I wouldn’t say that SOC119 has changed my life, but I would definitely say it has allowed me to see the world in new ways. In some aspects I have realized that the world is not as bad as we make it out to be, but in other aspects I have realized that it is worse than what it appears. Many underlying issues are hidden in this world, but other issues are blown out of proportion. Several of these issues involve race relations, which I had not fully considered before listening to Sam throughout the semester.

Before SOC119, I was just living in my perfect, color-free world. I didn’t see the need to discriminate against other races or even notice a difference in race, for that matter. Now, however, I realize that avoiding race is not the best way to go about life. There are times when race matters and is appropriate to discuss, and I do not necessarily need to be politically correct in these situations. In high school I had a teacher that would say it should not be an insult to call someone fat, because if they’re fat, they know it. I feel like Sam would feel the same way about races. If someone is black, white, Asian, Latino, what have you, they are fully aware of it, so why hold back? This is not to say that stereotyping or using the race to insult someone is appropriate, but that referring to people as their “color” should not be an issue. I had also never considered being white a privilege, but now it is hard to believe that I never opened my eyes to it.

Another main theme throughout the course was ethnocentrism, which I also had not considered before Sam introduced me to the term. Before this class, I never thought that another country would look at Americans as strange for doing things we commonly do. To us, things such as the Easter bunny are completely normal, but other countries are utterly confused how we connect a bunny to Jesus. Other countries also do things that are normal to them but would be odd to us, such as drinking pig’s milk. Cultures are different throughout the world, but at the same time, all people have so much in common. There are values people have, things people do, and ways people act that can be seen no matter where you are in the world. We are all surprisingly similar, which I had not considered too much previously. Empathy. Empathy is essential.

SOC119 has not necessarily changed my views on issues, but it has opened my eyes to the way the world works. This class was a wake-up call to what the world really looks like, and I am thankful Sam was able to share all of this valuable information with us so we could stop living a lie.

The question about child abductions popped up on the screen, and my first thought was just like that of many people in the classroom – it has to be a large number. We live in the 21st century where it appears that the world is violent and unsafe, but could this be a mirage created from fear? Looking at the question and knowing how Sam, or society in general, usually tries to trick us by making the correct answer the least expected, I went with the largest number of the choices, thinking that in reality it had to be somewhere in the middle but the extreme answer is always the right answer. What I did not expect, however, is that the opposite extreme would be correct. Only one hundred child abductions by strangers occur each year in the United States. I was shocked, and so were those around me.

As a child, I lived in fear of something bad, such as being abducted, happening to me. I suffered through many sleepless nights because I thought that I would be abducted, someone was going to rob my house, or my house would catch on fire while I was sleeping. I was always afraid that a stranger would somehow end up in my room, take me away, and I’d never get to see my family again. On Thursday when Sam revealed the truth about child abductions I realized for the first time how irrational that fear was. Never before did I think my fear was completely illogical, but as he showed that only one hundred child abductions occur each year in the United States, I thought, “Wow, I was so stupid.”

You always see on the news all these stories of abductions. It seems like such a common occurrence. You go in Walmart and see the posters of missing children on the back wall; people just hoping someone will see it and have information as to where their beloved child is. Because of publicity of abductions and the warped manners of the media, abductions seem entirely more common than they actually are. I always thought that as an adult with children, I would never let them walk to school because I would fear that something bad would happen. Now realizing that child abductions are not as common as they seem and the world is not as terrible as society makes it out to be, I will no longer live in fear. I will live my life, as well as let my future children live their lives, fearless of society. This is not to say that I will never worry if something goes wrong, but that I will not let irrational fear take over me. So, the take-away message: Live your life, fearlessly.

No Clothes, No Self-Respect?

It is amazing how the world differs. Here we are in the United States wearing bikinis at the beach in the summer, while other women in the Middle East are ensuring every portion of their body is covered no matter what the thermostat says. And when I say we, I guess I mean Christians or anyone who is not practicing Islam. We do not have modesty in mind, while Muslim women never let it leave their mind. Religion is obviously a key factor as to why Muslim women make the decision to wear hijabs and cover their bodies, but is it the main reason? Could Middle Eastern women just have more respect for themselves than American women? And what about Muslims in the United States?

People look at nearly naked women and assume that they do not have self-respect. It is assumed that if you reveal your body, something that is supposed to be personal, that you do not have respect for it. The human body is seen as a beautiful thing, and more traditional people, especially older generations or people of cultures, believe that it is not public art. Young people of America today dress much more revealing than generations have in the past, and it has come to be expected and accepted. Sometimes this can be taken as a sign of low self-esteem, lack of self-respect, or even permission to sexually pursue. At a frat house at Penn State, the girl who is barely clothed will get in and most likely be seen as bait. Because she dresses as if she is very open about her physical appearance, men take this as an invitation to take her upstairs. Guys look at a “slutty” girl and think that if she does not have self-respect to dress appropriately, then she probably won’t have enough self-respect to say no to getting physical.

