en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/769184 Comments by justin118 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/south-park-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment70020613 What I find so ridiculous about this controversy is that a few years ago South Park depicted Mohammad in an episode as part of a group of religious superheroes and no one noticed. Then this Dutch cartoon came out and all of sudden rules changed. The Dutch cartoons were definitely in bad taste and I could understand why a Muslim person would be offended, but after that controversy any depiction of the prophet was considered blasphemous and controversial. Even if South Park was specifically mocking Mohammad it should be expected because the creators set out to push buttons, but it is ridiculous that all they wanted to do is depict him in a cartoon and that is too much. The response of some Muslim groups has not helped Islam or Muslim people or helped deter Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Threats of violence from supposed Muslim group leaders only helps to misrepresent the true ideals of Islam. And as usual, the American media only adds fuel to the fire by making the episode a big deal. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 23:35:05 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/south-park-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment70020613 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66893894 Sam hasn't changed my opinion on most topics but he has definitely made me think and after some lectures I walked away feeling like I had a much better understanding of certain issues. One thing that changed my opinion was the classes about how children usually grow up to be about as rich or as poor as their parents. The correlation between SAT scores and parents' income was very eye opening and made me see how unbalanced our society can be. I used to think America was more equal for everyone but after seeing this plus what we learned about Native Americans and what we learned about the criminal justice system I see some of the unfairness. I really liked reading Disposable People because I had no idea slavery still existed and that millions of people are still slaves. I like Sam's teaching style because he is not afraid to discuss any issue even the "bleeding" class I found it funny how some people were so angry and offended because he brought up the topic. In many classes at Penn State I feel like I am not learning anything useful but I feel like I've taken a lot away from this class because it's made me think about my own beliefs and my own place in society. I don't understand how there are some people in this class who always leave early and don't pay attention to a thing Sam says. Fri, 9 Apr 2010 23:15:21 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66893894 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment64252543 I agree with Sam that we need to question things even when it makes people uncomfortable. Reading these posts I see that some people were offended and angered by Sam talking about bleeding during class because it made them feel uncomfortable. Sam didn't put anyone on the spot and you're a girl on your period you didn't have to raise your hand if he asked who was menstruating. Sure you might be grossed out by it but like Sam said, its probably because you have been conditioned to think that way, its not like he intentionally tried to gross people out. It seems like most of the people offended are girls, but why is this? Is it because you are afraid of what guys will think and because you have been conditioned by our masculine culture to be ashamed to talk about it? All the time when I am watching TV I see commercials for tampons and other "feminine products" but the large majority of people do not seem to be grossed out or offended by these commercials. But how come if the issue is discussed in class in a little more detail people are offended? Talking about bleeding will get us no where because it is natural, but it is a perfect metaphor for race issues and other taboo topics. Sometimes people need to talk about things that make them uncomfortable otherwise we cannot continue to evolve as a society. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:32:19 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/flip-the-script-for-a-moment__trashed/#IDComment64252543 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians__trashed/#IDComment64250046 I don't think Sam mentions Asians much in class because America itself is more focused on white vs. black issues because of the past and what is still going on in black communities. There are poor Asian people but their situation is not as dire as blacks, hispanics, or native Americans. I myself wouldn't categorize Asians as white or black but put them in their own category. I think when most American people think of 'Asians" they think specifically of Chinese and Japanese culture, and not of Indian cultures, which is technically Asian. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:10:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians__trashed/#IDComment64250046 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/native-hawaiians-ever-think-of-them__trashed/#IDComment64248454 I had never thought about Native Hawaiians in this way but their situation is very similar to that of Native Americans. It is nice to see that the government is trying to "right some wrongs" from the past by providing them with money and land but will this really help out their situation? Giving money to the poor does not help future generations and they usually do not become more productive. The way to get a society out of poverty is through education. Native Americans have received similar help from the government and some are allowed to govern themselves as it is mentioned in the article, but it has not seemed to help them. At the same time though I definitely feel that Native Hawaiians should govern themselves because their kingdom was broken up by the United States. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:56:14 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/native-hawaiians-ever-think-of-them__trashed/#IDComment64248454 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-one__trashed/#IDComment58720595 I disagree with Sam's comment that if we acknowledge the genocide of natives the USA has "no soul." I am not condoning what the white settlers did to the Indians, but the world was so different back then. Each generation is more accepting of other cultures than the last, and each generation has it slightly easier than past generations. European settlers were no angels, but they wouldn't travel on a boat for a month to an alien land for no reason. They did it because their living conditions were horrible. Three or four hundred years ago does not seem like a long time when you compare it to the history of the whole world, but almost every culture had much worse living conditions back then, unless you happened to be wealthy. Human beings have come a long way since the days when we stayed in tribes and had to hunt for food. Obviously we still have wars, conflicts, and poverty today, but during the time when settlers came to this land poverty was much more widespread and there was much more warfare all around the world. Things like poverty and warfare tend to make people more barbaric, and so I think the Europeans treatment of natives was due to the world they lived in. It is easy to look back now and say "wow I can't believe they treated people that way" but that was the world back then. It was a violent, fucked up place. Our modern world is still violent and fucked up in so many ways but at least now we have the resources to educate ourselves about other cultures. If you take someone who has been in prison his entire life and release him into the free world, he will act more barbaric than other people because of his living conditions. The European settlers lived in a more barbaric time and so they acted barbaric. The USA, despite its hypocrisy and problems, is still one of the most free places on Earth. If my grandparents had not emigrated here, who knows what they're children and their children's children would have had to go through in Europe. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:15:17 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-one__trashed/#IDComment58720595 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-one__trashed/#IDComment58718389 I remember learning about Native Americans all throughout my school years from about 1st grade all through high school and even in college, so from my perspective most schools do a good job about teaching students about Native culture and civilization. What I did not learn all this time was about the conflict between settlers and natives. Teachers and textbooks told me about battles between settlers and Indians and about Andrew Jackson slaughtering Seminoles and taking Florida, and I heard facts about how many natives died from war and disease, but there was no emphasis on the genocide that occurred and no mention of the living conditions of Indians today. I think there should definitely be more emphasis on the plight of Indians and the poor conditions that they are in. I am not saying we need to describe in violent detail to 1st graders, but from a young age children should know what really happened, instead of perpetuating the myth that pilgrims and Indians got along so well and sat down and had Thanksgiving dinner together. Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:53:59 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-one__trashed/#IDComment58718389 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-four__trashed/#IDComment57686025 I agree with you. All these people getting married for these bad reasons has nothing to do with religion and if they think they're following their religion by getting married they are mistaken. Look at Sarah Palin. She forced her daughter to marry her boyfriend only because she got pregnant, and look what happened-they get divorced after 6 months, what a big surprise. I don't think its a stretch to say that people have abused the act of marriage to the point where it is almost like a joke. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:50:06 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-four__trashed/#IDComment57686025 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-five__trashed/#IDComment57684719 To all the people who want to argue "marriage is a sacred institution" and "marriage was intended by God for blah blah blah," I think you should look a the history of marriage and maybe take Soc 030 so you can learn some thing. Marriage in the form we know it has really only been around for 200 years. The way we know it of course, is between a man and a woman who are in love and who decide for romantic reasons that they want to become unified. Before this though, marriage was a financial or political maneuver. People would marry to make connections with another family to gain power or political clout, people would marry for land or for livestock. People got married first for whatever reason, and then learned to live with the person whom they were married to. Marriage was not always about a man and a woman who are in love who want to be with each other forever. I also don't understand how you can argue that marriage is "sacred" when the divorce rate is 50%. Those who are allowed to marry apparently aren't treating it as sacred. The Christian Church and other religions have their own beliefs about marriage, but that needs to stay separate from the state and government. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:37:51 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-five__trashed/#IDComment57684719 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-five__trashed/#IDComment57683656 I am reading some of these comments and some people are still arguing that being gay is a sin and that gay marriage should be banned because "God intended marriage to be a sacred thing between a man and a woman." I would like to start off by saying that no one knows what God says or thinks, everything written in the Bible was written by humans, this is why we have a separation of church and state, so that ignorant people can not run around making laws based on what they think God wants. I don't understand how people who were in class on Tuesday can still argue that being homosexual is a sin when I think Sam clearly demonstrated that people are born that way. Gay people would not go through all they go through and be labeled as outcasts as a choice. The Bible is a great book with a lot of great messages about how people should live their lives, but I think its perspective about homosexuality is wrong. Anything that one writes down will have some sort of bias, and I am sure that the Biblical writers had a bias towards homosexuality because of the society in which they lived in. If a gay person is "living in sin" because he/she is gay, than what are they supposed to do? You can't just switch over and start becoming attracted to another gender. Obviously, some men in prison do sexual things to other men, but this is because they are under different circumstances and don't have a choice and they have been hurt psychologically. If someone told me I should become attracted to men tomorrow, I would tell them that's impossible, I grew up attracted to females and that is just the way I am. If people choose to be gay, than what about those people who get shunned by their parents when they come out of the closet? What about gay people who live in societies in the world where homosexuality is a crime and subject to severe punishment? I know that if I were a gay person growing up in a place like Texas or Alabama I would be scared to walk around. I guess some people think gays will rot in hell just because of the way they were born. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:29:02 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-five__trashed/#IDComment57683656 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/why-is-the-conversation-always-about-black-and-white-people__trashed/#IDComment56563332 I agree that one reason it always comes down to whites and blacks is because blacks were/are at the forefront of the civil rights movement, but I don't think this is the only reason. I think the other reason is that Africans were the ones who were slaves, not Hispanics, not Asians, and not any other foreign group who came here. Along with Native Americans, blacks have been given the shortest end of the stick in this country. I think the reason why we don't hear more about the Native American struggle is because so much of that population was wiped out by disease and because for the most part, whites did not enslave Native Americans and so there wasn't as much interaction and cohabitation between whites and natives as there was between whites and blacks. Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:13:59 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/why-is-the-conversation-always-about-black-and-white-people__trashed/#IDComment56563332 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/swinging-past-the-other-end-of-the-ideological-spectrum-on-the-way-to-the-intellectual-gray__trashed/#IDComment56562211 Tuesday's lecture had some great points and made me think of my own upbringing. When I was born my dad worked construction and my mom worked at the board of education making $10 an hour. When I was 3 my dad hurt his back and became disabled and unable to work. In order to give us better opportunities my mom went back to school and ended up getting a master's degree from NYU to become a speech pathologist and more than double her salary. If things had gone differently and my mom had never went back to school, my family would not be able to send me to a school like Penn State. I would have ended up going to community college, and this would have definitely made it harder for me to get a better job. This is one example of what Sam was saying about how a child's success is greatly influenced by the parent's social standing. My mother getting a much higher paying job resulted in our family going from lower class to middle class and put me in a much easier position to succeed and get a high paying job. I used to get angry when black people complained about slavery because I felt that slavery ended such a long time ago and that black people today cannot blame it on their circumstances. No one today can blame slavery 100% for their problems, but now I see the ripple effect slavery had on future generations. We all learned in history class about Jim Crow laws and that freed slaves still had trouble finding opportunities, but it was not until Sam's lecture that I really thought about the society they had to deal with. Even the Oprah show video was eye-opening. It is unfortunate that kids who attend Harper High will have such a harder time succeeding than the kids at the nice school. It is ridiculous that this country spends so much money on the prison industry to build new prisons to house drug addicts and non-violent offenders. It costs more money to send a young man to jail for a year than to give him an education for a year, and the problem is that once someone is sent to prison they develop a stigma about them and sometimes become institutionalized, which results in recidivism and more tax dollars to keep him incarcerated. Fri, 12 Feb 2010 23:03:46 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/swinging-past-the-other-end-of-the-ideological-spectrum-on-the-way-to-the-intellectual-gray__trashed/#IDComment56562211 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/animals-vs-humans-vs-welfare-cheats__trashed/#IDComment56556637 Andre Bauer is an idiot for what he said by classifying all welfare recipients as animals. He is most likely from a wealthy background and so he is ignorant towards the needs of many people. However, as insensitive as his comments were, he was trying to make a point about people who abuse welfare and spend the money on things they don't really need. Before we jump into creating any kind of welfare program I think it is important to make sure the money is really going to those who need it most. The only thing I agree with Bauer on is that some welfare recipients should be required to attend parent teacher conferences and take drug tests if they have a history of drug abuse. Too many poor people, both black and white, take their welfare checks as soon as they get them and spend them on expensive clothing, expensive cars, and other luxury items. Fri, 12 Feb 2010 22:27:22 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/animals-vs-humans-vs-welfare-cheats__trashed/#IDComment56556637 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55570643 "Natives can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration." This made me think of how many history books are written from the European perspective. Many history books portray the colonists as gentle innocent people who came to a new land just for religious freedom and fail to elaborate on the parts about slaughtering natives and bringing slaves over from Africa. Whenever history is written down it will always be biased in one way or another. Sat, 6 Feb 2010 04:29:15 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55570643 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55569928 These "hidden messages" that people find are a lot of times their own interpretation of the story. I think Brooks misconstrued the messages of Avatar. From the summaries I have read it is about people having a right to live on their own land and living the way they want to, and not so much about a white messiah saving the savages. The point of Avatar isn't really the plot or messages. It was made to showcase special effects and the reason why it follows the same format as Pocahontas is because it is an easy theme to follow. Sat, 6 Feb 2010 04:17:52 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55569928 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55531996 I didn't agree with some of David Brooks' article however I didn't think it was ridiculous or dismissible. I have not seen Avatar but reading the comparison of Disney's Pocahontas and Avatar was really interesting. The theme of both of these movies is very popular in mainstream cinema but I don't think its because white people feel they NEED a white messiah as their hero in films nor do I think white people have the attitude that these other cultures need white people to save them. I think this type of storyline is popular because it comes from John