en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/759732 Comments by melzipants1 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/isnt-migration-conflict-inevitable__trashed/#IDComment70069852 I can see where he is trying to come from, but I feel like he might have missed what Sam was doing by talking about the Native Americans and the Puritans. This wasn’t about war at all; the example was to show that we are stopping people from doing what our ancestors did so many years ago. We are stopping people from trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. Our ancestors took away the Native American’s land and said it was ours, but there was no one to police our ancestors. They just took it and said that it was their right because G-d brought them there. We also took away land during the 1800’s that people we call Mexicans were living. We have taken people’s native lands and we now expect them to not come into this country illegally? It just doesn’t make sense. Technically our ancestors are illegal immigrants and shouldn’t have been allowed to settle here without having to pay something. Also, the Native Americans were peaceful with the Puritans for a little while until the Puritans got greedy and started building and taking way the lands of the Native Americans. The illegal immigrants of today and our ancestors are very similar, except, most of today’s illegal immigrants aren’t trying to take land away from Americans, they are trying to earn more money for their families and give them a better life. That is all they are trying to do. Their country isn’t giving them the money or the life they need to survive, and they don’t have the money to pay for all the costly things to become a legal immigrant. So sneaking in is their only option. They will work the jobs that most Americans would never do and they love it because even those jobs pay more than what they would have gotten in their home country. They are just trying to have a better life. That is what our ancestors did and what people from Europe did also. The people from Europe were dirt poor, but some were still allowed in. Yes, some were sent back, but we had very poor immigrants living here in the United States. They aren’t any different from today’s illegal immigrants. The only thing that is different is that to become an American citizen, you need lots of money. It is very expensive to become a citizen of the US and it also takes time. Like Sam said, illegal immigrants also are great for big businesses and large farms because they will work for little pay. Illegal immigrants today are a product of our ancestors’ illegal immigration. We are stopping the people who are doing the same thing our ancestors did, just trying to find a better life. Sat, 24 Apr 2010 02:47:34 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/isnt-migration-conflict-inevitable__trashed/#IDComment70069852 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70059036 Oh okay I'm glad you actually understand. I asked it wrong so I have a feeling a lot of people might not understand! Sat, 24 Apr 2010 02:05:51 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70059036 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70057336 Okay so I understand that you think that I was comical, but I am not ignorant. I got excited because what the girl said bothered me. I felt like she wasn't understanding what Sam was saying. I do know about this, so you assuming that I am ignorant hurt me. You shouldn't assume when you don't even know the person. I know the world doesn't work the way I would like it to; I've had to deal with ignorant and stupid people all of my life. I just think you misunderstood me and why I was freaking out so much. So maybe next time it might be a good idea to think before saying someone else is ignorant. Sat, 24 Apr 2010 01:59:19 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70057336 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70054669 I was the one who asked the question. I wasn't saying that poor people were allowed in. I was asking what people thought about it. I believe that people should be allowed in even if they don't have a lot of money, I just think you misunderstood what I was saying which is okay, cause I asked that horribly. Sat, 24 Apr 2010 01:49:02 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment70054669 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68463959 After Thursday’s class, I was so pissed off. We don’t really hear what is going on. Even though I knew that the war was mostly about oil, seeing it from the perspective of an Arab Muslim, I was horrified. I felt violated and abused from hearing that people wanted to take my oil. When I was back to being myself, I was still so angry. It makes no sense for us to take someone else’s oil, even if we are running out. Shouldn’t there be a better solution than war? Why does everyone think war is the always the answer? It isn’t, talk is. If only people could see that! There is so much more behind this, though. I think that some of the soldiers might have the extremist views and hate all Arab Muslims and want to kill them. However, I believe most of our men and women are over there because they were told to be. They might also be there to find the terrorists instead of the oil. Most of us will never know what our soldiers’ personal reasons were. The only thing we do know is that it is a war for oil mostly and the terrorism is second only to the oil. The war might have started that way, with terrorism, but the oil crave has taken over. I was reading the comments before me and I feel that some people misunderstood Sam’s point about the Christian Invaders. He was just saying this is probably what the Arab Muslims think all the Americans are, due to the fact that the heads of power in the US are Christians and most of the soldiers were and are Christian. He isn’t bashing Christians or