en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/3557617 Comments by karensumler http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/15/voices-from-the-classroom-79/#IDComment227461159 This situation first of all was out of control, sickening, disgusting, and could have been handled better. Whether he was Black, White, or Latino, it was wrong! I think that since Sandusky was a white male it was handled terribly. It took more than nine years, starting from the year of 2002 until now. There were reports and allegations of sex molestation of young boys by Sandusky and no one ever did anything about it. This went on for years, without a mention or notice. I personally and honestly do not know how they went on everyday knowing that he molested little boys and did not do anything about it. The fact that he was still allowed on and around campus is heartbreaking. Not only that but the fact that he could possibly be molesting or trying to molest more innocent boys is disheartening. One word, or mentioned could of changed this whole situation a long time ago. The fact that people knew and never did anything was sickening and sad to say I think race played a part in this. If Sandusky were a black or Latino man, everything would be totally different. First of all, it would of not taken this long for something to come out. As soon as there were allegations, this case would have been investigated a long time ago. Secondly, Sandusky would not have had any access to campus at all. As soon as the witness saw him in the showers with the little boys, he would have been questioned and fired right then and there. In the grand jury report, it says that a mother wanted to press charges against Sandusky, but the district attorney did not press any charges against him and dismissed the case. If Sandusky were black, then the charges would have been pressed. Its sad to say that race could have been the difference in this case, but I think it is true. If he was black or Latino, then he would of definitely have been in jail by now. The way things happened and the order of them happening always made me kind of questioned, what would of happened if Sandusky was black or Latino? I think many people probably thought the same thing and asked the same questioned but regardless you got the same answer. If he was black or latino then it would not have gotten this far, and this case would have been investigated more firmly. Even though the university is taking actions now and firing Graham Spanier and Joe Paterno, they would have been gone by now. Not only them but everyone that was involved or knew about this case and allegations. It is really sad that it really happens this way but it is true. Which is why we need to question our society because something is seriously wrong. Sat, 26 Nov 2011 03:52:49 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/15/voices-from-the-classroom-79/#IDComment227461159 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/10/voices-from-the-classroom-73/#IDComment220645825 Words cannot explain the emotions and physical damage done to this university due to this sex scandal. Everything is just so confusing between all the media, and the actual people who was involved is bringing a bad name to this university. Penn State is a very prestigious university alone due to the academics. On top of that we also have a very good football team, which adds on to why Penn State is such a great university. Penn state has many good programs, and earning a degree from here is not and never will be easy. Therefore that is why I think the value of Penn State’s degree will never change. According to the media, Penn State is a bad school. The media is portraying this school is such a negative way it is very offensive to me as a Penn State student. I feel as though Joe Pa is taking all of the blame and consequences such as name bashing, that the other people should be taking. Joe Paterno was the only person in this whole scenario that did a legal gesture. He contacted his higher authority, now what happens from there is the person who he told fault. But people are saying that since he did not contact authorities once he noticed that nothing was being done, he is the one to blame as well. I feel like McQueary, the person who actually saw the incident was old enough to know to go and tell the police instead of running to authorities. If McQueary, was not fired that brings a lot of controversy as well. I think this is what started the riot. On top of Joe Paterno being fired, McQueary was not and he was still allowed to coach on Saturday’s game. I was not apart of the riot that happened downtown on Wednesday night, but I could see why the students were upset. This incident has been going on for years, and no one knew anything about it, including our now ex-president Graham Spanier. I think Wednesday had to be one of the worse days in Penn State history. We lost our long time and favorable football coach Joe Paterno, and President within hours of each other. Even though I agree with students being able to express their feelings about everything that has happened, I do not agree with the way things went. I believe in being able to express yourself and your opinion as long as it does not harm anyone in the process. The riot became very dangerous to many people and it was out of control. Flipping over vans, light posts, and stop signs does not change anything and just let the media drag our name through the mud even more. Eventually, I think things will die down but I don’t think people would look at me negative forever