en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2391469 Comments by faithp http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/would-you-hire-illegal-immigrants-over-legal-residents-for-less-pay-119-blog/#IDComment145288026 It surprises me each class more and more with each blog post actually just how self, yeah that’s the right word that humans are. When I listen to this question and even with the last blog I respond to do I see how my thinking is and I often find myself assuming others would response and react in similar was as myself. Would I hire illegal immigrants over legal residents for less pay? Hell yes I would, and I probably would not think twice about it. The frightening thing is that sort of scares me. Is it okay to think like that or to be willing to do such a thing? Yet again I mentally defend my position by saying many people would. As if that some how makes it okay. The reality is that people who own business do it all the time. But how is that any different than people being paid differently with equal qualification and gender being the only difference. That is the same thing right? Both are unfair. To do the same work yet to be paid less. I find reason to make this specific thing acceptable. If it gets done in one situation then why can’t it be done in another? I mean sure we can argue about how wrong it is to hire illegal immigrants, and bring up whatever laws there are that don’t allow it but who is not willing to save money where they can. I am not sure if this relates to something Sam mentioned in class or shit maybe I heard it in another class. Sometimes we think more people are more likely to do the same thing as our self. So because I think I would then I believe that many more people would also? How wrong is doing that though? Why is it so wrong to hire illegal immigrants for less pay? Where is the wrong truly being done? They get paid everyone wins right. I read in another post someone mentioned how it does not help the economy. The fact that people hire illegal immigrants takes away from the legal unemployed residents that populate The United States. My response is so. This brings me back strangely back to the lecture about king of the mountain. Someone has to be on top. Whoever that person, group of people, race, religion, whatever, they wish to remain there. As people we are selfish its disgusting actually and so unfair. I say this as a person whom would hire illegal immigrants to keep more money in my pocket no matter how wrong it is or how it takes away from other people in the United States. The problem is that I would only be thinking about me, and that is the problem in general. We are too selfish to consider other people and that is why so many issues discussed in soc are. We only think about ourselves we do not time the time out to put things into the perceptive of others. Last blog thank goodness!!!!!! Sat, 23 Apr 2011 04:01:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/would-you-hire-illegal-immigrants-over-legal-residents-for-less-pay-119-blog/#IDComment145288026 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment142355955 I think that nepotism is not necessarily a bad thing, certainly for the person that is getting the hook up. The problem like Sam expressed is what happens when that hook up being given eliminates the people who are better qualified. This actually reminds me of a conversation I recently had with someone where he was really adamant about the idea that it’s always who you know and what hook up you can get. The guy actually argued that there was no point in getting a 4 yr degree much less any other professional degree. Now while his last point was really far fetched in my opinion after hearing Sam’s lecture today I realized my friend actually had some value hidden in his argument. So if some one who is qualified for a job because the person in charge picks some one who they know personally or through some close connection who is just barely qualified that is certainly unfair. I actually had a really cool job working in a mental health and rehab facilitation through nepotism. No this job anyone could do it the people that worked there were nothing special as far as being qualified so I fit right in among the other hardly qualified people learning on the job for the most part. Not to mention like myself the other behavioral health technicians had gotten the hook up their self. So it is not uncommon for people to be hired who lack the right credentials. The question is, would I be willing to actively try not to benefit from nepotism, and honestly the answer is no. To me that is like asking me to turn down a winning lottery ticket, probably a terrible comparison but the point is that I could not do it. I would not want to risk the benefit to myself. Just like I would not expect or even believe any single person in the world would do. I understand that it us unfair, but that is just the way things are and will always be. Nepotism will be a never-ending thing, we are in a time when people just need these kinds of hook ups whether they qualify or not. As selfish as it sounds it is the truth for me and I am sure it is for many other people. If we take a look at it in terms of growing up in the right conditions then it seems different. Like some people are privileged enough to have certain connects while others are not. It makes nepotism seem less of a bad thing when you consider it that way. That may be a little bit of a stretch in reasoning but nepotism benefits some and hinders others. Will the king of the mountain give up his or her thrown? Hell no, and honestly and as un-cruelly put neither would I if it were me. Btw Sam is super HOT! Hehehehehe. Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:16:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment142355955 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/we-need-help-with-the-logo-119-blog/#IDComment141063958 First I want to commend you on such a great idea that you have suggested. I think as Americans we know how significant a simple logo can be especially with clothing. Consider how proud we are as Penn Staters to rock our Nittany lion logo or the paw prints. So kudos for thinking of a way to make this something special in the same sense. I know everyone is getting pretty excited for the different ways they can help and people are really becoming really drawn into the project. So like the phrase “my tiny act” has come about a logo can certainly be as catchy. Now for actual ideas that is certainly the hard part. So I am not very creativity at all so when giving this thought the first thing that popped in to my mind was the shape of Haiti. Plain and simple right, but then I thought about the phrase “my tiny act.” To me that phrase means so much and the idea for a logo just seemed to lack any meaning. So I began Google image searching different words and phrases. Then I came across a couple more things that made me think more. I thought came across a few images of hands. So in drawing off of that, I thought maybe a logo could be an upward raised palm that reads my tiny act in the center. As you can see I really dig that phrase and not sure if words can be incorporated with the logo but I think that it should be in some way. Then I came across a familiar image that is a globe with people around it holding hands. Then thought about what if the image was either the globe or the shape of Haiti with the words my tiny act going around it instead. As mention I am in no way creativity. However those were a couple of ideas that came to mind that could potentially spark something for someone else. Most importantly for what we are working for to me the logo must be important, have meaning, and show the value we are giving the project. In some way I think it should show or read the act of a tiny act. As we witness in class Thursday nothing is too small of a contribution. No idea is too small. Everything matters. When you see the swoosh we think Nike, when we see the golden arches we think of McDonalds, you see the guy on the horse you think Polo. In designing a logo, it should bring to mind exactly what has happen in Haiti as well as the way in which we have contributed to help no matter what that contribution consisted of. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 19:01:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/we-need-help-with-the-logo-119-blog/#IDComment141063958 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/29/have-you-ever-witnessed-english-being-the-only-language-forced-to-be-spoken-119-blog/#IDComment138716267 I happen to live in Philadelphia and actually there was a very big situation concerning this very topic that was very big. It was actually a situation in South Philadelphia that tried to enforce this very concept. It all revolved around a big steak restaurant that was located in South Philadelphia. It was very popular and many people went to it for their famous steaks. So one day the owner put up a sign, not exactly sure what it said since this occurred a few years back, however it said something relevant to if you do not speak English you will not be served. This issue was really big in our neighborhood. When you get to a certain part of South Philadelphia there are lots of Spanish speaking people. So this went really big and it was on our local news for a long time. The owner was interview and everything. On television he continued to say the same thing and defend his position publically. He felt that there was nothing wrong by what he said, how he said it, and the fact that he became quite nasty about it too. I recall him getting upset saying that since they live in America they should speak English. At the expense of losing customers he held on to that belief and defended it. For that to be a situation that was close to home it did not bother me before. It did not pertain to me, or my race I identified with so I ignored it. Having Soc I see now that can be a big problem. Simply ignoring these kinds of situations in the end can be troublesome. When we do not stick up for each other we begin to sort of be against each other. Something like that, or simply put things go wrong. Now when I think back to that situation that was really wrong and more should have done about it. It eventually and rather quickly just was forgotten about. I’m not suggesting that he should have been punish because he was practice his right of free speech at least so it seemed. It’s it wrong that he refused to serve people of they did not speak English. I mean legally wrong? I mean that can be a form of discriminating, right. So for it simply to just get a little news coverage and some interviewing that resolved nothing that issue remains. And so does that idea behind it. The idea that it is okay to try to force someone to speak your language remained. I think that some things like this, depending on the situation are very hard to deal with. I for one totally disagree with trying to force English to be the only language spoken in any situation. Wed, 30 Mar 2011 23:25:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/29/have-you-ever-witnessed-english-being-the-only-language-forced-to-be-spoken-119-blog/#IDComment138716267 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137611997 I have never been in an interracial relationship before. However I always thought I would end up in one. In fact many of my family members even said that to me often. They would say “you’re going to go away to college in come back with a white boyfriend”. While that joke received different responses from different people in my family I never thought anything was wrong with the idea. I often catch myself looking at white guys differently than ever before. I’m not sure if the exposure here compared to how it is home is what makes me notice them so much more or what the deal is. It sometimes is weird I must admit. It is almost as if it would be wrong to date a white guy being a black girl. While I am open to the thought I cannot seeing myself actually doing it. I just cannot quite put my finger on the reasoning behind the fear I guess is what it would be to be in shit any interracial relationship. I can imagine there would be a comfort issue. We are surely afraid of things we know nothing about and I nothing about other races really, and I think that is what makes me most uncomfortable about being in an interracial relationship. Perhaps the real problem is what my family would say. Interracial