In the past I always became very upset and had strong, firm feeling toward illegal immigrants. Whenever the topic came up in the news or in school. I felt that these people entering our country were leaches to society and that they took away jobs from the United States citizens, whom I believed “deserved it.” Even the simple jobs that young kids usually have such as mowing the lawn for neighbors, shoveling snow, or working in grocery stores were being taken by these immigrants. I thought that not only did they take away from our society, but they also were rude for not speaking English. This class has taught me to think in a different way. It has taught me to get all of the facts before forming opinions and passing judgement. I have learned first that the whole idea of them not speaking English is totally normal. I first reflected back to the month that I spent backpacking through Europe and realized that not once did I speak another language to the people I traveled with and to top it off the only thing I knew how to saw in the native tongue of each country I was in was, “Do you speak English?” Also, I thought back to the time that my great- grandparents immigrated to the United States from Italy. I still live in the neighborhood that they settled in and it is still largely populated by Italians. In fact, the whole half of town that my neighborhood is in is still dominantly Italian. They settled there so that they had some comfort among all of the change happening in their lives, the comfort of tradition, culture, and language. It took them a long time to learn some English and even when they did learn English they were more comfortable speaking their native tongue. I thought that Illegal immigrant were simply a drain on our economy and resources but, I learned today in class that the balance between what illegal immigrants take away from society and what they contribute more or less equals out. This knowledge will come in handy when I am older and working as an English as a Second Language teacher. Not that I would ever take it out on the innocent students, but this will help me to not look at the parents of the children that I teach in a negative light. They like many Europeans in the past simply came to the United States to create a better life for their family and were willing to risk it all in order to give their children everything. This is something I believe every good parent is willing to do for their children.

This class on nepotism was an eye opener for me. I never knew that nepotism is a form of affirmative action. I just thought that it had it’s own category and that affirmative action was only when people of a minority group got something such as a job, a scholarship, or acceptance into an institution of higher learning simply because of their minority status. I have had nepotism work in my favor in the past and now that I know that it is considered a part of affirmative action I still do not think I would try and avoid nepotism if the situation presented itself. This is because if I do not take advantage of it someone could get that job, scholarship, or entrance for the same reason. Also, I would be dumb not to take every chance I get to better myself, my life experiences, and chances of getting future jobs because of that particular experience. There are many forms of affirmative action happening all over all the time and you most certainly do not see anyone turning down something they want. Do not get me wrong sometimes nepotism may make me feel as if I did not earn what I got, but looking at it from that prospective being a white female who grew up in a middle class home odds have it that my whole life is the way it is because of affirmative action. Besides, I do believe that I work hard and have done as much as I can, of course along with the benefits of my upbringing, to live a good life. I grew up in a small town that is also surrounded by many other small towns where their are a lot of politics and “connections.” When the school board at my home school district is in the process of hiring a new teacher or other employee it seems as if the resumes do not even matter. If you know enough people on the board, or know enough people who know people on the board you are set. In an area such as this one you absolutely have to take advantage of nepotism, otherwise you will be eaten alive and never make it out. Nepotism surrounds us no matter where we go we will never escape it. I used to believe that it was just the area that I lived in with a small town mentality, but if I move away to a place where I do not know anyone then nepotism will just be working against me. I will have to work twice as hard to get what I want because other people will have the advantage of nepotism. It would be nice to think that I would turn down benefits of nepotism, but it is just not realistic.

