en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/5328720 Comments by ker5196 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/12/07/voices-from-the-classroom-223/#IDComment513900885 There are two parts of this confrontation that I had. The first part takes place over the summer; a few friends of mine drank too much and ended up sleeping at my house, the next day we wake up and start watching TV. The show cuts to a commercial and my friend says “OH MY GOD, what is all over that girls face” his girlfriend and I look at the TV to see a teenage girl with red hair and freckles, nothing out of the ordinary right? I was appalled that he would say that about a little girl. His girlfriend and I called him out on that and told him that he was very ignorant for saying that. His reply “I am from a diverse area, I am allowed to say that” I didn’t understand, I feel that if you are from a divers culture, you are more inclined to be accepting of different ethnicities, religions and ways of living. Also, it is not uncommon for people to have red hair and freckles. It’s not like he has not seen someone like that before. Anyways, over break, I was hanging out with the same two friends again and something similar happened. I proceeded to call my friend out again for whatever it was he said. I brought up his comment about being from a diverse culture and how it made no sense to him. I talked to him about SOC 119 and told him what we learn about in class and how he should open his mind more because there is so much to be learned from other cultures. I explained to him how we all started out with black pigments in our skin and lost them over time, why people in Middle Eastern religions wear head scarves and much more. He was kind of amazed that I knew so much and he did not know how to respond. We are from the same area so I think it had a bigger impact on him that it would have coming from anyone else. However, I do not think that he learned anything from the conversation that I had with him. he is a person that does not like change (he’s still bitter that our favorite late night spot redecorated two years ago) I believe the only thing that he took away from the dialogue was that he now knows not to open his mouth like that around me again. I take pride in saying I have had a friend from each continent, except Antarctica at one point in my life and seeing how other cultures interact and theirs norms always intrigues me. I don’t understand how people can be so ignorant to others ways of living. Sat, 8 Dec 2012 19:45:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/12/07/voices-from-the-classroom-223/#IDComment513900885 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/12/01/voices-from-the-classroom-217/#IDComment508403748 I could not tell you why this is so hard for people of different races we are all just people living in this world but if I had to narrow it down; I would have to say that it would be a cultural thing because white people do not know how to interact with black people and vice versa. And not to bring stereotypes into this, but I would have to say that another big reason is that white people cannot understand the way that black people talk. All the words get mumbled together and it is hard to hear at times. I would not want to talk to someone whom I cannot hold a conversation with or understand for that matter. With that being said though, I feel that black men do not approach white women that often because they think that white girls are afraid of them or they do not like black men. I find this false though. I find black men attractive but I don’t show it. I also feel that there is a stereotype of white girls who go after black men. Just from what I have noticed looking at interracial couples, I always tend to see that the girls the black guys choose have more ghetto qualities than girls that don’t have as many qualities. I feel the same goes for white guys and black girls. Rarely do you see the “typical black girl” loud, with a big ass and such. It takes a certain type of guy to go out of his comfort zone to even ask a black girl out. I feel that this is what happens with all my guy friends. They are not the type to go and talk to a black girl at the bar; they would talk to a white girl over a girl of a different race. When it comes to the factor of sex, I would say that it should only be done with someone you know decently well, but this is college and that isn’t going to happen. I would say that if you like what you see, go for it. Just because a person is a difference race does not mean that you should have to not miss out on the opportunity to at least try to make a friend. You never know what you could get from the friendship; it could lead to something more, a job offer or something else. And if someone has a problem with they can go deal with it alone, by themselves because with a close mind like they have they are never going to experience anything that would lead to any type of anything. Sucks for them. Mon, 3 Dec 2012 05:27:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/12/01/voices-from-the-classroom-217/#IDComment508403748 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/11/15/voices-from-the-classroom-210/#IDComment492678019 Out of all the stages that we learned about I feel that I would be in stage four. This stage is based on realizing that race exists and people start making connections to race and prejudice. Also, you are able to confront people about this topic and slowly integrate yourself into the different races that exist as well as being award of all the terms that fall into these different races. Talking to all my friends now