Instinctively, I want to say that all people need to succeed in life is hard work. But honestly, I don’t think that is possible. Unfortunately, money rules the world. People need money to get the basic necessities of life and get anywhere in the world. As a daughter to a man who always advocated the value of a dollar and stressed the importance of hard work, I like to believe that if you work hard, you will be successful monetarily and personally. But, whether we like it or not, it is a “dog eat dog” world and people need to make money and it ends up being the driving factor in people’s lives. For immigrants, it is expensive to pay taxes once they arrive in the U.S. and it is more expensive for them to become legal citizens.

This video was very riveting! After Tuesday’s class on the state of the Haitian community, I became a lot more interested in learning more about Haiti, its past and its predicted future. This video was extremely interesting to me because although these people had just suffered an enormous tragedy, they were tapping into their basic survival skills and coming up with ways to provide for themselves and their families. It made me wonder if we in America would do that same thing. The Haitians are a people who have never been economically stable and thus know how to survive in downtrodden conditions. Us, as Americans, more often than not, take for granted the resources and opportunities that we have. I found it incredibly encouraging and uplifting to see that people are still surviving and not just sitting around hanging their heads, wondering why they were afflicted.

Wow. I have to say that every time Sam has said that he and Laurie have friends who are “lifers” in jail, I’ve always questioned and wondered about the situation. I had a preconceived notion that they were just trying to be nice or required to go there for research purposes, but after reading this letter from their friends, I am simply in awe. As someone who has no experience whatsoever with life in prison, I have always just bit the media bullet which portrays jail as a place for all hateful people, who committed a heinous crime and don’t feel one bit sorry or remorseful. I pictured convicts as having no feeling, no soul, and no compassion. But after reading this letter, I can say that my viewpoint is completely changed.
I personally felt like this man was writing to my prejudices and me specifically. As someone who has not had experience with anything of this nature, I have no choice but to claim ignorance and judge off of beliefs formed by society and the media. The first thing that struck me was the fact that Sam prefaced the letter by saying the man never graduated from high school. I was preparing to read something horribly spelled and grammatically incorrect in more ways than one. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised to not find any grammatical error, but what’s more, to read something that was so poignantly and beautifully written that I was enthralled the whole way through. This is an accomplishment that even scholarly individuals may never accomplish. Being able to write fluidly and eloquently is a gift that even learning cannot fully teach you. I was very impressed with the man’s choice of words and the way in which he wrote his feelings onto paper. It was very congruent and easy to read. Most importantly, I greatly enjoyed every word.
The second thing that struck me was the fact that never once did this man complains about his situation in life. His words struck me as sincere and either I’m very gullible or this man really was just trying to relay a common occurrence in his life that most people do not understand. Although Sam prefaced the piece by saying that the man has made amends and realizes that his actions were wrong, I actually felt that sentiment when I was reading. The man never directly apologized for his actions or asked for sympathy from us and for that, I give him credit. As a person who is doomed to live in prison for the rest of his life, never once does he complain about any squalid conditions or lack of resources, he simply states, this is the way it is and this is how he’s living day-to-day. I actually had to catch myself and say, “Am I really feeling bad for a murderer right now?”
I think this feeling is what people should get and hopefully see from this writing. While this man is a lifer in prison, and most likely completely deserves his punishment, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of remorse and compassion for this man and his daily life. I’m not sure if this is completely twisted or normal, but this letter definitely made me think and re-assess my own preconceived notions and beliefs.

This is a great comment! I’m glad that someone who is personally intertwined with the Muslim religion spoke up and said how they view the radical Muslims. I think it is important for us as United States citizens to realize that not all Muslims are like Osama bin Laden. That’s also like saying, not all Americans are like George W. Bush. Not matter what culture or religion we identify with, there is unfortunately going to always be those radicals. As a Christian, I was appalled at the vacation Bible school boot camp that Sam showed in class. I found it incredibly insulting that there are people out there giving a bad name to the religion that I live by. I think that by this woman saying that her husband doesn’t identify with Osama bin Laden even though he is Muslim, is an important fact that we should all remember.

