I’ve obtained a numerous amount of new information from Soc # 119. Things that were always around me, I didn’t pay any attention to until taking a class with Soc. There are so many problems and issues going on around the world that I never took the time to realize. I look a t people in a different way now. Not only do I look at others in a different light, but I noticed I’m seeing things within myself that I never thought existed. I used to think that only Americans had problems, but now I see problems exist globally. So many things that I take for granted, are the same things that it’s hard for people to obtain. I complain about so many things, and I complain about the things that I don’t have rather than be thankful for the things that I do possess. I’ve always had a variety of friends, from different areas, but I didn’t know too much about their culture. Now, I’m all about getting to know more about them while at the same time, embracing my own culture. Racial issues are things that people don’t like to talk about. Whatever the reason may be, people don’t like to discuss it. It’s great being able to see what other people have to say about you, or your kind. I’ve learned that it’s okay to have your own expressions about something, as long as you know about that culture. If I want to make a weird inappropriate joke, I need to make sure I know about the culture, and in some ways, am very connected to it. For instance, I have an Indian friend and I would say things like, why do you guys always smell like curry? But we seriously joke all the time. I say things about my culture, as well all the time. I’ve learned about the muslim religion, I’ve even learned about my own religion, all parts of it. Talking about immigration changed my views on how I view immigrants. They’re here to make a living and to provide the things they need for their family members. They don’t need to hear any unwelcoming racial slurs. I’m just so open to expanding my horizons. I want to learn so much more and talk to people I normally wouldn’t get the chance to talk to on a daily basis. It’s just hard for me to insult people now. Before I used to think that they were just rude, but some people are completely ignorant when it comes to diversity. I believe that there is a story behind every person and I want to know more about it. No one likes to talk about periods, but why? It’s something that is completely normal and it is something that everyone knows about. This class was just great. It opened up a door for me, and I can’t wait to explore.

It depends on the situation what it would take for me to actually kill somebody. If I am using self defense as a mechanism for defending myself, then I would do what it takes to make sure I am safe. The times where it’s necessary to use self defense is when you think you are in great danger. If someone is a threat to my mother, for instance, trying to seriously injure her, I would snap. I don’t think I would kill them, on the contrary, I would kick their ass. If someone had a weapon up against my mother and they were trying to kill her, I would probably kill them. One thing for certain is that I tend to underestimate myself a lot. I am a lot stronger than I actually appear to be and I don’t realize the strength that I obtain. One day I was fighting this girl because she slapped me across the face with the umbrella and I dragged her onto the trolley stop and starting kicking her ass. I had rings on my fingers and starting punching her in the face. Not only did I mess up her face, but she tried to press charges on me and the police were after me. I finally went into the police station and I didn’t want get in trouble. You know why? Because she hit me first. It was self-defense. There was actually this one incidence when I was fighting this girl and I climbed on top of her and tried to bang her head into the concrete. I didn’t want to kill her, but if I did bang her head onto the concrete, I’m sure I would’ve been in a lot of trouble. My mom always told me to defend myself no matter what, and that’s exactly what I do. If somebody told me someone was a threat to my life, I would still wait until I act. It’s not really a great idea to run before you walk. I carry mase with me anyway, that way if I feel in danger, I would just spray someone. They won’t die from it but they will be in a lot of pain from the pepper spray. Not only would they be in a lot of pain, but their eyes would be burning and they wouldn’t be able to see which would give me the opportunity to get away. In conclusion, the only time I would kill someone is if it is by accident and I’m trying to defend myself or if someone is trying to kill my mother. If I do kill someone, it would mostly be because they’re a serious threat to me or my mom. When I would kill them, I would only use a gun. I wouldn’t do any psychopath serial killer antisocial behavior and stab their eyeballs or something, I would just stab them in the neck or shoot them. ( If my life was in great danger)

