en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/759543 Comments by embot https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment69845292 Ever since Sam told us in class that he and his wife often visit the lifers, I’ve been curious about it. I’ve wondered what they would say, how they act, and what it would be like to talk to someone who’s committed murder. The only knowledge I have about what life in prison is like comes from what I’ve seen in movies or on TV. But the more I thought about what it must really be like, the more I thought that what we see on TV probably isn’t even close. Even though people in prison have done bad things, they’re still people. People who have to live in this one place sometimes for the rest of their lives, so beating the crap out of someone or giving the stink eye would probably get real old real fast. These people are people, their crimes don’t change that and this letter confirms that. They’re people with feelings, and concerns, and sympathy. I think a lot of people don’t understand that there are good people in the world just as there are bad, and there are good people who do bad things just as there are bad people who do good things. This is why, when I really think about it, I find it hard to say that all people in prison are bad people. Even though I in no way condone murder, when I think about it and think about a person’s story I can understand it. I know people would think I’m insane for saying that, but it’s like the quote from Dosteyevsky Sam showed us, “While nothing is easier than to denounce the evil-doer, nothing is more difficult than to understand him.” I understand what might go through someone’s mind that would drive them to kill another person. I also think that sometimes people forget that people have the ability to change and grow. We believe that we can change, we pride ourselves on our ability to look back on things we used to do, say, think etc, and say how far we’ve come and how much we’ve changed for the better. But then we look at people in prison or people who have committed a crime and we paint them as a devil for the rest of their lives. Why can’t we acknowledge that they may have actually learned from their past mistakes? Out jail system is set up to make people pay for their crimes and reflect on the bad things they’ve done, but then we don’t believe that what we wanted to accomplish actually has. It’s like we are telling this people to move on from what they’ve done and change without believing that it could actually happen. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:35:54 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment69845292 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68455101 I know Sam always says that “this is the best class of the year” every couple days, but I truly thought this was the best lecture of the whole year. Before I walked into this class, I knew very little about the war in the Middle East. I knew that the “weapons of mass destruction” was a load of crap, but I didn’t know what was really going on. I think it’s safe to say that my world got rocked during this hour. It’s a pretty shitty feeling to realize that your people are essentially destroying the land of another people in order to take control of their resources. When Sam told the story about the Chinese taking our coal, I felt like a light clicked on. Because if my people were being bombed, if my brothers were being taken away, and if my family members were living in constant danger, I sure as hell would feel some kind of way about the Chinese people. When Sam played that video about the “Jihad” I felt like I was in 6th grade again. I remember after the 9/11 attacks how scared I was of terrorists. While most kids can’t sleep cause of a bad dream, I would literally have a panic attack every time a plane flew overhead. Why was I so scared, because every night on the news there were terrifying images of people in the Middle East. I now realize that while my fears were mostly in my imagination, there are people in the Middle East who really are being bombed every day and apparently for no good reason. Imagine the images they see of us. Imagine the videos and pictures of us that go around and how it must feel for them to know their fear is warranted. For a while I have not been a supporter of the war we’re waging in the Middle East, without even really understanding it. Now that I do, I’m shocked that this appalling war is actually being extended. I think that anyone who actually supports the war must either be ignorant (as I was not that long ago) or some kind of patriotic fanatic who thinks the United States should rule the world. Either way it’s not ok. More people need to learn what’s actually happening over there so that we can demand an end to this war. Another thing brought up in class that made me (honestly) a little sick to my stomach was when Sam told us that the United States has decided that in order to kill one bad person, it’s ok to also kill 29 civilians. One innocent life loss is far too many, let alone 29?! It makes me sick that we can decide this yet we would be outraged if even one of our civilians was killed. It’s quite obvious that our government believes the lives of Americans are worth more than the lives of Arabs, and frankly it’s disgusting. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:21:22 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68455101 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment63072186 When I first heard about this in the news, I was shocked and pretty disgusted. I’m not naïve enough to think that everyone in this country is open to the LGBT community; obviously there is a serious problem in this country in accepting the LGBT people, especially among adults. What really made me angry though, is that a school board would cancel a prom for an entire school because one student wanted to bring her girlfriend to prom. The message this sends to the entire school community is clear; being LGBT is so unacceptable that they would cancel an entire prom so there would be no chance of a lesbian couple attending. School board’s have a responsibility to the students in their district to act in the best interest of students, it isn’t their job to decide if being a lesbian, being gay, or being whatever is acceptable or unacceptable, it isn’t their job to tell student who they should or shouldn’t date, and it certainly isn’t their job to tell a female she can’t wear a tuxedo to her own damn prom. What’s more, when they decided to cancel the entire prom they made her the target of blame for her peers. I imagine many people