I was initially surprised when I learned that only 100 children are kidnapped each year. With statistics about crime thrown around all the time, it is easy to only see the negative reports and become cynical or fearful. More surprising to me was the statistic that barely anybody walks to school now. I have always seen the world as a relatively safe place, but I know plenty of people who are fearful of something bad happening to them whenever they go out. The biggest influence towards fear today is definitely the media as well as how people react to uncertain situations. I think that fear increasing even as the world becomes safer is a clear sign that peoples general attitudes have changed how they perceive the world. Unfortunately, the media focuses on negative news stories because that is what attracts viewers and ratings. Even with the low number of kidnappings that actually happen each year, every now and then a big story comes up in the news and turns into a huge national story. While it is important for negative news stories to keep people aware of what could happen, there is definitely too much focus and emphasis on how a terrible, but isolated story appears to be widespread problem.
People tend to fear what they don’t know, and situations such as a child who could potentially be kidnapped or the likelihood of being attacked scares most people, regardless of what the actual odds are. Not knowing a situation, along with primarily hearing about the extreme crimes that occur in the news can make it easy to live in fear. This ties into race, with situations like fear of certain neighborhoods in cities or people avoiding certain groups. In our discussion, we had a black student mention a woman rolling up her windows when he walked by in the middle of the day, surrounded by people on a busy street. This shows that people can easily think irrationally when they are living in a state of fear, making it hard to step back and actually think about why they are afraid. This also hurts race relations because people like the woman who rolled up her windows are not very likely to stop and think about why they take certain actions. Instead of actually thinking about why they are afraid, they just stereotype so they don’t have to actually think about the situation.
Overall, people should definitely have more faith in each other. Sure, there are bad people out there that do terrible things, but you don’t usually hear the positive stories as much as the negative ones. The few bad people and situations are always going to be around. Most importantly, people should try harder to actually look at a situation instead of letting other people tell us what to be afraid of.

I think this class was very informative and beneficial. In a way, it ties together every other concept that we have learned in class. Ethnocentrism is the basis for how we view other cultures and one of the underlying reasons behind misunderstandings that turn into racism. Every culture has different norms and traditions that have some basis in their history and beliefs. If you look across different cultures, many of the specific traditions are different but there are similarities everywhere we go. The video of the Sudanese people watching Americans shows how a basic daily routine or habit can be completely different to people from other cultures. Knowing what foods to eat or how to use a trash can are second nature to us, but it is easy to forget that many people in the world live a completely different day-to-day style of life than we do.
I also took soc 100 here, and one article on ethnocentrism that stuck out was presented as a scientific study on the “Nacerima tribe”. The author acted like a scientific observer, finding things such as a dentist and toothbrush strange. The presentation of the article made the culture sound extremely different from anything we know, until the end reveals Nacerima really means American. It really goes to show that how you approach your view of another culture can make a huge difference in how you interpret their actions and beliefs. Calling something weird just because it seems different is often wrong, since many people act similarly even if they seem very different from us.
I think the biggest problem with ethnocentrism is that it is difficult to understand the concept of other cultures if you haven’t actually spent time in one. Taking classes, reading articles, and watching videos all help, but until someone actually spends a decent amount of time in a culture different from their own they can’t fully appreciate the scope of our differences and how one “normal” is another’s “weird”. When I spent time in Europe, which is culturally more similar to America but still leagues away from many other cultures, I learned to not only look at what influences other cultures but also what influences my own. Before this experience, I always compared anything different to what I knew from my culture around me. This was ethnocentrism almost perfectly by definition, since I really had no idea of what else was out there. Sure, I knew what other cultures were and had an idea that there are differences, but being there also makes you look at your own culture. Once you actually do something differently, even as simple as dining etiquette, you are put into a position where you compare the differences and think why they are different. I think everybody should take the chance to experience other cultures, not only to learn about others but also themselves.

While I can understand how people with accents (of any race or background) can sound funny, the way the video of the USC students was presented was offensive and out of line. USC and California have a large Asian population, and they were definitely targeted for the purpose of being made fun of. With differences such as ac cents, everyone should be able to laugh off something like saying a certain word differently, since it can often result in a funny situation or harmless misunderstanding. However, in the video, one specific group was singled out for the seemingly sole purpose of perpetuating a stereotype. I don’t have any statistics, but I am sure that with a large Asian population there are bound to be plenty of Asian Americans without accents that they interviewed. Instead, the ones with accents were targeted and asked to pronounce words that would bring out their accents even more. The people who filmed and edited the video basically took something that is funny occasionally and took it to an extreme, making it offensive.

Bringing up the question asked about other cultures being made fun of, I think the same points I mentioned earlier apply. If the video was of people singling out and making fun of Americans in some other country, it would show the same idea of people going out with the sole purpose of making people fit into a stereotype.

