I’ve learned a lot from taking this course and I have to say that I’m very pleased with the way everything turned out this semester (I’ve actually recommended the course to many of my friends) Soc119 has made quite an impression on me, changing the way I think, and perceive and interact with others. I often find myself analyzing the association between sociology and culture situations that I may not have even noticed the past.

When I was a kid, my father always insisted that when I go to college I should take a course in philosophy because it will significantly impact the way I perceive the world (by-the-way, he was right). Well, when I have kids, I’m going to suggest that they take both philosophy and sociology for that same reason. Honestly, I think students should be required to take at least one course in race and ethnicity in college. I vividly remember Sam stressing throughout the semester that one big problem in our society is that very few people are willing to talk about or even acknowledge race and/or ethnicity; this has probably contributed to the perpetuation of racism/prejudice and bigotry throughout history.

Among the numerous eye-opening discussions we had in class, one that really struck-a-chord was the ‘stages of racial awareness’ for white and black/brown people. As a Black/African American male I was already familiar the paradigm (I just hadn’t seen it clearly outlined on a screen and dissected for an hour before). However, when Sam used that same model for the LGBT community at the end of that lecture I found myself relating to them for the first time. The model Sam used for white people was much more informative for me. As a minority, I’ve never been offered the other side’s perspective. Frankly, I didn’t care what white people thought about race/ethnicity; they had the privilege of being born into the ‘dominant race,’ so what problems could the possibly have? Do they even think about race?

This class has taught me to be much more accepting of others, regardless of their background, heritage, practices, and/or appearance. Trust me, I’ve been on the receiving end of racism and bigotry in the past, so prior to Soc119 I had an understanding of what others had to go through. I think that I’ve become much more empathetic though. I can’t say that I no longer judge people who are different from me (that’s not practical given human nature). But I do make the effort to base my opinion of others predominantly on facts. I think Soc119 is a step in the right direction and I would encourage more people to learn about how race has been woven into our society.

It’s hard to say; hypothetical questions about situations as serious as this are difficult to answer. By definition, they haven’t or never will happen (there’s also the fact that any answer is biased and can’t technically be correct). When the issue first hit the papers I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t have all the details but I was aware that although JoePa wasn’t the alleged culprit, he was still involved to some extent. Like any of my peers, I was highly upset when I learned that JoePa’s position at our school was at risk; but as I gathered the facts I found myself agreeing more and more with the minority of students who believed that Paterno deserved to go. As much as I want things to return to the way they were a few weeks ago, I still believe that Joe could have done more to prevent this situation from get so ugly (literally threatening himself and his career).

My gut feeling leads me to believe that the incident would have been handled much different, but honestly I’m not too sure. I can’t say exactly how it would have happened but I imagine that if Sandusky was a Black or Hispanic/Latino this incident wouldn't have erupted into a giant fiasco. We know from the allegations that a grad student caught Sandusky in the act and reported it to JoePa. JoePa then took debatably minimal action and reported it to university staff, who then covered it up. I’m thinking that had Sandusky been of a more ethnic background the crime would not have been covered up (or at least for this long).

I think the main reason this story erupted in such a way is because Joe failed to release what he knew to local authorities allowing Sandusky’s heinous acts to continue for almost another decade. It has become apparent to me that as a society we subconsciously associate darker skin with crime. This is evident in the clips we watched in class that analyzed public reaction to theft. It was observed that bystanders reacted differently to thieves of different races. I’m not accusing any of the people involved in the scandal of racism, but I don’t think our school’s staff would have been as inclined to ‘save face’ if Sandusky was Black or Hispanic/Latino.

My understanding is that the incident erupted and went viral because of how long it was covered up. I think that if JoePa revealed the details of the crime as soon as he found out, he and maybe even President Spanier would still have their jobs. More specifically, if Sandusky were of a different race, I think that his crime would have surfaced much sooner and Penn State’s reputation would not have been as tarnished.

I totally agree, our generation definitely is “fucked.” I wasn’t in the least bit offended when Sam said this in lecture last week. I actually thought it was funny; in fact I almost posted the statement on Facebook (that might just be my cynicism though).

First of all, the dynamics of society have been completely uprooted. Life in the 21st century is beast that has yet to be conquered and honestly, I’m afraid that many of my counterparts never will. I don’t think our rapid and exponential progression of technology necessarily reflects my generation’s intellectual and social development. Yes, the average youth (including young adults) in America today has a more access to information and education than our predecessors but it doesn’t mean all of us are benefiting from it. Since the 70’s, our global rank in the caliber of our educational system has dropped from 1 (being the highest) to 20-something; and I wouldn’t be surprised if next year it was even lower.

