Well this class was interesting from the very beginning I thought. There were without a doubt some more down moments than up I thought. From the very first class I felt there was some tension between the different races within the class. I am not really sure why I thought there was but ever since the whole “colored people” versus people of color comment arose there was a difference within the class. The Haiti project I felt took up too much time even though I do understand that there has to be something done there I just feel that it was not a necessity to talk about it every single class period. Sam really harped on the Native American issue as if we, as students, could really do something to make such a huge difference. I really do not think that that issue should have been brought up in this class because it is an introduction class of sociology. The whole entire topic is just very awkward for me so during those class periods that he would talk non stop about Native Americans I really tuned him out and did not pay much attention. I am not sure if he was trying to make us feel bad for what had happened all those years ago or what was going on but the pity talk did not really work for me. When the man from the tribe came in and Sam talked to him he was even more awkward than the original lectures and he continued to make it more awkward by saying everything was red land and what not and yet again as if we had some direct relation to what had happened all those years ago. The first few class periods were my favorite by far though because of the open discussion between classmates and everything that was being discussed. Yes, there were some interesting and somewhat controversial topics at hand there but they were just great discussions before the colored comment arose which made me think by putting the girl that made that comment on the spot would make her never want to speak in another class again just because she made a comment in class. I never knew that that comment would have even been offensive to people of color because I am so used to hearing it from my grandparents that grew up in a different era than we have. The needy penis lecture was hands down my favorite because of the interaction between the class and the instructors. I am all about interacting and getting involved in class but this lecture I was very happy and content to just sit down and listen to everything that was going on.

As an American I feel that it would be extremely hard to put myself into an Arab or Muslim person’s shoes especially if they were not a state side Muslim or Arab because it would be hard to see some of the American troops when they are in battle against me. If I could see through their eyes and not know who I was before I stepped into their body yes, it would be extremely difficult for me. I feel like the biggest thing that would be of great difficulty would be learning the new religion and practicing in ways in which they do. The Muslim faith is very strong in their faith and has a lot of time and effort put into it. I think that with all that time and effort being put into my religion I would have absolutely no time to do other activities that I would do in my actual body. The other thing would be dressing the way that most of the men do in those Arab countries. I have no problem what so ever with growing a beard, I already have one, but keeping it for that long would be challenging seeing as to how I shave it off on occasion because it gets too hot in the summer. Those men keep their beards until they die and in that heat of the desert I could not even imagine how hot their faces must be. As far as their dress, I could get used to the sandals everyday and possible robes, I forget the actual name for the robes they wear. I think that those robes are quite airy for the desert which would be nice to have considering the hot temperatures and the sandals would be a perfect match. The cloth that some of the men have on top of their heads I think would help with the natural elements but it would also be really hot too so again, that would be something to get used to. Another thing to get used to would be the language. Again, if I had no recollection of my past life then I would obviously be fine with it but if I was an American stuck in an Arab’s body then yes it would be extremely difficult language to learn. My father has learned the Arabic language and he has told me just how hard it really is and how many types there are where as in the United States there many be many different dialects or accents, but it is ultimately the same everywhere. Trading places with an Arab or Muslim would be very hard for an American to do I think because of the obvious then also the things underneath that some Americans may still hold with them.

In my mind I feel that the whole immigration issue has become a real problem in this country. I completely accept that we are the melting pot and always will be but there has to be a line that we can draw in order to help prevent an issue like immigration from getting out of control. I already feel that immigration is out of control and I think that a lot of Americans would agree with me on this. I am not saying that I have the perfect solution for the immigration issues in this country because I clearly do not but I do think that there are some things that need to be done in order to keep our awesome status of a great country to be a part of. The first thing would not to deport all of our illegal immigrants because as we all said in class there would be a complete devastation to the agricultural industry because of the massive amounts of jobs opening up because illegal immigrants man those positions. Instead of deporting them I think that we should just shut our borders for a while and allow ourselves to adjust to the current status of the country. As for the illegal immigrants trying to enter this country like fellow classmates I think that there should be serious actions against those people for trying to enter unlawfully. Not only from the United States but from their home country as well because it is almost, in my eyes, an act of treason against them. I do not really think that shooting them on the spot would really work for the long run because they are human beings and that simply is too old school for me. As for “holding a fugitive” as an American citizen I think that they should have serious harsh penalties that stretch back to colonial times. If a person was caught keeping and helping on of the rebels then they were seriously punished whether it be their home being burned down or whatever they were punished and of course there will always be those selected few people that will continue to do it. With the amount of border control officers we have out there and they are really putting themselves on the line every day for us by being out there I really feel that there has to be something done to help them out with safety as well as compensation for their work on the real front line of America. I do not see the reasoning behind Americans saying that the illegal immigrants have a right to be here if they broke so many laws to get here. There are ways to enter this country without having to potentially put you life in danger or anyone elses.

