I think that my parents would be more willing to accept my lifestyle if I was in a relationship with a person of another race. I have talked to my parents about both situations, and they have said that they would still love me and accept my lifestyle. However, when parents are raising their children, they envision their lives to turn out a certain way. I know my parents see me marrying a white man and having children that look like me. Its not that they are against anything else, but it is how they pictured my life while I was growing up. I think that some parents are not accepting of their children’s lifestyles, because they think they are not happy. This is especially the case regarding the gay lifestyle. Some people are too ignorant to see that it is not something you choose, and accepting it is the only way to make you happy. This is why there is still ignorance around the gay community. My parents are very religious, but even they understand that your sexual orientation is something you are born with. Therefore, they would understand that who I am attracted to is not under my control. This is the same thing for skin color. You cannot help of you are attracted to a race that is different than your own. In general, I think most people accept interracial couples more than gay and lesbian couples, because interracial couples have been accepted by society for a longer period of time. I think that my generation is the first that has really accepted the gay and lesbian community. I look at my grandparents and they are still stuck in this thinking that you choose your sexuality, and but choosing the same sex you cannot actually be happy. In the past the topic was not even discussed. Today there are support groups on campus, and you see gay and lesbian couples holding hands walking to class. Also, there are television shows today where characters come out, or date people of the same sex. This topic has definitely made lead way, but the older generations need to open their eyes. It needs to be acceptable for anyone to come out, because everyone should be happy. If this means getting married to someone of the same sex, or even public dating, our society needs to prove that everyone is accepted. It was great to hear my classmates share some stories about when and how they came out, because I really think that it opened some of our other peers’ eyes. Over all, that was one of my favorite classes, because I do not have many friends that are out and I liked hearing the stories and experiences my classmates shared.

I thought that the discussion in class on Tuesday was very interesting, because people have fear every day. I liked the example of child abduction, because this directly related to me. I was a walked in elementary school and middle school. While other parents would not let their kids walk home, because they would be doing so without adult supervision, my parents thought this was ridiculous. We live within a mile of the school and my neighborhood was very safe. Granted it is impossible to know everyone, but my parents felt comfortable with letting us walk home every day. As far as fear, most other parents were worried about their child’s safety, so they would pick them up. As Sam said in class, only about 100 kids get abducted every year. This is extremely low compared to the fear people have for kidnappings. Because of this fear, I thought that this number was much higher. I assumed that people had more of a reason to be worried, because you hear stories in the news, and see shows on television. This is another problem with our society; things are dramatized for entertainment, and to get viewers. This is a problem, because the world we live in actually is not as bad as it is portrayed! This was one of favorite classes of the semester, because I really thought it was important to race relations. Many stereotypes are based off of these fears. People “hate” other races because of what they are told or see on the news. They are not making accurate judgments on the individuals. This is seen in the news today with the Trayvon Martin case. Security guard, George Zimmerman shot Martin, because he though he looked suspicious. If the fear of a black man with a hood up was removed, Martin would still be alive. As Sam was saying the world is not actually such a bad place. I find myself switching to the other side of the street when I am walking home alone at night and a large man is walking towards me. There is no reason for me to do this, but I am scared becaue of the stories I have heard abut females being assaulted by strangers. This mentality needs to change in order for the world to be a better place. We cannot get rid of stereotypes if we are still have fear towards different races. A way to prevent this is to change the way the media sells news. Currently the violence and drama is what gets viewers. If every station made a pact to present the news in a way that accurately describes the world we would have less fear. In this case, people would not fear other races.