This is a question that is something that all of us should honestly think about. Not only has this class made me think of this, but even just being in the real-world should make people think about this question.

Race relations to me is all about talking to one another about our ethnic and racial differences and making genuine conversation. Everyone has various backgrounds they can bring to a conversation concerning race and I think its beneficial for everyone to understand where others have been and why. People come from various walks of life and by sharing their various life experiences, it will expand the lives of others who have not witnessed such experiences.

For example, as a white, Christian woman, I am not normally exposed to the holiday of Kwanza. My one friend’s family, when I was in elementary school, graciously invited me to attend their celebrations one year. With that experience, I learned so much more about a different culture and belief system that I had never been exposed to before. I was able to talk to my friend and her family about the holiday and learned a lot more about their family and values. Not only did I learn about them, but I also learned a lot about myself and my own family’s traditions. This, to me, was one of my first ever race relations conversations I had and I can honestly say that it was one of the most rewarding and interesting experiences of my life.

Without the aspect of race relations conversations, no one would understand one another and racism would be more rampant. In the past, ignorance and societal shame restricted people from having these valuable race relations conversations and experiences. Race relations is about understanding and helping one another realize that there is not just one right way to live your life. Everyone has differences in traditions and experiences and it’s not until people talk about this, will everyone be able to live more harmoniously.

Although there is still racism, I think race relations classes and discussions such as those which we have partaken in this class, will help everyone to stop the unfounded prejudice, fear and stupidity that was historically prevalent between people of varying races. I personally have benefitted a lot from just taking this class because I’ve been able to talk to friends and family members about interesting issues from a perspective that they’re not typically used to. I think we’re very lucky to have Sam as a teacher because he is presenting a lot of issues and ideas from a perspective that the media is not presenting. Talking to my parents in particular has been the most rewarding conversations regarding race. They grew up in a different era and they had never met someone of a different race than white until they came to college because that is just the way it was around them growing up. They had never talked about race as openly as I have been lucky enough to and by telling them about my classes and made them think about why they had some racial beliefs that they did. I think this is ultimately the end goal of race relations- to hopefully make the world a more peaceful, racial world for future generations.

This class and I have a love/hate relationship. Half the time, I honestly think Sam is crazy and even get sort of mad at the things he says are truth. But the other half of the time, I love it! Sam speaks his truth, and I respect that. I respect that he has the courage to speak about things that others may deem as unspeakables. He never holds back his feelings or opinions, regardless of the class reaction. I think I’ve definitely grown from being in this class and affirmed some beliefs and even questioned others. In life, there are always going to be those people that you disagree with on certain topics and Sam is one of them when it comes to religion for me. But honestly, I respect his opinion. I’ve critically listened to everything he’s said this semester and it’s made me question some things I believe or even some actions I’ve taken. I think the point of this class is to grow as a society and hopefully make it better for the next generation to come. Sam is definitely teaching all of us something, about ourselves or about those around us, that everyone should grow from. If this class literally has meant nothing to you, then you’re obviously not listening.

Honestly, I saw this story on CNN the day that it came out! I remember telling my roommates, one who did take SOC 119 already, about how crazy this video game is. I find it ironic that it ends up on this class blog but I’m actually relieved that more people will be aware of this.

First off, I am not a big supporter of video games. As a person who never was into video games growing up, and actually a child of parents who didn’t like video games because of the inactivity that it caused, I just honestly never got into it. I would much rather play sports outside and hang out with real people than make believe in a world of pretend. I just don’t find it enjoyable.

With that said, I do have many friends who love video games and play them quite frequently. Although I don’t particularly understand the fascination, I do appreciate their passion for it. But, I have no idea how any gamer at all, can stand behind a game such as this. I think that the women’s advocacy group has every right to be outraged by this subjugation and violence that are portrayed in this video. Are we honestly running out of creative ideas for games that we have to resort to violence and rape to have fun?

