en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/758534 Comments by ilovedisney https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-occupied-territories__trashed/#IDComment69735728 So I am an American girl living in this country my whole life. I have seen the fighting going on in the Middle East and as an American I feel like it is so far away from me. I feel that I can do nothing about it Yet I am also a Jew. When I heard this question I was a bit taken back because I did not know how to respond. I completely understand Palestine and their want for part of Israel, but have you looked at Israel? It is a very tiny country that we call home. We got granted this little piece of land that is surrounded by huge powerful countries in the Middle East. It is like being a nerd surrounded by big bullies. We fought for years to call this our land, and I would hope you can understand our side that says that we deserve to have all of Israel to call home. I am not saying by any means that people of other religions should not be allowed to live in Israel, but to take some of it away would take away a piece of home. Realistically no one can ever live in complete peace, people always want something. I do not know what the answer is on how to make peace in Israel, but I do have my feelings and opinions. A trademark of the conflict has been the level of violence witnessed for virtually its entire duration. Casualties have not been restricted to the military, with a large number of fatalities in civilian population on both sides. It is tragic that fighting has to go on, but as you are fighting for what is yours, so are the Israelis. The Jewish people are a minority and we just want it to be our birthright that we can go to Israel and be safe there. My grandpa is a Holocaust survivor. He went through five concentration camps in three years. By the time he was fourteen he lost three brothers and his mother in Auschwitz. His father was separated and buried alive in another camp. At the age of fourteen he was alone and on his own completely after being traumatized and brutalized. When he finally made it to America, he saw the struggle to claim Israel as the land of our people. For generations, we had nowhere to call home, especially my grandpa. The day Israel became a country and our home, my grandpa wept out of happiness. He also cried of sadness because his family could not see this glorious occasion. He has told me all of my life, that if I ever feel lost, or even if I lose everything like he did, at least I will have a home to go to. So I understand your side completely that you just want a home also and that you claim it is “your land” but can you understand my side as well? Thu, 22 Apr 2010 14:19:41 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-occupied-territories__trashed/#IDComment69735728 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/women__trashed/#IDComment68255181 Perception of beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When you are the one who is looking, it is not always a pretty sight. When I was younger, I was an overweight child. My grandparents lived with me my whole life. My grandma cooked for me every night. My mother, who was not around as much, would pile our pantry with the good stuff. Everything from fruit by the foot, dunkaroos, Doritos, candy etc. If it was an amazing food that children loved, it was in our pantry. I never really learned what it meant to eat healthy, I just ate what I wanted and was so happy. My friends would come over and be so excited because my pantry was the best. One day, my little sister and I got into a fight. She called me a fat pig. I ran to my room crying because of our fight at first but then I could not stop sobbing out of realization that maybe I was fat; even my own sister thought so. From then on I never looked at myself the same way. I felt so ugly. All of my friends were getting “boyfriends” in 5th grade, and I thought no boy would even look at me. I felt as if everyone would stare at me when I answered a question and class and think, “oh she’s so fat”. I had a lot of friends, but my self-esteem was in the toilet. I was the happy and nice girl on the outside but the lonely and upset girl on the inside. When I went clothes shopping I would always break out into tears because of all of the ads around the store of models. These models made me feel inferior, like I was abnormal. The other girls trying things on in ‘Limited Too’ were pre pubescent twigs and I felt so ashamed. The dressing room was my enemy. I would try clothes on and imagine those models just staring at me. It was humiliating. After about a year of feeling this way, I decided to change. Although my grandma did not like it and thought I was beautiful the way I was, she started to cook me healthy meals. I would run on the treadmill every day. The next year before my bat mitzvah I got a present, it was puberty. My body started changing and I felt so much more confident. As I got older, I have realized that confidence is key. Girls around the world need to realize that they are beautiful the way they are, and if they feel uncomfortable, change in a healthy not drastic way. When your eyes see you as beautiful, no one else can tell you different and no one else’s opinion matters. Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:43:55 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/women__trashed/#IDComment68255181 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66716165 We actually talked about this subject in section and it infuriated me. I mean who in their right mind would want to play a game where you physically hunt down and rape women. It is absolutely grotesque, disgusting and almost makes me want to vomit. I fully believe that these games promote terrible behaviors and degrade women in ways that are really horrifying. This just gives men the excuse to go out and rape women because “the game made it ok”. It’s back to the whole topic of violence in video games in general. I have seen so many in the United States that promote violence. Shooting, murder and finding your target and destroying them are the objective. I used to think that these games were terrible until I heard about this one. It is similar to an episode of Special Victims Unit. This is my all time favorite show. So anyway, in the episode a woman is found bloody and beaten to death on a sidewalk. It appears that a vehicle has struck her. The detectives and police later discover that she was also raped in the process. After a long investigation they find the culprits to be two teenagers. They were on trial for the woman’s murder and rape. Their defense attorney used a scary defense. Her defense was that the teenagers were brainwashed by a video game that the main objective was to go out and find defenseless women, beat, and rape and murder them. The jury was mortified that such a game was in existence just as I am. Eventually they realized that no game can brainwash, that it was their own choice to rape and murder that innocent women and they were sent to jail. This again brings the question, how much does video games affect the minds of the public? If it is this easy to obtain globally, how do we stop it? It scares me to think that just any person can pick this game off the Internet and start playing it. Some say that this game is a preventive measure. It allows men that are thinking about rape or harming women they can live out their thoughts in the game. This game is not prevention it feeds them more ideas and objectifies women horribly. How can such a game even be on the market? I personally think it should be illegal all over the world, taken off the Internet and never produced. Media has a lot of influence over people, and although people make their own choices, they can get plenty of ideas from the media. This game was too graphic to even show on CNN. Imagine what it puts in the minds of men all over the world? Fri, 9 Apr 2010 03:32:42 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66716165 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment65227760 This video was such an eye opener. I really had never been exposed to something like that. I grew up in a predominately white neighborhood and never thought twice about dolls or toys that I played with. I was a Barbie and Disney Princess fanatic. I still love Disney even to this day as I go once a year. Whenever I would go to Toys R Us I would immediately rush over to the Barbie section and pick out a new Barbie and not think twice. I never perceived her race as an issue but I can see it now from what we watched in the video. The black children immediately picked the white doll. They picked it because it was “good” and the black doll was “bad”. This was so sad to me. I feel like the media plays a huge role in all of this. Throughout history, beauty has been portrayed as white with blonde hair and blue eyes. I was always taught to look at myself as beautiful no matter what even though I have brown curly hair and freckles but the media does not portray it this way. Fortunately, people of color have come along way and are now used all over campaigns and seen as a thing of beauty more often. Many black models are Cover Girls and in commercials, TV shows and movies and currently, little girls and boys can now see more people of color in a beautiful way in the media. For example, the new movie Princess and the Frog was put out by Disney and finally portrayed a black Disney princess. I think this is a great thing for little girls. Girls look up to Disney princesses and aspire to be like them because they are wholesome and beautiful. Disney has put out other princesses of different races like Jasmine in Aladdin who is from Morocco and Mulan in Mulan from China. This new movie is a step forward in reshaping the vision of beauty. I understand that it took Disney a long time to have a black princess, but they took the step and it will help younger children a whole lot since Disney has much influence. A teacher spoke to my Education Theory class last year and she is a Kindergarten teacher. She brought up the issue of race in Kindergarten. She expressed her fear that the media and thinking of beauty in one way influences children. She wanted to make a change. So every year, she conducts an art project on race. It centers on the beauty of you and your skin and shows you to be proud of whom you are. She provides them with paint and they have to mix colors until it matches their skin tone and then