I feel that even though I grew up in a majority white community we had more multi-racial kids in the school I graduated from. I come from the higher end of the community but a lot of my friends lived in the lower end and we would hang out there a lot. This gave me the opportunity to see how they lived and get to know the cultures as well. I graduated with about 400 kids and I would say about 30 were black or of mixed races and I feel that is high for a mostly white suburban area. I also, think that I am on the verge of stage five as well. Some of you may not believe this but I can attest that it happened the exact way that I am going to describe it. During the election of 2008, I was a junior in high school taking a US government honors course. In class we were closely following the race and those who could vote were talking about who they were voting for a why (I was too young to vote at this time, just missed it by a month) while the kids in my class were giving their presentations and a picture of Obama came on the screen. I looked at the photo for a while and then BAM, I noticed something that I never noticed before, Obama was mixed. Yes, I have seen pictured of him previous to this and we watched a few of his speeches but I never took notice to the color of his skin. After letting this sink in, I turned to my best friend sitting next to me and I said “Obama is black!” she just stared at me and didn't know what to say, she started laughed and said called me a blonde and went with her note taking but for me it was a crazy experience. How could I go months without know that he was of a mixed race, colors of skin are identifiers but for me I literally had no idea that he had a different color skin. This experience is why I feel that I could also be on the verge of stage five or even possibly six, but I doubt that. Fri, 16 Nov 2012 22:02:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/11/15/voices-from-the-classroom-210/#IDComment492678019 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/11/11/voices-from-the-classroom-206/#IDComment487500503 Compared to my friends I feel that I have a greater hold on religion than them and growing up as a Catholic has taught me that. Now, I do no fully follow what is written in the bible and some views the church has, I do not agree with at all, but going to CCD for many many years has instilled a sense of a higher power within me. And I would have to agree with Sam’s statement of saying that Jorge Munos is a present day Jesus with a truck. Like Sam said he gives everything away and expects nothing in return. There are stories in the bible that tell of Jesus using his flesh and blood to make wine and bread for people to have nourishment off of and not that Jorge uses his flesh and blood he uses what he can to provide for others that have less than him. Also, I feel that we can compare Jorge to Moses. Although all immigrants make their treck to America in their own way, Jorge is like the light at the end of the tunnel for them, just the one small meal a day is all these folks have to look forward to on a daily basis. They escaped their homelands for many different reasons but they still needed a leader to help get them the essentials of life. He guides them through the sea of the city that is New York to give them hope of a better life on the other side once they can have their families come to live with them. No one could ever be Jesus in today’s world. There is so much temptation lurking around every corner and times have changed so much that it is impossible to live fully to these expectations that one “greater being” wanted us to follow. These rules/guidelines/commandments need to be updated. I feel that as long as you are a good person, do things for others without expecting anything in return and out of the goodness of your heart and you continue to do this day in a day out there is room in heaven, we do not have to listen to what one group of people wanted everyone to follow thousands of years ago. Sun, 11 Nov 2012 23:31:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/11/11/voices-from-the-classroom-206/#IDComment487500503 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/11/01/voices-from-the-classroom-198/#IDComment480853607 First of all I would like to commend you on having the same phone for that amount of time, especially in today’s world with the mentality of “I got to have it now”. However, I do not think that your small deed makes much of a difference. When you compare your act to how many people pre ordered the new iPhone, it seems insignificant. Also, the fact that so many people wait in line for days on end to get the latest in technology to say that they can have it. It is a status thing, sadly but it is the way of this disposable culture that we live in today. There might be other people out there that do the same thing but it seems that there are not enough to make any kind of impact. Before this last test, I did not know that there was this war going on over what is put into the cell phones. With the rapid change of technology that we experience everything has to be at the tip of our fingers and it is almost like you are looked down upon if you own a phone that does not at least connect to the internet. As a solution to this problem we have to look to the manufactures of these phones and put pressure on them to get them to use these materials from a non-conflict area. Yes, although there is probably an abundance within the area that these materials are mined from but there are other options getting these materials. It almost needs to be like blood diamonds, the purchase is at the cost of the consumer as