In my opinion, I think we are much more likely to believe or re-tell a story that was told to us by a close friend, relative, or family member. I believe this because for the most part, we trust our close friends, relatives, and family members, therefore, we are more likely to believe that something they tell us is true over a complete stranger giving us this information. We have no reason to believe that someone who is that close to us would lie or make false accusations purposefully, so we would be more inclined to repeat the newly learned information to others because we have faith that what they are telling us is correct. I also think this is true for more than solely re-telling stories. If someone who is close to you and therefore, is worthy of your trust, you are naturally more inclined to believe them. If a complete stranger or a distant acquaintance shares a story with you, it is more likely that you will be more skeptical towards this stranger because they have not earned or gained your trust in any previous way or manner. I believe the same also holds true for stories that you may overhear from others. We all have stories, whether they are from our own personal experiences or stories from our friends or loved ones that we enjoy to share with others. Whether the stories are funny, upsetting, frightening, romantic, or completely outrageous, everybody loves to share stories for pure entertainment. Sometimes, these stories can teach others a valuable lesson that they would not know if they did not hear the story about an experience. It can be confusing and tricky to be able to differentiate which stories are believable or accurate and which ones are exaggerations or falsehoods. Even I have to admit that I’ve exaggerated a little, maybe added an event into a story that I wasn’t quite sure about or didn’t really happen, to make a story more entertaining or exciting. This could defend the point that all people fabricate the truth a little. We all want to look “cool” and have the most exciting story that anyone’s ever heard, so, we add in a little something extra to spice it up. The problem here is that if a story becomes extremely altered to the point where the storyteller isn’t even sure of what’s true and what’s not anymore, then you are feeding people falsehoods. All in all, life is full of stories that get told over and over again. What you choose to believe is simply up to you. However, you have to take into account, that most people like to exaggerate to make themselves look “cooler”, therefore, you must take everything you hear with a grain of salt.

I agree that it is impossible to think that the Trayvon Martin shooting was not racially motivated. If you go on YouTube it shows that George Zimmerman uses derogatory terms towards Trayvon Martin left and right when explaining the situation to the police. You would think that someone would keep his/her prejudice feelings to themselves when speaking with a person of high importance in society, such as the police, the government, etc. However, George Zimmerman clearly did not think twice about throwing around derogatory words when referring to Trayvon Martin, the boy that he just killed. This seems extremely heartless, ignorant, and unsympathetic of George Zimmerman, specifically when reporting the incident to the police. He refers to black people as “other people”, as if they are “other people” when compared to white people. I would like to ask George Zimmerman why he considers black people to be “others people”? Is it because of their “other” skin color? Because, if that is the case, in my opinion, his act was racially motivated. Nobody would use derogatory words or refer to colored people as “other people” if they did not have prejudice feelings against that group of people. When I look at pictures of Trayvon Martin on the internet, my heart drops because he looks like a normal kid, just like me, who clearly lost his life solely because of his skin color. Why should Trayvon Martin be deprived of all of the goals he set for himself just because of racial discrimination that is still clearly prevalent in the world today. I find it odd that so many people in the class, especially white people, said that the shooting was not racially motivated. I guess it goes back to Sam Richard’s idea of the tale of the white fish, the six stages of white racial identity development. It seems that the portion of the class, particularly the white students, that said that the Trayvon Martin shooting was not racially motivated was in stage two of the six stages of white racial identity development. This is clear because they are avoiding the subject that is right in front of them; race. They just hear what they want to hear despite the facts that are in front of them, such as the 911 call placed by George Zimmerman. They are afraid to speak their mind because they want to stay “politically correct”. Being politically correct in stage two consists of thinking and speaking about race in a certain way so as not to be perceived as racist and to not offend anyone. In this stage, white people don’t know if they’re allowed to use racial identifiers, so they don’t use them at all because of fear. This “mindset” is worse than actually acknowledging that race is a factor in this case.