Aside from my generation’s inability to receive efficient 21st century education, we have the ‘plague of social networking’ to deal with. Since these platforms have gone viral, it has become virtually impossible (no pun intended) for my peers and me to function without having access them. My roommates and I have a Facebook profile but no Twitter account, and are considered the minority in our generation. Isn’t that sad? Very few people under 25 can survive mentally/socially without Twitter. The funny thing is though, one would think that our use of these portals would have tremendously strengthened our unity, but it hasn’t. In the riots and uproars that have taken place among my peers worldwide, very little has come out of it. The “Occupy Wall Street Protestors” and “London Rioters” have proved little to noting about how Twitter and Facebook can invoke change other. Half of the people at Wall Street who demand change, and to have their expectations met but haven’t yet devised a plan.

It really bothers me that I have to inherit the debt of previous generations. As adults, the worst issues my parent’s generation had to concern themselves with were a couple of wars and HIV/AIDS (i.e. 1970’s and 80’s). Oh yeah, and the depletion of the ozone layer, which will never grow back! These are all problems that my generation has to deal with as well.

I wonder how many of my peers are aware that our “Baby Boomer” parents are going to eat up all the social security benefits and as a result it will be unavailable to us upon our retirement. Or that our daily/hourly exposure to cell phones and laptops has not been yet been tied to cancer because these devices have been around for just over a decade. Even better, that exact cause(s) of global warming has not been elucidated yet; seriously, scientists are still developing hypotheses. Well, we’ll see. Some of the best problems have been solved with time and lots of trial and error. Someone in this equation is fucked, and only time has the answer.

No, not really; I guess it depends on the situation. However, my opinion is kind of biased for 2 reasons 1) my dad is an immigrant and 2) I speak a little French. Also, I’ve been surrounded by many different cultures and languages all my life, so my answer probably isn’t very reflective of a typical American’s opinion. I think asking Americans who have little to no contact (or lineage) with other countries would be much more accurate.

The only example I can think occurred when I was waiting on line at a Burger King (or whatever it was). A few Indian guys, around my age, got on line behind and I don’t remembered what I did exactly, but I remember that it was something that I found embarrassing (i.e. sneezing or dropping something); whatever it was, it was totally my fault. Anyway, the guys started telling each other jokes in a different language right after my unexpected action (I also noticed that they were silent up until then). I couldn’t help but turn around to see if they were making fun of me or just having a good time. I had no way of ever figuring it out so it was completely up to me to decide. I didn’t confront them but I did feel a little uneasy (given the circumstances, I think that emotion was justified).

Realistically, there are few situations like that that would make me uncomfortable. I find other cultures very fascinating, and I like to think that I’m knowledgeable of many of them. Generally, when I hear people speaking other languages around me (especially one’s that I’m not familiar with) I just assume they’re having a normal conversation. Why should that make me uncomfortable? Am I supposed to assume it’s about me? Why do Americans have so much trouble accepting people that are different from them? That just shows how egocentric we are. I think when Americans encounter people speaking foreign languages many of them assume that people are talking about them.

Maybe if more Americans learn a second language this wouldn’t be a problem. Personally, if could choose the language I learned first, it would be French. The romance languages are beautiful! They are so widely spoken and they stem from the same language, Latin. Learning anyone of them makes it easier to learn another; I’m currently learning Spanish, and I’m breezing through it because of my foundation in French.

Honestly, the fact that we even have to discuss this suggests that we have a lot of social changes to make. Hopefully the current influx of immigrants will help to remedy this.

So I guess the best way to answer this question is, “hell no!”

Obviously, the answer everyone wants to hear is, “Oh, yes of course, we’re the monsters that ravaged the indigenous peoples and stole their land; they deserve every inch that their ancestors were cheated out of.” Clearly that’s not practical for a number of reasons; 1) Modern Americans aren’t directly responsible for the troubles that the settlers instilled on the indigenous many years ago. It’s no longer our feud. 2) The dynamics of society have changed exponentially. Our population has more than tripled since this incident occurred so even if we were to “give” them back the land it would just create more problems between us. Where would we go? How would we get there? Should we just leave the country and return to the respective nation(s) our ancestors were from? The answers are neither practical nor feasible. Not to mention, a mass exodus of displaced Americans would greatly affect the global economy. Essentially, we would be dissolving this nation.