I am born American with English as my first language and have travelled my whole life. With family in Europe, I have gotten to the point where I can speak French and at least get by on my own with Spanish and German. Every time that I go to Europe, my American accent instantly sticks out. I have never been singled out and made fun of (that I know of, I doubt the people in the video know they were being made fun of) but it is definitely something that comes up. I know I have an accent and probably always will, but that is just part of who I am. While an American accent can seem funny to Europeans, I am sure it would cause just as much controversy if someone decided to make a video singling out and making fun of Americans, in Europe or in any part of the world. One thing I’ve found interesting is the recent increase in Middle Eastern and African populations in Europe. It is mostly in France, but happening all over Western Europe. There is definitely a sense of animosity towards immigrants, especially in the cities. In my opinion, the segregation and economic differences are big reasons as well as how fast it is happening. I have seen a few situations where someone was made fun of for having a heavy African accent, but not to their face, and unfortunately discrimination still exists across the whole world.

Watching the videos of American soldier’s abusing their power to torment Iraqi citizens didn’t surprise me, but did open my eyes up to how bad situations can get during a war. The first video showing soldiers who ran over an Iraqi’s car is a perfect example of abuse of power by taking the advantage of an unstable area and putting the law in their own hands. Unfortunately, when a country is at war and sends over as many troops as America did it is inevitable that some bad people are going to take advantage of others during the chaos and instability. The video with the Humvee knocking a truck off the road shows the same behavior, which also represents individual actions and not the entire United States. Imagining myself on both sides of the first video shows a dilemma without a complete solution. The man was stealing during the middle of a war, which makes the soldiers even more cautious in how they deal with him. They didn’t initially know with absolute certainty if he was a civilian or militant, and seeing someone commit a crime during the hectic period at the beginning of the Iraq war is stressful due to them both entering a combat zone and not knowing if he was a risk or not. In hindsight, a man stealing wood is definitely not worthy of having his car crushed. Without condoning the soldier’s actions, and especially their attitudes as they destroyed the car, there was definitely a reason to do something about the theft but the soldiers did go too far.

Having the 3 American Iraq veterans in class helped clear up how the situation really was without focusing too much on one issue. War is always going to cause violence and chaos, but the details I hear from people with experience are always different from what is presented in the news. Soldiers are willing to tell stories about helping someone out along with other positive aspects of their time in Iraq. However, the news loves to focus on extreme stories that seem more focused on accomplishing someone’s goal than showing people how the situation really is. This leads to misunderstanding between countries and cultures, with misconceptions such as people assuming most Iraqis dislike America even though that isn’t the case. Unfortunately, most of the people who have an interest in how the war turns out (Defense and energy industry, politicians) don’t have as much interest in the truth or helping people understand each other. This conflict of interest, along with a lack of understanding among most of the public leads to misconceptions and misunderstandings which turn into stereotypes and personal attacks against groups without any legitimate reason to dislike one another. The mentality of “us” and “them” instead of recognizing groups as a collection of individual people also leads to stereotyping and assuming one person acts a certain way just because they identify with a group such as being Iraqi. It is important for people to understand why people are telling them what to think if they truly want to understand what is going on.

I have never experienced or heard of a wet dog smell before now, but considering that everyone has their own natural smell and a distinct sense of smell, I can understand how some people “smell different” and “smell differently”. Given the other general differences we have already gone over in class (skin color, body type, hair type), it makes sense that different races can have different types of scents. I don’t have the greatest sense of smell, but I have definitely noticed that people of different races do have a unique smell that often isn’t noticed for another race. I don’t know exactly what causes it, whether it be different pores and sweat glands, choice of diet, or what cleaning products we decide to use.
I still don’t understand how white people smell like a wet dog, which seems like such a specific and nasty smell for every white person to have when they get white. One thing I would find interesting is whether white people smell like wet dog exclusively to black people, or if it also applies to Asians, Native Americans, Middle Easterners, Indians, etc. Then again, some people just smell bad all the time and could be fueling a generalization for all white people. Another possibility is that something different / unique could have a greater impact on the senses since the body isn’t so used to it that it is ignored. I am surrounded by white people most of the time and never notice a wet dog smell, but whenever I notice a smell that I am not used to, it sticks out and I remember it (this doesn’t necessarily have to be another person, but it could be in this case).
One alternate version of this generalization that I am familiar with is Indians having a curry scent. I lived with an Indian roommate this summer and in my case it was definitely there. He did eat lots of spicy foods, which is popular among Indians, so it is impossible to say if his smell was based on just his natural scent, diet, or a combination of both. However, I did notice that while Indians smelling like curry seems to be a popular stereotype (at least from what I have seen) and I have never heard the wet dog theory before this class. Not knowing about it could be a result of a communication gap between races, similar to how white people are taught to avoid talking about race. Even minor things such as how people smell when wet are never brought up because while it really isn’t a big deal (at least to me), I’m sure people out there are afraid of someone taking offense for pointing out a simple observation, since people don’t choose what they smell. I would probably get mad if someone randomly told me I smell like a wet dog, but I am also surprised I have never heard this seemingly popular theory even come up in a general conversation before now.

