en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/1117075 Comments by kac5293 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85153609 I could not agree with you more. I do not agree with affirmative action at all either. It's like if people really want to make society better, then let those who are better qualified get the job, not someone else because there are too many whites or too many blacks, or whatever, that already work there. It does not make any sense to me that if people want to make the job better, or most often a school, then why anyone would bring the dumber people or less qualified people into that school, or into that job? It only hurts the company/school more than it helps, in my opinion. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 16:40:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85153609 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85152313 I found it interesting that they stated that conservatives are not the ones involved in this study, and this can be translated into the assumption that people believe conservatives to be racist. I have an older sister, and when she was applying for colleges she found out that she did not get accepted into one of the ones that she was applying for because she is white. She had a good gpa and her SAT scores were pretty high as well. She found out that a kid in her class, who is Spanish, got accepted into the school, even though he had lower grades and a lower SAT score. This upset her and she automatically knew that it was because of affirmative action. It's like if people want to make society better, and then let those who are better qualified get the right to go to that college, not someone who is dumber. It does not make any sense to me that if people want to make the school better, then why anyone would bring the dumber people or less qualified people into that school, or into that job. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 16:29:43 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85152313 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85152305 Two other states, California and Washington, had already taken similar steps. This makes me wonder, why not everywhere else? Some arguments state that diversity really helps out colleges or other work areas, but i can't fully agree to that. I found it interesting that in this article, a black man spoke out against affirmative action. he said that "it's often said that diversity has been proven to make for a better-quality education. Has it? How?..." The article continues to explain that people who try to prove it with studies, and none of them are conservatives, find again and again that, as I think we all knew, diversity does not really have anything to do with giving you a more beneficial experience in terms of how much knowledge you have in your head or how much moral wisdom you have in your head after you come from college. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 16:29:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85152305 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85152267 I am taking some other online classes this summer, and one of the classes is law and society. Part of the class required to do a debate, and had to do research about a controversial subject. Because I was curious about this topic, I decided to look up more on affirmative action. I found an article that dated back to 2007 about this. It stated back in a 2003 a ruling involving the University of Michigan, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a limited consideration of race in admissions to allow colleges to create a diverse student body. However, the voters in Michigan have since passed an amendment to the state constitution that bans the use of affirmative action in the public arena. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 16:29:19 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85152267 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment85144901 she came from sicily Tue, 6 Jul 2010 15:40:12 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment85144901 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83543411 immigration has always been a controversial subject. Glenn Beck does try to obey the Constitution and most people find him ignorant or annoying to listen to, just because he is a republican, but most people do not really fully listen to what he is saying; they do not pay attention to the context of his speech. I believe he does not present the immigration strong enough. I agree, that immigration is not an issue based upon if someone is a republican or if someone is a democrat, it is an issue that everyone has an opinion on. immigration has always been a controversial subject. Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:08:31 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83543411 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83542361 Yes, Glenn Beck does try to obey the Constitution and most people find him ignorant or annoying to listen to, just because he is a republican, but most people do not really fully listen to what he is saying; they do not pay attention to the context of his speech. I believe he does not present the immigration strong enough. My mom is an immigrant and I guess that makes me more intollerant of illegal immigration. I see it as, if she and her family could come over here to America, LEGALLY, then so should everyone else. She waited like she was supposed to to come here, and did it the right way. What I fear when it comes to Mexicans coming into this country illegally is that they are taking advantage of the American system and bringing us down with them. People do not realize how they are probably laughing at us saying "oh stupid americans they do not realize how much we are taking advantage of them..." Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:04:30 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83542361 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83542356 its only in the united states that we have stupid people BRAINWASHED believing that it is ok for them to enter into this country. I personally believe, and I know there are a bunch of other people out there in this country that believe the same exact thing but they are afraid to announce it to sound "racist," but that mexicans feel that we, Americans, took a part of their country for them and now they are trying to over populate our country with their people to try to take it back. People do not realize the importance of obeying the Constitution and following it strictly. Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:04:27 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83542356 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83542342 and if it breaks the law, then they get punished. so pretty much what they were saying, and what everyone else is class says about illegal immigration (being on the OK side of it) is that it is alright to break this law. if that is the case, and someone felt that it is fine to break this law, then who is to say where and when to draw the line? why not kill a thousand people too? yes that may be a little extreme but I am just trying to prove a point. its funny because in any other country, you could be killed or sent to jail for entering illegally. Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:04:16 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83542342 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83541767 Immigration, especially illegal immigration, has always been and will always be a topic that will be debated. I took a class last semester with professor john iceland about immiration, and a lot of it was factual based, but we would have discussions during the class as well. most students did not have much to say when it came to legal immigration, but when it came to discussing about illegal immigration, that is when the classroom got heated. It used to get me upset and frustrated when I would hear these hippie people in class saying "well these [illegal] immigrants need to provide for their family as well and need to keep them alive..." I do not understand what people do not get that illegal immigration BREAKS THE LAW! Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:02:03 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment83541767 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83310380 Hey Sara, The reason why I decided to comment on your post was because I saw "God" in it. Just like yourself, I am a strong believer in our Lord Jesus Christ. I just wanted to clarify your first few sentences a bit about the Bible and homosexuality. God did not create people to be Gay or straight. He designed all humans and their intentions were for Him and only Him. Them being Gay is a sin, and that is caused by Satan, like all of our other sins. God is good and He doesn't cause anything bad. Because God loves us, He gives us free will to choose and do what we want, so some of us get tricked and happen to listen to Satan, believing that being Gay is OK. There's a verse in the Bible that states "A man shall not lay with a man, the way he does with a woman..." and vice versa for women. Homosexuality was going on back then, probably the very early stages of it. But none the less, like all sins, God forgives us for it. Most Christians may not believe that Gays can go to Heaven, but I believe it is possible. I heard of this Pastor that was gay but married to a woman. He was very much aware of his desire for men was a sin, and was struggling with it. He said that he knows its Satan trying to tempt him every day, but he knows God is just and will forgive him. Wed, 30 Jun 2010 03:34:33 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83310380 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment82252987 I will probably mention this in my internal dialogue because it is something that I have often been thinking about, and more so since I have joined this class with Sam, but It’s not racist to call someone black! If they are then what is so racist about it? They are black, aren’t they? It’s like saying “that chair is black,” no one says “that chair is darker colored.” It is just about describing someone, not about being racist. I feel that if someone were to be offended by that statement or feel as though that statement is racist, then oh well. I believe that person is too sensitive then and needs to get over it. I work at a cancer hospital over my breaks from school, and I had a black patient asking me to give her friend that she brought for moral support, and I asked her what her friend looked like at what was her name, she said it was Kim and she said “she is dark skinned like me.” I wasn’t sure why she just didn’t say black. I used to think that only white people would describe backs as “darker skinned” because they were afraid they would offend them, for whatever reason. I do not really understand why white people do not want to talk about race though. I have a feeling it is because they have nothing to prove or to be proud of. Like black people for example, I know their parents, probably a lot of them, say ‘ you should be proud of the color of skin that you have, do not be ashamed.’ Whatever it is that their children, or whomever, that they are talking to are probably going through some problems in their neighborhood, or in school, and it is because of their race. They might even feel out of place, or relating back to history. I feel that because they were once slaves so they need to make them feel that they will no longer have to go through that again. Once upon a time ago it was looked down upon, but now they want their generation and the rest of the world to know, and probably especially white people, that there is nothing to be embarrassed about for being something other than white. I have noticed that a comment that everyone is talking about is the instance where the children were picking a white doll over the other colored ones. I remember when I was a child and I had Barbie dolls. They were all white, up until they had Stacey’s friend who was black, but not too dark. She was a light brown, but they made sure that she was noticeably black because of the textured hair that they gave her. I also remember the American Girl dolls that many of us (girls) had when we were younger. They had mostly white dolls until they threw in “Addy” who looked more like Woopie Goldberg than anything else. Sat, 26 Jun 2010 00:00:30 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment82252987 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment82250533 That is a good thing that you brought up. I forgot to mention it in my blog post and my internal dialogue. About the question that got brought up in class, that Sam mentioned, which I found to be interesting as well, was when he asked who feels guilty about their race. I could not picture me raising my hand for that one at all. It is not that I am super proud, or happy that I am a white female, I just do not feel any guilt towards it. I understand some people, white people I am referring to in this instance, feel guilty about being white because of the slavery that existed X many years ago, but I do not know why if they had nothing to deal with it, they were not even born back then, and neither were their parents. Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:41:29 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment82250533 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment81837538 I did find it to be true that most liberals would check off on a survey that they want to live in a more diverse community just because they are politically correct, or at least they were brainwash to believe that. I strong believe that liberals try to appear to be "not racist" or whatever, just so more people would like them. I wonder how many people out there that answered that question saying that they would hope that they live in a more diverse neighborhood really do care if there were more diverse people around them. I believe most people want to live with people of their own race, and not as much diversity, not because they are racist (even though they never defined the word "diversity") but because they want to feel more comfortable. When you live somewhere it is because you like the area because it is familiar with you. When someone goes home, they do not want to hear loud music that is different to them, or if they are older, they do not want to hear a baby constantly crying. Race and age can affect whether people wish to live in a certain area of not. I live in a neighborhood in Queens, New York ( I feel that I say this a lot so I apologize for those that have to keep reading this) and this city has the highest minority rate in the nation. Within my block, I have had a few minority families that have come and gone, but for the most part it is white people. White people in their late 40s or 50s, or something around that age, but there used to be a high percentage of the elderly. When I was younger, the Indian family living across the street from me had a little girl, and she was one of my good friends. We used to play outside on the block all the time together. When she moved a Greek couple moved in, and no one saw much of them. A few years after that I had a Mexican family live a few doors over. When they moved in, I heard a lot of talk on the block about them, not many good things. No one really spoke to them, probably because of the stereotype and people might have thought they were illegals. I personally would not care if there were a high diversity rate on my block, I would prefer them to be around my age so we would have more in common, and probably want them to be Christians (at least 30% I would say), but race would not bother me. I would just not want a loud obnoxious neighbors who would be blasting music on a Tuesday night before i had work. Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:55:14 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment81837538 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment80351682 I thought it was funny when Sam was saying how he calls his wife “bro” or any other slang word and how if he went to the gas station and went to a black guy and said “hey bro, can I get XYZ?” He is probably correct, the black guy would probably think “this white mother f****, why did he call me brother? I’m not his brother!” I think that was funny when he said it because its hilarious. I come from NYC and I used to say nigga all the time (and yes I am white), and never thought anything wrong with it because all of my friends said it, so I thought it was just a whatever word. I knew that this was wrong to say it in front of some one I didn’t know.When I went away to Penn State, it seemed that the small amount of black people at Penn State freaked out when someone other than a black person said “nigga” just to be “cool.” I thought that was a culture shock to me. Now, when I go back to NYC< I feel that it is another culture shock to me everytime I come back frombreaks. I mentioned this in my comment on the race relations website, so I will summarize this even more because I feel that this is something that I would like to document and keep as a personal journal entry. I will summarize it so it is short, but my co-worker and his friends saw a famous black actor walking down the street (in New York City) with his big dog and someone else, probably a body guard, and they started talking for a while and decided to ask what the dogs name was and the black actor said “lil nigga.” Now my co-worker is white and so were his four friends. They are middle aged as well. They started talking about the dog and every time the black actor kept saying the does name, such as “lil nigga, sit” or “lil nigga this” and “lil nigga that.” They felt awkward to say the word “nigga” so they kept referring to the dog as “him” instead. The black actor set up one of them to have to say the name, so one of my co-workers friends said of so “is lil nigga …blah blah blah?” The actor laughed and said “ I just wanted to say which one of you would say the word nigga.” It turned out that that was not the dogs name at all, but just a joke he was playing on them lol. I thought it was pretty hilarious how he acknowledged that whites are hesitant to say the word nigga around black people. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:42:13 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment80351682 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80347094 I forgot to mention this in my own response, but you reminded me of it when you mentioned that your mom works in a high school in your that with a girl who is paralyzed from the waist down. I went to a high school that had at least 100 students who were disabled. I also went to a junior high school that had a few of them as well, and became friends with them. I remember having to push their wheel chair sometimes or help them with other tasks that I knew they were not able to do. However, I know that not all of them liked the idea of being helped, because they did not want to appear as "different," even though they kind of are, compared to those who are able bodied. My grandmother had alxheimer's disease for about 17 years (died a few years ago) and she could not feed herself, use the bathroom alone, shower, get dressed; nothing. it was as though she was an infant baby. The only thing she could do was walk very slowly, but she did not know what she was doing. I thought it was cool that Sam brought that up in this class' lecture. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:55:32 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80347094 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80346271 I am a Christian, I am a female, I am young, I am short, I am a student, I am a daughter and I am a daughter of an immigrant, I am straight, I am a sister, I am a friend, I am a girlfriend, I am a New Yorker, I am an American. Sam was discussing what it meant to be "white" there were a lot of things that I did not realize. Just as he said, most people starts off as the pre-awakening stage, that is that our identity with any group is with their ethnicity (but not as white). I thought the comedian video was hilarious to watch. I thought it was cleaver that he thought of going back to the past and being "safe" but not for any other race. After hearing the second stage, the awakening stage, I agree with Sam, most people probably in this stage, and do not move on after this. These people sit and acknowledge that there is a difference between "us" and "them," but nothing more than that. I have mentioned this several times throughout my internal dialogues and other blog posts in the past, but I grew up in New York City, so I feel that this applies to me, but at the same time it does not. For example, in high school, especially, I acknowledged that I am white and there were maybe only two other people in my classes that are white and the rest were mainly spanish and then the rest were black and asian (or other). I realized this three years into high school. Why it took me this long? I do not know. I think it was because this is how I grew up my whole life, but because I had a friend that mentioned the small amount of people that were in my high school are white. I guess I then looked around and saw only about three people in my English class that were white. I thought it was pretty funny when Sam retold his three stories about the paralyzed people he knew. I thought it was a good point that he knew the person was paralyzed (in the lazy river) but did not realize why his posture was bent over and his head was in the water. There are things in life that people know, but it does not sink it. I love watching Dave Chappelle with my best friend, who is also African. We often say jokes that are about whites and blacks and laugh about it all of the time, including the episode Sam showed in class today. There are a few things that I've noticed blacks "characterize" white people as, such as they do not have problems. I know a black kid from Queens (New York) that thinks that I am rich and problem free just about because I am white. it gets annoying at times because, yes he is probably kidding, but after a while it does get annoying. I wonder where this perception came from? Looking back to the comedian about how being white is so great, I wonder what the future will look like. I wonder if people that are white will have a disadvantage in the future, or if we will be seen as different. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:46:24 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80346271 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79387939 I agree with you, I like the example that he used to say what we are free to do and what we are not free to do. However, I think he could have emphasized more that we are really not free at all. I feel that the government has a hold on the citizens over everything. I know this is not a political science class or a government class so he probably does not need to go into it more, however I wish he would have. I believe there are things that people are addicted to that they are not free to do. For example, society states that being skinny is "sexy" and being fat is "unattractive." This has an effect on people to slave themselves to try to be what magazines tell them to look like, and how to do it. We’re all a slave to something. Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:39:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79387939 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79387379 Sam always gives good examples throughout the class, especially right in the beginning of class. The kid that put his hands down his pants, or at least about to was pretty gross, and I am glad that the Korean kid did not. The other example that he used that I thought was pretty cool was the race to the top, by using his desk and a few classmate volunteers to say who can make it to the top. It is like a survival of the fittest type mentality that he has going on, that he was smarter and he was able to get to the top OR he was lucky and just happened to be at the side of the table where the chair was and was first able to climb up the chair. I agree with Sam Riachards when he say that no one can say that we are all equal (resonding to what conservative “republicans” say) because are all in different circumstances. If whites treated blacks and other minorities as equals, we would not have this race problem. I often hear a lot of discussion from blacks about STILL blaming whites about what our ancestors did, and it gets really annoying. It sucks that I have to hear them talk about it; I really do not wan to hear it anymore. THANK YOU SAM FOR THE CONSERVATIVE TALK! I am a conservative and I do not believe Republicans now are conservative, especially Sarah Palin. But, conservatives are about sticking to the constitution more than people doing what they want to do. Yes it is about freedom, but I do not think the founding fathers would say helping your wife to commit suicide is something that is alright. What I agree with his is the government’s job is to PROTECT the people, not to PROVIDE for them, which is often the big mistake Americans make. Does racism exist in our criminal justice system? I believe so. I thought there would be more whites in the jails than anything else because there are more whites in the population than anyone else. I thought it was pretty cool for Sam to go over drug abuse and race. It is hard to say who does illegal drugs and I had a feeling that White people would have the highest count of doing it, for the same reason; more white people in the country. I was shocked to see that the American Indian arrests for illegal drug use was so high! When you sell drugs and you get busted and the person next to you that does the same thing and does not get busted, must be for a reason. I believe race does play a factor in it most of the time. Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:34:08 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79387379 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78295716 6/2/10 You make a few good points, like education and how there are something that on the inside that leads people to be the way they are, but education is an expectance. I agree that it is the choices a student makes that gives them the end result, and also the resources given to the student. I noticed he points out in the lecture that there are factors that people can and cannot control, but I feel that school is something you can control, unless you are sick, it is a reason that you would need to leave the school. I liked his examples that he gave that there are parents getting laid off that causes them not to go back to school. I must admit, that was what happened to me. My dad was the only one working and he got laid off, so i did not think I was coming back to Penn State because I am from NYC and I could not afford an out of state tuition bill, but I knew I could succeed in a good university and in a city college I would not learn as much. Good post! Thu, 3 Jun 2010 01:15:40 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78295716