I wouldn’t feel more sympathy for Tammy if she were Native American. I feel that the plight of Native Americans and people like Tammy is similar in modern American. Natives and poor people are for the most part voiceless and not on the radar of the American conscious. Very few people know how Natives are living in America today, just like very few people know that people are living in the conditions that Tammy is living in. Natives alive today were born into their misfortune, as was Tammy. I suppose you could say the system is harder to maneuver for Native Americans as opposed to poor white people, but determinists think that all you have to do is work hard and you’ll be good. You only make 1,500 dollars a year, work harder. Your father had 22 children and fell into poverty, work harder. I believe equally in free-will and determinism, and I understand that if you get dealt a bad hand then that is often times it for you ie., you won’t live comfortably, you won’t achieve your goals. Based on that I can honestly only sympathize on an even keel. Partly because without empathy (I haven’t experienced what these people have) everything is speculation. How can you assess Native American lives as being harder than Tammy’s life without living both? I don’t think you can, and that’s the only way I could see sympathizes with one over the other.

I think the modern stigma associated with reincarnation is just a left over sentiment of the rejection of the Eastern world by the West. There used to be other such stigmas, but they are now being ignored or even embraced by Western culture. Such stigmas such as holistic approaches to medicine and herbal health solutions have begun to be embraced widely across Western society. Maybe people are still iffy about reincarnation because of the religious context that comes with it. I remember when people were discrediting yoga and meditation because they were not Christian practices. So, for the most part maybe reincarnation bashing is coming from the same general anti-Eastern religion camp. And, I feel like this stigma is a rather insignificant one. It’s not something you think is taboo or something of that nature. I’ve not encountered anyone who is openly stigmatizing reincarnation, and at the end of the day it comes down to religious insensitivity, because reincarnation is a religious theory.

While I won't try to act like I remember all that that girl had to say I will try to respond appropriately to the question of how I felt about her comments. First off, I think she was courageous to stand up in front of the group and say what she felt the need to say. I think she was moved to defend her people against the fear and hate that Americans feel for the Iranian people as a whole. That's quite commendable, although, I think, unnecessary. I think it was unnecessary for the venue, situation, or whatever. While, I feel I know what I message is I don't think I know who her audience is. Was she talking to us, the students in the class, or the guest speakers, or the the American citizenry as a whole? If I knew the answer to this question I might have been better able to receive her message and write how exactly I feel about it. But, since I can only speculate I will assume to was talking to us, the students in the room. In that case I think her passion was misplaced. If not for the fact that college students are usually more liberal than the general public than for the reason that student in Soc119 are even more liberal ( liberal being used not politically but to mean accepting or empathic).

Again, I want to repeat that I don't remember all of what she said, I feel somewhat confident in saying that her message was applicable for a smaller percentage of people than she thinks. But, of course I might be under the impression that people are smarter than they are. With that said, hating the Iranian people for the ills of their government is stupid. Just as Americans wouldn't claim responsibility for the atomic bombing of Japan in World War II, it is not fair to blame people for the overt sins of their government.

From what I understand the Iranians are a lovely people. They are very generous and kind to American tourists. It's the Iranian government that doesn't like Americans, and vice-versa. So hopefully I am right and most people aren't stupid enough to hate a people they no nothing about simply because of a deference in political ideology between their respective countries.

I don't really understand what the first question was asking but the second was interesting by itself so, I'll just answer that one. First off, I've never been offended by black only dating sites. The way i see it is if a black woman were actively trying to meet someone she would only pursue black guys, or whatever. I don't know if the big, general dating sites have race filters, but i would assume people would be up in arms about that as well. Black dating sites, Christian dating sites, or any kind of specific dating site is only trying to serve a target audience. Nothing wrong with that.
Now, to address the second part: the idea of black scholarships. I'm black, and I don't really get offended by black scholarships, just like i don't get offended by scholarships for Asians, or Jews, or left-handed people. The girl in the video makes a good point when she asks how can this dude be offended while he's filling the application out. That doesn't make sense to me because your thought process would have to be: 1) This is offense to me, so I'm going to back off and let some sucker win, or 2) This is offense to me, but I'm still gonna get mine. And, I definitely don't think white people should get offended by black only scholarships. The scholarship is a pretty small consolation compared to all the other stuff black people have, and have had, to deal with.

People still believe Obama is a Muslim because Republican talking heads question his Christianity and accuse him of being a Muslim. Even though, all evidence points to the contrary. People fear what they do not understand. And, they don't understand things that are different. Obama's name is different, his skin color is different, he is different. Thus, people fear Obama, and people fear Islam. Somehow the two just got mixed up in their heads. I would say the the majority, if not all of the people who accuse the president of being Muslim don't know anything about it....So, sure, maybe Obama is a Muslim. So what? A more pressing question is: Why does having a Muslim president scare people in the land of freedom?