en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2430965 Comments by gbp5014 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145222066 part3 - . Back to the question of whether illegal immigration is okay or not, I know I have heard a lot of older people complain about illegal immigration and when it is brought up that we are all pretty much the result of immigration, their response is that “our relatives did it right”. That is true, but that was back when our country was not fully developed and it was completely normal for immigrants to be arriving daily, and it was acceptable. Ellis Island was there specifically for that reason. Now that our country is completely populated, for some reason everyone feels “American”.. they feel that they are more privileged than foreigners in our country. I see both sides of the argument and honestly do not know where I stand. But as for the actual question, would I help an immigrant or turn them away – I know that if I were in the position, with actual human beings in front of me asking for work, I would never be able to turn them away. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:41:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145222066 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145221997 part2 - When you see how hard working and desperate they are to just make a living for themselves and their families, your heart goes out to them. Seeing them as actual people rather than reading a story and thinking of them as a problem or statistic makes all the difference. I think it is completely unrealistic to think that there is any way illegal immigration can stopped and I also think its unrealistic to think that someone could help every illegal immigrant get on their feet and become legal. As for helping them versus turning them away, like another student from Arizona said in their blog, if I were in an area where immigrants were present and looking for work, and I had jobs for them to do, I think I would definitely ask them to work for me, just out of sympathy. I know we have talked about guilt in class before, but I think it is impossible to make some decisions - especially ones involving other people less fortunate than you are, without having guilt involved. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:41:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145221997 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145221946 part1 - I am very in the middle when it comes to this subject. Like most of the hot topics discussed in Soc 119, I feel like I am not educated enough about the topic to really have an opinion. I guess I have an opinion, because everyone has an opinion on everything whether you realize it or not, I just do not feel comfortable fully arguing about something when I have no real facts or information backing it up. After saying that, I guess my initial reaction to illegal immigration is that it is completely wrong and they should have to leave the country. There is much in the media pointing out all of the bad things that come of it, without knowing any details; I think that would be anyone’s first reaction. After seeing videos like the one in class, where you actually see real people and hear their stories, that makes everything completely different. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:40:51 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145221946 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145221481 pt 1 - I am very in the middle when it comes to this subject. Like most of the hot topics discussed in Soc 119, I feel like I am not educated enough about the topic to really have an opinion. I guess I have an opinion, because everyone has an opinion on everything whether you realize it or not, I just do not feel comfortable fully arguing about something when I have no real facts or information backing it up. After saying that, I guess my initial reaction to illegal immigration is that it is completely wrong and they should have to leave the country. There is much in the media pointing out all of the bad things that come of it, without knowing any details Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:38:32 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/would-you-help-out-or-turn-away-immigrants-in-the-poor-situations-we-saw-them-in-and-why-119-blog/#IDComment145221481 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/why-did-the-white-students-tell-the-story-differently-than-the-mixed-or-black-students-119-blog/#IDComment143277134 pt3 - I do not have any thoughts really as to why this is except for the guilt issue that we have discussed in class in the past. I am not sure why white people as a whole feel so much guilt about racial issues, but I think it could be because it still goes on today within certain groups and in certain areas. For me personally, I believe that I, as a white person, would have an issue telling a black or mixed person a story like that, having to use the N word, unless I knew the person. I think that makes a lot of difference too, how well you know the person you have to tell story like that to. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 02:02:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/why-did-the-white-students-tell-the-story-differently-than-the-mixed-or-black-students-119-blog/#IDComment143277134 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/why-did-the-white-students-tell-the-story-differently-than-the-mixed-or-black-students-119-blog/#IDComment143276892 pt2 - I think that had there been more time, and the activity been less rushed, more information may have been able to be passed on and then we may have been able to see more of a difference in the story telling. I am sure that overall, if this activity was done 500 times at schools all over the country, the results would show that there is a difference between the way white and mixed/ black students tell the story or a story similar to it. I think that white people in general feel very uncomfortable discussing racial or discriminatory situations with mixed or black people. I sometimes think they feel guilty for being white. I do not however think that it is the same if the roles are reversed. If a black or mixed person were relaying a story about a situation where a white person were discriminated against, they would not feel uncomfortable or change or sugar coat the story. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 02:00:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/why-did-the-white-students-tell-the-story-differently-than-the-mixed-or-black-students-119-blog/#IDComment143276892 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/why-did-the-white-students-tell-the-story-differently-than-the-mixed-or-black-students-119-blog/#IDComment143276787 pt1 - I did not really notice a difference in the way the story was told between the white and mixed or black students. After hearing the question and thinking back to the activity, I guess I can kind of see what he is saying. I think that if the first girl who told the story had gone into more detail about what the white student, Art, had said, it would have been more interesting to see the white student in our class relay the story to the next black student, but because she left it at “some inappropriate things were said”, that part of the story seemed to become less and less important. I noticed that the white students seemed to go into more detail in general, and were focused on different aspects of the story than the black or mixed students, but at this time I cannot remember exact examples. I do not think that anything was really sugar coated, but now I see that the basis of this question was probably the idea of the activity. At the time I could not figure out exactly what the point of it was, however, it was very entertaining. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 02:00:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/why-did-the-white-students-tell-the-story-differently-than-the-mixed-or-black-students-119-blog/#IDComment143276787 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/#IDComment141156342 I guess in a way, Tuesday’s class and the videos we watched did change my perspective a bit because my thoughts were always “Why do they hate us when we are only over there trying to help them??” But now, unfortunately, I see and understand. The video of the men in the Hum Vee running the pick up truck off of the road disturbed me the most for some reason. Even though the other video of the soldiers completely destroying the cab driver’s car was very upsetting, they at least kind of had a reason, at least one that would validate their actions for themselves. But running the truck off of the road for no reason at all and laughing about it really bothered me. The fact that they video recorded it happening, and all laughed hardily over it was the most disturbing. If we are truly over there to help those people, bullying them is no way to do it. I know it is ignorant, but I prefer to not even think about what is going on overseas because it scares me. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 03:29:51 +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/#IDComment141156342 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/#IDComment141156328 In my freshman English class we watched Al Quida propaganda videos and it was very difficult, almost too hard to watch. To see the lies and images that they put into people’s minds is sickening. I understand the other point of view though. Even though we are there to help them and most soldiers are there for just that, the few that make mistakes by acting rude, violent, and unacceptable to Iraqis are giving all Americans a bad name. But that is the same exact case as Americans not trusting and hating all Muslins, or even people that they assume are Muslim, because of terrorists who happen to be Middle Eastern. It is hard to watch videos of Americans mistreating Iraqis because not only do I not like to see people being abused or harassed at all, but I also cannot stand the thought of what that is doing to their opinion of our entire country. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 03:29:46 +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/#IDComment141156328 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/#IDComment141156291 I have never really been completely pro war, but cannot be completely against it either when I know I do not know hardly anything about it. I do not feel right have such strong feelings about something I am uneducated on and do not fully understand. I know that the war is not against Middle Easterners or Muslims, but on terrorists, which I agree with. The terrorists are the ones who hate us, attacked us, and are turning others against us. After seeing the videos, I can completely understand why people over there feel the way they do about us Americans. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 03:29:33 +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/#IDComment141156291 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137564147 p3 - I told them how rude it was and that he heard, but they continued to laugh and said “who cares”. In this situation, unlike the first, I feel like it was very, very wrong because the word was said in a manner that was to be taken offensively. I cannot stand that. But overall, I think that in order for a word to go away, it must not be used so freely in society, while on the other hand, by saying it all the time in a light, non-offensive way, we could take away its harsh meaning Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:25:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137564147 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137564098 p2 - I do not think it is appropriate that my friend uses the word so freely and I have said this to her many times, but I think actually being in the situation where someone was hurt by it made her really realize how wrong it really is. At the same time though, I do not fully blame her for the use of the word. I think that the fact that so many prevalent black men in the music industry use the word all the time makes everyone in society think it is okay as well. While some people are not offended in the least bit, others, like the kid in my situation, take it very harshly. Another situation I have been in was at a Mexican restaurant at home, and after ordering a beer, my friend called the waiter “ese”, which is basically like calling someone the N word when you are not Hispanic. The waiter heard him and turned around right as my two friends were laughing and high fiving over the matter. I was so extremely embarrassed for their ignorance and felt really bad for the man. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:24:49 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137564098 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137564021 p1 - I have never been involved in an actual situation where someone called someone else by a racial or homophobic slur being serious. However, one night at my apartment, my friend yelled the N word, just being silly and one of the boys in the living room was apparently half black. He was so offended by what she had said, was cursing under his breath, would not look at her, and would not tell anyone what was wrong for the longest time. After a while, he calmed down and told us why he was so angry and offended. She felt horrible and apologized, but he would not accept. I had asked the boy a few weeks earlier what his ethnicity was, just out of curiosity and he was offended and told me that it was such a rude and irrelevant question. In this situation, I feel like he completely overreacted. It is not that I feel that it was his fault that no one really knew he was black, because I know that that word should not just be thrown around, but I think that when someone says it, not directly towards a person, with no intention of offending anyone, and then apologizes, that should be the end of it. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:24:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137564021 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135951054 p3 - . A different time I brought a friend of mine who is gay, and I was afraid my Grandma was going to say or ask inappropriate things, but she loved him and they talked all through lunch. I know this is getting off topic, but when I think of diversity at Penn State I just think about how much it has changed my ideas about the world, and how sheltered I truly was and did not realize. My younger brother and his friends use horrible racial slurs like its no big deal because they do not even understand what they are saying. I just feel like if they world was exposed to everyone and learned more about each other racism would slowly disappear. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 01:21:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135951054 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135950997 p2 - Almost my entire floor was black girls, and I learned a lot of things that they were shocked I did not know about like weaves, the difference between corn rows and dreads, the term “ashy”, etc. but I never had a reason to know about them or a way of finding out. I also never really thought about the fact that not all black people are African American and I thought it was interesting that my friend could tell if a person was Dominican, or Haitian, or Jamaican just by their appearance. I never thought of myself as being racist or ignorant, but that was because I was not aware of all that I did not know. Being exposed to so much diversity so quickly freshman year really opened my eyes and helped me become a more educated and aware person. I think my parents are the same way, just because they are not exposed to it. They came to town for my mom’s birthday and I brought my Haitian friend and they were kind of surprised at first. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 01:20:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135950997 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135950916 p1 - think that the diversity is interesting at Penn State because it seems to be different at different campuses. I went to Penn State Altoona freshman and sophomore years and I felt like it was very diverse. That might be because I am from a 100% white town and am not used to any diversity, but I think that there are a lot of black and Hispanic students in Altoona. After coming here I noticed that there are not as many black students, but many more Asian students. There were barely any Asians in Altoona though. I am not sure if different racial groups are more prone to go to certain campuses or if it just happens to be that way. Diversity had nothing to do with why I chose Penn State, although I think it was very good for me to be exposed to it. At first I was a little shocked by it because I was not used to it at all. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 01:20:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135950916 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/#IDComment130756994 part 3-. In Tammy’s situation though, I do not think she had “too many kids” in her opinion, because she came from a ridiculously large family of 22 kids. I cannot even imagine how it is possible to take care of 24 people total. I do not understand how they all even lived under one roof. Once again though, we never heard the details, so who knows what their actual living situation was. I think overall, making it easier for every one to have access to birth control and having every one become more understanding of others’ situations would help solve this problem of people judging others before they even know their story. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 03:46:39 +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/#IDComment130756994 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/#IDComment130756951 part 2 - I think overall, family size is one of the biggest issues for low income families, and something should definitely be done about it. I do not see it as them being selfish, but rather ill-informed and unequipped. Most gynecologist appointments are covered by health insurance (which someone of low income most likely does not have) where you get a prescription for birth control (which someone of low income most likely could not afford). If these things were more easily accessible to anyone, the birth rate amongst people who are not financially prepared and able to care and provide for so many children would go down. I think shows like “17 and Counting” glorify the situation, but in all reality, the only way that family is so well off is because of the pay checks from TLC. They make it seem alright for others to have such large families, when it really just puts a strain on the family’s finances and the country’s welfare – though I will admit that I do not know much about the welfare system, and I am in no way qualified to make statements regarding. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 03:46:20 +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/#IDComment130756951 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/#IDComment130756892 I do not think it is fair or right to call anyone you do not know personally selfish because I feel like there are many circumstances and situations that every one goes through individually that no one can fully understand. I think in the case of people in poverty having many children without the income to support them, it is easiest for outsiders to simply say, “it is their own fault for having so many kids”, when in reality, they probably did not intend on having that many children. Whether it is a lack of sexual education, or simply the lack of funds for birth control, there are many circumstances that would cause unwanted pregnancies. All moral issues aside, abortions cost money. Obviously someone with low income is not going to have the money for an abortion, but does not consider that they definitely will not have the money to then raise the child. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 03:45:56 +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/#IDComment130756892 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-does-the-statement-in-the-video-from-class-make-you-feel-119-blog/#IDComment128718230 p.3 - The topic is so brushed under the rug, no one knows about any of this, so how can they feel bad for doing something wrong when they do not even fully understand it? I think that the CEOs or whoever makes the decisions for these large corporations are the ones who should feel horrible. I do not know how they sleep at night knowing how they earn their paychecks. And the slave “masters” or whatever they are called, I understand that they too are just trying to get by, but I do not care how primitive your culture is, or how desperate you are to make a buck, you have to know in your heart that what you are doing is wrong. I think I just covered about 3 of the topics in all of this, but as I said, today’s class was very eye opening and gave me a lot to think about. Fri, 18 Feb 2011 02:53:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-does-the-statement-in-the-video-from-class-make-you-feel-119-blog/#IDComment128718230