were understandably pissed when prom was cancelled and the school board is clearly seeking to use her as scapegoat, probably hoping to further shame her for her sexual orientation. When this kinda thing happens it can’t be allowed to go unnoticed, although this story is obviously out in the public eye, I wonder how many other times this has happened without anyone making a big deal of it. The problem is that whenever someone is denied the same rights as others based on their sexual orientation, it absolutely is a big deal. It shouldn’t fall solely on the shoulders of activist groups to right these wrongs either. The purpose of government is to uphold the rights and freedoms of every American, yet there is a blatant blind spot when it comes to the LGBT community. Also, I feel as though the South has been using their legacy of prejudice and hate as a way to justify the continuation of prejudice and hate. Whenever something like this occurs in the South, there is almost always someone who says, “Yeah, well, it’s the South.” Unless I’m much mistaken in my US history, I’m pretty sure the whole civil rights, equality, and freedom thing applies to the whole country. Didn’t we decide way back with the Civil War that the South is still a part of this country and has to follow the laws of this country? I think it’s bullshit that people think that just because something happens in the South it’s enough justification for hate. We need to take back the free pass card we sent South, every part of this country should be held to the same standards for treating people equally. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:03:51 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment63072186 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59988390 It seems like the only chance I have of seeing a diverse dating show is to turn to MTV or VH1 for such gems as “A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila” or “Flavor of Love.” Why is it the only time we have diversity in a dating show is when the dating show is more like a trashy joke. What kind of message are the producers of this show hoping to send? Interracial dating is only acceptable if the people are young, drunk, and ridiculous? It’s actually sad we consider ourselves to be so equal yet latent discrimination like this is blatant! It may sound stupid, but if we’re going to help solve the problems between racial discrimination, maybe we should start with “The Bachelor.” Sat, 6 Mar 2010 04:15:33 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59988390 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59988373 I think this philosophy is crap. The fact that there has never been a nonwhite person on these shows is one hundred percent deliberate on the part of the producers. It is impossible that after over ten seasons they haven’t had a black, brown, Asian, NON WHITE person apply for this show. Which means the producers must have made the conscious decision to keep the cast white. Is this discrimination on their part, or is their belief that their audience won’t respond well? Either way it’s wrong. It’s wrong because the message sent out is clearly that interracial relationships are not normal. Clearly ratings are more important than morals, more important than being fair, more important than being right. Sat, 6 Mar 2010 04:15:23 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59988373 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59988342 Either the choice of only white contestants was at the digression of the producers, in which case the sole reasoning would be to create the television that will bring in the most viewers, or it was influenced by the preference of the contestant, in which case they would be driven by what attracts them. Either way there seems to be latent discrimination in effect. The producers most likely believe (and are probably supported by viewer ship) that people will only watch if there isn’t the chance of an interracial relationship. I wonder if this is because viewers of these shows actually don’t want to see an interracial couple. No matter how advanced we are or how open minded we are you must admit that seeing an interracial couple catches your attention, even if it doesn’t bother you in the least. Maybe producers feel that they would lose viewers, especially more mature and possible less open minded ones. Sat, 6 Mar 2010 04:15:05 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59988342 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59988321 Like many of the comments I’ve been reading, I’ve also never really noticed the “whiteness” of shows like The Bachelor before. I wonder if this is because I never actually watch these shows (actually I avoid them) or because, being white myself, it doesn’t immediately jump out at me that these people are also white. I’m trying to think of a logical reason for there being absolutely no diversity among these contestants and I must say that I’m at a loss. Sat, 6 Mar 2010 04:14:54 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59988321 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58905012 Ever since this was brought up in class I’ve been thinking about the video we watched. I’ve been thinking about what is our obligation to another person and when is it not our place to say something. What I’ve been thinking about the most is the question brought up by one of our peers; he said that it wasn’t necessarily our place to say something about the blatant discrimination because it wasn’t our store. Although I’m sure this logic is sound to him and I’m sure to others as well, I can’t get it out of my head how ludicrous this sounds. What does it matter where discrimination takes place? Discrimination is discrimination no matter if it’s out on the street or in someone’s home. Just because you own a piece of property you don’t also own the right to treat others as inferiors. This argument would be like saying that because I own a house, I should be able to hold a slave in my house because it’s my property and I can do whatever I want. Of course I’m not naïve enough to believe that everyone thinks as I do and treats everyone equally, because clearly discrimination is still everywhere. But when you are faced with blatant discrimination you have two options. You can speak up and defend against the injustice or you can support the discrimination. Silence is not an option, because when we remain silent we allow the discrimination to continue and thus it is the same as giving our support. I know people want to tell themselves that remaining silent only means that they are indifferent to a situation, and