en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2435500 Comments by mklo1618 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment145171841 I think society dislikes immigrants for a few reasons. Number one, anyone who is coming into our country, taking our jobs, and moving into our neighborhoods is going to cause animosity simply because they are taking up our land and invading our work force. There aren’t even enough jobs in the United States for all Americans who are willing to work, and the fact that illegal immigrants occupy many of the blue-collar jobs angers many Americans who need work. Personally, I have no problems with immigrants who are legal, because like Sam said in class, our country was formed on the basis of immigration. Everyone who lives here (except Native Americans) immigrated into the United States at one point or another, so those who complete all legal obligations necessary to be a citizen are as much of a citizen as I am. However, immigrants who illegally come into our country and occupy our labor force can expect to be hated. Another reason I think that society dislikes immigrants is because of the extreme feelings of patriotism in our country. As much as people of other cultures are welcome, they are welcome for a visit and then we’ll gladly see them off a week or two later. Once people from other countries attempt to resettle their lives in America, they are crossing the line. I understand that America is arguably the most prosperous country in the world, however it sadly isn’t big enough for everyone that has dreams of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Personally, I feel that other countries could offer the same opportunities and promise found in the United States, but if everyone keeps coming here there are not going to be any hard workers left anywhere else. I also don’t understand why immigrants think that American is automatically going to have a job for them when they get here. The video we watched at the end of class on Thursday really moved me. To see that bus driver who is an immigrant feeding the many hungry immigrants on the streets was heartwarming, but very sad at the same time. If all of those immigrants are hungry, on the streets, with no work, then what are they doing here? They would probably have no trouble finding a job in another country, or in their country of origin. The job market in America is not prosperous in the current economy, and immigrants need to realize that there isn’t really a place for them in our society, especially if they are coming here with no qualifying skills. I think Americans would be more open to immigrants if our economy was in a better state and more Americans had stable jobs, however I still understand why people have hard feelings towards them. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 17:42:32 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/why-does-society-dislike-immigrants-and-why-are-they-portrayed-badly-119-blog/#IDComment145171841 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143167375 I think it would be really hard to decline an offer of nepotism if one was presented to me for a few reasons. First of all, in today’s society, it is extremely hard to find an internship or job. If a family member has a prominent role in a company that could affect my standing in receiving a job offer, that is obviously something I would want to use to my advantage. I don’t think that utilizing an offer of nepotism to one’s advantage is submitting to any type of reverse racism. Nepotism has been a phenomenon affecting societies literally since the beginning of time. Naturally, a person is always going to use his or her connections to their advantage, whether that was in Europe in the 1500’s or in America today. I do not feel that affirmative action wasn’t put in place to counteract nepotism. Black and brown people still benefit from nepotism in the same way that white people do. If a young black man’s father is a partner in a prestigious law firm, he is going to offer a job to his law-school-bound son before he offers it to a random applicant. Sadly but truly, that is a very easy and smart way to get ahead in life. There are too many people competing for jobs and positions to only rely on personal skills and experience to land a dream job. The easiest and most promising way to get “in” with a company is to get recommended by someone you know who already works there, preferably a family member because that will give you the most clout. I think it would be really hard for anyone to turn down a position offered to him or her because of nepotism simply because of the insane competition in the job market. This classic line has been instilled in the brains of basically everyone I know, “it’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know.” I really feel that this statement is so true and applies to people of all genders, races and ethnicities. A white person may get offered a position in a company because of a family connection, but if for some reason he or she turns it down, that in no way means that a minority is going to get that position instead. Nepotism is not a barrier for affirmative action to cross. I personally feel that the two are unrelated, as anyone can benefit from nepotism. Affirmative action was specifically put in place to advance minorities who have been demoralized for centuries in the United States, however their plight did not arise from nepotism among white elites. I don’t think anyone should discriminate against another on the basis of gender, race or ethnicity, however it sadly happens and needs correction through affirmative action. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 17:26:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/do-you-think-you-would-actively-try-to-not-benefit-from-nepotism-if-the-situation-presented-itself-119-blog/#IDComment143167375 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/how-do-you-feel-about-president-obamas-use-of-money-in-comparison-to-haiti-119-blog/#IDComment140860666 In this situation, I don’t think it’s fair to single out Obama as someone who is using large amounts of funds in ways that aren’t helping those in need. Whoever will run against Obama in the 2012 election will be raising the same, if not a very close, amount of money and spending it on their presidential campaign, just as people have been doing since our country’s formation. In all cases, I’m sure there have been much more beneficial ways to use presidential campaign money other than personal promotion, however money is what makes a presidential campaign possible. I don’t think Obama, or anyone else who will be participating in a campaign, is doing anything wrong by raising money for his or her campaigns. What about all of the billions of dollars spent in Hollywood making movies? Personally I think that money is being used in much less beneficial ways than money raised for a presidential campaign. What about the millions of dollars people throw away gambling in casinos? That could definitely be used to help those in Haiti or other places around the world like Japan that are suffering major hardships at this time. It isn’t Obama’s job to spend every waking second worrying about these people. He does much more for them than the majority of most citizens of the world, and he has every right to raise one, two, or three billion dollars for his presidential campaign if he pleases. If people are upset that no one is out there raising a billion dollars for Haiti, maybe they should go out and raise money instead of sitting around and complaining about what other people aren’t doing. Raising money for people in Haiti and raising money for a presidential campaign literally have nothing to do with one another. People raise money for various things all the time, does that mean it’s wrong because they aren’t raising money for people in Haiti? Many causes need funding and sadly there isn’t enough money in the world to fix all of our problems. Our Haiti entrepreneur project is an amazing thing that will hopefully change the lives of many people in Haiti, and eventually change the entire outlook of the country. There are many ways to help the people of Haiti and other underprivileged countries without direct monetary donations, and I think we are showing a great example of that. However, although money always helps, I don’t think anyone should be reprimanded or looked down upon because they don’t chose to donate their money to a specific cause. Everyone has personal endeavors that are very important to him or her, like a presidential campaign to Obama, and obviously he needs to raise a large sum of money for it to be successful in today’s society. There are many people who have ridiculously large sums of money in the bank, and if people are going to complain about lacks of donations, those are the people they should focus on. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 00:04:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/how-do-you-feel-about-president-obamas-use-of-money-in-comparison-to-haiti-119-blog/#IDComment140860666 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/how-do-you-feel-about-president-obamas-use-of-money-in-comparison-to-haiti-119-blog/#IDComment140860145 In this situation, I don’t think it’s fair to single out Obama as someone who is using large amounts of funds in ways that aren’t helping those in need. Whoever will run against Obama in the 2012 election will be raising the same, if not a very close, amount of money and spending it on their presidential campaign, just as people have been doing since our country’s formation. In all cases, I’m sure there have been much more beneficial ways to use presidential campaign money other than personal promotion, however money is what makes a presidential campaign possible. I don’t think Obama, or anyone else who will be participating in a campaign, is doing anything wrong by raising money for his or her campaigns. What about all of the billions of dollars spent in Hollywood making movies? Personally I think that money is being used in much less beneficial ways than money raised for a presidential campaign. What about the millions of dollars people throw away gambling in casinos? That could definitely be used to help those in Haiti or other places around the world like Japan that are suffering major hardships at this time. It isn’t Obama’s job to spend every waking second worrying about these people. He does much more for them than the majority of most citizens of the world, and he has every right to raise one, two, or three billion dollars for his presidential campaign if he pleases. If people are upset that no one is out there raising a billion dollars for Haiti, maybe they should go out and raise money instead of sitting around and complaining about what other people aren’t doing. Raising money for people in Haiti and raising money for a presidential campaign literally have nothing to do with one another. People raise money for various things all the time, does that mean it’s wrong because they aren’t raising money for people in Haiti? Many causes need funding and sadly there isn’t enough money in the world to fix all of our problems. Our Haiti entrepreneur project is an amazing thing that will hopefully