well. There needs to be research done before the purchasing the phone to make sure the materials within the phones do not come from conflict areas. Companies that sell these phones should have a sign within the establishments that say these phones are made from non-conflict areas to ensure the safety and well-being of people in these countries, specifically girls and women. Personally, I have never seen any sort of these signs within cell phone stores and any other retailer that sells phones. Everyone can make a difference but with your act it seems like it is not helping a cause that needs to be helped. There are other ways to make a difference that might affect people’s lives more than what you are doing now. There are so many organizations and ways to volunteer within that part of the world, if you took the time to look it could be a great experience for you and the satisfaction you would get out of helping someone’s life in a more personal way would be beneficial than keeping the same phone for years on end. Mon, 5 Nov 2012 06:19:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/11/01/voices-from-the-classroom-198/#IDComment480853607 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/10/25/voices-from-the-classroom-197/#IDComment475216698 Given his appearance I do not find him approachable based solely on the fact that I have nothing in common with him. I feel that you strike up conversations with people that you have similar interest with, for example getting into the elevator with people you are more likely to talk to the other person in the elevator if you have something in common. I usually do with this when I complement girls on their shoes, phone cases, clothing etc. but I rarely talk to guys in the elevator when it is the two of us? Why because if I tell a guy I like his shoes it would be odd because I do not wear men’s shoes. If I do compliment a guy on something I usually be more specific saying I like the color of the sneakers. Also, there is a stereotype with people with dreads saying that they are stoners. And while seeing you in the front of the class and watching your body language, it said more about you than you appearance did. Slouching in the chair made you look uninterested, like you didn’t want to be there. I know standing in front of a class room can be awkward, especially in front of 700 people but your nonverbals give off more than you realize. When body language is unwelcoming it gives off the impression that you do not want to be dealt with, and you keep more to yourself. No one would want to talk to someone that looks like they are having a bad time or not interested in what is going on. Another thing is the headphones around your neck. It gives off the vibe that you like music but wearing them during class I consider to be rude. I feel that it distracts from listening to what is going in your surroundings and you are not completely tuned into what the professor is saying. I am not saying you are completely un approachable but from what I saw I would not run up to you after class and try to strike up a conversation with you however, if we were in an elevator or saw something crazy happen on the street and were near each other I would comment on what happen to you and such. He has many differences than me, but that does not mean we do not have anything in common. It takes some effort to get to know people and a real firm opinion cannot be formed about a person until you know them very well. Judging people based on their appearance will only get some people so far in life. People are just people at that, we all have feelings and need to treat others equally. Mon, 29 Oct 2012 01:42:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/10/25/voices-from-the-classroom-197/#IDComment475216698 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/10/25/voices-from-the-classroom-197/#IDComment475215052 Given his appearance I do not find him approachable based solely on the fact that I have nothing in common with him. I feel that you strike up conversations with people that you have similar interest with, for example getting into the elevator with people you are more likely to talk to the other person in the elevator if you have something in common. I usually do with this when I complement girls on their shoes, phone cases, clothing etc. but I rarely talk to guys in the elevator when it is the two of us? Why because if I tell a guy I like his shoes it would be odd because I do not wear men’s shoes. If I do compliment a guy on something I usually be more specific saying I like the color of the sneakers. Also, there is a stereotype with people with dreads saying that they are stoners. And while seeing you in the front of the class and watching your body language, it said more about you than you appearance did. Slouching in the chair made you look uninterested, like you didn’t want to be there. I know standing in front of a class room can be awkward, especially in front of 700 people but your nonverbals give off more than you realize. When body language is unwelcoming it gives off the impression that you do not want to be dealt with, and you keep more to yourself. No one would want to talk to someone that looks like they are having a bad time or not interested in what is going on. Another thing is the headphones around your neck. It gives off the vibe that you like music but wearing them during class I consider to be rude. I feel that it distracts from listening to what is going in your surroundings and you are not completely tuned into what the professor is saying. I am not saying you are completely un approachable but from what I saw I would not run up to