While, technically, my ancestors (and most other people living in this country’s) were illegal immigrants who migrated to the United States in hopes of finding a better life. There are many people who do that today, but we hold a very different attitude towards them and judge them in a negative light. I have heard many bad things about illegal immigrants coming from my parents and grandparents who grew up in an area that has seen a recent influx of Hispanic immigrants. While I have heard all of these bad statements about immigrants, I rarely hear anything good that they have done or any reasons that they wanted or needed to come to the United States.
I think that we dislike immigrants because we are afraid that they will steal our jobs. In reality, they are doing the jobs that most of us would never want to do, but still we complain. I know, personally, when I think of illegal immigrants, I almost always jump right to Hispanics. These immigrants are the ones keeping food prices low and helping to keep businesses running by providing cheap labor, but the public never sees it that way. In my opinion, misconceptions are the reason that society dislikes immigrants.
I know that I can rationalize and maybe even support illegal immigration if the person or family is running from danger in his/her home country. I watch a lot of Law and Order: SVU, and you are constantly seeing victims who have been tortured, injured, or worse in their home country, and staying would only prove to be the death of them. Obviously this is not real life, but I can imagine that some of these situations are true for illegal immigrants currently in the United States. Therefore, I think that Hispanics are disliked because we do not see them as being in danger in their home countries. If we saw them as running from a dangerous government or social unjust, I think that we would be more accepting of them in our society, even if there is no green card in the picture.
While our ancestors were mostly illegal immigrants, I think that it was different because there were not the benefits set up that illegal immigrants are receiving for free today. Currently, illegal immigrants have access to hospitals, schools, and other amenities, without having to pay taxes that help to support those institutions. For this reason, we see them as getting a free ride off of our hard earned money. I know that that is my family’s most common problem with illegal immigrants, and I can guess that a lot of other people would have to agree. Overall, I think that we are afraid and that is the backbone of all of our dislike. We are afraid that they are going to take our money if taxes are raised to support them, we are afraid that they are going to take our jobs, and we are afraid of being surrounded by a culture that is different than our own.

At the beginning of class, I did not think that I had benefitted from affirmative action at all. I also never considered that nepotism was in any way related to affirmative action. Truthfully, I used to have negative opinions towards affirmative action because I thought that it gave other people an advantage over me when it came to getting into college or getting hired for a job. Although males have never dominated my future profession, elementary education, I always thought that somebody of a different race would get hired over me, therefore putting me at a disadvantage just because I am white. However, as class went on, I realized that I have benefited from nepotism because I am white. I have seven family members, all who are white, who are teachers in my hometown and have been for twenty or more years. These family members have helped me with meetings, practice interviews, and interviews that I would not have gotten otherwise. Since there were probably not too many minorities hired in my area twenty years ago, I definitely have the advantage over somebody trying to get into the field today who does not have relatives already in the district. Therefore, in the long run, nepotism is great for me.
This is a question that has a different answer for every single person. Like I said, for me, nepotism will really help me in the long run, because right now you cannot get a teaching job in Pennsylvania without having a family member who can get you an interview. For a minority in my situation, nepotism is probably a bad thing because they might not have the resources in the profession like I do. I do not know too many older teachers who are not white, so I am assuming that most people hired in the 80s were white. I believe that once I get the interview though, it is up to me to show my skills and get the job, so I will only be hired if I am truly qualified.
I know that sometimes this is not the case, and that people get hired who are not qualified for the position, therefore putting somebody out of a job who might be better at it. In this way, I think that nepotism might negatively affect society later on. When I think of nepotism as a negative thing, I think of the movie Billy Madison, even though I know that this is just a movie and an extreme case, even though it could happen. I think that the people who do the hiring need to be smart and only hire those who are qualified for the job, and nepotism will not negatively affect society. While family members can get people interviews, the interviewer ultimately has the final say, and needs to think about the future of the company, and everything will be ok in the future.

When Sam was telling us about the 29:1 ratio, I did not even know that such a number existed. I think that it is interesting that we even have a set number, because that makes it seem like it is ok. I understand that sometimes, most of the time, there are other casualties, but I never thought that we just wrote them off as the “other 29” people that had to die to get this one bad guy. What if one of my family members was just one of those “other 29?” I know exactly how I would feel about the number then. Every one of these Iraqi citizens is someone’s child, sibling, spouse, or parent, and I think that we need to treat them like that. I really do not know, but I am pretty sure that our “bad guys” like Osama Bin Laden were not directly hurting the people of Iraq. So I know that if I were one of the civilians, I would not think it was acceptable to come into my country and kill my child/spouse/parent for a man who was not doing anything wrong to me.

