I think the biggest reason that people dislike immigrants is because they think they are going to come here and steal our jobs. This is a reasonable fear because people have been known to hire illegal immigrants for a lower wage because they are willing to take less pay and actually have a job. People might see them as a threat because they are putting us out of work. However they may be necessary since people who are born here would not take these jobs, and then they would never end up getting filled. This would mean that the business would possibly go under. This would mean that there would be less competition within businesses and prices could go even higher for their products.I think another thing that Americans do not like about immigrants is that they are different. They have a different culture then us and we might not be as accepting since they are coming onto “our” land. Especially the fact that they are illegal, although most of us probably do not feel as strongly as the guy in the video, we might not think they deserve to be here. Although I know they are not supposed to be here, I feel like people would be mad no matter what they did. If they got jobs and worked hard then we would complain that they are taking our jobs. If they did not work then people would be complaining they are lazy. I have to agree a little bit with what Sam said about how they are hard-working people. They risk a lot to come here to work hard or get an education so they can make money and eat, making less money than a lot of people who live here already. Back on the topic of their cultures, people might be afraid that if too many illegal immigrants come here that they are going to spread their culture and it will take over. If we our comfortable with our own culture than we most certainly would prefer it to stay the same. I notice that people also get annoyed when people cannot speak English as well as everyone else. I see things that say “welcome to America, now speak English” and we might get a laugh out of that but it is easy to see that some people are serious about that. I have also witnessed many times how people get frustrated when they are speaking to another person and they cannot really understand them because they are speaking “broken” English. I can understand that people get frustrated because they cannot understand them. However I do not think that people should pass judgment on someone so easily. I think all these things add up to the stereotype of who we think immigrants are.

When i was first hearing the students repeating the story i really did not notice that the mixed or black students were telling the story different than the white students. i only noticed that as each person told the story it became increasingly vague and changes somewhat too. not until you pointed out that the white students were telling it differently did i think about it and see that they were actually telling it differently. i think a lot or i guess most of it has to do with political correctness. i think the fact that the student in the story was black maybe made the white person uncomfortable to say black especially since the guy in the story was seemingly a part of racism, in my opinion. i think the white person was maybe trying to seem like it was not as bad as it really was because they were not black and to talk about something like that lightly does come across that easy. i think also that as the story went from one person to the next and some parts of the story were forgotten or changed it seemed like no one was really pointing out the fact that the students who were being racist towards the main character of the story who was black, were white. I think that maybe those who were white were also a little uncomfortable with the fact that the bad people in the story were white because they might feel stereotyped into being a typical white person who was being racist against someone who was black, or a minority. I really do not know how to put into words what I am trying to get across but now that it has been pointed out that those who were white were telling it differently than those who were mixed or black it has become more obvious. Maybe I myself had seen it actually happening in class yesterday but I did not want to admit that it was because I am white as well. I also think that for a white person to retell the story who was of a different race would have been harder for them to repeat it to them because the story was about white people hating on black people. It almost seems silly for someone to be nervous to repeat the story to someone of a different race since it clearly was a story about them. Also because most of us who are taking this class are 1. Comfortable with talking about race to a certain point and 2. Comfortable with people who are a different race then us. I guess what makes us all uncomfortable is talking viewing or hearing about acts of hate on other races or racism on almost any terms.

After first seeing those commercials on tv, it seems like a those countries would benefit from them. However, after hearing Ernso Jean Louie say that he does not like random people coming in and taking pictures of the poor kids around him. It would be one thing if these people were doing this so that the people in Haiti could substantially benefit from it. Hearing that these people only do it for their own benefit is really kind of sickening. That these people could go into a completely poverty stricken country and use the people for their own benefit without contributing anything is terrible. At first when I see those commercials on tv I think how bad I feel for those people, so at first I would assume that this would help them out. However and maybe it is just me, I never actually feel motivated enough to call in and donate money. How do you really know where this money is going? Truthfully, I do not believe that a majority of that money that those commercials raise is going to where they say it is going to go, probably only a small portion of it. Another problem with these commercials is that they are portraying these people in such a pessimistic way. Yes they are living under very bad conditions but the children on these commercials always seem to be on the verge of tears and usually without parents or any caretakers but themselves. When Sam showed us pictures of when he was over there, the people he met with always had a smile on their faces. Also when the two women who went over there and came to soc 119 to talk to us about their trip, the people in their videos were smiling and the children in the video seem to be playing and having a good time. Just because they do not have all that we have does not mean that they are miserable. They learn to deal with what they have and accept that. I do think it is important that people are informed about the poor living conditions that these people are living in but I also people have not been informed of how pretty it looks there. I mean I have never really seen any part of Haiti from those in the commercials and every time it just looks run down. But that is exactly what I’m talking about. I would not want to go there for any reason unless it was to help people. If we are only seeing the poverty stricken parts then most people would not want to go there during their travels. If people actually started going there it could help, and I really do not know by how much, but it could possibly help their economy.

