This whole question of if being gay or lesbian is a choice or if people are born with that sexual orientation is a very interesting one in my mind. I am not a big religious person however I do believe in the main pillars and I do believe in god. I definitely have seen people that think that people are actually born with their sexual orientation, while I see others who say it’s a choice that people make. At first, and until today I firmly believe that there are a lot of people in the world that are either gay or lesbian because of choice. By choice it could range from just wanting to do something different or getting attention, to something that is a choice based on their lives. What I mean by this is that, every person has a different life experience that he or she goes through and is therefore subject to different encounters. For example, one of my female friends’ parents are divorced and she lives with her mom. Ever since she was a child she had to take care of her mom and kind of be the “man” of the house. Personally, I honestly believe that that type of experience and life made her think in a man’s mindset, and started to be around guys and acting and thinking like them. One chain after the other I believe that is why she has an interest to women. Because even if she is a girl, she had to be brought up as a man to protect and sustain her household. I have seen other cases where people just decide that they are gay due to pop culture. For example, I know someone who claims to be gay just because he is a big fan of Lady gaga. Lady gaga promotes homosexuality which could influence her fans into dipping their feet in the water. However, I also start to think about all the animals in the world that are attracted to its own sex. They must be attracted naturally because I can not see anything that could influence them. I think recently, I have been coming to the conclusion that, it could very well be a bit of both. I do not really think it is one answer or the other. I believe it could be based on specific cases, some people could be born with it, while others could be gay or lesbian by choice or by experiences in life. I am a religious person but my mind is open. Whether it is right or wrong, well that is not my decision to say, people make up their own decisions and I am not one to judge them.

I believe that the person asking this question said a phrase that I believe to be completely correct. People around the world, no matter where they come from or where they are raised, tend to only listen to what they want to listen. This is on average of course because there are some people that look into all aspects of a story. However most of the people only want to listen to what they choose. This reason is because people love to hear their opinions and ideas reinforced by other people. In terms of the trayvon martin case, there could be many different opinions. However I believe that it is clear that there definitely is some type of racial discrimination for the lack of a better word. I think that it is obvious that something made Zimmerman decide to shoot trayvon martin because of appearance. In my personal opinion, I do not think he would have decided to shoot if it was a white person wearing a polo t shirt, and khakis. I haven’t personally seen the Zimmerman statements made after the shooting but according to the video posted, it seems like Zimmerman definitely had an idea in his mind of a difference between white people and black people who he referred to as them. I think that it is really a big shame about what happened and I truly hope it was not just due to the color of trayvon martin’s skin color. I believe that over half of the population in our world today have been brought up in a culture where racial discrimination is encrypted and hard to not think about when making judgments. The sad truth is that I believe that is how the world is functioning today. Like professor Sam Richards has said time and time before, white supremacy is prevalent in our lives even when we do not know it, even if we are of a different skin color or race. I try to hope that the shooting of trayvon martin by Zimmerman is not due to this single cause, however I personally believe that it is hard to deny that it had a big part of the issue. In the past racial discrimination is so obvious in terms of African slaves which was an extreme part of racism and discrimination. As much of an optimist as I am, I still believe that racism and discrimination is huge in our world today. Whether it is against blacks such as trayvon martin, as well as arabs, Asians, and Hispanics. In any case, I want to express my sincere and deepest apologies to trayvon martin’s family. I do not believe any mother should lose her son over such a petty and stupid reason. Trayvon has not done anything but he paid the ultimate price to remind us that we do need to kick out the racism and discrimination once and for all in our world today.

I believe that when the Muslim women were talking, they did not mean any type of disrespect and judgement towards western women. I think the point they tried to put out there was that they wear the head scarf to not bring sexual attention from guys. I remember them even saying that it is really a personal decision and that they respect opinions and decisions of others. I hope people did not think that those two ladies were judging the women of the western culture. They haven’t said that western women do not respect themselves, from what I can remember. Personally, I am a muslim man from Kuwait but I have been living here for four years. I do notice the differences especially with ladies and choice of clothing. I understand that the short shorts, and bikinis, and choice of outfit is normal in this part of the world. In my family, my mom does not wear the head scarf as is the case for a good number of muslim women too. However, like sam said, as people, we must understand and appreciate other cultures and see it from their shoes rather than from our shoes. If those two particular muslim women did not seem like they thought western girls respected themselves, then maybe they did not understand this western culture to a full extent. However we may be wrong because maybe we misinterpreted what they meant, because I don’t remember them directly stating that women in America don’t respect themselves. I remember them saying that they just wear the head scarf as a personal choice and the reason is to avoid male attention in a wrong way. I also remember them saying that they respect everyone else’s decision and they were fine with it. So maybe this question is just due to a miscommunication rather than anything. I would like them to talk more about this subject next class because I find it very interesting. In other classes we talk about many cultures including European, asian, etc. However it seems as if the middle eastern or muslim culture seems like a topic most professors are keen to avoid for some reason or another. I like how we talk about it in this class because I feel the best way to learn and talk about a culture and its traditions is by talking to someone that is from that culture. Books, media, and the internet can only teach you so much, and I believe that interacting in person is much more rewarding. Anyways, I hope that we talk more about this next class and hopefully it can be clarified if they actually meant to say that women hear don’t respect themselves, because I highly doubt that.