saying that it is all Christians that are the invaders. It’s just what the people of Iraq and the Middle East think the Americans are. I feel that some people also focused too much on it and were hurt by what he said. He doesn’t hate Christians, as he said, he has friends who are Christian ministers. I feel that some people might not have wanted to hear what he said, but this is the reality of the situation. When the people in Iraq and the Middle East see things that most of America thinks is crazy, they don’t. All they see is the “Christian Invaders.” They don’t see crazy radical people like we do. That scares them and leads them to believe what Sam was telling us. I think we needed this wake-up call and we need to see what this war is truly about. Why are we trying to take someone else’s oil? Because it is our right? That’s bullshit! We are so far away and we can find oil here, but no one here wants to drill into our land anymore. We shouldn’t be trying to take someone else's oil. We should look on our own land, or find a better alternative and bring our troops home. I support the army, but not this war. Bring our men and women home. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 02:30:38 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68463959 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/nothing-about-the-census-is-easy__trashed/#IDComment65687348 The Census is just trying to make people put themselves into a category. I think that the word “negro” shouldn’t be on there because I think it is very offensive. That is just my opinion. So many people hate that word and feel that it reminds them of bad times and racism. It makes no sense to have it on the Census and just make more people angry and upset. I just don’t understand why they would put it on. It just makes more and more people annoyed and angry. Even if some African-Americans label themselves as “Negro,” many don’t, and find it offensive. I think that the Census people were trying to appeal to everyone, but it backfired. If they are going to keep words that most of the “race” find offensive, they need to leave an explanation or explain themselves better to the people. Hopefully they will do better next time. This is also the same for the Latina category. By making Latinas that aren’t of Spanish origin have to mark that is making the person give them false information. It just doesn’t make sense to not give people more of a choice when it comes to people’s backgrounds and races. If I were a Latina that wasn’t of Spanish origin, I would be very upset and would probably call the Census people and complain. It makes people feel hurt that they aren’t included in America. I understand that they are trying to get better and include more people, but they missed the mark with this one. I feel that the Census messed up and needs to do a better job next time. Like I said earlier, they need to give a better explanation and help people be able to pick the right information. I also think that the Census isn’t nice to white people. I don’t like to be just labeled as “white.” I am more than just what my skin color is. My ancestors came from so many different places and created me. I am Russian, Polish, Austrian, German, and English. Also, I am different from most “white” people because I am Jewish AND Episcopalian, even though I was raised Jewish. I feel that the Census might group “white” people together because it is easier for them than to list all the countries that we are from. Since the only people who are native to America are the Native Americans, the Census can’t call us the natives of America, but they need to label us as something. That something is “white.” I feel that the Census is not listening and seeing what America is. They are just trying to label everyone and get a number on everyone. They need to do a better job and go more in-depth into the “Melting Pot” that is America. Sat, 3 Apr 2010 02:47:21 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/nothing-about-the-census-is-easy__trashed/#IDComment65687348 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64285328 This video was one of the most disturbing ones I have ever seen. It made me so sad to see little children think that they are the “bad” race and want to play with white dolls. The sad thing is, I expected most of the kids to pick the white doll. It still shocked me, but just not as much as a lot of other people. When I was little, I saw some young black girls pick the white Barbies instead of the black ones. I remember one saying, “The black one looks really bad to me. I want the white one!” Even at a young age, I thought that was bad. I wanted to go up to her and say, “But she looks like you! Don’t you like people who look like you?” Instead, her mother said to her that she couldn’t have the white one and the little girl threw a fit. I felt so bad for the little girl and her mother. The video just reinforced how society’s view on black people affect our children. These little boys and girls don’t like their own race; they want to be someone else. This situation is something that needs to be changed, and fast. These little children are getting the wrong view of their own people. They see them as “bad” and then associate them with themselves. This says to them that they are “bad” also. Is that the message we should send to these children? That’s the message they are getting now. It broke my heart to see the one girl pick the white doll and say that it was the nice” doll and call the black one “bad.” What hurt the most was seeing her agonize over picking the black doll when the women asked which doll looked like her. A little girl shouldn’t have to feel that way. I also felt bad because my best friend is black and I feel like that might have hit her deep. I don’t want people to go through that. It is disturbing and so sad. I felt bad for everyone really. Some of us (I am white) had no idea this was going on. We never had to deal with that. The ironic thing is that white people are trying to get darker while black people are trying to get lighter. It is like we want to switch our skin color. This makes me think about what would happen if they had white children choose between the two dolls. I would choose the black one because I have always loved dark skin and I think it is beautiful. I just wish that these children thought the same way I did. I hope in the future that this changes and more black children start to love who they are and be proud of it. Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:29:32 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64285328 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment63087102 This story shows us that some people are still so ignorant. I know that there are these people, but just the fact of what happened because of a lesbian couple really bothers me. Like Sam said, it’s the 21st century, not the 1900’s. I think that the school took this too far and shouldn’t have canceled prom. Just because a lesbian couple wants to go to prom and a girl wants to wear a tux doesn’t give you the right to cancel one of the nights that most students look forward to. It is unfair to the other students that their prom had to be cancelled because of some people who don’t like gay people. People need to learn and evolve more. Most of our society has accepted gay and lesbians and I can’t understand why so many people can’t accept them. Maybe they don’t like change or it is a religion thing. However, they shouldn’t treat them differently. If they were the ones being looked down upon, they wouldn’t like it. It just doesn’t make any sense to not give these people the same rights just because they like people of the same sex. Gays and lesbians are people too and it makes me so sad that others won’t allow them to be themselves. This really shows that the school board needs a change and the whole school needs to think about what is right and wrong. I don’t understand how having a lesbian couple is “distractions to the educational process.” I think that the decision to cancel prom is a distraction. Prom is something that many people look forward to and now it was taken away. The school is taking the issue of the gay couple too far. They are hurting the other students and taking away something that the teens love. The girl is a very strong young woman to deal with all of this hate. She knows that she has created chaos, but she is sticking to her guns and proving her point. She is showing people that no one should be denied their rights. This is something that people need to see and to support. Our children are more acceptable of gays and lesbians, shouldn’t their parents and communities be too? I just look up to this girl for being true to herself and what she believes. She just wants to be accepted by the people around her and to have all the rights that everyone of her classmates have. She is strong, brave, and someone who knows what she wants and won’t back down without a fight. I just wish that more people were more accepting of other people and this sort of thing doesn’t have to happen. People just need to evolve and become better. Sat, 20 Mar 2010 02:20:42 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment63087102 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58809319 I think that the guy who said he felt it wasn't his place was not correct. I think that being told that by our parents does affect how we help people in the future. This is why so many people just stood there and didn't say or do anything. They felt it wasn't their business to help the poor woman out in the video, out of politeness. Unfortunately, I would see that as not supportive of the Muslim woman and more towards discrimination. I understand that a lot of people in our country have fear towards people of the Muslim culture, but they should think if they would like to be treated the same way. I know I wouldn't. If I was, I would want more people to back me up, not just stand there or support the discrimination against myself. The video about the Muslim women was a sad example of what happens whenever discrimination in a public area takes place. Most of the people just stand and stare, hoping someone else will step in for them. You can also see little bits of discrimination when you walk to class here. I have seen white people stare at a girl in the head scarf with utter disgust and fear on their face. Thank G-d she didn't see them, but I saw and it made me so mad. I have done the quick split second reaction, but I know that people who go to this school are less likely to be terrorists and more likely to have been born in the United States. The horrible thing about people is that if a small group of people from a different faith or background does something disastrous to another group, the attacked group most likely starts to hate anyone that looks like their attacker, even if the person had nothing to do with it. I think that is what has happened to people of the Muslim faith and who dress in the head cloths. More Americans need to stand up and realize that the problems we have been having with people of the Muslim faith is because of our discrimination. Only a small group hate us, not the whole entire nation. It's also horrible that Americans are discriminating against Muslims who are Americans. They are one of us and yet they get discriminated and are subject to racism. I can relate to that with being discriminated, not as bad as the woman in the video, but nonetheless I have. Since I am Jewish, I've had people ask me how much money I have and people who drop pennies in front of me and expect me to pick them up because of my faith and the stereotypes that were given to us. I also had one person who didn't want to be friends with me anymore in middle school because they thought I would be "greedy" like "all Jews are." I was actually called a kike once, which is a derogatory word used against Jews. It was also in a public place and the only reason they called me that was because I had my necklace with the Star of David and when I asked them why they called me that, they said, "You just look Jewish and greedy." I can understand what this woman went through because I only had my friend there who tried to defend me and she was the only one. Discrimination is horrible and shouldn't exist at all, but some people are always going to be afraid of what they don't understand. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:04:03 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58809319 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-one__trashed/#IDComment57722695 I think that any gay/lesbian couples should be able to adopt children. It doesn't matter if the couple is a lesbian or a gay one. I think that people should stop trying to stop people from adopting children just because of their sexual orientation. It will give deserving kids a home that they need. I think letting them adopt children is an amazing idea because it will help kids find a home. It will also let kids have a loving home when the straight people won't. If the child is giving a loving home, they will thrive, no matter if they have straight parents or parents that are the same gender. It doesn't matter. Just give them love. That is all they need. Children also need a stable home and it shouldn't matter what the parents are. Gay couples can provide the same support and also give their kids more of an education on being accepting of others. They have a better sense of what happens when you are different and they can prepare and help the children. Why do people have to be so afraid of others who are different and make these dumb things up that gay couples can't because they are going to molest the kids? It's ludicrous. People should just take their heads out of their asses and see the bigger picture. Since gay couple can't have kids of their own, they will take the unwanted ones and give them a loving home that they deserve. It's just that simple. The straight couples are giving up their kids and it shouldn't matter who the adoptive parents are, they should just be happy that their child is going to loving parents. Sat, 20 Feb 2010 05:00:19 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/lgbt-class-question-one__trashed/#IDComment57722695 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55572775 When I saw commericials for Avatar, I was hooked right away. I'm a visual person and I loved what I saw. I saw the movie and loved it. I didn't see anything about the "White Messiah" though. It was a movie that was someone's baby for 10 years. I felt that this isn't like that type of movie. I read his commentary and I feel he is going too far. It made me think though, but I still felt that he went too far. People have different opinions and mine is that it was an amazing movie that many people loved and why do we have to look so far into it? The movie was made to excite and make people think about what we are doing to ourselves and our planet. That is what I thought about the most. I feel that his essay was looking to hard for something to be wrong. I think that we should all just watch the movie for entertainment and not think about all the other horrible things that happened, or other views. Sat, 6 Feb 2010 04:59:53 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/avatar-and-the-white-mans-burden__trashed/#IDComment55572775 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/i-guess-it-pays-to-learn-a-bit-about-other-people__trashed/#IDComment54470401 i guess that because of my different upbringing, we have conflicting views. I wasn't saying that people should learn other religions like they know their own, just the basics. I'm not trying to make everyone Jewish, it's just my opinion. I don't think everyone should know everything about my faith. It's just that I feel people should know certain things. I guess it's also the fact that I may have dealt with more scrutiny when it comes to my religion and that I am sick and tired of it. That's all. We have different opinions based a little on how we were raised, that's all. I just want my religion to be accepted more in schools. That's why I said what I said. It's a religion that most of the world was once. I just think there is so much history that kids today can learn from the times before Christ also, not just the time after. I am not bashing Catholicism and Christianity, I'm just saying there is so much more to offer kids. I'm sorry that you thought i was shunning you or whatever, it's just the opinion of a Jewish person who would like for people to just learn a little bit more. Sat, 30 Jan 2010 05:27:26 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/i-guess-it-pays-to-learn-a-bit-about-other-people__trashed/#IDComment54470401 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/i-guess-it-pays-to-learn-a-bit-about-other-people__trashed/#IDComment54096824 Oh yay more people not understanding Judaism. I understand that a lot of people don't know what Orthodox Jews do, but some what went down was a little much. Since I am Jewish, I did remember learning about teffillin. However, I'm not Orthodox, so I didn't really think about it again until I read this article. This article interested me a lot because, besides me being Jewish, I was interested in seeing what people didn't understand this time. I've had experience with people who didn't understand my faith and made split-second judgments on it. This didn't surprise at all when it comes to Judaism. It's more accepted here than Islam, but still very misunderstood. The unfortunate thing about this whole situation is that the people on the plane didn't know what it was. This shows how much the people know about religions other than theirs. I