I think that the messages come from society itself. All of the TV shows on TLC, especially the ones about wedding dresses and fashion in general, seem to focus on white people and dress them more… well, white. A good point was made in a question in class about how Disney finally had a black princess as the main character in one of their movies. It has taken until 2009 for a princess to finally be recognized as not white. This is a big leap because it shows that white isn’t the only option. Little kids, girls especially, of color now have a role model that does not look completely different from them. In this world, it would be better to show them that it is ok to be any color whatsoever. It would be ideal to show them that it does not matter, but that would be a lie at this point in time. These subtle messages are not there on purpose, but it is essentially subliminal messaging. Subliminal messaging was used to advertise things to people, or make them think about products, without actually showing them full on. It was more of an attack on the subconscious. That is what is going on with the mostly white dolls, cartoon characters, role models. Subconsciously, these kids think that they are not normal, or in the worst case think that they are “bad,” like the girl in the video we saw.
Obviously these messages need to stop, and the question is asked “why do they still exist?” I do not have a good answer for why. I hope that it is just as simple as a marketing expert saying that “white sells better,” because, even though that is terrible, there could be worse reasons for why the message is not sent to kids that being any color is good. Being a white guy myself, I cannot speak from experience or know what it is like, but I agree completely that there should be less cartoons of straight up white casts with maybe one or two other colors represented. The Disney channel TV shows are guilty of that one, and even more adult TV shows have the same sorts of issues. Most Sitcoms do not have very diverse casts. There are all of the Tyler Perry sitcoms that have pretty much all black casts, and then pretty much every other sitcom with all white casts. So there is diversity on the whole, but not in each small show. Little kids see these shows, too, since their parents watch them as well. If the whole of television and even toys were to become more diverse, then everyone would accept race for what it really is: just another part of being human.

There are a lot of factors involved in this one. On one hand, when someone throws out a question as heavy as "is this racist?" people tend to have feelings of sympathy and anger that make them feel obligated to side with the victim. It's almost human nature, pretty much like cheering for the underdog in football. When people do this though, they tend to make the decision despite not knowing the whole story. That's why everyone changed their mind, because it was shown that she really was breaking a law, a really really stupid law, but a law nonetheless. When Sam puts those clicker questions up, you only have so long to make a decision too, so that might have been a cause as well, but the biggest is that our emotions get in the way of the "truth", so to speak.
My initial response to the question was "i'm not sure" because no case is black and white. Nothing ever is, and I hate when people insist that there is a line somewhere that separates things from another side. Sure there are extreme sides, but there is a middle, no matter what the situation. Racist or not is not a good choice of a question, more "how racist is this?" or "to what extent does past racism influence this situation?"
Another big reason I think people make decisions like this is because they think "what am I supposed to do/think/say?" People do it all the time, I know I do. You want to fit in, you don't want to stick out in a bad way from a group of 700+ people. When Sam showed the first headline, of course everybody thought it was racism, it said she was black and jailed for sending her kids to school. That's what that newspaper/article wanted its readers to think, its how it wanted its readers to react. Only after hearing the whole story can anyone make a real decision, and anything that is said prior to a bit of investigation is moot.

This is a really good question. I think the biggest reason for the reaction is actually other white people in the room thinking that something bad is just about to happen. Like they're afraid to laugh because they think someone will be offended. When a comedian is telling jokes, that's all it is, jokes. If they say something to offend someone, that person shouldn't be, unless the comedian is pulling a kramer and is just flat out insulting. It all comes down to political correctness, right? No one I know cares if you make fun of them because of their skin, hair, etc., because everyone I know can dish it right back and we all laugh about it. That said, I understand when people take it too far, it is too far, but almost no comedian or speaker is aiming to insult ANYBODY. THey are only there to make people laugh, no matter what race, ethnicity, culture you are. I hear comedians allllll over making fun of white people, Christianity, governments, sexual preferences, what have you and I hear no one complain except for pastors. No one should take offense to anything a comedian says, because there is nothing meant by it, in most cases at least. There are extremes, but they shouldn't cause a room full of 750 people feel uncomfortable when someone gets made fun of. If someone is so proud of themselves that they can't get made fun of, it's just proof that pride is one of the seven deadly sins. And I don't even follow any religion.
All of the above being said, racial slurs should never be part of anything, just because they ARE meant to be offensive.

I believe that there are only body issues if someone wants to have them. The way I see the world is that no one can tell me what to think because no one else controls my thoughts, same goes for everybody. So, knowing that your body is the result of thousands of years of evolving and adapting could convince some people that there is no problem, while some it doesn't affect whatsoever, and again more people could think it is worse because that could create even more racism.
Everyone above is making a good point in that the "media" and what's "popular" change what people think. I am a guy, so you could say it affects me less, but I never did and never will give a crap about what is popular, and there are plenty of people, thousands of girls included, who agree. So knowing the reason for the shape of your eyes and the build of your bones might be interesting, but it does not affect some, I want to say most, people too much, but that might not be true.
Others, again, may feel better about it knowing that they couldn't affect their appearance in such a profound way because they wouldn't even be here if they didn't have the features. Their ancestors wouldn't have survived in their environments. It might just give them the little bit of closer that is necessary to let them not worry about it anymore. And that is a good thing, no longer worrying about certain things about yourself is freeing and it feels better than stressing a lot.
That being said, I know waaaaaaaay too many people who worry far too much about how they look and how best to impress people around them. Personally I am turned off by a girl who only wears uggs and jackets with fuzzy hoods. Don't even mention the amount of make-up some girls wear. And guys can look like total tools too. I know it is all a personal choice to do these things, and more power to you, but trying to look like a guido is kinda... wrong. Especially if you aren't remotely Italian. But that's just one example. No one has to look like a movie star to be attractive. So for some people, because there is this national sense of the right way to look that is pushed on us in everything mass produced, some people think they need to change certain things. Hearing that they can't change these things because it was their ancestor's fault does not comfort these people. I wish I could understand this, but I don't. It's one thing to wish to be thinner, or more muscular, because barring some extremes, that is all up to the individual. But to try to change your whole face is ridiculous, there is no ugly face, no perfect face. That's all opinions. Actually everything is opinions when you think about it...

P.S. Nothing in Cosmo magazine is true. Also, why are these supposed to be 450 words long? It's harder to read and respond. Can they be split up?

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