The best answer is obviously helping Native Americans get back on their feet. I don’t know if “reestablish” is a good word being that they never really had a seat in Modern American society. I can’t speak for the indigenous peoples, especially since I know very little about them, but I’m assuming that giving them land and no resources isn’t what they really want; and it’s not the answer, even if it was. Similarly, white people owe nothing to African Americans personally, so giving us reparations for the hardships our lineage has endured won’t solve anything.

I think we need to integrate the indigenous peoples into the society that we have built without them. There are plenty of scholarships out there that appeal to Native Americans, and from what I understand, university and college admissions requirements for them are relaxed. That’s a good start but we should be investing in the schools in/near N.A. reservations. How about actually talking with the people in these reserves to see what exactly they want? I’m sure they have plenty of valuable input.

There are a number of issues, aside from the tension our past has created, that are rarely mentioned. The rational and moral aspect suggests that anyone with the resources should at least have the desire to help people in need. We are literally allowing members of our nation to suffer and die as we ship our military to countries like Somalia, Iraq, and Sudan to better their poor, instead. This is unacceptable! I don’t see the rationale behind attempting to assist our neighbors first when people at home are still suffering. Yes, it’s our political duty as a developed nation to aid the billions of people suffering around the world but clearly it’s just that, political. At the very least, Americans should been more inclined to help our indigenous citizens, simply because it makes us look bad to rest of the world. But we won’t. We’ll continue to eat our steak and lamb in our cozy suburban homes while our kids party for 4 years across the country in these overpriced institutions.

FIRST OF ALL, IT’S FREAKING FAIR BECAUSE THERE ARE PLENTY OF THINGS THAT WOMEN CAN DO THAT MEN CANNOT. Ladies can easily make a living off of their bodies, and become very successful. For example, Tyra Banks was nothing more than a pretty lady who modeled fancy clothes up and down some walkway, and now she’s a major TV personality and a “business woman” (whatever that is). Also maternity leave, what the hell is that!? It doesn’t take an entire winter to push a baby out. I can understand a few weeks or so but 2-3 months, really? There are plenty of artificial formulas for infants that you can now substitute for breast feeding; plus you and your partner (given you have one at the time) can alternate caring for the child or hire a sitter.

SECOND, NO ONE WOULD TALK TO YOU IF YOU WALKED AROUND IN SWEATS AND T-SHIRTS ALL THE TIME. THE MORE SKIN AND CURVES YOU SHOW, THE MORE MALE ATTENTION YOU GET. CLEARLY WOMEN KNOW THAT BECAUSE THEY WOULDN’T PRESENT THEMSELVES IN SUCH A WAY IF IT DIDN’T REAP THESE BENEFITS.

Why do you think there’s “ladies night out” at clubs and bars, or “ladies in free before 11 PM?” Club owners know that men just want to see women in these ridiculous but sexy outfits (and that women are willing to wear them). From today on, how about women wear flats and comfy (but presentable) attire to the club/bar? You guys can buy men drinks, hold the door for us, pay for the cab ride, even pick up the tab when we go out on dates. Girls spending money on guys? I like the sound of that!

I’m sick of hearing women complain about the petty aspects of sexism/chauvinism (or whatever term you favor), like style of dress. Seriously, the average woman’s lifespan (regardless of the country you pick) is longer than the average man, and you’re complaining about clothes? IF IT’S SUCH A BIG DEAL, THEN REFORMAT YOUR FREAKING WARDROBE! IF YOU WANT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY, THEN STOP WEARING THONGS, LINGERIE, HIGH HEELS, SPAGHETTI STRAPS, TIGHTS, AND LOW CUT BREAST BARING V-NECKS!

I HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT WOMEN, IN GENERAL, DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY REALLY WANT. Come on ladies, are 3-4 inch heels, skimpy skirts, and halter tops comfortable in single digit weather? I read an article on AOL last week regarding protests, called “slut walks.” Their premise is to address all the injustices, inequalities, and social struggles that women around the world go through every day. Anyway, the author started ranting about how women should be able to show as much skin as they want without having to worry about some guy checking them out or trying to get their number. That makes no sense! You’re just throwing out mixed signals. That’s like dressing up in a clown suit and getting upset when people ask you to tell jokes. I’m all for equality but if you’re going to complain but not make the effort to change anything then shut up!