But why is a woman dressed in anything less than a pants suit seen as not having self-respect? It is very possible that women who appear to be dressing “slutty” appreciate the human body just as those who completely cover it, but they show it in a different way. Self-respect and self-esteem usually go hand in hand , and a woman who has enough confidence and self-esteem to wear an outfit in question should not be considered to have no self-respect. This is especially related to bathing suits. Women work out, eat right, and stay fit so that they are happy with their bodies when it comes time for summer and beach season. This is not because they lack self-respect, but rather that they care about themselves and put hard work into being healthy.

We should not see women from the Middle East as lacking self-respect, and they should not see us Americans in this way. Ethnocentrism has more power than I ever realized. We think they are strange for walking around in the beating sun with a head covering, but they think we are strange for walking around in two pieces of fabric. It’s weird how the world works, isn’t it?

Regardless of race, I think it is sad what this world has come to. Drugs have become such a big problem that they are entering schools at extreme levels and forcing lockdowns to happen to protect students’ safety and identify the drug handlers. It is extremely unfortunate that we have to take these measures in the first place. Schools are supposed to be a place for learning and growth, not drug deals in the bathroom to make a little extra cash. The youth of our nation, of all races, seems to be on a severe decline, and it is an issue that needs to be handled before it becomes out of control.

And this is why we have school security in the first place, to handle the situation. The security checks when entering the building of some schools as well lockdowns in which dogs sniff out drugs is what we have come to to attempt to keep schools as the safe learning environments they are supposed to be. Because strict security and lockdowns are more common in inner city schools than the richer, county schools, the race question comes into play. More ethnic minorities and people of color live in the inner city than in the suburbs, so if drug security is enforced more in the city, is that because it is expected that people of color are more likely to possess drugs?

My high school in the small suburban town of Nazareth, Pennsylvania had dogs come through to sniff out drugs every so often, but we did not have security when entering the building. My school was predominantly white, probably 99.9%, and I know that many white kids in my school were “druggies.” Just a few minutes down the highway from my small town are the larger cities of Easton, Allentown, and Bethlehem. These schools had a much more diverse student body, and also had stricter drug enforcement policies. But, is it because of race?

I think part of the reason that drug law reinforcement is stronger in cities is simply because of the location. More horrific events tend to happen in the cities as opposed to the suburbs, so going off of this knowledge the schools try to prevent danger from entering their property. I feel like a huge part of current drug security would have to do with drug issues that the school has had in the past. If a school has faced a lot of issues with drugs, then they are more likely to enforce security as opposed to a school that has not been known to have major drug problems. However, this is me being my naïve self and hoping that the world is not as racist as it sometimes appears. It is very much possible that more measures of security are taken in inner city schools simply because more people of color go there, and that is the sad truth.

My entire life until moving to State College to attend Penn State University was spent in and around the small, middle-class town of Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Located in the eastern part of the state about an hour from Philadelphia, it is exactly what you picture when you hear “small town.” The cliché everyone knows everyone and their business is very much an accurate depiction of my hometown. It’s the kind of town where if you grow up there, you pretty much stay there your entire life, raising your family there and continuing the never-ending cycle. With all of this in mind, I’m sure you can already tell my town was nowhere near diverse. We had about three black kids in our entire school of almost 2,000 students, which is clearly not a large portion of the student body. Aside from vacations to the Caribbean and large cities, I lived a very sheltered life. I saw white people, interacted with white people, and really only knew white people.

Coming to Penn State was quite the experience for me. Seeing many people of various racial and ethnic backgrounds was all new to me. Yes, I had seen people of color before, but never did I get to live with them, learn with them, and interact with them so often. The difference of being at Penn State was that now, it became erroneous to refer to people of color as “them.” At home since black people were so rare, so to speak, it was more of an “us and them” feeling. Here, however, I feel that the “them” has become a part of the “us.” I was surprised to find out from SOC119 that Penn State is actually not diverse at all, rather it is predominantly white. I guess to me seeing a few thousand people of color walking around was a lot, but to people who are accustomed to diversity, Penn State was a step back.

I feel like before graduating from high school and becoming a college student at this university I would have been in level one, maybe two. Although I knew race existed, I gave it pretty much no thought whatsoever; I just didn’t see the point in noting a difference. Sure, there was certainly an obvious physical difference between black and white people, but I saw no point in thinking about, discussing it, or facing it. Penn State, especially Sam’s teachings in SOC119, definitely advanced my development of my white identity. I would say that becoming a Penn State student, just from going from an all white community to a population that is diverse in my eyes, has advanced me to level three. I am now fully aware of racial differences and inequality, white privilege, and racism. I now become angry when I hear racist jokes, where previously I would pretend not to hear them. Just because I didn’t go through the stages based on specific experiences, I feel that simply being open-minded when placed in a diverse community has advanced me to stage three and forced me to become more aware of my white skin.

