gdp's Comments

Race Relations Project : Christian Invaders - the turnaround

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:35:20 +0000

I went into this lecture with an open mind and the thoughts that Sam was about to bash Christianity to smithereens. I really do not know why, but that is what I had expected him to do. He did nothing like that. At all. I feel like anyone who feels that way after this lecture COMPLETELY missed the point of this lecture. This lecture was one of the more eye opening lectures I have ever attended. The situation he set up for us really got me thinking. The way we see Arab Muslims is probably so incredibly skewed, and the fact that we see them all as radical terrorists kind of upsets me now. The way that Sam showed us America really made me feel like they are terrible people who are out for my blood and do not care about me, my people, my traditions, or anything. The fact that he compared little Muslim boys holding guns to those “crazy” Christians in North Dakota who were warriors of Jesus made me realize that there are just as many radical Christians in the US as there are radical Muslims in the Middle East. My view on them has completely changed and I really do not and see no reason to look at them as the bad guys. If anything, the United States should be looked at as the bad guys. We have killed tenfold more civilians during the “war against terror” then the radical Muslims killed during their attacks on the United States. The fact that the United States thinks it is acceptable to kill 29 civilians in order to kill one bad guy is absurd. Just because the civilians are defenseless does not mean that killing them is ok. Hardly any of the civilians in the Middle east will ever be a threat to our country, and the small amount that are hardly have the resources to do anything to our country if we moved our troops out of the Middle East. I think that as Americans we all see the things in the media about suicide bombers, and Jihad, and things of that sort and associate that with all Muslims. This is not true whatsoever and really needs to be changed. Unfortunately, until the war is over and everything is resolved in the Middle East this will not happen. Sams analogy to China coming in and taking all of our coal hit home for me, I never looked at us taking oil from them like that. It is their property, and they deserve it. Just because us cheap Americans want to save 10 cents a gallon on gasoline for our hummers does not mean we can run into a country, leave it in shambles, and leave without gaining anything but some dead soldiers. I think this is all ridiculous and after seeing sams lecture I am able to take a step back and see this all in a broad perspective.

Race Relations Project : What are all of you thinking about Asians?

Thu, 1 Apr 2010 23:39:32 +0000

Differentiating Asians between Asian Americans and foreign Asians from countries such as Japan, China, and Islanders is definitely something I have trouble with and have had trouble with my entire life. To this day I am afraid to start talking to an Asian I don’t know for one reason and one reason only. What if they don't speak English very well and I look like an ass trying to spell things out for them. This “fear” probably stems from a few incidents. The most recent would be Asian teachers and Asian TAs. I don't know why but just about every TA in a math or science related course I have had has been a foreign Asian. It becomes extremely difficult to communicate with them because, although they speak English, there are a lot of simple concepts that are lost between the cultural barrier and I always feel like I miss out on something with them where as if it were a natural born American, or even an Asian American, I would communicate fine with them. Being at Penn State there are tons of foreign exchange students from Asian countries. They all tend to stick together and don't communicate very well or at all with us white people. This makes me feel like an outsider to them almost, although in reality they are the outsiders and that’s why they stick together out here. I am always surprised when I encounter an Asian person who speaks fluent English. It catches me offguard and makes me want to converse with them so I feel like I used up my “talk to an Asian person quota”. Coming from where I am, the only Asians I really encountered growing up were the people who owned the Chinese restaurant in my town and the one Asian boy I grew up with. None of us really regarded him as “Asian” because he was one of the whitest people I know (personality wise) although he was Korean. Other Asians in the US are seen as outsiders and I really feel like people expect them to speak broken English and be somehow related to a Chinese restaurant, as terrible as that is. Asians have a long way to come in the US until they are seen as being equal to whites, although they are definitely ahead of other minorities in that category for sure. As more and more generations of Asian families grow u[ and become Asian Americans, they will be much more accepted and looked at as equals. Statistically they are better than us whites in the United States both economically and educationally speaking, yet for some reason they are looked down upon by us white folks who are technically below them in every facet of life.