What a man is is a very beautiful article and any woman would be lucky to be in a relationship with a man like this, or even with this particular man. A woman should never settle for anything less than a man who treats her the way she deserves to be treated. Every woman deserves to be loved. However, in my eyes a relationship is about trust, compromise, and loving someone fully for who they are. Chivalry is not dead but I also believe it can be reversed in today’s day and age. I believe that a man also deserves to be treated in the same way by their woman. It is nice to be taken care of and women should take care of their men. The feeling you can get from simply taking care of someone, their needs and desires, is indescribable. Or that feeling you get when you see the delight on your love’s face when you shower them with presents, make them their favorite meal, take them out to the movies or dinner, or surprise them in any other way is simply priceless. A relationship is not one sided and does not just involve a man being chilverous, I believe a woman should be chilverous as well. Also, that respect for women that the man talks about should be mutual and some women need to first learn to have some dignity and respect themselves. I do think that every girl and woman should read this and keep reading it throughout their life to keep reminding them not to settle for less than they deserve. Do not settle just because he is the first one to tell you he loves you. If he truly loved you he would respect himself and you. Do not stay in a relationship just because you are afraid that you will not find anyone else. As they say there are plenty of fish in the sea and besides you are an independent and strong woman and need to learn to stand on your own before you can learn to form a life with another. You need to be independent and by doing this you will attract many men it is a very attractive quality in a woman. Sam5851 is a great example of this. Sam I am sorry that you had to go through that but I am also very happy that you learned from that and will be stronger because of it. I have personally watched a family member go through this and it is a long rough road. No one can tell you that things need to change it is just something you have to figure out for yourself but I am sure that since you are no longer with him that you have a strong support system backing you up and helping you through this.

Many people seek power but are not fully ready to properly handle it, or simply have corrupted morals to begin with. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Many people work so hard to be in power but then get loose sight of their true goals somewhere along the path. They become so enthralled with their new found power that their ideas of helping people and doing the right thing go straight out the window. They begin to cheat and lie, stepping on other people, to get what they want. Because of this corruption not all people do have to work hard to achieve wealth and power. They simply get it handed to them because of the connections they have with higher up people. Living in a small town many people may think that I am nieve to all of the corruption and believe that all people work hard and deserve what they get in life, but it is just the opposite. I have seen all of this happen right in front of my eyes at an early age. I watched city officials cheat their way into office, people get out of tickets or jail time, and even the students around me get better grades and special advantages all because of who they are, who their relatives are, and who they know. I watched one of my friends magically get better averages than me or other students even though she had the same or lower test marks. I even listened as she announced after getting a test back that she did not get the proper amount of points taken away on her test. This was all because her mother worked in my school. This made me beyond angry because it effected me overall in my class ranking.As a young child I thought I could get away with a lot and that many people in my town would favor me because of who my father is, but this was all squashed early on. So because of this I do not believe that their is an extreme distribution of wealth or that things are the way they should be. These may all seem like small issues to many people but they make me realize that if these small town people who do not even have a fraction of the power that people high up in large companies or in the government are capable of all this corruption then people higher up must be doing a whole lot worse. Going off what the chris said we are a very materialistic and judgmental society, but that is what makes all this corruption possible. If we simply judged people for who they know, how hard they work, and what they have achieved than we probably would not have this problem of corruption.

Fear is part of who we are as humans. It is used throughout our whole lives as a tool, sometimes with better intentions and often times with horrific sick and twisted intentions. These better intentions that I speak of are along the lines of motivation to do school work, study, and further yourself through the means of higher educations. Parents, teachers, and other people tell you that if you want to be successful in life then you must work hard in school and proceed on to higher education, or they tell you all of this and tell you to do so or you are going to lead a miserable life of poverty. This is what drives many people to go to school and work hard. Many students become so scared and completely shut down, making them not perform their best and not live up to their full potential. Parents also use fear to simply look out for their child. They leave their children with the fear of being grounded for staying out too late, or going places and doing things they should not be doing. Fear is simply and unfortunately a part of our culture a part of our culture. The most awful form of fear is represented in this article. Nobody should ever have to live in this fear. This article caught my attention right away because it reminded me of one of my favorite books, “A Child Called It.” Every piece of information that I read or listen to about physical and mental abuse makes it become that much more realistic. It is not rare for this to go on in the lives of many it is simply that people do not take the time to realize, or they realize and do not want to get involved and have to deal with that mess. Nobody is perfect, so we can not simply just point fingers at the justice system and say it is skewed for not realizing that this man was telling the truth and was in great need of psychological help, but I think that it does need to be improved upon. Rape is not something that people generally lie about, especially children. I think this is so because if you have not gone through this it takes too much courage to lie about and people just do not think it is worth it, but if a child ever came up to me and said he or she was being abused I would take the time to do something about it, even if the child was known to be a liar. Somebody in the life of this little boy who he had the courage to actually confess his problems should have realized this and believed this. For someone of the United States who came from a middle class home to say that living in prison is better than the life he lived up until prison is simply not acceptable.

