en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/4213724 Comments by keanerao http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/20/voices-from-the-classroom-156/#IDComment345127619 My parents would be shocked but I think they are gonna accept it. Regardless of my parents points of views, I would continue to date a person of a different race or a person of the same sex if I was in love with them, because love trumps hate. Our parents come from an era where both homosexual relationships and interracial ones were not the norm, and were shunned. However, our generation of youth is much more accepting to both these types of relationships, and we are breaching the traditional boundaries of conservative relationships. For these reasons, I believe that my parents would accept me if I chose to date or marry someone of the same sex, or of a different race. Our parents generation is becoming much more accustom to these non traditional ways of life that our generation lives by. I believe that my mother would accept me and my partner fully if I was in a lesbian relationship, OR if I was with someone of another race. My mother is very loving, and non judgmental, she’d be happy for me as long as she believed I was being treated right by my partner. For instance, in High School I date a boy who was half Japanese and half Filipino. Since I am white, we looked distinctively different when we were together, but clearly I did not care that he was a different race, and I enjoyed him for the person that he was. My mother was completely fine that he was a different race, and she was happy that I was happy. I firmly believe that if I brought home anyone of a different race, whether black, Asian, Indian, Hispanic, my mother would be completely fine, and judge them only on their personalities. I believe that my father would equally accept the man I brought home, I was in an interracial relationship, but it would take a little more time for him to get used to it. He is very traditional, and I think he would fear that we would experience a difficult time in life if we were interracial. However, he is not a racist man, and I think he would be happy if I was happy. If I were to bring home a girl, I think my parents would be shocked. They would never have expected me to be a lesbian, and I think it would take a lot of time to getting used to. As a gay rights activist, I know all the struggles that homosexual couples endure. Gay couples not only endure emotional and mental abuse, but often they struggle financially because they are not granted social security rights for their partners, and they aren’t allowed to visit one another in the hospital. My mother is also a Gay Right’s activist and I believe her main concern would be that my and my partner would have a tough life. I believe she’d accept the girl I loved, however she’d fear that we would have to struggle far more than other couples to have a happy life. Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:45:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/20/voices-from-the-classroom-156/#IDComment345127619 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/12/voices-from-the-classroom-147/#IDComment338321262 I have been thinking about this deeply for a good 5 minutes or so. First, It's like I'm sure many people thought, I thought that I would save the child and it's a no brainer because the child hasn't even experienced life yet compared to the things all of us has experienced throughout the past. But then it hit me, I looked at it from a different stand point based on whether the specific person can be replaced or not. For example, I could have saved my mom because a mom is someone you can never replace but you can find a new wife and have new kids as well. Also, if you think about it, a mom should be the first person you save because they have given you everything in the world and tried their best to keep you happy while you’re growing up. Like they gave you a chance, why shouldn’t you save them? They could have aborted you if they wanted to, but no they chose your life over their financial need and they have suffered with you through thick and thin. So why wouldn't you save your mom if she had the chance of killing you before you ever existed but never did it? Like, they had the chance to make sure you never ever ever existed but they cared so much about you that they took responsibility and tried to raise you to their best of their ability. I think that’s the reason that we should all save our mothers when we are stuck in a situation like this. Only one woman gave birth to you, which makes a mother irreplaceable. Even if you hated your mother all your life just think of this: they had a chance to make sure you never even existed before you were born but didn't take it because they chose to raise you instead of just not taking responsibility for you. I then thought about the wife part of it. I don't mean to sound like a dick, but I wouldn't even put my wife before my kid or my mom. Think about it, you don't even know if you and your wife will last together because nowadays there are so much divorces going on. Also, there are very slim chances that what you have for your wife is so much stronger than what you have for a lady who raised you for 18+ years. I highly doubt it. Also, there are plenty of more women out there to be saving one. Like yeah you can't find another mom, but you can find another wife and have other children as well. I know it's something that you’ll probably regret, but I doubt that anyone would ever go through this scenario without regretting it one bit. Why wouldn't you save a life of somebody who created the life of yours? Fri, 13 Apr 2012 18:23:45 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/12/voices-from-the-classroom-147/#IDComment338321262 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/04/voices-from-the-classroom-142/#IDComment333967335 In Tuesday's class when Sam stated that we live in ethnocentric society, he couldn’t be more correct. The first video we saw in class this past Tuesday gave me a different perspective on life and