I understand what Sam means when he says that he understands but I don’t understand at all. I am puzzled by the way the people in the Middle East live, I am puzzled by these extremists that I see every day on TV, I am puzzled as to why these countries can never seem to find peace. Forget about America and these so called “Christian Invaders” the Middle Eastern people have been fighting each other forever over land and beliefs. Sam kind of makes it look as if America is the root of the problem. I am not going to be naïve and act as if we are not over there mainly for oil related reasons although the majority of the oil that we import in this country does come from Canada. I still believe that countries in the Middle East are a huge threat to the United States and our well being. Any people who think it is honorable in even the slightest bit to fly a plane into a building full of innocent civilians is not a human being. I honestly don’t know what they are. Sam does raise an interesting way to look at this whole issue I’m just not sure that I agree with everything he has to say. I don’t think it matters whether or not we or any other country are in the Middle East because they will constantly fight each other. It’s not about Muslim vs. Christian if that was the case then these Middle Easterners would not have been fighting one another for hundreds of years. The people of the Middle East fight Muslim vs. Muslim just because they come from a different sect. They seem in my opinion to be a naturally violent people who have been fighting for many hundreds of years.
I also want to comment on the people that take the things that Sam has to say way too seriously. As Sam has said himself the point of this class is to make you think and to open up your mind to things that you may have previously never thought about before. Sam has said himself that even though it seems as if he is trying to force things upon you that he is not. From reading some of the posts on here it seems as if people have the inability to think for themselves. I think this may be way Sam can be considered a dangerous professor. People that are too dumb to think for themselves should not be in college. I just ask that you all view this class as a chance to keep an open mind as opposed to become a follower of Sam Richards.

I think that in this country this is often a common misconception that all Asians are exactly the same regardless of their background and where they come from. That is a stupid way to think of course because that is like saying that all white people in the world are the same even though there are cultures all over the world occupied by white people very different from the white people in America or in any other country. In terms of Asian Americans I feel as if they are a group that tends to be left out of the conversation because we kind of don’t acknowledge them. I feel as if people in this country don’t ever assume that anyone with Asian appearance is actually genuinely American. I think that people might tend to assume that they are just always going to be Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, etc. and that they just happen to be living in this country. I do not really know why that is, it just seems to be that way. An Asian American’s family could have been in this country for over 100 years but would still have a tendency to be classified as Chinese, Japanese, or Korean when in reality they have lost all ties to their foreign land. And yes those lands are very foreign to them as much as some people may not think they are. I am basically just making assumptions here and presenting my opinion based on experiences and discussions with people in my life. Maybe it isn’t actually this way for most people but from what I’ve been around it certainly seems as if it is.
There is also an issue that I Asian people in America face that I’m sure bothers them quite a bit. Often times no matter what country of origin in Asia they may actually be from or that their ancestors may be from they tend to be classified as Chinese when in actuality they probably aren’t even remotely Chinese. I would assume this occurs because of the fact that China is the largest country in the world and that in fact most of the Asian Americans in this country do trace their ancestry back to China but it is still not right to classify an entire race of people that just happen to have similar features as being from one culture. Asian peoples may look very similar but their cultures are very different from one another just as American culture is very different from English culture. Just because a people look similar doesn’t make them as similar as you may think. I’m going to admit even I of course have a tendency to refer to Asian people as Chinese and I’m going to make a conscious effort to stop because I wouldn’t want people assuming things about me.