The speech that this young man makes is not only very heart touching, but he was also very convincing. Think about what this country stands for, freedom. Think of the song you have heard and even sang or possible played many many days of your life, in school, at sporting events, and other ceremonies as you saluted the flag of your country and everything it stands for. Everyone should get the right to actually live a free life. As Francis Scott Key stated we live in “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” and for once the United States should actually stay true to these words. Why should we and what gives anyone the right to discriminate against any group of people. Why do some people feel they have the right to dictate others. Earlier we talked about the discrimination against people of color and now about same sex marriage. We are all people and need to accept that people are all different and the only difference is that many are lucky that they are a part of the majority group and do not know what it is like to be discriminated. If you are someone who is against same sex marriage or two people of the same sex raising a child think about this question. How does the fact that people of the same sex love each other and want to have a family of their own, just like many of you, truly effect you? The answer to that question is that it does not effect you at all! The young man who just made this speech is living breathing proof that two people of the same sex are perfectly capable of raising a child and having that child turn out just fine, and when people get married it is their business. They have every right to do so. I am someone who believes that a person is born with their sexual orientation, it is biologically encoded in them, and should not be told how to feel. If you are someone who likes the opposite sex imagine this same situation in reverse. Imagine someone telling you that loving the person you love, or being attracted to someone of the opposite sex was wrong and that you do not have the right to get married, raise children, and fulfill your life long dreams. Imagine going out in public and having people ridicule you for simply being yourself. As children it was impossible to count the number of times we were told to be ourselves and people will love you for who you truly are. As we get older and become part of the real world we see that that is not always true, especially if you are not part of that majority group.

I feel guilty about having all the advantages that I have to a certain extent, but on the other hand I do not feel guilty. I can not help who I am just as much as a person of a minority can not help who they are and I especially can not help who my ancestors were and what they did. I can make a difference for those decendents of the freed slaves. I was lucky to be born white and in turn have white advantage working on my side. I was also lucky to be born into a middle class family that provides me with a comfortable lifestyle, a roof over my head, a decent school district, dance lessons, violin lessons, and money to fund me as a cheerleader. I feel guilty because I could have spent a lot more of my time giving back and I did not. I rarely had time to do work within in my community, or rather I never made time to do so. Now that I have experienced this class I feel as if my eyes have been opened to a whole new world where life is not equal. It has also showed me that simply working hard does not always work, especially for people from a minority race. I feel as if I can help this situation, but only on one side of the battle. One day I will be a teacher I will be able to work in inner city schools and have a hand in the fight to give everyone an equal education. I could start small and work my way up. I would start with just my class and then I would move on to innovating the rest of the school and eventually working my way up. However, just because I provide these children with the good education they deserve does not mean that the world will be willing to provide them with equal opportunities in the job market. In fact this summer I plan on completing one of my education classes by going to observe in a Philadelphia Elementary School for two weeks. With any luck my host teacher might let me help. During the weekend the other Penn State students and I will spend time with the parents and children working on cleaning up their neighborhoods. I believe this will give me a true insight as to what life is truly like for these kids. I am not just enrolling in this program simply because of my guilt, my reasoning is actually mainly because I would like to learn what it is like outside of the sheltered bubble that I have unintentionally lived in up until now.

This class has had a very large affect on my opinion on affirmative action. I used to think that affirmative action was not necessary and that it was actually unfair toward people of the white race. In the past I asked my best friend’s mother why it was fair to give all of these advantages to people of color if our country is supposed to be the land of equal opportunity and she responded that it was because of the way our ancestors treated them and that we had to make up for it. This was not a very good answer for me because then I thought do we not live in a fair world? Have we not made up for everything by now? Everyone has the same opportunities and everyone should have to work in the same way I do to achieve their goals. I thought that having a college fund/ scholarship for people of is not fair. Why can I not get that scholarship money if I work hard enough in school? No one is providing me with a scholarship simply because I am white. I also thought that it was not fair that a person of color could get into a university over me just because of the color of their skin, even if my grades, list of extra curricular activities, leadership roles, or class rank was better. This topic used to get me extremely fired up. I was able to argue for an entire day on what I thought was right if it came down to it. Now that I am listening to Sam talk and doing all of these readings a new light is being shed on this topic and making me realize the truth that slavery is not over and people of color are still at a large disadvantage in the world. They often receive a poor education because of the area they live in, because of their parents unfair pay rates, because the bank discriminates against their parents to mortgage a house. These factors that influence the lives of colored people are part of a vicious, unbreakable cycle of disadvantages. All of this has shown me that affirmative action is very much necessary to attempt to equalize the playing field in todays world and to give people of color a fighting chance to succeed in this white dominated country. When talking about this topic many people thought that we do need affirmative action, but it needs to be altered. I am not sure I agree in the same way. They thought that maybe we needed a little less but I think we either need a little more affirmative action, but it needs to be reformed.

