en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/762226 Comments by knb5051 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68726829 I think this class was very thought provoking. It takes a great deal of ethnocentrism to be able to see through Iraqi eyes. Before this class, I thought I was ethnocentric, but I think I had it a little wrong. I thought that I possessed some ethnocentric traits because I was able to see things through the eyes of someone else if I thought about it. But after this class, it made me think that there is another component to ethnocentrism. I think it is being able to see through the eyes of someone else without having to make a conscientious effort to do so. After sitting through Sam’s class I really could take on another point of view. After Sam brought it to my attention and made us be on the other side of the fence, I can completely understand why people look at us the way they do. I always knew that Iraqi civilians were being killed for no reason all the time, but it was so far away, in another land that I can barely imagine, that it did not really hit home that these are still humans that are dying, as much as it should have. I know just from that little role playing activity that I would not want anyone even trying to tell me what I can and cannot do with my land. The example Sam gave with the Chinese people coming for oil was a really good parallel. It helped to drive home a point that is too abstract to understand in any other way. As far as the rest of the lecture went, I read a ton of comments where people were saying how sick of Sam bashing Christians they are, and I really think they are missing a really crucial part of his lectures. Besides the fact that Sam came right out and said that he has no problems with Christians, there is a much deeper meaning in what he was telling us. I do not listen to Sam’s word and take it as holy doctrine, because I know better than that, but I think there is a lot of truth to what he says. We look at all these Iraqi people and do not know how to handle ourselves because they are “different”, but how different are they really? I think the people we should be questioning are the people in our own country who are on a power trip. The people who think that the United States should have all the power to do whatever we want and to strip everyone else out of what is theirs. The reason others look at our country and see pompous assholes are people who only know us for our leaders and what they are trying to do, control the rest of the world. Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:17:56 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68726829 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66073517 This really stopped me in my tracks when I first heard about this. I cannot believe there can be a game about rape. That is completely and utterly disgusting to me. I mean I do not understand what kind of a sick person would think up a game about rape. I know there was a big controversy with the grand theft auto video game when that came out because the entire game was about running people over, having sex with prostitutes and shooting anyone and everyone that came in your way. To me, grand theft auto, when played by responsible adults, was okay. Not the best thing in the world, but definitely not the worst. After all the controversy with that game, I cant begin to imagine what people are going to stir up over this one. But I feel this one is rightfully so. I think a game that cant even be shown on cnn because of the graphic things that are portrayed, should not be on the market in the first place. This just goes on to prove that sex sells, but at the same time, this “game” is taken to the next level of rape. I cant even imagine someone comparing rape to a game. This is outrageous. I understand that Japan is a sexist place where women are demeaned and treated as objects, but this absolutely crosses a moral line. People are constantly concerned about video games and how they leave a message with children, that if It is okay in a video game, then it should be okay to go out an try. Well what message is THIS game going to send? I completely agree with it not being allowed to be sold on amazon, and I do not think it should be able to be sold anywhere. But of course, like most internet games, movies and anything else that we have to pay for, there are ways around it. Now it is being given out for free on some particular websites. This is going to end up in the wrong hands, and it probably already has. This is an outrage to all women and absolutely disgusting. I am in no way a feminist, but being a woman, offended and disgusted does not even begin to express how I feel about this. It might sound like a little bit of a stretch, but I think this game should even be illegal. It should be Illegal to purchase and illegal to own. I am still in shock that someone could make a game out of women being tied up, assaulted and raped. It is so unbelievable that this is what the world has come to. Video games have come a very long way in the past 15 or so years, and the direction they are headed in is quite disturbing. Mon, 5 Apr 2010 17:13:56 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66073517 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64674763 As many other people have mentioned, this was one of the more disturbing videos that we have seen in this class. I was not sure what to expect when Sam told us it was going to be disturbing. This was a very shocking video. I do not really understand how a black person would have felt after watching this video but I know that I felt something for it. I think even more shocking than the children picking the white doll over the black doll almost every time they were asked, was the fact that they labeled the black doll as the bad doll and the white doll as the good doll. That really floored me when I saw that. What upset me the most when I watched the video was how hurt the girl looked at the end when they asked her which one she was. They asked her which doll was bad, and she said the black and then they said which doll is