I really enjoyed this class and have taken many things from it. The class made me reflect on my own life and thoughts. One comment that Sam made that really stuck with me was when he said, “Comfort comes with experience.” I really like this comment, and I think that it is so true. I saw examples of this in my life. When I volunteered at Penn State’s LifeLink, I became more comfortable around people with disabilities. While I am still a little uneasy sometimes, I am definitely more comfortable around them. Also, when I moved from a predominantly black school to a predominantly white school, I noticed my comfort level around people of color decreased slightly over the years. In addition, the comment makes me want to go out and experience new things. Whether an experience is good or bad, it will teach you something. If you stay away from what scares you, you will never grow as a person.

Another lesson that I learned from class was that most money that the United States gives to other nations is tied, which means that it comes back and benefits the United States. It bothers me that only a little of the money given actually goes to the country. It makes me wonder if our intentions are genuine? Is a part of our helping to make ourselves look good? It makes me second guess what organizations I give money to. I want to know that if I give money to an organization, it will go to what I think it will.

I thought the class on Thursday about white identity development was very interesting. It made me think about what stage I am in. I think that I am in stage two, although I am a little embarrassed to admit that. I feel like I should be further along in my identity development. Maybe I will move stages since this class opened my eyes to the inequalities that people of color experience. For now, I see that there are different groups of people, for example, there are white, black, and brown people. I can see the differences in the various cultures. I am aware that there is racial inequality occurring in the world, but I do not think about it all the time. However, I have been thinking about it more since taking this class. The path that I take while in this stage is being politically correct. I try to not say things that would offend people. I am scared to offend anyone or make them made. I do not think that I avoid race on purpose, but the activities that I am in do not involve a lot of racial diversity. I wonder if the more white people come in contact with people of color, the further along in identity development they will get. Also, Sam said that whatever stage you are in, you should usually back it up at least one. I wonder why white people feel the need to overestimate their identity development. Do people of color overestimate as well?

I would consider myself an easy going person. I do not get mad easily because I usually just let things go. It takes a lot for me to get mad, which is why it is so hard to imagine killing someone else. If something interrupts my routine or takes something from me, I learn a new way or learn to live without it. I am more about keeping the peace than confrontation. My friends often say that I cannot hurt a fly. I always immediately apologize if I even tap someone or do anything wrong really. I have been known to apologize even when running into inanimate objects, like chairs.

I think that people that are quick to name many things they would kill for do not think about the magnitude of their action. When I think of killing someone, I do not just think of the actual act of killing. I think about the life I would take and the family and friends that would lose a loved one. I think that even if I was threatened, I would still feel severe guilt if I killed a person. Even thinking about hurting someone makes me feel bad. My conscience would go crazy if I killed someone.

When Sam asked us what it would take to kill another human being, my first reaction was “why would someone kill someone else?” I honestly cannot imagine killing anyone. I would be more likely to seriously hurt someone than to kill them. It would more likely be out of self-defense. I think that I can say that because I am not threatened by anything right now. The only scenario that I could maybe imagine killing or hurting someone would be if they attempted to kill or seriously hurt my family or myself. The only other scenario that I can think of that would make me really hurt someone would be if I could no longer exercise. I love to exercise and play sports. I do it because I like it and to be social. It is the main way that I keep my weight down. I used to weigh a lot, and exercise helped me lose 80 pounds. If I was no longer able to exercise, the fear of gaining the weight back would cause me to be mad. If I could find a way to manage my weight, it would take me more time to get mad. If not, I would get mad quickly.

One example of hurting someone but not killing them happened when I was fifteen. The kids in my neighborhood played war one Saturday. I never played before but wanted to because my older brother and his friends were playing. I did not realize how intense it got. Some kids got major bruises and a couple broke fingers. I remember one kid had a big stick and was coming after me. The only objects that were near me were a couple of basketballs. I hit him in the head with the basketballs, which hurt him enough so I could run. Luckily my brother stepped in before he could actually hurt me. I remember being so scared.