sometimes feel I know more about Christianity than my own religion since Christianity is the main religion in the US. In school, I only knew about 2 or 3 other Jews and during the holiday season, my mom came into my class and taught m classmates about Hanukkah. I think that was the only lesson of Judaism most of my classmates got. It's sad that so many people have no idea what Orthodox or even Liberal Jews do. However, almost everyone knows about Christianity. Even though I went to a public school, they focused more on Christmas and Easter and there was almost nothing on Hanukkah and all of our other holidays. My own school didn't take off for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur until the year after I graduated high school. Other religions, like Islam, don't get the same respect like Christianity does. I'm not bashing it, I'm just explaining how it was difficult for me because I had to miss school to practice my faith, when for Christmas and Easter, the school was closed. Is that fair? I don't think so. Anyways, back to this situation, I understand the landing of the plane because many people don't know what teffillin is. I would do the same if I didn't know what it was. It was the right thing to do for the situation. The teen's grandmother was right in saying that America is skittish. With the bombing scare back in December, America is on high alert. But, with more technology to help find bombs, wouldn't the flight attendant know that he must not have had a bomb. He did get through security. I guess they didn't get the technology yet. However, handcuffing the poor kid was going too far. Also it bothered me that the flight attendant didn't trust the teen when he said he was praying. I feel that sometimes Islam and Judaism get mixed together and people get too freaked out. This is another example showing that we need to teach people about all faiths and not just their own. There shouldn't be situations like this. America needs to learn about all the faiths that exist in this country. Also, it shows how much people trust their security and their technology. Just to sum this up, this is just another example of how little people know about different religions. The situation is understandable, but some of the events that took place, like the handcuffing, were going too far. The country needs to be educated so that something similar to this doesn't happen again. Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:52:06 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/i-guess-it-pays-to-learn-a-bit-about-other-people__trashed/#IDComment54096824 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-s__trashed/#IDComment53881805 supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:14:51 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/last-name-begins-with-s__trashed/#IDComment53881805 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/clubbing-the-bejesus-out-of-rationality__trashed/#IDComment53500640 I am not surprised that there are still people in this world who don't know when they need to stop and think about what they say. Pat Robinson is a very old man. He probably grew up in a racist community with racist parents. This is what he knows and it is prejudice towards black people or people of color. What's sad is that his mind is so warped that he believes people almost 200 years ago made a pact with the devil and that it was a true story. Was he there? No. He doesn't have the right to say that these people "made a pact with the devil" when he doesn't have any proof. There are others like him who believe that natural disasters happen because G-d is angry or someone made a pact with the devil. (I don't spell the whole name out because in Judaism it would be using the name in vain.) It's sad that these people still exist; they are too set in their ways to see the whole picture and to realize that natural disasters are NATURAL. They have been happening for millions of years. What he needs to be focusing on is sending relief and help to these poor people. Their lives weren't the best before, but now, they must be unbearable. If he can somehow get over his prejudice and realize that innocent lives are being taken away and ruined everyday, he might become compassionate. However, I think he is too set in his ways to even think about helping them. That is what saddens me the most out of all of this: that people are so racist and set in their ways that they won't help their fellow man. It's just disgusting. We are all the same. Why do we have to treat each other like crap? The answer is that hate has been passed down for thousands of years and people don't know how to stop. Also, when we hear someone we know from t.v., their words get spread so much faster. What he said has been said by Americans for hundreds of years. Our own country is full of racist robots. Whatever they learned from their parents, they spew out and spread through further generations. This is never going to stop. However, we can help the situation and spread The Haitians need help. That is the simplest concept of today. Their pain shouldn't be blamed on a story that was from almost 200 years ago. The people just want to survive to see another day and to find their families. People are losing parents, siblings, and other family members everyday, sometimes their whole entire families. Everyone needs to put aside their differences and help the Haitians get through this. We need to band together and help these people build again. No one should be putting them down with racist and religious comments. The people of the United States should try to help more and be angels to these people. We all need to pray or keep the Haitians in our hearts and souls and think positively for them. Help them succeed. Sat, 23 Jan 2010 03:49:54 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/01/clubbing-the-bejesus-out-of-rationality__trashed/#IDComment53500640