you after class and try to strike up a conversation with you however, if we were in an elevator or saw something crazy happen on the street and were near each other I would comment on what happen to you and such. He has many differences than me, but that does not mean we do not have anything in common. It takes some effort to get to know people and a real firm opinion cannot be formed about a person until you know them very well. Judging people based on their appearance will only get some people so far in life. People are just people at that, we all have feelings and need to treat others equally. Mon, 29 Oct 2012 01:40:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/10/25/voices-from-the-classroom-197/#IDComment475215052 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/10/25/voices-from-the-classroom-197/#IDComment475213958 Given his appearance I do not find him approachable based solely on the fact that I have nothing in common with him. I feel that you strike up conversations with people that you have similar interest with, for example getting into the elevator with people you are more likely to talk to the other person in the elevator if you have something in common. I usually do with this when I complement girls on their shoes, phone cases, clothing etc. but I rarely talk to guys in the elevator when it is the two of us? Why because if I tell a guy I like his shoes it would be odd because I do not wear men’s shoes. If I do compliment a guy on something I usually be more specific saying I like the color of the sneakers. Also, there is a stereotype with people with dreads saying that they are stoners. And while seeing you in the front of the class and watching your body language, it said more about you than you appearance did. Slouching in the chair made you look uninterested, like you didn’t want to be there. I know standing in front of a class room can be awkward, especially in front of 700 people but your nonverbals give off more than you realize. When body language is unwelcoming it gives off the impression that you do not want to be dealt with, and you keep more to yourself. No one would want to talk to someone that looks like they are having a bad time or not interested in what is going on. Another thing is the headphones around your neck. It gives off the vibe that you like music but wearing them during class I consider to be rude. I feel that it distracts from listening to what is going in your surroundings and you are not completely tuned into what the professor is saying. I am not saying you are completely un approachable but from what I saw I would not run up to you after class and try to strike up a conversation with you however, if we were in an elevator or saw something crazy happen on the street and were near each other I would comment on what happen to you and such. He has many differences than me, but that does not mean we do not have anything in common. It takes some effort to get to know people and a real firm opinion cannot be formed about a person until you know them very well. Judging people based on their appearance will only get some people so far in life. People are just people at that, we all have feelings and need to treat others equally. Mon, 29 Oct 2012 01:38:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/10/25/voices-from-the-classroom-197/#IDComment475213958 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/10/18/voices-from-the-classroom-190/#IDComment469603801 The video that we watched Thursday brought back memories from the past few years. My mom would always watch the show at home when it would air on TV, I never saw it for myself but watching that video, did not amaze me that much. I predicted everything that would happen except for when they brought the woman in to steal the bike. The fact that the man helped her astonished me. Honestly, if I asked someone if the bike was theirs and they said no, I would think twice about calling the police but end up doing so, and I would carry my actions through. I can speak from experience also. However, I believe that actions did not match up with the words and beliefs set forth by many at all. They man who called to cops on the black kid, I feel said one thing but his actions spoke another. The fact that he said that he would call the cops on anyone I did not think was believable at all. I think he was saying that because of the cameras in his face. To the extent of his actions I feel that he would have either ignored the white kid trying to break the chain or asked him if that was his bike and then went on his merry way. There were too many excuses for the actions of the people who observed the crime taken place. I personally would like to take this one step further, what if we changed something about the female stealing the bike? What if she was not a white female with blonde hair and blue eyes? What if she was a curvier and maybe with red hair? Would someone still help her steal the bike? Or what if the black kid was dress in more for fitting clothes, with no hat and looked more “white” to these the mostly white people’s standards? Would their actions change. There is so much that can be done with this scenario , they could create a whole season based on this one “crime”. Also, the data in class did not surprise me either. It is sad that just because of a skin color people assume that one race is more likely to commit a crime than a person of a different race who has already committed a crime. I feel that there is a notion among society that if a white person goes to jail for a crime he has learned his lesson and will not do it again, but if a black person commits a crime, they