I think history is almost entirely to blame. Throughout history, women have been personified as the “fairer sex.” This literally means they were considered polite, refined, and elegant. It is only in the past hundred years or so that women have been able to voice their opinions, let alone vote or attend college. Women were regarded as delicate individuals that had no reason to lift a finger or engage in politics. Those beliefs and ideals are the foundation of how women were treated years ago. I remember watching a documentary a couple of years ago explaining that it was considered impolite for women to laugh out loud. Hard to believe, right?

Although things are much different now it should still be very clear why many people struggle with regarding men and women equal. This actually goes back to last week’s lecture when Sam was iterating how difficult it is for people to act against their beliefs. If I can recall, he showed several clips that demonstrated how difficult it was for the average person to suppress their instincts and stop a thief in the act. The latter examples depicted a woman as the thief instead. Passersby (particularly men) were more inclined to help the potential thief than apprehend her. Why? It’s difficult for us, as human beings, to go “against the grain.” Our minds are saturated with our opinions and beliefs about the world, so in essence we “see what we want to see” and “believe what we want to believe.”

When it comes down to it, men and women have very different physiological appearances. The average women is significantly smaller (height, weight, muscle mass) than the average man. I highly doubt that it’s a stretch to say size contributes to this persona of female innocence. I don’t mean to generalize but if you tower over your new boss by an entire foot you may make assumptions about his/her abilities to manage you and your coworkers.

Now with race, again, it has to do with history. Racial/ethnic groups have all gone through different struggles in the past. Like with women, certain peoples have suffered more than others. Clearly, the negative views from the past have shaped hour perception of each other today. The actions of a certain ethnic group can have a rippling effect on the way they and others are perceived. For example, the 9/11 attacks on the WTC towers put an unwanted spotlight on everyone of middle eastern descent and/or Islamic heritage. The people belonging to this category are plagued with western hatred because of it. Also, during slavery, Africans were seen as subhuman. Today, there are stereotypes that depict black people (particularly males) as criminals or untrustworthy. Today, both black people and Muslims/middles easterners have to work past the persona they’ve involuntarily acquired. It’s not fair, but that’s the way things are.

“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for lifetime.”

Instead of shipping Haiti products like food and clothes we should be sending RESOURCES and SUPPLIESS. WE SHOULDN’T BE DOING ANYHTING FOR HAITI; INSTEAD WE SHOULD BE GIVING THEM THE TOOLS TO DO FOR THEMSELVES. The nation is in bad shape and will NEVER become self-sufficient if countries like the US keep dismantling its economy. The country is constantly being bombarded with foreign (US and/or UK) products that are similar or identical to that of local (Haitian) businesses. Our subsidized products prevent Haitian entrepreneurs from starting over. Instead of competing with each other, these businesses have to combat major US corporations with abundant resources and funding.

It’s obvious from watching these videos that the people of Haiti have the drive to succeed, and are seeking a way to better their families and their country. Most of them know what they need but have no means of obtaining it. Store owner, Anaes Blaise, has to bump up the prices of her merchandise because the materials that go into them are so expensive. One of the articles mentioned that many material/supplies used in Haitian businesses are bought from warehouses in the Dominican Republic. If we could open warehouses and factories to store and produce products in the Haiti, we could significantly reduce the price of the materials used by these local shops.

Another thing is technology. The majority of these businesses lack power and machines that are specialized for their industry. This slows down production, thus capital, and keeps demand above supply. This also means no computers. Without modern technology, these businesses are left in the dark. From what I’ve seen, these entrepreneurs don’t want to be babied; they don’t want the US to SAVE them, rather a push in the right direction.

I’m not sure what I personally can do right now; the best thing I’ve come up with, so far, urbanization and development. A lot if the videos showed people running businesses out of their homes or preparing products in a small room. Without adequate resources, how can the Haitian people expect to preform optimal service for the prospective consumer? If we build factories and warehouses (for local businesses and markets) we can employ Haitian construction workers. The businesses will thrive off of the available product and the workers can invest their earnings back into their own economy.

Another thing that was stressed was education. A country can’t flourish or progress without properly educated citizens. Maybe, we can set up a program that grants the younger generation an opportunity to study abroad (in nations like the US, UK, Canada etc.). The program should only be offered to students willing to return to Haiti upon graduation and fulfill their respective aspirations (e.g. work as a doctor, engineer, politician etc.). There’s plenty of worked to be done and this is only the tip of the iceberg.

