en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/4254734 Comments by ksanthem http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/17/voices-from-the-classroom-151/#IDComment342292554 I feel that if your parents are straight then yes it would be so much harder to tell them you are gay. If your parents are gay then they already accept gayness as a norm because they are gay. They may have wanted you to be straight but would understand all the struggles a gay person faces and be able to relate. If you are raised with straight parents who do not mention how they feel about gays then how are you going to be able to gauge their reaction. Also because they are straight, their norms include straightness. And lets be serious a lot of parents want their kids to be similar to them in looks and in good behavior. I was raised in a semi strict Catholic household. The Roman Catholics do not believe that being gay is morally correct. I do not know much about other religions but I can guess a lot of them carry the same view on gays as Catholicism. I was raised with that notion that a man and a woman is the correct coupling. My parents have never strictly said they hate gays or really much about them at all. But I do know that my parents would not be completely accepting if I or one of my siblings was gay. More so my Father than my Mother. And a lot of people are just like my parents, letting their religious views block them from being accepting. I may have been raised Catholic but I do not hate gay people. I have a couple of gay friends and my parents have been accepting the ones they met because they know my generation is a lot more accepting. My parents do not like that I have gay friends but it is my decision and they respect that. I support the gay community because Love is Love. Love does not judge. I can say that if one of my future children is gay, I would be accepting because that is my child and I do not view gayness as a sin. Our generation is so much more open and understanding then our parents or grandparents generations were. In the future I hope that maybe people can be more open about how they feel and not feel ashamed to admit being gay or coming out and that families can learn to be more accepting. If families had talks about their views on more things and just be straight up with what they think like conversations about drugs and drinking. If we made it the norm to discuss sexual orientations in our homes maybe it would not be as hard for people to come out or maybe they will even just know how their families will react. Thu, 19 Apr 2012 02:42:21 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/17/voices-from-the-classroom-151/#IDComment342292554 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/10/voices-from-the-classroom-146/#IDComment336863830 I knew the number of how many non family related kidnappings occur because one of my other courses I have taken here a Penn State. But I am no surprised by how the majority of the class responded. Our media controls so much of how people perceive things and what they know. Our media focuses on the criminal stuff, the deaths, the kidnappings, the missing people, the war, and natural disasters. Heck even traffic reports are all negative. Our media provides us with a negative view of our world and everyone in it and because of this people become fearful and see the world as dangerous. The world can be a dangerous place but here in America we are pretty safe. Maybe people think the world is not as safe because it is less likely today than in my grandparents time for a complete stranger to offer help. The media has caused massive paranoia. I also kinda fall into this paranoia. I really would not let my future offspring walk to and from school by themselves or with a group of other students until they were at least 13 years old. I did not walk my self home from school until I was 13 and that was because I understood how to spot danger and avoid it and I also understood the adult world a little better at that age as compared to an elementary aged kid. I also know that really one kidnapping just causes massive fear in all parents, we all want to protect our families. In regard to race I think the fear in our country has made a huge influence. Statistics show that people of color are more in jail and people see that statistic and think that people of color are dangerous and evil, they do not see that we have perpetuated the cycle and the stereotypes has caused us to catch more people of color in the act of crimes than white people. When you look for the bad it is all you are ever going to be able to see. And it is sad but this irrational fear effects everyone. People fear the police, the kids loitering around, the man walking alone in the middle of the night. When fear controls someone, things can get nasty. That person may attack what they fear, what they do no understand. Fear can make us discriminate and even no act out to help someone else. I think that the media does perpetuate fear and that fear plays it part in racial relations. I also think that maybe if people focused on the good more often we could all get along better and we could all try and relate. There is so much good in the world, you just have to look for it. Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:47:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/10/voices-from-the-classroom-146/#IDComment336863830 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/03/voices-from-the-classroom-141/#IDComment331573282 I am really glad Sam had the Muslim and Western women talk at the of class. I am a Catholic women and I do not know much about the Muslim religion and have always wondered about why the women wear scarves around their heads. I think that it's great that their scarves are about modesty and that the one girl said some do not wear scarves but preserve their modesty in the way they dress, no showing a lot of skin.That this modest allows people to get to know their personalities over sexualizing their appearance. I respect their point of view and have to really applaud the one's who are sticking to the way the were raised. I really do not like the idea of always being covered up though. When it is hot or sunny, you want to be wearing less to keep cool and feel the sun. I do not see the Western view of dress as disrespectful. Western dress though is not extremely modest but it is the choice of the women. I know as a catholic I was raised to be modestly dressed and that does not mean I need to have every inch of skin