Last class we watched a video of how a fox news reporter interviews a bunch of different students from asia and asking them about when the new football season is about to start and if they are excited. At first I thought that the point of the video was to show how not interested the asian students were about football. However after watching the video again and again, I kind of sense that the reporter is slowly trying to show how unaware and lost the asian students are. For example, I think that when the reporter asks one asian student what does he mean by fighting, and then the reporter raises his fists as if getting into a fight. I Believe that was really stupid because it is pretty obvious what the asian student meant; a fighting spirit. In terms of why the class attacked the white male and did nothing to question why the asian student considered it to be funny, is really up for discussion. My first point is that the Asians in the class room that said that it was funny, were actually all Asian American. From my experiences and observations, asian Americans and Asians who recently moved to the united states or came here to study, differ through their experiences and lives. The only asian who wasn’t American actually said that she was uncomfortable with the video and it made Asians seem like they are lost. With that being said, I don’t see why every one attacked the American, but no one attacked the asian American. I believe if the people of a particular race are insulted and or do not find a joke or a video funny, then it shouldn’t be okay. The reason I say this is because we do not know how they feel, we are not in their shoes. As sam said before, as well as the video that we had to watch, empathy is a key element in life and in understanding how people go on with their every day lives. I believe however, that the white male was talking out of arrogance saying that black jokes are funny and it doesn’t matter what other people say. Here you are being insensitive to others. However, the problem is you will encounter black people who find black jokes extremely hilarious, while you will find others who find black jokes extremely racist and actually get offended by them. This applies to every culture whether it is asian, black, middle eastern, white, or any other. Therefore, I honestly have no idea or opinion as to which way we should walk down when it comes to these. I am really looking forward to the class about jokes and race because I feel like I am going to learn a lot.

On the topic of someone being bilingual or even trilingual should not even be up for discussion. I think that being bilingual only has benefits that improves the person and opens a whole different network of communication in the world. Even before reading this article I believed that learning a new language helps you grow as a person. This is why I was not surprised to hear that it makes you smarter. Common sense tells you that of course learning a new language will make you smarter because it challenges your brain to learn something useful and be productive rather than learn about jersey shore and if sammy is still with ronny. I don’t understand why some voters consider it to be divided loyalties, that just spells out close mindedness. WHY would you not want your president to be intellectual and knowledgeable? If it were up to me I would want my president to know all the languages of the world. I don’t think it is considered to be a dividing loyalties issue. For example, just because you know about other football teams does not mean you are dividing loyalties over your favorite football team. Personally, I am a bilingual and knocking on a third language, which I would love to be, fluent in. I already am fluent in Arabic and English, whereas I can have a simple conversation in Spanish as well. This does not mean I am dividing my loyalties, it just means I can now communicate with people of other cultures and other parts of the world. For people who believe that learning another language is not good, I beg of you to read what I wrote, and to also read the article. Becoming bilingual or trilingual makes you smarter, as well as affects your susceptibility from diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. For the people who don’t believe that being bilingual is a plus, this world is becoming more and more globalized and interconnected. Therefore being bilingual is becoming more of a necessity. If it is becoming a necessity to live with two languages and as well as it helps you become more smarter and aware, AND helps to prevent deseases such as dementia and alzheimer’s, then what is the point of arguing? The puppets experiment also shows that the infants who are bilingual were quicker to anticipate and switch their anticipatory gaze once the puppets were switched to opposite sides. I believe that it is very obvious the benefits of learning and becoming fluent in more than one language where as deciding to be close minded and rejecting multilingualism only sets a person behind and handicaps them in a world where progression is the only way forward.

