en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/3077944 Comments by classicpeg http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment167379193 I thought Sam's example of a straight couple in public versus a gay couple in public was an important point as well. As someone who has always supported gay rights, I admit that I stare when I see a same sex couple holding hands in public. I feel guilty for doing it and as a supporter, it baffles me that I feel a need to stare. I guess it is because being open about a same sex relationship is still somewhat taboo. It's just not something you see everyday, so it catches your attention when you do see it. Tue, 28 Jun 2011 01:33:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment167379193 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment167311019 Immigration is a polarizing topic in our country. I liked that part of the lecture presented immigration from the objective view of its effect on business. It is hard for me to define my opinion on illegal immigration. As Sam pointed out, it has definitely become an essential part of our economy. People who are for illegal immigration argue that illegal immigrants perform jobs that American citizens are unwilling to perform. I agree with this point as well. Conversely, I do think it is unfair for taxpayers to take on the burden of people who are not even citizens. It is a complicated situation, and one that I have never been able to form a clear opinion of. This lecture reminded me of a debate project I did my junior year of high school. My English teacher split the class into teams and every two teams were given a dueling topic to debate about. Both the topic and the position your team took were assigned. My team got assigned the topic of illegal immigration with the position that it is wrong. At first, I was annoyed to get assigned the “Republican” position. Even though I was conflicted about illegal immigration, as I am today, I did not like feeling pigeon-holed in an ideology I did not subscribe to. In the end, the debate project gave me a new outlook on the immigration issue. My research uncovered surprising information. For example, I learned that George W. Bush formulated a guest/worker program as an answer to illegal immigration. As someone who thinks that Bush is a moron, I was surprised to learn that I actually agreed with an initiative he came up with. In the end, maybe Bush’s idea embodies my stance on illegal immigration. The plan recognizes the profound need for such workers while acknowledging that the current system of illegal immigration is not fair to taxpayers. People who tout the idea that “damn foreigners should learn to speak English” have always irritated me. I would think it is common knowledge that learning a foreign language as an adult is incredibly difficult, but apparently it is not. I liked Sam’s example of the person who said they were living in Sweden and did not bother to learn the language but they think that people coming to the United States must learn English. It really does boil down to hypocrisy. I’m certain that most of the people who think that immigrants need to learn English would not themselves learn another language if they moved to another country. Sam pointed out that second generation immigrants do learn the native language and culture, so it really is just a matter of the age you are introduced to a new culture. Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:24:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment167311019 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment166971906 I am glad that Sam did a lecture on the LGBT relations. I think there is an obvious parallel between racial subjugation and sexual orientation subjugation. I have often thought that the fight for gay rights is like the second coming of the civil rights movement. Sometimes when I think these sorts of things to myself, I wonder if I am being a bit melodramatic. Because of this, I felt validated when Sam said that he too considered gay rights an offshoot of people of color fighting for civil rights in the 1960s. I have always supported gay rights. I can understand why religious people dislike homosexuality, but I do not think it gives them the right to try and deny fellow human beings the right to marry. I prescribe to the notion, if you do not agree with something, then don’t do it. If you are against drugs, don’t do them. Likewise, if you disagree with homosexuality, don’t engage in a homosexual relationship. People should express their opinion through their own actions, not by policing those around them. Beliefs should be conveyed through one’s own behavior and personal accountability. As an animal rights advocate, I express my belief through vegetarianism. I don’t think that everyone should be a vegetarian like me, because I think it is up to an individual to decide what they should and should not eat. It is not my place to monitor people’s diet. Similarly, people who are against gay marriage should not deny the gay community the right to marry. Such people can express their opinions by not getting a gay marriage, by not attending gay pride events, and by not associating with gay people. I just think it’s incredibly inflated for a person to think that their individual opinion should be the guiding beacon for the rest