en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/1129448 Comments by nrd5040 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85300443 7/7/10 cont... The Oprah video was one that we had seen before but still was a great way to show the disparities in society. The video made it very evident that the suburban high school was far better off than the inner city school. At the suburban high school there was an Olympic size swimming pool and at the inner city school the pool was not even filled with water. It’s incredible to see the inequality between two schools only an hour away from each other. Clearly, the kids that attend the suburban high school are at a greater advantage and have more opportunities than those students that attend the inner city school. How can we solve this solution inequality? I have no idea but something needs to change. America is supposed to be the land of equal opportunity and clearly that is not happening everywhere. Wed, 7 Jul 2010 12:49:09 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85300443 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85300402 7/7/10 cont.. I do not think that nepotism will ever be stopped as family and friends are always going to look out for each other. Often we do not stop and think about the people that we step over due to nepotism. This sort of thing happens at universities like Penn State too as they are more inclined to take the son or daughter of alumni over non-alumni. It’s not fair but that’s the way it seems to work. I do not see all of society giving up nepotism so it will remain an aspect of society and it is just something everyone should acknowledge and deal with. As for affirmative action, I think I agree with what President Obama said. It should be based on economic circumstances and social backgrounds. Affirmative action should be equally available to people of every race and ethnicity. Wed, 7 Jul 2010 12:48:45 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85300402 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85300293 7/7/10 In this week’s lecture Sam took a different perspective when looking at affirmative action. I never thought about affirmative action in comparison to nepotism. They are basically the same thing. The only difference between the two is that nepotism is an accepted part of the way society works and affirmative action is something that spurns heated debate. We have all benefitted at one time or another from nepotism and more often than not we have benefitted numerous times from nepotism. Parents typically want the best for their children and will likely do things in order to give their children the best chance to succeed. They get their kids jobs and internships that they normally would not get but because of a family member they got the job. I got my summer job through my father, a job that I did not even have to interview for. The job was basically handed to me without any work on my hand. I am very grateful for this because I know some of my friends are struggling to find a good job for the summer. I also know that it is unfair that I got this job just because of my father. Wed, 7 Jul 2010 12:47:50 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85300293 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85127298 7/6/10 Nepotism is everywhere and I think that everyone has benefited at one point or another in their life from nepotism. I know that I have benefited. The internship that I am working at this summer is a direct result of my father working at the company. I never had to go out and look for an internship on my own because I knew my father had a job lined up for me. Networking and using connections is just the way that society works. It is a way to get a leg. Is it always fair? No, but it is something that has become the norm in society and is a reality we all live with and help perpetuate. Nepotism has been going on for centuries, as the kings and wealthy nobles left their kingdoms or estates to their children. From the look of things it does not appear that this system is going to change anytime soon. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 13:11:55 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85127298 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84637326 7/3/10 After this weeks lecture I am left in the same place as I was before on the immigration issue- confused. I cannot say that I feel strongly one way or the other about the issue. The lecture was very interesting as I have rarely heard immigration discussed as a business issue. It makes sense to me that business regulates the number of immigrants that flow into the country as this is how it’s always been done in this country. When business needs labor they seek cheap foreign labor. Our founding fathers and first Europeans to settle America used indentured servants and slaves on their plantations, we used Chinese labor to build our railroads, the waves of immigrants from Europe at turn of the 19th century did all of the unappealing "dirty work" that no one else wanted to do. All of the waves of immigrants were treated with hostility and were used as scapegoats to whatever problems were going on in the country. This holds true today as waves of Latin American immigrants are entering the United States. I feel as if a blind eye was turned to illegal immigration when business was booming but now that the economy is sagging immigrants are blamed for taking jobs away from other citizens. However, all of the immigrants that were once treated with hostility in the past have now become "accepted" into the country and join in on blaming the newly arrived immigrants. There seems to be a pattern and I wonder how the waves of Latin American immigrants will be viewed 50 years from now. At one point in our country's history storefronts displayed signs that read "Irish need not apply" but now the Irish immigrants are celebrated for their industrious nature and hard work in