because I was not the one who did the crime. If anything I think they are more concerned than anything, Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:35:24 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/11/10/voices-from-the-classroom-73/#IDComment220645825 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/27/voices-from-the-classroom-58/#IDComment213616101 I honestly could not imagine how the United States would be if white people became the minority. White people lead the whole history of the United States. Even today, most politics and governors are white. Even though white people stole the land from the Native Americans and slaves basically built this land, the whites always controlled and ran the United States. Just imagining how the roles would change is crazy. Imagine whites feeling discriminated against because of their race, when interviewed by a person of color. Imagine a white person feeling uncomfortable. I just cannot imagine. Even though people of color have come a long way we still face some racism. Imagine most of the people that are in politics being white? You heard the problems and the racial slurs, threats, and comments when President Obama was running for the presidency. Just imagine that but worse. This country has been so controversial when it comes to racism for pretty much all of its history. I feel like white people would not be able to sustain or make it because they always were in control. The only white people I feel that will be able to sustain would be the poor, or lower class white people because they are already use to having to work for everything. Being the minority is not always easy. For example, I am an African American going to Penn State. Penn State is predominately white. I am also a female majoring in a male dominant major. So picture this, a black female at a predominately white school and in a male dominant major. So in my classes, I am a double minority. For the past couple of weeks in my weekly discussion group, we were talking about when did we first realize that there was an “us” and “them?” Well I knew since I was younger that it was an “us” and “them” but I never really knew we was the minority until I was in High School and started working. I am from the DC metropolitan area, which is predominately black. So until I started driving and really going out of the area, I never really notice the big difference. Lets fast-forward a couple of years. I began driving in 2009 and that’s when I started working outside of the county. I worked for Aeropostale (a retail store) in Annapolis Maryland, which is probably about a 30-minute drive. Once I was hired, I realized that I was the only black person that worked there and there was a Hispanic as well. My job was to greet people and make sure that everything is going ok or if they needed help getting a shirt or something. It has been numerous of times that I could be standing right there and they would go to someone in the back of the store to get help. I am not saying that its solely racism, but its something. To me, white people have always been considered superior and had it easier. I would like to see how it would be once they are the minority. Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:16:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/27/voices-from-the-classroom-58/#IDComment213616101 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/13/voices-from-the-classroom-42/#IDComment207280310 I think racial labels originally came from personal experiences. Once people realized that some of their experiences were similar, they just began labeling the whole race. Since we have be labeling for so long, we barely notice when we are doing it and when we are not. I think we use racial labels because we are so accustomed to it we do it unconsciously. It is crazy that we are talking about this now. In my social group a couple of weeks ago, we talked about this same issue. Racial labels and stereotypes go hand and hand when it comes to race. Many people label black people as loud and violent. I can honestly say as an African American, I can honestly agree with this label. I am a loud and violent person and so is most of my family and friends. But just because I am a loud and sometimes a violent person does not mean that I am not a nice person as well. I have white friends here at school, and they tell me that sometimes they are scared to say certain things and act a certain way around me because they heard that black people are loud, violent, and ghetto. I think that most people get these labels and stereotypes from the media. The media is what basically makes me think and believe certain things and what builds up stereotypes in your mind. Between the movies and real life examples that get blown out of proportion, we have no other way or choice but to believe what is being shown and portrayed to us. The movie Legally Blonde contributes to the stereotypes that all blonde hair girls are dumb. Better known as “ A Dumb Blonde”. Legally Blonde was not the only movie to portray white blonde hair woman as dumb, but in the movie “Mean Girls” as well. White women with blonde hair are thought out to be women without any or little common sense. From personal experience, I have met a couple of white blonde hair women who does act like they are slow. I think that most of the stereotypes that are placed upon our race and us. People tend to act or believe that this is the way there are as a person and feeds into it. Being honest, I have labeled many people due to their races numerous of times throughout my life. An example that I can think of would be the non- drivers are the Asians. I have always said that Asians have a hard time driving because their eyes are so small. Now realizing that I was labeling them because I have had a couple of encounters where I was behind slow drivers, and when I finally got around them I realized they were Asian. So I automatically assume them to be bad and slow drivers. Since being in SOC 119, I learned that everyone is different and it is opening my eyes to see that we cannot judge people because of their race, but as an individual person. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 05:21:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/13/voices-from-the-classroom-42/#IDComment207280310 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/06/voices-from-the-classroom-40/#IDComment204627085 I honestly feel like women dress the way they do for men and to draw attention to themselves. When women catch the attention of men and other people, most women tend to take that as a complement as them looking good. Women are the ones that are being chased majority of the time and they want the best looking man to come up to them and start talking to them. So in order for them to get the best-looking man, they have to look the best. Which means most of the time, revealing. Women tend to believe that the more revealing they look, the better they look. Some of the most common questions that are asked before leaving are, “How do I look”? Or “If you were a guy, would you talk to me”? I feel like women have to basically be naked in order to feel good about them and how they look. I feel like the reason why women have to always be the one to sacrifice comes from the first woman ever, eve. In the bible, Adam and Eve were the first man and woman. They were in the Garden of Eden when eve was tempted, tested and told to bite an apple. Eve bit the apple and offered it to her husband. Once they bit the apple, they realized they were naked and went looking for leaves and twigs to cover their naked body. Once God came, they hid and once he found out what they did Eve was the one who was blamed. Eve sent the punishments such as childbirth, and monthly periods. And what did Adam get? Nothing. From the past, with the thought of woman being the stay at home mother, taking care of the children, cooking dinner, and making sure the house is clean. Ever since then, I feel like women have been submissive and very passive when it came to men. Women always sacrifice themselves and them being comfortable for men. Even though times are different and women have more rights, we still see daily sacrifices made by women to please men. Women always wear dresses; skirts and heels to a party while men wear jeans and a shirt. I am not saying that Women are the ones that always sacrifice things because there are many things in society that are favored towards woman. An example would be police officers. I can honestly say that woman get off more with speeding tickets than men. I guess this all comes from being in a male-centered world. Everything is evolved around a man; the word woman even gets their name from the word man. The creator of all is thought out to be a man. Sat, 8 Oct 2011 03:15:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/10/06/voices-from-the-classroom-40/#IDComment204627085 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/27/voices-from-the-classroom-23/#IDComment201528973 I think race does not fully determine your drug use, but it is a small factor. Race determines whether you are target more for the use of drugs. I think your race gets you the connections to the right people about getting the drugs. However, I also think that race form stereotypes when it comes to the use of drugs. It was very informative to find out that white people do drugs more than black people. But the people in jail for drug use are mostly African Americans. I feel like that black people are automatically stereotyped for using drugs, so the police looks for them and looks for reason to try and arrest them. Being an African American from the DC Metropolitan area, I see drug trades and deals everyday. I see white people buying drugs from black people, black people buying drugs from white people, white buying drugs from white people, and black people buying drugs from black people. It doesn’t matter who you buy it from or what color you are; it is illegal and should be penalized equally. I do not think it is fair that African Americans and Hispanics are targeted because of their race, to be more likely to sell and do drugs. When the more likely people who are doing drugs are walking past you on the street. I can honestly say that when I was in High School, most boys felt like it was required for them to smoke weed. My high school was predominantly black and just like the typical High School. We had cliques and boys doing whatever they could to try and impress the girls. Which was smoking weed. Girls and boys both smoke weed, but that is all that is really big at home. They would smoke weed before school, after school, and during school. Weed was what everyone wanted to do. I have lived in Maryland all my life and the most common drug is weed. It wasn’t until I came to college when I started noticing people using other drugs. I see a lot of white people doing drugs that I am not use to seeing. But still, black people are targeted because they are more “likely” to be doing and selling drugs. I am not saying that all black people are innocent when it comes to drugs, because I know a lot of my friends