en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/769297 Comments by msh5190 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-health-care__trashed/#IDComment69972249 I think that health care should be extended to all citizens and immigrants as long as they are paying equal taxes in our country. I think that as long as they are paying what we are paying for the services, then why would we take away their right to have a health care plan that they can rely on. Everybody wants to stay healthy and they want their family to be safe, so how could we deny them the rights of health care if they are paying taxes just like the rest of us? However, if they are illegal immigrants and are not paying taxes, I think that they shouldn’t receive health care because we are paying for their care when they are not paying any taxes. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:33:45 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-health-care__trashed/#IDComment69972249 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/south-park-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment69971739 I recently learned of the South Park episode where they poked fun at the Muslim religion by bringing Mohammad into the show. I think that people need to relax because they take things way too far. I know that the writers of the show are inappropriate, but there is no need for Muslims to react in such a way. Why would you threaten to take somebody’s life because they made fun of your religion? As a Jewish teenager, I always get the brunt of the jokes because people love to make fun of Jews. However, I laugh about it or brush it off because people are just messing around. They don’t truly mean what they say and they are just trying to get some laughs from their viewers. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:31:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/south-park-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment69971739 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/300000-whats-it-mean-to-us__trashed/#IDComment69971201 Everybody has heard of the disaster that occurred in Haiti earlier this year. However, I never realized how many people were actually affected by the earthquake that hit the small country. When I heard that there were about 300,000 people who were killed in the earthquake and even more displaced from the damages, I was very alarmed. It is crazy that in the United States, we suffered a loss of about 3,000 people from the September 11, 2001 terroristic attacks. I remember that when this attack happened, everybody in the country was affected. People could not believe what had happened and were shocked that something like that could even occur in our supposedly safe country. People stopped everything they were doing to throw their support behind our country and to help clean up and fix the mess that was created in New York City. It is somewhat confusing as to why an event that was one hundred times more destructive than the United States crisis received much less aid and support from people around the world. There are nearly two and a half million people who have been displaced because of the earthquake, and people can barely survive. I’m somewhat confused as to why more people haven’t lent a hand to help those victims. Things are only getting worse as the Haitian people aren’t receiving enough aid to survive. In their present condition, they have close to nothing to help them live. I couldn’t imagine living on top of rocks, which used to be my house several months prior to the event. I think that many people in the Soc119 class realized the severity of the disaster after the class designated to Haiti. After sitting through that lecture, I don’t think that anybody left the class with the same mindset. People saw the true disaster with real pictures taken by our guest speaker. I couldn’t imagine the September 11th attacks happening and the United States not doing anything to help clean up or fix the mess. However, in Haiti, the disaster is so large that people don’t even know where to begin and it will cost enormous amounts of money to even put a dent in the cleaning process. There is so much ruble that has accumulated from the earthquake and people haven’t even begin to clear out the mess so that they could get on the right path to fixing their struggling nation. I was also alarmed when I saw pictures of their parliamentary building, similar to our white house. People must be devastated to know that their government is even in shambles. I’m not sure what it would be like if our central location for government actions to take place was destroyed. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:26:34 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/300000-whats-it-mean-to-us__trashed/#IDComment69971201 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-occupied-territories__trashed/#IDComment68409242 I think that the Palestinian and Israeli conflict is so deep that it is difficult to begin figuring out what to do. The Israelis claim that the land is theirs, while the Palestinians claim that it is not. Even if a court proves that one group of people owns the land, it would be impossible to remove an entire group of people from where the live and where they have become established. I don’t think that Israel will ever be removed and I think they will occupy the land for many years. I think that the Israelis have an advantage since they already occupy the land and because they have the most powerful army in the world. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:37:19 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-occupied-territories__trashed/#IDComment68409242 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68408455 Thursday’s class about the Christian invaders in the Middle East really got me thinking about what is truly happening in the war in Iraq and similar areas. I knew previously that the war we are in is mostly due to the fact that America wants more oil and more control of the resources. However, I didn’t realize that what we truly want is control of the resources on their land and then we plan on getting out of the country without offering any assistance to them at all. It’s really easy for Americans to form an opinion on the Middle Eastern people because of news reports and video clips and pictures that are constantly posted all over the news and the internet. However, Sam broke everything down the other day and explained that we don’t see the goo in anybody and that only the bad is portrayed to us when we see things pop up in the news. The Arab people are exactly like most American people in the fact that they want to be happy, have peace, and they want what is best for them and their families. For the most part, that is no different from the American people. Most Americans view the Arab people as radicals who only want to kill people and take lives from many innocent people. However, they are only “fighting back” because we are portrayed to be coming into their land to convert them from their religion, which is very important to them. When Arab people see Americans working together as Christians and being sent overseas into their country to fight “terror,” they portray it as religious crusades because most people in the United States are Christian and read the bible as a religious practice. When they see this, they think that they are martyrs coming to convert them from whichever religion they practice to Christianity. Of course, anybody who is adamant about their religion will fight back against people in hopes of saving what is valuable to them. I can completely understand now why the fighting and rebellion occurs on a regular basis. The Middle Eastern people are scared for their lives and they are unsure of what is going to happen to them and their families. It must be very painful to learn that more and more troops are being sent into their country and they aren’t even sure of the exact reason. It’s very interesting that we as Americans are affected in similar ways because we think that these people are always causing havoc in their country, but really they are standing up for what they believe in. These people are normal and generally friendly people, but the few extremists in every group stand out, making the situation appear different than it really is. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:31:23 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68408455 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-might-be-the-second-step__trashed/#IDComment66869187 It’s difficult to say what the next step would be in fixing the problem with slavery in the modern world. Obviously there is a large problem with slavery and it still exists today in large numbers. Who is to say what the best option is to fix the problem with slavery? I think what needs to be done is a tough call. Maybe the government could provide some companies with money to counter the low costs of cheap labor and slave labor. To take place of the people who are working for nothing, the government could give these companies money so that they could pay a little bit more for the labor. Fri, 9 Apr 2010 20:36:12 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-might-be-the-second-step__trashed/#IDComment66869187 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/is-quality-the-question__trashed/#IDComment65637027 I agree with where you are coming from. I think that affirmative action could definitely lower the quality of health care in that situation. I think there are certain situations that need to be evaluated and the person best qualified for the job should receive the position. Something like this could put people’s lives at risk when it comes to surgeries and operations if the doctor is less qualified and less knowledgeable than somebody else who didn’t receive a job because of affirmative action. I do think that affirmative action lowers the quality of workers, but only if the person is really less qualified for a position. If a person has the qualifications and complete the tasks of the job, then that person should receive the job, of course. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 22:25:27 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/is-quality-the-question__trashed/#IDComment65637027 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-if-we-got-rid-of-welfare__trashed/#IDComment65636402 I’m not really sure how the country and the government would even begin to go about eliminating the welfare program. So many people rely on the welfare system to live and without it, people would have nowhere to turn for help. However, if the welfare system were to be eliminated, I think that the status of people wouldn’t change too drastically. People would probably save money in taxes because they don’t need to put part of their paycheck towards funding another person’s habits. I really don’t believe that the class system would change too greatly because the people who weren’t on welfare prior to its removal will still live their lives the way they have been, and the people on welfare currently will have to find other means to support themselves and their families. The welfare system currently provides millions of people in the country with money each month to care for themselves and their family and children. It’s unfortunate that some people abuse the system and try to use money for purposes other than the reasons the program was created to help. I know that a large portion of people on welfare pay for things that are unnecessary in relation to living standards when they should be focusing their money that they receive on more important things. It’s sad that some people take the system for granted and feed their unhealthy habits, such as drug addictions and alcoholism when there are really people in the world who need the program in order to survive. I think it would be extremely difficult to eliminate the program altogether, but maybe the government could put higher regulations on the program and make the qualifications for being on welfare a bit more specific. I understand completely why some people use welfare as a means to live