they pain portraits of themselves. It teaches them that no matter what skin tone they have they are still beautiful. I wish that all younger children could experience this activity so that they can be proud of who they are. Thu, 1 Apr 2010 17:09:54 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment65227760 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment64038226 When I was 13 years old I experienced my first menstrual cycle. It was during dance. I had a very “bad stomach ache” and as soon as I got home I flipped out because I was not sure if it is what I thought it was. My dad was the only one home at the time and you all might think it is weird that I went straight to him because you may feel embarrassed or weird to talk about it with your father, I felt most comfortable with him especially because he is a doctor. Growing up my mom was not really there for me and I was and still am very close with my dad. Thank god my dad is a doctor because as time went on my period got worse. I was having it twice a month. I was also having cramps so bad that I would crawl up in a ball and lay with a heating pad for three days. I used to miss school for it because I could not even stand up. My dad helped me through it all and I think it made me comfortable talking about it in front of men or women. I always speak my mind. I am sure that in high school when I used to blurt out to all my guy friends that “I feel like my uterus is stabbing me with a knife” that they felt weird at first. Once you feel comfortable with a guy or guys they get used to it. I know a lot of guys who have multiple or just one sister and they do not mind talking about it. Guys who freak out or do not like talking about it should know this, it is a painful, annoying and stressful thing. We eat non- stop, we feel tired, we feel bloated, we feel irritated and we want to cry all the time. Look at it this way, we go through all of this so we can reproduce one day. All of the men gender should be ok with talking about it because we need it to have children. My current boyfriend deals with mine every month and he is ok with it and it makes me feel more comfortable. He will get me whatever food I crave, which is ice cream most of the time, and he listens to me complain while I bitch and moan about how uncomfortable I am for those long seven days. So boys, be open to it. Do not have a grimace face or look of disgust. Embrace it because one day you will have a girlfriend, wife or daughter and a little support would be just lovely. Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:54:33 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment64038226 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment62813682 The whole texting in class is throwing me off a bit. I feel like what people write up there is for show, or for a laugh a lot of the time and not serious. I wish we could all be serious and write true responses because the responses that are legitimate and thought provoking would open all of our eyes; they are over shadowed by the funny and comical ones. Personally, when I am reading all of the responses I find myself looking for the ones that will make me laugh like “mayonnaise and John Mayer”. I did not even look for the comments that actually had deep meaning and I find that if we were all to be serious in what we thought it would be quite interesting. I also observed that when white people said what they thought it was meant to be white, they did not really know. A lot of the answers were vague of funny. If I think to myself, what does it mean to be white? I do not know what I would answer. I never really thought about it. If people had said thoughtful answers, maybe I would have actually come to my own conclusions. As for when blacks or brown commented, they were out right about their feelings or put stereotypes and we all laughed. For example, someone said that we were benchwarmers, and I laughed… but now the real issue, what if things were flipped? What if Sam had written what does it mean to be black? If he were to ask blacks, I am sure they would give funny answers, but a lot could be serious. With the big picture, whites probably would feel uncomfortable laughing or commenting after ward. When Sam would ask white people what they thought it would mean to be black I really do not think many would answer. If they did answer I do not think most would make jokes. In our discussion group today, we spoke about this issue. I kind of got the feeling that if it was flipped and it was asked what it meant to be black, whites wouldn’t be able to answer because we would feel guilty or it would be “the white man’s burden”. Think about the double standard, if black people wrote “black power” it is seen as a revolution and an awesome thing. On the other hand, if white people wrote “white power” it looks racist. A lot of it has to do with racial groups using the term “white power” in a negative sense. So no the rudeness does not go both ways because whites need to walk on eggshells and when they can only comment about themselves. It seems more acceptable when blacks or browns says anything. Now that is thought provoking. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 18:11:45 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment62813682 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment59606460 This question really made me think to be honest. If I were to walk into that store or in any situation what would I do? Personally, I think it is situational based on danger of my own life. Let’s go back to Elementary school. Our teachers would tell us that if there was a bully that we should tell on them. Now I do not know about you but I was always in fear of getting my ass kicked by the bully for being a snitch. I would tell the teacher but I would make sure it was well hidden and no would know who told on the bully. Now to high school, oh high school, what a great time. I was involved in a lot and one of the clubs I was a peer leader. Now in this club, my job was to mediate students who had issues with each other and teach freshman ways of resolving conflicts. This was all happy zippidity doo-dah in high school land, but I know in the real world if it was a dangerous situation, “just say no” might not always work. Here comes college, I was starting to grow up as I entered Penn State and up until now realize that if there was a situation in which someone was being harassed, I would stick up for them, but to be honest if it was a dangerous situation, this may not be the case. Yes the double sword of a dangerous situation. Please write back if you disagree, but if someone is holding a gun to someone else and you could get hurt would you say something? I do not know what I would do, I feel like it would be in that moment I would have to decide. The video we watched in class was a whole other story. Someone was being prejudiced against. I was brought up with the value and belief to stand up for what I believe in. I believe that no one should be discriminated against. If I saw that owner being rude to the Muslim girl, I would definitely say something especially because there was no immediate danger. The look on her face of sadness and being ashamed should not have to be on anyone’s face in this day and age. So anyway my point is a little foggy. I would stand up for my beliefs and I would help someone in need, but if I was in direct danger I might have to back off. I would look out for my safety because yes it is right to help someone out, but at the cost of my life? I do not know. So to your question, I was not raised to be quiet and not speak my beliefs, but I do not think my dad would say “yes definitely help someone whose being held at gunpoint by yelling at the shooter”. I may call the authorities or when we were younger tell the teacher though. Basically I understand where the kid was coming from but not in the video situation. They were right to stick up for the Muslim girl. Wed, 3 Mar 2010 19:29:53 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment59606460 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-question-three__trashed/#IDComment58569315 So first off let me say that although I try not to, I judge people. I feel like everyone does. If you say that you do not, then you are probably lying. Most of the time when I do it I do not notice, it is subconscious. We were brought up in a world of materialism and judgment. You might think that you do not see color or race but you do, in some way or another you judge. I do not hate any particular race but I do tend to make judgments. I wish we lived in a world where there were no judgments. No eyes that see color. No minds that think certain things about certain races and ethnicities, but we do not. It took me a while to realize that I judge on occasion. The first time it happened was when I first got my license. I was driving through North Jersey and I accidentally got lost and ended up in Paterson, NJ. The equivalent is like Camden, Newark or the bad parts of Philly and Pittsburgh. But anyway back to the story. I was terrified. I automatically assumed that my car was in danger because a black man approached my car. I thought he was going to shoot me. My ignorant little self. He only came up to ask me if I needed help or needed directions. I felt so ashamed, but at the same time how many of you would have been scared? I’m guessing a lot of you would have driven away. I did not drive away at first but I did not role down my windows or unlock my door either. He mouthed the words.. ‘are you lost do u need help?’ and although I knew he was trying to help, I drove away out of judgment and fear. Now pertaining to the student in the video. If I saw you at Penn State I would think you were a nice preppy young man and maybe an athlete. If I were in Paterson or Newark however, I may quickly judge and say you were a thug. I think it is situational but I would have been scared in that situation if we were in a bad area. It really does have a lot to do with situation and environment. Clearly you are not a street thug if you are at Penn State and dressed nicely. I am sure you worked just as hard as all of us to get here. I am trying to change my ways. The Paterson experience really opened my eyes not to judge as much. It is hard let me tell you. It is hard to reverse the stereotypes that we all are prone to think. If the tables were turned I am sure you would think some way about me as I walk around with my blackberry and UGGS. I feel that more people need to stop being so judgmental but first before I speak for others I need to start changing myself. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:50:53 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-question-three__trashed/#IDComment58569315 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-five__trashed/#IDComment57332652 In class, Sam showed us the religious views of Christianity and Islam but he did not share the views of the Jewish religion. As a Jew, I have always wondered what Judaism thinks about homosexuality. According to the bible, it states In Leviticus 18:22, it is written: "And you shall not cohabit with a male as one cohabits with a woman; it is an abomination." As I was Reform Conservative Jew (a left winged conservative you may say) growing up, recently I researched as to what the Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism viewed homosexuality. I also researched Orthodox, very religious Jews to see all sides. To begin, Orthodox Jews who are the most religious believe that the Torah forbids homosexual acts not homosexual people. Sexuality as a whole is instinctive and natural. So this brings the question into why does G-d say that heterosexual love is holy and homosexual love is an abomination? It is because heterosexuals can procreate. Judaism and its G-d teach that G-d loves all people. Additionally, the Torah does not condemn homosexual love and urges. According to Rabbi Boteach, "Judaism does not prohibit or in any way look down upon homosexual love. In the eyes of Judaism the love between two men or two women can be as natural as the love between a man and a woman. What it does prohibit is homosexual intercourse." Now to half of my belief Conservative Judaism. The Committee of Jewish Laws and Standards (CJLS) of the Rabbinical Assembly is the central halakhic authority for the Conservative movement. For a while they did not allow the ordination of openly gay men or women. Then on December 6, 2006, the CJLS completed its deliberation regarding the halakhic status of gay men and lesbians. Regardless of whether a Conservative rabbi and congregation choose to hire homosexual rabbis or perform same-sex commitment ceremonies, they are expected to show respect and sensitivity to all people. All Jews, no matter what their sexual orientation, are welcome into Conservative congregations because G-d teaches us to love all people. So basically it comes down to the congregation’s choice on same sex union ceremonies or the hiring of homosexual Rabbis. Reform, the complete other side of the spectrum. As a progressive movement, the Reform movement tries to adapt Judaism to today's world. According to many reform Jews, “Many progressive Jews also believe that calling homosexuality "unnatural" is incorrect. They site numerous studies, which have found that homosexuality occurs in nature among every species of mammal and among most other species of animals. Sexually aroused animals will try to mate with the nearest partner. It has been concluded, therefore, that there is an innate drive toward the release of sexual tension, and this release can be accomplished through either homosexual or heterosexual relations”. Homosexuals are completely accepted in Reform congregations and will hire them as Rabbis as well. Many in the movement even believe that gay and lesbian Jews should be able to be committed as partners in a ceremony. In conclusion, there is a wide spectrum when it comes to the Jewish religion on beliefs on homosexuality. One thing is the same, the Jewish religion believes that homosexual love is completely acceptable because G-d loves all people. Through my research I completely side with the Reform movement. I am totally supportive of gays getting married and loving whoever they want because in the end love is all that matters. Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:23:07 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-five__trashed/#IDComment57332652 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/why-is-the-conversation-always-about-black-and-white-people__trashed/#IDComment56384725 What does it mean to be American? I totally agree with Lia_1031 on the American labeling issue. I hear so many people call Blacks African Americans yet they do not call me the white girl a “Polish American”. My grandparents came to America from Poland after the Holocaust and since then, my family has been born and raised in America. Am I American because I am white? Is it because I was born here? Is it because my whole family is white? I do not know. This question has always boggled me. What defines a person as American? Flat out the word AMERICAN. Black people are just as American as any white person. WE, blacks and whites, are more alike then people think. The divide between whites and blacks is still there however especially in labels. Skin color. This must play a huge part in people’s depictions on what is ‘American’. They see the American dream. The American Family. Basically “Leave it to Beaver” style. But why? Still questions come to mind. Well to start the whole American dream, and “white” as Americans is definitely enhanced by the media. There are plenty of TV shows that have the “perfect WHITE America family”. TOTAL