I completely disagree with the idea that white people should feel guilty for things that happened in the past in terms of slavery and treatment of African Americans and such. It makes no sense to me why I should feel guilty when I do not even know that my ancestors were a part of it all. Of course I think it was a horrible time in American history but I don’t feel as if I should have to feel like I had something to do with it. My ancestors came to this country from Italy and Ireland in the early 1900’s with barely a dime, they struggled and lived in working class communities and being immigrants they would be comparable to people of color at the time. So I cannot effectively trace my ancestry back to my relatives owning slaves or mistreating other races, for all I know some of my ancestors could have been slaves and I wouldn’t expect anyone to feel bad for me. Of course I agree that the history of race relations between whites and other races has been horrible and that people have been unfairly treated in the past I just do not see how I should feel bad for the actions of others. Maybe I just feel this way because I come from a multiracial community in which I was always exposed to other races so I never felt as if I needed to feel any “white guilt” about race relations. If anyone should feel “white guilt” I would think it should be the racists who have always tried to bring down other races.
In terms of this question about history books I don’t really understand what that means. I never got the impression that the true history of the US was being hidden from all of us through some white history propaganda. I have known about the oppression of people of color in this country since I was a young child, it was never something that was skipped in history discussions in my life. I am just confused by this because I feel as if where I come from we focused on these issues so much more than I guess people in towns that are all white do. I had never even considered the idea of “white guilt” before now and I still don’t think that I will take it into consideration. The entire idea of it confuses I have never mistreated people of other races and therefore I do not feel as if I should be feeling guilty about anything. To feel guilt in this situation is just a waste in my opinion because it is not as if I can go back in time and make changes. A white person should be held accountable only for their actions in the present not ones made in the past by some unknown peoples.

I don’t fully agree with this idea that it is wrong to personify Native Americans as the stereotypical view of them with the feather and such. That is very much a part of the Native American culture and there should be nothing wrong with a young school child drawing them that way. Honestly if you had to draw a Native American yourself what would you draw? There would be no distinction between them and any other race aside from their skin color and some features but in a drawing that would be hard to make noticeable. When I was young and in elementary school my school system prided itself on diversity and thus we learned a great deal about the Native American cultures in fact one of my teachers was Native American herself. We would often have guest speakers come from Native American communities to teach us about their heritage. These men and women often dressed in typical Native American garment and prided themselves on this look. We onetime also took a trip to a Native American community and attended a ritual of sorts in which all of the participants were dressed like you would expect a Native American to be dressed and yes they had feathers on. So all that being said I do not see what is wrong with children having this outlook on the Native American people. Obviously or at least I hope when they get older they will learn that Native Americans do not still live the way they did when the white man came to this country but they do still pride themselves on their look and traditions of those times.
In the video she notes that the young children were asked to draw a picture of a Native American and they had no idea what that meant but when asked to draw an Indian they were aware. This is definitely an issue that should probably be dealt with by simply teaching children that these Indians are also the Native peoples of this land and thus they are referred to as Native American. She asks how young we should teach our children about Native Americans well I believe that should happen during elementary school as it did for me. Of course it is not necessary to go as far as to teach young children about genocide and the truth of the situation because they would understand. But they should be taught about the culture and about the peoples. I also don’t think there is anything wrong with the term Indian being that during class Sam put up a survey taken by Native Americans and most preferred that they actually be called American Indians as opposed to Native Americans. So that being the case we should not shelter our children from the term since the peoples themselves seem to embrace it.

This is an interesting issue and it is certainly a different outlook on the whole idea of gay marriage. I don’t really hold a serious opinion on the issue of gay marriage but like some people I was merely against the idea of calling it marriage for a while. I have since decided that particular outlook is wrong and I am ok with gay marriage. I cannot necessarily say that I am comfortable with the idea but I am ok with it. I believe that people should be able to do what they wish and that they should be able to lead happy lives. This issue of breaking families up and deporting people is wrong and really opens my eyes to why these people should be allowed civil unions of some sort. Even if the particular state in question is not allowing marriage of same sex couples these individuals should be protected in some way and allowed to remain with their families. This also does become more of an immigration issue as opposed to just a same sex marriage one. I do not think it is right that these people allow this to get quite as far as it does. This woman is obviously not paying attention to her own situation if she allows it to go as far as her being handcuffed and taken away by the authorities. She knew that she was an immigrant and just like every other immigrant in this country she has to file the proper paperwork and receive the proper visas to stay in this country, something it seems as if she did not do. She could attempt to become a US citizen and then she could stay in the country. You can of course place much blame on the US government for not going as far as recognizing same sex partners but I do believe that this couple should have been aware of their own situation. Laws take time to change, especially ones that are this sensitive to the people of the country. I think that this couple should have been aware of the fact that the law was the way it was, whether or not it was fair. You cannot expect to just beat the system because like we saw it will catch up with you. Now I am not saying that I do not believe that same sex couples should receive the rights that they deserve and that this situation shouldn’t occur anyway I am merely saying that I feel as if the couple was somewhat negligent in their knowledge of the laws and their own situation. It is not right to break up families in anyway and this situation could be avoided if the US government moved in a new direction.