The whole issue of rape has been a huge one for many people around this country for many years and a decision that has yet to be made to determine whether or not it is right for abortion or anything else should be done for rape victims. Sam threw out the age 12 year old daughter, sister, etc. and I personally feel there should be an age limit for people that get raped to have an abortion. Obviously you would never wish anything like rape upon anyone but especially young women. If it was my daughter for example and she was raped by someone I know that with my short fuse as it is I would probably go to jail over that because I would kill that man that did that horrible thing to my daughter. I would obviously want my daughter to get an abortion because I would never want the child of a rape, almost unwanted child, to be brought into the world. Here is where the age comes in though as well, if my daughter was over 18 I really guess I would have no say in anything she does for the most part so it would be her decision whether or not to go ahead with the pregnancy or not but I would hope she would not want to have the child because I feel that the child would be a constant reminder of that horrible act that was done to her. Obviously anyone in the family I would never want to see raped but I know for a fact that my daughter of all of them I would kill the person who did the act. My wife as well, if she was raped I would never want my wife to have a baby that was not mine and especially because I would feel that I did not do all I could to help her and protect her so I feel that I would not want her to have the baby. My own personal thought on rape is that it should be up to the woman whether or not she wants the baby after everything was done to her. The politicians down in Washington should not make up a law saying that a woman is allowed or not allowed to have a child based on rape and other circumstances because the child is obviously not wanted if it was a rape case. There are some issues that people could have with the policy of “open” abortion because they could say that the woman would just go around and have sex then boom have an abortion which yes I do not think is right but there would be evidence to tell if the woman was raped or not so I feel abortion is the womans choice not a politicians.

I was always told that first impressions are everything in life so simply just based on your appearance I do not think I would approach you all that “well”. I sit fairly close to the front of the class and I have seen you walk around and stuff and before approaching a person you notice how they walk or hold their shoulders and upper body if they are sitting so I think that my first impression of you without talking to you would not be a good one. I think that you can tell a lot about a person by looking at their headphones and hats and thing like that almost like their “accessories” they wear. You always have big headphones which are fine by me but some people may not be too eager to approach you with those around your neck and then your flat brims you always have on are a major deterrent to some people. All of these assumptions are just based off of looks to this point and that is without even talking to you. From where I sit in the class you seem to be clean cut and such so that would be a plus going for you in a first impression scenario but your hair is long which can make people wonder. Your hair could be a distraction to some people because of the different way in which you have it so I would be wondering how you got it that way and may even ask you. I personally would be nervous to come up and approach you to have a conversation because I would be afraid you would think I am ignorant or something of that nature and that I am not as far as I know. I would not really know how to approach you and start a conversation because the probability of our backgrounds being very much different from one another. I am from somewhat of a rural area and I would assume you would be from a city or some area where white people necessarily do not frequent too much. Some people just look approachable and the look on your face when you are walking seems to me that you do not always want to talk almost like a scowl. Eye contact is a big thing and when you are talking up front to some of the other TA’s I notice you do not do that as much. Switching gear a bit though maybe you would think some of the same things that I do about you which may make me harder to approach. I am somewhat quiet and reserved until you get to know me and I do not dress too flashy in some of the ways in which you do.

