en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2404536 Comments by keyofwhite http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/if-prison-has-taken-anything-away-from-me/#IDComment145253982 I decided to do my last blog on the Pennsylvania Lifers. I wish I would have been known about these blogs that they were being posted. It’s really interesting to hear where they are coming from. One reason I’m really interested in the Pennsylvania Lifers is that many members of my family are apart of the prison population. My older brother has been imprisoned since I was in the 8th grade. He’s supposed to get out this year. I have never asked him about how does it feel to be in prison with some many restrictions on your life and daily routine. How he feels about prison would probably differ from someone who is in prison for life because he has the opportunity of becoming a free man. A question that crossed my mind is that will he ever be a free man. Although, he will soon be released from jail his past will always be apart of him. Especially since he’s black. It’s going to be so hard to find employment. I remember when Sam said a company would most likely hire a white guy with a criminal record than a black guy with a criminal record. My brother has a criminal record so where does that leave him? It’s going to be extremely difficult for him to find employment. I really feel that the system is created to keep black people at the bottom of the social economic class. If he can’t find a job, how else is he going to get money? If there are no legal ways to get money, then he’s coerced to get money illegally. Not just him but all black men with a criminal past. The government needs to create some type of law to get people with criminal backgrounds employment. They could even give incentives to companies that are willing to hire employees with criminal backgrounds. I feel like we need to figure out why so many people are going to prison. The amount of people in prison is insane. Additionally, it cost so much money to keep people in prison. That money could be going elsewhere like for students to go college and better themselves. I feel like the government needs to make some cuts to the prison budgets. I’m not saying that murders should not be imprisoned. What I’m saying is that let’s spend money and find out why some people murder? Some people are naturally bad; however, some people just make the wrong decisions. Should someone who made the wrong decision be imprison for LIFE because they didn’t have enough money to afford a good lawyer? The money that we spend on keeping prisoners in jail for life we could spend elsewhere. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 00:34:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/if-prison-has-taken-anything-away-from-me/#IDComment145253982 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment142417516 Part 3 More places needs to become more “transgender friendly” like Penn State. I don’t know if you know but, Penn State is very “transgender friendly”. If you’re transgender you can request special housing, and can live with other transgender people. Also, they have restrooms available for transgender people in places such as the Hub. Instead, of turning transgender people away Penn State embraces them. I feel like many other companies and businesses should take that aspect on the situation. We have to remember that everyone has rights Wed, 13 Apr 2011 07:02:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment142417516 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment142417480 Part 2 People need to become more open minded. Even if you don’t agree with someone, I think you at least should be able to understand where they are coming from. For example, Mr. Devoureau’s boss disagreed with him being transgendered and also didn’t even understand where he was coming from. I feel like if he understood with where he might be coming from he would have treated him differently. He really did him wrong. I feel like there is no reason to fire someone because of they’re transgender. He still has to feed his family and pay bills. In addition, to be honest I feel like that is not now of his boss’s business. As Americans we need to stop judging people especially people that we never get a chance to know. If we do judge people, we need to learn to put are judgments aside because sometimes that could get us in trouble.. Wed, 13 Apr 2011 07:02:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment142417480 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment142417290 Part 1 This is an extremely interesting article for me. I feel like transgender people and their rights have been overlooked for many years. I feel as though they are equal to everyone else in this country. Who are we to deny them rights? I can relate to them because they are minorities just like me. I feel like he should not be denied his job because he’s doesn’t fit the ideal job description or because his boss may feel uncomfortable around him. That is exactly how people were and still are to black people. So I definitely understand what he’s feeling. There need to be more laws out there to guarantee that everyone is getting treating equally. With that being said, why do we have to have laws to ensure equality? Why can’t everyone just treat everyone equally without being coerced? Does evil always exist? I feel like we need to come together as a society and become more informed. Ignorance is the cause for many social problems in America. If we have more classes like this where students can learn about inequality and just become more informed that would really help out a lot. Wed, 13 Apr 2011 