they’re right, but that’s just the problem. If all we have are a few people willing to stand up for justice and the rest remain indifferent, nothing will change, and even if those who support discrimination are the minority, their voice is amplified by the silence of the indifferent. So, what can we do? What is within our abilities to stop the injustice of discrimination? The answer is so simple yet so many people ignore it; all that’s needed is for you to raise up your voice against it. Even if only one person in a crowd is speaking up, their courage will often encourage those around them who may agree but would not say anything otherwise, to speak up as well, and just like that the voice of justice will drown out the unjust. The only way to end discrimination for good is for people who know it’s wrong to let it their opinions be known, because as long as people remain indifferent it will only be perpetuated. Remember, all it takes for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:12:25 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58905012 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/all-that-is-solid-melts-into-air-including-our-words__trashed/#IDComment56596135 But what can we do? Even if our hearts collectively bleed at the death of a language, we can't truly revive it if we weren't actually a part of that culture. And we can't force the future generations of a culture to keep alive the traditions of their ancestors, especially if at the same time we're encouraging the merging of cultures. So then I suppose the only thing that can be done to mourn the loss of a language is to take notice and pay respect to somethig so steeped in tradition that is now lost. I suppose we could also realize that the only thing keeping a language we love from dying is ourselves, the only way to preserve our wats are to pass them to our children, and more importantly to teach them about the importance of appreciating the words spoken of those who have come before us so that they too can pass it on. I suppose in the end though, language is merely a tool for expressig yourself, and so long as there is a way to do this, what language you use is second priority. Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:34:44 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/all-that-is-solid-melts-into-air-including-our-words__trashed/#IDComment56596135 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/all-that-is-solid-melts-into-air-including-our-words__trashed/#IDComment56596126 I don't know what I find more, I guess I'll say sad; the fact that a language can die so unnoticed, or the fact that no one seems to care. I feel that as we progress further and further into the realms of technology we seem to lose any appreciation for the written and spoken word. I remember in high school when we would read Shakespeare. I thought the way he spoke was so eloquent and beautiful, though I was probably the only one who did, most kids just find it impossible to understand and outdated. That in itself is a way in which we are losing a beautiful and unique language, and English is certainly far from dead! I can't even imagine what is being lost when a language is completely lost. I feel like people don't realize that it is not just a few words and some grammar that is being lost; when a language dies an entire culture dies with it. While there may be people who have studied the language or understand the customs, that doesn't mean the culture still exists, it has instead become a part of history, it can't continue to be lived and experienced, it is reduced to being reenacted and studied. Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:34:36 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/all-that-is-solid-melts-into-air-including-our-words__trashed/#IDComment56596126 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/negros-of-the-world-unite__trashed/#IDComment55548289 Reading this article got me thinking about a couple different things. It does seem pretty archaic to use the term “negroes,” presumably in reference to blacks. I understand the backlash against the census bureau for continuing to use this as a racial identity, particularly since it is often seen as having a negative connotation attached to it. However, the fact that many people were in fact writing this in as their race obviously shows that this is exactly how they see themselves. Although it may seem to be a negative term to us, to them it’s just another word to describe them, so why shouldn’t it be included, when clearly it’s not offensive to these people? As I thought more about this issue though, I wondered how they even break up everyone in the US into 15 races and then other. If you try and think about what makes a race, there are so many grey lines that defining a race is nearly impossible. If it was based on skin color, then there could be millions of races for each shade. If it’s based on heritage, then there could be countless races plus mixed races as well. If the only options you have are several categories and then other, couldn’t anyone really place themselves into other? Even though I would put white, what is it that makes me white? My skin isn’t white, it’s more of a peachy with freckles, so why isn’t that a race category? Why can’t I have my own category of half-Polish half-Irish pale ginger race? Clearly pale people look different than tan people, there’s a much larger difference between our skin colors and tan people to some black people, so why does one group have to be defined as white and one as black? How can you expect everyone to either fit into one of these categories or be stuck in “other?” Maybe everyone should just get to write in what they think they are, instead of having to fit themselves into a construct set up by someone else. So, as I was thinking about all this, I started to wonder something else. Why do we even need to know this information? What’s the purpose of knowing how many Hispanics, how many black, or how many whites are in an area? Honestly, I don’t see how this information is relevant. I feel like we always talk about how race isn’t an issue and how we shouldn’t discriminate based on race, etc. So, by dividing the country into these racial groups, aren’t we merely perpetuating the idea that race matters? If the color of your skin really doesn’t matter than why should we even have to check a box on forms? As far as I’m concerned, if you’re here and you’re an American, than that’s that. Whether you call yourself white, black, brown, negroe, Hispanic, or whatever, you're the same person with the same identity so why should anyone