and family does drugs, and do them hard but white people are just as guilty as the black people are. I think that if police would stop targeted and stereotyping race with association of drugs, then there would not be so many drug trafficking going on in the United States. Sat, 1 Oct 2011 00:10:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/27/voices-from-the-classroom-23/#IDComment201528973 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/20/everyone-respond-to-this/#IDComment197677177 I must be honest and say that I never really studied or knew anything about Haiti until the devastating earthquake hit. I knew that Haiti was a third world country, but I never really knew the severity of it until I started doing my research. I started seeing a lot of organizations and communities raise money to help rebuild Haiti but I did not know what the country economically status was. I realized that the earthquake had done some serious damage to the country and I wanted to help the people out. Once I done most of my research I made sure I gave money and clothes to the right organizations. It became really real to me when I realize that my sister best friend is Haitian as well as one of my close friends. My sister best friend still cannot find some of her family members, but at this point she just think they are dead. My friend goes back to Haiti every year, to volunteer and help out with trying to get things back in order. But since the earthquake, I have been involved with trying to donate money and clothes to help the people out. I have donated what any and everything I could to help them out. Even though Haiti is a third world country, people still live there and I think that people should do whatever they can to help them out. What if that was you or your family in that predicament? You would want someone to help him or her out. I watched the video with the entrepreneur Clorene Blaise. Obviously if she was in America, she would be making pretty good money. Her work/determination and clothes are both commendable. It is sad that if she gets offered a big order that she have to decline it because her machine would not hold up to it. On top of that, the technology does not hold up or meet the expectations of the people demands. She wants to take her business to the next level, but because of where she is and her technology of the machines, she cannot get the full potential out of her business. I agree with Sam when he said America should find a way to ship fabrics down to Haiti. Even though America is not the richest country in the world, we have great resources. I can say personally that Americans tend to waste a lot of things. If we would take half of the things we waste and save or donate those items to Haiti, the citizens of Haiti will not be struggling as much as they are now. As Americans, we could do more than what we are doing now. What we take for granted are things other countries would love to have. Fri, 23 Sep 2011 22:25:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/20/everyone-respond-to-this/#IDComment197677177 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/13/voices-from-the-classroom-7/#IDComment194340949 I am black and would like to start off my saying I regularly say the “N” word. It is apart of my vocabulary, which became a language to me. I am not the only one; many of my friends and family members say the word as well. Too black people it is apart of our language, most of the time we say “nigga” in place of “dude” or “bruh”. I feel like it is an area of comfort. For an instance just like females call each other “b*****” in a playful manner, it is the same thing as black people calling each other niiga. However, nigga was generated from the word “Nigger”. Nigger was used back in slavery time, and used in a derogatory term. Just like “colored”. So of course, black people would get offensive when white people call us niggas. I know I would. I think that as a race, there is certain things we cant say to the opposite race. I feel like with black people, we went through the struggle of racism and struggles together, and we are trying to overcome racism together. And when a white person comes up to you and says the word nigga, it automatically brings up the memories of the struggles and how the word was used in a offensive way. I have experienced being called nigga by a white person. A white girl and I were laughing with a couple of other people. Two people out of the group were black and the other people were white. After a joke was made by me, she said “nigga please”. Immediately I stopped laughing and became defensive. Certain words are just not acceptable to me because I am black. For her to call me a nigga, I automatically without hesitant thought it was a racist comment. The girl and me got into a big argument about the comment she made. Of course she said she did not mean it in a racist way, she thought it was ok for her to say it because she heard someone else call me a nigga. But what she failed to realize is she was black, so I don’t think of it as being racist because she is the same color as me. Another incident happened when I was at work in a white community. I was working register that day and a white man was ready to purchase his items. I had turned my back for a second to grab the bag to put his clothes in and he thought I left. So he was trying to get my attention. He yells “ hey nigga”. Now I know for a fact that was meant to be racist. So I just prefer not to be called a nigga by a white person so I wont have to worry about whether or not it was meant