are going to do it all over again and end up back in jail. This is not always the case but society makes it seem that way. Mon, 22 Oct 2012 03:55:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/10/18/voices-from-the-classroom-190/#IDComment469603801 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/10/10/voices-from-the-classroom-184/#IDComment463916496 I believe that the biggest personal decision I have ever made is one to come within the next upcoming months for me. Being a senior means the world we once knew is going to change. For me I am applying for job currently in the Pittsburgh area, when I currently reside in Philly. Out of this decision I believe that most of this decision will be based on free will. When I was younger I lived in Pittsburgh and have been traveling the turnpike my entire life but I have always been attached to Pittsburgh. I feel that it is a great city for me to start my career and possibly the rest of my life. On the other side to this the “strings” I feel would come from my family. As I said I grew up there and still have family out there so I know if I did need anything they will be there to help but I also feel like this will make my parents feel better knowing that I am in a city I am pretty familiar with, I have people to help me out if at all necessary and I am only across the state, not the entire country. Now, for a past decision I have made was coming to PSU. This decision I know was made by the invisible strings that shaped it. My grandfather, aunt, uncle, and parents all went here so it was not even much of a decision for me. However, I did apply to seven other schools besides here because I did not know where I wanted to go, I was uncertain. I had it narrowed down to here and Albright in Reading; I visited Albright, loved it and got in. I was honestly more excited about my acceptance letter there than I was for my acceptance letter here. But when it came down to it, I weighed my options but and settled on State but the thought of would I excel more somewhere else, would I be happier somewhere else has always been in the back of my mind. Now don’t get me wrong, I love state college, and after all the bull that we have been through this past year made me realize that I did make the right decision, but the thought is still stuck in the back of my mind. I know that my parents would be heartbroken if I did not attend school here and being 17, making this decision was hard enough, but making it right one is harder. The strings of the past definitely weighed me down on this decision, luckily I did make a good decision in the long run but the uncertainty is what makes the decision making process so hard to overcome in the first place. Mon, 15 Oct 2012 00:34:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/10/10/voices-from-the-classroom-184/#IDComment463916496 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/10/07/voices-from-the-classroom-178/#IDComment457939139 I think there are a few reasons as to why people did not identify themselves as rich. First of all, I think it was the way that Sam described it. To me he made is seem like there were two BMW’s and an Audi parked in the driveway, with a pool and a water slide in the back yard and a movie theater in the basement. And I do believe that Sam even mentioned the word millionaires. Now, I identified with Megan, so much. We came from generally the same area, had the same story with our parents and we have excelled with the connections of people that we know. I can say that things have been handed to me which is a luxury that I know most kids in the class do not have. I live in a house with five bedrooms, (mine being bigger than the living room in my apartment) two and a half baths on 2 acres and this amazing view for a backyard, but the reason I did not raise my hand to being rich is because of the way that Sam spoke about it. I do have much more than others but like I stated before, there is no BMW in the drive way or movie theater in the basement. My family has more than necessary but I would say we are not rich. And another reason I did not raise my hand is when Sam mentioned that there is an unwritten rule that when you come from money, you do not talk about money. I could not agree with this statement more. Money is not something to be talked about in the first place but when there is wealth involved it comes out more through how much you can afford to buy and what brands you are wearing, it is never spoken. It is like a secret that you are trying to hide, but just by looking at you, everyone knows. The last reason that I think people did not raise their hands was because there is a chance that there may not be anyone in class that is. It’s a slim chance in a class with 700 people but when I think of someone with money I do not expect them to go to Penn State. When I hear the world millionaires I think of people living on the Upper East Side, kids with trust funds who are destined to go to Ivy League schools, not Penn State, especially after what happened this past year. The family name cannot be tied to a school with so much negativity attached to it lately. And I do respect the people who are rich for not raising their hands because there is a 1% for a reason and they did not want the rest of the 99% to come after them. Mon, 8 Oct 2012 03:59:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/10/07/voices-from-the-classroom-178/#IDComment457939139 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/09/27/voices-from-the-classroom-173/#IDComment451661491 Before the “guessing game” we did in class, whenever someone would say the word Asian, I just thought of China, Korea, and