I think respect is a very personal thing and no one is able to tell you how to feel about yourself, you have to choose that yourself. Your self image should not depend on anyone else’s opinion or what others think of you, it should consist solely of what you think of yourself. If you decide your self worth based on other people’s opinions and judgements, you will never feel good about yourself. You need to have enough confidence so that other people’s opinions won’t matter to you. I’m really happy that Sam had the Muslim and Western women talk in class because I don’t know much about the Muslim religion and have always wondered why women wear scarves around their heads. I personally think that it is degrading to women to have to cover their heads at all times of the day, even in front of their husbands and families, which they are supposed to feel most comfortable around. I feel so comfortable around my family that I can walk around in my pajamas and my undergarments and it doesn’t matter. However, now I understand that it is more of a religious thing than a comfortability thing. Now, I think its great that their scarves represent modesty. One girl said some don’t wear scarves but preseve their modesty in the way they dress, wiht not showing a lot of skin. This modesty allows people to get to know their personality rather than just noticing them for their personal appearance. I really don’t like the idea of always being covered up especially when it’s hot or sunny, however, I now respect the fact that it is for religious reasons and modesty. I was raised to dress modestly, but not to have every inch of my body covered. In Western society it is okay to wear less clothing because it is the fashion and the choice of the wearer. Just because we have midriffs and legs showing does not make us immodest. Some times women dress for men, to get attention. Some times they dress for themselves, looking their best because they are confident. Whose to say what someone is wearing for a certain purpose. There are ways to dress modestly and still look good about yourself. But if you have the body and the confidence to strut around in less clothing I don’t think that it is wrong. I think that it's all your perspective and how you were raised. I dress modestly most of the time. It’s all about the way you dress and your style that shows your self worth. I feel so comfortable around my family that I can walk around in my pajamas and my undergarments and it doesn’t matter.

When we watched the FOX video in class, I think that the class found it funny at first, until they realized that the video was focused solely on interviewing Asian people. Mostly, making fun of the Asian student’s accents and lack of understanding what the guy was talking about in English. However, in class, I was wondering the same thing. Why didn’t anyone question the Asian students about why they thought it was funny if the video was focused on singling them out and making fun of them just for their cultural differences? I felt bad for the white guy because he was just voicing his opinion about the video, which I’m sure he assumed the whole class agreed with considering how many people were laughing along while the video played. I don’t think he deserved to get singled out, especially because more than one Asian in class said they thought it was funny. Even one of the Asian boys said that he thought it was funny that they were making fun of their accents and lack of understanding. He even said he couldn’t relate to how Asians would feel because he said he felt like he was too Americanized. How is it so that someone can feel so Americanized in this country that they forget their cultural roots and feel so disconnected that they can’t even relate to being insulted for their culture. It’s almost like the Asian boy was agreeing on the side of the White guy making fun of his own culture than on the other side with his fellow Asians feeling insulted. It could be because he felt embarrassed that his culture was so made fun of in front of the entire class, let alone the public as in everyone that saw the video. No matter how Americanized I feel if anyone singled out Jews and made fun of them without them knowing it, for characteristics that they could not control, just like the Asians were made fun of for in the FOX video, I would feel extremely strong about defending my roots. Being Jewish is part of who I am, just as being Asian is part of who that boy was and part of all of the Asians in the room are. It is important to stick by your roots and not loose sight of how important your culture is to you. Because without it, we would all be the same and the world would not be as interesting and diverse as it is today. This FOX video was a perfect example of a real life situation that Sam has been talking about this entire semester. It is crazy to me to see how race is such a crucial controversial topic in our world.

Ever since I was three years old, my parents moved into a house in a small neighborhood in Long Island. The town is called Roslyn. I’ve lived there ever since. Until I was three, we lived in a small apartment in Queens, New York. Going from Queens, New York, one of the most racially diverse areas in the world to one of the most White, Jewish areas was a huge transition. Although I had no idea at the time, I was about to grow up surrounded by mostly, if not at least 80% of the people surrounding me, the same skin color, race, and religion as I was. I never felt insecure or had any thoughts about being different because I was surrounded by people who lived and had the same physical appearance as I did. I was always part of the majority. I never had to deal with prejudices or discrimination against me. Even though White is the majority of the world’s population and almost never has to deal with any prejudices or discrimination, in pretty much every other part of the world besides the eastern area of the United States, primarily Long Island, where I lived, along with Israel, Jews are very much discriminated against. Ever since coming to Penn State and leaving my primarily White, Jewish neighborhood behind, I have come in contact with so many instances of prejudice, whether it is something I have overheard someone say to someone else or something that someone has said directly to me, about being Jewish. Some of the things that I have heard have come out so casually out of people’s mouths it really blew my mind. I’ve never heard so many people refer to Jews as greedy, selfish, and sneaky then I have at Penn State. It’s weird for me because I forget that Penn State is located in the middle of suburban Pennsylvania where mostly everyone is White and Catholic and has strong beliefs against any other religion that does not fit with theirs, especially Jewish. It has opened up my eyes to the prejudices that I have always heard about but never experienced are actually real. I don’t consider myself as racist because I have multiple friends from all different races and ethnicities. One of my best friend is Persian from Iran and another one is Catholic and Irish. I have multiple friends that are Italian, German, and Native American, who are all Catholic. Race, ethnicity, and religion has never been an issue that has come between the friendships that I have made throughout my life. Even though I have grown up in a primarily White, Jewish area, it has not influenced my beliefs in race and it upsets me when the demographics of different people affect the way they view others.