07:01:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/11/transgendered-complications/#IDComment142417290 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/after-this-class-do-you-still-blame-terrorism-119-blog/#IDComment141159615 This lecture was similar to many of the other lectures; it did not really change my opinion or perspective on terrorism. However, the lecture did provide me with new knowledge on terrorism. I never knew that a target enemy is worth 29 civilian lives. That’s insane to me. Who are we as people to put the price on other people lives? We as Americans are always trying to control other people lives. We want to go to other places and control their resources. However, who are we to just take what belongs to someone else? For example, we got the land that we call the “USA” for the Native Americans, and now they’re forced to live on reserves. How can we come here and take control over other people resources and land. This is in some way what we were trying to do in Iraq. When I think of terrorism, I usually think there is a message they’re trying to get across. Whenever someone does something like that there is usually a reasonable explanation behind it. Whether you agree with them or not is totally a different story. The message that they’re trying to get across is that they want us out there country, and that they would protect their country by any means necessary. I feel like Americans are the same way. I know so many people that volunteer to join the marines and fight for our country. That’s basically what terrorist is doing. With that said I really don’t support war. I feel like we could be doing something else with those people that are going to war and we could be putting the funds that go into paying for war. Without war I feel like our society would be more productive. America spends so much money on weapons for defense. There are so many different ways that the money could be used for. For example, it could be used for education, tax breaks, and low interest loans for small business. Increasing money for those purposes could really benefit our society as a whole. One thing I think Sam wanted us to take from this lecture was to just try putting yourself in someone else’s shoes so you can understand or at least know where they are coming from. We as Americans forget to understand where others are coming from. Understanding where someone is coming from can really come along way. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 03:48:20 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/after-this-class-do-you-still-blame-terrorism-119-blog/#IDComment141159615 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/after-this-class-do-you-still-blame-terrorism-119-blog/#IDComment141159260 This lecture was similar to many of the other lectures; it did not really change my opinion or perspective on terrorism. However, the lecture did provide me with new knowledge on terrorism. I never knew that a target enemy is worth 29 civilian lives. That’s insane to me. Who are we as people to put the price on other people lives? We as Americans are always trying to control other people lives. We want to go to other places and control their resources. However, who are we to just take what belongs to someone else? For example, we got the land that we call the “USA” for the Native Americans, and now they’re forced to live on reserves. How can we come here and take control over other people resources and land. This is in some way what we were trying to do in Iraq. When I think of terrorism, I usually think there is a message they’re trying to get across. Whenever someone does something like that there is usually a reasonable explanation behind it. Whether you agree with them or not is totally a different story. The message that they’re trying to get across is that they want us out there country, and that they would protect their country by any means necessary. I feel like Americans are the same way. I know so many people that volunteer to join the marines and fight for our country. That’s basically what terrorist is doing. With that said I really don’t support war. I feel like we could be doing something else with those people that are going to war and we could be putting the funds that go into paying for war. Without war I feel like our society would be more productive. America spends so much money on weapons for defense. There are so many different ways that the money could be used for. For example, it could be used for education, tax breaks, and low interest loans for small business. Increasing money for those purposes could really benefit our society as a whole. One thing I think Sam wanted us to take from this lecture was to just try putting yourself in someone else’s shoes so you can understand or at least know where they are coming from. We as Americans forget to understand where others are coming from. Understanding where someone is coming from can really come along way. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 03:46:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/after-this-class-do-you-still-blame-terrorism-119-blog/#IDComment141159260 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/29/how-will-you-be-treated-differently-if-whites-become-the-minority-119-blog/#IDComment139287088 If whites become the minority I feel like nothing would change. What sense are we talking about when we say a change in the minority and the majority. In this sense I feel like we are talking about the population change from whites being the majority into the minority. With that being said, I feel like white people would still be the majority of people that is in power. Money and power goes hand and hand. I feel like the white people are still going to be in charge because they have money and power. So nothing would really change at all of you ask me. On the contrary, if we look at the aspect of black people becoming the majority in power than that’s a different story. I feel like there are many black people that are still not over slavery. Many black people feel sensitive to the fact that their ancestors were mistreated and killed due to the color of their skin. When I ask some of my friends how they would feel if the situation was reversed, most of them would say that they would do onto the whites as they did us. The Barbarian thought of “an eye for an eye” is not what I live by. Just because our ancestors were mistreated by white people, doesn’t mean that every white person was harsh. There were white people that also believed that the blacks shouldn’t have been treated like that. But we as people seem to forget that. Because of those white people that helped blacks, several blacks were able to have better lives. I believe that what happened to my ancestors was wrong, but I am also aware of what was done for my ancestors that were fortunate enough to have a life. I will always remember my history but I also respect my present and future. Our generation has come a long way racially and culturally. We no longer have segregation and there is now more diversity in mostly every career field you can think of. We as students are able to accept each other’s differences and we aren’t highly influenced by our elders. We are a generation of independents. We want to make our mark on this world as those that made the world a better place not expanded the world on hatred. In reality, whites will never become the minority because us black people are killing ourselves instead of building a loving community. As long as we continue this, we will never be able to be a majority. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 03:55:43 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/29/how-will-you-be-treated-differently-if-whites-become-the-minority-119-blog/#IDComment139287088 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137626494 I really didn’t pay racism any mind until I got up here at Penn State. I don’t know if it was because I haven’t been exposed to as many white people in Philly as I was up here, but I’m convinced that there are many racist people up here at Penn State. There may be many racist people in Philadelphia, but they must not show that side of them for whatever reason that may be. The one racist experience I had and can remember vividly occurred to me freshmen year Spring semester. So one Friday night my friends and I decided to go out. They were looking for somewhere to go, and I brought up the idea of going to one of my other friends fraternity. So the night we get to the fraternity, and everyone couldn’t get in because their name wasn’t on the list so we decided to leave and find somewhere else to go. So on our way back to campus we run into some other friends of ours on Beaver Ave. This is where it’s started getting interesting. So we’re all standing on the corner socializing. All of a sudden I see like oranges coming from behind me, and then I hear “go home niggers.” I’m thinking to myself like what’s going on? Then they said, “Why are yall here? Go back to Community College.” I was shocked by the words that didn’t know how to respond. Some of my other friends were arguing back and forth with them. Then one of my friends was like really trying to go in the building and go up to their room. It hit him the hardest cause he actually does go to a Community College. Some one stopped him, because if they wouldn’t have things would have really gotten out of hand. We all decided to walk away because it wouldn’t have been worth it. While walking back to campus everyone was just expressing how we felt about the entire situation. I personally was upset and annoyed. I was upset because it hurt me to hear that vulgar and derogatory language. Why did they think they were better than us? Who are they to judge someone? The reason why I was annoyed is because it made me mad how ignorant they were. With that being said, I always know there were people up here that were racist. I just hated to actually see it. It’s crazy because one of the kids could be in my class sitting next to me and I would never know. One thing I had to remember is that not all white people are like that it’s just a few. Well at least I hope there is just a few. This is not the only time it found out someone was racist, but it was the most traumatic. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 03:31:06 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137626494 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/have-you-ever-felt-guilt-from-being-of-a-certain-race-119-blog/#IDComment135967539 I personally never felt guilty about being black. There is no reason for me to feel guilty about whom I am. I know I’m fortunate to live the life I live. My life is nowhere near perfect, but I just say to myself that there are so many people out there that have it much worse than I do. I sometimes forget that and do not take advantage of all the opportunities that are available to me. However, I still don’t feel guilty about being black. I feel like everything that I have in my life I worked hard for. My parents raised in a way that if I wanted something I had to work hard for it. For the most part nothing is ever going to be handed to you on a silver spoon in life unless you’re one of the “lucky ones”. With that being said when I was younger, I use to sometimes be embarrassed about being black. A lot of the black youth in my