change the lives of many people in Haiti, and eventually change the entire outlook of the country. There are many ways to help the people of Haiti and other underprivileged countries without direct monetary donations, and I think we are showing a great example of that. However, although money always helps, I don’t think anyone should be reprimanded or looked down upon because they don’t chose to donate their money to a specific cause. Everyone has personal endeavors that are very important to him or her, like a presidential campaign to Obama, and obviously he needs to raise a large sum of money for it to be successful in today’s society. There are many people who have ridiculously large sums of money in the bank, and if people are going to complain about lacks of donations, those are the people they should focus on. Fri, 8 Apr 2011 00:01:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/how-do-you-feel-about-president-obamas-use-of-money-in-comparison-to-haiti-119-blog/#IDComment140860145 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/do-you-think-any-stage-is-worse-or-better-to-be-in-than-another-is-the-goal-to-make-it-to-the-last-stage-119-blog/#IDComment137523205 I personally don’t think any one stage is better than the other, and that being in any other stage than humanitarian is bad. Clearly these stages are put in place to show the evolvement of racial acceptance and how one moves through these stages of acceptance in his or her life. Just because you do not deem yourself a humanitarian, I don’t think that means you have any bad intentions towards people of other races (unless, of course, you do). Just like the boy who asked this question, I want to be a humanitarian, and feel that I embody many qualities of a humanitarian, however when it comes to situations where my people are in danger versus others who I have no connection to, I would feel much more connected to my own people. I can’t even really imagine putting other people above my own, so I guess that doesn’t make me a humanitarian at all. However, I’m definitely accepting of all races; I embrace people of all cultures and I truly do care about people of other races and love to learn about their heritage. I guess this places me in the pseudo-communitarian stage. I don’t think being in this stage should be considered worse than being a humanitarian. These stages show personal evolvement and I think once someone passes the first four stages they have showed that they understand the racial issues in our world and are willing to overcome them. I personally would say anyone who is in the pre-awakening or even awakening stages are somewhat blind to the real world around them and should consciously work towards moving through these stages. Not that it makes them a bad person for being in the preliminary stages, but in the sense of acceptance, those stages are not a good place to be. It is important to recognize the bigger picture of these stages, and the human race as a whole. Ideally, everyone should move through all 5 stages and eventually become a humanitarian. If this were the case, our world would be free from racism and I think that is the ultimate goal of all race relations connoisseurs like Sam. I also don’t think that there is anyway to control what stage one resides in. One can tell their mind to think a certain way but ultimately true colors always come out, so I don’t think anyone can move through the stages consciously, because it is something that just happens within you. I didn’t make it a point to ignore race and love people for who they are, it just happened. I have always been exposed to people of many different races, which definitely was a huge factor in helping me progress through these stages of acceptance, and I hope everyone has experiences in their lives that truly move them forward, in hopes of all converging in the humanitarian stage. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:51:48 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/do-you-think-any-stage-is-worse-or-better-to-be-in-than-another-is-the-goal-to-make-it-to-the-last-stage-119-blog/#IDComment137523205 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/how-do-irrelevant-racial-signifiers-affect-racial-stereotypes-119-blog/#IDComment135474537 Before Sam mentioned the wide use of irrelevant racial signifiers, I never took notice to how serious this issue truly is. Whenever I hear anyone tell a story, they never fail to mention that their rude waiter was black or that their incapable taxi driver was of Asian decent. Looking back at the many stories I have been told that include racial signifiers, do they really matter? If I were told the story and the racial signifier were left out, chances are the story still would have had the same effect. I think a lot of people accidentally use racial signifiers when it is completely unnecessary, and half of the time it is probably a subconscious word that just comes out while someone is talking. Although it may not seem like it is hurting anyone, I think the irrelevant use of racial signifiers only adds to the race issue in the United States. If people are constantly hearing racial signifiers in daily conversation when they are not at all relevant or necessary, it makes people feel like race is something that matters when talking about just about anything, when in reality that is not the case at all. Someone’s race isn’t a detail of a story that has any relevance or bearing to anything, and it would be awesome if people could stop throwing out racial terms like they don’t mean anything. I wish everyone were able to take Soc 119 so their eyes could be opened up to