It is safe to say that upon seeing the videos of American soldiers intentionally harming innocent Iraqi civilians, I was completely shocked. What is perhaps even more shocking is that we only saw a couple of these videos, and I’m sure there are many more out there. Even more shocking than that is the fact that these videos were put online, meaning the recorder of the video was proud of it and wanted to share it with others. That is disgusting, repulsive, and shameful.

As an American citizen with pride in this country, it is hard for me to believe American people are harming innocent people so willingly. It reminds me of seeing photos from Abu Ghraib last semester in my human rights course, which was also very disturbing. Americans are torturing others and smiling in photos with their victims, posing with a thumbs up. Did they really think what they did deserves positive recognition? That is quite possibly even more disturbing than the actions themselves, just knowing that the Americans were proud of what they did. Why are we proud of hurting people who have done nothing to us?

The video of the soldier basically torturing the man who stole wood was very emotional for me to watch. I empathized with that man. I thought about what I would do if I were in his situation, needing a way to help my family. I came to the realization that I would basically do anything, even if it were against the law or morally wrong, in order to help family or friends. I am sure that the soldier would have done the same if he were that poor Iraqi. But instead, the soldier put his military duty above his moral duty, and gave command for the tank to smash the man’s car. We then found out that that car was the man’s income as a taxi driver, so the soldier destroyed the man’s life even more than anticipated. Yes, he was just doing his job, but there comes a time when you need to let your heart have command over your head.

The video of the tank running the Iraqi truck off the road was also very emotional. The difference this time was that the innocent Iraqi driver did absolutely no wrong. The Americans thought he was going too slow, so they bumped him right off the road, probably damaging the Iraqi’s car and him. Are Americans that power hungry that we need to illustrate our illusory power to everyone else for no reason? We are like bullies. We need to put down others to make ourselves feel better. I am still proud to be an American, but seeing how our soldiers treat civilians definitely did not increase my pride.

I would just like to start off by saying something that cannot be ignored; there is something about Sam standing in his kitchen with a knife that’s just plain eerie. He’s absolutely right when he says no one else can really do what he does every day because they would be challenged. I would never challenge Sam with a knife.

Anyway, what has really intrigued me most so far about this course is learning things that the average person does not know. Sam’s teachings basically defy all stereotypes and prove that the world is really not how we imagine it to be. I have learned so many interesting, thought provoking things in this course that have made me realize I’ve basically been ignorant my entire life. What I have found most interesting is that what we think is our heritage is generally not even the half of it. I never would have guessed that Italians generally have African ancestry or that African Americans who say they are Native American are probably wrong. These are things that never would have crossed my mind if it weren’t for this class.

I love that this course exists. Talking about race relations is not an everyday opportunity, clearly as we have learned in class. It is so fascinating to learn why race is actually not commonly discussed. The most relevant topics are the most interesting topics. I personally tended to avoid race, but never realized why. I have now thought about why that was, and I guess I was scared. You never know how people will react or where the line should be drawn. Sam has opened my eyes to see that race does not need to be avoided. Like he says, it isn’t going away so we might as well get comfortable with it.

The immigration classes were also very interesting. There were many factors that went into immigration that I was completely unaware of. I always heard people complain and debate about immigration, but was never knowledgeable enough to chime in. Sam has given me the tools to be able to engage in a discussion about immigration now, and I will be able to do so with the facts.

The classes that I found to be the most interesting were the ones in which there was action. I love when Sam puts people on the spot, as long as I’m not that person, and makes them classify races, choose the most handsome Korean, pick out the darkest person in the room, and things of that nature. These are the classes that reward me for coming. Clicker questions are also always very interesting. I love seeing what my classmates are thinking on issues; it is an experience you do not get very often. Overall, the class is very fascinating, and I cannot wait to learn more things I thought I knew but didn’t.

You are the head of a sales company who is hiring a new salesman or woman to market and sell a product. There are two applicants who you are really debating between hiring. The first applicant is a young white woman about five feet, eight inches tall with flowing blonde hair and head-turning blue eyes who got her Bachelor’s in marketing at Bloomsburg and graduated with a 2.8 GPA. The second applicant is a Latino middle-aged man who graduated from Penn State with a 3.75 GPA and has years of work experiences in sales, leadership, and dealing with people. Who do you choose? Upon looking at the facts written down on paper, most people would say that they would hire the middle-aged man with a lot of work experience. However, actions speak louder than words, and in reality the less intelligent and less experienced woman would be hired. Why? Because she is white and attractive.