In class today, we talked about a lot of controversial issues involving the war in Iraq and the motives behind the soldiers, the government, and the two countries that were involved in the war. The motives behind the war seemed to cause the most commotion in class today because many thought that the US government knew about the attacks ahead of time. When one of our guest speakers, the boy who got brain damage from being in the war, told us of his friend who was killed in the Pentagon the day that he returned from his honey moon, I think it really made the class stop and think for a second. Or at least it made me think. It made me re-evaluate my life, my relationships with my friends and family, and my place and role in society. The guest speaker told us this story of his friend with a lot of emphasis in his voice that the government had nothing to do, and had no knowledge of any attacks that were placed on the United States. I completely believe this. I also believe that the soldiers had no hidden objective behind them attacking the Iraqi people. As a member of the army, a soldier has to do what he or she has to do to protect their country and it’s people. It is their obligation to do as much as they can do make sure that the rest of the world knows that the United States is united in its values, beliefs, and strength. And that no one can get away with attacking us without twice as worse repercussions. Soldiers may have to show this by threatening Iraqi people or by making a statement, as they did by running over that random car in the video we watched in class, but that is only for the protection of the American people. Yes, I think it is unfair to punish an entire country for the acts of 18 individuals, but the United States government, along with all of the men and women who have enrolled in the American army, have a duty of protecting their country no matter the measures that they have to take. You cannot base the actions that one soldier does on an entire army. As that military truck ran the other car off of the road in the video that we saw in class today, it shows that even though some soldiers may not take the best measures or actions in fighting this war by attacking, punishing, or threatening innocent people, overall, I don’t believe that the military has bad intentions or secret motives behind the war. I believe that the government has it’s country best interests in mind.

When I first saw this picture of the marine kissing his boyfriend, it really touched me. It made me think of all of the hurdles that gay people still have to overcome in order for people to consider them “normal”. If a male marine was captured kissing his girlfriend, there would be no controversy or even any attention paid to them at all. However, when there is a picture of two men kissing, all hell breaks loose. I don’t think this is fair because why should a heterosexual couple be treated any different than a homosexual couple. Neither is better or worse than the other. And both should be looked at and considered to be the same. I am very pro-gay rights, so I fully support two men kissing or two women kissing for that matter. I believe that everyone has their freedom of choice and therefore, they should all be able to pick and choose who they kiss or who they become involved in a relationship with. I just do not understand anyone who is repulsed by this image. Is it because you think you are better than them? I understand that some people have such strong religious values that leads them to disagree or even be disgusted by the idea of homosexual interactions, but regardless, I still think that is wrong. Even if religion is your “back up” reason to justify your reasoning for being homophobic, you are still obtaining the attitude that you are better than those certain people. All in all, it is always wrong to judge other people in the sense that they do not deserve the same rights and values that you do. We are all human beings and should all have the same basic human rights. This includes the right to pick and choose who you want to kiss, be in a relationship with, marry, hug, and take a picture with. Especially the fact that this couple is going to be separated by military responsibilities, they, like any other couple, are going to embrace in a hug or kiss for as long as they can before one member of the couple gets taken away from the other. This is a natural interaction that two people in a relationship will follow through with. Two males, two females, a male and a female, transgenders, bisexuals, transexuals, any race, gender, or sexual orientation should be treated with the same rights and the same respect as any other person. This is why this picture should not be looked at as a repulsive photo because it is simply showing the embracement of two people that are in love and are about to be separated from their loved ones.

I agree with Sam in the sense that if two equally-qualified people sent in the same exact resume, the person with a more white sounding name, like Katelyn, would get picked over a more black or brown sounding name, like Taquisha. I think such instances, including this example, and the other example that Sam used when he said that if two people were taking a standardized test, and the black or brown person gets five extra credit point just because they are black or brown, is completely unfair and should be considered an act of discrimination. Whether the victim of the discriminatory act is of white skin or of black or brown skin, contrary to most beliefs, including mine, Sam said that most black and brown people are not into getting those 5 extra credit points and women, they don’t want the extra credit points they want a fair assessment of who they are. It is unfair to judge just by the sound of a name because you will never know if you are truly passing up a very qualified, talented, intelligent, hard working person that could work for your company, get into your university, or just not giving a chance to someone that deserves one. Because I have a white sounding name, I cannot imagine having to deal with those prejudged opinions towards myself from people that have never met me before and before they would even know if I was qualified. It saddens me to know that there are such prejudices and discriminations still out in the world today. We have come a long way since slavery and other discriminatory issues that have happened solely based on the color of people’s skins throughout history. Wars have been fought over it, people have been killed, blood has been shed, and many have suffered because of the contrasting opinions and prejudged notions based on race and ethnicity. If only people would stop worrying about the color of skin, then we would really be able to live in harmony. Skin is just the layer the covers our body, for the most part, it does not contribute to our actions, thoughts, and behaviors. We are all the same human beings with feelings, thoughts, rights, beliefs, values, emotions, and brains inside. The only thing that America has to figure out, is how we can stop “judging a book by its cover” as the saying goes, and start really looking beyond the skin color and into a person for who they truly are. This includes ruling out all previous knowledge about a race, because a person is an individual, and it is wrong to “punish” someone personally for something that their race has done in history.