Before today’s lecture, I never thought about racial identification, which may be because I’m white, but I am not sure. I wonder if white people experience the stages the same as people of color. I think that it is important to go through all of the stages of racial identification. It helps people develop into who they are. They have “been through it all” if they go through all six stages. The different stages give them different views on the racial identification issue. I wonder if people who go through all six stages then move back to previous stages experience the previous stages the same way they did the first time.

I think that the best stage to be in in the fifth stage. In this stage, people are able to build meaningful relationships with anyone. They are not exclusive to their racial group. This stage broadens opportunities in a person’s life. They may pursue activities that they would not have considered before because people of their race did not participate in them. It opens up their opportunity to interact with all types of people, not just people of their own race. Interacting with other people can change people’s views on topics. They become more informed. Although race is still important in this stage, they do not let it affect their relationships. I think that in this stage a person would be able to talk about going through the previous stages more openly. They would have more insight into their racial identification journey. I think people are more rounded in this stage.

I think that stage two is a good stage to go through also. People in this stage begin to see there is an “us” and “them” group. It is important to be aware of this because that’s how it is in the world. I’m not saying that there should be “us” / “them” groups. However, it is important to be aware of how things tend to be. With this knowledge, people can fight these groups.

I think the worst stage to be in is stage three. In this stage, people seek out information about their race and heritage. People in this stage are very proud of their racial group and their heritage. For people of color, they are against white, and are only allies with other non-white cultures because they are allies against the whites. I wonder if whites in this stage only find other white people interesting and do not like people of color. I think that this stage is not a good stage to be in because it closes people off from the world outside their race. They surround themselves with people of their own race and culture and do not experience other races and cultures. They may miss out on activities or things that they would enjoy. It also funnels them into one way of thinking. If they are not being exposed to other people, they are only going to think the way other people in their race do. When solving problems, it is good to have different points of view.

Homosexuality is a hot button topic in the United States. People get very heated when they talk about it. In my experience, people have either been completely fine with homosexuality or homophobic. I do not have many people in my life that are in the middle. I only have a few gay friends, but we only talk every so often because we go to different colleges. I do not consider myself homophobic. I just have not really been around homosexual people. I do not care if people are gay.

People do not like to be uncomfortable. However, many people become uncomfortable around homosexuals. In order to eliminate some of their uneasiness, they try to explain why the person is gay. The easiest and safest explanation is that the person chose to be gay. This helps them feel like it is the individual’s fault, and that it is not possible to develop it from their genes. If it were biological, it would mean that they may have it in their genes. It would mean that either they or a relative of theirs could become gay. The biological explanation is scary to them. If it is a choice, they can choose to never be gay.

A lot of people who are religious think that being homosexual is a choice. They let their religion and the bible dictate their views. They feel that there is no way that their creator would make people homosexual. If being homosexual is a choice, then homosexuals can be cured. It gives people comfort to think that being homosexual can be reversed.

Another way people could come to the conclusion that being homosexual is a choice is the timing that people come out. When people come out, it seems sudden to the people they tell. The people they tell could view the situation as if being homosexual was biological, the person should have acted homosexual before or come out sooner. They only see the person switch from heterosexual to homosexual quickly. Even if the person who is homosexual says they have been that way for a while, the people may be in denial and think it came on suddenly. If they think it came on suddenly, it is easier to think it was a choice.

For the clicker question about where we think being homosexual comes from, I chose that it is an orientation that people are born with. While I believe this, I experienced a situation that makes me question it at times. I had a friend growing up that always seemed completely straight. She had boyfriends, but not an excessive amount that might show her trying to compensate. There was one point in high school when she swore that she was going to marry the boy that she was dating. She was head over heels. She always made comments about how certain boys were hot. As we went through high school, she started to hang out with a different group of friends. A few of these people were homosexual. After a couple years, she started to date girls and has been that way ever since. I have seen her on both sides, and it makes me wonder what happened. Why did she seem so interested in boys before hanging out with her new friends?

When Sam said that contact was important to understanding a group, I completely agreed. The more time you spend with a group, the more your understanding of that group changes. More than likely, you will become more open minded toward that group and feel more comfortable around them. I thought of a couple instances in my life when contact has shifted my views on a group.