I was completely astounded after this lecture. It made perfect sense for Muslims to think the way the did. But, I can’t believe some Americans behaved the way they did. I’m completely shocked. It’s so heartbreaking to know that some Americans participated in such heartless behaviors. Watching the videos completely left me with little words. There was this video where the American soldiers blew up some Muslims car because they were taking wood. It’s only wood. Something so simple and not costly. Chances are, if you are taking wood, you are using it to burn a fire. To think that Americans would do that to those poor people is completely disgusting. The soldiers were already aware that there were very little supplies and a lot of the necessities that people needed were very scarce. It’s completely embarrassing. Not only were the soldiers bullying the Muslims, but they were destroying their property for no apparent reason. These people were completely innocent and probably had nothing to do with the war. So many innocent children were dying and many other people were getting hurt. I’m not saying that all the Americans were. doing was evil, because there was some good that was done, but of course, the bad always sticks out more than the good. Hearing the stuff about the Christian camps were completely bizarre as well. So what were they? God’s warriors or something? That’s horrible. I didn’t know that HE would promote violence, especially through youth. I don’t even know how these people could even send their kids to such a place, and the fact that there was so many kids was even more sickening. So basically all Christians were trying to kill Muslims. On the other hand, we got to see what Muslims were saying about us. Not all of them, but a good amount. It’s so weird how there are two sides to every side of a story. While we’re sitting here thinking about how much they hate us, they are doing the same exact thing. I also thought it was very touching when one of the Arab women asked the American Muslim if she could take a picture of her family and save it as a gift. It was so touching because she knew her family was going to die, and she didn’t try to rub it in their faces or anything. She didn’t insult the American or say anything mean to her. I also find it strange how Muslims thought we were trying to convert them to Christianity. I don’t really find it strange, but I don’t think they should always believe the things that they hear, but then again, that’s easier said than done. Wars just shouldn’t be tolerated anyway. Especially wars over religion, I’m sure that with every religion, its not acceptable to kill people, so why do it?

I couldn’t even imagine to live the life of a Native American. If I were to try to put myself in their shoes, I think I would really have an extreme dislike towards white people. White people just came into their lands, killed their people and family, took away their homes, and have the nerve to call themselves “Americans”. They basically conquered everything that belonged to Native Americans. Native Americans probably used to be so rich and happy before everything was taken away from them. Now, they are poor and depressed. Someone forcefully took them away from their way of life and created a whole new civilization. Not only did they take away life from the Native Americans, but they created a whole different place and brought the spread of deadly diseases. It must be hard to think about how life could’ve been, especially when all the unfortunate events that took place was not under your control. It’s a shame how glad the Native Americans could be if the white people never stepped foot on their country. Native Americans were here first and they aren’t even recognized as the nations first people, they must feel horrible and unimportant. Everyday Native’s struggle to make a living, they struggle to be comfortable, they struggle to retain their heritage. They’re forced to stay on reservations and their life span has decreased significantly. They are no longer having that long beautiful life that they once had. Young adolescents are doing drugs and they are committing suicide at very young ages. But these are America’s first people. So many different types of people are recognized, yet Native Americans are not even thought about. Even blacks are recognized, which they deserve, but why can’t Native Americans have a special holiday? How can Americans pretend they care so much about people, but this wasn’t even their land? Native americans don’t even have the resources they need to leave their harsh living conditions, the young kids aren’t even going to college. You would think that Whites would try to help them in some way. Then again,if I were to be a Native American, I probably wouldn’t even take the assistance from any white person. They didn’t care to help me then, when they were killing my family and taking everything I knew away, so why would they try to make things better now? It’s already too late. If they were to help me in any type of way, I would tell them to leave. I would seriously just think that White people are so evil, they even brought Africans from their home land, to participate in forced labor and to be treated so horribly. I just wouldn’t want to be near any whites at all. (If i were Native American). Originally, Native Americans were the first people and I’d feel like I received a huge slap in the face if I were in their current situation. I’d also feel like shit if someone were to come into my home, take away my things, kill my family and not give a shit about what happens to me, and then have the nerve to call my things, theirs. Every time I see a white person, it would be a constant reminder of how much hate I have towards them. It’s great Native Americans are peaceful people.
In regards to immigration, white people are immigrants., so they have no right deciding who should come into this country