Honestly, I don’t understand the need for such a game. What is the point? I understand that there are sick people in this world who would genuinely enjoy this type of game and even act it out in real life, but the creation of this game is just encouraging such actions. In response to the English gamers, you can’t say that gaming is just a way to get out of reality and live a different life. I really question that woman’s values by saying that she was not offended by this game. As women, we need to have respect for ourselves and by allowing someone to rape and hurt another woman, even in a “make believe” forum, still portrays an injustice that all women, and even men, should be concerned about. This woman being hurt could be you, your best friend, your mother, sister, cousin, daughter. How would you feel if your loved ones had this happen to them in real life?

I know people will feign the response that this is real life, what’s the big deal? But no matter what, art imitates life and sooner or later people will be effected and act out on their fantasy actions and things they see in video games. It is psychologically proven that even children are affected by video games and even though every child isn’t going out and shooting people like they do in games, that seed is still planted in their head that it can happen and may even be a viable option in real life.

You should always identify with how you want to identify. If you relate more to your Latin heritage, identify as a brown person. If you relate more to your white heritage, identify as a white person. A person’s identification should not be based off of what color their skin is but by how they relate to who they are as a person. As the guy stated, he grew up associating with his Latin heritage on his mother’s side. I personally believe that since this is the case, he should identify as a brown person because he has more complex and ethnic experiences than someone who is just considered white. But, if the guy wants to be perceived as white because that is who he truly believes he is, then he should identify as such. No matter what, it doesn’t matter how Sam or anyone else views us, it is up to us to assert our own identity and stick with it.

Thank you for asking this question! I am the same exact way. As the lone white girl from Baltimore in the class, I too was thrown into the revisioning stage at an early age, I believe. I grew up with white and black and brown people around me pretty equally. I never saw a difference between my black and brown friends and my white friends and it wasn’t until I grew up and people started talking about the issue did I really understand what they were talking about. I honestly can say that I grew up for a while not seeing color. I realized that we all lived different lives at home, but black and brown families did the same activities and ate the same food as me and my white friend’s families. I think that a lot of people don’t believe me when I say that I honestly don’t see color, I see the actions of people first. I have never judged a person based off their skin color and I think it had a lot to do with my upbringing. I’m very fortunate that my parents had me grow up in an environment where I wasn’t inundated with only one skin color around me but that I was able to grow up with a diverse view of my peers.

This video which was shown in class was very sad and eerie. As a white female, I always had a white baby doll growing up. I never before thought why it was that I always had a white one when black baby doll’s were available as well. Even looking back at my days in daycare when I was younger, there were only white baby doll’s, never black ones, even though there were just as many black children as there were white ones being taken care of.

This video made me sad because it shows that children are already cognizant of the aspect of color in society. Whether their parents taught them that white means more privilege or if they simply just noticed it, it makes my heart hurt. I talked to my black and brown friends after class about this video and while we were all saddened by this video, they said that this is nothing new for them. Even in my discussion group, my friend stated that her parents were happy that she came out as a very white Latina girl because she would be afforded more opportunities than her other relatives. This to me, is just mind-boggling. Never in my life have I ever been explicitly told that my skin color will put me ahead of my classmate with a different color skin. It makes me sad that we as a society today are paralleling the terms of white skin and privilege.

Also, its very frustrating to see the body type of white women as being the standard of beauty. The European standard of beauty is white skin, long legs and very skinny. This standard is simply not attainable. As we’ve seen on the news throughout our lives, this emaciated picture of beauty is even deadly to attain. Women die or become sick from trying to live up to this standard that society tells them is the only picture of a beauty. If we look around at the people around us, there are not that many super skinny people around us. Especially seen in the black and brown community, curvy is gorgeous. As a white girl, I wish the black and brown standards of beauty of loving yourself and being proud of who you are, however you looked, were more prominent in our society. I want my children and grandchildren to know that however they look, they are pretty. I feel like my black and brown friends are usually proud of their heritage and their body despite the societal messages in opposition.

In order to alleviate the problem that is so blatant in this video, we need to change the connotations of being white and pretty. Your skin color should not dictate your societal status and your appearance should not be dictated by society. We need to teach the future generations that not only can white people be afforded opportunities, but black and brown people can too. We need to teach the future youth that they are perfect the way they are and do not need to change for anyone but themselves.