I personally find it hard to imagine, yet completely believable that employers screening resumes can completely disqualify someone just based on their name. With two equally qualified people, it is completely unfair that one would be ignored just because the employer thought they might end up working with someone of a different race. Corporate culture plays a big role in this, with employers afraid to change the status quo and work with a diverse group of people. As a white male, I most likely won’t have to worry about this, however, most people and I have definitely already been in situations where race has had a major impact on my life. Name alone is hardly an indicator of potential, even though it is actually used to screen people. The person applying doesn’t even get the chance to prove himself or herself in person. They may take care of their appearance better, be more articulate, or hold a better conversation and nobody would ever know just because of an assumption.
While the results do show in the numbers (percent of applicants getting callbacks), this form of discrimination seems hard to prove. With so many factors deciding which resumes are selected for interviews, an employer could subconsciously discriminate based on a persons name and not even realize that they did it. Affirmative action sounds like a good idea, but it seems to have resulted more in quotas and trying to build around pre-determined amounts of each ethnicity, which is still essentially making race a factor in deciding who is accepted into a job or university. Even if there were a way to remove race from the resume screening process, an employer will still find out a persons race by the time they interview them. People discriminating with resumes are definitely more likely to discriminate during interviews as well. The person applying for a job would have an extra chance to prove himself or herself in person, but names and appearances will still factor into the hiring or acceptance decision. Another potential factor in minority resumes being followed up less often is networking. While resumes being ignored simply by name probably happens, whites have an advantage with networking simply based on upbringing and cultural factors. Whites do control much of this country’s wealth and positions of power, and people often associate and socialize with their own kind. This results in a sort of “bubble” where whites are more likely to know someone in a management position to some degree just because of their upbringing. They get special opportunities based on whom they know, while minorities, poorer on average, are less likely to know someone who makes hiring decisions. This trend seems to be changing, but very slowly and without much of an impact on the final result of discrimination.

I don’t consider myself an atheist, but I am not a creationist either. The funny thing about this argument is that you can debate about it forever and still not know the answer. Religion is based solely on faith and modern science is far from the point of telling us the answers of the universe, essentially making our views a “best guess” based on our upbringing, personal beliefs, and how we choose to view both sides of the debate on religion. I was born as a Christian from Christian parents and confirmed as a Lutheran but I haven’t read the whole Bible or studied religion much past my confirmation. One thing I have noticed regarding religion and creationism is the wildly varying support for any given statement. Some claim stories such as Noah’s Ark and Adam and Eve should be interpreted literally since God has the ability to cause any supernatural event like cloning people and causing massive floods. Others incorporate modern science into the Bible by saying the different books and stories are meant to be interpreted figuratively, which makes sense except for the Bible being written thousands of years ago before modern science challenged the Bible’s validity. There are multiple monotheistic religions that promise an afterlife or good fortune for having faith or living by a certain moral code. Assuming any random one is correct, does that mean a person who was born and died in an area where they never had a chance to know or accept that god and religion is doomed?
As far as creationism, I’m comfortable having no idea what actually happened. God creating the Earth in 7 days conflicts with modern science and brings the literal/figurative interpretation argument back up. I agree with most scientific theory explaining how the life was formed. Looking back, we do know that the universe eventually existed and a bunch of random “stuff” floating through space turned into planets, stars, solar systems and galaxies. Life today is the result of extremely complex evolution and change. Given that the universe has existed for at least 14 billion years, even an event with a tiny probability of happening, such as random formation of life, has a realistic chance of occurring. Molecules and energy just happen to find the right balance and fit and turn into a simple, yet living thing. Random genetic mutations may or may not have an impact on how well it copes with its environment. Over time, the random mutations that are more suited to a specific environment live and reproduce more, eventually becoming as complicated as humans.
Life on Earth isn’t the result of some higher power making a decision to create people, and there could even be other life in the universe considering just how big it is. Even with the Big Bang Theory, we never will truly know where “everything” came from. If there is a higher power, where did it come from? The concept of something coming from nothing is impossible to explain, and by the time we find the real answer we’re already dead.