The exercise done in class was very interesting to me especially because some of my family members are farmers and have a decent amount of land to their names. Not only are some of my family members farmers but my direct family, my mom and dad, have quite a few acres where my dad and I hunt at. I would be shocked and border line upset if that land were to ever be taken from us with force or from squatting, to use Sam’s words. Now to my points though with my first point being that if it were my land directly that was being taken directly from me I would without a doubt put up a fight to get it back. That fight goes with anything that would be taken from me that is of importance. My car, my house, my land, my family whichever it does not matter to me but I would fight for the right to have those things and I would get them back in one way or another. The next section was the children, again putting myself in that scenario I know I would fight with my dad to get our possessions back. I do not want to sound materialistic but land is something that one day could make or break us. It is really a renewable resource to humans because of the vast number of ways it can be used. I would expect my children to fight along side me just like I would my dad in this situation. Grandchildren I would still hope they would choose to fight along side myself and my children because even though I am from a different generation and time in history they are still my family and a direct descendent of myself. In my situation I know I would help my grandfather fight because he has taught me many things about my life and how to handle certain situations. He is from that generation that I look up to the most and I still feel that we should look up to them more than what we do but that is for a different time and discussion. Great children is where I start to get a little curious as to how many of us knew our great grandparents not that it matters, they are still family but normally if I did not know a family member I would not be as willing to stand up and fight for their land that may have been lost as soon as they got it. It is almost like the Hatfields and McCoys and their feuds among their families. Their grandchildren fought against the other family probably for reasons that they did not even know. Anything after grandchildren I feel is pushing it too far and should not be capable of getting their land back.

Well I would bring her to class and have her look around campus before actually going into the building. I am not sure if she would be ashamed or what based on the video of her and her family living in the conditions she lives in everyday. I feel like her son would feel ashamed but based on her video I am really not sure exactly how she would feel. I would try to ask her where her husband, or the children’s father went or is if she knows for sure. I understand she may not really know but when looking at her conditions of living I could not feel but somewhat curious as to why she decided to have as many children? Coming from a big family like she did would probably make some sense as to why she did but then I would try to help her understand that children are expensive especially with her lack of formal education and only a single income for the household. Secondly I would try and tell her that there are government programs that could help her fix her car to help her possibly make a little bit more money than what she is now by being able to drive to find a job somewhere else. I understand that she did not want to live in poverty her entire life and I completely respect that decision because that would be a horrible way to live but her children need to get a little pick me up so to speak in order for their laziness to work its way out. Her son that spoke on the video told the crew that he told his friends and other people that he was from a different social class than what he actually is which upset his mother but looking at the conditions in which he was in in the video that would be extremely hard for a child to go to high school and tell his friends that he is extremely poor. I would try to explain the whole social part of schools that teens have trouble with in an attempt to help her son out with his mother constantly yelling at him about lying where he is from. Unfortunately her dream to become a school teacher is more than likely out of the picture which is horrible to say but with little to no education and at her age it is highly unlikely. Now her dream job may be out of reach but her sons is not which I would try and tell her to support her children in everything that they want to do whether it is schooling or whatever she needs to be supportive. Final thought here for me is I wonder what her son that spoke is doing now? I wonder if we could find him somehow?

Those numbers first and foremost were astonishing to me for some reason. As far as the bar graph with the average salary for the household by race I was amazed with how little some races live on and still make it by some how. I would really like to somehow see those numbers expressed in the bar graph especially in some way that we could look at regions of the country. I am not really sure how big of a difference it would make but I still feel it would make some difference in the amount made per household. I would explain those numbers shown in class to us as the race with the highest amount of resources given to them in order to succeed. In the case of white people I feel as if they are most able to get resources when it comes to schooling or aid in any type of financial issue they may put themselves in. I am not sure how to really say this but white people almost have a better track record with financial companies as a whole. The asian people however still have a lot of resources available and a girl in class brought up that the rich asian people come over to the United States in order to find jobs and they already have an excellent education before they reach this country. The black race of people I feel do not have as many people coming over from say Africa because they are living in poverty more than asian countries as whole would be. The asians Make it on top here in this country because they are so well off when it comes to education versus the other races that live in the United States because where they come from they more than likely take education way more seriously than other people do in their home countries. The black race of people have the automatic stereotype associated with them when it comes to making money and employment opportunities which would make it a lot harder for them to make it to the top unless of course they marry into a rich asian family. The Native Americans were not even listed on the one graph but Sam had mentioned them in class and they of all people should know what it is like to not have resources available to them. Living on reservations with little technological services in order to make themselves better with their education is extremely hard and any race put into that situation would not fair out too well I think. So all and all the biggest thing that puts certain races on top of the economic threshold is their ability to have connections and that is why the white race is on top and asians are as well.

