en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/758405 Comments by debateorgohome https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment69955203 Well said GreekForHire. I agree with everything that you said. Do you ever notice that the people who dislike this class the most are the ones who do not understand what Sam is trying to convey? Overall for this class, I don’t think that Sam has showed a strong opinion towards one side of a debate. His point is not to get students to think in a certain way but to get them to think, period. In a class like this you get out of it what you put in. Sure any knucklehead could go to class a read the paper or listen to their iPod and say “oh I hate this class”. Those people are not learning anything though. Since this class is not based on specific facts, you really have to think and pay attention to get the point from what Sam is trying to say. You need to be open-minded and willing to think outside the box, or put yourself in someone else’s shoes. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:14:09 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment69955203 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-full-lecture__trashed/#IDComment69952743 I really liked the slide show Sam put up at the end of class. It showed how are religions are very similar. He showed pictures of families and friends just hanging out. Sure they definitely looked different, dressed different and probably talk different. That is always going to be the case in this world due to our differences in culture. But what I think this showed is how similar we all are in this world. We all want to be happy, live a successful life and help others out along the way. When you think about it, deep down we aren’t that different at all… Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:53:00 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-full-lecture__trashed/#IDComment69952743 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-full-lecture__trashed/#IDComment69952597 I think the solution to many problems in this world is communication. This is a perfect example of how poor communication leads to misunderstanding and eventually a lot of deaths of war. I think that American and Arab Muslims just need to be educated on the truth of each other’s culture and religion and most of our problems would go away. Now Sam is doing a great job of pointing this out to the students of our class but it needs to spread out. Just like the race issue discussions, this needs to be talked about among a lot more people. The same needs to be done among the Arab Muslims. Sometime I feel as though this class shouldn’t be a class at all, but a required course for all Americans to take. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:52:13 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-full-lecture__trashed/#IDComment69952597 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-full-lecture__trashed/#IDComment69952563 From my perspective, Osama Bin Laden was always just another Muslim guy. He was probably pretty similar to all the other people in his country. Now I realize just how different he is. I loved how Sam told us to pretend we were Arab Muslims. Then he showed us some example of what Muslim people see of Christians. All the examples he showed us made me think of Christians in a very negative way. It appeared as though the “Christian Invaders” were actually real. He showed us a few example videos like one of Sarah Palin and one of kids at a summer bible camp. The way in which these videos would appear to Arab Muslims is extremely misrepresentative of Christians. If I were an Arab Muslim I could definitely see myself joining the insurgents. It appears as though Americans are trying to take over my land and force their religion upon me. How could I not dislike this? Unfortunately, there are probably a lot of people that join the insurgents because they think this, even though it’s completely false. I’m not saying that I agree with those people, but I understand. I understand how they feel and can put myself in their shoes. I think that is the first step in solving this war. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:52:00 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-full-lecture__trashed/#IDComment69952563 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-full-lecture__trashed/#IDComment69952536 I think that this was definitely one of the best classes of the semester. I was the typical American guy who didn’t understand the Muslim religion. I didn’t think that all Muslims wanted to kill and terrorize us but I thought that they were pretty similar. After this class though, I really understand the difference. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:51:48 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-full-lecture__trashed/#IDComment69952536 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/how-am-i-not-a-racist__trashed/#IDComment69952035 This is an interesting topic you bring up. You said that you think that you probably have a better chance of affecting the world in a much greater way than people in a developing nation and I would agree with you 100%. It has nothing to do with the comparison of you to one of them. It’s the fact that you are most likely in a much more powerful and influential position than they are. You have much more money and a higher level of education than they do. Now if those two things were equal amongst you, I have no idea who would have the better chance of affecting the world. What you have is a greater opportunity than a person is a developing country. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:48:34 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/how-am-i-not-a-racist__trashed/#IDComment69952035 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/the-tyranny-of-radical-muslims__trashed/#IDComment68392904 I’m glad you shared this with us. I think that many people, including myself thought that most people of the Muslim faith were all the same. Through this last class however, I realize how different these people really are. It opened up a whole new box for me. I feel as though now I really understand that there is a huge difference. The thing that pushed me over the edge was when Sam told us to pretend that we were Muslims. He showed us videos of Christian Americans that were extremely misrepresentative of that group of people. That is exactly what I am like towards Muslims. I’ve only ever gotten bits and pieces of information. I never really knew how different Muslims could be from each other. Now I see how much we don’t understand each other because of a few people extremely misrepresenting Christianity or Islam. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 16:24:26 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/the-tyranny-of-radical-muslims__trashed/#IDComment68392904 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66317331 This is a good question. In class I think that Sam shares a lot of fun stories and shares some very interesting facts with us. None of this has changed my opinion. More importantly, it has helped me develop a stronger opinion on different issues. In class, I don't think Sam is trying to change our opinion, he has said that before. This class has also opened my eyes to racial issues. I've never talked or even thought about race this much. I feel like this class is great and all Penn State students should take it. Yea we are not necessarily learning many facts but we are learning about people and developing opinions which I think is very important. Wed, 7 Apr 2010 02:12:04 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66317331 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/is-quality-the-question__trashed/#IDComment66316471 I completely agree with what you are saying. Affirmative action can put unqualified people in places they should not be. I think that when dealing with affirmative action, you have to be very careful to not allow this to happen. If it does happen, it’s reverse discrimination and is just as bad as what affirmative action tries to eliminate. I only see a problem with nepotism to a certain degree. I definitely don’t think that very unqualified people should be given something just because of family ties. However, a common theme for people is that they want to work hard to provide their children with a better life. I think that if someone works really hard throughout their life, they should be able to let their kids benefit. Obviously, only to a certain extent. Wed, 7 Apr 2010 02:04:31 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/is-quality-the-question__trashed/#IDComment66316471 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment65391942 People need to have the ability to step out of their own shoes and see the world as a whole. I think Sam Richards does a really good job of this. When talking about issues, he doesn’t describe situations from his perspective but thinks about them in more of a general sense. This is the best way to make any decision, especially when talking about what is good for a group as a whole. However, in certain situations I think that it doesn’t take people’s emotions into consideration. Some girls feel shy and maybe embarrassed to talk about “bleeding” and that is why most women don’t like to talk about the issue. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 01:42:44 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment65391942 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment65391896 This issue of “bleeding” goes into much larger issues. I think that this leads into the topic of communication. Everybody has room to work on their communication with other people. When I think of good communication, I see the willingness to talk to others about anything you want. Men and women should not feel so uncomfortable talking about “bleeding”. It’s a very natural bodily function. I think that one day “bleeding” will be a normal thing to talk about. It won’t be this issue that people are afraid to talk to but it will take some time. Just like many other areas of society such as sex and racism. Before the 1950’s, nobody talked about these things. Over time however, people got more used to it and eventually it became no big deal. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 01:42:26 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment65391896 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment65391745 People have many different opinions on the subject of “bleeding”. As a male, I don’t feel like it’s that weird to talk about. It’s a natural thing that all girls go through. I would not want to go into too many details though. I think that it is very different for girls though. It’s something that actually affects them. They have to live through it. I think that from a young age, girls are taught by their mothers to not talk about it. You don’t ever want to tell other people when it’s your time of the month. I have never really talked to a girl about their period. It doesn’t tend to come up in conversation. I would really like to know why they find it so offensive to talk about. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 01:41:55 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment65391745 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment65391575 I loved that you brought up this issue in class. Not necessarily because of the topic of “bleeding” but the idea of it. Everybody in class was so surprised to hear you talking about this conversation and probably wanted you to just stop talking and change the subject. However, you kept pushing the subject. I liked how Sam questioned why it was so weird to talk about. We are all people just living this game we call life so why are certain topics so uncomforting for people to talk about? Fri, 2 Apr 2010 01:41:21 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment65391575 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment65390608 I thought this video was extremely interesting. I couldn’t believe the results of the test. The fact that almost all of the kids picked the white doll as more fun to play with and the black doll as the mean one is kind of disturbing. These kids are so young and they already are noticing the difference between skin colors. When I was that age, I never noticed that stuff. It’s hard for me to put my finger on an explanation. It’s probably a combination of reasons but I think that television is probably a large influencing factor. In shows for young children, people that are evil are considered to be on the “dark side”. Kids see this and directly relate it dark skin color. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 01:37:49 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment65390608 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/nothing-about-the-census-is-easy__trashed/#IDComment65388998 This is ridiculous and annoying to hear about. I understand that people will be offended when they hear “negro” but I think that they should only be offended when someone is using it in an actual offensive way. People who write the census, are not putting “negro” on it to be racist. They have proven tests that show that “negro” should be an option on the census to get an accurate count. When I see people who are offended by this, I think that they are a little ignorant. The census is not just whipped up and handed out to people. Millions of dollars are spent on this and the writers are doing what they think is best to get an accurate count. There are millions and millions of people on this earth, no matter what there is going to be people who are offended. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 01:33:48 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/nothing-about-the-census-is-easy__trashed/#IDComment65388998 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/if-men-could-menstruate__trashed/#IDComment64233374 Obviously guys don’t know much about the menstrual cycle. I think there is a very easy explanation to this. Pretty much the only education that is given to men on this topic is in fifth grade. It might be mentioned a little in middle school. Fifth grade is a really early age. It’s hard to remember stuff from that long ago and I’m sure we weren’t given too many details because the boys were split from the girls in different groups. I assume the boys group heard a different version of the menstrual cycle. I feel like at such a young age, boys don’t really understand it. As boys get older, they don’t have any reason to talk about and don’t experience it so they never understand it. Girls never bring it up because I feel like they may be embarrassed about it. If men could menstruate as well as women, I do not think that tampons would be free. I think they would be a lot like tissues, where you have to buy them but a lot of places you go they may be out for free. If just men menstruated, I still don’t think they would be free. I think things would be the same as they are now. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:53:57 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/if-men-could-menstruate__trashed/#IDComment64233374 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment64229072 I think that peoples minds are so focused on white racism towards black people, that they don’t realize the racism of black people towards white people. Although it’s not to as high of a degree, the road of racism is very much a two way street. Almost everyone would agree that the “N” word is extremely rude and inappropriate. If a white person ever said it to a black person, they would probably be lucky if they didn’t get beat up. However, I seem to hear black people saying it to other black people all the time and they have no problem with it. This doesn’t make sense to me. The word is either inappropriate to use or it’s not. It should not be okay for some people to use and for some to not. That right there is an example of racism, is it not? Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:16:53 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment64229072 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment64229041 This is a very interesting comment. I was thinking the same thing as you. First off, it was disappointing to see what people were writing, both black and white. Some of the comments were really extreme and I doubt that anyone would say it if people were going to know exactly who it came from. When some people texted a very racist comment about black people up on the screen, Sam stopped the class and talked about how you shouldn’t write something that you wouldn’t normally say if it was anonymous. Then when it was time for the people of color to send text messages to the screen, there were some racist comments about white people. I don’t remember Sam saying anything to the class after that. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:16:34 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment64229041 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment64228686 I believe that a lot needs to be done in order to improve racial issues around the world. For starters, the text books for young children need to be changed. The government needs to take responsibility for that. They need to generate new books for children that discuss race. These books should be a requirement for schools all across the nation. I think that once people get into high school, there should be race relations classes, just like this one. This class has been great for me, and I’m sure many people would say the same. It really allows people to get insight on what’s really going on out there. Writing the blogs is awesome. It allows me to collect my thoughts and write them down in a semi-organized format. Many issues discussed in this class have sparked my interest and lead me to discussing them with my roommates. So this class is not only affecting the students in the class, but many more. I also think that race relation classes should be used more often in the business world. Companies should require their employees to attend a few every year. There is a lot that can be done to improve our society as a whole on the issues of race. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:13:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment64228686 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment64228625 From an early age, I believe that people are improperly educated on race issues. The books that children read in elementary and middle school don’t really get into the issues of race relations. All they talk about is slavery. That white people brought black people from Africa to the United States to work on plantations. They explain that it is wrong. Unfortunately, these books are only scratching the surface of racial problems. These books don’t talk about much dealing with Native Americans. They seem to forget to mention that it was the largest extent of genocide ever. I think that it is hard to blame white people for being naïve towards race relation issues. It’s not something that people just choose to have an opinion on. The opinion comes from the way people were raised. Parents, the school system and friends are what shape peoples thoughts towards racial issues. There are definitely people out there that are so racist that it doesn’t have to do with how they were raised but how immature they are being more open minded. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:12:37 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment64228625