relationships have never occurred in my family. As white as my dad looks seriously he told me I better not ever bring home a white guy. He can be playful at times however I really do not think that was one of his joking moments. In fact I am sure he even said that more than once too. Then once my uncle gave me a whole lecture about how they’re “blond hair blue eyed” selves would “contaminate” our “African blood”. Goodness I know very ignorant of him but that is what he said at the mention of dating a white guy. At some amount I am sure those people influenced my thinking or my inaction of interracial dating. I mean we live in a world now where it is more acceptable. So that would not be the problem or is the result of the slight fear that I have. I guess if my family especially the men my family where a tad bit more accepting to the idea then maybe I would be more willing to explore a bit. They make it sounds terrible almost. But in general I am very acceptant to interracial relationships. I think that it should not depend on color and it should not be a hindrance to whom we get involved it. I think people’s personal experiences just makes it more difficult to be used to seeing and even willing to try it... Sat, 26 Mar 2011 01:41:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/what-do-you-think-about-interracial-relationships-119-blog/#IDComment137611997 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/how-do-irrelevant-racial-signifiers-affect-racial-stereotypes-119-blog/#IDComment135934199 Like Sam said in class sometimes using racial signifiers are in fact necessary for the significance of a specific aspect of a story that one is telling. However when there is no relevance to the point of a story then it then becomes problematic and very noticeable when used in these situations. When used they will often sound racist and can even influence the use of racial stereotypes. I was reading a post on my discussion groups face book page. It was more relevant to the stages that we discussed Tuesday however when telling the story the classmate used racial signifiers that were ultimately necessary to the point of the story. However, in telling the story one of the characters in it used racial signifiers that basically stereotyped black girls to be loud. It is important that this stereotype was brought about from a black student who tried to justify the dislike for her behavior entirely on the fact of being a black woman. This is something that happens often with racial signifiers. Not just to black people either. Some how we give stories unnecessary value by adding these signifiers by absentmindedly or even purposely-creating stereotypes. Racial signifiers are often used on the bases of what someone thinks relations to a specific type of person. Hence, it is very much goes hand and hand with stereotypes. However it is not the only reason behind the use of the signifier. In face very often when we use these signifiers where are stereotyping a person based on the group we either know or think they identify with. It is important that to not that there are these types of signifiers no matter what the person identifies with. We have given ourselves yet another reason to point out the differences we have from other peoples. This then gives stereotypes more attention thus making them more problematic. We show that we are aware of these stereotypes then depending on what you are sharing the story or information just keeps the process going with anything that is learned through exposure. Back to the story discussed on my discussion groups face book page. The black girl was obviously familiar with the stereotype that black women are loud or obnoxious so what she thought her idea of simply having fun was seen as inappropriate and only noticed because she was black caused for an unnecessary confrontation. It is the fact that we all are familiar with stereotypes and it is basically admitting to finding signficance in stereotypes when we use irrelevant racial signifiers. It portrays stereotypes exactly as they are. Unnecessary inaccurate, means to point out differences to make others appear worst than or lower than, they really are Fri, 18 Mar 2011 23:32:05 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/how-do-irrelevant-racial-signifiers-affect-racial-stereotypes-119-blog/#IDComment135934199 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/#IDComment134264147 As an African American I am aware of this history of the slaves and the hardships, and inequality they faced right along with other minorities however it never seemed as real having taking this class. Its been really drilled in to know things. You know how they say you don’t know where you doing until you know where you been or something like that so it has always been important to know the things blacks faced. But seeing specifically the documentary and reading for class was something that seemed so different and nothing can compare to what freed slaves had to go through. We have come along way and while racism still remains and things are not fair the least its very scary to see what they went through, to read it, and for it to be a bit focus in a class entirely on race relations. I do not know if it is quite quilt that I feel as much as the need to be happy with what I have and how life is for me. At this point things are much better for blacks. I watched in the documentary as blacks were lynched and beat and treated so badly. As I watched it I could not understand how anyone could live under those conditions and I was just so grateful to have not had to witness it let alone experiences it. I feel guilty that it is so easy to brush it off and forget about it. I went about my day as usual after watching the video and didn’t think anymore about it until seeing this question. I guess that may be where the guilt surfaces for me. However it worries me that even though conditions have improved over time things are better yet there is still racism and discrimination against other minority groups and we live through it. I just imagine if things were how they were then how fucked up life would be for me. Or how much differently my life could be if the combination of determinism and free will didn’t work in the favor it had to have me here and now. I’m still black true, but I am at much of an advantage when comparing my life to that of freed slaves, and even to the stuff people are going though even in today’s time. Do I feel guilty I guess I do. Guilty because there was a time when things were so bad and now things are better for some people. Guilty because today there is still some racism and discrimination that remains. Guilty because I think that it is true that everyone is a little bit racist. Guilty because they had it so bad and now we have it better. Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:19:33 +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/#IDComment134264147 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/is-it-selfish-for-people-in-poverty-to-have-more-kids-because-of-their-lower-income-119-blog/#IDComment130751826 It seems that people in poverty do have many children. It is often clear to see them with far more children than they can afford to care for properly. With that I think there is many reason that this is the case. There are concerns with how educated they are, the kind of support they had, they way in which they themselves were raised. When people see a family that is rather large that are in poverty they jump to conclusions and are quick to pass judgments about t these people. When you see the types of people that are in poverty or when we look specifically at Tammy how educated are they? Listening to Tammy it was rather clear to see that she was very uneducated. Is that necessarily her fault? Maybe however that is something to certainly consider when we look at the amount of children she had in regards to finical issues. Maybe there are educational facts regarding having children that she was nit familiar with. That lack of education limits the kind of job she can have and the amount of money she has to live on. That type of job makes it difficult to get proper health care. So while some people can afford contraception’s of many kinds; and even get abortions maybe that is not as available to people like Tammy who are in poverty. People in poverty are uneducated in many ways and for some a child is something they even want for emotional reasons. Sometimes people in poverty have nothing and know that they could potentially never have anything so they look forward to having children to feeling special and loved. Some people regardless of being able to afford children have children for that emotional balance of things that they lack. Then there are people who know they are uneducated do not want to work to support their family themselves of do as little as possible because there is things like welfare. With which the more children they have the more assistance they receive. While everyone that gets assistance like welfare I do not generalize and say that they are all lazy, however I am sure there are some who are because it is so available to people who need it. People began to make that a means to get through life. They just keep having children and they live off that. There are many people in poverty as witness by the percents shown in class, and it does seem that often times people in poverty have more children than people who aren’t. And we wonder why that is when it does not seem o make much sense to try to raise children under circumstances where there is not enough money, If we open our minds and not immediately think people are pieces of dumb shits that are only making children to get as much welfare as possible with no interest of working or trying to educate themselves, I think its important to look at the other factors that may be involved. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 03:05:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/is-it-selfish-for-people-in-poverty-to-have-more-kids-because-of-their-lower-income-119-blog/#IDComment130751826 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/16/why-with-more-education-do-people-believe-that-success-is-mostly-a-result-of-hard-work-119-blog/#IDComment128912286 I believe that the idea that success is a result of hard work is one that we learn young and it kind of sticks with us. We are taught young that it is your job to work hard at things and that it eventually will pay off. No one says how long eventually will be but we grow up believing it nonetheless. All the while ignoring the bigger factors that contribute to success. The things like white privilege, the things like king of the mountain, and things like not what you know but whom you know. These things are not important to us young because we don’t learn them young. Weather it is a result to promote hard work or the effect of more people around us who are also no familiar with the other roles that play on successfulness. In college is when these sort of things being to surface. In college is when you are faced with the realization that kind of the mountain relates to real life in the work force. In college is when you being to witness people getting “ the hook up” because of who they knowing. In college we beginning to see these types of things but even then people still think that it is entirely based on hard work. The more educated you become the more you become a witness to things other factors. You get to see them occur more often. You witness the who you know occurring over and over again. Then when there is a lack of education, there is a different sort of reasoning. People who are not college educated may have a different view depending on there position. A person who believes that they are successful still, maybe believe that there is still an effect of hard work. Someone who is not a successful in their own eyes may think that there is what we saw as king of the mountain demonstrated in class. For reason that they only know at that leave is if you try hard you can be successful. If they do not advance in their education then they are left trying to figure out why things are not happening for them even if they have worked hard. Someone who has not gotten a college education and has had the advantage of knowing someone that could help them find a nice job or position then they become familiar with “it’s who you know” It really seems like it depends greatly on education level