these serious issues the way mine have been. I am going to make a conscious effort to avoid using racial signifiers when it is completely unnecessary. Like Sam said in class, there are definitely times when using racial signifiers is completely legitimate, and I think people shouldn’t be afraid to use them when it is necessary. I work at a clothing store during breaks when I am at home, and when ringing customers up at the register we always ask who helped them in the store. The staff is very diverse, and customers are always hesitant to describe whoever helped them by their race. I guess they feel that we would be offended if they called our fellow employees “the short Asian girl” or “the cute black guy”, however we always end up describing each other that way in order to determine who was working with the customer. They always seem surprised that we are so open to referring to each other by our racial classifications, however in this case it is in no way offensive; we are just trying to identify each other! Like this situation, I think there are times when using racial signifiers are necessary and okay, but in typical day-to-day story telling, irrelevant racial signifiers only fuel racism by making race a prominent aspect of daily life. Thu, 17 Mar 2011 03:26:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/15/how-do-irrelevant-racial-signifiers-affect-racial-stereotypes-119-blog/#IDComment135474537 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment133711305 I think this is a very valid question. On paper, affirmative action programs sound like an ideal way to smooth over the inequalities in areas such as college acceptance rates and employment opportunities. I’m sure as a minority, it is comforting to know that institutional discrimination will not affect your chances of getting a job or getting accepted to a certain college, however some whites feel this puts them at a disadvantage. Either way you look at it, affirmative action programs are placing quotas on the amount of people—both whites and minorities—accepted into various educational or professional ventures. In high school, I wrote a research paper on affirmative action and the common misconception of “reverse discrimination”. Conservatives who believe reverse discrimination is an effect of affirmative action feel that while it opens the door for jobs, promotions, or education to minorities, it shuts the door on whites. There was a Supreme Court case in 1978 that related directly to this issue, and the ruling of the case confirmed that affirmative action was put in place to provide minority groups that had previously been discriminated against with the same opportunities whites have been afforded since the establishment of the United States of America, and not to undermine the success of whites. I think it is important for people to realize that affirmative action only helps qualified individuals get recognized in a society dominated so heavily by whites. I don’t think affirmative action takes anything “too far”. Clearly there is a reason that laws needed to be put in place in order to guarantee equality of opportunity for all people in America. Schools and workplaces were not diversified at the same levels as the United States population, and qualified minorities were getting denied opportunities based on their race or ethnicity. Affirmative action laws ensured a more equal playing field in the United States, and although they steadfastly remain, discrimination still takes place against minorities much more than against whites. For example, a study Sam spoke about in class produced results showing that whites with a criminal record were more likely to get a callback for a job than minorities without a criminal record. To me, that seems like textbook discrimination, and show that affirmative action laws are still needed to provide equal opportunity to qualified minorities in the United States. If the “quotas” for minorities in schools and professional settings were continually increased, maybe it could be deemed as taking things “too far”, however the system actually doesn’t use quotas in order to promote equality, it just ensures that employers and educators make sure equal opportunity is provided to diversify environments. Even with affirmative action laws, minorities face an uphill battle to achieve equality of opportunity in the US, a country that is so historically discriminatory. Wed, 9 Mar 2011 23:29:18 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment133711305 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/23/why-do-we-think-of-people-from-other-countries-as-so-different-from-us-119-blog/#IDComment130245803 Sadly, but truly, I think that the reason we tend to view people from other countries as so different from ourselves is because they look different, and have different cultural practices. Although I hate to admit it, it is hard to not judge someone by the way they look. I think this judgmental quality has been instilled in American children from the time we were very young. We were always told to “not judge a book by its cover”, however to me, Americans are by far the most judgmental group of people. In my Soc 119 discussion group, there is a student who was born and raised in London. Whenever we discuss racism, (which is about 94% of the time) this student always has the same thing to say: he doesn’t have much insight into racism, as he never experienced it growing up in London. He says that because London is such a diverse city, being racist is nearly impossible, as one has friends from all over the world from the time they begin schooling. Although I would consider America