covered. If I wear something low cut, I wear it with a sweater. I wear lace see through shirts but always have fabric covering my chest as not to be inappropriate. In Western society it is okay to wear less clothing because it is the fashion and the choice of the wearer. Just because we have midriffs and legs showing does not make us immodest. Some times women dress for men, to get attention. Some times they dress for themselves, looking their best because they are confident. Whose to say what someone is wearing for a certain purpose. There are ways to dress modestly and still look damn hot! But if you got the body and the confidence to strut around in less clothing it is not wrong. I think that it's all your perspective and how you were raised. I am Catholic. I respect myself. I dress modestly most of the time. I wear bikinis in the summer. I see girls wearing more and less than I do. I think that everyone has their own view of self respect. Also college culture is so different from anywhere else around the world. If you are going out to a frat here, you are expected to be showing skin. It is abnormal to go out in jeans and sneakers. There is a certain way of dressing expected for certain occasions. We cover up and look decent for class and church. At night we get fancy. Going on an interview you dress to impress. And we earn what is socially acceptable to wear for these occasions from our parents, peers, and just the world around us. Wed, 4 Apr 2012 15:06:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/03/voices-from-the-classroom-141/#IDComment331573282 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/29/voices-from-the-classroom-138/#IDComment327826427 I am not really surprised at the family moving on from the scene and not getting involved. Most people do not want to get involved in any crime or stopping them because that means they have to deal with the police and spend their time doing something they do not want to. I personally cannot believe not a single person called the police when they saw the white boy trying to steal the bike. A phone call does not take away from what you would be doing and you can easily go back to your bike ride. I was even surprise that the three black women did not seem suspicious of the white boy. I am not surprised that everyone reacted more towards the black boy trying to steal the bike because people all have some racist thoughts and beliefs. It upsets me though thinking that what it if was a bigger crime, would some one let the white guy get away with it? A crime is a crime, it is not race. I personally know that if I saw either of the boys in the video I probably would have called the police if I was not alone. But as a female, I was raised to move along and avoid those bad situations because a female alone is vulnerable. I would react if I was in a group and felt protected. Its really sad that race stops people from reporting a crime. Fri, 30 Mar 2012 13:41:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/29/voices-from-the-classroom-138/#IDComment327826427 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/20/voices-from-the-classroom-124/#IDComment321219277 As children we are all raised to think we are special and our differences make us special. It makes us a little sheltered to think we each are individually special. And when we get older we don't see special, we see race and ethnicity. We see as Sam said us and them. Growing older consists of us learning and picking up things from our parents and the adults in our lives. We learn what is politically correct and we do not really try and find those differences and see them as positives. We protect children from the harsh things in this world and sometimes that is fine but it can be a terrible thing too. Sheltering our children too much and leaving them to be exposed when they are older and we have less influence upon them might make it harder for them to see race in a good light, to see differences in a good light. I feel as though many people I know, college students, cannot stop judging others. Part of it is race. I do not think there is a day that goes by where I do not hear some racist comment about Asians and even stuff about white people. It is hard to not judge others or see others as being inferior to our own groups. As feel as people put too much emphasis on differences and that it grows dislike and misunderstanding. I was raised to always see the good in others despite race, where you grew up, or what country you are from. I think that being told you are special when you are young is fine but only if they start teaching racial equality at a younger age. Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:43:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/20/voices-from-the-classroom-124/#IDComment321219277 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/15/voices-from-the-classroom-123/#IDComment317829082 This weeks lectures were really just thought provoking for me. I didn't realize that America had a set number of civilians that can be killed in order to save one of our own. I was raised to believe that serving your country is one of the greatest honors and duties to take up. I support our military and the men and women in it. I am shocked that we have a kill limit but it does make sense. The military does not leave its own behind and will fight to the death for one of their members. There does need to be a limit because some people would take it too far if there was no limit. Its hard putting a value on a human life because we are human. What makes us human is being sympathetic. But everything has its worth. In war yes I say in saving our guys life over the other country's people. We are fighting a war and all is fair in war. I think its sad that innocent people die in war but there is always collateral damage. The terrorist were the ones to attack us in the first place, they killed thousands of our people. INNOCENT PEOPLE. We had to go to war, we had to put a stop to the people that were attacking us. The videos we saw on Thursday were sad. I feel bad for the man whose lost his car and mad at the soldiers who did it but they were just following orders and dealing with the problem the best way they knew how. The soldiers couldn't put those thieves in jail so they took away their means of transporting stolen goods. And those individuals who ran that other car off the road are terrible humans. But I am also quite sure they were punished. The military does not allow bad behavior like that go without reprimanding. I can