good and she said the white. Then they asked her which one she was and you could see she wanted to hand her the white doll, meaning that she was good, but then she hesitated and handed the lady the black doll. There looks like there is true turmoil behind her eyes. She looks upset and almost ashamed that she just said the black one is the bad one and that she is the black one. I am still shocked as I watch this video. I never thought of the fact that black people turn on a tv and all they see are white people. When they look things up online as far as beauty, all they see are white people. When they look in a magazine or look to other commercial media ads, all they see are white people. Obviously growing up all I saw were beautiful white people on tv, but being white, I never stopped to consider what it would be like for someone of color to look at the tv and only see beautiful white people. It is like if the roles were suddenly reversed and all I ever saw anywhere were black people or Asian people and I never saw white people being depicted as the smart, beautiful, rich, antagonist. I would be pretty pissed. And I am sure that if I was molded to see these images from the time I was young, I would also want to look like whoever was being portrayed as the hero of every story. I guess I just never looked at it that way because it was always so normal for me to see good white people doing good white things. This is really an eye opener. Mon, 29 Mar 2010 16:53:45 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64674763 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment63504707 Its 2010 and we are really having this problem? When I first heard about this, the first thing that came to mind was in the movie Grease when they have their dance and Coach Calhoun reads the rules and says "All couples must be boy girl." This movie is set in the 50’s so it was not a shock when this statement was read aloud, it was more of a joke because people then would not have even thought to tell people they were gay. It is sort of bizarre to me that this is an issue in today’s day and age. I think it is an awful thing that happened that since they did not know how to handle having a lesbian couple at a dance that they would completely cancel the whole dance and ruin it for everyone. I think the school should have just went along with it and let the couple go to prom. Cancelling the prom because of this creates prejudice in and of itself. It is showing to others that because these girls are gay, that’s bad, so we are going to shut down the prom. Kids who could have never had a problem with gay people before this, are now angry that their prom is taken away, and this has probably now caused them to think bad things about gay people in general. I know one person that was completely appalled by this story was Ellen DeGeneres. I follow heron twitter because I love her, and she had a tweet up about how disgusting it is that this would happen, since she is obviously openly gay, I can see where her concern stems from. This is what Ellen had to say about it on her twitter. “I believe in everyone getting the same opportunities. Going to Prom's no different.” I completely agree with what she says and how she feels about it. I went to an all girls catholic high school and for our prom a lot of girls took other girls. Of course they were not gay, or openly gay I guess for that matter. I wonder if there would have been any controversy if someone in our grade was outwardly gay and bringing a girl to the prom. I do not think they would have much to stand on since many other straight girls brought other girls to prom. If the other girl went to the school, they would buy their own ticket, so they would each not have to pay for their dates. At the same time, I went to a catholic high school, so technically they could have used the fact that it is against the bible and the catholic faith to be gay, which is why none of the girls were openly out in my high school. But this is a PUBLIC high school, which is what really surprised me. Mon, 22 Mar 2010 17:12:30 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment63504707 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/women-and-sports__trashed/#IDComment62243174 Being a woman myself, and being one who loves football more than anything, I think this is a great opportunity and a great step for women for Natalie to become a football coach. When I first started watching this video I was a little unsure of how good of a football coach she would be. Right away I started questioning her qualifications without out even knowing anything about her. I looked at her and saw more of a softball coach than a football coach. I started asking questions like: is she qualified enough? Will she be able to handle the pressure? Is she tough enough? How will she match up against the male players? And scarily enough all these questions and doubts came from my own female football-loving mind. It just goes to show the stereotypes and generalizations we are fed since the time we are born. My mind was quickly changed for me and the questions went away very soon when the pictures were shown of her playing football and when she talked about how she played pro and played n college. When I saw that, I was pretty excited. She looks like a COMPLETELY different person sitting in the news room than from the woman playing football. I think this is awesome. From the pictures that I saw, she looks like she can play and she looks like she knows what she is doing. I think its pretty awesome that since they picked her, she was obviously the most qualified. I do not know if she was the only one who tried for the job, but it would be kind of cool if she beat out a man for the position of a male head football coach. I think this is really empowering for all women. Even for women who do not know a baseball from a football or a tight end from a short stop. People always assume that I know nothing about football or any sports for that matter, because I am a woman. In reality, I know more about football than my boyfriend. He is a soccer guy and I’m a football girl. But immediately when I go to a football game, whoever I am with automatically starts explaining things, the rules, the positions, and I just look at them and shake my head, and the next time there is a flag on the play and I call it out before they do, they are shocked. I do not understand why it is still such an astonishment when women follow sports. I think it is funny actually. But like I said earlier, we are engraved with thoughts from when we are just born that girls like pink and boys like blue, girls play with dolls and boys play with guns. So I guess it is not so far-fetched that we have these ideals. Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:55:27 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/women-and-sports__trashed/#IDComment62243174 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/who-could-compete-with-this-woman-on-a-level-playing-field__trashed/#IDComment58889979 I think hearing this story was truly inspiring. It is stories like these that make me happy to do work and to keep trying, it makes me feel like no matter how hard I work, there is always someone out there that is working 100 times harder. It reminds me of how much I have and how truly blessed I am to have everything that I do. She is a complete inspiration to people who do not think they have what it takes to be successful. This woman has pretty much made a whole sale shop out of nothing. This one woman had, by herself made an entire entity out of pretty much nothing. For one woman to make such an enterprise out of her intelligence and labor is amazing. It is crazy that someone with only a fifth grade education can so do something that is hard for someone with a college degree to do. I believe people everywhere can really take and learn a lot from this amazing woman. Her drive is unparalleled and can really show something to people. Not only does she have an amazing business sense for someone who does not know much about “businesses” as we know them, but she has motivation that is amazing for someone who has so little. This also says a lot for people who just float through life and do not have any reason to live. I dare anyone to listen to this woman’s story and then tell me that they do not have enough money, strength or resources to make something of themselves. I think more people should take a look at this woman and I have no doubt it will give them a different reason to live. I have read a few comments where people are saying that they are not very impressed by her story. I do not know how someone could read and listen to this story and not be completely moved. Yes, maybe compared to what we have here in the United States, her wholesale is small. But compared to what they have in Haiti, and to the level of education this woman has, she has worked her tail off to get where she is and I cannot imagine that anyone would not give her the respect that she deserves. I think it is very ignorant to think that she has not done much. I also think that anyone who cannot see her great accomplishments, should get up and try to make something like this woman has. I don’t know maybe I am being the ignorant, naive one, but it really pisses me off to see people not respecting this woman in the way that she deserves. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:40:44 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/who-could-compete-with-this-woman-on-a-level-playing-field__trashed/#IDComment58889979 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-three__trashed/#IDComment57575363 i dont agree with you on this. I mean I understand what you are saying because i used to think the same way but after knowing and talking to some people who are bisexual i have changed my opinion about it. im not bisexual, but i know many people who are and i dont think that they are confused, i think depending on what they see at the time, thats what they want. They are attracted to both makes and females. If they see a male that they are interested in, then thats who they are interested in, and if they break up and they find a woman that they like, then thats that. I dont think its about having your cake and eating it too, its not like that for people who say they are bisexual. and to comment on the original question, i think straight people who say that bisexual people are confused, i just think thats their way or making sense of something that they do not understand. It is just a way to make sense of something that is different to them. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 04:18:45 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-three__trashed/#IDComment57575363 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/men-and-women-were-really-this-different__trashed/#IDComment56948578 This article was pretty funny. I mean I don’t really find harm in this new robot sex toy at all. Yes I think it is a little crazy to spend $7,000 on a sex toy, but hey if you have the money, why not? Maybe this is offensive to some women and disgusting or disturbing but I honestly find it amusing. Maybe it is because I often have more of a sex drive than my boyfriend who is a few years older than me, but at the same time I don’t find it any more degrading as a woman using a vibrator or a dildo to “help” herself. I admit that I don’t really want my boyfriend saving up his pennies for this to be his next investment. I would not really want to share my bedroom or boyfriend/husband with Roxxxy, but for older, single guys who are obviously not getting any anytime soon, what’s the harm? I read one comment that said these dolls wont be helping socially awkward old meant o get any better, they will only get worse, but if they are happy with just getting it from a doll, what is the big deal? Maybe they don’t want to be any less awkward or socially inept, maybe they just want to get some side action. Who knows. I am sure people are going to be having a fit over this doll because it is degrading toward women and what not, and I am not in any way saying that degrading women is not important, but we as women degrade ourselves every day, from the clothes we wear to the words we speak. And if