as well as your personal experience when it comes to the idea of success being a result of hard work, king of the mountain or who you know. While the more educated you the more you get to see and learn that it’s who you know sometimes experiences allow one to witness that also. Fri, 18 Feb 2011 21:23:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/16/why-with-more-education-do-people-believe-that-success-is-mostly-a-result-of-hard-work-119-blog/#IDComment128912286 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/how-have-the-choices-youve-made-and-determinism-affected-your-life-119-blog/#IDComment127183825 I feel that for me both determinism and the choices I have made are reason for why I am now here at Penn State. It starts with determinism, having a mother who was on drugs and dealing with the hassles that come with it. Although just a child I made chooses then that are a major reason for why I am here. Being a child and only thinking that my mother was sick I concluded at 8 that I wanted to be a doctor for reason thinking that I could make my mom feel better. That had not changed until recently. Being a child coming from a neglected home I always tried to make the most out of school, because maybe then people wouldn’t notice how much was going on at home. That lasted a few years before I moved with my dad and his girlfriend. More things that just happened nothing of my choosing. My dad worked two jobs as a truck loader for UPS and a presser for some clothing factory before giving up that job to drive schools buses. All I ever remember for many years was that he was verily home and always worked. While my dad’s girlfriend at the time played stepmom. At this time she always tried to keep my sister and I ahead in class, coming from a public school in Philadelphia it was necessary if we decided that there were college plans for our future. We never really talked about college, never noticed if it was an expectation or not. Neither of my parents went, neither did my stepmom, neither did my two older siblings. In fact, No one in my family really went, they had city jobs, received a certificate in something, or lucked up with something better than a minimum wage job. We just knew that we had to do well in school. In high school was when the talk of going to college really came about. I went to a really bad high school in Philadelphia and was ahead of the class so councilors and teachers always tried to help me get into special things. This is when more of choice making came about. The goal of wanting to become a doctor never disappeared I just did what I had to do. I took advantage of the programs offered for underprivileged high school students who were doing well and wanted o go to college. At this point I made chooses to do what was necessary in high school to be as competitive applicant for college. Shit just happens sometimes. My mom was on and off dugs for much of my childhood. To avoid foster care my dad took custody where I receive better care. Although college never appeared to be an expectation just something of a choose all on my own doing well in school was instilled in me. It helped me some as I went to high school make more good choose, and more shit just happen, for the better. Not from a wealthy background at all. Sometimes things happen that are out of peoples control, and then sometimes we get lucky enough to make chooses, some that are influenced by experiences and personal things. That’s how I get to be here at Penn State Thu, 10 Feb 2011 20:32:21 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/how-have-the-choices-youve-made-and-determinism-affected-your-life-119-blog/#IDComment127183825 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/do-you-think-race-can-stop-being-an-issue-in-the-future-119-blog/#IDComment125928659 When we consider biology as we seen in class we are all alike practically 100%. The less than one percent that makes up our differences is given so much credit and value that it is really absurd. That tiny percent gives us each our outside appearances that allow us to appear differently. Since the reality is that we are more alike than we are different why can’t we just act that way? Why are so many things set up so that there are barriers for people and people are treated differently when we truly are so much alike? It is a learned behavior and I think the future is forever doomed with people continue to teach and learn the sad behaviors. We have come a long way since slavery, since given the equality status, since a lot of things but these difference still act as a hindrance for people. People are taught to behave indifferent towards people who look different than them. People are taught to have certain expectations for people who are different than them. People are taught that for some strange reason just because we look different that we are different. But DNA proves we are actually one in the same. It’s the history behind the way we treat each other. Behaviors are learned and are continuing to be taught. There really seems to be no hope for the future. Sure things have been done to make things better over time, and sure we have made progress and we may all be able to acknowledge that but there is no way for the race issue to live up to the measure of “an equal playing field”. Like Sam mentioned in class when he asked who could spend 2 minutes talking about factual things on race. Out of the entire class only 2 people claimed to be able to do so. We lack the knowledge of each other, which again creates barriers. What we do not know about others makes that small percent of difference seem so much greater. We are uncomfortable with things we do not know. Because we do not know adequate information about each other the race dilemma exist and will continue to exist, and we will continue to think negative things. We keep the ideas we are taught to believe, the ideas we may some day teach to our children and it is a vicious cycle that will only continue to be repeated. Because race is such a touchy topic, we do not spend time discussing it, and correctly learning about, so we create stereotypes, we categorize, we have racist thoughts, we attempt to be politically correct and all the while we really have no