In my opinion it would be harder for someone to come out as being gay to their straight parents because they fear the jugment and their parents’ inability to understand them. For parents it might also be harder for them because they might feel as if they had done something wrong, and that led to their child’s orientation. In this case parents blame themselves for their child’s orientation and would not know how to deal with their child’s coming out. Other parents might react in a way that would impede for the child to even come out in the first place because during the child’s life they have made it very clear that being gay is wrong, and that their child would not be gay – whether they think being gay is against their religion or because its a « disease » or a personal choice. In the case of the girl where her parents were gay, it would definetly be easier if she were to come out to her parents. They would be more understanding because they know how hard it would be for her to come out and acknowledge the fact that she is gay. They also know how hard it was when they came out, maybe to straight parents, who judged them, and made it difficult to be accepted by their own family. In this case, the parents would definetly be more accepting and helpful toward their child to let them know that everything is going to be ok and the love they have for her has not changed.

I know in my case, my parents would be very accepting, despite coming from very conservative families. My parents had even considered adopting a child from Colombia and at one point even a child from Africa. My dad opposed the idea because he knew that my grandfather would not be very open to that idea and it would create alot of tension in the house. Basing off of that, i dont think my grand parents would be as open as my parents are if i were to come out. They would eventually come to the idea, but would not be as understanding at first. In my family, I have a cousing who lives in a Small town in Colombia, where everyone knows everyone and they are very conservative. We suspect that my cousin is gay, but has not been able to come out. We do not know if it has anything to do with him being adopted, or what his family is going to say, and even more, what society is going to say since rumors are always spreading in that small conservative town. Despite this, we have all noticed he is gay yet haven ‘t mentioned it. Hopefully since we had all seen it, when he does decide to come out, it won’t be a surprise and cause a big commotion.

In the « what would you do » video, I was very surprised not only with the scène that was staged but also at the fact that it was a recognized channel staging this scenario. The video shows a Muslim woman, in Texas, wearing her Hijab, who goes into a Polish Bakery to get a strudel. She gets denied service because of her religion, for being Muslim. The cashier behind the counter uses racist innuendos and refuses to serve the woman. The reactions of the people in the bakery varied. A few agreed with the cashier saying he had the right to choose who to serve, and that those types of people should not be allowed in the store. Some even gave the cashier a thumbs up for his refusal to serve the Muslim woman. Other people spoke up on the woman’s behalf or expressed their disagreement for the way the cashier refused to serve the woman, as well as the added commentaries that he expressed, such as to take her jihad somewhere else. Others even stormed out of the bakery saying they refused to buy anything within the store, and would never come back in; a guy even told the cashier to F*** off. Some customers, especially a pair r of friends, one American and the other Muslim but without any religious wear, expressed their outrage. They did not understand why based on the hijab that the woman was wearing, that he would not serve her yet he would serve the woman who was Muslim and was wearing regular « American « clothes. In various cases, as with the pair of women and a father of a war veteran, were brought to tears to see the injustice committed at the Bakery. But most of the other Customers refused to do anything and went about their business. In the end, the whole thing was staged and both the cashier and the Muslim woman were actors. This experiment shows the human nature and how people would react to these types of situations.

I think, as the numbers showed, most people would not do anything. Some because they would think its not any of their business, others because they do not want to get involved and cause any problems, and others decide to just leave the store and never come back in silence without having to cause a scène. It is also hard to ask people what they would do in a hypothetical situation, because being realistically, the majority would say that they would do something about it, but in the end they would be a part of the majority of the people that stand by and Watch. I’m not saying this is wrong, being honest I might be one of those who might not say anything yet id never go back to the store again. One example is Pete’s cheese teaks in Philly. I had heard of the great cheese teak king in Philly, and when we went with my parents I made them stop so we could try them. Since the original place head a really long line, I went to the second original and try the cheese steaks since the line was not as long. To my surprise when I got to the cashier to place the order there were signs saying « you must speak English when placing your order », « this is America, speak English », among other things. Mean while the owner had the thickest Italian accent ever. My parents and I were so offended that we bought cheesteaks because we had already made the line, but have never gone back, and when asked dour opinion we tell the truth of what we saw. My dad when he went back preferred to make the line for the original cheesteak than go back to that place.

