I agree with you completely that it is hard to say affirmative action is a bad thing. I also have received jobs because of nepotism, and although my father helped me out with it because of who he knows, I also believe that I deserve the job. It's not like I got the job and was not qualified for it or wasn't willing to work hard. I agree with you that you can't blame people for wanting help through their connections to become successful. If you know people, why not use them for your advantage. I understand how affirmative action could definitely be a negative thing when you believe you deserve a job but do not get it because it is given to someone else because of affirmative action.

I think that if you let people to what they want to do or don't want to do, then I don’t think the world would be equal. I agree that affirmative action is not just, but there are reasons why we have certain laws and rules that help us be more equal. Affirmative action definitely doesn’t seem fair, but I think having it is better than not having it at all. I know Sam says that some people who don’t need boosts end up getting them through affirmative action, but I think sometimes it could benefit someone who is really in need. I mean, I don’t know much about affirmative action and the backgrounds of it, but I think Sam was only speaking in a negative light about it. Affirmative action was made to eliminate inequalities and discrimination, so it couldn’t be all that bad.
I found it extremely surprising how in the video, Harper High school kids were being taught less information than the suburban school. All kids should be taught a similar curriculum. I have no idea how I would pay to help the kids who are unequal at that high school.
In the world today, Nepotism is the key to success. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I honestly don’t know if Nepotism is bad for the world. Connections are very important. Meeting people and having others know you, your personality, and your work ethic is very important to be successful. Obviously this is not fair, but networking is a part of life, like that student during the lecture brought up. Our family and friends are obviously going to help us become successful. If my father was Donald Trump, I am obviously going to use him and his connections to become successful in my life.
I think when it comes to the scholarships and aid part of affirmative action, it is a good thing. They normally don’t have scholarships specifically made for white males. They will have scholarships for people who are specifically black, Hispanic, handicapped, or whatever it may be, which I think is positive. There are definitely negatives to affirmative action, but I just think this lecture only talked about the negative. I agree completely with Obama’s views of affirmative action.
I’m not sure if FAFSA is considered affirmative action, but I think they do a good job of deciding who needs financial aid. Basing how much aid they give to students on their family’s income seems fair. Of course there are some times where financial aid is given to people who don’t need it as much. When they look at the marital status of the parents and see that someone is divorced, they may give more money to that student when in reality that family’s income is very high although there is only one parent. Things like this will never be truly fair and equal.

I agree that I have never seen any positive things about immigration and illegal immigrants in the news media. I could see how businesses thrive only because of how little they are playing their employees who end up being illegal immigrants who need money and will work any job they could find for whatever pay is offered to them. The pear story was shocking to me, as well. I agree with you completely that Americans wouldn't do the work that illegal immigrants are offering to do. I feel that many Americans think those types of jobs are too dirty and low to be working, and instead they would much rather be working in a nice office somewhere.

It was really sad hearing Andrew Jackson call the Native Americans savage dogs and that he thought by killing them he would help further civilization.
Before even watching this lecture, I always thought it was difficult to deal with immigration and illegal immigrants because a lot of businesses depend on them. Illegal immigrants need jobs and are willing to work for cheap. Their cheap labor is extremely important to business when money is their main concern. I completely agree that businesses are calling the shots more than political parties are.
The story about the pear farm that didn’t pick their pears in time because there were no “pickers” (when we all know that means immigrant workers) is crazy to hear. Clearly you could see how businesses suffer when there are more intense immigration laws because it is stopping the people who are willing to work from coming to this country.
I do not consider illegal immigrants criminals. They are people just trying to make a living and should not be treated as bad as there are. Listening to the ranting youtube guy made me angry because immigrants DO have rights. I understand how people can argue that illegal immigrants are taking our jobs, but we want to do these jobs for the little pay that these immigrants are making. It is extremely hard to live here legally as an immigrant, and not many even know where to begin or how to start when looking to become legal.
We can’t expect every single person who immigrates to America to completely forget their culture and traditions from their country, but I’m sure they are all trying to learn English or become more “American”. People can integrate into America while still hanging on to their customs. My mother moved to America with my grandparents (her parents) from Ecuador. She told me that in her eyes the way she could belong and become more American was to learn English, which is what she did. She was able to speak both English and Spanish and still kept her Spanish traditions. My grandparents still don’t know English very well, but they were able to get well paying jobs and live relatively successful lives. Not everyone who immigrates here feels the need to learn English to become American, like my grandparents. They kept their Ecuadorian traditions, like certain meals they cooked, yet they were able to adapt and be considered Americans to the people around them. America is such a great country because we are not made up of one race, one religion, or one culture. We are a melting pot of cultures and people. America has never been made up of just one race. The United States of America was started by immigrants who travelled here from their mother countries, so it is wrong for people to want to keep immigrants out now.