I know that in the heat of the moment, soldiers cannot help killing civilians because there is not enough time to stop and count the number of people around. They are there to do a job, and that job is to stop the “bad guy” from hurting more of our (American) citizens. I think that the “acceptable” number of casualties should depend on a lot of things that the soldier has to decide at that time. Obviously I think that the government and military should try to find a time when there are not many civilians around, but we do not always have the option. Otherwise, it is up to the soldier to decide if the bad guy is worth the amount of innocent civilians around.

I know that this might not be possible or seem reasonable but I think that there should be some kind of equation for how many civilians a person is worth. There are many “bad guys” but they have all done different things that are different levels of bad. I wish that there was a way to calculate how many people they are worth by how many people they have killed, how dangerous they are, and any other factors that can be accounted for. Therefore, I could not pick a set number for innocent casualties, as it would depend on the individual that we are going after. Even though I do not support the killing of innocent civilians, I know that it is a necessity, and therefore a case-by-case decision that the government cannot set ahead of time.

Yes, I would absolutely attempt to learn a new language for a job. I would need to be given an ample amount of time, because my second language skills are not what some people’s are. Even before the job market became what it is I still would have, but especially now. With budgets being cut everywhere, I would love to do something to make myself stand out from other candidates. Being an elementary teacher, I think that learning another language could only benefit me and my future students, so I would be willing to put in the time to better myself and the future generations. Teaching children a second language from a young age is the best way to do it, as it is easier to pick up before you have hit puberty, so I would be excited to teach my students something that maybe other students were not getting the opportunity to learn at such a young age. For my particular profession, I think it would be worth the time and energy.
Another reason I would definitely attempt to learn another language is because I am fascinated with other cultures and hope to travel to many other countries some day. Learning a second language is not only interesting, but helps you navigate around and understand a different country better than you would if you tried to speak English everywhere you went.
I am in the process of applying for a teaching ESL job in South Korea. In this case, I think it would be vital for me to try to get at least a foundation of the Korean language. Even though most people in South Korea speak English, I would love to be able to communicate in their first language with them, even if it is not well. When people come to the United States to work, we expect them to learn English, so I do not see why it should be any different when we go to other countries to work. Not only is it a courtesy, but also is beneficial in both the workplace and life outside of work.
Therefore, yes, I would definitely learn a new language if an employer asked me to. If your boss asks you to make a presentation or get him a cup of coffee you do it, so why should this be any different? The only difference is that this is a skill that can better you as a person and help increase your worth in the job market that is so difficult right now. While writing this I realized that in the future, I might learn a second language even if no employer ever asks me to, just because of all the added benefits.

Interracial relationships are a topic I have been thinking more and more about since I began this class. Coming from a mostly white area, I never really saw interracial relationships among my family or friends. I am 100% Pennsylvania Dutch, so there is absolutely no mixing when it comes to my family, even when it comes to culture. I know for me, personally, there are a lot of qualities I look for in a guy before I start dating him, but race is not one of them. I would say that I have pretty much developed a “type,” which happens to usually be white guys with brown hair and darker features, but I would not rule somebody out just because they did not fit this type. Just as I would not rule out a blonde guy, I would probably not rule out an Asian or African American if I loved his personality. This, however, is my thinking, not my parents. My parents and grandparents, though I do not agree with them, have expressed their thoughts about interracial couples. Unless I really really loved the guy, I do not know if it would be worth the hassle of trying to convince my family that my relationship was not doomed just because of the colors of our skin.
I also struggle with this concept because of my faith. While I know that in God’s eyes, everyone is a sinner, I try not to sin when I can easily control it. The book of Deuteronomy discourages interracial marriage and marrying people from other nations. I do not fully understand God’s reasoning for this, but there are a lot of things that I do not understand that He has laid out for me. So while I live in this world of acceptance of people of all races, I am still trying to balance that with the faith that was set for me thousands of years ago.
What I wrote above only applies to me and I have never judged people based on the standards I set for myself. I set pretty conservative standards for myself, but I do not have a single friend that is like me by these standards. Therefore, I do not have any negative feelings towards other interracial couples. Even though it is a cliché, I believe that love is colorblind, and if you can find that one person that is right for you, it should not matter what they look like. I have seen more interracial relationships since coming to college, and from the outside they look as successful at other college relationships. I am sure there are struggles with family members that they must face, but with more peer acceptance, I believe it is probably getting easier to date someone of a different race. I have no idea who I am going to end up with, but I will not completely rule out dating someone of another race.

