en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/765487 Comments by emw5209 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment70005490 I think that if people were more willing to go out and meet these people in the prison who have no other option but to make all they can out of their lives in prison, they would reevaluate what they do for society. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:47:02 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment70005490 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment70005350 Like the man who wrote the letter in the blog said, most of the men in the prison aren’t the cold hearted criminals that you think they are. I think something changes in them when they know that there is no way out of prison. They have time to think about the things that really matter in life. Unlike most of us that go through life not even giving a second thought about needy people, these guys are and tearing up when they hear things that happen in the outside world. Also, they are willing to put their opinions about each other and be there for one another in their time of need. How many of us are willing to do that? The inmates also want to give blood and donate money to people in need. These is really eye-opening to think about, men that are in prison for MURDERING someone are more willing to help people than we are. It’s a shame really. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:46:47 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment70005350 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment70005297 This blog made me think of the story that Sam told us about the man that got charged for murder when he got into a bar fight and the other guy fell and died. The guy never meant for anything that bad to happen to the other man but an accident happened and now he has to unfortunately pay the price for it. When the man was in prison, he decided to embrace the situation and make the best of it. If I was the man that had to be in prison, I would be very mad and would probably through a fit because it wasn’t my fault. But his reaction of accepting his fate and then makings something of it speaks volumes. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:46:27 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment70005297 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment70005154 I’m really glad that Sam posted this on the blog. When Sam and his wife talked about their trips to the prisons to meet with people that were in for life, I was always interested in their stories. I’ve never thought about what it must be like to be in prison and know that there is absolutely no way that you will leave unless you are dead. I can’t imagine what a person must go through after knowing this. There must be certain stages that they go through most likely being anger, denial, hope, and then acceptance. I think that we most often think about people in prison as only the people that committed these terrible and horrible crimes. We never think about inmates as a person that only did one thing wrong or made a bad decision and now has to pay for it. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:46:07 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment70005154 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68409045 I think that this lecture was a very powerful wakeup call. Perceived ideas about anyone are very dangerous. We need to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes before we attack with words or actions. This is not the easiest thing to do when we are only shown media or told about the worst things about someone or a country. But if we can take what we have learned from this lecture and are able to inform someone else about the truth and are able to correct those perceived ideas, our world would be in a better place. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 22:37:34 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68409045 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68409291 I think that this lecture was a very powerful wakeup call. Perceived ideas about anyone are very dangerous. We need to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes before we attack with words or actions. This is not the easiest thing to do when we are only shown media or told about the worst things about someone or a country. But if we can take what we have learned from this lecture and are able to inform someone else about the truth and are able to correct those perceived ideas, our world would be in a better place. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:37:34 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68409291 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68409012 When Sam showed us the videos about US soldiers harassing Iraqi people, I was furious. I can’t believe that men in our army would do something as low as that. There was no reason to run over the group’s car with the tank even if they were looting. It’s their car! The other video of a US tank bumping into a truck is infuriating also. I can see why Iraqi people think that the whole United States is like that. Sam is right that these men are what the Iraqi’s are shown over the news. They do not see the nice soldier offering candy and playing with young children. I was pretty shocked when this came the other way around with the US civilians. Not all people from the Middle East are terrorists. There are radicals in every nation. The sad thing is that these few groups of people give the other countries a bad reputation. The picture of the little Iraqi kids holding guns pretty much explains this. Yes, there are a few groups of people that recruit small children to join their cause but not all of the children in Iraq have guns. Like Sam said he knows people in Iraq that have never met people that are part of these groups in their WHOLE LIVES. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:35:22 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68409012 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68408977 I have to admit that I was really surprised by yesterday lecture. I went into the class feeling like Sam was only going to bash Christians about our beliefs and ideas. After the first few slides of the presentation, I realized that I was totally wrong about the lecture. I was still a little irritated and taken back by the examples that he used to describe our views but the lecture did open up a totally new idea for me. When Sam told us to put on the mind set of an Iraqi college student, I was very shocked at my reaction to what I would feel. It all makes sense that the Iraqi people feel so strongly about this war. I wouldn’t want someone else to come into my country and try to claim something as theirs when it is mine. I can agree that the war is based on oil. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:35:04 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68408977 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66893164 I don’t know, I guess this makes me pretty upset now that I have been going on with my life without really thinking about the people that made what I bought and what they had to go through in making it. So, yes. I think that Sam doesn’t necessarily change our minds about topics but he really does make us think and form an opinion about the things he brings up in lecture. Fri, 9 Apr 2010 23:11:17 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66893164 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66892978 I think it's true when he says "You never know what you don't know unless you hear it." This is a very true statement because I didn't know about some aspects of racial discrimination and slavery before he mentioned them in lecture. For instance, I never knew that Wal-Mart was helping slavery. Since I love going to Wal-Mart and saving on things, this makes me feel a different way about going to Wal-Mart. I saw a commercial on TV today which was about a Wal-Mart truck driver doing things so Wal-Mart customers could save even more. I said to myself, “yeah saving more money but to what other people’s expense?” This commercial also got me thinking about Wal-Mart’s motto; “save money, live better.” Yes it saves us money and we can live better but we are like the movie in class states, “eating slave’s flesh” or buying their flesh. Fri, 9 Apr 2010 23:10:11 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66892978 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66892836 I was pretty shocked that someone asked this question. But after thinking about it and looking through some people's posts I guess it's a fair question. I would agree with some people that something that Sam says are sometimes out there and kooky. But, like a lot of people said, his job isn't to change how we feel about something or make us change our habits. He wants to make us feel some kind of way about things when he brings something up. For instance he slavery lecture had on Thursday. He told us those stories about the people he has seen when he was traveling for a reason. Some of us may have never heard about situations like that unless he told us about it. We don't have to say it is one thing or another but we need to listen to it. Some things Sam says may not be a complete revelation to some of us but I’m sure that everyone can agree that he has caused us to focus on issues around the world and here at home that we never think about. Fri, 9 Apr 2010 23:09:14 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66892836 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment65696025 . I mean really, mostly every model has gone on a dangerous diet, had their hair dyed multiple times, and have changed the way they are in some other way or another. This makes me think about one video I watched in psych class. It was a dove commercial that went through how a natural woman is transformed through makeup, haircuts, and technology to reveal this glamorous woman that is slapped onto every magazine. The truth is, that person doesn't exist. With using a computer, her lips are made bigger, her skin was tanned, her blemishes magically disappeared, and her little belly was instantly erased. I would recommend that everyone takes a chance to look at this Dove commercial. It truly represents the truth about the media. Sat, 3 Apr 2010 03:46:04 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment65696025 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment65695903 I agree with Sam that this was a very disturbing video. First of all, what the young women had to say about being black is pretty eye opening. Personally, as far as the whole hair topic goes, I believe we should embrace our OWN NATURAL beauty. No one should be ashamed of their own physical features. I think that each one has a different and unique body with different characteristics. After all, the women that are considered "naturally beautiful" in popular culture aren't actually what they depict. They too have had to go through the process of tearing their own self down to disguise who they really are to fit certain agreed upon mold of beauty. Sat, 3 Apr 2010 03:45:46 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment65695903 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65691070 I can really relate to this guy. I know what if feels like to be confused about which team to be on. My mom is Mexican and my dad is white. One of the best pieces of advice that I can say would be to not forget where you come from and what makes you, you. I don't have the tannest skin but I am part Mexican. People can classify you as a white person just because of your skin but it is up to you to know that you are not just white. I know how you feel about being classified as only white though. Sam grouped me with a few completely white kids and brought us up to the front during class once. When I got down to the front of the classroom, Sam said that I wasn't really "white" but I can just pretend to be for that day. I think that sometimes this type of grouping is done every day. People in society are too quick to judge a person's race or heritage. They do not think that the person can have more than one race. I think that people should be