else care what box you're checking? Sat, 6 Feb 2010 00:21:01 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/negros-of-the-world-unite__trashed/#IDComment55548289 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-b__trashed/#IDComment54589183 emily Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:42:15 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-b__trashed/#IDComment54589183 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/the-enlightened-west-knows-best__trashed/#IDComment54589083 Most people would consider the world of fashion or clothing to be one of the farthest things removed from the world of government and politics, so when the two come together it usually seems strange. Laws regarding the clothes people where seems to be an obvious violation of people’s basic right to express themselves. Of course there should be general laws to keep people from exposing themselves completely in public, but to try and make a law against covering up? The idea seems absurd. Since reading this blog and watching the video, I’ve had a lot of different thoughts about this topic. My initial reaction was that it seemed completely unjust to tell these women that they couldn’t wear a garment, simply because it covers almost all of their body. Sometimes I wish there was a law that kept me from having to see crop tops, and booty-shorts (especially on people who have business wearing them). But then I began to think about what the government could be thinking when they proposed this law. Were they thinking of security purposes? Perhaps they believe that if this was to become a more wide-spread trend, it would lead to rises in crime rates as people realized that they couldn’t be indentified with their faces veiled. This actually seems like a logical train of thought; if wearing face masks in public became a trend, it would become much more difficult to identify suspicious persons in stores, would it not? So if you consider that, then sure, I can see part of where they’re coming from, but at the same time, this hardly seems like a trend that will spread to anyone outside this culture, so this justification seems foolish. The government, however, has presented a different justification by suggesting that the wearing of full body veils is a sign of male domination over the women around them. Alright, this too seems like a justifiable concern; however, if this is the problem, then fining the women who wear burqas hardly seems like the solution. I know this comparison may seem extreme, but this would be like fining a woman who has been battered because she’s being oppressed by her husband. Fining women who wear burqas won’t stop them from wearing burqas if it truly is their husbands who are forcing them to wear them. This reasoning, while valiant, is severely flawed. Not to mention the fact that many of these women report that their husbands have nothing to do with their decision to wear burqas, rather it is their own personal beliefs, something the government won’t accept. I think this issue has little to do with any of the reasons the government wants to give, and everything to do with the fact that people aren’t comfortable with minorities making themselves known within a community, which is what these women are doing. Instead of accepting the differences between are cultures, we want to force these women into our practices, and are going to ridiculous lengths to do it. Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:40:47 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/the-enlightened-west-knows-best__trashed/#IDComment54589083 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2009/11/how-many-killings-equal-one-public-outrage__trashed/#IDComment53439654 Reading this article I was surprised at first as to why this story hadn’t been reported in mainstream media, especially because of the longevity of the killings. However, after you put down the article and start thinking about what most media outlets report, it becomes pretty clear why this isn’t breaking news on CNN or FOX News. When you think about the unbelievable crimes reported in mainstream media the common trend among the victims is that they’re white, middle-class, educated, females. Why are these the crimes reported? Because think about the people working at a news station. There are very few people of color working the news, and probably none who are poor and uneducated. Not only that but the stories reported are the ones that news people think the public will care about and tune into hear, and the public wants to hear stories about people that they can relate to (middle-class, white etc), which means that we have countless stories about stupid things like “balloon boy,” but a tragedy like this goes unnoticed. So, why is this? Why don’t people care to hear about these stories? Probably one of the biggest reasons is that a lot of people will try to tell themselves that these victims did something to “deserve” what happened to them. For some reason people can’t accept the fact that tragedy can happen to anyone, in any social class, of any race. Instead, they choose to think that since this victim was poor or had a criminal record, she must have brought whatever happened to her on to herself. When you justify a crime in this way, it no longer becomes news worthy; it no longer seems like a tragedy, just a case of karma. This way of thinking is bullshit, because people would never say this out loud. They wouldn’t say that a murder victim got what they deserved, but they’re thinking it just the same and that’s what helps relieve their guilt for not caring. I guarantee if in the same day a little girl from a wealthy, white, neighborhood and a little girl from the projects were kidnapped, we would only hear about one of them. People today have become so skilled at holding two contradictory convictions in their head at the same time and unfortunately more people will suffer because of it, because people just don’t care enough about people that are different from them. So what should media do? Should every report of gang violence, drug violence, school violence be on the news each night? That’d be a little impractical, but what should be done is that significant crimes shouldn’t be swept under the rug because of a victim’s background. If you have enough time to dissect every nuance of the “Octomom” story, then you sure as hell better make time to report a tragedy like the one in North Carolina Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:41:51 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2009/11/how-many-killings-equal-one-public-outrage__trashed/#IDComment53439654