Japan, I never gave thought to the other countries that are included within this continent and it really opened my eyes as to how many cultures there are and how much they differ. However, with that being said, being white and not knowing much about the Asian culture it is hard to identify exactly where a person is from. I know to a lot of white people, myself included it is difficult to tell exactly what country they are from. This raises the issue of people getting annoyed at the term “Asian” to me if I use this term and it is rare I am trying to generalize a person, I try to not use it in a derogatory way but just stating fact. This is also because I cannot differences between a person from South Korea and China, like people from that part of the world and those cultures can. If I were in front of the class and had to pick what country they were from I do not think that I would have even gotten three like the girl with the 4.0 did. Like I said in previous blogs, it is impossible to know where someone is from if you do not get to know them and this goes along with the saying that you cannot judge a book by its cover. We cannot judge people based on the fact they have narrow eyes and dark hair. There was one thing that really struck me was the blonde girl who said she was Muslim. I thought that that was the coolest thing. Although she said she heard some things from other whites and such it must be so fascinating to grow up looking like you fit into this “supreme white society” and not relate to that kind of culture at all. In the readings Sam assigned for us the one that stuck out to me the most was the one where the guy thought he was Mexican and turns out he was not Mexican at all. This got me thinking because I do know exactly what I am. I have a great uncle who spends hours on tracing our family history back generations and my grandmother grew up in Poland for a few years of her life. However, there might be some miscalculation within my family history but I am fairly certain that I am half German and a quarter Slovak and Polish. It does amaze me that people do not know their ancestry, I have been so lucky to know mine my entire life and grow up with different traditions that have a great meaning to my family and my ancestry. Sat, 29 Sep 2012 20:34:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/09/27/voices-from-the-classroom-173/#IDComment451661491 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/09/20/voices-from-the-classroom-171/#IDComment447005326 I think that any type of art is a great platform to bring cultures together. With the way that music is distributed in the world today is it incredibly easy for anyone to become a star and put their ideas out there. They bring together people of different cultures with a common interest for example, I am white but that does not mean that I cannot like a certain rapper, I like what I like and I can try to surround myself with people that like the same things I do, no matter what their gender or race. These types of thing do not have in influence what comes out of your headphones on the way to class. It is also a learning mechanism. Since we are not fully immersed in every single culture within the planet it brings together cultures that otherwise would have been sheltered from the current one we live in. art is a common ground in any part of the world, although that it might not be understood at first, it is just a form of expression, sometimes we can learn about a culture through art than talking about it because expressing yourself is a natural part of life and one that everyone can understand. In class on Thursday when we skyped with the guy from Iran, she said that people over there are not scared of Americans, but why does it have to be opposite here? They are people too, they are trying to make a living and provide for their family, so they do no put a Christmas tree in their homes in December or light a menorah for seven days, and they have their own traditions that mean something to them just like ours in the west mean something to us. Americans take for granted the fact that there are so many cultures engrained within ours. Without the many cultures we have here, America would not be what it is today, the diversity that we ‘welcome’ is what makes us such a powerful entity within the world, not many other places are as welcoming as us. Now I use the world welcome loosely but that is because we have so many stereotypes about people from different cultures and races, but with the power of music and art it bridges the gap between these social differences under one universal thing that every culture has. Another example of hip hop bringing cultures together is the gangnam style video that recently has taken this town by storm. The song is a dance, hip hop song but the majority of the song is sung in an Asian language and although everyone I know has no idea what the rapper is rapping about, it still brings cultures together so we have more of an understanding of what that culture is about. There are many differences between cultures but the more similarities between cultures, the more we will understand, respect and engage within them, not being so sheltered within just one culture. Sun, 23 Sep 2012 19:26:48 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/09/20/voices-from-the-classroom-171/#IDComment447005326 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/09/12/voices-from-the-classroom-162/#IDComment442007049 After thinking about the question for a decent amount of time, I agree with Sam, his approach and applaud him for even bringing this question to our attention. We have to realize that