neighborhood were violent and ignorant. The black people use to pick on and take advantage of the white people in my neighborhood. I don’t know if the white people were scared or if they just didn’t care as much, but the black kids use to like bully them. There were a good percentage of both black and white people in my neighborhood. However many of the white people were old couples. So the white kids were the minority compared to black kids. The black kids would just take advantage of the white kids kindness. Also, they would bully them. I was embarrassed because just because someone is being nice you should not take advantage of them, and that would give white kids a bad impression. They probably think all black people are like that and we’re not. However, as I grown up I realized I shouldn’t be embarrassed because those kids did not know any better. You can’t blame someone who doesn’t know. Also, white kids should not just assume that all black people are alike. How would they feel if we just assume all black people are alike? All in all, you should never make assumption about anything or anyone until you at least give it a try. Another thing I wanted to talk about is that many white people that I came across they say how they feel guilty about slavery and stuff like that. I feel as though they shouldn’t feel guilty because they didn’t take part in slavery. However, if they’re racist then that’s another story. My main point is that you could change problems of the past, but you can become part of a future solution. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 03:14:20 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/have-you-ever-felt-guilt-from-being-of-a-certain-race-119-blog/#IDComment135967539 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/scholarships-for-white-men/#IDComment134348515 Having scholarships for white males only is fair to me. Why shouldn’t they have the opportunity to get financial aid when they’re in need of it? Everyone deserves the privilege of an education. If anyone say that they shouldn’t having scholarships I feel they’re racist to some extent. Many scholarships are targeted towards specific groups, so we shouldn’t deny any one group that right. With that being said, I feel like there are so many scholarships that are geared towards whites already. Most of the people that are on the executive board for huge corporations are white males. So therefore, I feel like these scholarships are targeted towards white males. The requirements for those scholarships are unattainable by most people that aren’t going to suburban or private schools getting a “grade A” education. Many of the people that go to those types of schools already have a better opportunity because they went to those schools, now they have another opportunity of getting those scholarships. I would feel some type of way if my tax money would be going towards a scholarship that’s targeted towards white males because I feel like that would be a waste of money. The majority of whites are already better off compared to the majority of other races such as blacks, Native Americans, and Hispanics. I feel like white people getting scholarships targeted towards them is just another way of keeping them at the top of the social economic ladder and keeping the minorities that need scholarship money to attend school from getting an education. For example, at Penn State the tuition has been gradually increasing over the years, and some students are getting tired of it, while other students haven’t even noticed the increased. Most of the students that are getting tired of the constant tuition increase are minorities and not whites because it affects minorities the most. There were two protests for lower tuition recently on Penn State campus. The majority of the students protesting were not white. Most of the white students heard about the tuition increase, but it doesn’t affect them enough for them to protest. So if increasing tuition doesn’t affect white students, why should there be scholarships targeted towards white males students? Clearly, they aren’t affected by expensive tuition so why would they need help to pay for college? So they can spend their money elsewhere by investing in real estate, stocks, or leisure. Whites are already better off especially white males. White males are dominating the society that we live in today. Them getting scholarships will only enable them to stay at the top, and enable minorities to stay at the bottom. The old saying will still be true, “the rich get richer, and the poor doesn’t get a dam thing.” Sat, 12 Mar 2011 03:06:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/scholarships-for-white-men/#IDComment134348515 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-do-you-feel-about-the-poor-white-society-and-who-are-you-more-likely-to-help-119-blog/#IDComment130759151 I personally feel that poor white society is equivalent to other poor societies. The only difference is the color of their skin. It would be bias of me to take a side. The video that we watched in class really made me feel bad for poor white society. I feel bad because to me it seems like they’re content with their life. Everyone has to work for what they want in this society. I feel like if you grow up poor there should be no reason that your children grown up poor also. They should have a better life than you. As a parent you should do whatever it takes so that your child won’t have to live the rough life that you had to live. For example, in the video Tammy chose to work at Burger King, and refuses to receive assistance from the government. Her family would be better off if she was to receive assistance from the