This lecture was very insightful. I have never thought of affirmative action as nepotism. After reading the two definitions and seeing that they were identical made me think. Affirmative action is designed to help people get ahead that were discriminated against in the past. The beneficiaries of affirmative action include men and women of color and also white women. I was surprised when Sam Richards said that white women were the group of people that benefited the most from affirmative action. I always thought that women of color benefited the most because they were discriminated against for their race and for being women. White women were only discriminated against because they are women. People of color think that affirmative action is such a great thing and it helps them get ahead in life. What people of color do not know is that white people benefit the most from it. White men still benefit from affirmative action because they are the group of people that most often marry white women, and when your wife benefits you benefit.
The cartoons that Sam Richards included in the lecture were completely true. The one that stuck out the most was the one with the white man on an escalator and the black man that has to running a race and jumping over hurtles to get to the voting booth. This is just an example of how people of color have been treated unfairly for years. People of color always had to go through all of these obstacles just to be on an equal playing field with white people. White people have always been on top so they always have been able to control the playing field. You can tell that by how easy the white man has it in the cartoon. He is just riding the escalator to the top with a big smile on his face.
The video that Sam Richards showed in the lecture reminded me of my high school. We were like the majority black school in the video. We were more well off than they were but we were still inferior to the surrounding schools. We did not receive the best education and we did not have the best facilities like the surrounding majority white schools. After graduating from that school and then coming to Penn State made me feel like I could not compete. It was harder for me to get used to being in a more accelerated educational atmosphere here at Penn State. I could relate with the girl that said she is afraid she would not be ready for college. I think all schools should have equal opportunities for education because it will only hurt the student in the future if they are only receiving limited education in high school.

I never would have thought that white women benefit the most from affirmative action. Honestly I thought that women of color benefitted the most because I thought affirmative action was designed to help people that were discriminated against. I feel like women of color get that double dose of discrimination because they are a minority and they are women. White women were just discriminated against because they were women not because of the color of their skin or their race. I think it is just a way for white men to benefit from affirmative action. I only feel this way because white men are the people who designed affirmative action.

The lecture about immigration was very interesting. I learned new things about immigration and who regulates the immigration. I was surprised that big business regulates immigration. I always thought that it was the government, but big business does have its influence on the government. Big business does not really care about these immigrants. I feel like they are only worried about finding someone to work for them for a below average income. I think if they really cared about the immigrants that come to the United States they would probably try to at least help their employees become legal citizens. Only then will I think that big business has a positive influence on immigration laws and immigration regulation. I was offended by that guy from the video that was ranting about immigrants and that they do not deserve rights that we have as citizens. Immigrants are people that are just coming to the United States in search of a better life. I see immigration basically as history repeating itself. For hundreds of years people have been migrating to the United States. Immigration is a part of American culture. Everyone in the United States is a descendant of someone that has come from another country. Even white people in the United States have grandparents that were immigrants that possibly came through Ellis Island or some other port that immigrants travel to. I think people would see immigration differently if they were to think about their grandparents or great grandparents and how they were treated when they came to the United States. When my great grandfather came to the United State from Spain, many years ago, they made him change his last name. This is just one way Americans try to strip immigrants of their culture and try to make them conform to American culture. They want immigrants to change their traditions, language, and sometimes religion. It is not fair to try to make someone change who they are or where they come from. Little things that people say for example, “Here in America we speak English,” can be a way of trying to strip someone of their culture. I think that the United States being a multicultural nation is what makes this country the great nation that it is today. We would not be one of the most powerful nations without immigration and multiculturalism. All of our greatest traditions and even our greatest food come from influences from immigrants from other countries. I think that people in America should try to embrace immigration but at the same time regulate it in a way that we may all benefit from immigration. Immigrants should not have to worry about only receiving jobs with low income or struggling to become a legal American citizen.

I agree. I feel like America is basically all amount monetary gain. That is one reason why immigration and the immigration laws will not change in order to benefit the people coming to our country. Big business is controlling and regulating immigration just so that they may use the immigrants for work. They are not concerned about them becoming legal citizens or anything else that may benefit them. I also think that how immigrants are being compensated for these jobs is ridiculous. Immigrants should be treated fairly. I think that these businesses that employ these immigrants should try to help them become legal citizens since they are working for them for below average pay.

I agree. People of the LGBT community have been treated unfairly and deserve the same rights as everyone else. People have to understand that they are an oppressed community like different races have been in the past. I think people have to stop and realize that history is repeating itself in a way. African Americans were mistreated, stripped of their rights, and discriminated against just like the LGBT community is being treated today. People try to use religion as a way to justify it. One sin is no greater than the other so I think if they want to treat people of the LGBT community unfairly they should do the same to the many other people that commit other sins if they wanted to use religion against the LGBT community.