how I should view it as well as others. The video showed tribes in Africa and how they idolized their people in a way many of us here would find “odd”, but soon after that same description was used to create a visual on how we idolize football for example. Two totally different scenarios happening in the videos but all serving the same purpose – idolizing something loved by a society… in a different way of course. The other video from Africa (Sudan I believe) that had a few men travel to the states was even more of an eye opener. What they perceived as weird to them here doesn’t make them odd – but it makes them socialized differently than we are and that’s okay. Because we live in such an ethnocentric society it’s hard for many people to grasp what are ‘norms’ for others. Anything that we don’t do because we find weird in our society, may be alright in another but yet we still put it down in a grotesque manner. Why? Not everything we do is done across the world. Not everything we’re accustomed to now, like the pants comment Sam made, was the same 100 years ago. For a country that values freedom, liberty and so on, you would think a lot of would be more open to other peoples’ norms, but we’re not. I think the information Sam provided during this class period was relevant and important. I mean it’s still hard to grasp some of the things that other societies tend to do, but I think that’s okay. It’s thinking that it’s gross or unacceptable that isn’t okay because who are we to judge? This makes me think back to a deviance class I’m taking and the difference between spit and saliva. We accept saliva as long as it remains in our mouths, we swap it when we kiss, and it’s there; however as soon as it’s out of someone’s mouth the whole meaning changes. It becomes “spit” and disgusting. Minutes before it wasn’t—crazy isn’t it? Although leaving ethnocentrism behind would be ideal, it will never happen. It goes back to trying to live in a color blind society – that won’t ever happen either. Our society isn’t going to ever collectively accept that there’s incest happening around the world that’s okay, cannibalism, still being breast fed over the age of 3, and other customs of other societies because we’re too caught up in our own thinking it’s perfect and others are “doing it all wrong.” Awesome class though because seeing a different side of things helps the mind wonder. Sat, 7 Apr 2012 17:08:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/04/voices-from-the-classroom-142/#IDComment333967335 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/29/voices-from-the-classroom-139/#IDComment328521558 I am from an urban area, though it is in China. My schools in the never had security measures in place, other than the outside doors being locked during the day and people wanting to enter having to be buzzed in by a "security guard" at the front. Usually, that security guard was a substitute teacher who didn't have a class to cover that period. We never had metal detectors, and lockers were only searched in cases where the school administration had probable cause to do so (I specifically recall an instance of them getting a tip that a kid was selling alcohol to students from his locker, which turned out to be true). For that reason, I cannot personally relate to what happened in this case. I do not know if it is intimidating or enraging to see such a constant effort to repress potential crime at such a young age. As I have mentioned before in my blogs, I think a lot of issues about class are mistakenly looked at as issues about race. The situation being described here sounds like it has more to do with the differences between the suburbs and the inner city than it has to do with the complexion of the student bodies. Higher security measures are generally used at schools that either have histories of threats and violence, or are for schools located in areas that have regular violence. I do not think it is racist to place more security measures for schools in riskier areas. In fact, I think government bodies would be reluctant to spend that kind of money unless absolutely necessary, so I do not question the motivations of wanting to keep students safe in those types of schools. Now, another question can of course be raised: why is it that those schools that are poorer and are in worse areas tend to have much larger minority populations than those in the nicer suburbs, where schools tend to have much larger white student bodies. I think that has more to do with the problem at hand. It's most likely because of the history of this country, which is the cause of such issues as ghettos with large minority populations. That, in most cases, is a fact that can be looked at through the racial lens, as opposed to simply saying, "The government doesn't trust black kids, that's why their school is getting searched." Racism's effects on the United States are still constantly around us, and those types of inner city communities with high crime are a reflection of that. Lower income is what breeds crime in those communities, and the problem here is that our country has left too many of its own people behind. Many of those left behind have been minorities. To summarize: I don't think we should be asking if race is a factor in inner city schools with higher security standards. Rather, we should be asking if racism is part of the cause of lower income for minorities. I think if we look at it that way, we'll find a lot more answers. Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:40:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/29/voices-from-the-classroom-139/#IDComment328521558 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/22/voices-frorm-the-classroom/#IDComment323002432 Early in this semester when Sam asked each of us if we thought that the land taken from the Native American women should be returned, my first, immediate response was of course. Or, that we should at the very least attempt to make things right. I have never been a “guilty” white girl, but I do think that simply as human beings we all have a responsibility to look out for each other, especially our own people. Now, I am not saying that America has to play “World Police” and stick our noses into every injustice or conflict around the world, but as an insanely powerful and influential nation we obviously have more resources and capability to intervene. That is why I was surprised at the class’s and my own answers to the clicker questions as the land taken from the native Americans was passed down from generation of white family to white family. I found myself voting that the white girl was not obligated to give the land back. I think that by all technicality that land should be returned—I mean, it was theirs in the first place and by all rights—but how do you just return land and move on in your daily life? I thought about this a lot and am actually glad that it is a blog question this week. I do not think that giving the land “back” at this point would even make a difference. There is such an extreme amount of injustice in the world, yeah, even the United States, and corruption that we need something more than a quick fix. My answers from that day that those six girls went down to the front to demonstrate this concept have not changed, but the reasoning behind them has. That day I said no, they do not owe the land back because I wasn’t sure why they would. After almost completing this course, I am able to now think empathetically and globally. I think that to fix situations like these we need to start at the root of the problem. I guess it is going to take a few more weeks of this class and a lot more reflection to understand if I can even begin to grasp or pinpoint that root- but I think that talking and starting meaningful dialogue about issues like Native American presence and mistreatment in the United States is a starting point. I think that the same goes for any topic involving race or ethnic relations. We are, or at least I was, conditioned to ignore color of skin, socioeconomic background, and ethnicity and culture. I cannot help but think now that this was all because I am white and middle class. We still have a lot more to consider. Fri, 23 Mar 2012 23:39:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/22/voices-frorm-the-classroom/#IDComment323002432 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/15/voices-from-the-classroom-123/#IDComment317950193 War, is something I feel that always exist in this world. Where ever there is conflict of benefits for countries, there will be wars. To me personally, war is always cruel. war makes the people of the country suffer and even the world, there are always a lot of peace makers that concern. I have never been to the war-related places or got into any situation related to wars, so honestly I am not sure I completely understand the concept of war. War might be actually more cruel than I imagine, and yes i don't like it or even hate it. It is always about benefits of countries, but when the leaders of the country are declaring a war, did they ever think about the people living in the lowest level? No, or yes but that does not matter to them. After yesterday's lecture, I am more impressed by the concept of war, because when I heard people who have actually been to a war talking about their experience with that kinda sad voice, it can be actually heart breaking. Now I understand more why some peace supporter are so upset or angry about wars, we all should be. I never want to see people suffer in any kind because of the benefits of the countries. Like America, why are you keep doing stuff to middle east? I am from China, and so far what I know is everybody is my country is against the wars that America declared to the middle east, because of the oil. Most of the people think that this is not justice and should be stopped. I have seen a lot of videos that showed some American soldiers in those countries doing really harsh or even evil stuff to normal citizens in that countries, some of them are even just doing it for fun. what the fuck is wrong with these people. It is not that you are stronger than others then you can do whatever you want to others. We should end wars. But it is not going to happen anytime soon. As long as the power of the countries are not relatively balanced, wars will still take place. After yesterday's class my perspective for war has changed a little, it becomes more serious to me and I am actually more aware of war, this terrible is still happening, and is harming some family at this second that I am typing the words. We should have consider or think: what can we actually do to help the people suffering in the war as a college student, can we do something like KONY 2012? Or would the government really listening to us? I am interested in doing that. Sat, 17 Mar 2012 00:32:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/15/voices-from-the-classroom-123/#IDComment317950193 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/29/what-more-do-you-want-to-think-about/#IDComment305804630 First off, I would want to share an issue I encountered last week, a racist issue. I was going to work out in the White building fitness center. And you know how when there are too many people want to use the treadmills, there will be an attendant to ask people names and sign up for people. This lady, asked everyone else except me, and instead, I saw her wrote a "Chin" on the list.... We all know what that means to Asian, and yes I felt truly offended and disrespected. No words can describe how it upsets me. It is not the first time I got into racist issue since I came to US for college, but by a staff from my university? This is so disappointing. I know I am a minority here and I do feel so because I am a legit Asian straight from China, to the people like me that never get into racist issues before in life, this hurts even more. So next day I sent an email to the head of that fitness center. That person did apologize for this situation, but he used even more words to say something like"I am sure that lady was not intended to do so, or maybe it is because she did not want to write your name wrong because she might not used to spell