en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/766208 Comments by klpeace1 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/tent-cities-in-haiti__trashed/#IDComment69946118 The lecture in class today on Haiti was very eye-opening for me. The line that most affected me was when he said, "an hour flight from Florida, 300,000 people died. Why wouldn't I do something." I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel all over the world. I have spent time doing humanitarian work in Sub-Saharan Africa and I thought before this that I had seen some extreme poverty, but nothing I have seen compares with the kind of destruction and poverty that is currently in Haiti. I still cannot imagine what these people must be thinking and feeling. But it was encouraging to see that people are trying to put their lives back together in some way and begin to live again. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:00:59 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/tent-cities-in-haiti__trashed/#IDComment69946118 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment69945145 Reading this letter was an extremely interesting and eye-opening experience for me. Before you mentioned it in class, I had given very little thought to people serving life in prison. When you did mention in class several times about going and getting to know these "lifers," I was intrigued and thought that that was a very good thing to do. But reading this posting really put into perspective that people spending their lives behind bars are still real people, and many of them are not the monsters that we so often think of them as in out minds. As I read this, I genuinely felt as though I liked this person and that he was a good, compassionate person. i think it is all too easy to just stick labels on people-- good people and bad people. It is easy to say that everyone in prison, especially lifers, are "bad people, without thinking about that people grow and change and become different. What I also found interesting about this letter is that the compassion that this man and some of his friends in prison have seems largely greater than that of people in the general population. How many people would just ignore a person that they hate, even if they were crying and alone because a loved one died. i think that too many people would do that without even thinking. It was also interesting for me to read this because of how at peace with himself, his life, and situation this man seems. I'm sure that it took a long time, but the kind of self actualization that he seems to have experienced is incredible and far beyond what most people achieve in their lives. I think that this story really have me an entirely new perspective on people in prison. Like you said, I'm sure there are plenty of people who deserve to be in prison for life, but there are other people who seem like better human beings than a lot of people in the general population. I genuinely felt bad for this man reading this letter, and it made me wonder about life sentences without the possibility of parole. Is it right that some people, like this man, who have truly been changed by their time in prison, never be allowed out again. For this man, it seems as though prison has allowed him to find himself and he would probably do extremely well being placed back in society, It seems to me that the point of prison should be to change people, to rehabilitate them and then allowing them to slowly progress back into society. Maybe we should be giving people like this another chance? Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:53:12 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment69945145 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/women__trashed/#IDComment68301202 It is so unfortunate that body image has to be such a prevalent part of our culture. Laurie, I really enjoyed the play that you wrote in class. It really showed our culture's obsession with body image for how silly and strange it is. Being a woman is so much more than how we look on the outside. It is hard to pinpoint what it means to be a woman but it is about how each of us feels, and the common history, struggles, and essence of womanhood that we all share. I wish more women could accept themselves and their bodies the way they are, and realize that they are beautiful and feminine without conforming to the unrealistic standards set by Hollywood and in the magazines. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:37:59 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/women__trashed/#IDComment68301202 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68300370 Going into this lecture, I thought that I had a pretty good grasp on Islam and where Muslim people are coming from. I spent a summer living with a Turkish Muslim family, though I’ll admit they were rather liberal as far the religion was concerned, and through this experience I feel as though I gained a perspective on Islam that I never had before. I grew up in a more conservative Christian family, and I think that living with a Muslim family really helped to broaden my world view. Over that summer I came to really respect Islam and the people who practice this religion. I felt that my Christian upbringing was highly respected by this family, and I in turn respected their religion. (The two really aren’t all that different after all.) I’ll admit, when I walked into class today, I thought great, an issue I know a lot about. But this lecture to me was extremely interesting and enlightening. I had never before thought about Muslim extremists in this light. I have always been opposed to the war in Iraq and any war that is strictly about taking a good from another country that is not rightfully ours, but I had never really put myself in the place of the people actually living in Iraq and how they must feel about the situation. I also heard a lot of new clips from politicians that I had never heard before. And showing that clip from Jesus Camp terrified me, as that film