see how the people in Iraq hate us and I understand. If someone came into America and started killing innocent people while fighting bad guys and doing bad things to the locals, I would hate them. I would want them to leave. I think this OIL business is shit. That is not why we went over. WE went over because we were attacked. We stuck around because their government is corrupt and their people are suffering. American Government just likes to stick its nose in everyone else's business and problems. Maybe some of our Government officials want us over there because of the oil but that is not why our people are fighting and dying for. The classes this week made me contemplate were I stand in this issue but it hasn't really changed my feelings or thoughts towards it. I think that our oil problem will escalate till one day we crash and the companies that do alternative power sourcing make solar panels, windmills, etc more affordable. Also I have to say thank you to the three Veterans that we had in class that spoke and shared what they saw and how they felt. Fri, 16 Mar 2012 20:58:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/15/voices-from-the-classroom-123/#IDComment317829082 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/29/what-more-do-you-want-to-think-about/#IDComment305853370 I think some of the stuff we talked about today the first of march really stood out to me. The whole affirmative action being good or bad. Does it really hurt white people? Is it really helping out black people a lot? Why do we even have it? I think that affirmative action should not exist only if that race being stated on any form was no longer occurring. As long as people look at applications for jobs, schools, and testing and see what race a person is , its going to be necessary to have affirmative action so people are not discriminating in all choices. Affirmative action gives a chance for those who need it and are diverse to get in some where. I can understand where white people may get upset, like Ivy League Schools and being ethnic makes you stand out more than the average smart white person. But like white people have so many more advantages to begin with and that kid who was like i have a 4.2 GPA and I don't like affirmative action. If you have a 4.2 GPA, don't worry you are definitely going to a good school. Also in general i think this class has opened out a lot of thinking for me. Like I really didn't know people discriminated in interviews for jobs or for getting loans. I didn't realize that everyone knew 'white beauty'. I did not know white beauty existed. Yea i might have trouble telling you what makes an korean beautiful but I can still see attractiveness. I just did not realize how far white supremacy has reached and that everyone has the white beauty down and everyone else needs to fit into that. This class is just really good so far. It's been an interesting ride so far and I cannot wait to see what is next. Fri, 2 Mar 2012 00:26:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/29/what-more-do-you-want-to-think-about/#IDComment305853370 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/23/voices-from-the-classroom-115/#IDComment300257466 I'm not really surprised by the racism occurring in the professional world, in the situations of hiring people. There is all sorts of discrimination occurring when people are hiring others. People discriminate for gender, race, and backgrounds. People would also choose family over a stranger when hiring. We all play favorites and it occurs in the work place. Comparing a man and woman who have the same qualification, it's more likely the man gets picked. And to tell you the truth, as a woman myself, I might pick a man over a woman just cause woman are competition to me and my position. With race, people are going to pick someone more like them, someone who has similarities in background of schooling and SES. Its true that I would pick someone who has the most things in common with me and if I was faced with a white and black female, I'd pick the white girl because I assume she probably has more in common with me than the black girl. I'm not saying it's fair that it is happening but that it's true that it happens. I do not think it is right that it is occurring. I wish we could all be more fair and judge people without taking the color of their skin or cultural background into consideration. I want all people to interview and pick the person most qualified, best dressed, confidant, and has brilliant manners. Those are the things that matter. Whether a person has the proper skills, flexible, and maybe beyond those skills in dealing with people and handling adversity. I hope for myself that if I ever get to the point where I am hiring people that I focus on their qualities other than race and gender. And the whole name thing is crazy. Sam knew today where my name originated from, and most people I've met have never been able to tell. My name isn't very common but it is 'white'. But I don't think judging someone on their name is proper at all. We do not choose our names, our parents do!!! Names make us unique and this day and age people are naming their kids weird things like Blue and Apple. So Tamika compared to Apple will so win everyday in my opinion. Preference of names is really stupid to me. I know white people from foreign countries and you do not hear those names in America typically, for example Ole and Micha. I don't think names define race or any quality about a person at all. A name is not who a person is, it is just how you address them. Back to my name, it is Irish but I am mostly German. But my name does not state that I am American. It doesn't state my gender, I have met males with my name. To think anybody hired someone over their name outrages me. But I think this will happen less often if people of this day and age keep naming their kids Apple and other weird stupid names. Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:06:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/23/voices-from-the-classroom-115/#IDComment300257466 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/15/voices-from-the-classroom-105/#IDComment293241847 If someone did not believe in my religion or any religion for fact are sad. If an atheist was talking crap on my specific religion, I would not give them the time of day unless they read my Bible. They would not be able to make logical arguments unless they have read a religious text against a faith they do not believe. I know that my faith is right and I have read maybe half of the Bible at this time in my life and I respect those who have another faith and those who do not even believe in the Heavenly Father. I have studied most of the Christian Faiths to learn their differences from my own Faith. I know a little about Judaism because my Jewish friends. I do not know much about Hinduism or Buddhism. But I have made some effort to learn other religions, just for the knowledge. I hate when atheists do not have solid arguments against religion, besides saying God does not exist. I would suggest to anyone who wants to have a proper talk about religion, go study all the religious texts, go talk to the priests, pastors, and rabbis. In order to not look like a fool you need to be knowledgable. I am Roman Catholic partially because it's how I was raised but my Dad is Catholic and my Mom was raised in some other Christian Religion. My Mom became Catholic and my Parents decided to raise me and my siblings Catholic. We could have changed our religion once we go into High School if we wanted. My Parents forced us to attend Mass and CCD when we were younger but once we were about 16 they let us make most of our own decisions while offering guidance. I have attended Lutheran Mass and decided that my Parents faith was more suited to me. As a Roman Catholic, I believe the Heavenly Father created this world and all life on it. As a student of Science, I have been shown evidence of Evolution. I believe that the Good Lord created the world and all life on it, and that he guided evolution and all progress on this planet. I find that religion is the biggest thing a lot of people disagree on and it's hard. I know my Faith proclaims itself the one and only true religion and that all others are false. I hope more people can learn other religions and practice tolerance. As long as a religion is not hurting anyone, then it is not harmful for it to exist. I am probably considered so wrong by my Faith by saying this but all religions have a commonality to them; a belief in a high power, an afterlife, and forgiveness. I hope one day we can all be more tolerant and knowledgable, it would solve so many problems and stop so much fighting. Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:59:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/15/voices-from-the-classroom-105/#IDComment293241847 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/02/voices-from-the-classroom-98/#IDComment287269302 I think that all girls want to be the most beautiful they can and that's why people dye their hair, load on makeup, diet, and make other changes to their hair. Our media portrays one style of beauty, White Beauty. Magazines may feature a Black Female, but it's a female that has white beauty qualities. Everyone, male and female, dislikes some aspect of themselves. It is natural for us to compare ourselves to those portrayed in the media. The models in the media have a lot of work done on them. They all have fake hair, fake tans, lots of makeup, and most of them are photo shopped. Black girls want their hair to look like white girl's and white girls want their hair to look like black girl's. It's partially the fact that people want to look different, better and it's also that we all want to blend in but not be typical. Some girls tan themselves because they think that golden brown is beautiful, so the black females should feel good about themselves. White women are trying to emanate black beauty just as much as black women are trying to emanate white beauty. I am a white girl. I have thin, long, and wavy hair. I have never dyed my hair, I have never permed it and I never will. I like my hair and on special occasions I curl my hair and have to use a lot of product to make it stay in. I don't tan at all, I turn red and I definitely don't fake bake because it is unattractive to me. Of course there are things I don't like about my body but it's nothing that I can change and I do my best to rock out how I look. I think everyone needs to embrace their bodies and hair. We are all different, we all have different shades of skin and hair and thank god for that. It makes us unique. The point Dr. Richards made about that every time we say we dislike ourselves we are dissing God. It's sort of true, we are made in the Lord's Image but we all don't look alike. We all have the similarities on the inside that make us alike but our outsides are all different. God made us all different and we need to thank him for that because those differences have allowed us to live in all different parts of the world and adapt to the environment. So stop dissing the Lord and embrace your selves. And Girl with the Kinky Hair, You Rock it out! Natural beauty and confidence in that beauty is the best thing you can have. Wed, 8 Feb 2012 18:58:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/02/voices-from-the-classroom-98/#IDComment287269302 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-93/#IDComment280891556 America is a mixing pot. The first waves of immigrants long ago, all came to this country speaking an entirely different language. English ended up be coming the common language used over time and I'm sure in a lot of homes their original language was still spoken and shared in their communities but eventually kind of disappeared over generations. A lot of families felt that it was important to learn the language of the country and it continued on for each generation. I was born into an english speaking family, it's the only language I know. My parents didn't grow up in a house speaking their native tongues because those languages haven't been used since when my first ancestors came here to America. In High School I did learn German and Latin. I didn't continue with either in college and I can tell you I only remember a few words, not enough to hold a conversation or to even read the language. I think that it's great that people still have their culture's language and I think it needs to be preserved and passed onto the next generation. I also think that being an American Citizen you need to learn basic English. This is an English dominated country and I would like it to stay that way. I don't have a great capacity to learn language and maybe if I started younger then it would have been different. Immigrants, illegal or not, coming to America, need to make sure their children at least learn English and adults learn enough to understand a little bit. Spanish needs to be taught at a younger age to Americans if people ever wish to have this be an English/Spanish