The sad truth is that beauty really does have major advantages in this world that go beyond getting free drinks at the bar, especially white beauty. The mix of fair skin and an attractive body to go with it is essentially a deadly combination, or at least career killing for those less blessed in the looks department. Companies do not want to hire unattractive people- beauty sells. Think about it. A 45 year old Latino man whose hair is beginning to gray comes to your door and tries to sell you something - what do you do? Most people, if actually deciding to open the door, would listen to the man for a bit, then say “I’m sorry but I’m not interested,” and close the door in his face. Now, picture the next scenario. A young white woman fresh out of college comes to your door looking professional, but yet beautiful - what do you do? Well, if you’re a guy, you stand there and let her say whatever she has to say, making the conversation last as long as possible. Heck, it’s not often a gorgeous girl comes knocking at your door. And, more times than not, you are also going to buy the product. It doesn’t matter what the product is or how much it costs; you are paying for the beauty of the woman looking back at you.

Although this sounds extremely unfair, it is absolutely true and undeniable. The fact that in Korea your job application must include a picture interests me, but does not surprise me. When it boils down to it, people are hired based on looks. How you present yourself makes a big difference in any aspect of life. Bosses look for workers who will fit in with the “look” of their company. We live in a shallow world, and I don’t think we’ll ever find the deep end.

You see a black man and a white woman walking down the street together, holding hands. What is your first thought? What comes to your mind? Although interracial marriage is on the rise and is becoming more socially acceptable in the 21st century, there are still people whose first thought is a negative one, to say the least. There is just something about seeing people of different races in a romantic relationship together that irritates people in one way or another. Is it the way they were raised? Is it just a thought that comes to mind without conscious reason? What makes people so uncomfortable about seeing people of a different race in love?

Personally, I think it is amazing when people of different races join in love and disregard what society says. And they should disregard what everyone says, because their words are ignorant. How can anyone be cruel enough to deny two people love? Like the well-known proverb says, love is blind. People really do not have control over who their heart tells them to be with. Keeping this in mind, if someone naturally falls for an individual of a different race, how can you deny them that happiness? Especially as a friend or family member of a person in an interracial relationship, when you see that smile on your loved one’s face, how could you ever treat the relationship with disdain?

The problem is that people like what they know and are familiar with. Someone who looks different than what you are used to could make you feel uncomfortable. You don’t know what that person’s background is like; you only know what you have heard about a race or culture – stereotypes. This is why disapproval occurs. People believe stereotypes of groups before they get to know the individual of that group. Stereotypes form when people of a background different from their own are observed doing something in the masses that is out of the ordinary to them. However, these observations are usually false and cannot be representative of each individual of a specific race or culture. All races are made of individual people, regardless of their similar physical appearance, and this is what slips the mind of a parent when their son or daughter brings home someone who does not appear to “fit in” with the family.

I think the rise of interracial marriage really proves that our nation is making progress in doing away with racism. Although there are still those that do not approve of interracial couples, some of these people even being those who have dealt with it in their own families, the majority of our society is becoming more open-minded. Our generation has the potential to take down racism; not completely, obviously, but a large margin. With the rise of interracial marriage comes the decline of interracial disapproval, and this is something truly remarkable based on our strong history of racism.

I definitely think people who appear to be white or identify as white avoid race. They, or I should say we, feel uncomfortable in situations where race is presented. Racism has been such a large problem in this world, and it is one that has never gone away. Because of this, white people, who are said to be the superior race, try to refrain from publicly seeming racist. In the 21st century we are supposed to be more accepting of a diverse community, which makes white people apprehensive at times. We feel like we need to be politically correct because we never know when someone could be offended at something that is said. Even if you are friends with people of a different race, there are times when racial jokes can be taken too far and emotionally damage the person.

If white people do avoid race, this does not mean in any way that they are racist, but also does not mean that they are not. It depends on the context of the situation. If there are two people of different races who are best friends or in a relationship, there is no need for race to come up often, because they are clearly able to see past the color of that person’s skin. This does not indicate racism by any means, but rather shows that race is not an issue. However, there could be circumstances where someone is asked about race and refuses to discuss the issue, feeling uncomfortable for whatever reason. This could potentially indicate racist feelings, but could also just be a concern for trying to remain politically correct. Both situations are common and occur often.

I think the biggest reason that white people avoid race is because we do not know how to go about addressing it. When I see someone with a darker complexion, I am not sure what the appropriate term would be to describe that person. Not all people who appear black are African-American, but most people accept African-American as the politically correct term. Is black an acceptable term for someone with a dark complexion? We use it in class often, but I am not sure if that is just in context. I have never been positive of what the acceptable term actually would be. I feel like whites also avoid discussing race because we do not know where the line is drawn. We feel as if something we say could easily be taken the wrong way and hurt somebody. Basically, we are just completely unaware of what is acceptable in these situations. As a white person, I can relate to whites avoiding the race topic. We just never know when we can play the race card without busting.