When Sam called up two Muslim women and a Christian and Jewish woman up to the front of the class, I was very interested. I knew this conversation was going to be different. Sam asked the Muslim women why they covered their heads. They said they did it because in their culture they are taught to be modest. By covering up people look at them by their personalities, not just by their appearance. They said that being modest meant to not show too much skin, so people could get to know hem for who they really are. I thought this was so interesting, because the western culture is so different. I think that people originally judge others primarily off what they look like. Especially in college and in today’s society, I feel that people look at what you look like then decide whether they want to associate themselves with you. I really liked the cartoon, because it described what many people were thinking. Before class I was completely egocentric. When I saw Muslim women walking down the street, I too felt bad for them. I could not understand that they were choosing to dress in head wraps. I assumed that they dressed this way, because their religion gave them limited rights as women. I assumed that the men in their culture made them dress this way. On the other hand, the Muslim women in class said that they liked dressing in the head wrap, because people get to know them for whom they really are. Why is it part of our society to walk around in skimpy clothing? We are setting the norm for what males expect. If women everywhere dressed in head wraps everyone would have to take the time to get to know one another. I do appreciate how my religion allows me to dress individually. I can where what I want according to weather. I do not condone wearing anything to please others, but it is important to keep individuality. To answer the question, other people judge western culture when people walk around in bikinis, because other people think that women do this to impress guys. The see that this is the norm, and just as we judge Muslims for wearing head wraps, they think we do this because it is how males what us to look. If that was actually the reason, it comes off that we are disrespecting our own bodies, because we are not wearing anything. I think that most women in our culture wear bikinis, because that is what is in style. It’s the idea that everyone else is doing it and it is fashionable. Also, bikinis are practical for the hot summer weather, and trying to get some color. In this sense women are not disrespecting their bodies.

Personally I thought the video about the Asian was extremely funny. If I were shown a video about white girls I would think that was funny too. I think that people in our class often overreact, or think too much into these things. If the producers of the video were making fun of all Asians, or making assumptions they would not have only interviewed foreigners. It was funny, because college football is such an “American” topic, and these students did not know anything about it. I was not necessarily laughing at their accents, I just thought that it was funny that these students did not know what the man was talking about. It is funny because it addresses the stereotype that Asians are nerdy. There is a difference between poking fun at the stereotype and seriously assuming that all Asians do not know anything about college football. The video was also funny, because these people had to have given consent to be in the video. Therefore, they were not completely oblivious that they could potentially be made fun of. As for the this blog video, the black student is asking the class why an Asian was not called out for thinking the video was funny, but a Black student was. I am not really sure why this is, but I am assuming that it is because the video was about his race. If there was a video making fun of black people, black people are allowed to think it is funny. This is also the case between sexes. For example, if there was a video making fun of a white girl, and I thought it was funny it would be acceptable. However if a white boy were agreeing that the video was funny, while other girls in the class thought it was offensive, they would be on his case. This is because once someone is offended, when other people are agreeing with the offense, for example laughing along with the video, the material becomes much more offensive. Overall, we live in a world where we can never please everyone. There were Asians in our class that thought the video was funny, and Asians that were offended. In this case, I think people need to be more laid back about humor and race, because there are people that take offense to things and there are people that do not. If everyone was more aware of this, we would be able to move forward and be more accepting of other people. I was annoyed in class when people were getting heated because they were so offended. There were Asians that thought the video was funny, so everyone should be able to find a peace of mind.

I also grew up in a predominately white town. However in high school, my school had a program that brought in students from surrounding towns. Many of these students came from Bridgeport, which is a city. Many of these students did our agriculture program so they did not have to go to the city schools. Before high school I did not think about race at all. All of my friends were white and I guess this put me in the first stage. Once I was in high school, I met students from other towns through my sports teams and after school clubs. I started to become friends with black and Asian kids for the first time. However, my best friends were still the white kids I had known since middle school. I definitely think that I should have made more of an effort to go over my non-white friends’ houses to learn more about their cultures. Out of my group of white friends, I think that I did get to know kids of other races more than others. This allowed me to question race, and pick up on the questions Sam was talking about in class when discussing the stages. I also was used to diversity, living so close to New York City. I was always in and out of the city and really got to see what it means to be different races. Coming to Penn State, I actually expected the school to be much more diverse. Our school is so large, and I assumed that with that many students there would definitely be all different races. Penn State is predominately made up of white students. Freshman year I just felt that everyone around me was white and this was such a difference from my high school. Even when my parents came up for a weekend they even made a comment. My dad said that he noticed there were so many white students. My parents also thought that at such a large school there would be more diversity. I am so happy that I am taking Soc 119, because I enjoy talking about race and addressing these issues. I am much more aware of the diversity at Penn State now. I have learned so much from the other students in my discussion group. I really love hearing what people of all different backgrounds have to say about the issues covered in class. I think the Penn State is a much more diverse campus and I have learned so much. I do think that I have experiences more with race than other white students in my class. Some of the students in my class grew up in mostly white towns and went to mostly white high schools.