Race Relations Project : Prom or No Prom: Just Don't Let the Queer Students Dance Together

Sat, 27 Mar 2010 03:13:47 +0000

I think it is ridiculous that the school went as far as to cancel prom because of something that I consider to be a small issue. I feel that if the school had just sat this girl down and told her that they really wouldn’t approve of her brining a date of the same sex I’m sure she could have found a way around it. I know from experiences of a friend that there are pretty simple solutions to an issue of this magnitude. In high school I was pretty good friends with two homosexuals, one being male and one female. They were both dating partners of the same sex, and everyone was aware of this. Being a prominent member of our class (class president, actually) the gay male knew he would not be able to bring his boyfriend to prom with him, and trying to change these rules would only cause more problems than were needed. What my friends ended up doing was going to prom with each other, and then their boyfriend and girlfriend went together. The only thing this mattered for was the buying of tickets and actual pictures at prom. Other than that, they were able to dance together with their own boyfriend/girlfriend along with spend the whole night together. Nobody said a word to any of them. It may be different in my school because they were definitely accepted as being gay and being who they are and not too many people had problems with it or would say anything. I feel that if the gay couples had tried to go together there would have been issues. I think that the school who canceled their prom overreacted and deserves the media coverage that is being brought to it. Like I showed though, the girl could have approached it differently. After the school released the press release or whatever saying that same sex couples would not be allowed, they should have dropped it. A rule is a rule. Especially in high school where the administration is definitely the say all in pretty much all situations involving students and what they think is right. Same sex relationships are still very touchy and taboo in our society. It is definitely more so in a high school environment as well than a college environment like we are in today. Homosexuals feel more free to express themselves and stand up for themselves in college than they did in high school, and because of this it will probably take a long time until we see prom photos of two girls dressed up holding hands taking pictures together. Until then we will hear about cases like these where students are all punished because administrations can not handle what they should easily be able to and make rash decisions based off of that.

Race Relations Project : When Do We Do or Say Something?

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 04:18:05 +0000

First off I’d like to say that this class was by far one of the best classes this semester. It really allowed me to see the other side of it and made me think a lot about how lucky I am to be white and never having to be discriminated against in my life because of my color, race, gender, ethnicity, etc. The video we watched in class was extremely disturbing in my eyes for a few reasons. First off, I personally am not sure I would have said anything. IF I were in a bakery full of people, and nobody else said anything about what they were seeing I probably would not have the cajones to speak up myself. I have always been somewhat soft-spoken and try to not get involved, so I am extremely glad that there are people out there who would. With that being said, I can’t believe there are seriously people out there who agreed with what was happening. The fact that someone had the audacity to agree with, and even give two thumbs up to the “worker” is just sickening. To support discrimination like that against a woman who is minding her own business and living her life without pushing any of her beliefs onto others is ridiculous. I can’t imagine being afraid to go outside. I can’t imagine having to be ridiculed and heckled and discriminated against every time I am in public. I would not want to live a life of fear. For some, death may not even be as scary as being made fun of and dealing with thinking they are not equal. I think this can be told for the Native Americans as well. We were told that Native American teenagers are extremely likely to commit suicide; in fact the rate is higher than any other race in that age group. Native Americans have a lot to deal with, and a lot of them would rather end their lives than put up with being discriminated against for their whole lives. Going back to the example, I was definitely proud of the people who spoke up. The fact that they believe so strongly in something to speak their mind against someone who is as blatantly ignorant as the clerk shows a lot about the people in our country. Things like this make me proud to live in America. We are, for the most part, accepting of all races and religions and things of the such. We are able and willing to stand by someone’s side even in the harshest of times and defend them as if they were a brother or sister. This was shown in the video, and I am extremely glad we were able to see such an eye-opening study during class that tied into what we are learning about.

Race Relations Project : Another Reason Why Gay Marriage Matters

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:47:04 +0000

I think this whole situation is ridiculous for a few reasons. First off, if the government is going to allow people to become citizens because of a heterosexual marriage, they have to allow this for homosexual marriages. As seen in the video, this family was doing extremely well for themselves. I would argue that they are closer as a family than most heterosexual parent run families are. The children were very upset about their mother being taken, and it’s going to rip them apart inside knowing that their mother got dejavascript:%20postComment(0);ported because of her beliefs. I really don’t believe the government should grant citizenship to people who aren’t citizens and get married to someone who is. It only brings more people into the country that are getting citizenship the easy way. They get around the whole process of citizenship without having to do anything. Putting myself in one of their children’s shoes, I would be devastated to lose a parent to something as ridiculous as this. It would affect the children’s health both mentally and physically in a negative way for a very long time. Something they have seen and known as normal for their entire lives is suddenly being ripped away from them and it messes with their psyche. They may start believing that they don’t belong in this country like they are told their mother is not. There is a lot of discrimination going on which is only making their lives tougher. I am sure they hear about this issue at school all the time and get bullied and ridiculed for it, so they look at home as a safe haven to get away from all of the controversy. The fact that home is no longer like this is very detrimental to their life. The children are definitely the losers in this situation. Yes, the mother is getting deported and being told her sexuality is at fault for it, however the kids have to deal with not having a mother when they have been used to it their whole lives. Losing a parent is traumatizing enough whether it is a heterosexual, homosexual, or one parent family. The United States definitely push two parent families over anything else, and the fact that they are personally going against this by getting rid of a parent is totally against what they believe in. There are many studies which show that children in two parent families are much better off than children in one parent families. The children were clearly happy in the situation they were in, along with being raised and treated extremely well. It is unfair to them to take this away from them because of some dumb idea the government has about what is right and wrong.