Bullshit. Please give me more than maybe 3 examples of shows with interracial marriages. I cannot think of any. Additionally, even shows where the family is not perfect but white, we still call them American families. Now the opposite end, there are TV shows with Black families. These TV shows tend to be on different networks, and most viewers never refer to them as the “AMERICAN” family. If you can give me an example that would be fantastic, but at the moment, I can’t think of many that fit the mold. Now here comes the badass of all media groups, the news. The news, although seeming slightly unbiased, is biased at times. Take a closer look. Whenever they cover criminals getting arrested they tend to over emphasize the “African American” getting arrested. It puts stereotypes and labels in people’s minds and it pisses me off. I think that if you live in the country you are American. Plain and simple as that. Why put extra labels unless in context? I mean if someone asks me about my family history and background I won’t say “American” I will say Polish American; however, in everyday life I am and American because I live here. Black and White. WE are AMERICAN. Whether you like it or not. Labels suck, they exist but we all have the core American values, beliefs and ideals. White people may be afraid to offend Blacks, or on the opposite end they may try to be superior, but reality check we all live in America. You may not agree with all that American stands for but either skin color, we live here. No matter if you are black or white, if you live in America, you are red, white and blue. Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:20:08 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/why-is-the-conversation-always-about-black-and-white-people__trashed/#IDComment56384725 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55362641 If a teacher asked you “Who discovered America?” What would you answer? I guarantee that at least 75% of you would answer Christopher Columbus. Yes good old Christopher. We have all had the phrase ‘in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue’ stuck in out minds since we are young. In History class, when a student reads their textbooks, he is seen as a strapping white European explorer. Columbus was looked upon as a hero. He ‘discovered’ the land we call the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. I know when I learned about the discovery of this great nation I learned that Columbus sailed over on three ships. I learned that he shared his tools and food with the Native Americans. I learned about that huge holiday every year that we eat loads of food, Thanksgiving, is a result of Columbus’s generosity and love for sharing. This is all a bunch of bullshit. Christopher Columbus, the man credited with discovering America, was a selfish and greedy tyrant. He imposed an iron fist as he arrived to America. Stealing and punishment were his tactics. He drove the Natives out of their land and used punishments like cutting off ears and noses of Indians who dared to fight back or even speak their opinion. For example, a woman suggested that Columbus was a tyrant so he had her paraded around nude on a donkey and had her tongue cut out. The big strapping white hero? I think not. This whole assumption that nonwhites need the White Messiah to come to their rescue is a load of crap. In Avatar, the whites invade and exploit their resources. They are portrayed like Christopher Columbus, the whites with the power. Yes they have the power, but are they really doing any good? They blow up the Avatar’s home and attempt to steal. Sounds familiar to the ‘great’ guy who discovered America. The Avatar’s are similar to the Native Americans. They are in tune with nature, have a functioning community and contain valuable items that they take care of. So why do the whites need to come save them? I could not even begin to give you an answer. As a white woman, I had always looked upon whites as good humanitarians who save the less fortunate people. Some of the time that is true; for instance what we are doing in Haiti. On the other hand, whites are power hungry tyrants. We steal, we take over, we run people out of their land, we are greedy. I think because of the textbooks and they way we are raised we are given the “cookie cutter” view of whites. I think the movies that portray whites as ‘the white messiah’ need to give the true message and sometimes give us a dose of the real medicine. So now if I were to ask you again “Who discovered America?” …What would you say? Thu, 4 Feb 2010 19:12:15 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55362641 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/racism-looks-pretty-good-on-this-side-of-the-atlantic__trashed/#IDComment54244127 When I first read this article I was in shock. All I could think was, “how can this be?” “How can racism be so prevalent in today’s society?” Then I watched the video. I was absolutely appalled… Racism. It’s such a disgusting and dirty word. I really did not know that it was so out there in the open. I mean let’s be realistic, I know it still exists, but I did not know to what extent. My Grandpa has lived with me my whole life. As a survivor of five concentration