While sitting in class today, I was upset by some of the things Sam was saying. According to the twitter feed, some of my peers felt the same way. I think that I am pretty open minded in the class, but it is hard to take Sam seriously when he does not really answer questions. When he posted the statistics about the worth of an American soldier, students had many questions. A student sitting next to me asked how this number compared to other countries, and Sam completely avoided the question and wanted to change the subject. When he does this it is frustrating, because he always tells us to keep an open mind but he will only talk about what he thinks. As Americans, we are very passionate about our soldiers. We were taught at a young age that it is important to support our troops. Sam cannot just share the data he did then move on to a completely different topic. We want to discuss this and really hear all the sides. Later in the lecture Sam even admitted that it could be any number of citizens but the number 30 was too high. It is misleading that he told the class that the acceptable number was 29. When Sam presents his data like this, it hard to keep an open mind. I think that this is also why the class tweets that his is too liberal. In this class he did come off anti-American too. I disagree that when leaders say pray for the troops it means we pray that other die. Any time the United State sends troops overseas the goal is to win. But this does not mean that we actually want others to die, especially foreign citizens. When my family friend was serving in Iraq, I prayed that he made it home safely and did not have to kill others. However warfare is different these days in that many soldiers get attacked from civilians. In this case, it is needed to kill a civilian in order to save the life of an American. As students, maybe we should keep a more open mind, but it is hard to sometimes with Sam’s tone. By shrugging off valid questions and presenting data without other data to back up his ideas, I understand why students get annoyed and post on Twitter. However, there are some students that are fascinated with the lectures. Some of my classmates have said that they have never thought about questions Sam asks in class. I have never thought about the worth of an American soldier’s life before this class. It was so interesting to think about this, I just wished the data was presented more accurately.

After being in this class for half of a semester, I have learned a lot. I also have thought about race differently. I know that I am “lucky” to be white, and when the topic of race is brought up I usually do not talk. I did not know whether it was because I felt guilty or because I did not have much to contribute to the conversation because I was white and did not feel the discrimination others did. Now I know that I should be able to contribute to the race conversation as much as anyone else, because if I do not speak up, this is a form of white supremacy. Of all the lectures, I found that the pilot lecture was the most interesting. I loved talking about pregnancy and adopting children, because it is an issue that many students will face. If people have problems having children they often adopt or use sperm fertilization methods to still have children. Of course everyone would want their child to look like them, but when adopting it is more important to have a healthy child than to be selective. I found it strange that when girls in our class were asked if they would prefer a specific race for a sperm donation, they said they did not care. Personally, I thought these girls were just being politically correct in class. If you are going to carry a child, and give half of your genes to a baby, you are going to want the child to look like you. I like how honest the class is, but I do think that there are times where students will not share exactly what is on their mind because of the size of the class. Also, in my discussion group we talked about how we wished the class took place in a smaller setting. While this my be impossible, because so many students sign up for it, if the class was smaller students would have to listen to their peers. I often find myself tuning out when I am not interested in the material or find a statistic or piece of information bizarre. If the class was not in 100 Thomas I would definitely be forced to listen to listen to things I do not agree with. As for the material, I would like to learn more about when we distinguish races. For example, at what age do we notice a difference in race? Also I would like to know about how children understand stereotypes. If we can change the way children think at a young age, we may be able to make a difference on racism. Overall I am excited to learn more from the rest of this semester.

I agree with this student’s response to today’s class. I too thought that differences among races were based upon socioeconomic factors and genetics. I thought this was definitely the case regarding test scores. For a test that you can study for, like the SAT’s I assumed that the score was based upon education. I figured that students that were more educated generally did better on such tests. This would relate to wealth, because generally people with more money send their children to better school systems where they are better educated. However in class today, Sam said that when families had the same income levels and opportunities, there were still trends among different races. This was shocking to me because I always assumed that with equal opportunity, students would score similarly on test scores. It was interesting when Sam said that when whites were told that they were representing their race as a whole the scored the same on average. This was not the case for blacks and Native Americans. I could not understand why this question affects some races’ overall score, but not others. I would think that if I was told that my test score would be a reflection of my entire race I would panic and score much lower. It is a lot of pressure to represent your entire race. I do not think that there is a way to do anything about standardized testing among races. We cannot give different races different tests, because this would be discrimination. Students that sit in the same classrooms and learn the same material should be given the same types of tests. I really do not understand why scores are different among races if other factors are held constant. Sam said that even if income and other socioeconomic factors were held constant, Whites and Asians would score higher on tests than Blacks and Native Americans. It is so unfair that these people will not do as well as White and Asians just because of their race. I guess this goes along with White Supremacy. Without even realizing it, whites are more likely to score higher on standardized tests than Blacks and Asians. Most white people do not realize the advantages they have because of their race. I think we have made so much progress with racism, but when such data is presented, I feel that there is no way for all races to be completely equal. The data presented in class showed that when giving standardized tests, things are not equal. I think more white people need to appreciate these advantages. I would like to think that if more people understood these alarming statistics, someone would be able to create a way to make testing more fair for all races.