The transition from elementary school to middle school was a big one for me. Not only was I changing schools, the demographic of the students also changed. I went from being in a mostly white upper middle class elementary school to a mostly African American lower middle class team in the middle school. I was upset at first that I got placed on that team, but looking back, I am thankful for the experience. I was very uncomfortable at first, and it took me awhile to open up. I did not know what to say to these new kids and was afraid of being judged. They were completely different than me (or at least I thought). As I observed more and talked to other students more, it became easier to open up. I realized that even though we looked different and had different mannerisms, we were all still people. As the year went on, I was able to talk and joke around with people. I definitely became more comfortable around African Americans and became friends with many of them. I noticed myself not judging African Americans as much. When I was in elementary school, there was a belief that African Americans are dangerous and dirty. If I was around African Americans outside of school, I would not tense up as easily as I had in elementary school. I also stopped assuming African Americans were dirty because the people I was around proved that idea wrong. I had friends on other teams in middle school that were mostly white. When I hung out with them, I noticed that they still believed some of the stereotypes that we were taught in elementary school. They did not interact with African Americans as much as I did. Even though I moved in eighth grade, I still keep in contact with some people from middle school.

Another example of contact changing my understanding of a group was when I volunteered at PSU LifeLink in Fall 2011. LifeLink lets college age students with disabilities take college courses. I was a mentor to a student with Down syndrome. Before I started, I was very nervous because I hadn’t really been around people with disabilities before. The first couple times we met I didn’t know what to say because I didn’t want to say the wrong thing. I soon realized that he was a normal student. He wanted to be treated like a normal human. He loved to joke around and hang out. As the weeks went on, I became more comfortable around him and enjoyed hanging out with him. I was not afraid to bust his shoes or call him out on something because he would do the same to me. I recommend being a mentor at LifeLink to anyone! Now when people say that they get nervous around people with disabilities, I ask why. I try to explain that they are people too. It bothers me when people think people with disabilities are less than human and don’t treat them equally.

I found Tuesday’s class to be extremely interesting. I never question why I think the way I do, so it was an eye opener for me. I answered that I would not let my child walk to school for the child abduction question. I was shocked to find out how little child abduction by strangers actually happens. It is more likely that someone you know will abduct your child, which is scary. The facts made me wonder what other beliefs I have that are based on misinformation.

I realized that I base beliefs of people on their appearance. I am not proud of this and hope to change it. If I am out on a Saturday night, I am more on edge around men of color. I think this comes from the general belief that they are more violent or dangerous than white men, which is not true. I am the most comfortable around white women. I guess if a person seems to be like me, I will be more comfortable around them. When I walk into a classroom, I look around at all the people. I choose my seat based on who I think I will be most comfortable around or get along with best, which I base off of people’s appearances.

I consider myself a daddy’s girl. I look up to my dad and normally believe whatever he says. He definitely passed some of his beliefs onto me. Now I would like to know which of his beliefs are based on facts and what made him form some of his beliefs. I think that sometimes people adopt or accept other people’s beliefs and opinions as their own because they do not want to or care enough to do the research. This is sad because it leads to misinformed people that continue to pass down their beliefs. Even if people are presented with facts, they may not believe them. They may refuse to change their beliefs, which is sad.

I find it interesting that the most heated arguments that people have are usually over beliefs. I think that it’s ironic that people are so adamant in defending something that may not even be true. They may think their belief is true, but the facts may prove otherwise. Foreign policy is a heated topic. After 9/11, people formed beliefs about people from the Middle East and the Muslim religion. People often believe that all people from the Middle East are Muslim, which is false. People also believe that they are dangerous and become uneasy when they are around.

The class made me think about how much different the world would be if we based our belief systems on facts. If we based our beliefs purely on facts, a lot of our beliefs would change. I think that people would be a lot more open to ideas. I think a lot of the reason we believe things is out of fear. For example, I said that I would not let my child walk to school because I was afraid he or she would be abducted.