When we talked in class about ethnocentrism, i thought it really brought into focus the really important goal of this sociology class. The way that we as a society can learn to coexist is by learning to view each other’s customs, rituals, ideals, and cultures with different eyes. We should not be judging them because they seem different, but try to understand where they are coming from, what their beliefs are, their values, and in doing so maybe understand the reason behind the why and how they do things. This class I think also goes back to what Sam said about putting yourself in other people’s shoes. When you are able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and see the why and the how they do the things they do, then you have opened yourself to see the world from a different perspective. It does not mean you agree with it completely, or that you yourself want to start practicing it, but it creates respect and understanding towards others. In some cases, it might even influence you to adopt those ideas because it will improve who you are. I am not saying that I am going to start drinking milk straight from the source, but it opens your eyes that there are always different ways to do things, to see things, to act, to understand, and through this diversity we are able to create things such as technology, or skyscrapers, or cellphones. If everyone had the same way of thinking, we’d still be thinking the world was flat and the “Western world” does not exist. Through different ways of perceiving situations, humans are able to advance, create technology, fix problems that affected societies years ago – such as disease, and improve our style of living.
I found yesterday’s class about Haiti very interesting because of the way people were reacting on Twitter. Sometimes people are able to voice their opinions through a medium such as Twitter, which is not private, yet they cannot do it out loud. I figured that if we had done this class at the beginning of the semester, I would have expected people to react in a similar way. But at this point of the semester, when people have had the chance to see culture, society, race and gender issues from different perspectives, it shocks me to see that people have not changed their perspective and become more open minded. It brings to reality that not everyone will understand the message that Sam wants to spread, especially with Ethnocentrism. It also says that as a society, the only way to fix the problems that occur, such as racism and discrimination on race, gender, nationality, etc. Is to change the mentality that people have. I think this class, even if it only really changes the mentality of a few out of 725, is a fundamental step in the right direction.

I find her story appalling, yet I am not surprised that this happens. In the neighborhood I live in, it is predominantly white- Italians, Germans but it does have a growing population of Hispanics and Blacks. Like the book, Shadow Boxing with Race says, next to a predominantly white neighborhood, there tends to be black and minority neighborhoods surrounding it. In my case it’s Rosedale, a few minutes away Jamaica. Rosedale, it a neighborhood comprised mostly of African Americans. Their neighborhood is so small that they do not have public schools, a mall, or a theater. For this reason, they come over to Valley Stream- they go to our schools, they go to our mall, Green Acres, they go to our movie theater, Green Acres Cinema, etc. Unfortunately, this has brought up a lot of issues within my community. People are upset that the village taxes that they pay support children in other neighborhoods to get an education as well as the transportation. Valley Stream is also divided into North, South and Central. I live in the North side of Valley Stream, close to the Hospital, which is surrounded by other predominantly white and upscale neighborhoods such as Lynbrook (built mostly for war veterans from the Second World War), and Malvern (middle-high class). The South part of Valley Stream, which is separated only by a main road, is mostly Hispanic, Afro Americans, and Indians. This side of Valley Stream has a higher crime rate, and people usually link it to being so close to Rosedale and having people from that neighborhood « step into our neighborhood ». We also had a neighbor who was taken by her family to Florida and her house was sold to an African American middle class older couple. One of our Neighbors, who seem to know what’s going on all the time, complained to us how the older couple at the corner was using their address to have their grand children go to the public school systems in Valley Stream. You can see the problem this causes in our village. Going back to the experience that the lady in the video explains, the Green Acres Theater has metal detectors inside and has security to search you when you enter. This was implemented after someone got stabbed in the movie theater. This I can see being implemented to prevent other acts as this to occur. But it would be completely different if the same method were implemented just because of the people that were going to that movie theater and not to prevent a crime. In that area of Richmond that the lady talks about, I feel as if the same security measures should be implemented for either schools or none at all to make it equal. Being truthful, people of all races and social groups do and sell drugs, so the same security methods and preventive measures should be applied regardless of race and socio-economic standing.