I also thought it was interesting when Sam talked about gay and straight couples dealing with children and adoption. I think it is completely unfair how much a gay couple has to go through and all the paperwork they have to fill out in order to adopt a child. Gay couples are perfectly capable of taking care of, loving, and being there for a child just as well as straight couples. The fact that straight couples take their ability to have a child for granted is sad. I think it is outrageous that people think if a child is brought up with homosexual parents that they will become gay, as well. Being gay is not a choice and it not something that will be decided upon because of the environment you live in.

I don’t think that the reason why Democrats want to live in a more diverse community than Republicans has to do with political correctedness. Personally, when I think of conservative Republicans I think of white, older men in politics with the ideology that they will always be on top and deserve to be there. I agree with Sam that this is where the idea that Republicans are racist comes from. I think I may think this because I know Republican states, or the red states, are mainly in the south. When I think of the south, I think of racism and connect it to slavery and the confederacy. I know it sounds like a very extreme thought but it is what I think. Obviously I know that not all Republicans fall into this stereotype that I have come up with, but the fact that they have the smallest percentage who would live in a more diverse community kind of backs up what I think.
America is definitely a multicultural society, and I’ve always known this, but with this brings fear, anger and hate of others. Although I do believe is strengthens our country, there are so many cultures in America that I think it can make people feel that they have to take sides and decide what group they belong to. People don’t think of themselves as American, rather they will describe themselves as part of another group that has something to do with their culture and family background like Italian, Mexican, Black, White, etc.
It was insane seeing all the rap music from different countries. People in America associate rap and hip-hop with the black culture, but watching the video, America was one of the only countries that had a black rapper. It is amazing to see that the same type of music is popular all around in the world in all these different languages.
I agree with the guy that if someone is immigrating or living in a different country, they should try to speak the native language of the land. I am going abroad in the spring to Spain, and I know when I am there I am going to have to speak Spanish to people in that country. If I spoke English the entire time I wouldn’t be moving forward and it would be unfair to the people who are native to Spain for them to have to try and understand me speaking English when it is not their language and when I am not from their country.
I believe that a big problem with assimilation is that groups will not change their ways and let go of their own culture. This goes for both immigrants and people who believe they are “from” America. People complain that immigrants have to give up their older cultures and language to become American, but what about people who consider themselves true Americans? Why can’t they get rid of their old ways of thinking and racism? Why can’t they open their minds to a new culture, just as they want immigrants to do?

I agree with you that it is important not to get angry with someone who is at a different stage than you, although I feel like I do it all the time. I find myself disagreeing with someone who seems very ignorant and has completely different views than me. People come from different places and have experienced different things, which lead them to believe the things they do. I agree that I try to educate people more about race, especially with what I have learned so far in this class.
The video about the children picking the dolls was the most eye-opening to me as well. I assumed that children would pick dolls that look most like them, which was not the case in the video.

It was very different relating the same lessons from last week on white people now to colored people. The movie “A Girl Like Me”, it was strange seeing the children pick the lighter skinned doll as being the “nice” doll and the darker skinned as being the “bad” doll. You would think that children would prefer a doll that looks like them. I used to baby sit my younger cousins and we would always play with her dolls. She had one black doll and the rest were white. Every time I came over I noticed she would never pick up her black doll to play with it. One day I asked her why she doesn’t play with that doll and she said she didn’t like it. I didn't want to ask her why or get too into that issue with her, because she was just a little girl, but I was assuming it was because of the color of the doll. It’s weird how little kids are biased towards things like the color of a dolls skin even though they really don’t know what it means.

