en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/759721 Comments by jmd5280 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/creating-terrorists__trashed/#IDComment68436229 We have a weird view of what terrorists are and what they stand for. This is because the average American views a terrorist as a person from Muslim descent that happens to willing die for his or her cause. This stereotype has definitely been extremely developed because of the tensions we currently have in the Middle East. There are terrorist organizations all over the world that attack each other in countries that we never even think about. The problem is that these terrorist acts don’t affect us so we don’t really care about them. Terrorists accomplish their goals and gain their power by taking things over by committing acts that cause fear in people, these people eventually give them what they want because they fear what they will do in the future. Personally I feel that the Middle Eastern people that are attacking us for instance are not as much terrorists as they are loyalists. These people are willing to die for their cause. In the Middle East for example they are willing to die for their cause which is freedom in their own land. We are definitely in their country killing them and their friends and family in order to steal their nature resources. We are essentially doing the same thing to them that we did the Native Americans but no one would ever think about passing judgment on them if they would have done the same thing back in the day. It’s a different time with a society that has more liberal ideas. We are easy to pass judgment against people when we would probably be willing to do the same thing if we had to. It is no secretly that we have a very hypocritical society. It seems that we don’t ever condone war but we are willing to start them for reasons that pertain to us. I would absolutely be willing to kill myself as a purpose for getting even if I had too. Our country looks down on this idea because our society has gotten away from family values. Muslim had a religion that has an emphasis family values and loyalty within your family. I would be willing be willing to bet that most extremist that kill themselves to kill others probably have a good reason for doing so. Although, they may be irrational in their thought process their loyalty and honor plays has as much influential on their decisions has logical though process. With that said I would only do it for my own personal reason not because my political leaders indirectly force me to do this because of the current tensions in the Middle East. Either way this subject is something that people should take the time to actually sit down and think about more in detail. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 22:19:59 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/creating-terrorists__trashed/#IDComment68436229 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66627911 This game idea is definitely something that is very unique. The whole idea of the game seems extreme and out of control. The thing is though that this is the new generation of video games. Video game companies are constantly trying to push the limit and make the next ultimate game. Although our society and culture might not appreciate this game in particular I’m sure that the Japanese culture thinks of this as their Grand Theft Auto or something along those lines. I play violent games all the time but I don’t go out and commit the crimes that I mimic on the video game. Those who attack these games have no idea that there is a big difference between playing/pretending and actually doing an act. I think this game might be slightly extreme and could maybe influence people to commit a crime after playing it. However, that can be said about a lot of different games that are currently out their. Just because a person might enjoy playing a game that revolves around raping girls, that doesn’t mean that they should or even will go out in society and commit a rape. We all have to understand that different cultures might look at things much differently. It’s a different lifestyle and culture that this is marketed too. Japanese culture introduces sex and porn to their children at a very young age, it is learned to be acceptable by young people. It’s the same idea as the drinking culture in Europe. The game is currently marketed toward and adult theme. The game also falls in the market of porn. Porn is a huge industry in the world. Japan especially has a very weird porn market. The porn that they are making and selling over there would be considered gross, inhuman, and wrong to us but to them it’s something that they look at as normal porn. This game should not be banned for this reason. Individuals who have a rape fantasy might be able to fulfill their sexual desires just by playing the game, instead of having to go out and rape an actual person in order to fulfill their sexual desires. I would like to see what rape statistics look like in Japan where the game is legal, compared to those of American where the game is banned. The game defiantly meant to objective women. However, all people are objective to each other sexually. Whether, it is a man or a woman we are all sexual creatures. Men sexually objective women as much as women objective men sexually when it comes to thought and desires. It is just as common for a women to see and man and have sexual thoughts toward them just as much as it would be vice versa. Thu, 8 Apr 2010 18:26:35 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66627911 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/nothing-about-the-census-is-easy__trashed/#IDComment65379100 This video brings up a very interesting point for race relations. Obviously the Census is written to be as politically correct as possible. I don’t feel that they were trying to offend any race, culture, or ethnicity in the process of writing the census form. I don’t feel that they are in the wrong for bringing back the “negro” term because as they stated in the video there are a lot of much older black people that relate with the “negro” word because that is the word they grew up on as well as been identifying with for sometime now. The Census’ main purpose is to get everyone to participate and to make sure that all the questions are stated in a way that everyone taking the survey; has the ability to answer the questions correctly so that they can get a accurate account of what the population is doing growth wise. The main problem is that most minorities will use anyway possible to claim that the government and society’s population is trying to but them down or discriminate against them. It would go