of the world to live by. Sam’s point about how gay parents are almost guaranteed to foster a loving environment for their children reminded me of one of the main pillars in the argument against gay marriage: allowing gays to marry will ruin the institution of marriage, along with the family structure in the United States. This argument always struck me as ludicrous. How could a law that allows more people who are in love with each other to marry ruin the “institution of marriage?” Aren’t two people sharing a deep love the centerpiece of marriage? Sam’s point addresses the latter insinuation, that gay marriage would ruin the family structure. I don’t see how giving a (most likely orphaned) child two loving parents is ruining family values. I know there is more to the opposition than the following argument, but my awesomely cynical uncle once pointed out to me that allowing gay people to marry leads to greater tax breaks for the population, which could be one of the reasons the government does not wish to legalize gay marriage. Mon, 27 Jun 2011 00:20:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment166971906 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/#IDComment165647969 I thought Sam's talk about how adoptive parents incorporate their child's culture into their upbringing was interesting as well. Even though I am not interested in having kids of my own, adoption is a topic that really interests me. I've hypothetically wondered on many occasions how I would raise an adopted child to appreciate their culture. It's amazing that your grandma has had the generosity to help so many desolate children. I can imagine how tense being an adoptive parent must be in the teen years, when adoptees naturally start to wonder about their biological origins. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 02:51:32 +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/#IDComment165647969 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/#IDComment165641927 Culturally speaking, we often do not approach race issues with in depth discussions about a single race’s experience with society. As a white person, learning about the Racial Identity Stages for people of color was enlightening. Initially, I did not know how engaged I would be with this topic. I thought that it might be too difficult for me to relate to, so I would just feel lost and disinterested. I was pleasantly surprised when the lecture got underway and I found it even more interesting than the lecture about white culture. I especially liked the lecture title. Referring to non-white people in a white culture as metaphorical amphibians created a striking introduction to the topic. Immersion seems like the most confusing stage. It is interesting how one’s own culture is the only one considered truly important, with other non-white cultures considered allies. Anyone who deviates from the collective vision of what it means to be a member of a certain culture is ridiculed. The LL Bean ad was a good example of this. There is controversy amongst all cultures when members appear to take on the mantle of a different culture. It seems like a divisive and inflammatory stage, because it encourages an “us versus them” mentality. While I understand how being non-white in a white culture would lend itself to this mode of thinking, it seems like deeper understanding of race relations cannot be achieved in this stage. One particular bulleted example for the disintegration stage caught my eye. The first statement, attributed to white people, “You make matters worse by segregating yourselves,” reminded me of a comment a white person I know recently made. They said they did not understand why minorities complain about segregation, only to socially segregate themselves by choice. I said that there is a difference between gravitating toward people you share a culture with and legally being segregated. The dialogue spiraled into a racist rant on her end, and me awkwardly avoiding eye contact on my end. I know that statement was just a minor point on the slide, but it just reminded me of the bizarre conversation I had. Another part of the lecture that caught my attention was Sam’s brief discourse on homosexuality. I completely agree that a lot of people who express hostility toward the LGBT community are probably doing so as a decoy from their own urges. Homosexuality is considered effeminate and in my experience, men who are insecure about their masculinity are the most likely to criticize homosexuality. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 02:22:51 +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/#IDComment165641927 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/#IDComment164419565 The news story about the white supremacist band Prussian Blue stuck with me as well. I think it is a classic case of parents passing their ignorance to their offspring. It is good that your parents encouraged you to form your own opinions and explore your individuality. Clearly, those girls were not as fortunate as you were. It is hard to believe that these parents encourage their children to dance around a swastika. While I watched the video, part of me wondered if the girls were brainwashed. As you said, they seemed so unknowledgeable about the history behind their beliefs. It seemed like they were force-fed white supremacy from birth and never exposed to any other philosophies. Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:27:25 +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/#IDComment164419565 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/#IDComment164417187 This was one of my favorite lectures due to all of the opportunities it provides for complex discourses. First of all, Prussian Blue is crazy and terrifying. I remember reading a feature on them in one of my lil teen magazines when I was a puny high schooler. I kept coming back to the article about them, because I could not believe that such a musical group could enjoy success in the United States in the 21st century. When I saw the video about them in the lecture, I thought they seemed oddly familiar. I quickly realized who they were after flashing back to the magazine story I read as a teenager. It is disgusting that politicians endorse these girls. I was particularly appalled by the sisters’ opinion on Hitler’s Holocaust, when they were all UM HITLER WAS JUST TRYING TO KEEP THE RACE PURE. ALSO, HE SOOO DIDN’T KILL THAT MANY JEWS. When the mother came on and matter-of-factly said that parents pass their beliefs onto their offspring, it made me pity those two girls. In different hands, they could have grown up to be sensitive, open-minded people. The Red House furniture commercial as an example of the awakening stage was a favorite of mine. I still can’t decide if Red House set out to make a ridiculous commercial or if the store was being completely serious. I would like to think that they were serious about it, because it makes the ad even more hilarious. When Sam discussed the appropriate situations to clarify a person’s race with the example of his two TAs, it reminded me of a story a white friend of mine (we’ll call her Lucy) recently told me. Lucy was purchasing a shirt when the cashier asked Lucy who helped her out in the fitting room. Lucy couldn’t remember the woman’s name, so the cashier asked for a physical description. Lucy’s fitting room attendant happened to be black, but she did not want to say so, in case she offended anyone. The cashier never figured out who helped Lucy, all due to Lucy’s attempt at political correctness. Lucy clearly meant well, but her discomfort with race led to the fitting room attendant missing out on a commission. This lecture also taught me about the white people/washcloth conundrum. As a white person, I definitely contribute to this stereotype. I use a washcloth about 20% of the time. I’m going to try and amp up that percentage so that I don’t feed into smelly white people stories. They’re so annoying though! They don’t retain soap very well, they’re scratchy, and I always forget to take them out of the shower so then my roommates have to awkwardly navigate around my soggy washcloth when they shower. Excuses aside, I’m going to start using washcloths. Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:19:05 +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/#IDComment164417187 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/#IDComment163033042 Sam’s story about helping a paralyzed man pee stuck with me as well. I kept thinking about how I would have behaved in Sam’s situation (which, as a girl, I probably never would be). If a disabled person needed help peeing, I would help because the alternative of pants wetting would suck. My ignorance concerning the standard operating procedure for guy whizzing would definitely be a hindrance though. I don’t know how firmly those bits need to be held or how to aim during urination. All in all, I think it’s safe to say that I would be super awkward about the whole thing. Thu, 16 Jun 2011 01:54:35 +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/#IDComment163033042 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/#IDComment163030921 This lecture came from a unique perspective in a race relations class. When speaking of race relations in the United States, most people would reference the tension between whites and non-whites. This tension is what I thought the main focus of the class would be. While I was surprised when Sam announced that from this point forward in the course we are no longer to approach racial issues under the lens of equality, I think it ultimately leads to a more well-rounded dialogue on race. If I had to boil this course down to a cozy phrase, I would say SOC119 is about exploring the unexplored with race. White culture is rarely touched upon in discussions of race. Usually, the focus is on various minorities and their experiences in a white culture. I never considered white culture as an entity onto itself before this lecture. Now that it has been outlined for me, I am surprised that our culture tends to overlook white culture in dialogues about race. It seems like a blatant topic to disregard. I liked the resources that Sam used for this lecture. The first time I encountered “Stuff White People Like,” I remember being affronted that someone would assume to know my personal interests based on my race. Upon closer inspection, I realized that I legitimately like about 70% of the topics outlined. Gift card to Anthropology? Awesome. Ray-Ban Wayfarers? Proud owner of a pair since age 16. Girls with bangs? I AM ONE. I am the epitome of whiteness. The California street sign was pretty