Race Relations Project : All That is Solid Melts Into Air -- Including Our Words

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:57:14 +0000

At first I saw this article and video and it really didn’t hit me. I didn’t think it was a big deal that a language was being lost forever. If she was the only speaker of the language alive, there is nobody else for her to talk to anyways so why did it matter if she died. I thought about it for a bit and realized how foolish it was to look at it like this. Like stated, this language has being spoken for tens of thousands of years. The fact that it is completely gone now is definitely a sign of the times. It makes me wonder how many of the 7 thousand other languages currently being spoken will be lost during my lifetime. With every language that dies, a culture and identity dies with it. Nobody will ever be born again and taught that language, which is a very upsetting thing. It leads me to believe that someday, somehow, there will be a universal language. The fact that hundreds/thousands of years ago there were hundreds of different dialects and languages being spoken in every part of the world, and now most regions have only between one and five languages now being spoken in it can speak for itself. I really believe that someday there will be a universal language. The world will be an incredibly boring and uniform place when this happens. Unfortunately it probably will happen because of convenience for all. There is no way of telling what language will end up being this language, but as the smaller languages die off many people are taught more popular languages. Latin was at one point one of the most important and used languages in the world. Today Latin is basically dead. Sure, it is used for a lot of formal ceremonies and still used in many fields of science, but as far as conversation goes it is rarely if ever used. Latin’s lack of use after being so prominent proves that this can happen to any language. Who’s to say that English will even still exist 500 years from now? It is entirely possible it will be overtaken by French or Spanish, or hell Mandarin Chinese. The culture we have as American’s will not be there without the English language. Sure, the country and land could still exist but if people are going to McDonald’s and ordering in another language, it will be a completely different place. Hopefully this never becomes an issue. In a perfect world, all of these lost languages would be revived and the native people who used to speak them would go back to their roots. We all know this will never happen unfortunately, so the best we can hope for is that our current languages are all preserved and left how they are today.

Race Relations Project : The Enlightened "West" Knows Best

Fri, 5 Feb 2010 22:08:48 +0000

This was brought up in my history class today, and I had not heard of it before then for some reason. It definitely peaked my curiosity, as I couldn’t even begin to imagine why this is an issue for France. My history teacher then told us that any form of religious expression, including wearing a crucifix in public, is illegal as well in France. This is definitely why this is becoming as large an issue as it is in France. No, I do not agree with the French government's decision whatsoever, but I believe that a law is a law. Although the law about wearing religious expressions of any kind is hundreds of years old, it is still a law. It must be followed. Islamic women are coming into France knowing full well that they will face issues with wearing their clothing, yet they choose to come into the country anyways. In the video, both women were foreigners who became French citizens. They probably knew full well that there would be issues eventually yet they continued to wear what they wanted to. I am definitely one for allowing expression, and I truly think they should be allowed to wear whatever they want, but there is clearly an issue far beyond the reaches of Islam and religion in France. It's going to take a massive upheaval of the French government along with the French people's mentalities for it to be normal to wear burkas in public. Until then, Islamic women will be prejudiced against. They are going to face problems. Like said in the video, if this new law is passed to include burkas, many women who decide to wear the full headdress will not be serviced to. This is similar to blacks in the middle 20th century in America. They are facing discrimination, and it isn’t fair but it is still the case. These women will have to find a way to work around this. I was surprised to find out that it is a choice of theirs to wear the full headdress however. I can’t even imagine how hot and sticky it must get in there on a humid summer day, yet they are devout enough to wear the garb in which they feel appropriate. Unfortunately France is not for freedom of expression as much as we are here in the states, but hopefully some day that is changed. These women do not mean to cause any trouble. Most of them are extremely quiet and just want to go outside to work and to get things done, and it isn’t in an attempt to spread their religion. This is the issue which the law has but it really should not be a problem.