Asian's name" and stuff like that. I have nothing to say, but thank you for realizing this problem and f**k your f**king excuses!! I can tell exactly he is afraid to admit that it is a racist issue, but WHY is he so afraid to admit it? Is it really that true like Sam said in class that white people are scared to being recognized as racist? This is just even pissed me off more. So what I wanna say is, I really wanna learn about why are people afraid to admit themselves are racist people, is it the guilty feeling or just simply just scared because of the social pressure? And more, I wanna know about how should we really treat racist issue when it REALLY comes to you, not just simply talking theories on textbooks. I am not sure it is possible because here is a white society, points of view are different when it comes to foreigners like me. I never realize how hurting this kind of stuff can be, because it never comes to me. When it does, it's a totally different feeling. I now take it more serious, and I am really interested of learning how to deal with it. The simple but big issue. And also I wanna know about how it feels to to be racist as a white person, does it really feel good or even "superior"? Thu, 1 Mar 2012 23:02:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/29/what-more-do-you-want-to-think-about/#IDComment305804630 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/23/voices-from-the-classroom-115/#IDComment300237771 At the first glance, I would take this as a total racist issue. Because there is no reason for two people who have the exact same abilities to be treated so much differently just because of the color of the skin. It is not just like white people are 50 percents more likely to get the job than the blacks, it is the same issue as the black kids are much more likely to be transferred to adult system than white kids or Asian kids. But sometimes, after I thought more deeply on this, I some how think that maybe it might not be a racist problem? Because when I put myself into the situation, I might give a job to the person who is Chinese too. Because when you are deciding to give out an occupation, if the applicants have the exact same capability, you might feel more comfortable to work with a person that is your same race. And that includes cultural relations too, I don't know because I am not American, but I am absolutely sure that there is cultural difference between white and black Americans, Asian American and Hispanics. So to me as a "foreigner" this is even more true because if I am the staff who is hiring people, let's say between a Chinese international student and a white college student, I might pick the Chinese kid because we have the same cultural relational background, we have the same language, those are why I would feel I am more comfortable to work with the Chinese kid instead the white kid. I would definitely feel bad for the other races who has been treated differently in this kind of situation, and I think it is not fair. But when I am the one who has been treated like this, I might feel more upset and disappointed or disrespected. Discrimination based on race is just a dumb but inevitable fact, I don't expect someone or some organizations will be able to do anything for it any time soon. Because if it is gonna happen it should be happened long time ago, sad fact. I would say like what we can do is try to avoid it and stay positive about this thing. I am not being quixotic, I know how it feels to be discriminated based on I am Asian. Take one of my Asian friends as an example, one time she was in a hurry to go to class so she literally jumped on the blue loop when the bus stopped and opened the door, and the driver yelled and her and said she should let the other people get off first and shouldn't jump on the bus. But when it comes to the next stop a white girl did the exact same thing, but the driver did not even say a word. I can not stop connecting this to the discrimination based on race. It is just pretty common in life if you are not white and live in America. Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:28:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/23/voices-from-the-classroom-115/#IDComment300237771 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/16/voices-from-the-classroom-108/#IDComment295249549 I have to agree that the fact is that certain races dominate certain kinds of sport. I think most of the reason why is because of the culture and the natural talent of a race. Like black and white people are most likely be the dominated players of basketball, football, running, hockey and stuff like that. But when it comes to like ping-pong, badminton, diving and stuff, you only see Asians. Dates back to the time that we all just started to play sports, maybe black people are just playing football or basketball everyday while Asians played ping-pong. And the fact is black and white people are physically stronger or bigger than Asians, so you have to admit that they play better football or basketball or baseball. Asians are just not physically fit when it compares to them, but it seems like Asians are better at the sports that need precise control like diving and ping-pong. Another fact is Asians practice like crazy to keep themselves competitive. Maybe is the disadvantage of the natural physical talent. Like I am from China, in China, professional or national athletes are "legit" athletes. They just get paid to practice their specialized sport every single day, like military style. What I heard in U.S is, the national athletes are like doing part-time jobs, you just go practice when there is a competition, and the athletes actually have their own jobs, no rules as strict as ours. Most Asians are stressed the importance of intellect and skills over sporting dominance. This is a good thing though, because there are a lot of brilliant Asian people in the world because of this particular values instilled in them at a young age, this could be true too. There are certain things a race dominates at things. Like basketball, mostly the good ones are blacks, hockey, mostly