crazy too. It is insane that a sign like that is on display. Even though I think Carlos Mencia is annoying, he raised an interesting point by doing a segment on that sign. Also, how dumb is the guy being interviewed for using a racial slur after someone “said” that the camera was off? The Robert Byrd video was such a mess. What was he even talking about? It irritates me when older people justify using racial slurs by saying that those words did not hold the same meaning in their youth that they do now. I know that no politician issues his/her own statements, but it nonetheless irked me how blatant it was that Byrd did not write the hasty apology statement himself. I think I mainly belong in the awakening stage of racial identity. The description, “tendency to avoid racial issues,” resonated with me. On numerous occasions, I have backed out of intense conversations about race with lines like, “Racism is such a mind-fuck, I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” or, “I don’t think I really have the knowledge or authority to make informed statements about race/racism.” I like to think I am evolving past this stage, but I still feel like I would be uncomfortable engaging in race relation discussions outside of a classroom context, or amongst close friends. Thu, 16 Jun 2011 01:44:12 +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/#IDComment163030921 http://guyism.com/celebrities/66-most-overrated-women-of-2011.html#IDComment161491652 I happened upon the Guyism article "The 66 Most Overrated Women of 2011" through a third party website, and I was blown away by what a bleak look it provided into our culture. As someone who normally applauds critical analysis of today's world, I had trouble supporting a list where a woman's relevance is defined, not by her intelligence, but by how physically attractive she is compared to other women. Granted, it is inevitable to question an article whose resources include Maxim and FHM. I'm sure your website would argue that the article was done in jest and should not be taken seriously. As someone known for her sense of humor, I had trouble finding the laughs in an article lamenting that Taylor Swift beat, "babes like Jessica Alba and Rihanna" on Maxim's Hot 100. I don't know what I was expecting from a website whose Popular Tags include, "cleavage," "sexy news," and "drunkenness." I guess I just thought that in the year 2011, men would have enough going on, intellectually speaking, that judging women solely for their physical appearance would be a thing of the past. Mark me as wrong on that one! Fri, 10 Jun 2011 19:49:36 +0000 http://guyism.com/celebrities/66-most-overrated-women-of-2011.html#IDComment161491652 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160800568 The example about the grandfather struck a chord with me too. I think racism against black people is somewhat common amongst elderly white people. It could have to do with geographic location as well. As a white person, I have heard remarks from older family members similar to what Sam talked about. It makes me wonder if the argument that the reason some areas are so downtrodden is not due to a racial group, but due to an unequal distribution of goods in the past would even have an effect on such older folks. I suspect that these racist notions are often so engrained that even clear-cut explanations like the one Sam provided would not make much of a difference. Thu, 9 Jun 2011 00:52:36 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160800568 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160798828 I think most people are at least somewhat aware of the racism in the criminal justice system. Before this lecture, I was never exposed to concrete statistics, but I knew about the racism in the courts. I knew that as a white female, I am significantly less likely to get pulled over while driving than a black person. Though I was aware of the general racism in terms of how the law is enforced, I did not know a lot of the specifics until I heard this lecture. For example, I did not know that minorities were more likely to be transferred from juvenile detention centers to adult ones than white people over the exact same offenses. For me though, I think the most interesting part of the lecture was when Sam talked about how influential loan dispersal was post World War II in building race relations. It was particularly interested when Sam mentioned how different race relations would be today if minorities (specifically black people) were given the same access to loans that white people were. I guess it ties back to his “king of the hill” analogy; since white people had the power, they wanted to only help other white people. This part of the lecture also raised one of the most important points that we have learned in class so far because Sam provided us for a rebuttal for people who believe that minorities are the reason that inner city areas are deteriorating. It is amazing (in a scary way) how our culture tends to look past the root causes for such problems, and blame the victims themselves. Another part of the lecture that resonated with me was the idea of “luck of birth.” I come from a middle class family and though neither of my parents are particularly wealthy, my late grandfather is basically the reason I can attend college. He secured a top