When I was born in Colombia, I didn’t really think about different races-I guess its because I was never introduced to people from other places around the world. I had seen people that had different skin color since over there you have people with different features. There is the fair skin, blond hair blue eyes, to the dark skin, kinky hair. As we were discussing the different stages and I began to look at how I went through the different stages in the changes that happened throughout my life, I realize there were certain situations that I never questioned. For example, in Colombia, as a term of « endearment » kind of like saying bro, people refer to their black friend, « Negro » and even use it as « mi Negro ». I remember talking to my dad about racism in Colombia, and I thought that Colombia didn’t have that problem, that it was more open to people that were black or indigenous. But my dad made me realize, that despite being the first country in the western hemisphere to abolish slavery, racism is still seen in Colombia and not just based on skin color. People, who are over a certain age, say 40-60, will probably not be able to find a new job or won’t be able to start a new career at that age. People who are disabled are also discriminated and there are not that many laws that protect them; hopefully this is starting to change. And of course there is the major difference between blacks and whites. I realized this when my dad told me how despite the usage of the word Negro to refer to your friends who are black, it is still discriminating and its something that needs to be changed in the culture. It wasn’t until I started school in NY at a public school that I realized that being Hispanic was not all « peaches and cream ». Before NY, I had lived in NJ with my aunt where I went to a public school, and was the only Hispanic student there, and they made every effort to make me feel welcomed. They made me a welcome book where each kid made me a drawing. They had a Spanish show during lunch to make me feel welcomed. All the kids were extremely nice and the teachers as well. The teacher used a Pocket translator to get me to understand and made every effort to make me feel comfortable. On the contrary, public school was completely different. The children, even those who were Hispanic, were mean and mistreated me. My first teacher whose last name was even Hispanic, Mrs. Diaz, was frustrated when I couldn’t understand her. Despite this, I was able to excel in my studies and realize that I was not any less than others just because I was born somewhere else. I had the same right to sit next to them in the classroom and learn.

When it comes to war, there are different ways people tend to see it. There are always various sides to the equation- some are for it, some are against it and there are some who are always on the fence about it. I tend to be against it because to me it seems like it does more harm than benefit each party. Especially, coming from a country that has been in a civil war for over 50 years, I can see the way people have become accustomed to live so that they can « survive ». In Colombia, again, we have had to deal with a guerilla group as well as a paramilitary group-, which was started to counteract the guerilla but became just as bad. In the beginnings of this civil war, was the struggle between the two most popular parties the conservatives and the liberals. People were so adamant about their political position that during one election, when the candidate that was supposed to win was killed, they went out and killed people from the other political in what is known as el Bogotazo. Obviously there’s more to the story but for basic understanding. Then, guerilla groups to be able to sustain their operations, started kidnapping people sot hey could ask for a ransom, and various have been held captive for over 20 years in the Colombian jungle, in deplorable conditions. The initial ideas that this group had was to be able to give to those who needed it most in our country so that everyone could have the same benefits. Obviously at first you’d say, their ideals are not bad, practically its what every government should do. Te problem is the way they go about getting their point across. They kidnap people, they place car bombs in random places, and they place landmines in places where people, mostly peasants and farmers, are walking by- causing them to lose limbs and to affect their work. Obviously the government has not been as helpful as it could be- there’s a lot of corruption and self-interest that does not let the country proper. Through this, people become aware of their surroundings, they become doubtful of people, they walk around places where they feel safer to prevent being robbed, and many feel that the only way the country can prosper is by having better security by fixing the Civil War we are in. War divides people into whose side are you on and who’s the enemy. But most of the time it is really hard to say who is right especially when both sides have positive things to say. Personally, I don’t like the news because it tends to give one-sided opinions and views about important topics. I always prefer to get both sides of the equation, or the multiple sides that there are to be able to empathize with others and then make my own opinion. But with war, I don’t see the benefits, its just a way for the winner to be able to take advantage of the loser and leaves the loser in poverty-or in a deplorable state.