the face of discrimination. Even people who are not Irish love to take in St. Patrick’s Day in honor of the Irish and love of the drink. One day in the distant future we may be taking in Cinco de Mayo as if it were St. Patrick's Day. Throughout history newly arrived immigrants have been perceived as a threat to society but have helped transform of country into a world leader, known for innovation. We are a country of immigrants and that is what makes America so special. We are a magnet for for hardworking risk takers because of our free market system. While I believe that immigration is the backbone of this country I still have some mixed feelings about illegal immigration. I have no solutions to offer but we have to regulate it in some way. We need to know who is in our country as criminals are able to enter just as easily as people who are looking fro a better life. Illegal immigration is allowing the Mexican drug cartels to flourish and creates a threat to security especially in border towns. We need to protect our country but cannot build walls around it to keep everyone out. I am not sure what our current immigration policy is like or what it takes to come here legally. That may be part of the problem and something that we can improve to curb illegal immigration. The Glenn Beck video was an interesting look at our immigration efforts (or lack thereof) and I hope that we actually do something this time around and not wait another six years. Sun, 4 Jul 2010 00:20:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84637326 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84205616 7/2/10 I can relate to what you said about immigration as my father came to the United States in the 1950's from Italy. My grandparents dreamed of a better life here and they worked very hard for many years in order to provide a better life for thier family. However, this experience has made me more tolerant of illegal immigration. I do not support illegal immigration but I do understand that the majority of the people crossing the border are trying to create a better life for themselves and their family just the same as my grandfather. I think that all immigrants that come here are trying to take advantage of the oppurtunities that this country offers. Fri, 2 Jul 2010 13:48:06 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84205616 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83473362 6/30/10 The lecture on multiculturalism was very cool and full of interesting information. The surveys in the beginning of the class were an interesting way to look at how people feel about multiculturalism. The only problem with them is that people can interpret more diverse in a lot of different ways. I think that the democratic numbers were affected by political correctness and were not 100% genuine. It was also interesting to me to see that much larger percentages of hispanics and whites would prefer to live in a community made up of people of their same ancestry. I am white and I live in a largely predominant area and neighborhood however there are a few immigrant families (all from the middle east) on my street. I personally like to have more diversity in my neighborhood because things get too boring otherwise. It's interesting to talk to my Iranian neighbor because he comes from such a different culture and its cool to see how he feels about certain issues pertaining to this country. I have learned some new things from him as well as he was the first person to explain the difference between Arabs and Persian. A student during the lecture mentioned something about the cheese steak place in Philadelphia that put a sign up about customers having to speak English. The place was Genos and i remember reading about the sign in newspapers a couple of years ago. It's pretty blatant discrimination against immigrants and those of different national origin in my mind. The sign is not that much different than ones you would see during the late 19th century that read "Irish need not apply". I think that it is a good example of how the people with power demand assimilation of the minority groups. Instead of isolating non-english speaking people, Genos could make a little effort to meet these people halfway. I mean they are only trying to order a cheese steak, it's not like you have to try to explain quantum physics. A lot of people seem to be hung up on the issue of speaking english in this country. While we have no official language I do believe that we are an english speaking country. However, schools in this country, at least to my experience, do not place nearly as much emphasis on learning other languages as other countries. My high school requirements for foreign language was not nearly enough to become any where near to fluent in another language. I did not even start foreign language classes until I was in seventh grade and those classes were only two to three times a week. Whenever i meet someone from another country they are almost always bilingual, and many times know more than two languages. I feel like we are doing ourselves a great disservice by not learning other languages and assuming that everyone should know how to speak english. Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:47:37 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83473362 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83158989 6/29/10 I also thought the idea of the chinese flag as really interesting especially because I happened to partake in the good herb shortly before watching the lecture. To me, the flag does not really mean anything as I see it as only a piece of cloth and I do not put any symbolic meaning on it. The constitution is what represents the set of ideals and values of my country. I think the flag is just an easy rallying point for many people to get behind. If you were born in China you would hold a very different set of ideals and see the chinese flag as representative of your culture. Flags are just an easy way to seperate between countries which is useful if you are at sea or in a conflict zone. I do think that the American flag looks cool but why do all flags have to rectangular. Countries should try some different shapes to make theirs really unique. Just throwing an idea out there. Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:14:40 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83158989 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81701023 6/23 This weeks lecture was had me wading in some unfamiliar waters. I am a white person so I never had an early realization of the color of my skin. Black or brown people are forced to deal with this at an early age. I can only imagine that it is confusing to see whiteness all around you and being told that light skin is beautiful. The story Sam told about his friends little girl who came home from pre-school crying because here friend told her she was dirty was a good example of this. I do not think that the girl’s friend meant it a racist remark but simply did not know better. However, it is still a hurtful thing to say and a harsh way for that little girl to come to terms with her race. The video “A Girl like Me” was really pretty disturbing to see time after time the kid pick the light skinned doll over the dark skinned doll when asked which on is good. It was also shocking to see the black girl pick the light skinned doll as the one that was most like her. It seems like the little girl does not see herself as being black because she associates that color with being bad. It’s sad that she sees the world that way but she must have learned it somewhere. Most likely she learned it from the media, television and movies. There was a similar experiment done on CNN a couple of weeks ago except the kids had to choose between a series of pictures of progressing darker skinned children. The kids in the study were of all different races and yet they all picked the picture of the light skinned children to be good and the dark skinned to be bad. I think it shows that parents need to talk to their kids about race because it is a very confusing issue especially for a little kid. A black or brown child growing up in a world where you believe dark skin is bad is pretty fucked up in my opinion. The study that shows how grades affect popularity is really interesting. As black or brown people get better grades they become less popular and the opposite is true of white students. I am not sure I really understand this concept, why getting better grades makes you less popular. I suppose some people in the black community would feel that doing well in school is representative of someone trying to act white. It does not really make any sense to me and seems counterproductive. Doing well is school is a way to get ahead in life and can open up more doors of opportunity. It is a silly way to try to separate yourself from another race. Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:06:41 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81701023 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81321521 6/21 I also have a different perspective about the Native American guilt. The guilt about the plight of Native Americans is something that should be shared with all Americans. I am not saying that the genocide of Native Americans is the fault of black people and I am not going to put the blame all on the shoulders of one ancestry group. However, as Americans we are all living on "red land", their soil before we ( white, black, brown, whatever) came here. Long ago this was foreign land and we made it our own ay the expense of the indigenous people and now we thrive here. Stopping to think about how we live our lives on Native American soil certainly makes me feel something. I think we can all work to get over the past transgressions of our ancestors as those actions are not our personally responsibility but I think it is more important to focus on our lives instead of the past. This is especially true as Native Americans suffer from some of the worst socioeconomic conditions in this country. I think it is something that we can all relate to. Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:18:34 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81321521 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment81108692 6/20 The video about the white nationalists girls, Prussian Blue was their name I think, was pretty sad. We watched the entire video in Sam’s Soc 001 class and these girls were basically brainwashed by their mother. It is disturbing to hear such offensive; hateful remarks come out of two young girls’ mouths. At one point they were downplaying the Holocaust as "not that bad". By the end of the video though the girls start to turn away from their mother and turn away from all the white supremacist ideology due to backlash from their local community. It is just sad to see kids that were raised in such a hateful environment and who are taught that their race is better than all others. The video shows just how easily influenced young kids can be when they do not know any better. It is difficult for kids to break patterns that they were taught as a young kid as they start to become habits. In order to change, a shift in perception is needed and as discussing in Making peace between our Colors" one must leave their box.The backlash of the community where the white nationalist girls lived was their perception shift as they saw how other people viewed them. I think this is how you get out of the Awakening Stage and begin to see racial inequalities and racism. This is where white guilt comes into play, as we( white people) begin to come to terms with racial inequalities of the past and present. As a history major I have taken a few classes discussing African-American history. It is hard not to feel shameful when you read about the treatment of blacks by whites throughout history on this continent. I know that it