Race Relations Project : I Guess It Pays to Learn a Bit About Other People

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 22:08:32 +0000

This article and situation reminds me a lot of when I was traveling overseas a few years ago. We were waiting in line to get on the plane in New York and a large group of men wearing black coats and hats and being what I can only presume was Jewish were standing around. At a precise time they all started praying out loud and rocking back and forth. Of course, jokes started flying around me made by ignorant people who aren't aware of the religious culture and beliefs that other people hold. These men ended up being on our plane, which was an 8 hour trip to Germany. Throughout the trip, the men would get up and do this prayer on the plane. At one point I saw a few flight attendants conversing and looking at the men who were crowded around in the only open space on the plane in front of the bathroom. They were all reading from a book and praying out loud, along with the rocking back and forth I had seen previously. After a bit, one of the flight attendants asked them to stop and sit back down in their seats. One of the men got angry about this but thankfully the flight attendants were able to calm him down and they all returned to their seats with nothing more than a small argument to show for it. Although this is different than the situation talked about by Sam, it is similar in the fact that people simply weren’t and still aren’t acceptable or knowledgeable to cultures, ideas, and religions outside their own. Sometimes I wonder if the stereotype of the dumb ignorant American is really true. When you look at other countries, most people are bi- or trilingual. They grow up with a lot of culture, pride, and know much about their surroundings and the people around them. I saw this first hand when I had a discussion with two Australian brothers who were traveling the world and stopped at a friend’s house. I can honestly say they knew more about the American system, both governmental and schooling, than any of us Americans did. They were genuinely interested in how our country worked in retrospect to their own. The only insight we seemed to have about Australia was kangaroos and Vegemite. Are Americans as culturally sheltered as other nations make us appear to be? There’s really no way for us to tell. Hopefully issues like this won’t arise anymore, but unfortunately they will. With Arabs being targeted for screening in airports, it is guaranteed that something of the sort will happen again. People are being targeted for their race, religion, and sexuality on a daily basis and there isn’t much we can do about it.

Race Relations Project : Last Name Begins With "H"

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 23:11:37 +0000

hello

Race Relations Project : Haiti's Calamity

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:08:36 +0000

As someone who grew up with Christian beliefs being pounded into my head day in and day out, I’m not sure what to take of this latest earthquake in Haiti. My mom was my Sunday school teacher as a child, and always told me that everything happened for a reason. When I grew older, I joined a youth group and went on mission trips around the world. One of them was to the gulf coast of Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina to help with relief work. Even down there, we heard from the people and pastors of the area that everything happened for a reason. Their rationale was that the people of the area would grow stronger together as they endured the pain and rebuilding of the ravaged areas. Pastors claimed that many more people would turn to the church for support which in-turn would bring in more money. Everyone hoped that after the rebuilding, Mississippi and other areas affected would become bigger, better, and stronger than it was before Katrina ripped through. This latest earthquake, however, doesn’t seem to give me any of this hope. If everything truly happened for a reason, what good can possibly come out of this? Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the entire world. Before the earthquake, not many people had much to live for except the daily grind to stay alive. Life was rough. There were many issues in Haiti before this. Now that the entire country is in complete ruins, what will happen to the country? Will the United States step in and take their role as “God” of the earth to help everyone there? Will rebuilding of any sort ever happen? What if the country is left alone and the survivors end up dying off. I doubt there is anyone in the world who can possibly justify that there is a reason behind this. Where can the destruction of an entire country fall into God’s mighty plan? Now that I am in college, religion has definitely taken a backseat in my life. That is very unfortunate, but I bet there are very many people just like me who have done the same. College promotes thinking. Sam’s class is extremely thought provoking. I have been opened up and shown different sides of things and ideas which I definitely didn’t see before stepping foot on campus. I haven’t lost all religion by any means, but things I have heard have made me think about what I assumed was true my entire life. Something that Sam showed us in class proves this statistically. Something like 60% of all people without a High School Diploma believes in creationism, whereas only 25% of people with a college degree believe the same. This number is very shocking, but it makes sense to me. College is a place where thinking is encouraged. We are taught to think for ourselves and believe what we want, not what we are told. One last thing I thought was shocking/funny when I saw it on the internet today. The United States is to blame for the earthquake in Haiti according to the Venezuelan president: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9QtZkT8OBQ&fe...