Soc 119 is one of those courses that everyone talks about with enthusiasm. They say how great Sam is and how he really makes you think about modern day topics from a different perspective. I thought this would be a great class to take hoping that it would make me think outside of the box and view modern day problems with new eyes. I was especially interested in talking about the immigration situation, now that it has become a current issue especially with the presidential debates. I honestly have not gotten much out of the class, or shall I say, I have not been put to wrestle with a certain situation that goes on in the world. With respect to the immigration and illegal situation, I have already had to deal with many of the criticisms people make and say about immigrants- so that was not new. I even consulted this with some of my friends who have already taken the class, and who happened to be Hispanic as well, and they said the same thing. What I do find interesting when we touched the immigration subject, the ideas that people had to say. When we watched the « angry guy » video ranting about Hillary Clinton and illegal immigrants, I was shocked at the things he said, but I was even more shocked when people from our class said they agreed with certain parts of what he had to say. I am aware that to change people’s idea about illegal immigration and people from other cultures, there is a long way to go and only through education can they see that we are all the same.
I do have to say that there have been parts of the class that I have considered interesting. With the surveys about statistics in different aspects of our society, the numbers are surprising. The statistics on the call back ratio between a white and a black that have the exact same resumes, is so broad just because of the stereotypical names. Or the increase in the percentage of 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants when Learning English at such High rates. One fact that I really liked was that 3% of the world’s population dies in another country form where they were born. Contrary to what people think, especially in a country that gets so many immigrants, that might be hard to believe. I do have to say that the video, Changing Education Paradigms, was extremely entertaining and definitely showed the aspects of education that show that the way the system works, it is only meant to be monetarily efficient but does not always bring about the best in each student.

I hope that for the rest of the semester I am able to get a little more out of it and enjoy it just a little more.

When it comes to discrimination, you can see it everywhere. Being a woman in engineering, where most of the classes are with men and are mostly filled with men and where most of your professors are men; it is very easy to see that society does not believe women can be good engineers. Most would say that engineering is a man’s job not a woman. From the beginning, and talking to the advisors and telling them how I seemed to struggle with the classes, and getting used to the teaching style, the material, and all of the problems that come with being a freshman, various suggested that I was really good in French and that was where I got all of my A’s so that I should just major in French and become a translator or a teacher and completely disregard Engineering. They suggested I drop out of engineering because I was not fond of it and was not doing well. They even told me that they were skeptical as to whether or not I was going to do well in further courses since they all stem from the basic math and physics. If I could not handle physics 211 how was I going to handle E Sc 470 and other courses that rely on it? Of course since this is coming from your advisors, and you hope that they have your best interest in helping you out, you actually consider and question whether or not you are cut out for the major and begin to look at other possible majors. Do not get me wrong, for some who seem to be doing extremely bad this might be an eye opener, but I was not flunking out so I didn’t think this was the way the advisors could have helped me out. While explaining my confusion to my parents, they suggested that the reason the advisors would tell me this could have something to do with the fact that I am Spanish. You cannot get any more Spanish than with a first name of “Maria”. My parents suggested that whether the advisors purposely or not, felt that just by seeing my name “Maria”, a Spanish woman, she was not cut out for a major such as Engineering Science. As soon as my parents told me this, I was pretty upset, thinking advisors don not understand how they can affect a person’s future in doing what they want to do with their lives, based on a conscious or unconscious stereotype about Spanish people. At this time, I also talked to my parents about whether or not I had even gotten to Penn State on my own merits or just because I am a Spanish Woman that wanted to join engineering. Here they said whether or not I had gotten into Penn State through affirmative action, what matters is whether or not I can stay in. I guess through hard work and trying to get ahead, I will be able to make it out in a world that discriminates and which is difficult to change by yourself. But i also agree with Sam that the answer is not always to just Work Harder, sometimes the answer is to change the corrupt system. Especially in cases where people have worked extremely hard only to be exchanged for "a white person".