camps, he has seen true racism. When I was a little girl, my grandpa would always say “ Wendy my dear, the world is racist”. As a young child I did not really understand what he was talking about. Everyone in my school got a long and I had not seen it first hand. As I grew older and began to form my own opinions, I became more increasingly ‘left winged’ as you would say. I knew there was injustice and racism but I did not know to what extent. I grew up always hearing that phrase “Wendy my dear, the world is racist”. Until recently, I did not know exactly what my grandpa was talking about. This video clip and article truly brought everything I had heard into light. My heart sank when I saw people throwing bananas and screaming such ugly words. I just wanted to scream back at them with anger. As the video continued I saw the Nazi flag. ANGER. SADNESS. NAUSEA. Those were some words to describe what I felt. That was the moment I fully understood the phrase “ Wendy my dear, the world is racist” How can such an ugly symbol still be out there? How could it be at a sporting event? If it were America, no one in his or her right mind would bring that to a football game let alone throw bananas. The Nazi symbol is the pure symbol of hatred in my book. There are still people all over the world I’m sure who believe in Hitler and hold his ideals. I also recognize that there are organizations who are outright racist like the KKK. I still cannot get over the fact however, that fans would bring the symbol to a sporting event. If they were true fans they would recognize that some of the best players are of different races. Yes, people should have freedom of speech but not to this level. Back to the phrase my grandpa has repeated so many times in my life. It’s not literal. Not everyone is racist. It shows that there is still racism out there. Until recently I did not know how much and this video proves it. RACISM. Such a disgusting, and dirty word. Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:24:59 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/racism-looks-pretty-good-on-this-side-of-the-atlantic__trashed/#IDComment54244127 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-c__trashed/#IDComment53955947 DISNEY Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:19:17 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-c__trashed/#IDComment53955947 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/haitis-calamity__trashed/#IDComment53084903 Recently, my parents decided to tell me that they were getting a divorce. A divorce was a word that I was not expecting. It cut through me like a knife and made my heart sink so low I thought I did not have a heartbeat. It evoked feelings of anger, sadness, and pain. All I could think of was ‘why was this happening to me’? My sister and I are currently having a rough time adjusting. I am here at Penn State while she is back at home as a Senior in High School. My dad, my best friend in the whole world, left to live in Florida from living with us in New Jersey our whole lives. Another crushing blow. ‘How much more of this could I take’? ‘Would it ever end’? These were things that were circling my mind. And then the meltdown. I lay in bed for hours on end crying as my whole body shook. I felt like I lost everything and everything around me was beginning to crumble, as everything I knew was changing. I did not know how to cope. My dad called me and did what he said was ‘the intervention’. He reminded me that although I was going through a rough time, that things could get worse. He reminded me of my grandpa who was an innocent Jew in Poland and was captured by the Nazis. My grandpa went through five concentration camps and fought disease, hunger, thirst, weakness, fear and torture. He was alone. He had watched his father get buried alive and he never found his three brothers or mother. Now that’s something to have a meltdown over. At least I have my family and my health. It really opened my eyes to appreciate what I have. My dad has told me this plenty of times before, I heard it, but never really listened. That’s the key word ‘listen’. Many of us hear about tragedies and only think about it for a second not really listening to the cries of people in danger. The earthquake in Haiti is a serious tragedy. Americans need to open our eyes and realize we are lucky. Sadly, millions of Americans do not even know where Haiti is or what is going on. They fret about small things in their lives and think it is the end of the world. Guess what? It’s not. Most of us really do not know what it is like to have no clean drinking water or food. We do not know what it feels like to be completely alone, not able to find your family member. Imagine looking through bodies and rubble to try to find your mother, father, sister, brother, grandpa, grandma, the list goes on. What I’m trying to say here, is WAKE UP AMERICA. Our lives on the most part are so much better than people in other countries. Join the fight, donate or at least read and inform yourself on what's going on. LISTEN, LIVE, LEARN. SACRIFICE. TAKE ACTION. Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:17:31 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/haitis-calamity__trashed/#IDComment53084903