has each time I had seen it. I had never put myself in the place of an Arab Muslim looking at Americans, and the result was very interesting. It just allowed me to totally look at America in way I never had before. I really appreciated the lecture for that reason. Let me be clear that I do not hate Christianity or Christians and I really do not think that that is what Sam’s lecture was getting at either as some people have been saying on this blog entry. He was simply trying to get the class to look at the world from a different perspective, and at least for me, he succeeded in doing that with this lecture. He chose to look at Christianity because that is the religion that most Americans and politicians identify with and probably the one that Muslims in Iraq are looking at when they see the American people. I think that as a whole, everyone should be less sensitive and try and see this lecture for what it’s worth. It was simply trying to get everyone to broaden and change their view of the war and the world and I know for me this lecture really did that. It got me to think, and I believe that that is the basic goal of this whole class. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 01:29:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68300370 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-if-we-got-rid-of-welfare__trashed/#IDComment66883976 Welfare is something that I am certainly no expert on. I see its purpose in society and I see the problems that are associated with it as well. People certainly abuse the welfare system. That cannot be denied. But I think that eliminating welfare in this country completely would be a disaster. There are children and families who are dependent on this and we can't simply pull that support away from them without any thought. I think that the system could be reworked to provide support to families while honestly helping them get equipped and prepared to work in the world and support themselves. This way we could help eliminate the need and people would not abuse the system as much as they do now. Fri, 9 Apr 2010 22:08:18 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-if-we-got-rid-of-welfare__trashed/#IDComment66883976 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/the-white-minorities__trashed/#IDComment65558190 I completely agree. I have honestly never thought about this topic before, but to me it doesn't really matter at all. Who cares if in fifty years there won't be many white people left in the US. That is just the way the world is going, and I think it's probably a good. Thing. Maybe if the "racial lines" aren't as clear, we can move closer to total equality for everyone. I was also raised to believe that skin color doesn't make a difference and I think its good that we are headed towards a society that has so many different races that it would be hard to pick out a majority. That would hopefully do good things for our society and country. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 14:28:12 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/the-white-minorities__trashed/#IDComment65558190 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/nothing-about-the-census-is-easy__trashed/#IDComment65557290 I agree with you and Sam in some regards on this. People really do need to stop overreacting about things. The people writing the census put a lot of time and effort into figuring out what to put on the form. The term "negro" was obviously put there with much thought and effort to include a segment of the population. People did respond harshly to this without really being informed of why they put that term on the census. On the other hand, I had a bit of an experience the other week that goes along well with this topic and gave me a better view on how people look at the census form. As a white woman, filling out the census is easy for me, but for others it is more difficult. My best friend here is Salvadorian. She would never consider herself anything but Latino in ethnicity and race. I was over at her apartment while she was filling out the census form and when she got to the race question, she had no idea what to fill out. There was absolutely no box for Hispanic or Latino. She did not, in any way, identify herself with any of the races listed on the Census form and had no idea what to put. She ended up writing in Latino on the form. I was very surprised myself that there was no choice for this, and I really wonder why. If anyone has any insight on this, I would honestly love to know. Another one of my friends is half Cuban and half Puerto Rican. She also did not know how to answer the census form, because both of those were choices for ethnicity. She does not identify strongly with one group or the other and did not know what to put down on the form. For me, its really easy. I'm white. I check the box that says white. But for other people, it can actually be challenging to know what you are supposed to put on the form, so give people a little sympathy with getting offended or confused by the census. its not as easy as you may think. I think that there are really two sides to thinking about the census. On one hand, I do understand how it can be confusing to fill out, and even how people could be offended. Overall, however, I do believe that people have way overreacted to the questions on the census. There seems to be absolutely no way to make everyone happy and not offend anyone. Before people get really upset about something, perhaps they should look into why the word "negro" was placed on the census. The people who created the census worked very hard to be as inclusive as possible and not offend anyone. But their best efforts weren't enough, and they probably never will be. People should really just move on the whole situation. In a few weeks, when the census is over and done with, people will have forgotten all about it and moved on to the next thing to be offended about. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 14:21:10 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/nothing-about-the-census-is-easy__trashed/#IDComment65557290 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64291933 This video was extremely difficult to watch, even as a white woman. I was deeply disturbed by the girl who said the white baby doll was "good" because it was white. I had never seen this video before, but I had heard of the earlier version of it. I would have thought that in today's society, little girls would be more likely to choice the black baby doll, and was actually really surprised to find out that this is not true. This video was so sad to me and then hearing the comments from girls in class about wanting white dolls as children was also equally sad to me. It really shows how far we have to go in achieving equality in America, so sad. Sat, 27 Mar 2010 03:47:56 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64291933 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/in-her-own-words__trashed/#IDComment64290887 My roommate has been working on this play all semester and I was really excited to watch this clip from it. I think that the issue of "that time of the month" is interesting to discuss this way since it is something never really discussed in public. I have mixed feelings on the issue as a whole. I have always found it rather strange that the issue is so taboo. Periods happen to every woman, every single month for the vast majority of our lives. I don't like that I feel the need to hide this aspect of my life as much as I currently do. It happens and men need to realize that and not be so intimidated by it. I agreed in class with the majority of what Sam said, though it was a bit awkward to here it from a man. I had literally never heard a man talk about a woman's period before. I appreciated that Sam would approach this issue at all, but I also understand why men feel uncomfortable around women talking about this time of the month. This is something that men literally can never have any understanding of. They can understand in theory what happens, but without having ever experienced it, I cannot understand how women bleeding and talking about it makes men uncomfortable. Personally, I think there needs to be some kind of balance between guys being allowed to feel uncomfortable and at the same time understanding that this monthly cycle is part of our lives and is not going away. I really do think that is ok for guys to feel uncomfortable about it. I just don’t want them to get offended when we talk about it or complain about cramps or something. It needs to be a more touchable subject in society as a whole. Guys should not get mad when we don’t feel like going out because we are hurting and we should be able to say the reason why we don’t feel well to our employers or just to society in general. Like I said, I really appreciated that Sam was able to bring this issue up in class. It is not something, I know, that is easy for men to talk about and it is an issue that needs to be less taboo in society. I was awkward as everyone else in that class, but I honestly think that it was mainly because it is something that people just don’t talk about in today’s society. My period is something that I personally don’t often talk about and don’t really feel needs a lot of attention, but I do agree that it would be nice if I did not have to feel embarrassed about being a woman. This is something that every woman has to deal with for almost her whole life and men really need to realize this and start being more accepting. Sat, 27 Mar 2010 03:35:35 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/in-her-own-words__trashed/#IDComment64290887 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment62996022 I agree. I think that it is important that we become more informed on the past as a whole in this nation, but rewriting history books makes me nervous. I think it is important to learn about the wrongs committed by our nation in the past, and I was taught about to a degree in a high school history class. But teaching children in elementary about genocide that their ancestors committed could instill a kind of guilt in them from a young age that would be more than bearable. We need to acknowledge the wrongs committed and do more to help resolve the actions of the past. We should focus more on Native Americans in public schools to bring more attention to the issue, we simply need to be careful how we handle the situation. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:04:31 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment62996022 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment62995188 High school prom is something that everyone looks forward to, regardless of sexual orientation. It is a celebration of four years of hard work, and a "last hoorah" and time spent together for students who, in a few weeks, will forever go their separate ways. Canceling prom because a lesbian couple wants to attend is wrong on so many planes. Doing this hurts an entire school and community and drives home a message that is the opposite of what a high school experience should teach students. High school is supposed to prepare students for the "real world," and what is the world if not a place filled with diverse people living all different kinds of lives. It is healthy and normal for a school to have both straight couples and gay couples. In fact, it would be far more unhealthy if a school had no gay couples, because it would show that a school had such a bigoted atmosphere that gay students felt as though they could not be supported by their own school. High school should foster individuality and be a loving and supportive environment for everyone, especially gay and lesbian students, as high school can be a trying time for those students just coming out. This is a time in their lives where it is especially important that they feel love and acceptance from their school community. By denying everyone the opportunity to go to prom, the principle has made clear to the entire school that he is not at all