the good ones are white, ping pong, mostly the good ones are Asians. But it doesn't matter the race, you can be from a different race. Like the hot topic Jeremy Lin, I have to admit he is such an awesome player, but the fact why he is so famous I would say it is because he is an Asian, and Asian is not good at basketball. And that's is most likely why he is so under spotlights. So the reason why certain race dominates certain sports is because the cultural influence and physical ability. You can not expect the whites to be better than Asians at badminton while Asians have been playing it for hundreds years. And same thing as football and basketball. But sometimes there are some people like Yao Ming and Jeremy Lin are surprising good at those white/black dominated sports, and make them become some kind of heros.... Interesting. Sat, 18 Feb 2012 00:29:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/16/voices-from-the-classroom-108/#IDComment295249549 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/02/voices-from-the-classroom-98/#IDComment287491933 As my own opinion, changing the hair style to satisfy oneself most likely has nothing to do with race.. Let's just not narrow down to only hair, let's say appearance. As a guy, I think a girl straightening her hair or making her curly does not mean they are trying to "imitate" the features of the other races( sounds really creepy), it is because they think it's prettier to do the hair that way. Like white guys like tanned girls, some girls in China now are trying to get tanned too, which is different to our traditional view of evaluating beauty of a girl, as usually we the Chinese people think that girls with pretty skin are beautiful. And I don't necessarily think it is because they are not satisfied with their natural appearance, it maybe just because they like to try new things to find out how they look the best like hair color and stuff. I am not sure, I am a guy. Other than saying that this is a race-related question, I would define it more like a culture-related one. I admit that different race do have different physical features, and some of us do want some features form different race. Like some Asian girls, they are born with tiny single lid eyes, and they are so jealous at the white girls with big pretty eyes. So they use tons of makeup and even plastic surgery to make their eyes like that. I mean I don't wanna give any comments on it. It is what they what and you can not deny that in this current era big double lids eyes are predominately considered prettier. But from my perspective, it is still an cultural issue other than a race issue, because it is the culture we shared that make us think that white girls are pretty. For example, centuries ago in China, fat chubby girls are considered attractive and beautiful, so every girl are just trying to get fat to be pretty, it is culture that influence our evaluation of beauty. So back to the topic here, to go deeper on my point of view, girls getting their skin or hair or body shape or whatever like the other races do not stand for the simulation of the other races. It is the some certain features of a race happened to the fashion. And I personally do not think that it is big enough to be an issue, because it's too natural for females to chase for a better appearance. So having a different hair style or color that are close to race natural features is really normal, It is just simply people don't get satisfied enough of their own initial appearance and try to make it better:) Thu, 9 Feb 2012 01:02:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/02/voices-from-the-classroom-98/#IDComment287491933 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-93/#IDComment281388555 I have to say that this is absolutely a good idea to learn Spanish to adapt Spanish speakers, because this is exactly what I am doing as an international student ! Not just me, same thing apply to other international students who speak English as their second language. Some people think that there is no point to learn a language to adapt the people in their country instead of let them learn English, this to me is so silly. Is there no other benefit to learn other languages other than talking to the people that you think that belong to a cheaper class? It's bullshit. Learning more makes you more competitive, I already speak 3 languages and a dialect, and I am still learning French since I came to United States. It's not just the fact that I enjoy learning a new language, it's also about making myself more competitive. As Spanish has spread out around the world, and especially in both north and south America, it is usual for a American kid to has English as their mother language and Spanish as their second language. And as my own opinion, learning Spanish for a English speaker should not be as hard as learning Chinese or some other languages. Some people say that Spanish isn't for everyone, I partially agree with it. Like me, I don't think I would need to use Spanish in either my career or my daily life. But it doesn't mean that it is not useful. I do enjoy leaning different cultural stuff, it would be the only reason is I have to learn Spanish. But for the title of the question specially, it's about Americans, since I am an international student, I don't really experience how Spanish influence American culture. I can see some people worry about in the future there would be too many people in the United Stated speak English, I mean to the point the even more the people would speak native English. I don't think this would be a problem, even if the people are "scared" already to see the map that shows which area speaks Spanish across America. I mean in China, every single student has to study English, it's mandatory, and it has been decades. And there is no such thing like culture invaded. It is not only because English is like the most popular language on the planet that why we learn it, it can also widen your horizon. So overall, I do support to learn Spanish for Americans, I mean not just Spanish but any other foreign languages, it can make