position with a brickyard and built a lucrative career. Thanks to him, my grandma can pay for my education at Penn State. My grandpa’s work applies to the ‘actions of ancestors’ sect of “luck of birth.” Thus, attending Penn State is largely a result of my ancestor. Were it not for my grandpa, I would probably have attended a smaller, more obscure school. People might assume that I was not as intelligent as someone who attends Penn State when really, the truth is that I just did not have the luck of birth that others did. Thu, 9 Jun 2011 00:43:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160798828 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159325568 This lecture made me reconsider a lot of my perceptions as well. I also assumed that suburbia was full of wealthy people. There is a lot more than meets the eye when we examine these generalizations. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how skewed a lot of our preconceived notions are. Examining my own experiences helped with this as well. From age four to age five, I lived in a trailer with my dad in a trailer park. All things considered, I would most likely have been labeled “white trash” (I myself often refer to this as my “Trailer Trash Era”) and everyone would assume that I was poor. In reality, my family and I were middle class, and my dad and I soon moved into a nice home in suburbia, ironically. Sun, 5 Jun 2011 01:50:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159325568 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159323268 When Sam started talking about the biological explanation for differences amongst races, it reminded me of a conversation I had with my older cousin’s friend (he was in his mid twenties( when I was fourteen. I mentioned a bar chart I saw in TIME magazine that showed standardized test scores amongst races. At that age, I did not understand how to interpret such graphs; I just took them at their face value. I mentioned to my cousin’s friend that it surprised me that black people and Latino people were not as smart as white people. He explained to me that such graphs did not tell the story behind the numbers, and that you need to analyze these kinds of facts before you jump to conclusions. My lack of knowledge over how to interpret data coupled with the fact that I thought everything printed in TIME was infallible truth led me to make a misguided (and unintentionally racist) assumption. That was my first experience with the biological account for racial differences. I am really glad I worked through my faulty reasoning with someone who was friendly and understanding, because otherwise, I could have run around sounding like a crazy racist. As I got older, I started subscribing to the socio-structural explanation. I learned from my education classes in college (I am an Elementary Education major) the profound impact that socioeconomic status has on a person’s future. As was also mentioned in this lecture, my education classes taught me that the majority of school funding comes from property taxes. Thus, schools in poor neighborhoods will get proportionately low funding while schools in affluent neighborhoods will get high funding, all due to property values. All of these factors are out of a person’s control. Students cannot help it if they happen to live in a poor area with low property value, and so attend a subpar school. This idea was reinforced with the Oprah segment we watched. I never really jumped on the Oprah train, but after watching the video where students swap schools, I now recognize the show’s value. The differences between physical facilities and educational content at the low-end school versus the high-end school were staggering. It provides a strong argument for the need to reevaluate how school funding. I think that the socio-psycho cognitive explanation has more bearing with the middle to upper class. Though still pertinent to the poor to a certain degree, it is undeniable that those born into money are more often the master of their fate than those who are not. For those who live in poverty, their socio-structural backdrop limits their socio-psycho cognitive flexibility. Sun, 5 Jun 2011 01:42:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159323268 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158386919 I agree that if the United States were to be invaded by another country, we would not be as humble as many Middle Eastern people were and give pictures of our family to people. I was touched at how many people wanted to give pictures away to appeal to our humanistic side. It makes our invasion seem even more barbaric. I was surprised as well at how similar many Iraqis were to us. I think this is because the media focuses on our differences, because it helps to justify the war. If the world focused on the similarities everyone shares, there would be a lot less conflict. Thu, 2 Jun 2011 02:09:33 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158386919 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158385353 Most people subscribe to ethnocentrism to a certain degree. That is why this week’s lesson was so pertinent. The bull fighting example hit home for me because as a vegetarian and a staunch animal rights advocate, I have always considered bull fighting to be archaic and cruel. I am against animal exploitation