Well its only natural for people to identify with other people with similarities to themselves. Just as American people are concerned with American issues. Just as New Yorkers are more concerned with struggling people in their area. It doesn’t mean the issue is exclusive to minorities. That given, there is some historical context to it as well. During the times of slavery, African Americans were treated as sub human. When slavery was finally abolished, we didn’t just instantly become equal citizens of the United States. We still faced heavy discrimination and racism. Now who do you think is more likely to care about the issues that blacks face? Blacks of course. Sure there were a minority of whites who cared about improving the well-being of blacks, but for the most part it was up to African-Americans. So why don’t white people care about other people’s problems, huh? Of course there are a number of problems in this world, and these problems see no color. They affect white, black, red, yellow alike. So although it may seem that minorities care more about other minorities, it is not necessarily that they care more or less. The key idea is that if minorities don’t fight to solve their own problems, they can not really rely on any other people to. Just as if New Yorkers don’t show a strong care for the problems of the state, then even if the conditions are bad, why would another state step in?

One can make a strong argument that ethnocentrism is the only class that we really needed for this course. It’s an idea that pretty much encompasses all of the aspects of sociology. The separation of us vs them, when it comes to race, gender, culture, etc. is all a result of us only being able to see the world through our own lens. Therefore, what we see as normal, or socially acceptable may be weird to other cultures and vice-versa. That being said, I think that the class on ethnocentrism was one that we could all relate to, one that we all already were aware of, but also one that shows that it’s something that we are all somewhat unconscious to.

For example, the videos in class were on point about identifying not only what American see as “abnormal” but also what’s backwards about American culture. They paint themselves and do these ritualistic chants. When applied to a tribal group of people who look different, speak different, and act different than us, we think it’s weird or even somewhat barbaric. We look down on them or say they’re chants are stupid and misguided. When applied to something like American football it’s COMPLETELY understandable right? Nothin‘ awkward about paintin’ my’self completely blue and white, gettin’ shit faced wasted in this campsite full of trailers and tailgaters, wavin’ these fluffy things called pom poms, and chanting with thousands of other fans to cheer on our football team. No, there’s nothing wrong with it. We’re just out here enjoying ourselves, and because its a common aspect of American society, its a social norm and nobody questions it. The problem is why do we question other cultures and look at them in a different way, even though some of their rituals may even make more sense than some of our own? There are a number of questionable social norms. For starters, what is it with Santa Claus? Who’s idea was that and why do our kids know more about the gifts that Santa brings rather than the meaning of Christmas, especially if we’re going to claim that there’s a connection between the two? Similarly, what about the Easter bunny? American kids everyone are taking pictures with the oversized bunny who hides Easter eggs full of candy... I don’t see the connection between a bunny and the religious holiday, but I also don’t see too many American’s raising a question about this societal norm. It goes farther than just religious things as well. Alcohol is responsible for numerous deaths every day, but marijuana is has recently been applied for medical purposes. Alcohol is by far a more dangerous drug. But weed has the stigma that it’s somehow bad for you. Sure there are dangers to smoking, but why is it okay that we sell cigarettes, full of carcinogens and nicotine and let people abuse the drug, but then lock up those who smoke weed? Furthermore, why do we find it weird when other societies see how backwards this is? Why does America not use the metric system? Why have these backwards aspect of our society not been truly challenged? I guess we just see it our way.

We live in a “curious” society when it comes to race. When i say this, i'm referring to how some people react to things that could be perceived as offensive. To clarify, if someone offends you personally, it makes sense to be all up in arms, who wouldn’t be? But how would you react if someone “insulted” your family member? Similar to the first case? Now what about your dog’s best friends babysitter.... would you be just as offended if they were insulted? No, because you don’t feel personally attacked. The insult has nothing to do with you. Just because one group of people may feel like they were “insulted” by a particular statement, doesn’t mean that you automatically have to uphold the “moral standard” and also step in as an offended party. There’s a fine line between personally offended and knowing the difference between right and wrong. For example, in the video that was edited and produced with the sole purpose of embarrassing Asians, I think that the video was malicious. It was clear that their intent was to make the Asian population look stupid (there are plenty of white people who wouldn’t be able to answer that question, funny that I didn’t see a single one of them in the video). But this doesn’t mean that I have to act personally offended. Sure it was wrong, but the video didn’t really apply to me. Unfortunately, there are no clear boundaries, rules, etc, when it comes to issues similar to this. Think of how society uses the N-word. Speaking in general (not necessarily my point of view on the issue) the N-word is acceptable to use from black person to black person, no offense taken. We know the intent isn’t malicious. It’s sometimes acceptable between one white guy and one black guy (white people.... if you aren’t sure if you’re “accepted enough” to use it, DON’T). But imagine if two white people, both good friends, greeted each other with “what up my nigga”. Boom, instantly I’m offended because even though they aren’t directing it towards me, they’re still using an offensive term. But they didn’t mean anything by it, and they didn’t even use it with a black person. So why so serious? I personally feel that the N-word is something that should not be used, regardless of race, culture, friendship, etc.... but in reality, that doesn’t stop me from using the word with my close friends. I’m admitting the huge double standards that have become a societal norm. All I’m trying to do is have people contemplate why we get so sensitive about some things, BUT ONLY when specific conditions apply (usually applying to race). Just something to think about.