clue. We are ignorant on the topic the only way to change it is to become informed. We all should have a race relations class. Since that is not going to happen the future and race as I see it does not look much different than it is now. Fri, 4 Feb 2011 15:22:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/do-you-think-race-can-stop-being-an-issue-in-the-future-119-blog/#IDComment125928659 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-cant-we-just-be-human-119-blog/#IDComment124232963 I remember when this was first brought up in class. When Sam laughed at the concept of people just being the human race. I hear people say all the time they are of the human race. In fact my dad used to say this all the time. He says this because it is the easiest way to do so. When people see my dad they assume he is in no way black, they assume things like white or Spanish, because he has straight hair that he keeps in a box cut that’s sort of curly on top, a long pointy nose, thin lips, and very light skin that looks nothing close to black, not even in the summer. Because he does not know what he really is he told me he simple says he is of the human race. Sam laughed as if it was wrong to think that way or to want people to think that way. I actually think it is the best classification yet. I understood the fact that he said to be human would be classified a species and race is a sub category. However, it is so much easier to classify that why. Sure things that are easier are not always better, but so many people do not know exactly what they are. After all we saw for example, so many people in class that are mixed with so many things. Those were fortunate enough to be able to have that information. What about the people who do not know, like myself for example? My dad has no clue what he is mixed with because he does not know his dad and my grandmother does not know much either. She says she’s half white. But to me that does not seem like enough to go on. This gets so complicated if you ask me. I classify myself as Black when I have to, but human would be so much easier. I mean what does it matter what color you are, or which features you possess. As we all saw that does not have anything to do with race. I mean we even seen a brown skinned girl with Dominican origins who looked like someone who classified themselves as black. If looking at people does not help to pinpoint a race why should it matter so much. Not to say totally ignore it or discount everything it means, when it comes to cultural, meaning, and history. But it does not deserve such value. I could be voicing an opinion that is bias since I cannot say proudly oh I am of, African, Hispanic, or any other origin for sure. So I’m left to do what’s easy and say that I am just Black, and nothing more. What is even easier is to just say I am human. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 02:05:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-cant-we-just-be-human-119-blog/#IDComment124232963 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122551059 I agree that the activity from today’s class was very provocative. To have the two girls in front of such a large group of people putting those students in categories of race based solely on looks was very daring. To actually see two peers demonstrate what I am sure everyone does from time to time with other people consciously knowing that they are doing it was the most daring part. Racial grouping is something we do. It does not even have to be a part of an intentional thought process it sometimes just occurs automatically. As was demonstrated by listening to the discussion between the girls when they said things like “she looks mixed” and “she looks more like her.” Such comments shows how natural it is for people in general to do it. The class did enjoy it, we even laughed at certain parts of the activity but the sad things is that demonstrated reality. It showed how people think when it comes to classifying race. All people of one race look the same. Surprise although not really, through the activity they do not, and even more important was the ease in which it could be done in class. No one looked uncomfortable, not even the two people who had to do the categorizing. The activity turned out to be an eye opener. We make these groupings of people based on appearance. We keep these thoughts private for the most part. Often we inquire when we meet people. It was a great idea to pick students with a 4.0 as this was supposed to illustrate that no amount of intelligence could properly group people. That is because the use of appearance is not an accurate grouping process. At times the ladies were right but many more times they were wrong. But we as a class were in a comfortable enough position to be able to talk openly about it. No one appeared to be offended. Normally we use skin color as a guideline and sometimes that is enough. With the group of people Professor Richards chose that wasn’t so easy. To have a group of people in which you compare them first to an ideal race based on whatever interpretation that individual held on races. In addition they also had to compare the group of students to each other making the task harder. It wasn’t like being in one country then taking a boat to another (example used in class) where the differences could easily be notice. But what was the point, why are there racial groups anyway when people get them wrong? Why is it something that we naturally do when we meet people? What does race tell us about each other anyway? According to that activity it does not tell us much if we are ignorant about it. There is a great amount of history within the ideas race and ethnicity, but when we are quick to judge then we can do nothing with false information. In addition it makes great and comfortable discussion in the setting of a classroom. Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:29:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122551059 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cp%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122530178 soc 119 Thu, 20 Jan 2011 15:47:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cp%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122530178