I found this question to be a very hard one to answer. I never think about the Native American population because it does not affect my life on a daily basis. I also learned very little of it growing up. When I did learn about them, it was glossed over, and the seriousness of what we did to them was not conveyed. So when I am faced with serious questions like these, I am not prepared to answer them and do not have a quick answer. There were different scenarios, which included the person who was originally kicked off the land, their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

The first scenario was the easiest one for me to answer. For the person who was originally kicked off their land, it seemed obvious to me that they were entitled to the land. If you illegally or forcefully take something from someone, it is still theirs even if you have it. The Native American must have felt so angry and helpless when their land was taken from them. It even makes me angry now when I think about it. Even though I am happy for the land I have, people in history had no right to take land that was not theirs. They completely changed and decimated the Native American’s way of life. Americans could have at least left them with better living conditions, but instead were selfish.

As we went down the scenarios, it was harder for me to decide who I felt was entitled to the land. Now that I think about it, the answer should always be the Native Americans, but that’s not what my thought process was in class. I think that it was harder because as we went down the scenarios, the people were further removed from the initial act. The more time that passes from the initial act, the less likely the people are to get the land back, and they are seen as having less right to the land. The people that took
the land gain more and more rights as time goes by.

The children of people that were kicked off of the land are still entitled to the land. They are not too far removed from the initial act. They may have been alive when the land was taken, which would cause them to be aware of the different living situations and conflict. I think it is important for the children to fight for the land because after that generation, the likelihood of getting the land back decreases.

For the grandchildren and great grandchildren, I found it hard to answer. They are less likely to know any different from their current living situation unless they are told by older generations. Also, for many years, their people have not owned the land. You also have to think about the grandchildren of the people that took the land. They may be unaware of their ancestor’s actions, which is the case with many children in the United States. All that they know is their current living situation and were born into it. They also have a right to the land. Even though students are living on Native American land, I don't think they would be quick to give it back to them.

Many events have occurred in my life that have helped me get where I am today. I attended a high school in a middle class neighborhood. My high school is considered a good school that gives a quality education. Students had many resources available to them. This event happened in my life because of determinism. My parents made enough money to be able to move to my hometown, which is called Havertown. They chose Havertown partly because of the good school district. I did not have a choice about where I went to high school. During high school, I did well academically. I earned straight A’s in high school. I think that this was partially due to free will and also partly due to determinism. I made a conscious effort to do well. I did well because it made me feel good. I got A’s for myself. However, I got the idea that it is important to do well from my parents. They taught me that it is important to do well but never told me that I had to get straight A’s. Also, society tends to look more favorably on students that do well in school.

My good grades allowed me to get into all of the colleges that I applied to. My top two choices were Penn State University Park and Towson University. I ended up choosing Towson University even though I had always wanted to go to Penn State growing up. I chose Towson because it was closer to home, and they gave me a significant scholarship. Penn State did not give me anything. I also really liked the campus, and the fact that it was near Baltimore. It was my choice to go to Towson, but I was influenced by factors. My financial background influenced me. While my parents make a decent living, they did not save for my college education. As a result, I knew that I would be taking out loans. Also, my dad was not in the best of health as I ended my senior year of high school. I did not want to go to school where I could not come home easily. Towson was an hour closer to home then Penn State. Even though the decision was ultimately mine, both of these circumstances were factored in when making the decision.

As I went through my freshman year at Towson, I never really found my niche. I liked the campus and teachers, but never found that favorite extracurricular activity or group of friends. I attribute this to my dad having a heart attack in the beginning of my freshman year, which would be an example of determinism. I went home a lot of the weekends, so I didn’t have time to make friends at school. In the beginning of the spring semester, I decided to transfer to a Penn State branch campus so I could live at home and help take care of my dad. I was not that sad to leave Towson because I never really found my place there. I had also always wanted to go to Penn State, which made the decision easier. I grew up in a family of Penn State fans, so I was influenced since I was young. After a year at a branch campus, my dad’s health improved, and I was able to move to University Park.