The fact that I do dress up and wear heels to go out on the weekends made me want to respond to this question. I never really thought about it and the fact that I really am not making this decision. I just always assumed because I was picking out what to wear out at night I was making that decision completely on my own, but really that want did not just come out of nowhere. I like the analogy Sam’s wife used when she talked about the young girls picking the white doll a greater majority of the time. Because they are picking for themselves which doll they want makes it seem like they were deciding this completely on their own. However after today’s lecture it is easy to see that someone or some ones were making them feel as if the white doll was the better choice. I think this completely relates to getting dressed up to go out. Obviously us girls do not wear heels for their comfort or wear short skirts because we like to freeze our ass off. We do it because we see other girls do it and it becomes okay for us to do no matter how uncomfortable we might be. I think that seeing so many girls dressed up and wearing heels and you yourself going out in even just jeans and uggs can be a little awkward, even intimidating, I’m not really sure of the exact word I’m looking for. This goes as well for doing our hair and makeup. You normally don’t see girls going out with their hair up in a bun or even their natural hair. Usually it has been straightened or curled or something. As well as makeup too, we might go around saying how much we like to do all this stuff but really with all the time it takes is it really all worth it? Sometimes when I’m pressed for time and I do not have enough time to get ready or when it’s cold out I catch myself saying “ I just wish I could be a guy so I wouldn’t even have to get ready”. I have also heard other people say it but it’s not all the time. I don’t think that every time I am getting ready to go out. But now that I am actually thinking about what I’m saying, I’m realizing how easy guys have it in that aspect. They are able to take a minimal amount of time getting ready and can be comfortable with themselves and the way they look and can also be physically comfortable as well. That part of the lecture had me thinking about this a lot more but to be honest I do not think it will really affect what I wear and what not. I say this because it is almost like I have become comfortable, or used to, being uncomfortable. If I were to go out in say jeans and uggs all they time and feel comfortable, that is what would make me uncomfortable.

I do not really know how to answer this because I have never been in a situation like for example the one where the girl was yelled at from a pick-up truck. To hear that though makes me sick to know that someone is so uncomfortable with the fact that someone of a different race was looking in their direction. It also bothers me that I really do not know what I would do in this situation. I haven’t put much though into it since I have never really experienced something like that but if I was put in that situation my first instinct would be to defend the person who was being discriminated against. However this is hypothetical and I also know that when the time would actually come I would also be scared to say something to the person discriminating, especially if I was friends or acquaintances with them. I guess I could say that I have been in situations where people were discriminating but it was not direct. I’m white and I have a few friends who for some reason like to make fun of black people. I really do not understand why and I definitely agree with the things they say. I am friends with people here who are black. They have told me that they would get offended if someone white called a black person a n*****. They told me that they don’t think it’s ok if someone who isn’t black does that. My friends that are white have said that word in a condescending way which really bothers me. I know that because I understand that a black person would be offended by that, that I should say something. However I usually hold my tongue because they are my friends too and I feel unsure what to say. What I really mean is I don’t know if saying something would actually make them reconsider. It especially bothers me that my friends that go here would say things like that because penn state is very diverse so you would think that it wouldn’t be a problem. I am not sure if my friends are uncomfortable but I would have hoped that they would have overcome that by now. The friends I am talking about are a few that I went to high school with. My high school was probably 98% white with some Asian exchange students and a very small number of black people. Probably small enough that I would be able to count on one hand. I understand that when we first came to penn state that we had very few experiences with people who are not white. However I feel as if being here I have become more comfortable with people who are not white. I do wish that my friends were the same because when they are discriminating I really do want to say something to them but it is hard sometimes.

