiganmilitia.com/). As Americans we should try to imagine the whole Muslim community perceiving us as having the same characteristics of these extremist groups. Obviously we would not want to be categorized with these groups since we do not share the same viewpoints. However, we as a society are at fault for doing the same exact thing in regards to the Muslim community. By associating all Muslims with violence and terrorism we are clearly being racist.
Another factor that is causing our society to discriminate on Muslims is the War on Terror. Many Americans have the mindset that what is going in Afghanistan has a direct correlation to Muslims in the United States. What I mean by this is that I have heard numerous times people using the American military death toll as an excuse to justify their hatred towards Muslims in the states. This type of justification is completely unwarranted. Unless you have facts that a fellow American citizen has a ties terrorism there is no excuse to have hatred towards them. The type of hatred I am talking about is even displayed in on this blog;

Azp5161 wrote “I know that it’s not fair for most Muslims in America today because they do not hate the USA or have a terroristic tie. But that doesn’t matter, as there now is a reason to discriminate. Some of their people deliberately tried to take our country down, and divide us. That doesn’t fly in America, and no matter if you personally knew one of the bombers, or share completely different views, most Americans won’t like you. It’s not fair, but it’s warranted. Because they gave us a reason, I feel that Muslims are discriminated against much more in today’s society than blacks.”

I personally think it is sad that individuals think it is ‘warranted’ to hate fellow American citizens. By justifying your hatred with the excuse that ‘they tried to take our country down, and divide us. That doesn’t fly in America’, you raise more questions than answers. Who is considered’ they?’ The entire Muslim community? Are you telling me I should hate my Muslim neighbors because of 9/11? What about the Muslim soldiers who are members of the American Military? Should we hate them even though they are fighting right now for our freedoms?

Although I do respect your opinion, I believe your stance is both unfair and unjustified. You are not being a ‘patriot’ by any means. The real patriots are the soldiers fighting overseas against the individuals who should be held accountable for 9/11. These soldiers are fighting for you and all Americans, no matter if you are white, black, orange, red or Muslim.