I found this class to be a purely amazing class. It had everything there is for it to be a class to be remembered. We had a skype call with a man from Iraq, we had 3 american war veterans, we had questions, discussion and dialogue. This class meant an extra bit to me because I am a muslim from Kuwait who is spending his college years in state college. I have been exposed to ideas and emotions of both sides. I have middle eastern friends who feel that they are hard done by the USA, and I have middle eastern friends that are totally fine with the USA. Also, I do have American friends who love to learn about my culture and about my traditions, however for obvious reasons I don’t have many friends who despise the middle east and muslims. When sam said to put yourself in their shoes, I fortunately do have two types of shoes. I have my middle eastern shoes which condemns the US foreign policy but I understand it because at the end, every country is looking out for its benefit. Also I have my American shoes which supports the US people trying to help out and give people in need a hand. When you hear about middle eastern people being so terrible and violent, you are hearing bullshit. If anything, those middle eastern people will welcome American people into their homes with open arms and treat them with the utmost hospitality. What the average American fails to realize is that the people in the middle east don’t hate Americans, they hate the American government and how they handle their business. Granted there are some assholes like the ones we saw on the youtube videos crushing a car because it makes them seem like they have no morals. However, I think that around eighty or ninety percent of the time, a middle easterner would never view an American person as badly as some Americans view us. In terms of the question, there are definitely ways to help. Look at all the people going nuts about kony, and all the help Americans sent to Haiti, why cant that be to the middle east? Is it because they are supposed to hate middle easterners? I don’t think so, its just that no one ever thinks of helping countries like iraq or Syria, but it can be done the same way America has proved over and over again that it lends a helping hand. I really hope that we do talk more about this topic because topics like this is whats happening right now in the world we live in. And it would be a great help if all of us can understand this world a little bit more than we do. Like Sam said, the key word is to understand.

Throughout listening to the lectures this semester and thinking and observing to myself outside of class, I have come up with a question for myself as well as other people. Is white supremacy too embedded in the way we live our lives that it is impossible to start thinking and living without the existence of white supremacy? If what professor sam was saying is true about how an applicant for a job position would be favored just due to his or her name if all other qualifications are exactly alike. How does one live with that? How do we as humans, self proclaimed to be fair and equal, see that as anything close to resembling fair and equal? Why am I brought up in a world where some person could be favored to get a job position over me due to his or her name? I am proud of my name and I will not be changing it to Chad or Joe anytime soon. Yeah I understand the mentality of some minorities when they say that minorities just have to “work harder”, but my question is why? Yes white supremacy exists, but you go along your day hearing from a lot of people that it is not fair to prejudice just due to race, it is not fair to not get something because you are of a minority. However what you hear more is that we live in a fair world, everyone is equal. What about those people? Do they really know that no we are not equal in the eyes of the job employer, etc. OR do they suppress it to the point where they truly believe that everyone is equal in other people’s eyes. You definitely find many saints in this world that say that they see everyone in the same light. However I believe, that if the decision comes to them, then they probably would not see everyone as equals like they once said they did. I have lived in the middle east and I would be lying if I say that everyone is considered equal there too. I believe it is the same problem, just towards different people. So is it due to culture or what? One day I hope that people actually consider others as equals rather than have that inner feeling which says otherwise. However, is that even possible? Are people really capable of letting go of that inner feeling? Or is it deeply embedded due to the media, culture, and society that each person lives in? I like to think that if I apply for a job in the united states of America, then I would be fairly and equally considered amongst other people due to my qualifications, rather than my name.

The past two classes we discussed topics about race and sports. The question that Sam poses is if a specific type of race has an advantage in a sport. Personally I believe that some racial groups tend to be more talented in the field of basketball or soccer for example. A tall person due to his genetic make up will likely cause him or her to possess an advantage in the game of basketball. As we are talking on average as usual, asians are not the tallest people in the world therefore deem basketball to be a harder sport to master than say ping pong. Maybe the reason why Jeremy Lin has been getting all the media crazy attention is due to the fact that he's Asian. However personally, I believe that race alone is not enough to be counted as a big advantage. Like Sam said in class, higher income family tend to get higher grades on average. I believe the same could be said about sports. Families with higher income will tend to look at sports and play at a different level due to the amount of practice and lessons that they can afford while people who are not so well off can not afford such a luxury and can only depend on talent and basic training. Yes Jeremy Lin is Asian, however he's been living in America and has attended Harvard university which gives us a slight glimpse of his and his family's socioeconomic structure. I am not saying that all his successes are not warranted, however due to his socioeconomic structure, I believe that he may have an advantage in that department where he might lack in the department of racial advantage. When we typically watch an Nba or a college basketball game, we see a significant amount of people with African or African American race and with very little players with Asian genes. Why? Well it was proved last class when Sam called out those two girls and explained how each race's body structure is different. People with African ancestry seem to have longer legs and can jump higher which definitely helps in sport such as running, track, or basketball. Whereas Asians have longer torsos and shorter legs which could help in sports such as ping pong. Personally, with everything I have heard in class coupled with my generalization and experiences, I believe that certain racial groups do have an advantage when it comes to a specific type of sport. However, this advantage seems to be very minimal and and be countered by the advantage of people on different levels of socioeconomic structures. I believe that not one person is perfect and people in this world have different advantages in different areas.