I am not dark skinned, I am actually white but I wanted to comment on this video because I think that everyone, no matter what race, probably had the same sort of reaction to this video. Before we watched the video Sam warned us that it was going to be the most disturbing video we watched all semester. After hearing that I expected it to be somewhat graphic. However, after seeing the video I realized that disturbing ideas can come from just words. You could sense a difference in the energy of the room after the video ended. Before Sam played the video, he had to stop talking multiple times to tell everyone to quiet down. Once the video was over, the room fell silent. I’m not sure exactly how everyone else felt but for me, I really didn’t know what to say. I was honestly surprised to see over two-thirds of the little girls pick the white dolls. If there would have been white children in this test I might have expected them to pick the white doll. I had assumed that these children would actually pick the doll that was the same race as them. I was also surprised at how quickly they picked the white doll rather than the colored one. Another disturbing part of the video was when they were asked which doll was good and which was bad they chose the white doll as good and the black doll as bad. I really had to wonder where they got this idea. I understand where people in class were coming from when they said to blame media. I do remember growing up how few colored characters there were, especially main characters. However I cannot really recall a time when I was watching something where the colored character was portrayed as being evil. So to hear those children automatically pick up or point to the colored doll when asked which one was bad began to confuse me. The other video “A Girl Like Me” some of the girls talked about how their own family members had an influence on how they felt about their own appearance. It is hard to say where exactly this image of white being the “good” color or the better color comes from but from these two videos it is clear that it is creating negative effects on those of color. I think it’s sad because as a whole race, it’s not like white people are going around and calling people of color ugly or bad. Somehow thought that image seems to be staying in their heads and it is beginning at a young age. The one part of the video that really got to me was the part where the young colored girl was asked which doll was bad and she point to the colored doll. She was then asked which one looked like here and again she pointed to the colored doll. The look on her face made it seem as though she thought the color of her skin was bad. It was hard to see someone at such a young age have to already deal with those racial insecurities.

Or what about when you are not sure you can pay the rent. How can you be happy knowing that you may be living on the streets until you can find a better job or one at all? These are the things that those in poverty should consider before they go and have numerous kids. It’s not as if condoms cost so much that they would just be better off getting pregnant and having more kids than they can handle. Those who grew up in poverty are more likely to remain in poverty or remain poor for the rest of their lives. So why don’t they think about their own childhood and realize that they and their children would be better off if they only had the amount of kids that they could financially and emotionally handle instead of as many as they possibly can?

. I do think it is just stupid to have more kids than they can handle though. I said that they might not be educated about things that can prevent them from getting pregnant but I do not think any education is necessarily required to know that if you struggle to get by alone then you should know that just one child can put you behind even further. I understand that people may want to have children and may dream of having a big happy family but how can you be happy when you are constantly under pressure to make some money here and there and you can barely get by. I know that money doesn’t buy happiness but I would imagine it would be difficult to be happy when you are not sure whether or not you can put enough food on the table to sustain you and the rest of you family.

I do not know if I think it is selfish for those in poverty to have a lot of children. I don’t think that is the word I would use but I do think those who live at or below the poverty line should consider the kind of life that their children are going to grow up with before they start having kids left and right. It is possible that some poor people are not educated about the importance of protection or are unaware of products such as plan b and the pill. It could also simply be that they cannot afford these things on a regular basis. It also seems as if those who are poorer have children at a younger age and continue having children a lot of the time raising these children as a single parent. This only comes full circle for their children who will grow up in poverty and be more likely to have children at a younger age creating a sort of never ending cycle. Eventually one should realize you can’t raise a child in bad conditions much less five or more. It seems to me that a lot of poorer people have around the number of five children. I think that as a middle class family four to five children is enough and any more would start to put strain on the family’s economic situation.

Another thing that has to do with color is prison systems. It seems that not only being white gets you ahead but maybe being of color can put you behind in a sense. Other statistics that Sam kept showing in class was the percentage of whites versus those of color in our prison in this country. We don’t know if people of color are actually committing more crimes or if they are actually being arrested more often because of the color of their skin. Judging by the way jobs go for people of color it seems as if the prison systems are just as discriminating as the world of businesses.