en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2417048 Comments by ejf5086 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/what-does-it-say-about-our-society-if-schools-are-more-segregated-now-than-in-the-1970s-119-blog/#IDComment143271653 When talking about racial issues in the United States, I do not think anyone really knows what to do. I would be really upset to learn that forty years from now our schools would be even more segregated than they are now. I think we would really have some problems then. Maybe people in charge need to make more of an effort to put people of different races together, like in the classroom setting, so that they are forced to go outside their comfort zones and interact with other types of people. I think if we made this interact happen over and over people would get used to spending time with people of other races and maybe this would not be such a big deal. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:32:51 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/what-does-it-say-about-our-society-if-schools-are-more-segregated-now-than-in-the-1970s-119-blog/#IDComment143271653 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/what-does-it-say-about-our-society-if-schools-are-more-segregated-now-than-in-the-1970s-119-blog/#IDComment143271611 So what does this mean for our society? I had thought we would be over this whole race issue by the time my life ends but now I am not so sure. I was watching the television show Friday Night Lights which takes place in present times and in one episode the black players on the football team all refused to play because of a racist comment one of the coaches had said and their next game was again the only all white team in Texas. I thought it was strange and it reminded me of Remember the Titans or something which took place a long time ago. Then I told myself that this show is in Texas and that people in Texas and the south have a harder time dealing with race relations then people in the northeast or particularly Pennsylvania. I realize now that I may have just been being naive and justifying it in some way. Yet at the end of the episode everyone said they were sorry and everything turned out okay. Yet, that is just a television show not reality and not every happy ending comes that easily. Someone mentioned in my discussion group a while ago that even thought football players are stars on the field, that in Alabama they get turned away from intereing into a frat house full of white males. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:32:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/what-does-it-say-about-our-society-if-schools-are-more-segregated-now-than-in-the-1970s-119-blog/#IDComment143271611 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/what-does-it-say-about-our-society-if-schools-are-more-segregated-now-than-in-the-1970s-119-blog/#IDComment143271516 We were told in class on Thursday that schools are more segregated now then they were in the seventies. I was very surprised when I heard this because I thought as time goes on we have been moving on a more positive direction but maybe I am wrong. How did this happen? Maybe now we do not worry about race as much as we did in the past and that allowed people to pick where they wanted to be. It seems to me that for the most part, we like to spend time with people that are similar to us and therefore we tend to spend more time with the people of our same color. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:32:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/what-does-it-say-about-our-society-if-schools-are-more-segregated-now-than-in-the-1970s-119-blog/#IDComment143271516 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment140344525 So, today when I found myself sympathizing with them it made me uncomfortable. I could now see why people hate Americans. I also know how influenced we are by the information we are given and if know little, and what we do know is bad, we are likely to form our views off that. I understand how people can be swayed in the wrong direction. My views on the war in Iraq are definitely impacted. I was never really pro war anyways and now I am just even more confused. Before I was just a hippy at heart, but it never occurred to me that we may have used the supposed War on Terrorism as a disguise for something else. Wed, 6 Apr 2011 04:18:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment140344525 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment140344444 After Sam showed us that first video his friend sent him, I expected him to tell us to try to place ourselves in the shoes of being Islamic or Muslim and living in the United States because of the prejudice and difficulties they face. Yet that is not what I was asked to do. I had always thought that the United States was going over to Iraq to get the few extremists and trying to harm as few civilians as possible. Also, I do know that not everyone from the Middle East shares those views of the extremists, yet still, I did not necessary think of them in a positive light but just because I do not fully understand their lifestyle. Wed, 6 Apr 2011 04:18:33 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment140344444 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment140344305 I remember back around the time of September 11th and the United States declared a War on Terrorism. I remember standing outside my house with my mom with a candle lit and I could see my neighbors doing this as well. I was about eleven or twelve so I do not think I fully understood what was happening. As I got older I learned about the oil in the middle east, so I thought since we were over there fighting to stop terrorism, we might as well attain some oil. I know I am bothered by my fifty dollar bill I am charged every time I go to fill up my tank. Until today I do not think I thought about where the oil was really coming from. I thought that the oil came from rural land owned by the governments of different countries and that they were selling their oil to us because they need money so badly. If that is the case, then I think this arrangement is completely moral and okay. However, if this is oil from the land of individuals and underneath people’s houses and they are not willingly making a deal to sell this oil, then I can understand them being outraged. In a way, this reminds me of the way Americans treated Native Americans. Wed, 6 Apr 2011 04:18:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/did-putting-yourself-in-the-shoes-of-the-middle-easterners-change-your-views-on-the-war-in-iraq-119-blog/#IDComment140344305 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139225971 Now on to the next question: Do I think women actually enjoy dressing this way? Yes and no. I am sure some girls live for it, while others are forced into it. For me, it depends on the day. Sometimes I just wish I could wear my sweats out to the frats. Those are the days I wear a loose dress or shirt. There are othere times I look forward to dressing up, like for instance, my formal because it is a special occasion. Sometimes I just want to look pretty. I am not sure why but walking in a high pair of heels can be a real confedence booster. Every girl likes to strut I suppose. I cannot say whether or not a male oriented world has programmed me this way because I cannot look at the situation from outside my shoes, or in tonight’s case, my heels. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 23:35:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139225971 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139225850 So what am I going to do about it? Nothing. Just because its not fair doesn’t mean I am going to go out tonight without makeup and a hoodie. I just would not be comfortable. Am I going to be comfortable in 5 inch heels either? No, but at least I will look good while being uncomfortable. I think things have evolved this way from the way society sees men and women. I think that the way a man looks has a lesser emphasis on the way he is perceived than that of a woman. Men can have a lot of other traits with equal importance. He can be smart, athletic, funny or charming. The main thing people seem to care about when it involves a woman is how appealing and pretty she is. For instance, I think you are more likely to see a good looking girl with a not so attractive man, than the other way around. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 23:35:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139225850 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139225677 I am in a sorority so I dress up a lot. It is a rule actually. Thursdays you can wear whatever you want, Fridays you have to wear heels and Saturday you have to wear heels and a dress. I do not know what happens if you break the rules, probably nothing but I am not sure. When I was first told this I was a little annoyed that I have to wear heels all night but now I am used to it and I enjoy wearing heels because I am short. It did not dawn on me that the guys do not have these sort of rules or norms until recently. Thursday is my sororities formal so I have been shopping for a stand out dress and heels and tanning and dieting and even buying fake eyelashes and all these things while my date just has to throw on a tie and show up. It is not fair. Fri, 1 Apr 2011 23:34:30 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/31/women-what-are-your-thoughts-on-dressing-up-while-men-dress-down-and-did-they-change-after-this-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment139225677 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137119727 Sam said in class that the mixed race is the fastest growing, so I guess my generation is telling the world that they do not care what other people think and by doing so creating a more balanced society. Like I said earlier, I am not sure if I would choose to have a mixed baby, but I repeat myself that you really cannot help who you fall in love with. Wed, 23 Mar 2011 23:47:49 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137119727 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137119651 I have a black guy friend, we dated a few times in the beginning of this semester, but we maintain our friendship. My sorority sisters have seen us together and now I am seen as one of the girls who “likes black guys,” whatever that even means. Yet, I keep in mind what my mother told me because I, too, would like to avoid those hardships if possible. When talking about other people in interracial relationships, I could really care less. When I was leaving one of the sociology 119 classes, my friends and I saw a lack guy and a asian girl holding hands and we thought it was so cute. On the other hand I am sure there are instances where people will judge them and criticize them but I think that if you love someone you just put up with the prejudice. You really cannot help who you love. I barely ever see a asian guy and a white girl I only know of one couple like that. An asian girl and white guy on the other hand, I see a lot. Also, as discussed in class, white guys and black girls are seen far less in public then a white woman and a black man. Why these things are common or uncommon I am not sure. Wed, 23 Mar 2011 23:47:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137119651 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137119612 My junior year of high school a black guy, one of about five in the entire school, asked me to the senior prom and I said yes. When I told my mom, she said “You know Honey you can date whoever you choose but I want you to think about something.” She told me about this great guy in college who asked her out. She was attracted to him and he had all the qualities she was looking for in a man, yet she turned him down because he was black. She told me she was not racist and that she enjoys people of all colors. However, this was the sixties and black people were still facing a lot of prejudice. She did not want to go out with him because she knew they would not be able to have a future because she did not want to have children of color because she would want the world for her kids and being mixed race would come with a lot of hardships and disadvantages and that would break her heart. Attending prom and having children are too opposite ends of the scale, yet my mother’s story has stuck with me. Wed, 23 Mar 2011 23:47:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137119612 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135937404 I am not sure whether or not I perceive the color clichés to be a racist thing. I think it is just human nature. People have a tendency to gravitate towards the familiar and they find it easier to interact with people who are like them. Especially when coming to Penn State and having none to a few friends, I think people will make friends with someone of their own race before reaching out to another. It is a comfort thing and although it may not be a negative thing to form these clichés we are constantly reminded to “break out of our shells,” “look outside the box”, and “go outside of our comfort zones” and I believe that applies to race as well. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 23:52:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135937404 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135937338 From talking to the students in my small group conversation, I formed the opinion that Penn State is in the middle of the road when it comes to the diversity ranges. One student said he went to visit his friend at Rutgers University and the diversity was immense. He, as a white man, was the minority and that people of all different colors hung out together. Yet, another student said that at the University of Alabama, the football players are like gods during the season. She then mentioned that sometimes Black males, even if they were on the football team, were denied entry into a white fraternity house. I think that Penn State could be more diverse and welcoming and intertwined, but I also think we could do worse, like that of Alabama. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 23:51:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135937338 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135937290 College was the first time I was really given the opportunity to choose where I was going to attend school. From preschool to eighth grade I went to a very small Catholic school and by the seventh and eighth grades I was the only white girl in my class. In high school practically everyone was white. I would say there were ten students of a color other than white. Growing up I did not have much of a choice when it came to picking the race of my friends. When thinking about going to Penn State, the diversity of the students attending here had never crossed my mind. It was not until I moved in the dorms and looked around campus and town that I had ever even acknowledged that diversity existed. When I saw a group of white students I did not notice that they were actually white. I only became aware of the diversity when I would see students of the same color, like Asian for instance, hanging out together. That is when I realized that Penn State students tend to hang out in cliché and those clicks consisted of people who all looked similar. That is when I realized that Penn State students are mostly white and that those clichés were the minorities. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 23:51:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135937290 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134323557 I have a black friend. We were talking for a while and then I started telling him about my race and relations class and how I thought it was really cool that one of Sam’s friends went to another country to free people from slavery. Then, after I said it, I felt guilty that my friend would think I was patronizing him and that of course I would talk about slavery with him because he is black. Yet, the real reason I was talking about my class is because I thought that was really interesting and all my other classes are nursing classes so I doubt he wanted to talk about bowel movements. Still, I felt guilt when talking to him about it rather than my white friends. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:33:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134323557 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134323490 I do feel guilty. I didn’t do anything to deserve the advantages I receive, or at least the lack of disadvantages. It also makes me self conscious. I feel like people of color wont like me, like they would think I am racist towards them or something. Now when I pass a black woman in the store I feel the need to smile at her. Now I notice racial colors and before I would walk by someone and not notice if they were black or white or somewhere between, but now I do, and I feel the need to let them know I am not judging them. Yet, the fact that I do notice someone’s color makes me feel more like a racist. Although I can only speak for myself, I have seen friends and others engage with black people in a similar fashion, and given that human nature does not vary too much from person to person, and thus it leads be to believe that other white people feel the same way. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:33:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134323490 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134323422 I had thought a lot of the racial issues were in the past. Slavery in the United States has ended, as has segregation. We even have a black president. Yet, on a smaller scale of the personal experiences of a person of color, most can tell you at least one instance of how they were discriminated against, hurt physically or emotionally, or at a disadvantage because of their race. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:32:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134323422 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134323295 Up until taking this class, I had thought the issue of race was almost over. Now, I believe that to be naive of me. I come from a small town of where ninety-five percent of the people are white so I am hardly an expert on this issue. I went to a very small catholic school from pre-school to eighth grade and by the seventh grade I was actually the only white girl in my class. Then I went to high school and everyone was white. When I was younger I did not notice race much my best friends were Asian and Arab and then in high school everyone looked like me so I did not have to deal with race. Now I am surrounded by people of a different color and as I sit through the sociology 119 lectures I am becoming much more aware of my cultural environment and circumstances. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:32:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/do-people-feel-guilt-about-their-current-positions-when-knowing-about-the-disadvantages-of-the-freed-slaves-119-blog/#IDComment134323295 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/why-are-black-and-brown-people-more-expressive-of-their-problems-than-white-people-119-blog/#IDComment130742814 From personal experience, black men are very forward and do not hold their opinions back about for instance if they think a woman is attractive. For instance, I was in the mix and a black man came up and took my phone out of my hand, put his number in it and then said “call me sometime.” This is also seen when a woman walks by a group of black men. I can literally feel them looking at me and most times they will say something to me. I think this is because they feel tough or better than whites or just that they are aloud to do this. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 02:01:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/why-are-black-and-brown-people-more-expressive-of-their-problems-than-white-people-119-blog/#IDComment130742814