to be a culturally diverse country, it seems as though diversity only exists in extremely urban areas, and typically along the coasts. Growing up in a suburb of Philadelphia, I have been exposed to many different races throughout my life, however whenever I meet someone who looks different from me, I automatically perceive them as different. I can’t really explain why I have this perception, but I guess it is from years of reinforcement that those who look different truly are different. Soc 119 has really opened up my eyes to how serious of a problem racism is. Going forward, I don’t think I’ll ever classify someone based on the way they look, because when people do that, they are probably wrong 99% of the time. There is no possible way to tell one’s personality, values, and cultural orientation simply based on the way they look. One’s racial orientation may play a part in defining their values and culture, however their race does not define who they are as a person. “Race” is something completely physical, and no one should be judged by the way they look. I think it is sad that people are so comfortable with defining others based on their race, and I wish everyone had an opportunity to take Soc 119 and gain the same understanding from this class that I have. I would have never considered myself a racist person; however, now I am so much more conscious of making judgments and assumptions simply based on the way someone looks. This bad habit is definitely something that people don’t even realize they are doing, but I’m sure the person who is being judged notices. Although people from around the world all look extremely different, we all belong to the same race—the human race—and no one should be treated differently because of his/her personal, beautiful, physical features. Thu, 24 Feb 2011 04:23:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/23/why-do-we-think-of-people-from-other-countries-as-so-different-from-us-119-blog/#IDComment130245803 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/16/do-arrests-of-different-races-occur-more-due-to-racism-or-more-police-in-urban-areas-119-blog/#IDComment128414399 I think the fundamental basis of this question is racist, as this student is assuming that the majority of black people live in urban areas. While this may be true, that does not mean that black people make up the majority of the population in these urban areas. Yes, minorities may live more centrally in cities, but they are still minorities. With this being said, the arrests in urban areas should have no reason to be largely of black people or white people. These arrests SHOULD be proportional to the population, as the rest of the arrests throughout the country. As Sam showed us in class, arrests across the board are disproportionately minorities, which sadly does show a slight lean towards racism in our police forces all over the country. If black people make up a certain percentage of a population in an area, then they should roughly make up that same percentage of arrests in that area. It is unfair to claim that because there are “more police” in urban areas, there are more arrests of black people; there shouldn’t be any connection between the two. If there are more police, then there should be more arrests of everyone, not just blacks, or any other minority for that matter. I think our justice system in the United States is very fair for the most part, but that is hard to argue after analyzing the numbers Sam showed us in class. I personally do not know how to explain the serious disproportions relating to percentages of arrests by race and percentages of populations by race. I think the government needs to take a serious look into the justice system at all levels. There will always be “crooked cops”, however police forces should be fundamentally fair to all races, in fact I don’t even think they should take race into consideration when making arrests. Along with looking into the principles of police forces, the government should also take the time to look into both federal and state courts, because Sam also showed us a scenario where a judge was very unfavorable to minorities. I really do not think skin color or race has anything to do with a persons actions. If a certain area is extremely violent and filled with minorities, chances are a white people from that area are going to be violent as well. There is no explanation for the disproportionableness of minorities in our population and minorities in our jails. It is something that needs to be looked into and assessed, because to me it truly doesn’t make any sense. Whites commit crimes just as minorities do, in both urban and rural areas. If there are more police, they should be catching more crimes done by everyone, and I don’t think there is any other way to look at it. Wed, 16 Feb 2011 22:50:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/16/do-arrests-of-different-races-occur-more-due-to-racism-or-more-police-in-urban-areas-119-blog/#IDComment128414399 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/how-have-the-choices-youve-made-and-determinism-affected-your-life-119-blog/#IDComment127445437 In agreement with what Sam was saying at the end of the most recent lecture, it is necessary for all of us to just “go with c”—meaning we should all have a value orientation incorporating the views of both free will and determinism. Everyone should be held accountable for his or her choices and actions, which are a major factor in determining the outcome of one’s life. However, I think in a way both determinism and free will actually intertwine and coexist in shaping our lives. Determinism