The idea of interracial dating is not new. It has been around for as long as we can remember. The difference now, is that it has become more common than before. It has become so common, that there are even celebrities and famous people involved in interracial relationships. The reason it has become so common, I would think is not due to just the fact of the advancements of technology. Facebook, Twitter, Google+ are all great and have definitely helped increase the number of interracial relationships, but another aspect Worth considering is the increase in the ability for people to travel. The increase in racial intermixing and interracial dating has increased because if the ability for people to travel and to establish themselves in a completely new place, from a different town to a country in a continent miles away. Think about it, if you wanted to and had the means to, you could just hop on a plane or a train or a car and just leave the United States to places that were unthinkable before.

I also think that the reason there is an increase in these types of relationships is due to the topic no longer being so taboo. Before, the idea of being interracially married or in an interracial Relationship was frowned upon, and people would prefer not to talk about it as if it did not exist. There were also people who would hide it from everyone else, especially the family to prevent being rejected from the family and society. Now on the other hand, schools tend to be more diverse (depending on the city you are in for example a Small town in central PA versus NYC), children tend to grow more open to the idea of other cultures since they grew up interacting with them. And here you can start seeing the interracial relationships that begin to form. Here kids begin to interact with people from other cultures, learn more about them and their values and morals; and even if these interracial relationships do not work out, and they end up marrying within their race, they will have learned more about a different race, making them more accepting towards other races. Of course this does not always happen and there are those that prefer not to « mix » or interact with people outside of their race. This idea might be influenced by what their parents think and how their ideas of interracial relationships are still frowned upon. The parent’s disapproval of these types of relationships could be due to the difference in the way they grew up. In school they were not exposed to people from all over the world and from different races. Since they were not exposed to various races, they rely on their stereotypes and it is why they frown upon their child having an interracial Relationship.

I think there are an aspect that needs to be covered, and that is the racism between people in the same racial/ethnic group. This goes further than the rivalry between people from Boston and those from New York. Believe that although there is a lot of racism and discrimination from others, the greater part comes from people within our own ethnic group/race. There has been various times where people try and bring me down so as to prevent me from succeeding. And I think to myself, people who are also Hispanic/Latino like me and they want to keep me down? It forces you to keep moving and try and prove to them and yourself that you can make it and you can succeed. My dad is a great example of this, when we got to the US, he worked at Burger King at night cleaning the fryers and the other equipment. He was so focused and determined that he was one of the few selected to be manager at the store. Unfortunately the person that had to make the choice, was Puerto Rican, and felt my dad should not have that position but instead gave it to a family member that did not work as hard. This is something my dad has experienced in various of his jobs, even now that he Works for JP Morgan and Chase. Sometimes the people who demand the most from you are those within you racial/ethnic group. In this case, the Puerto Rican lady marked a line between herself and my dad where she felt that she was better than him, had more power, and a white woman with US citizenship; where my dad represented the true Hispanic who came to work doing whatever it took to get ahead in life and raise a family but who will move on to better jobs and not stagnate in one. This jealousy between racial groups, and competition, and desire to see others just as bad as you are so you feel better about yourself is what causes the breaks and the tension within the same racial/ethnic group. It might be political issues within their countries that cause resentment, or soccer disputes, or the desire to want to maintain you culture’s authenticity and image without being lumped into one big category. People come into this country and as soon as they speak Spanish people think they are Mexican. And that’s not a bad thing, but people are proud of where they come from and don’t want to be assumed to be Mexican. People don’t always divide themselves just in social situations such as schools, or jobs but also in neighborhoods. People tend to want to live in a place where people share the same culture, values, traditions, etc. It’s like being home away from home. This tends to create rivalries and leads to separation within groups of the same race.