in order to understand each other we have to understand our differences as well. Even the small differences for example, this year I am living with one of my best friends. Last year we were attached at the hip but did not live together, she would sleep at my place 4 days a week and all that jazz. Even though we were together all the time I still did have time away from her. Living with her this year, I realized I never really valued my alone time as much as I did last year. I had to adjust to all the behind the scene things that I never knew about her even though we spent so much time together it was an adjustment and she had to do the same with me. To her this is all normal but to me this is a completely different world. What I know and am used to is a complete 180 for her. Small things like this paints a bigger picture of the person and if that is all it takes just getting to know someone more than just who they are attracted or by their skin color. I liked that the girl in the wheelchair said in class that she likes when her friends sometimes forget that she is in a wheel chair because it makes her feel like they see her and not the chair. I feel the same way when I think of my aunt. I have been close to my aunt my entire life and from a young age I could tell that there was something different about her. I always thought it was because she was the outcast in a way, the only one who never went to college, the only ginger in the entire family but finally it dawned on me one day when was about ten, she was gay. Ever since then I have treated her no differently, nor has she treated me any differently or vice versa. She never officially came out to me, my brothers or my cousins but we all know. Without realizing the differences of others, we would not learn anything really. Without differences life would be like a big grey blob episode of The Fairly Odd Parents from back in the day. There would be nothing to learn, there would be in interaction with others because we would know everything about every single person ever, because it would be the same story for everyone. We cannot be afraid to accept and learn about these differences. We need to embrace them and have others teach us the beauties and trials of their lives and cultures. Sun, 16 Sep 2012 21:58:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/09/12/voices-from-the-classroom-162/#IDComment442007049 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/09/04/voices-from-the-classroom-160/#IDComment437625627 The way that Sam stirred the issues I felt made a lot of people think more into their past religion and think about why their family believes a certain religion over another. Before taking this class I did think about why African Americans seemed to be Christians because of a book I was required to read my senior year of high school about colonization in the Africa. When Sam brought it up, I was happy to know that I was not the only person who thought about things like this before because explaining this to my dominantly white friends would be semi difficult because they do not have the same thought process as me nor would ever give this a second thought because being the dominant culture throughout most of the world we are accustomed to having everything given to us. I feel to answer this question fairly, we can even incorporate todays discussion about “colored people vs. people of color” there is no right or wrong way to answer it this question because as a white female I do not have these “deep wounds” that my people had to endure that still strike a never. My life has been a cake walk in many ways compared to most peoples and I would have ot agree with Rob, one of the last people to speak in today’s lecture. On one hand blacks would not be converted to Christians. We have to think that our history has shaped us, there are no original ideas anymore, have you seen the amount of remixes that are out there today, it is astonishing as astonishing as the fact that it was something that happened about three hundred years ago that shaped who we are today. And Sam did bring up a good point that if it we not for slavery, most of the African Americans that were in class today would not be there or believe in the same god that white people believe in, they would be worshiping some other god in a tribe located somewhere in remote Africa or what if it was people from the Middle East that captured these people and forced them to convert into a Muslim religion. Then maybe this war on terror would be completely different right now. I do appreciate that he brought so many factors into the discussion and tried to incorporate as many different people as possible to give us a sense of dynamic and bring up things that a lot of us have not thought about previously. It is all about how we take it, in this class emotions are going to arise and buttons are going to be pushed but I would believe that we all took this class for a reason and that being to open our minds to different cultures, try to learn what other races are going through and try to make this a better society than what it currently is. It does not start with people of power, it starts with the citizens that try to make a difference and follow it through. Mon, 10 Sep 2012 02:51:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/09/04/voices-from-the-classroom-160/#IDComment437625627 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/09/04/voices-from-the-classroom-160/#IDComment437619026 The way that Sam stirred the issues I felt made a lot of people think more into their past religion and think about why their family believes a certain religion over another. Before