without saying that they would take this chance especially to cry wolf against the government, when the government is merely trying to be politically correct to all living generations that are able to take the census survey. The main problem with the survey in the first place is that some people have no idea what racial group they truly do indentify with. An example of this is that most black people claim that they are African American when in fact that have no recent roots that trace back anywhere near Africa. However, they will take the survey and keep filling out that they are African American which in return skews the result of the census and messes things up with population counts as well all other categories that go along with census tallying. I also feel that they sometimes word things easier on race questions. This is because that there are a lot of minorities that are in this country that can’t read that well. In order for them to be able to take the survey the proper way they need to be able to read the questions. So if the census uses key words that these minorities can relate with then they are more likely to be able to fill out the census much more accurately. The bottom line is the census/ government is not discriminating against anyone. They are simply trying to word the survey so that they can get the best possible participation with completely accurate results. It will be interesting to see how all this uproar will affect the wording and race choices on future census forms. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 00:58:01 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/nothing-about-the-census-is-easy__trashed/#IDComment65379100 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/is-this-just-a-few-bad-apples__trashed/#IDComment63577463 This article is insane. Freedom of speech goes a long way with in people’s constitutional rights. Protests have often been very violent in nature, but then claim they were wronged if police use force to prevent them from getting out of control. The protests that are being depicted obviously show that this particular party is threatening to be violent towards officials that are currently in office. Although they may be within their rights of freedom of speech, at what point does the law take action in order to make sure that these protests are simply just meaningless words? The signs that are shown in this post show that they are threatening gays as well as the black and brown team that may currently be in office. The fact that they are currently making racial slurs towards the president and his administration may prove to be racist but they can legally do this. Them being able to so this makes it seem that it is okay to be racist as long as you are protesting as when you say the racist things. They are basically threatening to commit violence against these people, which is technically considered to be a hate crime. I’m not sure how they are able to get away with this because a normal person can be charged with terroristic threats if they were to do the same thing to just a random person on the street. Basically this proves that there is definitely a double standard towards what people can do when they have party backing compared to what they can do if they don’t. Although not all the people that are associated with the same beliefs, they probably are if they are aligned with this given party. People that are in a party generally share the same beliefs because that is why they are aligned with that party in the first place. It makes you wonder what would actually happen to race relations if these parties ever did in fact get voted into the white house. If this were to happen, I feel the United States would take massive steps backwards with race relations after all the progress we have made. Depicting different people as Hitler could also be seen as a discrimination. Although, they might not be depicting them as a race, they are depicting them as a culture/religion/ way of life. This is the perfect example of why people need to think about what they are saying and who they may be offending by saying the things that they are saying. It’s kind of ironic how these people are being racist and depicting them as a government that was actually discriminatory towards a certain people during their reign of power. I feel that they are indirectly contradicting their racist arguments by depicting the officials as discriminatory people. Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:16:32 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/is-this-just-a-few-bad-apples__trashed/#IDComment63577463 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63075365 Guilt is something that I don’t feel that the average white person ever actually feels. I’m sure there is time that they do actually feel guilt, but not for race relations. The feeling of guilt is a feeling that is often felt by people but for all the wrong reasons. The average person feels guilt for things that they have done to their friends, family, and most likely their significant other. This feeling is often soon forgotten about and then often reoccurs over and over again. Guilt is more often felt by people that feel that they have done something directly to those of another race. Why should anyone feel guilt about the things that their ancestors have done to people of the other race? It’s not really a hypothetical question; it’s a thought that is often shared from people of extreme groups. A majority of groups won’t even feel guilt about their direct actions let alone those of the generations that have come before them. Those generations have most likely felt no guilt for the things that they have done, so why should we? Honestly, I don’t feel guilt at all. I feel that I’m fair to those of all genders, races, and ethnicities. Looking back through my very short life I feel that I have much more serious and important actions that I should focus all my guilt on. I have by far brought more shame to myself, family, and friends then that of any other race or ethnicity. How does one really measure guilt anyways? Is it the amount of tears, shame, or embarrassment that you bring to others? Based on that I have never made someone of another race cry, feel embarrassed, or feel ashamed about themselves so I feel that I’m off the hook on this issue. It wouldn’t matter if we went back in history and rewrote the books because like I have already said race relations guilt is not something that the average person even thinks about. Like Sam had said; how often does the average person even think about the things that we have done to the Native Americans or African Americans for that matter? Does the average African American feel any guilt about the things that they might have done to people of the white or brown race? The bottom line is you can’t really live in the past and that is half the problem with race relations today. The only choice we really have as a society is to move forward and change the present. Half the problem with race relations is that people of a different race, gender, or ethnicity try to stress the guilt point way to much, which is why we have the problems that we have in society today. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:32:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63075365 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58858601 After we watched the movie in class I really started thinking about when it is right time to say something or just ignore what is going on around you. I guess there are some reasons that a person should or shouldn’t step in and say something. This whole situation raises the point of if it is okay to discriminate and disrespect someone of a different race or culture just because it is your constitutional right. However, your constitutional right is also taking away one of theirs. Is there ever a chance that we can fix this problem, without having some sort of law to make us do it? Do we need laws to helps us unify our society. I commend the people in the video that actually stood up for the person in the store. We might be different and have different beliefs but we are all American. If we can’t take care of our own then who can we take care off? The people standing up for the other person defiantly show that there is hope in our society for some positive change. As for the people that commended the clerk they also show the perfect harmony is still a far reach away. The interesting part or the movie was how the numbers break down actually worked out. I was actually really surprised about the amount of people that actually stood up for the women. I would like to see this study done with different races and genders just to see how that would change people’s reaction to the events of the situation around them. I don’t feel that anyone should be treated the way that was portrayed in the movie. If I was personally in the establishment I feel I might say something. There is no reason to treat someone like that or accuse them of being not patriotic. That is half of what is wrong with this country. We need to start making changes to the way that we interact with people of different cultures. If we could learn to do this more often the world would be able to live in perfect harmony. This whole concept seems to be just a pipe dream at this current time. I can see how someone could also feel obligated to not say something. Although it may be wrong the owner should still be able to decide who he serves and what he serves to them. He is in a business and it’s his own choice to not get extra business. Although he hurts his business by losing customers that are actually offended by the situation.I feel that if he is making the choice not to serve someone then he show them respect and not just start being disrespectful to them. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:17:47 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58858601 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-one__trashed/#IDComment57694264 This is actually a really good question. It’s a very tough situation in my opinion. In my opinion I feel that people would generally be more open to lesbian couples adopting children. Although it is exactly the same thing, I feel it would be looked down on upon because of the men being gay. In general males get much more shit about being gay, then a women would for being a lesbian. At least I personally feel that they women get it easier then men do in this situation. For some reason lesbians are considered to be extremely hot to some people, while gays are look at like freaks. For some reason I just feel that people would be more expectable to a child growing up in a lesbian household compared to a male homosexual one. I’m curious to see what different states feel about the two different sides, especially with ones that have already legalized it. Generally speaking I feel it would be better off for females because females tend to be much more responsible then dudes. I’m sure there are a lot of irresponsible gay men out there in the world. As far as raising them I feel that they would generally do about the same job. However, female relationships might lack disciple because males generally handle that part of raising children. I feel that men might lack the sensitive stuff that child need growing up, so that might be something that women would be better off. I feel that they might be the only difference between the two different household. I feel that could change the way people might view it. All in all I feel it should be the same view regardless of the sex of the adopting couples. Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:01 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-one__trashed/#IDComment57694264 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/animals-vs-humans-vs-welfare-cheats__trashed/#IDComment56575127 This guy might have miss spoke. However, although he might have ultimately destroyed his political career with a single speech maybe it was actually in a positive light. Welfare has been an extremely touchy subject racial because a majority of welfare collectors are in fact minorities. Blame this on the general idea that minorities are lazy, stupid, and untrustworthy. Welfare could possibly be the most over used and manipulated subsidy provided by the government. Personally I have had some extremely bad experiences with these so called welfare “animals”. I think welfare is a great thing and can actually help people if it were to be applied correctly. I remember a time when I was 17 years old working in my local grocery store when my image of welfare changed dramatically. I was always under the impression that it was a good system that the right people benefited from. Then I went to work one day and witnessed what we referred to in class as a welfare queen trying to use her food stamps to purchase a pack of cigarettes. When I witnessed this it made me sick to my stomach, she was essentially taken food stamps from someone who truly does need them in order to try to use them to purchase a pack of cigarettes. Obviously, this is not legal and the store refused to do it which in return made the women begin to start fighting with the clerk and store managers to get what she wanted. My second truly bad experience came just this past summer. Over the summer I work for my local borough. There is a low income housing unit located within our borough. So as we went over there to fix a curb in the blistering heat I saw quite a delightful sight. There was a man (keeping the race out of this) in this housing unit that had his door wide open and all the air conditioning units in his house on full blast. Now I understand that it was hot and I don’t blame him for having them on high, but with the door open? Did this person care about the electricity use or the environment for the fact? No, because the residents there don’t pay for utilities. I’m not saying that all people on welfare are bad, but there is a large majority that are just using the system to their benefit. There are some people that actually do need to welfare in order to support their families and make ends meet. Let’s not forget about the true welfare “animals” that are taking food stamps from other people’s mouths in attempt to purchase cigarettes; or the man using the tax payer’s money to get fresh 90 degree air and run his air conditioning units at the same time. Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:01:03 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/animals-vs-humans-vs-welfare-cheats__trashed/#IDComment56575127 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55505647 I have been to the theater to see Avatar three times now. I was originally drawn to the movie based on all the hype of the special effects and technology that went behind making the movie. Every time I went to see I never left feeling disappointed or upset about anything. The movie truly did satisfy my expectations that I had going into it. The plot was very good and although it started out slightly slow, it did a great job of recovering to make a great movie. I find it kind of ironic that in the movie a white man steps up to save a race and even a culture. It is very ironic that the white people were essentially trying to relocate an entire group of people in order to gain some profitable minerals. Yea, that’s right the white man was forcing a very spiritual and nature oriented culture off their land in for our own personal gain. This situation seems very similar dose it not? Hey, we got away with it once before why not try it again. I feel the movie gave a great depiction of the lengths we will go through in order to achieve what we want. Maybe Cameron was forcing the so called white people to look in the mirror at the depths that we will actually go through in order to bump up the survival of our economy or business world. He has repeatedly said he makes movie as a hobby, and that is the only reason he makes movies. Unlike, Howard I don’t think he was taking shots at America or anything along those lines. However, he sure has done a great job getting people to start asking what he was eluding to. It is even more ironic that the so called super marine that happened to be a white man came to the rescue of the Navi. The white man saving the rest of the world of the white man seems to have very nice mirror image if you look at it from the outside viewer’s perspective. Originally he was all about helping the rape and pillage their resources, but after the got to know them. He feel in love with the people and everything that they stand for. Their culture wasn’t nature oriented, it was nature. The Navi felt that they were one in the same with nature and all its components. They felt that it was selfish to kill or sacrifice and part of nature or biology. This is something that we can all take notes from. There is more to life they race and skin color. We are essentially the same biologically and maybe we should try to start living in peace with each other and our environment Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:58:30 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55505647 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/racism-looks-pretty-good-on-this-side-of-the-atlantic__trashed/#IDComment54423640 I have been a very big fan of soccer for some time now. Being a hardcore sports fan the whole atmosphere of World Cup Soccer is like nothing else in the world. I always knew that there was much more meaning to the Cup because you are directly playing for bragging rights of your country and the honor or playing on one of the grandest stages for your country. Naturally, I knew that it was very competitive and because of that, other team’s fans will do anything possible to get in the heads of their opponents. Let’s be honest the best way to be your opponent it to have them beat them selves. I was shocked after seeing that fans, players, and even coaches had resorted to racism to get in the head of their opponents and trying to motivate their own players. Although, it is competitive I was always under the assumption that all parties involved in World Cup Games, except maybe minus fans are a mutual respect for each others abilities and well as cultures. It makes you wonder how much respect that actually does have for each other deep down under their countries alliances. The true question is are club owners really standing behind their coaches using racial slurs against other teams players in order to motivate their own players. Are the owners need/ desire to win for bragging rights as well as revenue really the root of the problem? The thing I can’t seem to understand with this whole situation is for example if a African Country using racial slurs to get in the head of another African country; is that original country not just directly oppressing themselves back with using racial slurs basically on their own kind. You shouldn’t have to racial oppress someone enough to get in their heads so you can kick a ball around for 120 better then them because their head is now not in the right place. I glad to see the FIFA is trying to make leaps and bounds to fix this problem and penalize involved parties. However, I hope they do not get to out of control with the regulation of what is aloud and what is not. I don’t think that that racism in any form should be aloud what so ever in any means. I do feel fans should be able to make signs and have chants as long as they are not toward the racist side. Fans make the experience of the whole event and games, and if you did not let fans taunt and get in the heads of players then the whole vibe around the event would be taking from the game. Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:43:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/racism-looks-pretty-good-on-this-side-of-the-atlantic__trashed/#IDComment54423640 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-d__trashed/#IDComment54018237 soc Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:10:37 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-d__trashed/#IDComment54018237