en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/760427 Comments by jml5261 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70040125 This is an issue that has lasted throughout the entire semester with this class. Can someone achieve major success with simply gold old fashioned hard work, or do they need help from their ancestors and a financial ground to stand on. I personally think that it is much easier to gain success when you have a good ancestry who has given your family financial stability. I know there are plenty of cases where people pick themselves up from nothing and become success stories, but the likelihood of that is very low. I know that I would certainly not be anywhere close to the point I am today if it was for my parents and other previous ancestors. Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:58:57 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70040125 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/300000-whats-it-mean-to-us__trashed/#IDComment70038737 This is a great question. Sam definitely touched on this in the class about Haiti and I think it really hit home for me when he related it to September 11th. When September 11th happened it was devastating for everyone in the country and the entire world paid attention to how we recovered for a very long time. To think that 300,000 people died in Haiti because of a natural disaster is incomprehensible. I cannot imagine if something like that happened to the United States and everyone else around the world pretty much forgot about it after a few weeks. Haiti deserves all the help and attention they can get and I really hope they can somehow pull themselves out of this terrible situation. Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:53:57 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/300000-whats-it-mean-to-us__trashed/#IDComment70038737 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/south-park-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment70036831 South Park is a show that will parody any issue going on in the world no matter how much it might piss people off. They have been doing it since the beginning of the show and they have covered pretty much every base when it comes to offending people. Since the earliest episodes of the show South Park has had a Jesus character in it that they constantly parody and their seems to be no trouble with that. As an avid South Park fan I have seen some of the most offensive things that they have done on the show and the recent Muhammad controversy does not come anywhere close to the offensive nature of so many other jokes on the show. I think it is ridiculous that every other religion in the world shows their profit and allow people to make fun of it and the Muslim faith has this special circumstance where they are immune. Just because the few extremists threaten people with violence does not mean that South Park should not be allowed to show Muhammad. Also South Park did not actually show Muhammad but just what was supposed to be Muhammad in a bear costume. I do not understand why it is such a big deal for a cartoon television show to depict Muhammad in a bear costume. It should be a harmless joke, but instead people have to take it too far and threaten violence for something so trivial. In the same episode they had Buddha snorting cocaine and you do not hear any backlash about that. We live in America where free speech is a cornerstone of our society, so I do not think Matt Stone and Trey Parker should have to back down for anyone over any issue. If the rest of the issues in the world are free game than Muhammad should be free game too. Also I do not even see how the way South Park depicted him was offensive. They had him in a bear costume and he probably said two words. The whole episode was about bringing everyone back in the show that has ever been pissed off at South Park and piss them off again. Tom Cruise threatened to sue them years ago over an episode that they called him gay in. They brought him back in the recent Muhammad and slammed him with gay comments again. I am not comparing Muhammad to Tom cruise, I’m just saying that no matter what people threaten to do to them, Matt Stone and Trey Parker will continue to push the envelope because they believe they should be able to say and do whatever they want on their television show. I hope they don’t let this controversy deter them for bring up other issues in the future. Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:46:41 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/south-park-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment70036831 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-men__trashed/#IDComment68298377 I definitely feel like everybody including men feel the need to conform to society. Insecurity is something that everyone deals with and seemingly the only way that we have learned to deal with it is to fit in with the crowd. I guess instead of men having to be skinny and have big boobs, were supposed to be macho and have big muscles. Also conformity is definitely seen a lot in the way people dress, and for the most part at places like Penn State men and women tend to dress like each other. Unfortunately this does not seem like a fixable issue and it will probably continue very long time. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:08:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-men__trashed/#IDComment68298377 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-are-we-doing-here-really__trashed/#IDComment68297699 I think this class, and race relations in general, is just to get people to realize the major part that race and other sociological issues play in our every day lives so that we can continue our lives knowing this information. If we all expand our minds to the different cultures out there we will no longer be stuck in our current mindset. I know that I rarely ever thought about what it means to be white, and that seems to be because I grew up around a majority of white people my entire life. This class is about ethnocentrism, and realizing that the views that we hold are not the end all be all and that learning about others views and experiences is extremely important. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:01:33 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-are-we-doing-here-really__trashed/#IDComment68297699 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68296818 It is always interesting to look at another person or group through a different point of view, so todays lecture was especially interesting for me. First of all, all of the commenters above me that think Sam said Christian’s are trying to take over the world completely missed the point. I think basically what Sam was trying to say was that everyone sees situations differently, depending on what they are being told or what they are seeing around them and in the media. Before this class I did not really have a good understanding at all of why there is a dislike for America in Iraq and the Muslim community. When I say this I do not mean the extremists, but the Muslim’s that are pretty much just like us. They only know one side of the story. If they are only shown the types of things that Sam showed us in class today I can see why there would be some animosity. Stepping into the Arab Muslim point of view like in class today I can see why they think we are over there to steal their oil and endanger innocent civilians. In the United States we are mostly shown videos of Muslim extremists spouting death to America and setting off car and suicide bombs intended to take out our soldiers. Because of this we obviously have a negative view towards Muslims in general, which is definitely a problem. If Muslim people are only shown the evangelical Christians who speak in tongues and act like crazy people I can see why they think Christians are trying to take over the world. Unfortunately this is what we see, instead of the images of happy Muslim families and bustling communities that very rarely make an appearance over here in the states. Sam changed my mind a lot today because I had never taken a second to think about where the Muslims are coming from. The Chinese coal example was a great way of illustrating that point. If the Chinese came to the United States, stole our coal, and instituted a military occupation in our country I am sure a whole lot of Americans would be pissed off and want to do something about it. Instead we are on the other end and we have been lead to believe that Muslim’s are just crazy people who want to kill us. It seems to me like the fundamentalist Christians are trying to impose their religion on Muslims just as badly and the Muslim extremists want to impose Islam on us. And like Sam said, this is ONLY the Christian extremists, not all Christians. When groups are generalized to be one way people on the other side cannot see the reality of the situation. A large majority of Muslim’s are not bad, just like a large majority of Christians are not bad, just like a large majority of American’s are not bad. A few crazies shouldn’t condemn a whole group of people. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 00:52:58 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68296818 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66876605 It’s hard to believe these games are actually sold in stores in Japan. Something like this would never be allowed to be sold in the United States. These games are obviously horribly degrading to women and promote nothing but bad values. I personally believe that things in video games do not automatically make kids go out and repeat them, but these games are certainly different. These games could definitely have a direct negative affect on children’s actions. It seems like the Japanese government is going to ignore the situation until someone forces them to deal with it so we will continue to see it on the internet over here for a while. Fri, 9 Apr 2010 21:22:45 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66876605 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66874859 I think Sam’s method of teaching is very affective and sometimes people choose not to listen because some of his points are hard to accept. Personally I think that to a certain extent Sam has changed my mind about a few things. As many of my other classmates said, Sam told us that he is not trying to change our opinion, but make us think and question the things around us. Most of the time things that Sam says do not totally change my opinion, they just make me think about things that I normally would not consider. A lot of the time I find myself thinking how true a comment of Sam’s is and how surprised I am that I had not realized it before. He causes people to recognize things that they have been blind to because of their social surroundings. Before this class I had never really thought about what it meant to be white. After hearing Sam talk about it I realized all of the perks that come along with being born white in the United States. I reflected about who I am personally and how I would not be anywhere close to where I am now without my ancestors. I guess you could say that I changed my mind about my beliefs on how much I actually deserve all that I have accomplished. Also the widely ignored persecution of the Native Americans really hit home for me. For pretty much my whole life I had neglected to realize the extent to which Native American culture was destroyed by our ancestors. Sam showed me how naive I had been by pointing out the many wrongs that were committed. One of the last points that Sam partially changed my mind about pertained to modern slavery. Sam’s latest lecture, along with Disposable People, had somewhat of an affect on me. I now know much more about modern slavery than I did before and the little things that I can do personally to help. I know that any of the little things I do will not make much of a difference but at least I am now aware of it and I can continue my life helping whenever an opportunity comes along. Having said all of this, these realizations and small changes will probably not affect my life that much at all but at least I am informed now. I think that Sam’s teaching style keeps me interested in what he has to say because he seems passionate and has a lot of experience in the field. Most of my other classes are painful to sit through but Sam has a way of keeping my attention and getting me to care about the issues that he is talking about. Fri, 9 Apr 2010 21:11:42 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66874859 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65356989 I think this is a great point. Sam always does seem to be talking about the white team and the black and brown team so it must be hard for multi racial students to digest what he is saying. It is interesting to hear it from your prospective. I think it is important to place yourself on both teams because that is who you are. I understand the fact that you lean more towards your hispanic culture. I can’t understand what you have been through, but I think that if i were in your shoes I would feel the same way. I think I would want to more fully embrace my hispanic heritage while still identifying with the white team as well. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 03:44:17 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65356989 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65357817 I think this is a great point. Sam always does seem to be talking about the white team and the black and brown team so it must be hard for multi racial students to digest what he is saying. It is interesting to hear it from your prospective. I think it is important to place yourself on both teams because that is who you are. I understand the fact that you lean more towards your hispanic culture. I can’t understand what you have been through, but I think that if i were in your shoes I would feel the same way. I think I would want to more fully embrace my hispanic heritage while still identifying with the white team as well. Thu, 1 Apr 2010 23:44:17 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65357817 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65357328 I think this is a great point. Sam always does seem to be talking about the white team and the black and brown team so it must be hard for multiracial students to digest what he is saying. It is interesting to hear it from your prospective. I think it is important to place yourself on both teams because that is who you are. I understand the fact that you lean more towards your Hispanic culture. I can’t understand what you have been through, but I think that if i were in your shoes I would feel the same way. I think I would want to more fully embrace my Hispanic heritage while still identifying with the white team as well. Thu, 1 Apr 2010 23:42:30 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment65357328 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment65353876 This video was definitely an eye opener. I honestly did not expect that most of the children would choose the white doll over the black doll. I think that this issue spurs completely from the media. Television is dominated by white people and almost every beauty product, doll, TV show, and whatever else is marketed to white people. Being that black and brown people are also watching TV, it makes these children believe that true beauty is white. With this mindset they choose the white doll because they think it is the right choice. It is really a shame to see how much children are affected by this where it gets to the point that they think they do not live up to the standards of our society. Thu, 1 Apr 2010 23:30:02 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment65353876 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment65351595 Before I started this class I did not spend much time questioning the way of the world. Things like what it means to be white and the fact that the persecution of the Native Americans is not talked about never really crossed my mind. As I get older and further through college, and this class, I am really starting to question my surroundings and different issues in society. I certainly had never thought about the fact that women’s periods are so taboo in our culture. I think Sam brings up a great point in that we need to question things like this. Like his blog says, if we never decided to discuss segregation and other major issues we would be a lot less further along than we are today. I think that with big issues like that it is society, the media, and the government that pursued people to leave the issue buried deep so that no action has to be taken. An issue like “bleeding” is a different area to deal with because there is no law that can be created that will force people to deal with it. Personally I do not really feel comfortable talking about periods. As Sam pointed out to all of us that is just because we have never done so in the past so nobody is used to it. If we had been talking about periods for the last 50 years it would not phase me for a second to hear a girl talk about it. But unfortunately the subject does make me cringe and I would rather leave it to the girls to discuss. In reality this is bodily function that every girl has and it does not make a whole lot of sense that talking about it must be kept so secretive. Unfortunately I do not see any way of getting people to change their minds on an issue like this. We dealt with it in class and now I am a lot more willing to hear discussion on this issue and the more I hear the less I will find it unnerving. I guess one thing that girls could do to make guys confront periods is to just talk about it. If they ignore the fact that it makes guys uncomfortable than we will have to deal with it, and the more we deal with it the easier it will get to talk about. There are definitely a lot more issues like this that are being ignored and should be questioned by everyone. To learn anything in this life you have to ask questions. You also have to question things that are easy not to question. If everyone refused to change their opinions than we could not continue to advance and break barriers. Thu, 1 Apr 2010 23:22:27 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment65351595 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians__trashed/#IDComment63960382 I definitely think that the Asian American culture has been overlooked in this class. Most of the discussions in class boil down to blacks and whites. I would be interested to hear Sam do a lecture on Asian culture in American and how they are viewed by others in the United States. From what I have seen at Penn State most people seem to hang out for the most part with people of their same skin color so I can see how it is sometimes hard for people to distinguish between Asians and Asian Americans. Like Sam says we need to start the conversation between all races so we can start to better understand each others cultures. Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:39:33 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians__trashed/#IDComment63960382 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/is-this-just-a-few-bad-apples__trashed/#IDComment63959295 For the most part I like to stay away from politics. There are a lot of reasons, and one of them is definitely people like this. Most of the time it seems to me that when dealing with people on either extreme side of the political spectrum the issue being discussed takes a back seat. They seem to be arguing mostly for the sake of arguing and will use extreme means to prove their points. Resorting to racism and prejudice is completely besides the issue being debated and is solely trying to attack the other party. I don’t understand why these people feel the need to be so angry all of the time. Hopefully there comes a time when issues can be dealt with logical discussions instead of insane arguments. Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:28:30 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/is-this-just-a-few-bad-apples__trashed/#IDComment63959295 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/native-hawaiians-ever-think-of-them__trashed/#IDComment63958273 Being that I have never been to Hawaii it’s a state that never really comes across my mind. I also think that its distance away from Pennsylvania and the fact that its an island have something to do with that too. For the most part we only see Hawaiian's portrayed in movie vacation scenes were everything is generic and inaccurate. It is interesting to step back and think about the people that were actually there in the first place before the Americans came along to claim it. This story seems to compare to the persecution of the Native Americans and that was a point that has interested me a lot since it was first mentioned earlier in the year. I had never stopped to think about what actually happened to the Native Americans because it had never been mentioned in school. It is horrible to think how widely ignored their persecution and struggles are. The Native Hawaiian’s were in the same position as the Native American’s, where foreign people came and stole their land and did not recognize the injustice for years. Systems like this always lead to vast unemployment and other struggles. The Native American’s are still struggling terribly on United States soil so I can’t imagine how little attention the