I think that the higher amount of arrests of people of minority races occur more so due to racism. However, the fact that more people of a minority race live in urban areas does contribute to their arrests. The numbers of arrests of white people and of people of a minority race are simply too disproportionate to simply say that location is the cause of arrests of more minority race people. Higher arrest rates are located in urban areas. This is because their are larger amounts of people concentrated in the same amount of land. This makes it easier to see people in their every day lives. People who live in the suburbs and rural areas have much more private lives. It is much harder to catch people of these areas in the act of doing and dealing drugs. They can be in the safety of their homes, which police can not enter and search without a warrant.
I believe that part of the reason for the racist acts of arresting more people of color than white people is partly because of a “fear” instilled in police officers. For many years for some strange unknown reason white people have feared people of color, or have seen them as dangerous and troublesome. This has caused people to watch them more closely than white people and quickly point a finger. I have no idea why in this day and age people still have this idea of fear when it comes to people of color. The fact that the statistics show that more people of color are arrested only reinforces this idea in people’s minds and forces them to continue making assumptions and causing this vicious cycle of lies and fallacies continue to spin round and round.
There are also many uneducated and unexposed people out in the world who happen to work in the justice system. I come from a very small dominantly white suburban town. I could probably count the people of color in my high school on my own two hands. Many people in my town, being unexposed to many people of a different race, make judgements about all of these people of color based off of the one person of color they have met in their life. Some people have never even had a conversation with someone of a different race and simply judge people by what their grandparents have said about “those people who moved in and caused trouble in our town.” This I know causes the members of the police force in my town and near by towns to seek out people of color as an “easy target” for people that are causing trouble.
Many factors contribute to the inflated arrests of people of color but overall, the largest factor is simply racism.

The media tends to focus on all of the negative things going on in the world. Because they do this people are not used to hearing positive news. I believe that the media thinks that people will become bored if they posted an abundance of celebratory stories. In doing this we often miss all of these great things happening in the world. This may also cause us to have a negative idea about a certain group, region, or country because we only ever learn of the bad things that are happening. People are so used to hearing bad news that I think they eventually begin to only look for this and just tune out anything positive, which reinforces the media mainly posting bad news. So in a way it is like the media is brain washing you to look only for the types of stories they post and leading you believe that you are watching a good source of news.
The article on the muslims in Egypt attending Coptic Christmas moved me immensely. When Dalia Mustafa said, “This is not about us and them. We are one. This was an attack on Egypt as a whole, and I am standing with the Copts because the only way things will change in this country is if we come together.” it enforced my belief that often the most rational thinking comes from the youth. This is the way all people should start to think. Not only in large world issues, but in our simple day to day problems we need to start working together and looking out for one another. We are so stuck on the idea that the world is out to do us wrong and we must look out for ourselves first and this needs to change. Think about the advice that a young kid give you when you are having a bad day, out of all the advice you will here I am sure it will be the simplest and odds are the best. The banners that were made with both the crescent and the cross were a great way to symbolize their intentions, peace and unity. They intend to let the world know that they will stand together in order to survive as a whole.
The video talked about how people formed a ring around the people who were in prayer in order to protect them from being hit with the stones that were being thrown. This is a wonderful act of kindness and unity. In order to make change happen in the world we must all work together. Working together will give us larger numbers and strength, which will enable to stand up for what we believe in and to stop the injustices going on in this corrupt world.