country. Starting a new language in 8th grade isn't going to help anyone unless they continue it into college. I don't know. I have a lot of mixed feelings. People need to be ready to adjust to the changes that will occur but I know that I myself will not learn Spanish. If I have kids in the future I will encourage them to learn because someday European Americans won't be the head power of the United States. I also don't support illegal immigrants. I don't care about big business. If you want something done right, go to the small businesses. Small businesses care about their customers and how they get their jobs done. Americans have a problem. You don't have a job, well now suck it up and go find one. Take your rightful place in the workforce and we wouldn't have to have illegal immigrants! That video with the farmers not having workers, White and Black Americans get off you butt and go work. And if these illegal immigrants can't come here the legal way then they don't deserve to be here. If you can't do it the legal way, you are a criminal and you obviously don't have respect for the American Government and you have no desire to learn English and become part of the mixing pot. Wed, 1 Feb 2012 15:17:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-93/#IDComment280891556 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/20/questions-from-class/#IDComment273302743 I think the American Dream means many things. It has evolved over the years as the time periods have changed. It used to be for freedom, it used to be for the land lust and movement out west, and it used to be for equality. Today the American Dream is if you work hard, you'll succeed. It's the freedom to express one's self, religion, and sexuality. I think if you are an immigrant, your "American Dream" is going to be a lot different from a United States Citizen's "American Dream". Being born here in America, we have less social unrest and a lot more privileges as citizens then a lot of other people in foreign countries do. Those who immigrate to the USA do so to find freedom, equality, jobs, health care, and a lot of other opportunities. Having be born in the USA, I already have a lot of those things. I have the freedom to express my religion, I have opportunities to a great education and college, i have access to great health care and I have a better standing as a white woman then some other people in this country. I have the opportunity to speak freely and protest the government. My American Dream does consist of what my parents taught me and what I have learned. The American Dream to me is the opportunities that are opened to me if I work hard and that if I do work hard I can achieve a successful life with a family and job in the future. I am here at college so I can achieve my dream and succeed. I think that everyone has an "American Dream" and maybe immigrants believe in it more so because they aren't so privileged and are coming here to make their lives better. Immigrants have a more grander view of America. They see America as a land of opportunities to change their lives and their whole families lives. Those of us born here take our world for granted too much and that's probably why Americans don't have a strong belief of the American Dream. As an American we have all there opportunities to us without having to leave the country. We Americans are spoiled. But trust me we all have something that we need to believe in and fight for and that in itself is our own "American Dream". The American Dream means something different to every person. The American Dream will always exist it will just change with the time and the people living in that time period. There will always be an "American Dream" so as long as America exists and has opportunities available to those who come here from out of the country. Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:53:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/20/questions-from-class/#IDComment273302743 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/16/voices-from-the-classroom-33/#IDComment267314803 I feel that some people take their self identity to seriously. Race isn't the only identifier but a lot of people see it as important. The government and our schools deem it important having it on papers to apply for jobs, to apply for school, to take the SATs and the ACTs, and on a lot of other documents. Does it matter if I am black or white? hispanic or asian? My race isn't who I am. I don't view my race as being my only self identity. I don't separate myself into a group of only white people. I have friends that are of all different races and really I could careless what their race. When I am making friends I focus in on our common likes and dislikes or whether we were raised on the same principles and morals. People gravitate to the similar and the familiar. If someone has nothing in common with you, you're not going to be friends. People want to surround themselves with others who hold the same views. I understand though that a lot of people identify themselves by their race, their ethnic backgrounds. I feel that people do this because no one wants to stand out as abnormal, so to make themselves blend in they will have friends of common race or ethnic backgrounds. People want familiar. People with the same race, the same religion, growing up in the same area are gonna stick to that. They are gonna stick to what they know and race plays in that whether people grew up with views of race as being important. If I maybe grew up with being more than white and maybe focusing on being German-Irish American i might view things differently. I have always checked off the box white. I have rarely faced discrimination because my race and have never had to view my race as making me stand out. I think that a lot of other people feel the same way as I do, having no concrete "race" other than white. I also think that people will group in similar and familiar groups and most of the time the largest factor in that is race or skin color. I think that race as self identity isn't as important in a college setting. Those of us here in college are facing the same problems (debt, class work, roommate problems) but we are all here getting an education that for the most part everyone here at Penn State has to take similar basics before we set ourselves apart into specific majors and focuses. Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:10:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/16/voices-from-the-classroom-33/#IDComment267314803