If you were to ask me if I think Penn State is too white before I saw the statistics I would say that I don’t think Penn State is too white. I went to a very diverse school so I have to disagree with what Sam said about how our answer depends on where we went to high school. I am friends with many black and Asian people here, as well as white, which is why I would think Penn State is diverse. I thought that Penn State was a very diverse community, but after being shown the statistics I see that I am wrong. Penn State is so huge that it’s hard to only see white people.

I think that guy Kenneth Eng is crazy. He immediately started talking about science fiction, which was not relevant to the topic of his racism. When Sam told me he was off his medication, the things he was saying definitely made more sense. I am surprised he wasn’t fired sooner.

I think the woman from the collegian photo who asked, “why are all these white people here?” was in the immersion stage because she doesn’t see that they belong at that protest and she is more about “them” and “us”.

I agree with Sam that white people really don’t know what it’s like to be in the minority, unless they are gay but I am talking about racially. Even if their friends or family are a different race and they might be offended by something that someone says about their friend’s race, they still really wouldn’t understand what it feels like even though they might think they do.

I believe that people of color can be homophobic depending on where they come from. In my women’s studies class we watched a video on people in Ghana and other African countries who rape lesbian women to teach them not to be gay anymore. The videos were very brutal and the words that the men said to the camera were very degrading towards gays. If people come to America from these countries, I can definitely see how these ways stick with them and they become homophobic.

I know exactly what you mean when you say you also get angry when people do not know the same things about race that you do. I always have arguments or talks with people who seem so extremely ignorant about issues of race and religion, especially when it comes to Muslims and Arabs, and I feel the need to explain to them what I have learned in this class. I agree that I feel some sort of obligation to share what I have learned in this class and correct people's misconceptions. I find myself mostly defending Arab families and Muslim families in the US and the explaining to people who have misconceptions about them what I have learned in this class. People seem to ignore me and think that I am wrong in whatever I say, and instead of doing what Sam says we should do and give in so that we do not argue, I can't help but keep arguing because it makes me too angry.

I agree that treating everyone equally means that we shouldn’t see color. I don’t get what’s so wrong about white people being cautious about what they say so that they don’t offend anyone of color. I don’t think white people who are cautious about what they say are avoiding the issue of race, I just think that they don’t want to be looked at as being offensive.
The video about the singing twin little girls completely shocked me. This hate is what happens when people see color in the people around them and see themselves belonging to a specific group who they think are better than others. I think stories like this justifies why I don’t think pre-awakening is such a bad thing.
When Sam talked about racial identifiers and how we never want to say or describe someone using race, I thought about how many times I’ve tried to avoid describe people by using their race. When I was younger, my best friend was Jamaican and black. I remember talking to her about someone who I thought she would know and then described him as black. She got very offended and told me that I shouldn’t be looking at race when I look at people. I never felt more horrible in my life after this moment because I thought I truly hurt my best friend’s feelings by using the identifier, although I was using it in a way that it fit into the story. Ever since then I try to avoid using racial identifiers as much as possible, no matter what the circumstances, because I truly do not want to offend anyone just as I did my best friend.
I do not think identifiers that describe sex are the same as ones that describe race. I do not think people get as offended if you were to describe someone as “bro” or “dude”. I say “dude” all the time because it is just how I speak, and no one has ever said anything to be about it or was offended by it.
I’ve seen the Red House Furniture commercial before on YouTube. The first time I ever saw it I immediately laughed because I had no idea why they had to describe their race before they described how much they loved the Red House and their furniture. To me, there was no point or benefit to talking about race in that commercial besides making that furniture store more well-known through it’s controversial commercial.
I have gotten into an argument with friends about race and I have used examples from this class to back up my beliefs.
I personally don’t have the feeling of white guilt. I think this is because the white side of my family is Jewish and have been through a lot through the Holocaust, so I can understand how black people are angry about slavery even though it was in the past.