we aren’t doing it, the media is doing it in one way or another. How come in every single movie there are boobs every where and the occasional southern area on a female but when a full frontal of a man came out in Forgetting Sarah Marshall it was disgusting and uncalled for? Talk about your double standard. Maybe I am not a “good enough” woman myself since I don’t find this as offensive as others, but with technology today it was only a matter of time before something like this was put out onto the market. And I highly doubt that this will be the last or most offensive thing created. Technology is everything today. Soon enough there probably wont be human interaction of any sort. Communication in general is changing everyday and technology is taking over our worlds. Well anyway back to Roxxxy; do I think it will sell? Absolutely. Because I would imagine if I polled all the males I know, if you can get sex from something with a mute button, life is great. Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:58:32 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/men-and-women-were-really-this-different__trashed/#IDComment56948578 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55875477 I understand the water to the fish allegory, and I understand that we need to expand our minds to fully see what he is saying, and in no way am I angry or hurt by his words, but as nicely put as can be, I think he was reading slightly too far into the movie. I do not know the movie writer or director personally so I have no idea if the movie was really made purposely to have a white protagonist and black and brown people being lesser or in need of some kind of help. I don’t know what James Cameron was thinking about when he was casting the roles or who would play them but at the same time, I do not think it really matters. Okay, yeah I’m white. Okay, yeah I’ve grown up with this culture and been fed these story lines my whole life with white representing good and black/brown representing something else, but trying to incorporate everything to the best of my uncultured knowledge, I still feel that these were not the purposes of the movie. After having a conversation with a friend of mine who is African American, she also did not feel that it was just another white guy saving the world either, until I brought this up to her. She still felt it was a little bit of a stretch but it could be possible. I admit I only watched half of it before falling asleep as the result of a really rough weekend, but still none of this crosses my mind or my friend’s mind. It is a valid question for him to rise and yes it makes you think about it and open your mind to it, but a topic like this can be argued until we are all blue in the face. There is no answer to it. In the end the reason I don’t really think it matters is because his ‘avatar’ is not a white guy, he becomes one of the people of that area, and ends up staying with his ‘avatar’ and becomes one of them permanently. I feel that no matter what color the person who was cast the “Messiah” role, the story line would have remained the same. Just to play Devil’s advocate for a second, I’ve seen movies where the white guy is the stereotypical “wigger” amongst a group of the ‘cool’ black guys and no one has written articles about that? It just all seems a bit over thought and maybe Brooks just felt that he needed something to pick on Avatar about, since I have heard nothing but great things about it. I see nothing to get upset about from my point of view. But then again, I am white and uncultured. Mon, 8 Feb 2010 17:55:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55875477 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/i-guess-it-pays-to-learn-a-bit-about-other-people__trashed/#IDComment54861288 I can completely understand why someone would feel the way they did after seeing this young man looking the way he did. I feel that if I were on that plane I would have acted the exact same way. I think I would have looked at him, and not knowing that the hell that is on him, I would have been a little unnerved. I know nothing about Judaism or their practices, and I think I only know about two Jewish people, so I would have had no idea what he was doing. Yes this may be partly my fault because I am not “cultured” enough or worldly enough, or maybe this is part of America’s problem, the fact that we jump to judge people without knowing all, or many times, any of the facts. The United States as a whole has a problems with being overly judgmental without any basis for their feelings, myself included. We also have a lot of ignorance for people who are not exactly the same as us. For instance, for the most part, Catholics will believe that their religion dominates; therefore it is not important to know about any other religion, everyone else should just know about theirs. It also appears with immigrants. I cannot even count how many times I have heard someone make a comment such as, “You are in the United States, Learn how to speak English if you are going to get a job” in reference to a foreign fast food worker, or something of the sort. With that said, this 17 year old should have enough common sense to know that many people probably do not know what it is that he is wearing/doing. Especially with all the heightened security in airports today, why would you even take a chance in wearing something like that when it is obviously not something you see every day? I know it might be ignorant to forget about his religious beliefs, but common sense should tell you that hey, if I get on this plane wearing what looks to be wires and straps and reading something that most people do not know that language to, it might raise some flags and some eyebrows. I am still afraid to bring lotions and shampoo on the plane with me for fear that it will cause a ruckus, how did this kid not even think about it before hand? Especially the fact that that a man was just arrested a few miles away from La Guardia at Newark airport in the beginning of the month for crossing a restricted area line. Shouldn’t that have maybe given out a few clues that the airports