After listening to the lecture for lesson twelve about multiculturalism and LGBT issues I started to think about how I viewed these issues personally. I would consider myself to be a tolerant person. I have LGBT friends and I think that they should be treated equally and fairly as someone that might be heterosexual. When it comes to marriage I am still unsure about how I feel about the marriage. Technically, a marriage is said to be a union between a man and a woman, but homosexuals want to call their union a marriage as well. I am not sure if it should be called a marriage because it is not a union between a man and a women but a union between two people of the same sex. This can be my own ignorance but I am not against homosexuals being in some type of union. All of my life I have grown up in the church and I have always heard that homosexuality is an abomination but this has never changed my personal views of the topic. I thought it was funny that Sam Richards included the religious views of homosexuality. Technically in the bible it is a sin but who is to say which sin is a greater than the next. Which sins are going to keep you out of the heaven of God?
The discussion on multiculturalism was the most interesting to me. I wasn’t surprised when living in a community of all minorities received the lowest percent. This was probably because most communities will all minorities are associated with high levels of poverty and crime. Personally, I would not have chosen to live in a community of all minorities either. I would have chosen to live in a community that was half white and half minority. I like the idea of a mixture of cultures. I think it would be interesting and that everyone would be able to learn from different people in the neighborhoods. I think there would probably a decrease in racism and discrimination because everyone is on the same equally balanced level. Living in a community of majority of one culture is like being king of the mountain and everyone else does not have the equal chance or opportunity. The majority always has the power over the minority. Multiculturalism is a great thing that everyone can benefit from. I think at first it may be intimidating to white people because they may feel like they are being overpowered, outnumbered, and that they are losing control. Multiculturalism may be the one thing that will consequently end the ideology of the king of the mountain. It will give the United States a chance to create its own culture

I thought it was interesting to that some people of color may grow up thinking they are white. I would think that even though they grew up in a majority white community or culture that they would still be able to tell the differences in their appearance. I think this is mostly their parents fault for not informing them of the heritage and culture. I do not think there is something wrong with growing up within another culture, but I still believe people should be exposed to their own culture and heritage. This way people would know their history and where they come from.

After listening to the lecture about the racial identity stages for people of color it made me think about why people of color are further along in the stages than white people are in their racial identity stages. People of color definitely reach the awakening stage a lot faster than white people because people of color reach the awakening stage at a younger age than white people do. I know that people of color at a young age are told who they can trust and who not to trust. The older people in my family would sometimes say that you cannot always trust white people or my white friends. This was a way for me to see the differences from me and them. When people are influenced in such a way it is easier for them to separate themselves. I think the first time I began to see the us and them was when I was a lot younger when a white boy that lived in my neighborhood called me the N word. At first I did not understand what it meant I just knew it was supposed to be a bad thing.
Sam began to talk about the third stage of immersion I realized some of my African American friends from back at home are definitely in this stage. They are all about being African American and really do not care of learning about other cultures. For example, if they were to take an Africana Studies course and there was a white student in the class they would probably say “ Why are they in this class?” Personally I do not think like this. I would like to believe I am in the fourth stage, disintegration. I can recognize when an African American is being racist or hypocritical towards white people. Sometimes African Americans will complain that they were being discriminated against but yet they do the same thing to other people. Just like if a white person would rather hire another white person over someone of another race or culture. I know African Americans that do the same and would rather hire other African Americans. They try to defend themselves by saying they are only trying to give their people a fair chance, but in doing so they are discriminating against people of other races.
I think the LL Bean catalog picture that Sam Richards showed were interesting. I think someone in the immersion stage would still find a way to be upset even though African Americans are in the catalog. I think they would make a comment on how they make them dress like white people. They might even make a comment that they are trying to force white culture on the African American community.

I think it is a positive thing to get into these arguments and debates because it is a way to inform people of what really goes on in society. Not everyone gets the information we receive in this class and they may learn from the argument. Not everyone will listen because of how they were raised and their own personal beliefs. I think even if they were raised in such way they should at least be open to the topics of race and ethnicity. It is somewhat of an untouched topic because someone is always concerned about offending someone else.

When I think about what stage of the Stages of Racial Identity I am in I believe I am in stage three, revisioning. I began to see racial inequality when I started college. I really did not notice it in high school because I grew up in a mainly African American neighborhood. The only thing that I noticed in high school was that white people did not like it when African Americans or other minority groups moved into their neighborhoods in larger quantities. When it was just having a minority homes here and there it was not a problem. But when minority families began to get better paying jobs and could afford to live in the more expensive and better neighborhoods, the white people began to move away. Another thing was they did not want my town to have an African American mayor. The people in the surrounding towns began to complain as well. After taking Soc 119, I realized things that were not presented to me before about racial inequality and the privileges that white people may have. I also believe I am in the revisioning stage because I do not see a problem with political correctness. I know white people use political correctness because they do not want to offend anyone that may be a minority. They are trying to avoid racial confrontations and being called a racist. It is really easy for minorities to do that to white people. Although I believe I am in the revisioning stage, I do not have any anger towards white people. Honestly I only show anger to white people if I know that have committed something racist towards someone of color. I am not going to blame a white person for something that their ancestors have done. It would not be fair to criticize someone for an action that is completely out of the control. I know white people are afraid that African Americans or other minority groups would blame them for something their ancestors did.
Another thing from the lecture that I think was interesting was the two twin sisters. At the beginning of the video I thought they were two regular girls but they are white supremacist. Their mom had a valid point about the situation. Children are going to do what their parents teach them. My parents are Christian so they are going to teach me how to be a Christian. So you really should not target the children for criticism. They are only doing what is normal to them and it is how they were raised. Others may see it as the children are terrible racist but they would not see it how I explained. They other commercial about the furniture store was weird. Why do people even need to make a commercial saying that every race and ethnicity is welcome? Shouldn’t it be automatic and doesn’t need to be announced that they accept everyone? I wouldn’t even shop there because I would feel like they would keep reminding me of my race. I know I’m African American. I don’t need someone to remind me in a furniture store.