government. I feel like she chose to live that life. From my perspective she was content with her life. There are so many programs and opportunities offered by the government to help better your life; you just have to want to do it. Tammy let her pride get in the way of moving up in economic status. It personally depends on how I’m feeling. I’m from Philadelphia so there are a lot of people with their hand out waiting for you to give them money or food all across the city. Whenever I have it, I would give it to them no matter what the person look like. Although, I know sometimes they may be doing something that they shouldn’t with the money. But who am I to judge them? I was always taught if you have it, give it. With that being said, I feel like white people are more likely to give to a black poor person rather than a poor white person. I guess they feel bad for us, but not their own kind. I wonder why that is? On the contrary, if a poor black man was looking for work white people are less likely to hire him. However, if that same man skin color was white he would be more likely to get that same job. It really depends on the situation on who people are most likely to help. I personally want to help the person that’s really showing me that they want to change their life. Anybody can say they want to change their life; however, it takes a lot for a person to actually do it. For them to successfully change their life, they need some support. You definitely cannot be lazy in the world we live in. You must be a go getter to be able to better your life for not only yourself, but also your family. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 04:04:15 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-do-you-feel-about-the-poor-white-society-and-who-are-you-more-likely-to-help-119-blog/#IDComment130759151 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-much-can-a-person-use-the-ignorance-card-119-blog/#IDComment129022480 How much can a person play the ignorance card is a good question. The most common answer to the reason why many people do things is “because they didn’t know.” I feel like that’s a legitimate answer when you’re a child; however when you become an adult and you’re still saying statement’s like “because I didn’t know” is embarrassing. When you get to college, you’re at an age where you need to start taking responsibility for your actions. To learn more about topics that you don’t know much about you have to take the initiative to learn about these topics by any means necessary. Sometimes learning about something unfamiliar maybe out of your comfort zone. However, you really learn who you are as a person when you’re taken out of your comfort zone. Especially here on Penn State campus there are so many resources available for students to learn about other cultures, ethnic groups, and lifestyles. The society that we live in is kind of crazy. It has our priorities messed up. We care more about reality shows, facebook , and twitter than important issues that’s going around in the world. To be honest, reality shows, facebook, and twitter aren’t going to be around ten years from now; however, social justice problems such as racism, slavery, and human trafficking will still be problem in the world. Society needs to focus more on raising awareness on issues such as these. Nonetheless, we as people need to take the initiative to want to learn about these issues, so we can work on solutions to the problems. I feel like the first step to fixing these problems is raising awareness on these issues. When I’m in Soc 119 lectures, it amazes me when people around go “Wow, I never knew that.” I just think to myself where do these people live. For example, when Sam showed the graph that illustrated that whites have the most new worth. So many people were amazed at the difference. For me I know that minorities don’t have much net worth. Many probably don’t even know what it is to be honest. I know so many people that the only thing stopping them from attending college is that they can’t afford it. I’m learning that so many people live in a bubble, and the bubble is their comfort zone. People must learn to remove themselves from the bubble they live in. As you see, I feel like you can only play the ignorance card while you’re a child. However, once you get to a certain age you must take responsibility for not knowing. For the most part, people don’t know things because they don’t want to know about them. They live life with blinders on. I guess that’s fine, but just know you’re an ignorant person. Sat, 19 Feb 2011 03:49:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-much-can-a-person-use-the-ignorance-card-119-blog/#IDComment129022480 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/how-can-we-make-major-decisions-so-quickly-119-blog/#IDComment127458396 This is the perfect question. I was wondering the same thing on Tuesday’s class when he ask the question about “are you a determinist or free will” and “do you think Sam is a conservative?” When he first asked the question in the beginning of class about him being a Conservative, the graph was evenly distributed. However by the end of class, he asked the same question again and over 90 percent of the class believed he was a liberal. I was just really blown away by that. The only thing he did during class was present both ends of the spectrum about determinism and free will. I was really confused on why did everyone think he was being liberal because he presented both sides of an argument. When I first answered that question, I thought he leaned towards conservatism and when he asked the same question again my answer was the same. For me you can’t just