I am black and I have been asked this question a number of times, by people of all different ethnic backgrounds. I’ll admit that I use the word occasionally, but only when joking with my BLACK friends. The major problem with the word is not necessarily who’s saying it or how it’s said, rather the history behind it. For years our people (Blacks/African Americans) were enslaved and treated worse than animals; our women raped, our families split up. As we know, there’s a laundry list of injustices that went on. One BIG thing is that this only occurred about 100 years ago; there are literally people walking around that have lived that long.

The word was originally used by slave masters in an oppressive manor towards black people. Now that the negative connotation has been diluted somewhat, a lot of us [black people] don’t see it the same way. For example, let’s say your family has a term of endearment; and let’s say it makes fun of a not-so-great physical feature you family shares. You may use it jokingly amongst your brothers and sisters, but if someone outside of the family were to use it, you’d probably get heated. It’s the same thing with the “N-word.” It has unofficially been established as a black term of endearment.

If you think about it, there really isn’t a racial slur for white people. The worst we’ve come up with is cracker and P.Y.T., SO IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THAT WHITE PEOPLE WILL HAVE DIFFICULTY GRASPING THIS CONCEPT.

The other emphasis is context. You NEVER hear black people actually CALLING each other the “N-word.” We rather substitute it other for words like “guy” or “friend.” If a black guy says, “Yeah he’s my [N-word],” he means, “Oh that’s’ my friend” or “That’s my boy.” If a white person were to say the same exact thing, it would be taken as, “He’s my servant/slave; He’s below me.”

I myself HAVE been called the “N-word” by a white person who did in fact intend on offending me. Surprisingly, I wasn’t offended. I was more upset that he made the effort. I was more ticked off that he was proud of being racist, or at least ignorant enough to think that America hasn’t changed in 100 years.

The usage of the term differs among generations. I find that our parents’ generation has a bigger problem with the word than our generation. Although I may use the “N-word,” I’m still somewhat adverse to it. I think MOST black people would agree that the word shouldn’t be used by ANYONE, so the last thing we want is to hear white people say it freely. I guess the main thing is everyone knows that there’s an advantage to being white, so allowing you guys to freely use the “N-word” would symbolize our submission to you as the “master race.”

I think identifying Obama’s race is difficult. First of all, it doesn’t matter how he classifies himself. He’s the current leader of our nation, so shouldn’t we be concerning ourselves with how effective he is at running the country, rather than what ethnic group(s) he belongs to? Personally, I’ve always considered Obama to be Black. I’ve always been aware of what nationality his parents were, and going by my previous understanding (prior to Sam’s lecture yesterday) of this the word I thought I was justified. Realistically, I didn’t know there was a difference between “Black” and “African American;” I was under the impression that “Black” was the informal/slang term and “African American” was the politically correct term.

My new understanding of this racial category is that there are 4 main subcategories within it. The first, African, identifies anyone native to the continent, regardless of where they currently reside in the world today. African American encompasses all the Non-White, Non-Hispanic/Latino, individuals who can trace their lineage back to American slavery. This is independent of a person’s complexion, ethnic group, beliefs, culture, and/or how mixed his or her DNA is. Now, West Indian includes any Non-Hispanic individuals who were born or have lineage in any of the Caribbean Islands such Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad. If I remember correctly, the last and most confusing is Black. This very broad group includes the darker skinned more ethnic featured subgroups of people around the world. These people have lineage that traces back to Africa (not necessarily slavery) and is somewhat expressed in their physical features.

After yesterday’s lecture I still classify Obama as Black, but for a different reason. Since his mother was white and his father was African, he is biracial. Theoretically he can embrace either heritage and label himself accordingly. However, according to whoever invented “race,” any persons with even an ounce of black blood is considered black. This reinforces my view that race is still a big issue for our nation [and the world]. Halle Berry, Vin Diesel, and Mariah Carey are all what is called “mulattoes” (and technically so is Barack). In fact, Halle’s mother was white, so she is just as biracial as Barack. What I don’t understand is why it’s top priority for the nation to figure out what race Obama is but not Halle. Had Obama been an actor, this would not have been an issue. Everyone makes such a big deal about how to categorize Barack in terms of religion and race. I personally couldn’t care any less. The only reason I identify him any differently today is because my understanding of the parameters for being “Black/African American” has changed. Obama should be classified as the race he accepts because unlike most of the people attacking him, he has parents on either side of the spectrum.