As a member of the Jewish community, I can completely relate to the statement that Jewish people express more resistance to dating outside of the faith/culture than one might expect. I know that my parents would accept any boy that I wanted to marry, however, my mother and grandmother have expressed multiple times throughout my life that they want me to marry a Jewish man. Despite all of their convincing, I have dated a Catholic boy and to say the least, my grandmother was not thrilled. Ever since I was small, I knew my grandmother had a very passionate viewpoint about dating out of faith. She would be extremely unhappy if I ever dated a non-Jew, and it would be even worse if I married outside of my religion. Don’t get me wrong, she wouldn’t disown me or anything, but she wouldn’t be happy about it either. As long as the person was Jewish, I could virtually bring home anyone, black, white, yellow, brown, and it wouldn’t matter in the least. I feel that certain races feel that dating outside their race would be somewhat a way of losing part of their cultural identity. Also, because the African-American race has struggled so much for hundreds of years, that dating outside of the race would rid their culture of its exclusivity. In the African-American community, it seems that there is an idea that blacks have to stay together as if other cultures are the enemy, and maybe that is why people are less accepting of interracial marriage. From my observations, they take extreme pride in their heritage and naturally want their race’s genes to live on. It’s difficult to protect your culture when you have two different races raising the same child. Or, on the other hand, some cultures my “fear” the other race as mentioned in the article, they would obviously refuse to get into a relationship. Perhaps if someone comes from a background of slavery, they would be less likely to enter a relationship with a white individual. Unfortunately, as far as the Jewish aspect goes, our culture is fading out. Sadly, it is dwindling. With the termination of thousands of Jews in the Holocaust, the population of Jewish people in this world is very minimal. My mother has always taught me the importance of birthing at least two children, one to replace myself and one to replace my spouse, so that the Jewish population can at least remain steady if it cannot grow. Young adults are almost always more liberal than their parents. So even though interracial marriage might have been frowned upon by the last few generations, the group who is currently of marrying age is more accepting, because they’ve been raised somewhat differently.

This December, I went to Florida with one of my best friends and stayed at her grandparent’s house for the week. This was a few months after the Sandusky trial had been brought to light so I thought that all of the questions and snide remarks I had been getting about Penn State and Joe Paterno would finally stop or at least not be as vicious and one-sided as they were when it first came out. Unfortunately, I was wrong and little did I know, as soon as I told my friend’s grandparents that I went to school at Penn State, her grandfather had a little more than a few negative things to say to me about my college.

At almost every dinner, her grandfather would bring up the scandal and ask me my views on it. I really don’t know why he even asked me because he was only interested in telling me what his views were and didn’t give me a second to explain mine. Yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, as the “your truth and my truth” phenomena expresses, however, I agree that when people create battle lines and moral high grounds instead of listening to what other people have to say, they will never fully understand the truth at all.

As soon as I opened my mouth to, not defend, but also not agree with her grandfather’s hatred for Joe Paterno, he immediately shut me down and told me I was wrong. I knew this conversation was not going anywhere so I just stayed quiet and listened to what he had to say. Her grandfather is a very conservative man, always was and most likely always will be, so he did not budge his point of view for a second.

I tried to explain that I did not agree with the way Joe Paterno handled the situation but that I don’t think that the blame should be put to his name just because he is the most well-known. Obviously, because I go to Penn State and am a proud Nittany Lion, I will always defend Joe Paterno because he had such a big impact in making my school the way it is today. I did not let me guard down and completely agree with what he was saying, but I took a second to listen to what the reasoning was for his strongly negative opinions against Paterno specifically and tried to understand where he was coming from because then, maybe I could get a better understanding of the scandal myself.

The line in this blog, “What makes it difficult is our widespread failure to learn that “truth” is less likely to exist in either my way or your way, but in some difficult blend of both”, immediately made me think of this interaction with my friend’s grandfather because, as an entire nation, we will never be able to fully live in harmony and learn the “truth” about issues if we do not give the other side a chance to express themselves and really listen to what they have to say.