out their lives in a given period of time, but the people who truly abuse the system are the ones who give the program a bad reputation. I think that it would be impossible for the government to provide absolutely no aid to people who are in need. Therefore, the requirements to be on welfare should be greatly increased so that only those in need are receiving the benefits of the welfare program. A possible solution could be for people receiving aid to send in receipts from things they spend money on throughout the month. When the month is over, they can mail in a list of receipts so that the government can evaluate their spending and see exactly where they are spending their money and for whom. Of course, people could get around this rule by stealing receipts from other people or having other peoples submit their purchases for them, but this option could potentially decrease the amount of people on the system who really shouldn’t be receiving money from the government each month. Fri, 2 Apr 2010 22:21:47 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-if-we-got-rid-of-welfare__trashed/#IDComment65636402 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment64229716 As a man, I really don’t think that the whole idea about women having their period and the menstrual cycle they go through is a big deal. It is a part of life and every woman goes through it, regardless of who they are. I completely agreed with Sam in class that people need to stop overreacting about the whole issue. I know that women are hesitant to talk about the topic in front of other men, and this is understandable. However, it really shouldn’t be a big deal and people should be able to speak freely about it because it is a huge part of a woman’s life. I am not sure why women should have to keep it a secret from other people because a woman’s period is not that big of a deal. People who overreact to the topic need to grow up and mature a little bit because every single woman has a menstrual cycle. I do agree however, that Sam was a little bit too aggressive when talking about the topic and said some things that were a bit touchy. I understood his point and where he was going, but the examples he used were way too descriptive and personal. I really don’t need to know about Sam’s wife’s menstrual cycle, but the menstrual cycle in general is important to understand. I know that growing up, I was surrounded by several people who were very open about having their period and would mention it multiple times or have it known that they had their period at a given time. Although that is a bit odd because most people don’t experience other people being so open about the topic, I think that being around that growing up made me realize that a woman having her period really isn’t a big deal at all. If women feel comfortable talking about what they are experiencing at a given time, then they should go for it and express how they are feeling. However, I completely understand if a woman does not want to talk about it to other people because it is a personal issue and some people are not as open as others. I think that men do need to loosen up and become more open to learning more about it because it does affect women a great deal. When us men get older and have serious girlfriends or wives, we will be hearing about their menstrual cycle very often, so I don’t think it hurts to learn a little bit more about it now before experiencing it in full blast. Thinking back to high school health classes, I never remember talking about women getting their period, but I do recall my teachers talking about masturbation. I’m not sure why we don’t learn more about a woman’s menstrual cycle in health classes because it would definitely ease people into the topic. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:22:07 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment64229716 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/if-men-could-menstruate__trashed/#IDComment64228478 I think the obvious reason as to why men don’t talk about a woman’s period enough is because they don’t go through a menstrual cycle like women do. I think as a guy, I really don’t want to learn about the women’s menstrual cycle because it doesn’t affect me at this stage in my life. I know that I’m surrounded by females who talk about their period and what they are going through on a regular basis, but I don’t know enough about it to fully understand what women go through. At the same time, when I hear women talking about this topic, I tend to zone out because it doesn’t affect me. I think that most men are the same way and because it doesn’t effect them, they don’t educate themselves on the topic. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:11:08 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/if-men-could-menstruate__trashed/#IDComment64228478 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians__trashed/#IDComment64228109 I definitely agree that when you’re in the majority, you don’t realize that you are in the majority until you take a step back and actually think about it. People get so caught up in life that it does take some time to think about who we are as people and where we stand to realize what it is like for another person to live their life as a minority. As a white male, I know that I rarely thought about race prior to SOC119. As for the question about Asian Americans and Asians, I know that I cannot distinguish between the two. I’m not surrounded by people of Asian decent enough to be able to pick apart the differences. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:07:38 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-are-all-of-you-thinking-about-asians__trashed/#IDComment64228109 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/is-anyone-else-getting-this-stuff__trashed/#IDComment63067995 I think that it is important for people to be able to see race from another person’s perspective. It is important that another person is able to do this so that they can get a feel for how a black person feels or a white person feels, or another person of color feels when they are presented with issues dealing with their race. I am a white male and I think that I could gain a better understanding of the problems dealing with race if I could see these issues through the perspective of a person of color. I have an idea of what life is like, but obviously nobody can fully understand the experience, especially since they could never put themselves in another person’s shoes. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:27:00 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/is-anyone-else-getting-this-stuff__trashed/#IDComment63067995 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-happens-to-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment63067590 I think that this is a difficult question to answer. When people have two or more different backgrounds, they should be able to choose how to identify themselves. When people are multiracial, such as white and Puerto Rican, as stated in the video clip, I think those people should be able to choose how to identity themselves. If they want to be considered white, then that is how they should be identified. On the other hand, if they want to be associated with the Puerto Rican community, or a multiracial community, then that should be allowed as well. I don’t think that other people should be able to tell somebody else how to identify themselves. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:23:09 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-happens-to-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment63067590 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment63067256 I think that these shows are strictly for entertainment purposes. Of course, many people want to be on television and there are plenty of things that people will do in order to have the opportunity. However, I don’t think that white people are the only people willing to humiliate themselves. There are countless times when I have seen people of color doing the same things on television in order to get into the spotlight. I think it seems as though white people put themselves in this position more frequently because the population of whites is much greater than that of blacks and colored people, so it is more common to see whites in these positions. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:19:56 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment63067256 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment63066945 I completely agree with what you are saying. In class, I noticed what you were talking about and was wondering the same thing. The rude comments from the texting server came from both white people and people of color. I did notice that when white people said something rude, the crowd had a loud reaction, but when people of color did the same thing, it wasn’t as big of a deal. The comments about white people were also offensive to me because when things such as “rich, undeserving, and handed everything” popped up on the screen, that is very far from the truth for me. I think the rudeness definitely goes both ways and people of color and white people can be rude. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:16:47 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment63066945 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63066401 I think it is obvious that many white people feel some way or another about the issues of race and deal with the blame they receive in different ways. I think that it is time that people stop accepting the blame that people of color impose on them and realize that they have nothing to feel guilty about. I know that it is hard to do, but white people need to stop allowing other people to put the blame on them. Personally, I feel some sort of guilt for having an advantage as a white person, and I don’t think that white people should have this benefit. However, it is unfortunate that that is the way the world of race relations works and people shouldn’t feel personally responsible if they haven’t directly contributed to this. White people have no choice over how they were born, or their skin color, just like a person of color has no say as well. People need to realize that much of the issues of race occur because of things in the past. I refuse to take the blame for the actions of my ancestors many years ago that I have no control over. However, regardless of whether or not I allow myself to take on some of this blame, I still feel guilty to some extent. What did I do to deserve an advantage over somebody else just because of my skin color? It is not fair that this is the way the world of race relations works, but it is unfortunate that it does work this way. I am not too sure what this question is asking exactly, but I don’t think that by learning only about white history in our textbooks and in the classroom that our problems will be able to be resolved. It is important for people to learn about other people’s races and backgrounds and where people came from. By erasing this or forgetting about this, we are stripping people of their identity and most people are proud of who they are and where they came from. Creating a history of only white people would be a bit extreme and very unnecessary. Instead, I think people need to realize that they need to accept other people and forget about the issue of race. We are all individuals who feel strongly about our backgrounds and it is important that we share our different beliefs. We can’t solve our problems by creating one history to learn and all conform to that belief. Our society runs the way it does today because of the many groups of different people. Diversity helps us create an atmosphere where many different groups of people can exist, but it’s up to the people to accept others to make things run smoothly. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 23:11:58 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-to-do-about-white-guilt__trashed/#IDComment63066401 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-question-two__trashed/#IDComment58875491 I do think that money has a lot to do with this question. People who have more money can obviously afford to hire a more expensive and trained lawyer. According to the statistics, on average, white people have more money than black people. I think that this plays a huge role in sentencing people to jail time. This advantage of having more money benefits white people and they may be able to reduce the sentencing that they may have received if they were to have a lower financial budget. At the same time, I definitely believe that racism plays a large role in the decision of sentencing, but I don’t think that that is the only factor evaluated in the courtroom. A person’s race only goes so far when a judge makes a decision, but having more money can without a doubt better a person’s chances of receiving a “better” sentencing. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:36:16 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-question-two__trashed/#IDComment58875491 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-one__trashed/#IDComment58874061 It is hard to say what would work best to get the message out there about what has happened to Native Americans in the past. It is not surprising to hear what the students drew a picture of when asked to draw and Indian because schools don’t educate their students enough at an early age. I remember the first time I truly learned about the struggles of Native Americans was in eight grade, at the age of twelve. Twelve is entirely too old to just begin learning about what has happened in our past. Schools should definitely begin teaching lessons at an early time to educate their students. Starting in elementary school and briefly covering topics to at least familiarize students could work, but the material covered may be too intense to teach young children. It is a very difficult question to answer and I would hope that somebody could formulate a more concrete procedure to integrating the studies into a school curriculum. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:24:06 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-one__trashed/#IDComment58874061 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58873141 When I saw the video of the Muslim woman being refused service in a store by the employee, I was shocked by the responses of the people who were shopping at the time. If I was in the position of the shopper at that moment and heard a man discriminating against the Muslim woman, I would have without a doubt stood up for her and questioned the man behind the counter. I would never keep my mouth shut in that situation or agree with him because what he said was terrible and people should not have to suffer because of another person’s ignorant comments. The man was clearly discriminating against the woman who was undercover as a shopper and people were just looking the other way. I probably would have opened my mouth and said some vulgar things to that man because discriminating against a person because of their religious background or race is unacceptable. When I saw people stand up for her and give their piece of mind, I felt proud to be an American who feels the same way. Regardless of a person’s skin color or religious beliefs, we are all Americans and we all deserve the same respect. There is no reason why a person should ever be refused service or fall victim to the racy comments of another person. Although many people did stand up for the woman in the store, many did not. People who agreed were equally pathetic as the man behind the counter. How could a person feel so resentful towards one individual because of the actions of few people who are of the Muslim religion? Of course there are bad people, such as the Muslim extremists who were responsible for the 9/11 bombings of the World Trade Towers and other terroristic events, but these people represent only a small portion of the Muslim community. Seeing people give a thumbs up to the clerk or state that they agree with how he was treating the woman is disgraceful and immature. People need to accept the fact that the United States is an extremely diverse nation with many people who represent a wide range of cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds. Rather than dividing ourselves and causing tension among these groups, people need to try their best to accept people for who they are as Americans and take steps to reduce the strain that exists between many groups of people. Similarly, the people who watched the events in the store unfold and fail to say anything at all should feel equally ashamed and embarrassed. By saying nothing at all, people are accepting what is happening and allowing it to continue. By not sticking up and disagreeing with the clerk, customers are feeding the problem. Overall, it’s just frustrating to see a situation such as the one in the video unfold before us and watch people sit back and allow it to happen. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:16:13 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/when-do-we-do-or-say-something__trashed/#IDComment58873141 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/all-that-is-solid-melts-into-air-including-our-words__trashed/#IDComment57535491 I came across this article a few days ago on my own and thought about this because it is very weird to think that this particular language will never be spoken again—at least by a native of the language. It’s strange to think that the entire population that spoke a language has been wiped out. If this were the case for another language, such as English or Spanish, which would probably never happen, people would be fully aware. It is very sad that an entire language will no longer be practiced because of one woman who has passed away. I understand that the language was not widespread, but knowing that people used to speak this language, and now it is gone is alarming and quite disturbing. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:17:51 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/all-that-is-solid-melts-into-air-including-our-words__trashed/#IDComment57535491