Smith's famous account of being saved by Pocahontas. His account was always believed to be true however if you look deeper you will see that most likely Smith greatly exaggerated what happened to him and possibly even made the whole thing up. By anyone's account John Smith and Pocahontas did not fall in love, but we still like to add this in to the movie because that is what people like to see. The theme of the white savior living amongst the savages comes from old attitudes of the British, French, and Spanish who, upon discovering the Americas, treated the natives like garbage because they felt their societies were superior. I do not think most white people feel that way anymore but the theme remains popular because it is easy to plug into different movies. Comparing Avatar and Pocahontas is a perfect example of how you can literally mix and match the characters and settings and come up with the same results. When I was in high school I attended a Catholic School and had to take classes on religion. In one of these classes the teacher tried to convince us that the themes to movies like Star Wars and Spiderman were biblical and that the heroes in these movies represented Jesus Christ. Even then I could clearly see how you could compare Jesus to Spiderman or Luke Skywalker and how he could fit into the story. It is easy to compare plots of movies and relate them to historical figures or events because that is where writers find their inspiration. Fri, 5 Feb 2010 21:55:44 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55531996 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/the-enlightened-west-knows-best__trashed/#IDComment54404565 I agreed with France when I first heard about this story in the news. I thought to myself "Why would anyone want to wear a burka." I associated the burka with Islam and I knew that it was not required by the Muslim religion or the Quran, however in some ways I did associate it with the Taliban because of the way they force women to wear them. However, this news story changed my mind because now I realize that many Muslim women choose to wear full veils. I think it is wrong for France to completely outlaw the wearing of veils because they see it as a symbol of oppression. The burka can be viewed in many different ways but when there are people who choose to wear it for religious purposes it is wrong to tell them they can't because of your own skewed judgment. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:14:27 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/the-enlightened-west-knows-best__trashed/#IDComment54404565 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/racism-looks-pretty-good-on-this-side-of-the-atlantic__trashed/#IDComment54403761 This video really surprised me. Being from this country it is hard to believe that such blatant racism would be tolerated not only from fans but from a coach as well. Fans acting in such a way would be immediately removed from the stadium and that coach would have faced really stiff penalties and possibly even be fired. Sometimes I think people in America overreact to issues of race but at these soccer matches the clubs involved are definitely under reacting. You never hear of an athlete in this country walking off the field in the middle of a game because of abuse from the crowd. The civil rights movement and the fact that we all live in such a close proximity means America has come a long way as far as racism. Europeans have not had to deal with the same race issues that Americans have dealt with since this country was formed. When I studied in Italy last year it was brought to my attention that Italy is having some race/immigration issues. Italy has always been a country of migrants with Italians moving out of their homeland and into other countries in search of better opportunities. However in the last few years an influx of African immigrants, legal and illegal have been pouring onto the shores trying to escape war and oppression. Italians are scared because some feel their land is being taken over by foreigners and that they will not be able to hold on to old traditions. This is not only going on in Italy but countries like France and Germany and England as well. I attended a soccer match between two Italian teams when I was in Europe and the crowd had a different way of taunting players than American crowds. The soccer crowds in Europe are much more vulgar when it comes to chants and yelling at players. Also fans between opposing teams seem to be more violent towards each other than average American sports fans. I am not excusing their actions in any way, but it is possible that some of these overtly racist fans are just trying to be vulgar and hurtful as possible to opposing players. As far as fans who taunt their own players with racist comments, that is just despicable and flat out racism. It must have to do with them being afraid of the influx of immigrants coming into Europe. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:06:17 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/racism-looks-pretty-good-on-this-side-of-the-atlantic__trashed/#IDComment54403761 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/i-guess-it-pays-to-learn-a-bit-about-other-people__trashed/#IDComment54400360 I do not think they jumped to conclusions in landing the plane and notifying police. The flight attendant said she asked the boy what was going on I guess he explained it to her and she still did not understand what the tefillin was. You are right that more people in America should take some time to learn a little about other cultures and religions and religions, but we can't expect people to know everything about other religions. Many of my friends and people in my neighborhood are Jewish and I have never seen or heard of a tefillin before. I don't think the flight staff was being too paranoid, if I was on a plane and saw someone praying with some kind of contraption strapped to them with what looked like wires I would not assume they were just going through any old prayer ritual. I disagree with S_Josaphat when you say the constitution says "land of the free" only to justify wrongdoing and to gain followers so they wouldn't be seen negatively. I think the people who came over here truly wanted a better living situation for themselves and others like them in Europe. It is true that they had to step over others in creating the United States, but what they created is a country that in 2010 really is free where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:33:58 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/i-guess-it-pays-to-learn-a-bit-about-other-people__trashed/#IDComment54400360 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-s__trashed/#IDComment54398180 hi! Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:11:50 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-s__trashed/#IDComment54398180