for human entertainment, so I have always struggled with bull fighting. I understand that it is a part of Spanish culture and holds deep meaning for many Spanish people. Though as someone who has lived in the United States my entire life, it is hard for me to relate to and understand how integral the practice is to Spanish culture. In the end, my feelings about bull fighting might not fall in the category of ethnocentrism. As far back as I can remember, I have never approved of bull fighting but I always acknowledged that it was an activity set within a different cultural context from my own. Furthermore, I never condemned the Spanish people for the activity; I condemned the activity itself. I look at bull fighting through the lens of an animal rights advocate, not the lens of a nationalist. I feel the same aversion to bull fighting that I do to circuses or greyhound racing. Sam posed an interesting question at the end of the first lecture. He wondered why naming children after God is more common in other cultures than in the United States. I have no authority on the matter, but my best guess is that maybe it is because religion is more engrained in these other cultures than it is in the U.S. Although we are considered an overall Christian nation, religion is not present in every aspect of our lives as it is in other places (much of South America, for example). I liked the exercise where everyone approached the Iraqi War from the standpoint of Muslims in the region. I did not realize the extent of the abuse and fear that people in the Middle East endure as a result of U.S. military presence. I complain about the war as a fartsy liberal, but this lecture made me realize the bullying and the blatant disregard for human life that this war has stoked out of soldiers. The video where a U.S. soldier (clearly on a power trip) smashes a cab driver’s car for looting is both horrifying and infuriating. Another sobering moment from the lecture is when I learned that the military will kill up to 29 people in the Middle East to get to one criminal. It makes me wonder if this is the uniform number for the United States military, or if it just applies to the Iraqi War. Thu, 2 Jun 2011 02:02:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158385353 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/22/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race/#IDComment156089082 Considering race as an invention was a revolutionary idea to me as well. Growing up in an environment where everyone is basically typified as white, black, or Asian, viewing these classifications as a tangible construct rather than part of nature was an initially shocking idea. It is remarkable that the building blocks for how an entire society views race was founded by one man, Carolus Lineaus. It is scary to think that our notion of race is based upon one person’s bias ideas hundreds of years ago. I agree with you that a basic knowledge of evolution back in the day would not have prevented the framework for white being superior to dark. In the end, it seems to come down to humans’ intrinsic desire to alienate the ‘other.’ Wed, 25 May 2011 19:37:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/22/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race/#IDComment156089082 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/22/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race/#IDComment156086001 This lecture made me realize I had no idea what race and ethnicity actually were. I used to think ethnicity referred to a person’s heritage (genes) while race referred to their skin color. I took a biological anthropology class my first semester at Penn State and I remember the professor saying that race was a moot concept. It was not until watching the previous lectures that I understand what an arbitrary construct race actually is. A good example of this provided in the lecture is how Irish, German, Swedish, etc… used to be categorized separated, but now fall under the common moniker ‘white’ or ‘Caucasian.’ I never knew that the majority of slaves only kept their status temporarily (unlike slaves in the United States). It is eye opening to learn such information because we typically only learn about slavery in the United States, not on an international scale. Continuing on this theme, since slavery in the United States was abolished in the 1800s, educational institutions rarely acknowledge the threat that slavery still poses on an international level. I remember how surprised I was in high school when I learned that slavery was a vast world issue. I was so used to learning history from an America-centric point-of-view, that it never occurred to me that slavery could still exist in other places (not even taking into account the slavery that still exists in the United States, though not legally). The evolution discussion caught my attention as well. I think the concept of evolution is so interesting such as the relationship between proximity to the equator and pigmentation. On a personal level, I liked hearing about the evolutionary reasons for body build. As a petite person who is always cold if it is less than 60 degrees, I felt validated learning that there was an evolutionary purpose to this annoying aversion to cold weather. It also helps explain why my favorite season is summer! The