Imagine a country whose entire history is built upon cultural discrimination. Now think about the Trayvon Martin circumstances.........“This is what a racist country would look like”. Sad to say, the society we live in still has racism. It’s less explicit, which is the double edged sword. The fact that it’s less “visible” is what allows it to pass right through the consciousness of society. And it’s not just America. The videos about children and the ‘good or bad’ doll prove it. Where do kids get this idea in their head connecting color of skin to superiority/inferiority. They learn everything the know from us, so therefore, we must be projecting this racial prejudice to them. And what’s worse is that some people may not even realize. The subtleties of racism. And if they aren’t pointed out and corrected, they pass right through consciousness, and perpetuated generation by generation. Sadly, our American society hasn’t gotten past this phase. Going back to the Trayvon Martin situation, imagine if the role was switched.... Black gunman shots white teenager.... Never would you expect to hear something in defense of the gunman. Never would you say “let’s do a drug test on the 17yr kid who was just murdered, for being “suspicious”...... well what’s so suspicious about skittles? I see white kids with skittles in all kinds of places.... plastic bags.. purses... damn, i’ve even seen some bold ones eat a pack of the “suspicious” object during class... Oh and what about the hoodie. Clear indicator of criminal activity apparently ..... pheewww, thank GAWWWD white kids shop at American Eagle and Holister.... so much easier to identify criminals these days.... See a white kid in an AE hoodie, no need for suspicion.... see a black kid in an AE hoodie, automatically assume criminal activity... and if you’re feelin’ a little power hungry, go harass him about how he’s wearing american eagle, there’s a chance he stole it... Nobody would dare give the black shooter a little pat on the back and say: sorry about this inconvenience sir, you can just go home, we’ll handle it from here.. Just curious, when was the last time a white kid was stalked and murdered just walking around the block, and why not? So what can we do to change the problem if we barely can see it in society due to “social conditioning”. It has to be everyone’s problem. The separation of people is exactly what perpetuates this racism. We can’t see this murder as a black problem... it can’t be a minority problem... it can’t be an urban problem, or a class problem.... It needs to be a human problem. It’s something that every single human being can relate to, regardless of anything.

For me, my current views of war have not changed. I recognize that I’m biased when it comes to foreign conflict. Of course I’m going to support the decisions of my country (even though I rarely agree with them) and I will support “my” troops unconditionally. I understand that our military is made up of people, and with people there will always be some heroes and some villains. I would like to think that both our government and our soldiers have the best intentions, considering we’re invading their country. BUT being the realistic person I am, I can’t act naive and believe that we’re over there to end all the oppression. As I said, I’m realistic. The United States is acting entirely in our own selfish interests. Oil and democracy. Expression of power. Taking the empathetic perspective, I also understand why the people in Iraq are disgruntled. The US has been exploiting its power by draining the country of what’s theirs and using it to power our economy, bolster our way of life, and continue the cycle of power. It’s not right, its not fair, and they’re not just going to do nothing about it. Continuing with the theme of being realistic, and coming back to the actual war being fought (not just the politics behind the war), I understand that war today isn’t what it used to be. When an American soldier is on the battlefield, it’s life or death. We’re facing an insurgency where the enemy isn’t clear. Despite the fact that I disagree with invading Iraq, its “either you or me” when the soldiers are facing hostiles. We can talk all we want about how our soldiers are disgusting for their treatment of the civilians, and that’s true, there’s no justification for mistreating civilians. But I’m not surprised. I wish the US could at the very least “fight fair” but as we’ve noticed, there’s nothing forcing the enemy to reciprocate. The insurgency our troops face is dirty and shameless. The will use women and children. The doll with the IED is one example. I know there are some radicals in the population that absolutely hate the US and I’m sure they’re justified from their perspective. And it may seem hopeless trying to pursue any other options. Government is disheveled, largely thanks to the US. And even still, they don’t have enough political pull to make a difference. In the end, its up to them to fight for themselves, and that’s exactly what they’re doing. After seeing some of the atrocious acts that our soldiers have committed, I can’t blame them for having such strong hatred. As Sam pointed out, how many does it take before you hate them all? It’s unfortunate but it’s how war has always been. Those with power will exploit it.