I definitely do think there should be an empathy for rape and abortion. I do not support abortion, however, if there is a case of rape or if the baby can be a threat to the mom, or if the baby is going to die anyway, I do think abortion is necessary. Actually, I don’t support abortion but I do not disagree with it either. The only time I think it is wrong, is if a person keeps getting abortions after abortions. There are so many people who wish they could bear their own children, and you have this one person in the clinic every month getting one, is something I strongly disagree with. I feel as though women should have their own say of their body! Yeah, it is killing something, but how do we even know that the baby can feel it. Now, when I am talking about abortion, I am talking about 1-12 weeks. If the baby has been carried longer than that, then that’s something to be iffy about. There are plenty of people who are raped and get pregnant as a result of that rape. It’s already bad enough that the woman was taken advantage of against her will, why should she have to live with that every single day, by carrying and giving birth to the baby that is a result of that rape? So let’s just say that abortion was not an option, should she carry this baby for nine months? What if she wants to commit suicide? What if she has the baby and decides then and there to give the baby up for adoption. Is that fair to the baby? To not know its own mom? How would the baby feel knowing that its mother didn’t want him or her, or the fact that he/ she was completely a disaster, a mistake baby. What if a 13 year old gets pregnant? Is her body even ready to house a baby until it is ready to be born? What about school for the 13 year old. Many people are going to have their own predispositions about abortion, however, if someone wants to get an abortion, they will get it. Which means, they will go to unclean disgusting places to have the procedure done, incorrectly, by doing that they will expose themselves to a lot of infections and possibly may not even be able to have children anymore. If anybody in my family were to get raped, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with them carrying the baby until full term. If they want to have the baby, I guess that’s fine too, but I don’t think I would want to be around. I know it’s not the babies fault, but rape shouldn’t happen. There’s so many people willing to freely give it up, I never understood why someone felt the need to force sex on another individual.

I never judge a book by its cover, but since this blog is requiring me to do so, I guess I’ll shoot for it. Now, if I did not KNOW these people or saw them at all in PSU, this is what I would think about them. The first person, he’s a black dude with “locks”. Now, since I am Jamaican, I would automatically assume that he is from the islands or he has ancestry that is from the West Indies. He’s wearing glasses and not contacts, so I would assume that he is smart. I would assume that he is smart because “nerds” wear glasses. Plus, technology has advanced so much, that mostly only old school people wear glasses. He had on a hat and some headphones, so I would definitely think that he is from a big city. People who reside in the city, usually always have headphones on them because they take transportation, why else would you need big ass headphones? The next person is a black guy and he looks like you can’t take him serious. He looks like he jokes and plays a lot, may be too much. I think he also has something in his mouth, like a stick or something. Why is that there? Lol. He is wearing headphones also, so I would conclude that he is from the city as well. Either that, or he’s trying to be like the black guy before him. Since they both have headphones and now this dude is trying to grow little locks. The third person is a girl. I have no idea if she is white or Latina. She actually looks very innocent, which leads me to believe that she is far from it. She’s even wearing a button up and sweater, I’m hoping that she is just coming from an interview or something. The fourth guy looks like he could be a serial killer, he hardly had any emotion coming from his face, and he seemed very hard to read. If I saw this person out on the street, I would approach him, only because he looks so lost. It doesn’t look like he has many friends. He looks extremely young, probably 14 or 15. The fifth person is a big black dude. He looks like he’s from Philly. I would think that he was probably a bully or something. He had his hat pulled in front of his face, which leads me to believe that he’s hiding from something. The sixth person, looks kind of scruffy. It’s fine to have thick hair, but if you are a guy, you should definitely cut it. This isn’t the 70’s anymore, or if you like the fro, cool. Comb it. The sixth person is a lady, and she looks very confident. She also looks like a biologist. She was smiling in the camera, she seemed kind of tan. Now I know I’m probably 97% inaccurate, but it was a first appearance. I know people don't think anything positive when they first see me.

