en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2444941 Comments by jsv5022 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment144408052 I would not say that immigrants are portrayed as “bad people” but they are given a negative stigma when moving into new communities and snatching up jobs from out of work registered Americans. I would say that the word to use when describing the stigma that illegal immigrants have is that they are cheaters. America is a very welcoming country when you go through about the papers the right way. If immigrants could save up in their home town and migrate to the United States the correct way and live with the same expenses and salaries that we do then and only then that I do believe that immigrants will lose the hated stigma. Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:44:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment144408052 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment144407963 Another reason, in which society may look down on immigrants, is because of the downturn some towns have taken due to the immense increase of immigrants living in one area. One town on Long Island, called Farmingville has been a victim of vast increases in illegal immigration. This town has seen many houses house many families in a two bedroom house, and watch nice house slowly degrade due to the neglect that many illegal immigrants have inflicted upon their living spaces. With houses like this in your neighborhood, it would decrease the amount of affluent people that would want to purchase land in the area, and would also cause problems for trying to sell your house to move out of the neighborhood. A third reason that immigrants are portrayed negatively is because the amount of tax payers money that they take up. As brought up in class Sam stated that if an illegal immigrant will ever need to use the emergency rooms for an injury the expense comes out of the tax payer’s project. Americans will also have to pay for any other expenses that illegal immigrants may obtain and cannot pay for. Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:43:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment144407963 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment144407899 When raising the question why does society dislike immigrants and why are they portrayed negatively, you are asking a question that has many different responses. There can be a few reasons as to why some people in society are not very fond of immigrants. In my opinion one reason that society can be against immigrants is because jobs are being taken away from legal Americans. One may argue that they are only taking the jobs that no one wants to do in the United States, but this is not the case for some select jobs. Many landscaping as well as construction jobs are still decent paying and respectable jobs for Americans. By businesses trying to cut their costs and use good business practices, they are cheating and hurting Americans who are qualified for these jobs and that are struggling to make a good living. Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:43:32 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment144407899 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/would-you-date-someone-like-me-119-blog/#IDComment137619364 Another reason why I believe white men are hesitant to get involved romantically with black women is stereotypes. Black women are usually perceived to be loud and opinionated and even sometimes full of themselves, I believe this stereotype scares white men away; just as any woman with high power/authority, (regardless of skin color) will have white men shy away from them. I am not saying that these stereotypes of black women are true, but it is definitely one thing that keeps me dating within the white race. There are many influences that have an impact on us as we grow up, media, family, stereotypes, and education all impact us on the way we feel and the way we think. I have nothing against black women, it is just that I have been raised to be attracted to white women and their characteristics in personality and physical attributes. I know there is the possibility of being looked at funny in public when in an interracial relationship, and some families like mine would not approve, but the biggest reason for me to not date black girls is because I am just not attracted to their characteristics. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 02:34:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/would-you-date-someone-like-me-119-blog/#IDComment137619364 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/would-you-date-someone-like-me-119-blog/#IDComment137619340 In my opinion white men are hesitant to date black girls for numerous reasons. A lot of it has to do with the culture in which we grew up in. As a white male who grew up in a mainly white area of Pennsylvania, I am positive my parents would throw a fit, if I ever brought a black/minority girl home. Even though people are becoming more accepting to other cultures and races, we still have a lot of "old school" believers that it is different and out of the norm to have interracial couples. And these "old school" believers are the ones who are raising us and forming our beliefs as we grow up. While I would not consider myself a racist, I could also not see myself dating a black girl no matter how great their personality might be, I am just not attracted to the physical features of black women. I can also tell you that if a white woman had all the features of a black woman except for her skin color, I would still not find her attractive. There is something that is shaped as we grow up that helps us find the type of people we will be attracted to as we grow up. Not only has my families beliefs influenced my choice of girls to date but so has the media. You will hardly ever see interracial couples in the media; this is because these relationships are not fully accepted in society just yet. I have no problem if any of my friends are interested in dating black or minority women, but I tend to find friends who have the same beliefs as me when it comes to dating. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 02:34:36 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/would-you-date-someone-like-me-119-blog/#IDComment137619340 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/have-you-ever-felt-guilt-from-being-of-a-certain-race-119-blog/#IDComment135932441 I never however, felt as though I felt guilt about being white. In my mind if I felt guilt, everyone in every race would also feel guilt. Guilt is something that needs to happen then go away and by now with the world and all the people in it should realize that no one in this world should feel guilt. I believe that everything happens for a reason and that should be enough for everyone to forgive and forget everything. Those are the feelings that I have and I believe that everyone should also believe the same values. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 23:20:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/have-you-ever-felt-guilt-from-being-of-a-certain-race-119-blog/#IDComment135932441 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/have-you-ever-felt-guilt-from-being-of-a-certain-race-119-blog/#IDComment135932397 When I first met him, he was different than I had expected but yet I still, over time, became good friends with him. Since we became friends, I ended up hanging out with him quite a lot, I saw a lot of differences in how we were different. We were not just different in our personalities but also our cultures in which we grew up in. I could tell his family meant something different to him than it did to me, I could also tell that we both had different ideas about where our lives should lead us, in our eyes at least. Although we had very many views, I feel as though he always held something against me because I was white. I could definitely feel as though tension was in between us. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 23:20:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/have-you-ever-felt-guilt-from-being-of-a-certain-race-119-blog/#IDComment135932397 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/have-you-ever-felt-guilt-from-being-of-a-certain-race-119-blog/#IDComment135931777 In my entire lifetime that I can remember I never remember feeling guilty for my race. I am a white male who was born into a middle class family . I grew up in a very “white” populated area with very few different races around me. Until I came to college I had not really interacted that much with people of different races. My freshman year in college, my roommate was an African American. I was actually extremely excited to have someone from another race in which I could become friends with and learn about how he grew up. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 23:16:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/have-you-ever-felt-guilt-from-being-of-a-certain-race-119-blog/#IDComment135931777 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130740378 . In a seven hundred person class, I feel as though since there are so many different races in one section, that no one really looks who they sit next to based on race. I feel as though I will still not be conscious of who I sit next too. The lecture and activity had no effect on me, for some it might have been an eye opening experience in which they will not always realize who they sit next to and when they might sometimes be “racist”. The exercise was a great way for people to realize how sometimes they are being racist. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 01:43:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130740378 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130740326 . I do however feel as though the majority of the Black students in the class tend to sit in the front middle section of the classroom. I feel as though they do not do this to stay away from the other races, but more because by sitting in the front of the classroom allows you to more easily interact with Sam and the activities that he does. In no way do I think that people walk into the classroom and look around at the races they sit next to. I feel as though they more likely sit next to the people they are familiar with or whom they could most likely associate with. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 01:42:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130740326 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130740279 The activity in class where Sam asked students of different race to choose a seat in between different races caused a lot of people to look around and think about where they sit and how conscious they are when they pick their seat. However, the activity did not affect of how conscious I am when I choose my seat in class. I always sit next to the same people, my friends. Even when I get to class early to save seats I never think about whom my friends or I might be sitting next to. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 01:42:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130740279 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/how-can-we-make-major-decisions-so-quickly-119-blog/#IDComment127456203 I think it is unfair of to say that we make major decisions so quickly. If using the exercise about the African American woman who was given jail time for sending her kids to another school to base that everyone bases major decisions quickly, then that is to say that when a student decides not to get lunch in the HUB because the lines are too long, that they made a major decision in their life. A real world example of this is in court. When a defendant is being prosecuted, the jury is not just told the prosecutor’s side but they are given the defendant’s story as well. They make their decision based on all the available information and facts. We may make small insignificant decisions quickly but that is do to the fact that if we did not, our lives would be spent digging up information rather than truly living. However, I believe that when we are faced with a major decision we take our time to gather all the facts possible and that we do not make them quickly. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 02:19:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/how-can-we-make-major-decisions-so-quickly-119-blog/#IDComment127456203 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/how-can-we-make-major-decisions-so-quickly-119-blog/#IDComment127456162 I believe that we all made our decisions quickly because in reality we were shown something then asked our opinion on it. We had to make our choice given only having a small amount of the true information or story. I do not believe that we make decisions quickly unless we are forced to by the information or the situation. I do not believe that answering that clicker question was a “major” decision at all. If it would have been a question about your own future and the decision would have a major impact on your life then I believe almost every single person in the class would have taken the time to look at all the facts and information they could possibly find on the subject. The way that I think about the situation is, if you are deciding where to get lunch for the day, you choose quickly and don’t really need to look at all the facts of the situation. In contrast when you are choosing your major, you look at what you are interested in, what type of life you would have in this career, how much money you will make and the availability of getting a job after graduation. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 02:19:41 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/how-can-we-make-major-decisions-so-quickly-119-blog/#IDComment127456162 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/how-can-we-make-major-decisions-so-quickly-119-blog/#IDComment127456131 When Sam showed the first headline of the news article, everyone’s reaction was pure shock. It was shock that an African American woman could possibly be thrown into jail for the simple act of sending her children to a so called “white” school. Next, when asked to answer the clicker question if this woman was a victim of racism, the majority of the class, myself included, agreed that she was indeed a victim. After Sam showed the second headline relating to the same woman, although it was still mainly leaning towards showing that the woman was a victim of racism, I easily started to see where Sam was heading with this exercise. I started to see that the class was a victim of making their decision solely based off of the one news article headline, or in other words making a decision quickly without all the facts. By the time Sam got to the last news article and explained to us what really happened and why the woman was imprisoned, I feel as though a lot of the class felt extremely silly. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 02:19:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/how-can-we-make-major-decisions-so-quickly-119-blog/#IDComment127456131 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/01/if-you-could-how-would-you-rename-and-re-classify-people-119-blog/#IDComment126000800 If we decided to classify people with this new way then certain students would not be exempt from applying for certain scholarships and certain people would not have to suffer lower forms of employment or payment. As generations move on the argument between mixed race relationships are becoming more accepted and as a result are growing. Soon it will be nearly impossible to classify one person as only one skin tone, or as one race. If we really need to breakdown and classify people in the same country than we can do it in levels of financial standings. Because if you are Black, White, Asian, or Mexican, you are considered an American when living in the United States, and the only way one should be able to tell us apart is by the income that individuals and/or families make. After we can make this transition of an overabundance of ways to classify a person's race or ethnicity we can soon get rid of the slang and derogatory terms that are used to describe people of a certain race or even of mixed races. One day the world will be able to get over the immense ways of which people try to identify themselves as well as each other, and once we are able to realize that, we will be one step closer to peaceful living. Fri, 4 Feb 2011 22:02:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/01/if-you-could-how-would-you-rename-and-re-classify-people-119-blog/#IDComment126000800 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/01/if-you-could-how-would-you-rename-and-re-classify-people-119-blog/#IDComment126000763 When addressing the question of how you would rename or re-classify people in different races, I would make everything a lot more simple. Since there are so many different ways to be classified due to mixed marriages I believe one should take on the name of where you were born. Forget this my parents' great-grandparents where from here or there, if you were born in America you are an American, is you were born in Africa, you are an African. By classifying people this way it will bring down the discrimination of what an Arabian is suppose to look like, or a Mexican, but most of all what an American is suppose to look like. I am not saying to anyone that if you were born in America to forget whatever culture your parents have known, I am just saying that is how you would identify yourself. In the topic of dealing with color and the names of how to classify people we should also condense this and not find more names. People already get edgy about calling them a certain color, I would say get rid of color altogether. You can tell when someone has different characteristics than someone else such as skin color why put a label on it? It does not make them any different as you or me. As Sam stated in class, we are 99.99% the same, skin color just happens to vary from time to time. Fri, 4 Feb 2011 22:02:33 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/01/if-you-could-how-would-you-rename-and-re-classify-people-119-blog/#IDComment126000763 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124047382 Classes like this Soc 119 are classes that help me learn how to approach people of different backgrounds and how to engage myself with someone who may not have the same interests as me. In essence it is giving me the confidence to branch out and get to know more people who are unlike myself. Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:37:33 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124047382 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124047003 When I was growing up I lived in a partially small town near Pittsburgh where our community was majority Caucasian. Everyone kind of grew up on the same morals and standards, and our interests fused together to make a very standard and common scene in our neighborhood. After visiting my girlfriend's hometown of Long Island NY, I began to see how diverse her school was and it took me a while to warm up to her friends, just because I did not know how to act around people who are not the same race or ethnicity as me. There has always been a fear of the politically correct terms to say to someone, for instance I met one of her homosexual friends, and an Indian guy whom she used to dance with. I did not have a clue if I should have been acting in a different way or if they acted the same as I do. Since we are both in college I have seen her group of friends transform from a diverse group of people to people of the same background as her. This is where areas of interest come into play. For me I joined a fraternity, my reason for this was to make friends with people who are like me, and in turn have a similar background as each other. I believe it is not because we choose to shun different groups of people out of our lives but because of the paths we choose to take and the types of people we encounter on those paths. Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:35:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124047003 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124046971 The reasoning for affiliating with the same race and culture as ourselves is because of what we are involved in. As you grow up you join sports, clubs, and organizations that interest you, by segregating yourself to these interests one may find that they gravitate and get along with to certain groups over others. The act of associating people of the same race and ethnicity as ourselves also has a big influence from our parents and the people that raised us. When you are little your parents control who you grow up around; this will steadily guide you into following the same trend of people that you once associated with when you were little. In high school, if you have a diverse class you may encounter and engage with a wider range of people due to classroom activities. Although once you come to college that small classroom atmosphere can be demolished and we are right back to being limited to the types of people who have the same interests as us. Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:35:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124046971 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122809332 This exercise was based on stereotyping, what Dr. Richards wanted us to do was break up that group of individuals by stereotyping their looks. After finding out how wrong we were with many individuals it was an edgy activity that helped show everyone that we stereotype everyday and most of the times we are wrong when we are doing it. Looks can be deceiving and a person’s story can be deeper than what we see in their face, I have learned something new about a close friend through this exercise and a whole lot more about the way in which I group people. I believe everyone walked out of the class that day with a more open mind and a keener eye when judging people. Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:27:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122809332