I have never felt any guilt for being the race that I am, which is white. No matter what race you are, I do not think that you should ever feel guilty for it. Guilt is a feeling that relates to regretting actions you have taken. Since you cannot control your race or choose it, you should never feel bad about it. Skin color is a physical feature, just like height, hair color, or nose shape. People would think you were ridiculous if you felt guilty about having a flat nose, so how is skin color any different.

I understand that white people have done terrible things and committed terrible crimes towards other races, such as African Americans and Native Americans, but I still feel no guilt. I, personally, did not commit those crimes or physically hurt anyone. I did not own a slave. I did not take the Native American’s land. I may be wrong, but I do not think that an African American or Native American today would hold those actions against me. I am unfamiliar with my family history before two generations ago, but I know that my ancestors game from Germany and most likely settled in Pennsylvania, since I am one hundred percent Pennsylvania Dutch. In this case, my ancestors would not have even been the ones to hurt people of other races.

I have tried to live my life treating everyone equally, looking past skin color. While I know there are statistics that show that white people have advantages over people of color, I have never made the choice to advance a white person. I may have been given advantages by my hard-working parents, but they did not have the chance to give any children of color these same opportunities, because both of their children are white. I, like everyone else, take advantages of the opportunities I have been given, for whatever reason I have been given them. I have lived in a predominantly white area and have never seen, first-hand, the benefits that white people have over others. While I acknowledge the examples shown in class regarding determinism, I simply believe that people just work hard to try to be the best that they can, which is exactly what I have done my entire life.

Regarding my race, I have not done anything to feel guilty for. I did not choose to be white; God chose this for me for reasons that I do not know. I do not feel guilty for my brown hair or eyes, or the fact that I am 5’5, so I will not feel guilty for the privileges that I may receive for my skin color. While other white people may discriminate, I do my best to treat every person equally. Therefore, I have absolutely no reason to feel guilty for being born this way.

No, I do not feel guilty about my current position in the world just because I am white. I take responsibility for my own actions and do not bother with feeling guilty for what other people do or have done. Obviously, I was not around when there were slaves in the United States, so I had nothing to do with it. I, with just about everyone else in this country, think that slavery was an awful thing, but there is nothing I can do to change the past or rectify what happened to the slaves after they were set free.
I understand that there are outside factors that control every person’s life, but I also know how hard my parents and grandparents worked to make a good life for their children. My mother came from a family of eight children and a truck driver’s income and was left to fend for herself when she was eighteen. She worked full time while putting herself through college so that she would be able to give her children something better than what she had. That is only one example of how free will influenced my family.
I believe that by taking advantage of the opportunities that I have been given, whether it be because I am white or not, I am only making the world better for people who may have been negatively affected by slavery. I have used my resources to get into Penn State, where I have taken classes like this and other diversity training to hopefully improve the conditions and lives of my future students. As a future elementary teacher, I believe that I can greatly affect children’s views on diversity and race relations from a young age. I also believe that I will positively influence the lives of children who may be affected by the disadvantages of the freed slaves by providing them with an equal education and the motivation to make the most of themselves.
Therefore, I do not feel guilty for several reasons. I know that one of my parents was left at age eighteen with nothing except for the money she had made on her own, and had to make a life for herself, much like freed slaves (but clearly not as extreme of a situation). She worked hard to get our family to a suburban upper-middle class standing, and instilled a sense of hard work in every member of my family. This drive, along with other resources I have been given, has led me to my dream school, which has helped me understand the disadvantages of freed slaves and what I can do to help their descendants. I did not make conditions bad for the freed slaves, but I can make them better for those affected, which leads me to not feel guilty.