This is a very interesting topic and one that I have ever not actually crossed before. It seems as if it is so common to talk about “black and white” in this country when we talk about race that I guess it has never actually crossed my mind that this is all that ever comes up. I am going to go ahead and say that I feel that there are a number of reasons for why this occurs but the main reason I feel is because ever since the founding of this country black and white people have been the two most profound races. America has been for a long time a “black and white” country. Now of course we know that it was not an equal black and white country being that the black people that made up this country in its beginnings were slaves who had no rights at all, but in my eyes they were still a part of the country because they did make up the peoples of America. So then the question is why does it always come back to black and white? I definitely feel that it has a great deal to do with the slavery era and the level of hatred that was established between the two races. Black people have more reasons than are imaginable to hate and envy white people. Even after slavery was abolished in the 1800’s black Americans still couldn’t get a leg up in this country and were treated in almost the same type of way for many years almost as far up until the Civil Rights movement. Ms. Mulvey sees the issue being way beyond that of slavery and she personally relates it back to the fact that when we talk about race in this country we always get that image of black Americans being forced to sit in the back of the bus or of them being sprayed with fire hoses. I do agree that the Civil Rights movement has a great deal to do with it but in my eyes it is simply the idea that black people have always been competing with white people and have always wanted the same things that for so many years they had been denied. For so many years much of America was racist and looked down upon black people and the people who were doing this were white. So what stems from that is this idea that white people hate black people and merely want to hold them back as much as possible. It goes the same for white people, I think a good deal of white people think that black people hate them. So out of all of this black and white people both want to prove themselves to each other. Black people want to prove themselves in America and white people want to prove to black people that they are not racist. It has been a tense relationship ever since this country was founded and that is why it always comes back to black and white, the history between the two races in America is a detailed one.

I have personally seen Avatar and I loved it but I did find this particular post and overall idea to be enlightening, Brooks is correct about this and I happy that Sam brought this idea to my attention. When I saw the film I like many people did not consider this as something worth paying attention to but that does not mean it is not. I was too busy enjoying the film because that was the point of spending my 13.50 on a ticket. As Sam said noted in his video response and as someone noted in a post the reason that something like this would not be noticed is because I am white, but I do not think that a person of black or brown color would notice it either. This was not the point of the movie so not noticing it is perfectly normal in my opinion. But now that I have noticed this idea of the “white messiah” I find the whole idea to be very interesting and I also find it to be interesting that this is something I have overlooked for so many years. As was noted by Sam and by Brooks there are too often films and stories about how the white American or just white person for that matter can save the lower races which too often happens to be some types of indigenous tribe. There are two possible explanations in my opinion for why this is often the case. Either the writer of these scripts and stories simply doesn’t notice that he or she is using this similar approach or they are perfectly aware and feel white people are the saviors of the world. In my opinion it has to do with the fact that over the years this has become a type of storytelling that white people have become accustomed to, one that glorifies them as the all knowing beings that can enlighten even people who appear to be more enlightened than they are. I see at as being something that is completely subconscious and not at all intentional. It is true though that white people have for hundreds of years viewed themselves as superior to more cultural peoples. Over the years white people have been the ones that have colonized the unknown parts of the world and consistently tried to push their beliefs on the rest of the world, regardless of the fact that they may or may not have even thought about the other cultures beliefs at all. In conclusion I feel as if this is something that is being looked into way too much, I prefer to just watch movies not analyze them to this extent, especially a film like Avatar which more for its special effects rather than its storyline.