skin-bleaching phenomenon seems so remarkable because it is the exact opposite of our culture, where people roast themselves in tanning beds to make themselves look like Oompa Loompas. The skin bleaching brand names often had sinister undertones, most notably was the White Power ad in Korea. Someone I know who went on a trip to India said that everyone on billboards was pale and did not at all look like the typical Indian person. I read an interview a few weeks ago with the lead actress from Slumdog Millionaire and she said that as someone who once starred in a skin-bleaching ad, she was amazed when a pale woman complimented her dark skin tone because she was used to living in a culture that glorified whiteness. Wed, 25 May 2011 19:27:01 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/22/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race/#IDComment156086001 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/14/week-1-lesson-1-whadya-know/#IDComment155083390 I guessed that the LGBT community had the highest suicide rates as well, so it surprised me that it was actually Hispanic women who had the highest rates. I think that at this moment in our culture, we are predisposed to guess the LGBT community. Gay rights are gaining a lot of prominence in the news, not to mention the recent tide of suicides from young gay men. Since it is in the news so much, I think a lot of us were bound to assume that LGBT suffers from the highest rate of suicide. People just try to make educated guesses and since we are so used to hearing about this type of news in the gay community and not in the Hispanic community, we naturally gravitated toward that answer. Sun, 22 May 2011 23:36:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/14/week-1-lesson-1-whadya-know/#IDComment155083390 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/14/week-1-lesson-1-whadya-know/#IDComment155080672 While many thought-provoking ideas were presented in the first lecture, the topic that stayed with me afterward was Native American subjugation in the United States. From as young as kindergarten, we are inundated with the notion that settlers and Native Americans were nothing but amiable toward one another. I can remember around Thanksgiving in kindergarten being told about Pilgrims arriving at Plymouth Rock and their friendly collaboration with Native Americans. The Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn. How quaint! Until I was nine-years-old, I harvested the unsullied notion that Native Americans were the Pilgrim-hugging harbingers of modern-day hippies. It was not until I was in third grade that this conception was questioned. I do not remember how the subject was broached, but my teacher mentioned in passing that white settlers used to purposely infect Native Americans with diseases to extinguish them. Like rodents. It was a chilling thought for me. As a nine-year-old, I had trouble interpreting it. Later in the school year, my class learned about the Trail of Tears. It was presented in an almost clinical, objective fashion. I do not remember feeling compassion for what the Native Americans experienced because the information was presented in the same dry fashion that one would read the nutrition information from a cereal box. Aside from these minor stirrings in third grade, it was not until adulthood that I learned about the cruelty and suffering Native Americans endured in the past and present. To me, this reinforces the fact that our history books are bias. The information that children learn in schools today is often incomplete or inaccurate. As an Elementary and Kindergarten Education major, I will be student teaching next spring semester. I opted for a special program in my major where I will be placed at a boarding school for at-risk Native American children in South Dakota. I initially approached the opportunity from an almost touristy perspective. Won’t it be cool to live in South Dakota, learn about Native American culture, and help kids with needs? I thought to myself. Armed with greater knowledge about the Native American community, I now consider the tragedy that led students to the school. Most of the kids are wards of the state. They are living monuments to the abuse that Native Americans endure in our country. Now I consider the greater cultural implications of this school. It is scary to think that Native American children are so abused and neglected that they need an entire school dedicated to rehabilitating them. I worry how I will be able to reach these kids. Do they dislike white people? Will they feel an aversion toward me because I am white? Will they feel that I cannot relate to them because of my place of privilege in society? Teachers tend to be idealists, and I initially approached this student teaching opportunity believing that the students at this boarding school would immediately take to me and I would touch their lives. Since realizing that I do not know the first thing about what it is like to be a Native American and the suffering that these children have endured, I am not sure how students will receive me. Whatever the students think of me, I prefer this enlightened unknowing to my previous misguided optimism. Sun, 22 May 2011 23:25:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/14/week-1-lesson-1-whadya-know/#IDComment155080672