taking this class I did think about why African Americans seemed to be Christians because of a book I was required to read my senior year of high school about colonization in the Africa. When Sam brought it up, I was happy to know that I was not the only person who thought about things like this before because explaining this to my dominantly white friends would be semi difficult because they do not have the same thought process as me nor would ever give this a second thought because being the dominant culture throughout most of the world we are accustomed to having everything given to us. I feel to answer this question fairly, we can even incorporate todays discussion about “colored people vs. people of color” there is no right or wrong way to answer it this question because as a white female I do not have these “deep wounds” that my people had to endure that still strike a never. My life has been a cake walk in many ways compared to most peoples and I would have ot agree with Rob, one of the last people to speak in today’s lecture. On one hand blacks would not be converted to Christians We have to think that our history has shaped us, there are no original ideas anymore, have you seen the amount of remixes that are out there today, it is astonishing as astonishing as the fact that it was something that happened about three hundred years ago that shaped who we are today. And Sam did bring up a good point that if it we not for slavery, most of the African Americans that were in class today would not be there or believe in the same god that white people believe in, they would be worshiping some other god in a tribe located somewhere in remote Africa or what if it was people from the Middle East that captured these people and forced them to convert into a Muslim religion. Then maybe this war on terror would be completely different right now. I do appreciate that he brought so many factors into the discussion and tried to incorporate as many different people as possible to give us a sense of dynamic and bring up things that a lot of us have not thought about previously. It is all about how we take it, in this class emotions are going to arise and buttons are going to be pushed but I would believe that we all took this class for a reason and that being to open our minds to different cultures, try to learn what other races are going through and try to make this a better society than what it currently is. It does not start with people of power, it starts with the citizens that try to make a difference and follow it through. Mon, 10 Sep 2012 02:33:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/09/04/voices-from-the-classroom-160/#IDComment437619026 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/09/04/voices-from-the-classroom-160/#IDComment437613315 The way that Sam stirred the issues I felt made a lot of people think more into their past religion and think about why their family believes a certain religion over another. Before taking this class I did think about why African Americans seemed to be Christians because of a book I was required to read my senior year of high school about colonization in the Africa. When Sam brought it up, I was happy to know that I was not the only person who thought about things like this before because explaining this to my dominantly white friends would be semi difficult because they do not have the same thought process as me nor would ever give this a second thought because being the dominant culture throughout most of the world we are accustomed to having everything given to us. I feel to answer this question fairly, we can even incorporate todays discussion about “colored people vs. people of color” there is no right or wrong way to answer it this question because as a white female I do not have these “deep wounds” that my people had to endure that still strike a never. My life has been a cake walk in many ways compared to most peoples and I would have ot agree with Rob, one of the last people to speak in today’s lecture. On one hand blacks would not be converted to Christians. We have to think that our history has shaped us, there are no original ideas anymore, have you seen the amount of remixes that are out there today, it is astonishing as astonishing as the fact that it was something that happened about three hundred years ago that shaped who we are today. And Sam did bring up a good point that if it we not for slavery, most of the African Americans that were in class today would not be there or believe in the same god that white people believe in, they would be worshiping some other god in a tribe located somewhere in remote Africa or what if it was people from the Middle East that captured these people and forced them to convert into a Muslim religion. Then maybe this war on terror would be completely different right now. I do appreciate that he brought so many factors into the discussion and tried to incorporate as many different people as possible to give us a sense of dynamic and bring up things that a lot of us have not thought about previously. It is all about how we take it, in this class emotions are going to arise and buttons are going to be pushed but I would believe that we all took this class for a reason and that being to open our minds to different cultures, try to learn what other races are going through and try to make this a better society than what it currently is. It does not start with people of power, it starts with the citizens that try to make a difference and follow it through. Mon, 10 Sep 2012 02:17:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/09/04/voices-from-the-classroom-160/#IDComment437613315