With the increasing numbers of Spanish speakers immigrating into the country, there will definitely be issues that come up regarding language use. First generation immigrants are least likely to learn English, however, the data shows that second and third generation immigrants are more likely to learn English. As the question was brought up in class, Sam only proposed the two options of Americans either learning Spanish or completely sealing up the border. Both of these options are extremes that are not realistic as far as accomplishing real results in the future. English will remain the dominant language for the foreseeable future, both in America and as the global language of business. The biggest impact of the addition of Spanish-only speakers is cultural separation caused by the language barrier. This is one of the leading causes of many of the issues discussed in this class such as racism and hostility. There should be a healthy balance between English speaking Americans learning and adapting to Spanish speakers and Spanish speaking immigrants making an effort to learn the language and culture of the country they are now living in.

Being at Penn State during the Sandusky scandal has not only changed my views on a sensitive topic, but also affected the lives of the thousands of people involved. From students, administrators, those involved, and most importantly, the victims being affected, almost every new piece of news coming out is negative. Watching the media eat it up and use the misfortune of children as a way to turn this into a soap opera about Joe Paterno didn’t help. Child sexual abuse is a very serious issue, however, it is so personal that it often gets brushed over or ignored. Given the statistics, everyone should know at least one person who is a victim of childhood sexual abuse. If I hadn’t heard those statistics, I would have assumed a much lower amount simply based on what I have heard from people I know. Crimes like this will always be a personal issue, but there is a certain stigma surrounding the issue. The trauma victims experience can cause them to blame themselves and develop problems that otherwise would never have been there. The types of people who go after young children to exploit their youth and naivete are sick and deserve any punishment they get. People are often victimized by people close to them as well, leading to issues with trust and betrayal. Punishment alone isn’t enough though, since it occurs after damage has been done. We definitely need better ways to handle situations like this once they do occur in order to prevent them from happening again. I’m not sure how some of the people involved were able to look a man in the eye and do business daily knowing what happened right on campus, but there is a serious issue as far as reporting and handling alleged complaints. I think there should be a greater emphasis on the victims in cases like this instead of everyone focusing on what has been done. The vast majority of conversations I have had about this scandal centered on Joe Paterno, the firing of Paterno, and the riots. Very few people have stopped to talk about what happened to the kids and how to look forward from this. The donations made to RAINN were great and definitely made a positive impact in many lives, but the issue of awareness still hasn’t been fully addressed. This situation is a perfect example of how the grey area with reporting these issues needs to be resolved. Joe Paterno ‘technically’ reported to the campus police and did fulfill his legal obligation, but that means nothing when considering Sandusky was able to continue committing crimes on Penn State’s campus. It is good that people who know about these crimes are being held personally responsible, but there should be a more clear-cut method for reporting and handling alleged child abuse so that children don’t have to suffer the abuse itself and then bring it all back during a drawn-out, highly public trial.

I knew about the treatment of Native Americans by settlers before taking soc 119, however, Sam’s class has opened up my eyes regarding their current conditions. The most popular Native American stereotypes I have heard are alcoholism and tax-free casinos on reservations. The video in class showed how bad conditions are today, and without any significant influence in politics or business Native Americans are simply pushed onto reservations where they are out of sight and out of mind. Violence, crime, and other issues that come with poverty and societal neglect are relatively contained, making it easy for everyone to ignore.
I grew up near several former Indian reservations in Pennsylvania where we were taught mostly about Native American culture and way of life with some emphasis on how settlers pushed them out. Unfortunately, these events are history and cannot be changed. Given that invading and conquering are ingrained in human nature atrocities like this are guaranteed to happen again. America took part of Texas from Mexico in the 1800’s, and ironically, Mexicans are increasing in numbers there today. Ethnocentrism and racism always have and always will exist in societies; the best way to make a difference is to take this into account and try to minimize their impact by educating people. However, when people are forced to push their car and pawn a TV just to pay for basic necessities as a “normal days work”, there is definitely a responsibility for the government to take action and fix the problems that an entire culture is born into. Third and fourth generation Native Americans should not have to suffer from events that happened to their ancestors. They are born into their problems, and face a vicious cycle of poverty, crime, and neglect. I don’t feel that anyone today should have to officially apologize for the actions of their ancestors, but as a wealthy nation the least we can do is make an effort give Native Americans livable conditions so that their lives are determined by their own choices and decisions as opposed to the misfortune of being born onto a reservation.
The history of America and Native Americans is very important and needs to be taken into account whenever thinking about America’s current immigration situation. With illegal immigration as a hot topic in the news, people often pick sides in a debate based on misconceptions and stereotypes because it is easier than actually stopping and thinking about why we feel the way we do. Discrimination and hate against Mexican undocumented immigrants is rampant, with something as simple as “press 2 for Spanish” on the phone igniting people against an entire race. Based on the economics of illegal immigration and high amount currently living in America, the large majority of undocumented Mexican Americans are here to stay. A more important issue is how to properly handle the social changes that occur with such a large change in demographics instead of rehashing and picking sides on the “kick them out or let them stay” debate.