The first thing I want to say is that this girl is simply just awesome. Nowadays it takes some serious guts to be able to go against the grain and be different than other people especially in the way that you dress. Girls even more than guys in the whole dress category for the most part. But the comments left on the bottom of the article like “I bet her boyfriend has nice tits”, I really do not see what the reasoning for this comment was? It is her religion and if the person who left this comment did not care for it then they should not have commented. Yes it is somewhat odd to see a woman with facial hair but what about when a girl does not shave her legs for a few weeks in the winter or whatever? there is not really any difference in this topic than in facial hair for females. If a woman were to grow her leg hair out they would be self conscious about it and probably wear pants so I do not see why the hair on her face is so huge of a deal. A comment left further down the page started with the people who say “ew” and “disgusting” I completely agree with. This woman with the facial hair is a lot happier with her oddity than most people are around in their “normal” worlds doing whatever it is they do to fit in with the rest of the crowd. Again there are more articles as I scroll down the page about her hair color turning grey and stupid things that have nothing really even pertaining to the topic of her religion being the heart of her facial hair. “Your King” posted a comment that stated a few things regarding her saying about the “sacred body”. This person is completely just going off for no reason. Yes she said about her sacred body and not wanting to touch it because of being baptized and why can people just not respect that and leave it alone. This person stated that they do not accept formal religion but they believe in God because they do not like the ritualism involved in formal religion. Going into such depth with the sacred body comment to include finger nails is so out of the picture as being relevant. Her not wanting to trim her facial hair because she does not want to harm her religion is completely normal and trimming her finger nails is fine as well because it is something that she feels as if she can allow to happen. The person who posted this article clearly does not understand the meaning of being this religion since they are posting this type of comment on an open blog.

I feel first off that it is a good start to attempt to bridge the sides together in some way but I do not think that it is the best option. With that being said I think that art in general is a great way to bring cultures together in many ways. Many things over time have brought countries together and some have been pieces of art or structures such as the Berlin wall that helped to start a revolution but also to bring some people together at the same time. The special guest from class said himself that growing up he was not allowed to listen to western cultures music which includes hip hop so I am not really sure how we could start to bring sides together with using hip hop because if the message is being said but not broadcasted then it is a somewhat of a winless battle we are going to be facing. Now music as a whole could possibly have an impact in some way not necessarily to bring us all together but to possibly bring our message out and have it broadcasted. Perhaps something that the eastern culture allows their children and teenagers to listen to. Art on the other hand with the exception of music I feel is something that can shock the world and bring the entire planet together in some powerful ways. With the amount of photographers out there in the world now the reaction to just one picture can paint an entire picture in some ones mind a million miles away. The riots here at Penn State last fall over the firing of Coach Paterno were the perfect example of a photograph painting the picture and unfortunately for the most part not the best picture in the world but a picture all the same. Had the news van not been flipped the picture may have been a picture of peaceful chaos and protesting but as soon as the van was flipped the negative shadow would always be at Penn State because of a few students that did not know how to act in a peaceful way. I was getting phone calls and text messages from people back home asking what happened and some were even rumors that the students had burnt down certain buildings on campus so with the help of the news media in attendance an image quickly turned to bad chaos instead of a peaceful outpouring of disbelief.
With all that being said I feel as if hip hop music is not really the best means of attack to try and bring the east and west cultures together. But with the help of perhaps a photograph or painting the powerful silence could bring much more than what people may think.