In my opinion, Tuesday’s class was one of the classes I have enjoyed the most so far this semester. The reason for that is because I love talking about touchy subjects because it really gets your mind running and challenges you about something that relates to you. Personally, I am a believer in Islam and I truly think that is the religion for me. Granted, I am not the most religious person in the world but as sam said, its all about faith. I honestly feel a spiritual connection to something of the unknown (God). I am not really big on the logistics or the rules of a religion, rather I am more interested in the connection and faith that one has with whoever he or she believes in. Having said that, I don’t believe that evolutionists are ignorant, or whatever the term may be used. One of my views is that everyone is entitled to believe in whatever he or she wants to believe in. I think that if you are of a religious personality, then it is completely up to you to decide who you believe in and I would not try to persuade you otherwise. I know I am not your typical religious person that would try to convert you but I believe that everyone has the freedom of choice depending on what he believes in. I think that even evolutionists have a right to believe that there is no god. It is completely up to the person. I agree with sam in which mostly its what your parents believe in, however, were all human. As humans we can think for ourselves. Personally I never understood why people tried to make a rivalry between religion and science. Of course scientific discovery has taught us a lot but from sam’s experiences with spiritual encounters that he has talked about, its very hard to deny an unknown force with a blink of an eye. I know in Islam, one is encouraged to study, to learn, to challenge himself. I remember a saying that goes something about if you suffer an unfortunate passing while you are on your travels to learn and study, then god sees you belonging in heaven. I am sure that there is something in the other religious books along those lines. My question is, if those religious books encourage science, and learning, then why do people put them against each other? Why can’t they go hand in hand? I believe life is what you make of it. Can’t science be the answer to how rather than to what? Religion is ALL about interpretation, it is between one’s self and his faith. And no one should be judged by another person about his faith or beliefs.

Personally I believe that there are too many white people in the world to be able to generalize them as a whole. One white man can be more intrigued and interested in race and ethnic discussions over hundreds and hundreds of people from different races such as black, African American, asian, arab, etc. For example, Sam Richards is a white average man, and he talks about race and ethnic relations more than half the people I know. However, on average, when you talk to a white person on campus, you realize that they are quick to take a diplomatic stance on the subject. They quickly try to show that race is not a taboo subject and this whole “kumbaya” feeling. However the energy and vibe that they give out usually give out the exact opposite. It seems as if they are so hell bent on being politically correct that their true emotions feelings and thoughts are not portrayed. It could be because of the way they were raised. For example, the mom and dad could be telling them that they should accept all cultures as is and not ask questions and learn more because of fear of offending them or being politically correct. I am currently an international student here at penn state university. I was born in a small island in Europe called Cyprus and I have lived my whole life in Kuwait which is in the middle east. From my time here, I have been asked about my culture, my traditions, my lifestyles. However, one thing I have realized is that the majority of these questions have come from friends that are a part of a minority such as blacks, African Americans, or Asians where only a handful of white people have asked me. Also when they have asked, its been after they have taken a few drinks in the night. Therefore I have come to a conclusion that ON AVERAGE, white people may seem to be more shy and quiet when it comes to the topic of race and ethnicity. However, with that being said, there are a few white people who are genuinely interested in the topic of race. I have a few friends who love it when I talk about my culture and traditions. One of my roommates is actually a white American who loves it when I show him pictures and talk about issues back at home. I believe it shows that generalizing a complete race is a little too hard because there are different types of people from every race. Maybe, white people seem to shy away because the topic might be offensive. One example is how the one white girl said that she would get beat up because she had to pick the darkest person in the room but I bet that she wouldn’t have a problem picking the whitest person in the room. Anyways every person is different.