On Tuesday’s class, we had a special guest. He was from the western part of America and he’s Native American. It seriously broke my heart to listen to the life that he described back home, as well as the heartless song by the white dude, talking about killing Indians and taking their land. It’s really hurtful to think that the first people that harvested and lived in the United States, are of the poorest. There are many things I would like to ask him. I would first like to ask him about his personal life. I would want to know if he is married, or if he even has kids. If he does say that he is married, I would like to know the duration of the marriage, and how many kids he has, ( if there are any). I think that he is quite privileged ( amongst the rest of the people he lives with ) because he got the chance to come to State college, and talk to the class. I would ask him how did he even get the chance to come here. Was it a connection with Sam, did Sam reach out to him, or somehow, did he reach out to Sam. The reservation in which he lives has a low life expectancy and the teenagers have a high risk for suicide. I already know how he feels about teenagers committing suicide, because his 13 year old cousin became a victim on that. I would question what does he think can get done to end this horrible action from reoccurring? Does he automatically have a type of prejudice against white people, because after all, their ancestors were the ones who have murdered and forced his ancestors to leave their homes? I would ask him if he has a job, and if so, where does he work? If he does have a job, then why can’t he save up enough money to get off of that reservation and find a better more fulfilling life? He seems very active and engaged within his community, so I would ask him what is he doing to improve the living conditions for the community? Whether he is volunteering at a church, or playing basketball with kids after school or something. What is he doing, besides talking about it with non native Americans. He also seems very culturally enriched. He talked in his native American tribe, and he also blessed us with a prayer. So I would like to know, why is he so culturally enriched? It’s the 2st century, a lot of people do not keep their original traditions, why is he able to do so? Another thing I would ask him, is what exactly was he saying when he prayed over us? I would also ask him, if he would ever step outside of his comfort zone, for example, date a person that is not native American? Well, those are all the questions I can think of. It’s disgusting to think about how unfortunate his life is, I hope somehow, someway, it’ll all get better. I doubt it would, but being optimistic can help people be a little more hopeful during times of distress

I would try and explain to Tammy why it is that she’s poor. First of all, I would make sure she’s aware that it is not her fault for being poor, only because she was born into it. However, I do not think her living situation has to be that bad. I also do not think that she has to look that way. Her presence is not very appealing at all. She has children, and I do not think she realizes that they look up to her. Not only does she not realize that her kids are looking up to her, but she thinks that her son “ is better than them.” First of all, he does not think that way. It seems like her son wants the better life. Her son wants the house to be clean, he wants his mother to look appropriate ( and not like some dirty bum) he wants his brother to look clean, and most importantly, he wants to go to school. I really don’t understand why Tammy would not support that. I would ask her wouldn’t she want for her son to be better off? Somebody has to take control, and that isn’t her. There is not even a father figure around, maybe there are additional funds for her. I feel completely bad that she has to walk ten miles to get to burger king ( her job). I’m not bashing her about her job, because the way I see it, is at least she has a job. Someone has to flip burgers, but there’s no way she should be walking that far. There aren’t any buses around? Besides that, I think she needs to try harder, as a mother. There should be no reason as to why her son is complaining about the house not being clean. Just because you’re poor, does not mean you have to be dirty. I would also tell her she needs to talk to her son a little bit more, about certain things. I understand that the older son may be embarrassed about the way his mother looks, but he doesn’t really look that much better either. None of them had teeth, and the son and the younger brother both had passion marks on their necks. I wonder if Tammy had anything to say about that? Even though her position is bad, I’ve actually seen a lot worse. There are things that could be done to fix her living situation. All that mouth that her son has, she needs to make him get a part-time job, maybe he can try to help financially. Her house is fine, I think. There was furniture and a stove, but she should try to take better care of herself and her kids. Maybe she can find a job closer to home, or maybe she should try working more hours, since she walks so far to get there in the first place. It’s a shame, but she still has a job, so she gets credit for something. I would also suggest she belong to a church, churches are always good for support and food! Probably some free clothing as well.