accepting of gay students. This could have repercussions on gay students attending this school for years to come. Clearly they are not wanted or accepted in any way in this school district, so students who are gay will feel that they cannot come out and be supported in a place that during their teenage years in one of the biggest parts of their lives. Canceling prom so that a lesbian couple will not attend shows the opposite of a caring and loving school community. It shows that this school is so afraid of any diversity in its student population that it will try and sweep it all under the carpet and deny students a right and privilege they have looked forward to for so long. This is really a disgrace and shows how far, in some places, our country needs to go in terms of equality. Washington, DC, our nation's capital, recently legalized gay marriage for its residents and still, in some parts of the country, schools are denying their students the right to prom because a gay couple wants to attend. What does that say about America's education system today? To me, it says that we have some serious need for change and acceptance. A school cannot discriminate against students because of their sexual orientation. It goes against everything that this country stands for. And if this principal is so afraid of having diversity in his student population, perhaps he chose the wrong profession. Its 2010, and we are close to legalizing gay marriage throughout this country. I want to tell this high school principal to turn on the news once in a while, and take a look. This country is trying to change for the better in terms of love and acceptance, maybe he should try and make a change as well. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:57:45 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment62995188 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/a-long-long-way-indeed__trashed/#IDComment59949378 I completely agree. Thinking about a slave owner coming into today's society is crazy. I cannot even imagine what one would think when they got to society today. Despite the problems we have today, we have come extremely far than we were in the 1800s and that is a good thing. I think a slave owner would probably be completely shocked by the leaps and bounds we have made in society. I think if he saw MTV, he would be in shock to see African-American musicians topping the charts and then turn to CNN and see the president of the Untied States. When we think about all that, it really puts into persepective how far we have, even though we have a ways to go. Fri, 5 Mar 2010 22:34:00 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/a-long-long-way-indeed__trashed/#IDComment59949378 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/whats-with-the-theme-parties__trashed/#IDComment59948550 I will agree that most theme parties I have attended are mostly hosted and attended by white people. I do not, however, agree that they are racist. At least among my friends, the theme parties have never even remotely related to race. To name some of the recent ones, they have been British themed, Olympics themed, 90s nickelodeon, Disney characters, 80s just to name a few off hand. None of these have anything to do with race. I'm really sorry that it has beem your experience that you have heard of racially offensive themed partied and that is terrible, but just know that I do not believe that the majority of parties are this way. From my experience, most are silly or harmless themes that would not be offensive to anyone. Fri, 5 Mar 2010 22:25:54 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/whats-with-the-theme-parties__trashed/#IDComment59948550 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59946642 I have heard Abercrombie and Fitch being sued for discrimination in the past, and my cousin actually quit the company not that long ago because she felt their "look policy" was wrong. She reported frequently having to give the store her weight and fit into certain sizes. These things combined make me think that Abercrombie and Fitch is really a terrible company at the most basic level. The company really needs to get their act together and stop trying to get away with discriminatory hiring practices. As stated in the above article, they have already had one law suit for this same issue and other law suits by people of African American and Asian descent, and I've heard numerous reports from people I know who have worked there who have felt constantly judged and having to fit a certain look. When i think about it, whenever I have gone to an Abercrombie and Fitch store it has been almost exclusively operated by white people. Watching this article made me take a second look at shopping at Abercrombie. I will definitely not be shopping there any longer after seeing this pattern of discrimination that the company has shown over and over again I already tried not to shop their because of this, but watching this video really put me over the top. I suppose that I understand wanting a company to "have an image," but not allowing people wear something that is part of their religion is absurd. She was in full compliance with the company wearing scarves that she was told go along with the store's image, and to get fired directly because of that is one of the most obvious acts of religious discrimination I have ever heard of. How can a company like this continue to grow and prosper ever year? Something else that I found disturbing in this video was that this woman had actually received death threats as a result of her speaking out against Abercrombie. That, to me, is absolutely horrifying. How could anyone possibly not see the obvious discrimination going on here, and continue to back this company. If a woman speaking out for religious freedom in a country based on religious freedom is receiving death threats, something is seriously wrong. In my naïve mind, I like to believe we are beyond seeing issues like this in our country. But each time I see something like this, I can