After taking the course, soc119, my view on race and ethnicity have definitely changed in a good way. Before this class I sometimes had some questionable views on certain races and ethnicity. The class has taught me to be a little more open minded when it comes to race and ethnicity. For instance, when I used to go walk down the street of a city and see a group of people of a different race crowded in an area I would either avoid the area or just walk by quickly with my head down. Now that I have heard the reactions from people of different race and ethnicity, I know that even acting in the most minuscule ways can be hurtful. How would you feel if someone basically ignored you when they walked by just because they were of a different race? This kind of behavior is no way to have a successful country. A group of people of all different races needs to be able to interact with one another with no problems because when people fight and discriminate against each other a lot less work can be accomplished. By taking this class, especially at Penn State, has made me a little more comfortable around people of different race or ethnicity. Penn State has plenty of diversity all over campus such as in the classrooms, on the streets, in the dorms, and in the off campus living options. If a student were to be racist they would have a hard time getting along on this campus because of the diversity. Also, in the class I liked how we discussed racism against white people not just people of color. Mentioning this made me realize that we are all subject to racism and it is hurtful. Overall I am pleased about my decision to take soc119 at Penn State.

Over the past week, it seems like there has been nothing else on CNN, Fox News, or ESPN other than the Jerry Sandusky scandal and the firing of the legendary coach, Joe Paterno. The Penn State community was and still is completely shocked by the horrific accusations of the one time defensive coordinator. The media has portrayed Joe Paterno as the scapegoat, instead of focusing more on the wrong doings of Sandusky.
This scandal has now become a worldwide news story even being on shown by such networks as Al Jazeera TV. Non Penn Staters may now view this prestigious university as a school who cares more about football then the innocence of a child. President Graham Spanier and the athletic director, supposedly some of the two most important and trustworthy figures may have been covering up this scandal for over 10 years.
After the board of trustees made their shocking decision that Paterno will be forced to resign immediately, angry student rushed the streets of State College. What started out as a gathering, quickly turned into a riotous mob. The news teams that were already on campus, whipped out their news cameras and started filming the chaos, only fueling the student’s anger. The video footage of the riots only made Penn State look worse in the eyes of the world.
Non Penn Staters need to understand and realize that the actions of a couple people do not define the university as a whole. We are a university that has over 94,000 students and over 500,000 alumni worldwide. We have the largest student run philanthropy in the world earning over $9 million dollars a year to help children with cancer. I can only hope as a Penn State student that people will look at all the positives this university provides instead of the awful accusations of a few people.

In my opinion, Mexicans do the “hard labor” because white people are starting to realize they can get away with not doing these jobs. White people are slowly beginning to see that they can get higher paying jobs and do not have to do hard labor jobs that Mexicans do to feed their families. One reason, I think, why Mexicans do all the hard labor jobs is because they really have no other choice in life. Mexicans migrate to this country in order to get solid jobs and raise their families, but upon arrival they get thrown in to the hard labor jobs that no one else wants. The Mexicans do not care what jobs they have to do in order to support their family. The problem occurs when these Mexicans are illegal doing the jobs that keep this country a nice place to live. Some people would say that we should just keep the Mexicans here in order to get the work done, but other would say the opposite. In my opinion, I feel that Mexicans and white people should share the workload. Now, I know that is not going to happen because the white people know they do not have to do these jobs and the Mexicans have to in order to survive, but with the split workload it would decrease the amount of discrimination. When people work together to get the jobs done it will most likely improve the amount of work that gets done and the quality of the work. Obviously when more people do a single job the job will get done faster just because of sheer numbers. So, the point is, if Mexicans and white people could split up the workload it would be much more efficient. In reality this would never happen. The reality is the Mexicans do most of the dirty work because Americans these days are just plain lazy. America has now gained a reputation of being a fat nation, which is true considering Americans constantly continue to show signs of laziness. Mexicans will continue to do most of the hard labor until Americans stop being lazy, but I do not think that will happen anytime soon.

When it comes down to illegal and legal immigration in this country I do not have a huge problem with it, as long as it is regulated. Immigration in this country provides a certain character that cannot be duplicated by any other nation in the world. A nation that is able to work with all of the diversity, instead of crumble under the circumstances is clearly a stronger nation. The fact that our country can unite as one, and solve problems with the diversity just goes to show that our country has the ability to work together, no matter the differences, can thrive and succeed in today’s society. Now, the question arises of illegal immigrants in this country. Naturally, being an American citizen, I do not condone illegal immigrants coming into our country, but with certain regulations and laws I could work with it. Being an American citizen you are granted certain rights that protect you as a citizen and when immigrants come into the country I can understand how you can feel cheated. When people just sneak into your country and expect the same rights, it makes people a little uneasy, but if these immigrants pass certain tested and follow the same laws as you do I don’t see a reason why they should not be allowed in the country. Of course, we can let mass amounts of people into the country because that would cause some serious problems within the country. If regulations are not set to control the amount of immigrants that can be allowed into the country it will cause overpopulation which, in turn, can lead to job loss for many American citizens. Another thing that could happen if too many immigrants enter the country is the pollution in the country could sky rocket as an effect of the overpopulation. Overall, I believe that immigrants in this country can build a stronger country, show the world that our nation is strong, but if the immigration is not regulated it could be devastating to our nation.

I agree that there is latent racism among white people and a more outright racism towards people in the colored community. This thought in society has basically originated from the history of our country. For example, since the slave trading stared and the black movements throughout history white people were almost in a sense programmed to be racist. The way that white people generally act around people of color speaks for itself. Time to time, I have witnessed people look quite disturbed in the presence of someone of color. Whether it is shooting the individual a dirty look or just standing around ignoring the person, most white people are not outright racist towards colored people. The difference in the time periods and the current state of society has contributed to this latent racism in the white community. Around the time when white people were blatantly racist towards colored people the physical effects were obviously there, but in today’s society it is more of a mental attack on colored people. By not saying the racist slurs that white people might be thinking in their heads and just either ignoring people of color, or giving them disgusting looks it puts a mental hurt on the person. The mental pain could be detrimental to the lives of the people of color because they have to deal with it daily. Now, people of color have known to be more directly racist towards white people, not hiding how they really feel. Most people of color are very bitter about their history and the turmoil they were put through at the time. I can easily understand how people of color can be extremely racist towards white people because of the way they were treated. These colored people now realize that they can get by with being racist because they were treated so badly. The obvious racism from colored people to white people can be somewhat justified because of the way they were treated, but at the same time, racism will tear the country apart. Racism whether it be latent or outright racism, is not going to help the white or black community because with violence and hatred within your own country cannot be helpful to the success of the nation.

In general I believe that a person's race shapes the way they view the world. Being white, I feel like I am oblivious to most of the things that people of other races pay attention to. Because I am white I do not worry about some of the biases that people of a different culture. As I write this I realize that I take a lot of my blessings for granted. I don't really know what kind disadvantages people of a different race experience. Growing up I never experienced a disadvantage because of my race.

I come from a family with a Catholic mother and a Jewish father. The biggest stereotype that I do not believe in is that all Jews are greedy with their money. My father is a very hardworking physician in the city of Memphis. Throughout my life he has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on me and my two siblings. He spent thousands of dollars on the three of us to go to a well known private school instead of paying nothing and letting us attend public school. We have traveled the world and seen things that many never get the chance to see. On top of all of this he has been willing to pay for three kids to go to Big Ten schools, paying the ridiculous out of state tuition for all three of us. My father is smart with his money. He understands what is going on in the global economy. He knows when to spend his money and how much he can spend.