accounts for the things that are out of our control, like parents’ income, living situation and location, and in some cases the presence of absence of parents at all. Things like this are clearly uncontrollable for a child or teenager, as there is only so much a young person can do to alter such serious things in his or her life. Even though it may be subconscious, these uncontrollable factors definitely play a part in the decision-making that encompasses one’s “free will”. Free will is considered to be one’s personal choices, but these choices have to be shaped by something. Choices just don’t stem from thin air, people are prompted to make certain decisions based on the cards they are dealt. One student may have chosen to go to Penn State because it was the best possible university he or she got accepted to, while another student may have chosen to go to Penn State because it was the only university that their parents could afford for them to go to. Although both students made the same decision, the first may have only gotten accepted to Penn State and a community college, while the latter may have gotten into 3 Ivy League schools but was forced to attend Penn State due to financial restraints. Yes, both students’ decision accounts for which university they attend, but they made the decisions based on the cards they were dealt. In this scenario, determinism and free will literally work together, and I think in most cases this coupling seems to be true. Determinism influences almost all aspects of life, and choices are presented to us at every turn we take. I think it is foolish to accredit where we end up in our lives to either extreme. I am studying at Penn State University because yes, like everyone else, I chose to come here. At the same time, determinism left me with 3 schools to choose from, and Penn State seemed to be the best option for me. I am happy with my decision and where I ended up, but things could have been very different had I been dealt different cards, like acceptances to various other schools and the opportunity to make a different decision. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 01:08:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/how-have-the-choices-youve-made-and-determinism-affected-your-life-119-blog/#IDComment127445437 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/why-dont-we-live-like-the-monkeys-119-blog/#IDComment126000077 I think this question is very compelling, and there are definitely two ways to look at it. If humans had never learned to think for themselves, our planet would be very far from the culturally, economically, and politically developed place that it is today. Without human’s higher level thinking function, none of the advancements in technology or medicine would have surfaced, and that is a scary thing to think about. Maybe the only reason I feel that way is because I have the ability to think for myself in the first place. Other animals do not live with any of the technology or advancements that we take for granted on a daily basis, however if there were a way to measure their happiness, it would probably be on par, if not higher, than the happiness levels of humans. Humans only need the things that have been invented throughout history because someone created them and told us it was a necessity to survive on Earth. It seems as though if thinking never developed to the point it currently is in our brains today, we would live much simpler lives with much less commotion. Animals thrive by hunting for their food, living in the wild, and roaming free without any concerns, probably because they don’t even have the ability to be concerned in the first place. They know what is safe for their own species and living environment, and care for their children just as humans do. If we never developed a higher level thinking ability, we would still survive, and possible thrive just the same. Animals do not need technology or a group of political leaders to govern them, and I think it is safe to say they have way less conflict and issues compared to humans. Natural conflict is normal and inevitable, but we humans end up fighting to the death over things we created ourselves with our ability to think for ourselves. It is a scary thought that a majority of the problems in the world today are self-perpetuated, all stemming from our ability to be intellectual and formulate ideas. Although I’m not trying to denounce human’s ability to think, I do believe that it has escalated to the point where we cannot simply live freely without the reality of our thoughts and judgments getting in the way. I think people have always embraced our most distinguishing quality—higher level thinking—and should continue to do so, however there is nothing wrong with occasionally pushing it to the wayside. The only way to truly let loose and be free is to forget about what is “right” and what is “wrong” and ignore all of the voices in your head telling you No! That’s not what you should be doing. Living carefree is a beautiful thing, and I think it couldn’t hurt anyway to let their consciousness fall to the wayside once in a while. Fri, 4 Feb 2011 21:58:39 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/why-dont-we-live-like-the-monkeys-119-blog/#IDComment126000077 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/why-do-we-need-to-be-politically-correct-119-blog/#IDComment124418971 I think that the phrase “politically correct” leaves way too much room for interpretation. What may be offensive to one person could be considered to be “politically correct” in the eyes of someone else. I think that it is much more important to simply