When I saw the graph about median household income levels, I was partly surprised. I was not surprised that Asians and Whites were above Hispanics and Black. However, I was surprised that Asians were above Whites. When Sam explained why the Asians were on top, it made more sense. I did not realize that poor Asians lump their salaries together. I also thought that people from Indian are generally smart and are considered Asian. This would increase the number of smart and well off Asians. I think that there is a stereotype in America that Asians and Whites are more educated, which is not always the case. However, Asian and American cultures value education, which pushes students to stay in school. Blacks and Hispanics are more likely to drop out of high school, which limits their opportunities later in life. The more education you have, the better chance you have of getting a job that pays well, which would increase your income.

I think that a person’s job has a huge impact on their income levels. Asians and Whites tend to hold jobs that require more skills and pay more. Hispanics often do jobs that no one else wants to. These jobs usually pay low wages and require few skills. Blacks also tend to have minimum wage jobs. The difference in jobs can partially reflect the education gap.

A person’s environment affects their opportunities and income. If a person lives in a poor community, it is likely that they will not get the best education. Many schools in poor areas deal with few resources, behavior problems, safety issues, etc. There are more temptations that can distract the students from their education. Since the person does not get a great education, they may get stuck with a poor paying job. If they want to go to college, they often cannot afford it. Since they are stuck in a low paying job, they cannot make enough money to move out of the poor neighborhood. They are stuck in a cycle that does not allow for advancement. Where I grew up, the white population was the one with the most money. I am not sure which “race” had the next highest household income. My African American friends used to joke with me about “living on the richer side of town.” However, I am by no means rich. People that lived in the poorer parts of my town often lived there their whole lives. I know my one African American friend’s parents were trying to move to another school district but couldn’t because they could not afford it.

There is also the concept of institutional inequality. I do not think that African Americans ever truly got equal rights in the workplace. There are some businesses that will hire African Americans, but not allow them to have upward mobility in the company. The company may have a belief that African Americans are inferior, even if it is never said out loud.

Finally, it really struck me that Native Americans were not represented on the graph. It showed me that we do not want to acknowledge what we did to them. If they were on the graph, the blame would be pointed at us. We do not want to admit that we did anything wrong. For all of the other groups, we tend to blame them like it is their fault or a result of their actions.

The comments on the story ranged from being supportive of the woman to insulting her. The things people say reflect on how educated they are on an issue. Whether the comment is positive or negative, I wonder what goes through people’s heads when they are commenting. What makes them say what they do? I think their experiences in life have a big influence on how they view things and their opinions on them.

I was a little disappointed in the positive comments. They did not really defend her, but rather thought she was inspiring and gave her credit for being able to do that. The one person that truly defended her was the person who talked about how she is happier than all the people making mean comments. Another person called her wise, which was nice. I was hoping more people would defend her and put the mean people in their place. Some of the positive comments made me say “What?” The first comment said, “There should be no reason in the world why a religion would be the cause for people to bully or stare.” I think I know why this person said this, and I agree with him or her. However, the person that took the photo, or people that stare at her and make comments do not necessarily know that her religion is why she looks that way. They would have to read her response to know why she looks the way she does. One commenter was positive but used this story to promote her experiences as a bearded woman, which I did not like. She only commented on her own experiences. Another comment started off positive then insulted her. The person said that she was brainwashed by her religion and should get her hormone levels checked. Who says she is being brainwashed by her religion? The belief in the religion is that the body is a gift from the creator and should not be altered. You do not have to agree with the belief, but you should not bash it.

It is often the ignorant people that say the most, which is a shame. The ignorant people are misinformed and do not know what they are talking about. I was shocked at some of the negative comments and how mean those people were. One comment called her a shim. I thought to myself, why would you post something like that? If you think that, then that’s your opinion, but do not post it online. A post like that is not productive at all. Another comment said, “I can’t believe she is content to live with the ridicule she must get out in public.” This person obviously cares a lot about other people’s opinions of her. I wonder if this person ever stands up for things she believes in when it goes against public opinion. It would be a shame if her actions were always based on other people’s opinions. The same commenter commented on another comment making shallow remarks like, “Would you date a woman with this much hair on her face?” This comment solidifies for me that she is a shallow person. I would be interested to see a picture of her or meet her. This person’s comments bothered me. Who is she to judge the student? Her priorities are skewed, and the sad part is many people in society think like her.