island of Hawaii is given. It is sad to see other cultures set back like the Native Hawaiian’s have been where they have very little chance of achieving any success. After being partly informed of this situation it is great to see that President Obama is taking action to help give back to the Native Hawaiian culture. The overall feelings of the Native Hawaiian’s towards this new legislation seems extremely positive except for those few groups. If they are given federal recognition it will give these people a much better change of establishing themselves and being successful. They will get better housing, an education system based around their culture, health centers and full-time job opportunities, which are things that they should already have. I’m sure that they will take full advantage of these opportunities and attempt to reestablish their culture in an effort to regain some of what they used to have before it was taken. However, taking into account what the skeptics have to say it does seem like a very large decision given the fact that it could take $343 million a year in tax revenue away. Also the redistribution of land is surely not an easy task as has been seen throughout history. Even with government assistance many people will most likely still remain homeless. When people are given such a low starting points it is difficult to overcome even with a little help. Regardless of all this I still think that these people deserve everything in that article and I hope the legislation is passed soon. Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:18:42 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/native-hawaiians-ever-think-of-them__trashed/#IDComment63958273 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment62527975 This is definitely a great point. I feel like it has a lot to do with what Sam says dealing with how white people are overly cautious when it comes to issues with race. I think that when white people are offended by black people they are a lot less likely to say anything because they are afraid of getting into a serious debate. This includes myself. I was a bit offended by the way that the comments towards white people were just simple stereotypes that were given no thought at all. It makes me think that black people just see all white people as over privileged assholes without giving a second thought to it. I think that both sides need to change their perspectives in order to gain any useful experience in race relations during this class. Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:27:50 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment62527975 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment62526524 This story is just plain ridiculous. It would be bad enough if the school only banned these students from coming to the prom, but to go as far as canceling the entire prom is inexplicable. It is hard to imagine that things like this are still happening in today’s society. I thought we were past this point at least. This is clear discrimination and I hope that the school is severely punished for their actions. The schools statement that it is a “distraction to the educational process” does not make any sense. How are two lesbian girls going to a dance going to hurt anyone or anything? Its sad to see things like this still happening when the gay and lesbian community is fighting so hard for equal rights. Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:15:13 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment62526524 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/women-and-sports__trashed/#IDComment62524964 It is great to see a woman coaching a football team. There are obviously many obstacles she had to overcome to get to that place and obstacles that she will continue to face during her coaching career but she seems like a perfect fit. I think that it is so hard for women to get involved in the game of football because there are very few opportunities for them to be able to play and learn the game. She was able to find a women’s league to play for in her area but I am sure that a lot of places around the United States do not have football available for women to play. I think that women are completely capable of coaching football it is just much more difficult to find ways to learn the game enough to become a head coach. Even though her father told her she could not play she maintained her love for the game and was eventually able to find a team that she could play on. Even though she claims the job just kind of fell into her lap I am sure she is very proud of what she had to do to get to this point. There are very few women who would continue to pursue football when the interest in women’s football is so low around the Untied States. It is always inspiring to see people defy the odds and accomplish something that many people did not think could happen. Having said all this I think that she has a very tough road ahead of her. I think that the school board is taking a huge leap of faith in hiring her because all of her mistakes and issues with the team in the beginning will be under a magnifying glass. She will have to convince a lot of people in her community that she can successfully run the team. I think that she is understating the obstacles that lie ahead of her. She will most likely have a much harder time gaining full respect and control of the players on the team. She will certainly face some problems with the fact that she is a woman. I think that the players on the team will be supportive but it will be harder for them to adjust to taking orders from a female coach. Hopefully she can overcome these problems in the beginning and go on to be a successful coach. I think that if she can fight through the storm in the beginning she will gain the respect of the majority of the community and players. If she can accomplish that she will be able to do as a good of a job coaching as any male candidate for the job could do. I am interested to see how she is received when the season comes around and if she achieves success in her coaching career. Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:02:47 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/women-and-sports__trashed/#IDComment62524964 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/whats-with-the-theme-parties__trashed/#IDComment60104575 I really don’t think that theme parties at Penn State are racist at all. There are so many different types of parties that go on and I think that the only reason that they happen is because people enjoy dressing up in outrageous clothing, not because of racial issues. I think that most of the time these parties are motivated by current trends in the media like the explosion of Jersey Shore parties all around the country. These parties are not making fun of Italians they are making fun of the ridiculous lengths the people on the show go to try and look “good”. Besides Jersey Shore parties I mostly see things like 80’s parties and highlighter parties which have nothing to do with race. Sat, 6 Mar 2010 22:01:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/whats-with-the-theme-parties__trashed/#IDComment60104575