I think that currently in the United States, there is more racism towards Muslims than African Americans. While I do not know all, or the majority, of the problems/discrimination that Muslims face today, I am familiar with what happens to them in probably just about every airport. While I understand that since September 11th, security has gone up for everyone, it has not gone up to the point of being searched every time you enter an airport. During my approximately fifty flights since 2001, my dad has been the only person from my family searched, and he has only been searched once. One of the girls on the panel said that her family gets searched every time they fly, exemplifying the pure racism towards Muslims.
While I know that there is still racism towards African Americans, I have never consistently seen them get singled out at an airport, stared at as they walk to the restroom on a plane, or receive terrified looks from the people sitting next to them. While the media may display African Americans in a more negative light when it comes to crimes, there are some crimes that you never see them doing on the news. While I know that African Americans are discriminated against in the job market, incarceration rates, housing market, and other areas, I imagine that Muslims are probably discriminated against in these areas too, it is just not studied as much. In the identical resume study where only the name was changed, Sam asked what we thought would happen if the names were changed to Arab sounding names. I think it would probably be the same result as the rest of the people of color, even though we have seen that Arabs are the most educated racial group in the United States.
This shift in discrimination is definitely different than in the past. I think that a lot of the discrimination comes from fear and a skewed view of patriotism after September 11th. As we learned from the readings though, only about five percent of Muslims identify as extremists. So why do we feel the need to discriminate against the ninety-five percent that are not. There are probably about five percent of white people who still hold the same views as the Nazis or KKK, and we do not discriminate against them or the rest of the white population for it.
I do not think that Americans are afraid of Islam, but of the people that the media associates with being Muslim (ex. terrorists). Someone in class brought up African American Muslims, and I do not think that they would have as much of a problem, because you would not be able to tell that they practice Islam just by looking at them. Overall, I think that while African Americans are discriminated against in many ways, we discriminate against Muslims in those areas and additional ways.

Initially, I was surprised by the statistic that the more educated a person is, the more they believe that success is not a result of hard work (less college graduates believe that success is a result of hard work than those who did not go to college). Before this class, I have always leaned towards the free will side, therefore believing that hard work would be the major factor in success, and I also assumed that other educated people believed this way. In the past week, I have begun to understand the determinism side of success, which would probably make me one of the college graduates who believes that hard work is not the major aspect of success. After I thought about this statistic, it made sense to me that this would be true, for two different reasons.

First of all, people who have attended college and beyond have seen the process of getting into college, getting internships, and getting a job. They have most likely seen that your grade point average does not matter if you cannot get your resume into the right person’s hands. Having family members in your intended field helps more than the hours of studying and effort you put in for a big exam. I think that the higher up a person gets, the more they begin to realize that it is connections, not hard work, that will get them success (as defined by power in your career). While both of my parents worked hard in college, they both got their current jobs through connections and knowing the right people. That is why I have been taught my entire life to work as hard as I could, but also told that “you can never have enough friends” and “it’s who you know that matters.” This is the reason that I think the number of people who believe hard work correlates to success decreases for more educated people.

The reason that I believe the number is higher for people who have not attended college is because they have not seen this favoritism, nepotism, or connection making as much in their jobs. I have heard from many sources that college graduates earn, on average, one million dollars more in their lifetime than high school graduates. This would lead me to believe that hard work, and hard work alone, helps one become more successful. Therefore, by seeing the more successful people around them that have college degrees, it most likely leads people to believe that it is solely due to hard work that these people are more successful. People who have not gone to college have not seen the scale on which connections help a person get a job or promotion. This is why I believe the percentage is higher for people who have not gone to college.

I began yesterday’s class on the free-will side, where I believed that every person of every race made their own life by making their own choices. So at the beginning of class, I would have answered this question yes. I would have said that they are most likely happy living on the reservation and making the income that they do, because otherwise they would do something about it. I also thought that maybe they do not need as much of a disposable income to support that lifestyle as people living in New York City or even the suburbs do. I would have said that maybe it is their choice to settle with making this much money, as I know basically nothing about the Native American culture or lifestyle.
As class went on, I began to see the other side of the spectrum, which is determinism. Sam’s example of the Obama children really opened my eyes and kind of changed my mind about which theory really shapes people’s lives. I do not know that much into the specifics of what happened to Native Americans, but I know that they were slaughtered and displaced and only given small amounts of land in specific areas to live on. I do not believe that the Native Americans made the choice for this to happen to them, so in that aspect, free will had absolutely nothing to do with it, and determinism shaped their lives.
While I believe the determinism knocked the Native Americans down from the beginning, I still believe in free will and making your own way in the world. Native Americans, as with everybody else, have the opportunity to go to college and get a higher-paying job. There are laws in place that will not allow discrimination against anyone based on race or ethnicity, and there is federal funding and loans available to students who are unable to pay for college. These aids are in place to help people who otherwise would be stuck in the same life as their parents, but want to go out and make more. I do not believe that free will is something that will determine the entire economical future of Native Americans, but is something that can determine the future of Native American individuals.
Therefore, I would say that while Native Americans have had to work harder to support their lifestyle and culture and get it back to where it was before we destroyed it, they still have the opportunity to earn a higher income. If a person is willing to step outside the life of their parents, it is possible to earn a higher wage. While it may be more difficult, I believe that if Native Americans make the decision to go to college, they may one day be closer in family income to white people.