be polite than to constantly try to be “politically correct”. To be honest, I’m still not entirely sure what constitutes being politically correct. When Sam discussed this in class, he was curious as to how everyone defined political correctness, and personally I think it is something that is indefinable. No matter what, any potentially controversial statement is going to rub someone the wrong way. When polled in class, not all white students preferred to be called “Caucasian”, just as not all black students wish to be referred to as “African American”. There is no way to be politically correct in a way that is pleasing to all types of people and also universally not insulting. As I previously mentioned, I think the only way to ensure that others kindly receive the statements you are making is to always make a conscious effort to be polite and respectful. Respect is key, and it is something that everyone could use a little more of. With respect come acceptance and a mindset that does not include “politically incorrect” thoughts and feelings. If everyone took the time to respect one another, we would no longer have to worry about the statements we make, because they would always be reverential and gracious. Statements that are historically politically incorrect are downright rude in my eyes, which just further enhances my point that if everyone made a mindful effort to simply be nice, the world would be a much happier place. It is important for us to realize that words are very powerful weapons, and can be very hurtful if we do not take the things we say in public into consideration. A very important aspect of “political correctness” is being aware of who is around when we say things that may come across as insensitive to a certain group of people. It is necessary to always be polite and respectful in public, and if everyone could do that then everyone would also be fulfilling the void of being politically correct. If we can make the action of being politically correct analogous with being polite, (which to me mean the same thing) then I think the purpose of “political correctness” will automatically be fulfilled. The main reason being politically correct is so important is because we should not be offending other people with the things we say. It shouldn’t be something that is hard to abide by, and I’m very confident that everyone is capable of censoring themselves and making sure the things they say are respectful to all. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 22:04:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/why-do-we-need-to-be-politically-correct-119-blog/#IDComment124418971 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124402653 Like many that have posted before me, I also feel that the reason we tend to migrate to others of our same race is due to a feeling of comfort in being surrounded by those that are similar to ourselves. From the time that people are very young, they have a tendency to befriend others who embody similar physical characteristics. It seems as though it’s an inborn inclination to gravitate towards others that are similar to us because in a room full of strangers, someone who shares a physical resemblance is automatically much easier to approach. I think this can be explained by the age-old fear of the unknown. Although one should never be judged by his or her appearance, it is a hard thing to ignore upon first meeting someone. If someone looks different from you—especially if they have characteristics you have never seen before—they are automatically labeled as different and potentially harmful based on a fear of the unknown. I do not think that this tendency necessarily means that people are racist, I just feel it is something that is very hard to gravitate away from because human’s are so prone to judging people by the way they look. If we are unfamiliar with one’s physical characteristics that make up their race, it could be a potential deter from friendship. I think this is something that we diligently need to work on changing in the 21st century. Physical characteristics truly do not mean anything in defining a person, except for the way one looks. I’m sure we are all guilty of judging people by their appearance, however it is something that we need to stop if we are ever going to improve race relations throughout the world. I am a white girl who has many friends of different races, ranging from black to Hispanic to Middle Eastern. I try to be “color blind” when I meet new people, because race really does not define who anyone is, and should never be a reason that you chose not to get to know someone. I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, which is a very racially diverse area. The location and racial makeup of my hometown definitely allowed me to be comfortable with people of all races from a very young age. Although not everyone experiences racial diversity during his or her childhood, I think that acceptance is something that should be instilled in children’s mind from the time they are very young. If college is the first place one is exposed to people of different backgrounds, they should be aware of the fact that although we all may look different, we actually do belong to the same race—the Human Race. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:23:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124402653 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9ck%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122119230 soc 119! Tue, 18 Jan 2011 18:00:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9ck%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122119230