I am absolutely amazed by what I see and hear in this video posed by Sam. Of course I was not in the dark about the fact that racism still occurs and that the fans of soccer all across the world, most notably in Europe, are a bunch of “houligans.” But what amazes me is the extent to which this is occurring, now I understand that it is not easy to stop these individuals from what they are doing because there are so many of them but to allow it to occur to the extent where the player resorts to picking up the ball and threatens to walk off the field is unbelievable. Sam is correct in saying that this really does open my eyes up to the fact that regardless of how we feel about the state of racism in the United States, we have truly come very far. If something of this nature were to occur in this country these people would not only be thrown out of the game but they would probably go to jail. Europe is clearly a backward place and I was not aware of the extent to which this backwardness occurs. I find it to be ironic that during World War 2 most of Europe was fighting against Hitler and the Nazi’s and what Hitler stood for was full on oppression of cultures unlike his own. Now the people of Europe actually have the audacity to wave the Nazi Swastika in former Nazi occupied Europe. I don’t see this all as being a lack of understanding and acceptance I see it as being open idiocy, but maybe I just see it that way because of how far I know this country has come. I guess I can understand why I would feel the way I do and why I think that they should feel the way I do. The funny thing about all this is that this is not just occurring in small cities with mediocre soccer teams it is occurring on the grandest stage involving some of the games all time great players. When I began to watch this video I never thought that players like Henry and Eto would be the ones being taunted, I would assume Europeans would have respect for their talent, but I guess they don’t. I guess it is in some ways comparable to Jackie Robinson in baseball. When he first entered the league fans screamed at him and taunted him to an almost unbearable extent but he stuck with it and eventually people came around. The difference here is that most of these teams in Europe are made up of black and brown players and have been for many years. The fact that the fans have not been able to be progressive and accept their presence is amazing. I don’t know if Europe will ever be fully accepting of outside cultures but I sure hope they will at least try.

done

I personally find this all to be very shocking but actually in fact not that shocking. People like Mr. Robertson have an agenda that is far larger than just spreading religion, the man merely wants you to give him money and he wants the Christian people to believe whatever he says. And you know what the more disturbing thing about this all is many of the people whom watch and follow that man will believe what he says because they have either been brainwashed because they are too stupid to believe anything else or they are just plain heartless. Robertson’s remarks are proof that the world is full of morons, old and senile morons that other old and senile morons are willing to listen to. I cannot believe that anyone allows this man to call himself a man of god. In making such outlandish remarks he is going against everything that the church teaches. The church teaches that god is a forgiving person, that he is merciful and even if it were true that a deal with the devil had been made some many years ago (which is absolutely ridiculous to believe) god would be forgiving, that is one of the main teachings of the bible. God does not smite people and the fact that Mr. Robertson cannot see that is a clear indication that he has no idea what the idea of God and the Bible truly are. He himself in fact sounds like a man of the devil.

As far as Rush Limbaugh goes, that man has been a disgrace to news reporting for many years and it does not surprise me that he would use something as horrible as the Haiti situation for his own personal political agenda. After all the man was addicted to pain killers for many years and is clearly not a mentally stable person. The fact that this man actually has a radio show is beyond me, you could not pay me to listen to him. Kudos to John Stewart on the daily show for also pointing out the fact the fact that the MSNBC anchor went on to voice her own political agenda during her discussion of the Earthquake relief effort. That is why I would never waste part of my life watching the ridiculous crap that is CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, or any of the rest of them. It is too bad that the news stations have become merely an outlet for political agendas and bickering on TV. It would be nice to just watch the news and find out what was going on in the world without all the rest. I would never give Keith Olberman the time of day although I do have to say I agree with what he had to say about Robertson and Limbaugh, I don’t think that he could have put it any better.