to be racist or not. Sat, 17 Sep 2011 03:34:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/13/voices-from-the-classroom-7/#IDComment194340949 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/07/questions-from-the-classroom-2/#IDComment191676453 I have many different classifications I am qualified for however, I just call myself black. Even after this week lesson, I would rather be called black than African American. I feel like African American is too proper and was created to make black people feel comfortable but I do not mind being called black. I am from the Prince George’s County, which is apart of the D.C. Metropolitan area, which is majority black. Being called black at home is ok, I feel comfortable being called black as long as it is by another black person. But to hear a white person call me black is kind of strange. I think white people are afraid to call us black in person as well; they use the African American word to feel secure. But behind closed doors, they call us black. I would rather have a white person call me black than African American. Nothing psychological, I am just used to being referred to as black, not African American. Truth is, I am not fully black, not like biracial or anything, but I do have some Irish and Indian blood in me. On my father side, his family is from the Blackfoot tribe of the Indians. On my mother side, there is Cherokee Indian. My great-grandmother was and full Indian. But to society, I am black. If you look at me, you would not think that I have Irish and Indian blood in me, until you pay close attention. In the summer, I have a reddish tan, my eyes are naturally slanted, and my hair is naturally a reddish orange color. When I was in elementary school, kids use to talk about me because I was a brown girl, with this illuming reddish looking skin, brown sandy hair, and slanted eyes. I was always in fights, and I did not have many friends because girls would call me names and pick on me a lot. Girls would call me white, and make fun of me because I looked different. As I got older I would just classify myself as being black. I would dye my hair, and put eyeliner on so you couldn’t really see my slanted eyes. To society, I can only be black or only white. I couldn’t be black with some attributes or characteristics of another race or ethnicity. I feel more comfortable to be considered black. If everyone were to look at my parents, you would automatically think they are black because they have dark skin. But truth is, look beyond the color and pay attention to their features. But where we live and where we stay, it is an advantage to consider yourself black. When I look at myself, I see a black person and so does everyone else, so I just keep my characteristics to myself. Fri, 9 Sep 2011 22:48:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/07/questions-from-the-classroom-2/#IDComment191676453 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/01/how-do-you-feel-about-interracial-dating/#IDComment189133869 I believe in the saying love is blind. Love deals with emotions and connections, not the color of your skin. Every person in the world loves differently which leads to the different shades and types of people. However, most people love people that look like them. Not necessarily because that is whom they prefer but because that is what society prefers. I personally think that society is not ready or trying to take that next step to except interracial dating. I see interracial dating all of the time, but I also notice the looks that they get when they walk down the street. I must be honest; I used to be one of those people. My father has always told me to stay within my race because they (white people) already feel like we don’t belong, and that they are better than us, so why would you want to be with someone like that? I took what my father told me and I embraced it for most of my life until I dated a half white, half black man. His mom was white and his dad was black, so he was told. He never knew or met his father he just always heard stories about him. I was afraid to tell my dad that the guy I was dating was half white, so I automatically called him a light skin black guy. He was afraid of meeting my dad and I was afraid of meeting his family, which eventually broke us up. At that time in my life I realized that I was too immature to realize what society was doing to our relationship. Times are changing as well as people. Even though racism still exists, I think the younger generation is more open to meeting new and different people. I am from the DC metropolitan area, and most of the people there are African Americans. Interracial dating is not very big in that area. I knew someone in high school that dated her boyfriend (who was white) for four years. She said that she felt like her relationship was a job. They were always working at it, trying to build it up because their families did not support it and was always tearing it down. Love does not look at the history and the traditions that our families and society instilled in us. Love is apart of fate. If it is fate, then it will happen, regardless of the skin. Everyone deserves happiness and fulfillment. I do not think it is fair that you have to throw away your feelings and emotions because of other people. Happiness is apart of love, and if you feel have found your love in someone of a different race, then by all means be happy and love. Fri, 2 Sep 2011 20:30:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/09/01/how-do-you-feel-about-interracial-dating/#IDComment189133869