I think the State College Community shouldn’t turn a blind eye to the minorities who come to this school. We all pay the same tuition so why should the community only focus on the majority. A big University like Penn State draws interest from all races and types of people, including international students. If anything, they’re making the biggest leap coming to a college in a different country, why not cater to them a little? State College is the middle of nowhere Pennsylvania, so I didn’t expect too much diversity when I came. But the State college community is doing a poor job catering to various people considering. For example, the first few weeks of college, I didn’t know where to get my haircut. There are no black barbers shops like I’m used to back home. Thus, I’m forced to go to get my hair cut in dorm rooms and apartments. That ain’t right! I can ramble on and on (which I will do) about the “privileges” that the white people receive without even being aware of it. The privileges range from the small things such as a barbershop, to some larger issues like social life/partying. Penn State is one of the top party schools, yet the party scene is far from equal. Let’s say you want to party at a frat house. List all of the frat houses that you can party at off campus. Zero of these frats are minority frats. Ironically, the brothers here all white (except for one black kid whose sole responsibility is to not act as a normal brother of the house, but to entertain the white brothers as the token black kid). Trust me, it’s much easier to get into these parties if you’re white. I went to party with a few friends. In total there were two boys and two girls, all black. I’m not going to say the name (its Acacia) but the guy at the door gave me a huge hassle. I know a few brothers in the house (which didn’t really do me any good) and was told that the party “was at maximum capacity at the moment”. What kind of bull shit is that. But then 2 white kids and 2 blonde chicks come up to the door and get let in with ease. I won’t jump to conclusions, so I won’t assume it was because of race (99% positive it was though). But back to the State College community, how many black owned businesses are there in town (I’m willing to bet less than 3). How about other minorities? I feel that it would be wise to diversify the State College community. Otherwise, the minorities will feel like outsiders of the Penn State family.

I feel that affirmative action is a very difficult topic simply because there is no way to quantify prejudice. Also, in a way, it also perpetuates this problem by categorizing people and awarding them certain privileges based off of what category they fall into. But, on the other hand, if we don’t implement programs of affirmative action, and also don’t solve the issue of discrimination, then the problem will only become drastically worse. As Sam said, when given two exactly alike resumes, one with a white name and the other with a black name, “LaKeisha”, for example, the employer will innately shy away from the black name. The name alone implies the race, and when given the choice between a white person or a black person, both equally qualified, most employers would choose white, just based on the preconceived notions about black people in general. Without programs to promote diversity in the workplace, we would see this happen time and time again in the hiring process and then next thing you know, there isn’t a single minority in the company, but thousands of equally, if not overly qualified minorities left without a job, solely because of their race. This is not right. Unfortunately we don’t live in a perfect world. In order to make these inequalities right, we would have to attack prejudice in the minds of every person. Society would have to change entirely. We cannot truly solve the problem by just forcing employers to hire minorities because this leads to the idea that “so and so got that job because she’s black, not because she is qualified”. Like I said before, this just continues to add to the division between races. The problem is that white people do not recognize their privileges. It not a conscious thought because it has always been there. Just like Americans do not appreciate just how good we have it. White people are at the top of the totem pole in our society. Therefore they are granted advantages in society, but we don’t make anything of it because thats just how it works. But in contrast, when we try to even out the playing field, there’s an uproar. It’s not fair, it’s not fair. Well sadly we can’t completely level the playing field overnight, so affirmative action programs are a step in the right direction. Maybe my incorporating some minorities in the workplace, we can all break down these barriers and let go of some prejudices. Also, I just find it a little humorous that white people are replying that its not fair. They’re dead silent when they get that loan, or that job, but having a system in place to push for more QUALIFIED minorities in the work place just aint right.