I think the statistics of the annual household income between races was completely bogus. I think the statistics are bogus because I believe the stats were very much exaggerated. Yeah, maybe white people do make a lot more money than black and Hispanics, but I don’t believe it’s that much more. I think the statistics were probably taken from a specific area, rather than tested universally. Look at all the Asian people who have their own stores and shops, there’s no way white people can make more than them. I know so many white people who are receiving help financially from the state, I don’t get how the statistics were that high. I think for blacks, the number was 4,ooo and some change, how is that even possible when I would go to school and work and make about a thousand dollars in one month? And I was only 19 at the time, when I was making so much. I have a few friends who get money from the state because they are crazy, and they get about 1000 a month and they are African American. Maybe the whole chain is right, but the numbers are definitely off. I used to think Asians made way more than white people, because a lot of them have their own businesses. On the board, It stated that Hispanics made about 7,000 dollars. I don’t see how they make more than black people, when the majority of Hispanics aren’t even legal citizens of this country. Plus, I believe they make way more than 7,000.Going back to the Asians, the results were shocking that they are right underneath the white people. The reason why those results are shocking to me is because I assumed that white people didn’t want Asians to even have any of the jobs that are available ( because of Pearl Harbor). Guess I was wrong again. If I agreed with the explanation presented on the board, I would say that the reason why white people make so much more than everybody else, is because they originally came from money. They have family members who have money, and once they die, that money gets passed along. Plus, white people are getting the majority of good jobs, which leaves low paying jobs for everybody else. I think race has something to do with the amount of money being made. I believe that white people are already privileged because of their skin color, and because they are thought to be smarter than other races. They get to go to the most prestigious schools, and they have so much family to fall back on for any type of support. I guess blacks are on the bottom because they aren’t going to college and they aren’t getting jobs that are paying enough money. It seems as if the rich are getting richer and the poor are only getting poorer.

What are men saying in communicating with females by declaring they can’t allow for their natural body hair to grow unless it is just on the head? Today in class, we had a discussion concerning a girl who grows out all her body hair because it is a part of her religion. Her name is Kaupreet, and she believes in keeping the body natural. Her religion believes that it is all about the inner beauty and everything within. They do not think it is okay to temper with the body. She wears a headscarf, and has a lot of facial hair. Every single day she has to deal with the scrutinizing people of America, because we ideally believe that facial hair on female is unattractive. When someone took a picture of her, and put it up on a website for everyone to see, she was made fun of and a lot of nasty things were said about her. Instead of her get upset and rebel back, or instead of her cry and wish she were different, she only smiled. She said she is very proud of her religion and she wouldn’t change it for anything. I have nothing but respect for that girl. Not caring what people say, and taking the negative comments with a grain of salt is admiring. A girl in the class also said that some people think she is weird because she doesn’t shave her legs or her armpits. I don’t think it matters about leg hair too much, because I don’t shave my legs in the winter, I think the hairy armpits is unsanitary, but we all have our own opinions. I don’t think it’s okay for men to say that women should not have hair on their body except for on their heads. I can understand that a man wouldn’t really want a female to look like him ( facial hair) but having hair other places is completely normal. This brings up the question if the men themselves shave off all their hair on their body. If women feel more comfortable as not to shave, then that should be their decision. I have plenty of female friends who are straight who do not shave their “pubes”. If a guy loves you for you, he wouldn’t really care about hair down in that area. It shouldn’t be a big deal. Plus, my friend did an experiment where she didn’t shave her “box” for three months. It wasn’t even that much hair there. Even if I were to step in the shoes of a guy to justify one reason why a female should shave , it would be so there is no hair in his mouth, I guess while performing sexual activities. But a guy getting all hype because his girl has extra hair on her body, is absurd. It makes me think that he isn’t actually manly at all, and he seems rather “girly” himself. Maybe he should get his sexuality checked. All vaginas are the same, whether there is hair on it, or not. As long as it can get wet, it still functions.