you more competitive as a student. Though it takes some time for learning a brand new language as this age like me, you can at least take it as an interest. Thu, 2 Feb 2012 02:51:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-93/#IDComment281388555 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-93/#IDComment281330411 ps: Mandarin < Chinese, Mandarin is Chinese, but Chinese could be Cantonese or Mandarin or other dialects... :) Thu, 2 Feb 2012 01:26:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-93/#IDComment281330411 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/24/voices-from-the-classroom-91/#IDComment274502486 I can not imagined how much damage has been done to these little souls by the sexual abuse, their lives could be ruined by this. For personally go forward in recognizing victims of sexual abuse, if I am able to, I would start with moral education. From my perspective, sexual abuse, especially children sexual abuse is unbearably immoral, and I think most of the people would even think it's disgusting. This might sound a little harsh, because who wants to think of their own terrible experience again by hearing something related to it? Absolutely no. But the reason why I wanna do this is I want to try helping them get through this, helping them to face it. From my experience, the best method to get through something real bad is to face it bravely and recognize it correctly. Some people might try to just avoid it for a lifetime, but I don't think that is the way to go. because you will never for a thing if you keep avoiding it, it is true. If I am capable of doing that, I would like to find a way to comfort the victims first, tell them the world is not ending. Then I think it would be better to teach them about sexual abuse and how to face this issue. Honestly I am not 100% sure that it would work cause I never ever get into any situation related to sexual abuse issue. I personally think it's really horrible, and I won't be able to imagine if I am one of the victims, not to mention if I were a kid. This subject is obviously sensitive, it is hard to start talking about it, but for the victim's sake, I think we have to. We need to tell the victims how to take his in a comfortable way without hurting them more. They are still kids, you can not expect them all to handle it well as mature people do. It is better to guide them before they walk the wrong way. They are too fragile, all we need to do is try to give them some moral education and let them bury this painful experience deep down in their hearts and never mention about it. Also, I strongly agree with some comments that we should protect the victims from the media. Media does affect a lot, it can remind the kids that they have been raped and they have been exposed to the spotlights of the whole society. It's cruel to let the media get the information from the kids in every way they want, because usually they just want the news come out as soon as they can in that competitive field, so they won't really consider the feelings of the victims family and themselves. Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:04:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/24/voices-from-the-classroom-91/#IDComment274502486 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/17/post-from-staffer-sheffy-sodhi/#IDComment268946891 As an international student from China, "race" has always been no more than just a text-book concept to me due to the enormous population of Chinese and yet insufficient multi-races population in main land China. “Race" has only been a "thing" or even an issue since I came to United states for college. Not going to lie, getting more aware of my own race as a legit Asian feels really weird, maybe it's because the multicultural thing. As before, I don't really get aware of the idea that "I am an Asian" or something like that, but now in a big school like Penn State, I now would have ideas of "Whites, Blacks, Asian and so on". Honestly, I don't like getting aware of our races too much, it makes me feel like some barriers have been built up between different races. What I feel the most different is, racist problems are still pretty obvious in America. One thing that might sound naive, but it's just different from what most of the students learned in China that racist issue don't really exist anymore. It does, and it's still pretty bad. I don't get it that why people would be racist (this is actually what I want to know the most from this class). From my perspective, being racist is so immature and even dumb. People are just born that way, what is it so funny to laugh about and what is the point of saying the other races are weaker than yours? People are just different, there is no such thing like "We are the most perfect race we rule the world." Anyway the Human Race Machine is interesting anyway. I did see myself in a different race physically, it actually feels amazing. It somehow satisfied me a bit which I always imagine how it feels to be another race instead of Asian. I know it might sound stupid but I always want to know that if I would think differently of the world if I am other races beside Asian. Overall, it is really interesting to think deeply on this topic, race itself is just an interesting concept. We are different physically, which somehow makes our mind-set differently. But can this Human Race Machine change anything of our own personalities as different races? I doubt it. As science develops, more amazing technology emerges. Who knows what will happen in decades? Maybe we can change our colors of the skin someday. But by then, would it be a chaos? Would people really change their skin color to define himself/herself a different race? If they really do, how would the personality be? Honestly if I can change my race I would definitely give it a shot, I don't know it would end up good or bad, but there is no doubt that it would be a crazy experience. Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:03:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/17/post-from-staffer-sheffy-sodhi/#IDComment268946891