I appreciated how we took the time to specifically talk about everything that was said last Thursday. Personally, I did think the class was controversial. After picking out the “blackest” student in the class, the participant said, “I feel like I am going to get beat up after class now.” Even though not everyone would say this out loud, I am sure if any student were put in this situation they would be thinking the same thing. I do not know if whites are necessarily afraid of talking about race, but it is definitely easier to avoid the topic in everyday conversation. I believe that white people shy away from race because at an early age we are taught about the wrong doings of white Americans in the past. In middle school we learn how whites participated in the slave trade, and literally beat black slaves. We also learned how in the 1960’s whites did everything possible to make sure black were not “equal”. We also learn about the Trail of Tears, Japanese interment camps and deportations of Latinos. It is not that whites feel guilty; it is just that we have been taught at a young age that our ancestors treated others poorly. I wish race were a conversation where whites could give more input, but most people are afraid of being attacked for elder’s wrong doings. Whites should not feel any sort of guilt, but this is a result of white supremacy. I personally believe that white supremacy includes the guilt whites feel just for being white. I know that I do have it easier than other races because I am a white American. I think this too came from what was taught in public schools at a young age. I too often choose not to talk about race, because I do not want to say anything ignorant. I can try to put myself in other people’s shoes, but I will never fully know what it is like to be another race. On the other hand, I often feel that in a race conversation with many diverse individuals, sometimes White Americans cannot win. Sometimes I feel like other races can make judgments on white people, but if a white person were to say the same thing, they would be pinned as a racist. In my opinion, another reason whites remain quiet about race, is because they are afraid they will be called racist. For a white person, this is one of the most offensive terms. Everyone knows about racism, and white supremacy but no one wants to own up to it today. It is considered something of the past that we can feel guilty about, but no one wants to admit that it still exists. If whites felt more comfortable talking about discrimination, there may be a great improvement in racial discrimination around the world.

The discussion on adoption and interracial dating in class was very interesting. I could agree with the white girl in class today when she said that she was not attracted to Asians. I have only ever been attracted to white males. I do not know whether this is because of biology, or my parents’ influence. I have had the discussion of an interracial marriage with my parents before. My dad, who has a black adopted brother, did not have a problem with this. My mother admitted that she wanted to see me with a white man. She always said that she would welcome in whoever I loved, but she would just like to see me with someone that was white. I think this is because she would like my children to look like me. When I look at men of other races I do find some people better looking than others, but I am personally not attracted to them. I could not help but feel bad for the white student that had to decide the most attractive Asian. I felt bad, because I would not want to tell a man that I was least attracted to him, regardless of race. I probably would have also avoided the question of determining who was the least attractive by admitting I was not attracted to Asians in general. She was honest, but did not have to call anyone out. It was also very interesting to see the class’s reactions to this, because many students where probably wondering how to honestly answer the question.

Having a black adopted uncle, I have considered the possibility that I may not be able to have children one day, and I have often wondered what I would do. After already having three children, my grandparents felt that they were fortunate enough to adopt. Being white and raising a black child in the late sixties was definitely challenging, but it has opened my eyes. I am the type of person that would definitely adopt a child because I want to be a parent. I would prefer that my adopted child was white, because I would want my child to look like me. However, if it were easier to adopt a child of a different race I would not at all oppose. I cannot specify which race I would choose second. As far as sperm banks, my decision would be more complex. If I were going to carry a baby I would definitely want it to look like me. Also, the fact that I could choose from different donors, I know I would pick the sperm of a white man. I was frustrated in class when no one owned up to this. When women are specifically carrying their children they are naturally going to be more selective.