change my mind about something because you presented both sides of an argument. So when I see people change their mind so fast about something, it just really bothers me. Either you never really thought about it and just saying anything or your just easily influenced. I feel like most people in that class lives are oblivious. It’s like they live in a bubble. For example, when he said the statement about whites having the highest net worth and the discrepancy between them and minorities were huge. Many people around me were like “OMG that’s so crazy”. I feel like if you don’t see that many minorities in your neighborhood that should tell you something. But maybe they just never thought about it. Back to free will and determinism. So Sam presented both sides of the argument without any bias. Basically the way he presented the argument he wanted everyone to lean toward life with a combination of both free will and determinism. So he polled the class again and the majority of the class chose that life is a combination of both free will and determinism. The first time he polled the class the graph was evenly distributed. I just can’t comprehend how could your views on something change within ONE hour? If you believe something your entire life how can you just change your belief that fast? That’s just not adding up to me. To some extent, I feel like your belief didn’t change, but more so what you think the correct answer is changed. Furthermore, Sam says he’s not trying to push his beliefs on anyone. I agree with him he doesn’t really do that. However, what he does do is present his points in a way that makes you think a certain perspective is the right way to view something. This tactic is effectively because he has students in that class thinking the way that he wants them. But who’s to say the way he wants you to think is the “correct” way to think? Sat, 12 Feb 2011 02:35:06 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/how-can-we-make-major-decisions-so-quickly-119-blog/#IDComment127458396 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/do-you-think-race-can-stop-being-an-issue-in-the-future-119-blog/#IDComment126069892 Part 2 However, for all the intermixing of races and everyone is about the same skin complexion is sure going to take long time, a very long time. I feel like there is a faster way for race to stop being an issue. Race needs to get talked about more frequently. It’s like that gigantic elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. If we talked about race more we will realize that racism still exist. It’s not as blatant as it was about fifty years ago, but it still exists. Many people think that racism has died down or it doesn’t exist anymore. However, it still does exist; yet, many people don’t know because they’re uncomfortable talking about race. The end of legal separation of “colored” and whites only ended about 50 something years ago. That’s not that long ago. My mom is 50 years old. To move forward with the end of race being a problem, we have to become more comfortable talking about it with one another. Additionally, we must get rid of stereotypes. We assume that white people are like this, and Asian people are like “that” before we even get to know them. A stereotype causes a certain group of people to dislike another certain group of people for no reason. The best way to get rid of stereotypes and stop worrying about race is to have courses like this available to students of all kinds. However, this course isn’t available to all kinds it’s just available to students who can afford to go to college. Nonetheless, it still helping us conquers this elephant in the room. Feeling uncomfortable talking about race is something many people have a problem dealing with. Courses like this help everyone feel more comfortable talking about race. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 04:11:48 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/do-you-think-race-can-stop-being-an-issue-in-the-future-119-blog/#IDComment126069892 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/do-you-think-race-can-stop-being-an-issue-in-the-future-119-blog/#IDComment126069346 Part 1 Yes, I think that race can stop being an issue in the future, but we will find something else that makes us different from one another. As time goes on, people are becoming more towards the brown and tan side. As opposed to before where we had people at opposite ends of the spectrum. That’s where the term white and black came from. Eventually everyone will be light brown so there aren’t going to be discrepancies with race, but as humans we are going to find another way to separate ourselves from one another. Within all races there are sub categories. For example, black is the race and the sub categories are African Americans, West Indians, Africans or “brown” as the kid from class refers to himself. Then we try to make ourselves stand apart from everyone else with the different religions, social economics status, and sexual preferences. Why must we try so hard to be so different from one another, when in all reality we are much more alike than we could ever imagine. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 04:09:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/do-you-think-race-can-stop-being-an-issue-in-the-future-119-blog/#IDComment126069346 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124463712 The reason people hang out with people of the same race as them is because they feel more comfortable. It’s easy to hang around someone that you can identify with. To be honest, White culture, Black culture, Asian culture, and Hispanic culture are different in many ways. Why would I want to hang around someone of Hispanic culture if I can’t relate to him or her? I don’t understand my culture let alone Hispanic culture so why would I want to hang around them? Unfortunately this is how most people in the world think. Why is that? Many people in the world are uneducated of their own cultures and other cultures. They live in a little bubble. For example, I went to a predominantly white high school. Mostly all the white students at my high school drank, tanned, and went to the shore. This was their culture. That was all they knew. If you took one of them out of their comfort zone I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t know what to do. Why would an Asian student want to hang out with them if they don’t have a common interest? Most likely the Asian student would want to hang out with someone he or she can relate to. Where you grow up determines a lot about who you are, the things you like, and who you want to be. For example, say if a black person grew up in a white community, which culture would they identify with? The black culture that they were born into? Or the white culture that they are surrounded by? People in this situation struggle the most with identifying with a race or culture. If a black person is constantly hanging around white people and adopting their culture than the black community is going to look at them as a “sell out”; however, if the black person doesn’t adopt to the white culture than the white community is going to be looking at them and calling them “ghetto.” So which race and culture does the black person identify with? The society that we live in makes it so hard for people to integrate races and adapt cultures. We live in such a judgmental society where someone is judging everything you do. The world just needs to become more informed. Many people are so ignorant of other cultures. They only know about themselves. There should be more courses where students are required to learn about other cultures and races. We as humans are so small minded. If you think about it we really don’t know anything. There is so much information out there. Another thing people must learn to do is get out of their comfort zone. People are so familiar and accustomed to living in their comfort zone that they’re afraid to try new things and meet new people. One thing that I’ve learned so far is that you’ll miss out on a lot of opportunities by staying in your comfort zone. Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:15:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124463712 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/21/body-image-issues-119-blog/#IDComment122902300 Even if people knew that all aspects of their body were hereditary, they will still have body image issues. Even if everyone were ideally “perfect”, someone will find something wrong with him or her. The society that we live in today always seems to seek out the negative in everything. The world we live in today has an elite society, and to be a member of that society you must look a certain way. The media has installed in our minds that the ideal way to look is like this elite society. Everywhere we look and turn we are reminded of what we are supposed to “look like.” Many people would give up everything to be apart of this society. When you really want to be apart of something, you will do anything and everything to get there. The cosmetic surgery industry is booming right now because so many people aren’t content with their body image. Knowing all aspects is of your body is due to hereditary is great, however that’s not going to make anyone feel comfortable. For example, Dr. Richards said in class that people from Sub Saharan African have bigger noses to consume moisture or something like that, and people in Europe noses are smaller to consume less moisture when they breath. He said all this was due to climate. I’m black and a have a relatively big nose and now I know why. Okay, that’s great! But most people that are in the elite society nose don’t look like mine? That’s were the problem begins. First I’m no longer in Sub Saharan Africa, why is my nose still huge? My ancestors have been apart of the western world for about 200 years. Since I’m content with my body image I don’t want to change the way I look. I don’t want to look like a clone. I enjoy standing out, and with my big nose I stand out pretty well. However, many African Americans aren’t content with the size of their nose. For example, Michael Jackson had about four nose jobs before his death. He was an African American that really struggled with his body image. He did everything he called so he can be apart of this elite society. He put chemicals in his hair, bleached his skin, and got many cosmetic surgeries. He did all this so he can look “perfect. Men in today’s world are getting their eyebrows waxed and shaving their legs. I saw a picture recently where rap mogul Jay-Z had shaven legs. If I looked up to him and wanted to be apart of that elite society like him I would shave my legs also. But like I said previously, I’m myself. I’m content with the way I look. I don’t want to look like anyone else. People just needs to take more pride in the way they look, and stop wanting to be like everybody else. That’s so annoying!!!! People in today’s world don’t understand what the word INDIVIDUALITY means. Sat, 22 Jan 2011 02:38:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/21/body-image-issues-119-blog/#IDComment122902300 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-z-intense-debate/#IDComment121383401 Soc 119 Fri, 14 Jan 2011 23:01:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-z-intense-debate/#IDComment121383401