The fact that interracial marriage rates are on the rise is an indication that Americans are making some strides in race relations. But, given the history of race relations in this country, it would be silly to think that all of societies prejudices and racial divides would be completely cured in a matter of a few decades. It may seem distant to us, but our nation isn’t that far removed from the Civil Rights Movement. Sadly, some of the racial discrimination from that time period still exists in regions of our nation today. And there’s no way to truly measure the implicit discrimination that lies within people, but it’s there. The fact of the matter is that race relations in America are far from perfect. And this statement doesn’t just apply to racist white people; there are a number of blacks in today’s society who struggle with race relations.
Much of the prejudice can be equated to history. My father was raised in Alabama, and my mother was raised in Louisiana. It’s safe to say that they experienced more than a fair share of racism first hand. When they raised me, they made sure I wouldn’t go through the same kind of racism. Being raised in a predominately white community, it was evident that there was no explicit racism, but that some preconceived notions existed about me. Thus, it seemed like there was still something between the races in my community. My parents were basing their teaching on their life experiences. Thus, interracial dating was ‘awkward’ per say.
But back to 2012. I feel that by now, America should be over it. Some see a black person with a white person and struggle to accept them as equal to an all white couple. There is still something about interracial marriage that society has a difficult time accepting. It’s like we feel that interracial marriage is something new and rebellious. Like, “there are plenty of good girls out there within your race, why don’t you like them.” When really, marriage has nothing to do with race at all, its about falling in love with another human being. It’s as if we get stuck on the fact that the groom and the bride look nothing alike, but we ignore the fact that they love each other. And in fact, what is the definition of interracial dating? Does the marriage of a black man and a Haitian woman, both with the same complexion, fall under the category of interracial marriage? Do they get the same looks when walking down the street hand in hand or is it more acceptable? Basically, all I’m saying is that in 2012, our generation should be making stronger pushes past this notion of race.

In my circumstance, it’s easy to “identify” as African-American. Both my parents are black, I am brown skinned, so there really was never a discrepancy as to what I would identify as. That being said, I am obviously not “100% pure blooded black”. My ancestry includes a diverse ethnic background from Native American to “white”. But from generation to generation, these aspects of my ancestry were overlooked and instead of my ethnic background getting passed down, the concept of “black” was passed down. I am “black” because my skin is dark, not because of my ancestry. My forgotten, overlooked ancestry can be traced all the way back to slavery. I’m not sure exactly what “percent” black or white I am, but the evidence of white blood is apparent. My mother is fairly dark skinned, but my aunt is very fair skinned. She could “pass” as white. So then the dilemma is “what is she”? She is a human being, that is her race. When someone looks at her for the first time, they may mistake her for “white”, but then again, what does it mean to be white? She looks like a white person and clearly has some white blood in her, but does the fact that her parents are black disqualify her as being white?

Race in America is skin deep. People make judgements based on color rather than ethnicity. In America, we separate and categorize people based on the differences we see. What people fail to realize is that very few of us are “pure”. Consider someone who is biracial, one parent white, and one black. If they’re fair skinned, does that mean they fall into the category of white? Are they “black enough” to be considered black? Taking it further, what if you’re 10% black for example. Both your parents look white, but for some reason, you inherited dark skin. What are you? Do you say you’re white and deny your black ancestry, or vice versa? It’s questions like this that should make us realize that race is nothing but a made up concept created to force people to categorize other people, not based on their ethnic background, but based on how the look. Again, society views me as “black” because I look black. Not because I am “black”. I am African-American, Native American, European, etc. I am a person, like everyone else.

This is the common “complaint” of white people, because minorities obviously are not gonna complain about the so called “advantage”. But people don’t look at the purpose of a diversity quota in Universities. It’s an attempt to “even the playing field” in a sense. Minorities are much more likely to come from a poorer background. Chances are that the schools they attend are struggling with funding and even violence. Hard to earn a great education in a learning environment like this. Regardless, when applying to college, minorities aren’t really given an “advantage” per say. You still need to make the grade. You still need to meet all of the qualifications to attend that University. If it weren’t for this “advantage”, we would still see a disproportional ratio of minorities attending college. Think about it, if you don’t have access to a good education, you aren’t going to do well on the entry tests. If you do poorly on the entry test, you are not going to get into college. In today’s economy, a college education is almost a necessity to become a successful member of society and pursue a career. Thus, without this diversity quota, we would only be perpetuating the cycle of oppression (and institutionalized racism).
Also, it’s funny how we don’t place more emphasis on the disturbing advantages that the majority possesses, or “white privilege”. Sam made the statement that a white felony offender gets a call back from an employer 17% of the time, whereas a black person with a perfectly clean record, all else being the same, gets a call on 14% of the time. This is unsettling, but shows just how deep “white supremacy” in ingrained in our society. It would be nice if our country was set up so that everyone was equal, but many of us fail to acknowledge that America’s dark past is the reason for the inequalities that we still experience today. There are a number of facts that illustrate just how messed up race relations in America are, and although we are making strides in the right direction, we still have a long way to go. In reality, we all are not equal. Minorities care still oppressed thanks to the “white standard”. Minorities do not have access to the same opportunities, for whatever reasons, and until we find a way to bridge the gap, this inequality will perpetuate, generation to generation.