were still taking even the slightest things very seriously? This isn’t made to sound rude, but would it have been completely out of the question to wait and put the tefillin on after the flight? Mon, 1 Feb 2010 17:54:31 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/i-guess-it-pays-to-learn-a-bit-about-other-people__trashed/#IDComment54861288 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/racism-looks-pretty-good-on-this-side-of-the-atlantic__trashed/#IDComment54433758 This video really shocked me. I had no idea that this even went on in football stadiums in Europe. It is unbelievable that even players as high ranked and highly respected as Henry are being called racial slurs. I did not even think of it in the sense that there was no equivalent to a civil war in Europe, I just thought something like not screaming racial comments in the middle of a sport would be more along the lines of common sense or just plain morals. I wouldn’t call myself a huge Football fan, but since my boyfriend is a die hard Manchester United fan, I have seen my fair share of European football games, but I have never seen these antics, I’m sure because they are blocked out by ESPN or wherever I am watching them from. I am shocked that between my boyfriend and the fact that this took place more than four years ago that this is the first I am hearing about it. Racism is still obviously a huge issue, but I thought it was bad in the United States. I had no idea that in other areas of the world it is so much worse. It is appalling to see such an outward disregard for a human being. It is disgusting that someone would even think to do something as ludicrous as throwing a banana at Kameni, or yelling “monkey” in the middle of a national sporting event. I understand football fans and I understand how much the game means to them, but this behavior is absolutely ridiculous. I go to sporting events in New York all the time and I always thought those fans were out of control and hardcore, and they do not even compare to European fans. I still cannot believe what I heard on this video. Even though this video was made 4 years ago, I have looked up other articles and videos on this, and these antics are still going on today. How is it that this was not stopped years ago? I don’t blame Henry one bit for how he reacted to those people. I do not think I would have been able to hold out as long as he did. Even worse was seeing a professional make these comments to try and “amp” up his own team. How can people expect fans to behave and not yell these degrading things when a coach is using words that are worse than what half the fans are saying? It is an awful display of sportsmanship and it is really disappointing to see. I hope that if by now nothing is in place for unruly fans, that they start talking about it in the near future because it is truly horrible. Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:49:07 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/racism-looks-pretty-good-on-this-side-of-the-atlantic__trashed/#IDComment54433758 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-b__trashed/#IDComment54285437 word. Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:34:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-b__trashed/#IDComment54285437 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/clubbing-the-bejesus-out-of-rationality__trashed/#IDComment53283288 After watching this segment, It amazes me that people like this man actually have serious followers. I often am flipping through the channels, and I always see him “preaching” and speaking to people, but I have never honestly listened to anything he has said until now. This man is claiming to be a preacher?! How can he make claims that Haiti made a “deal with the devil” I mean, I am not claiming to be a religion guru, but this man is clearly off his rocker. It disgusts me that he calls himself a preacher. He has no facts or proof to back up any of the statements he makes. How does he have any idea that there was a “deal with the devil” that was made? Was he there? No. He just goes off on his nonsense tangents and talks about whatever he “believes” is right. It is just crazy to me that people actually waste their time listening and following this man. Even more disgusting then the fact that he has no idea what he is talking about, in this time of complete disaster for Haiti, he PUTS BLAME ON THE HATIAN PEOPLE for this disaster! WHAT? How can you blame these people who have just had their lives completely torn apart? People have lost their homes, families, friends, they don’t have food, shelter, nothing at all. How can you say that a “pact with the devil” is what caused this? Anyone with half a brain would write this “preacher” off as soon as he heard him speak. This man is completely unbelievable in the statements that he makes. I don’t understand how someone could say these things, I felt pain for them just listening to his words. I don’t know what “God” is speaking to him and through him, but I can be sure it is not the God that I believe in. One last quick thing… A guy that my grandmother knows is from Haiti and his entire family is in Haiti right now. All his mother ever wanted was when she went to heaven, that Mary was the one to ‘lead her in’. When the earthquake hit, and took her and her church that she was in, she was praying the Rosary. Her house remained untouched, and her family is all alive. This is something that Pat Robertson should be talking about being a so called “preacher.” A man of God would be finding the good, if any, in this tragic time, instead of blaming people for a natural disaster. The more I think about it, the more it sickens me that this man is allowed to be on national television and come into our homes. Of course we are not forced to watch him, which I will not, but the fact that he is allowed to have any say in anything when he promotes such garbage is a real disappointment to me. Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:32:07 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/clubbing-the-bejesus-out-of-rationality__trashed/#IDComment53283288