see we still have a long way to go until people are fully equal in The United States. I wish this woman the best of luck in her lawsuit against Abercrombie. What a disgusting company. I hope she wins a lot of money and takes them down. Fri, 5 Mar 2010 22:17:02 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59946642 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/another-reason-why-gay-marriage-matters__trashed/#IDComment58911300 I could not agree more with this. We are tearing apart good and happy families based on a law that is religious in nature. It really isn't fair to say that America doesn't stand for freedom. There are just flaws in the system, which we need to work hard to correct. We have separation of church and state for a reason and we need to remember that. We need to fix our laws where we have failed and give rights to couples who want to spend their lives together and have loving families, regardless of gender. Gay marriage is about love and denying people the rights which we ALL deserve as Americans. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:20:56 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/another-reason-why-gay-marriage-matters__trashed/#IDComment58911300 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/who-could-compete-with-this-woman-on-a-level-playing-field__trashed/#IDComment58910540 This woman is absolutely incredible. When I hear stories like this, it makes me wonder why me? It is so strange to think how a luck-of-the-draw kind of situation made it so that all of us could go to school, attend this university, and someone so smart and talented as Yvrose ended up in Haiti. Sam asked in the blog what would happen if our situations were reversed. I know for me it would be incredibly difficult to even begin to imagine having lived my life in Haiti, growing up in those conditions. Given the same situation, I can not believe that I would have the ability and inventiveness that Yvrose has had. And I also know, that if she had been in my situation, she would have risen to the top of the business world. She would probably be extremely wealthy, and it is difficult to think that with all her intelligence and business skills, she is still so poor. It seems completely unfair and is difficult to think about. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:12:32 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/who-could-compete-with-this-woman-on-a-level-playing-field__trashed/#IDComment58910540 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58908964 The experiment we watched in class was very interesting to me as well, and I suppose I can say I was happy that 13 people stood up for the Muslim woman. I was, however, still shocked at the number of people who stood by and pretended not to even notice. I could not agree with you more on wondering how anyone could feel that it was not their place to say something in that situation. I understand that some people are less comfortable with speaking their minds in public situations, but I do not believe that anyone could have been raised to not stand up for someone who is being obviously wronged. In this situation, there was not really any room for "not getting into other people's business." As soon as the cashier started to loudly yell at the Muslim woman, it became everyone who could hear's business. He chose to involve every customer in the store in his conversation by speaking loudly enough that they could all hear him. It was not a private conversation, therefore everyone in the store was directly involved and really had the responsibility to stand up for this woman. I cannot personally imagine just standing by and allowing this to go on. I think what people need to think of when they say that they wouldn't say anything, is how they would feel in that situation . Anyone would want be defended when they were being publicly wronged like that, and I can't imagine that someone would think that it wasn't their business to help a person in need out. I feel that as humans, we need to help one another as much as possible. That is what connects us as human beings. I agree with Sam that looking at this video is kind of deciding whether the glass is half full or half empty. It was extremely encouraging to see that so many people stood up for the girl and refused to shop at that store or even confronted the cashier. It was appalled to see that a few people actually agreed with the cashier. (I suppose I was somewhat ignorant to the prejudices going on to this day in our country.) But I think that I was honestly the most shocked at how many people said nothing at all. By saying nothing, these people are really siding with the ones who agreed with the cashier. That is certainly how the Muslim girl would feel in the situation. It really is every person's job as a human being to do everything we can to stop wrongdoing when we see it happening and standing up for this girl is a simple way to help someone out. Even someone who was brought up to stay out of other people's business would have to be able to see that it is a good thing to help a person out who is in need. This was clearly a person who needed someone to stand up for her, and by not doing that a person is saying that they agree with the cashier. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:55:36 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58908964 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-one__trashed/#IDComment57485751 I believe that both male and female couples have the ability and should have the same rights to adoption as straight couples do. These families are looking to love and support a child and with all the children in this country without a home, it is a wonderful opportunity for children who otherwise may not have a home to be raised in a loving environment. I don't think it makes a difference if it is a couple of gay men or gay women, both are fully capable of raising a happy and healthy child. Adoption by gay couples provides a wonderful opportunity to families who cannot biologically have children to raise a child. I am so happy to see that several states have already fully allowed adoption by gay couples and I can only hope that soon the entire country recognizes this. Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:37:29 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-one__trashed/#IDComment57485751 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-four__trashed/#IDComment57483432 I think you are extremely closed minded to call the idea of gay marriage completely wrong and those who support it "utterly stupid." Perhaps you should think a bit about the country in which we live. This a country where we pride ourselves in the separation of church and state and where people expect to be granted freedom and rights. How can we choose to exclude an entire population in this country from the same rights that rest of us enjoy. Marriage is one of the most basic human rights we have. Do you realize that by not allowing gay marriage and the rights that come with it, a man in a loving and committed relationship with another man does not have the right to be by his partners bedside as he dies in the hospital? Do you realize that if two men are deeply in love and want to get married, if one man is from another country he would not be able to get his green card? These are just a few of the hundreds of rights that we as Americans are supposed to have, that are being denied to people who did not make a choice to be gay. Now, to address a few of your points. I would like to know how you feel that the gay rights movement is detrimental to this country as a whole. How can allowing a group of people the right to be in love and marry be detrimental? This is an extremely peaceful movement of people only looking to get the same rights that you enjoy as a straight man. I would also like to know why this is so personally offensive to you. No one is forcing you to marry a gay man. No one is forcing your church to marry gay couples. With gay marriage, no religion would be forced to perform marriage ceremonies between gay couples. In other words, this would not directly affect you in any way. This is about rights, not religion. We are simply asking that gay couples who are in love and committed to one another be able to get married. Believe it or not, everyone dreams about their wedding day, not only straight people. Gay couples want to be able to have a wedding that is accepted and to be able to express their love and commitment in a way that is recognized by the government. You have these rights, so how can we continue to deny people this? As to your "normal" families argument. What constitutes a normal family? If two men or two women want to raise a child together in a loving environment, what makes their family any less normal than a man and a woman raising a child. Raising a child and having a family is about love, not "traditional roles." Families in America come in all different shapes and sizes, there are divorced parents, single moms, single dads, and any combination. How can you say that a loving family with two moms or two dads does not have the right to bring a child up in a happy, loving environment. In fact, children raised by gay couples are often more cherished because of the immense work that it takes for a gay couple to adopt a child. Think about all the children in this country currently without a loving home, if gay couples were able to adopt these children, wouldn't the country be far more filled with love and happiness? Maybe, instead of blaming the gay rights movement for destroying our country, you should look a little closer at yourself. Perhaps its closed minded people like you, stuck in the past, and scared of anything different from themselves, that are actually doing harm to our country. It seems like gay couples wanting the right to marry are full of love and you are full of hate. Is it not better to love than to hate? I'd imagine that your religion would think so. Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:21:42 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-four__trashed/#IDComment57483432 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/all-that-is-solid-melts-into-air-including-our-words__trashed/#IDComment56446667 I took a linguistics class here at Penn State during my freshman year, and we did an entire unit on dead and dying languages. I remember hearing clips of some of these languages that are no longer spoken by anyone in the world and feeling extremely sad. I suppose there is really nothing that can be done to stop this progression from happening, it seems to simply be the way things are today, but it is definitely worth reflecting on. When a language dies, with it dies a whole culture, a history, traditions. So many things are lost in basically a whisper when a language dies. I got to experience this a bit first hand when I took a trip to Chile and spent some time living with the Mapuche People, who are native Chileans. They have retained their Mapuche language for generations, resisting the Spaniards when the country was conquered by Spain. They are a people very proud of their heritage and resilient to change, but today's young generation of Mapuche people seem to want to leave their language behind. They want to get off the reservations they are forced to live in and assimilate, speaking only Spanish. Many of the young people I met, though they understood it, spoke no Mapuche at all, only Spanish. I remember thinking how sad it was. These young people had no idea of the precious piece of their heritage they were giving up. Soon, Mapuche may be added to this list of dead languages. But, I suppose that is just the fast-paced times we are living in. Things change quickly, and language is not spared from that. Still, it is very sad to see this loss of history and culture happening before our very eyes. Fri, 12 Feb 2010 05:32:21 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/all-that-is-solid-melts-into-air-including-our-words__trashed/#IDComment56446667