more aware of the fact that just because you may look like a white person doesn't mean that you are all white. Sat, 3 Apr 2010 03:26:07 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65691070 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment65685792 I find this interesting. It made me think about what we are talking about in class right now. I believe that when you say that "it would be a big deal if all the black kids chose the black doll" really relates to the stages of racial identity we've been talking about. I think that if the kids all chose the black doll, they would be in the humanitarian and final stage of racial identity. They would be comfortable in their own identity and would be able to easily choose the corresponding doll that looked like them. I think as long as the children would choose to pick the white doll because it is "better" than them, the need for improvement in our society is represented. The simple fact that a black child would choose a different doll that was considered better than they were solely because of color is heartbreaking.. Sat, 3 Apr 2010 02:32:02 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment65685792 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/in-her-own-words__trashed/#IDComment64233779 I think if men had a glimpse of what we had to go through, they would be more understanding on why we act when we get our period. A period is not just “bleeding” as Sam calls it, it comes with mood swings due to a shift in hormones and brutal cramps that can inconvenience our lives on any day. I’m not saying that girls should use their periods as an excuse, because as everyone knows, each girl has a different period, but all I’m saying is that men should be more lenient when we say that we are just not feeling that great or if we don’t seem like normal when we have our period. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:57:06 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/in-her-own-words__trashed/#IDComment64233779 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/in-her-own-words__trashed/#IDComment64233732 On the other hand, when my dad remarried, my stepmother dealt with my period in a whole other manner. When I was bent over in pain she would tell me that I need to suck it up and keep going with my dad. That she had to deal with the same thing when she got her period and she still did everything that she needed to. This bothered me a lot considering I was literally bent over in pain. I wasn't allowed to just lie down for a while, I had to keep going and be strong. The way my stepmother dealt with my period makes me think about what Sam was saying about women being silenced about dealing with our periods. We are told to keep going no matter what, even if we are in a ton of pain. We are forced to suck it up and carry on. I think that this shouldn’t be what we have to go through. Men do not have a clue what women go through every month. So why should they be telling us we need to just “deal with it?” Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:56:43 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/in-her-own-words__trashed/#IDComment64233732 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/in-her-own-words__trashed/#IDComment64233688 I really agree with what Laurie said. Personally I know how bad that time of the month can be. However, I want to talk about how periods are treated in different cultures. Since my mom is Mexican, she dealt with my period a totally different way that she would if she was American. She grew up in a different culture than the American culture so they handled different matters such as a women’s period different than we would in America. When I got my period, she basically babied me the whole week. I was allowed to stay in bed for as long as I wanted, she would make me all types of tea to help with my cramps, which was amazing. Also, she would keep a hot water bottle in my bed with me. I insisted that I was alright but she would continue to insist that I need to rest and take care of myself. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:56:22 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/in-her-own-words__trashed/#IDComment64233688 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-happens-to-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment63086458 Many relatives on my mom’s side do not have a college degree or even attended college. When Sam talked about the children of low income households or parents that were poorly educated I felt like I beat the odds. Even though my mom is my only parent that wasn’t able to finish school, it still affected me. If we talked more about being multiracial, I think it will give us a better understanding that the same situations and hardships that affect people of a single race, can also affect those of multiple races. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:14:45 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-happens-to-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment63086458 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-happens-to-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment63086444 I agree with the person who commented on this topic that we should definitely talk about this in class. I'm sure that a lot of people feel the same way as I do and think that we should talk about people that are multiracial. I think we should talk about family incomes and the same predicaments that face people of only one race. For instance, my mom had to drop out of middle school to help work for her family. She didn’t even make it to high school. One the other hand, my dad went to college and had a good job. Even though one of my parents had a good education and job, I grew up with my mom not being able to help me with my homework in middle school. Those types of things really bother me but I also feel very blessed to be able to be where I am right now. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:14:36 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-happens-to-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment63086444