is not my fault and I am not responsible for those past actions but it is difficult not feel a growing guilt about my white privilege. How much different would my life be if I was black or brown? I guess it is impossible to know. It is definitely not a comforting feeling for white people to think about. To feel that part of what they have accomplished in life was due to the color of their skin. What makes this stage difficult is not knowing where to go from there, having mixed feelings about racial issues and white guilt. I guess this is where people would move to the next stage of racial identity: reversal. The journal entry that Sam showed in class was really interesting and honest. It is a great example of how complicated these issues really are and its not all black and white. It takes a lot of work from all races to come to terms with racial identity and is not only a challenge for white people, although that is the group we are focusing on right now. Sun, 20 Jun 2010 16:37:21 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment81108692 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80479265 6/16 I find it strange to think about my whiteness. It is not something I have ever thought about before. I guess growing up in a predominantly white community has shaped that, being that my skin color always kept me in the majority and has never set me apart. As a kid I feel as though I was definitely in the Pre-awakening stage because I never even thought about being white. I do remember that my friends and I would more often identify with our ethnic backgrounds. I thought that the video of the comedian Louis C.K. discussing whiteness to be both funny and interesting to think about. He made some pretty good points about being white. I never think about the advantages that I was given right off the get go from the day I was born being both white and a man. Being white has probably helped me in a lot of ways that I do not even think about on a day to day basis. White privilege is certainly real and prevalent is today’s society. He makes a fair point that white people need to acknowledge it. That’s not to say that all successful white people are only successful because they are white, but their whiteness certainly plays a part of it. Growing up I never identified with my skin color but more often than not identified with my ethnicity. Race has never been an important issue to me because I was taught like many white kids are not to see color. But what really happened is that I learned to avoid talking about race. I mean it seems impossible to be colorblind, I think you have to acknowledge race or else you’re living in some kind of fantasy land. By not acknowledging race you cannot make any progress towards understanding because you will disengage yourself from any sort of meaningful conversation about race. It is difficult for any of us to truly understand what it would be like to walk in someone else's shoes. Dr. Richards brought up some interesting examples like how someone who is tall has a different experience in life as opposed to someone who is of a shorter stature. Someone of average height, like myself, I am only 5 foot 8 just cannot really understand how someone else's height effects their life. This is exactly true for race or any sort of difference really. It is impossible for me to understand what it is like to be black or brown. Dr. Richards also discussed his experience with the disabled and how he did not have any experience prior to the becoming adviser of the group which left him not knowing exactly what to expect. This is the same thing that many people experience when getting involved in racial discussions that have had very little experience dealing with race relations. It is important to step out of our boundaries and comfort zone in order to gain greater understand of those who are different than us. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:52:35 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80479265 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80453817 6/16 As for being politically correct, it is basically for people to side step the issue. As a white person it is difficult to have a race conversation because you do not want to have your intentions misinterpreted or your words misconstrued. Nobody wants to accidentally offend somebody by using the wrong term or racial identifier and then have themselves labeled a racist. Once somebody labels you as a racist it is nearly impossible to get that stigma off you. It just seems like a sticky situation for white people especially when you have little to no knowledge about an issue. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:03:16 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80453817 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment80262691 6/15 As a white person I know exactly what you mean. We are taught not to see color and not to discuss race so we never learn how to talk about it. It makes it uncomfortable sometimes in certain situations where there is a mixed group because I do not know the appropriate racial identifiers and I do not want to accidentally offend someone. Being white is like walking on a tight rope sometimes as I feel I have very little leeway as you have to walk a fine line when discussing racial topics. The political correctness of racial issues has stifled any meaningful conversation from both sides of the discussion and until we get over that political correctness conversations will continue to be difficult. Tue, 15 Jun 2010 14:34:17 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment80262691 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79140045 However, I feel that when statistics show that drug usage among all groups of people are relatively the same, and one group is being punished more than any other, there is something very wrong. I have been through the criminal justice system as I was arrested for possession of marijuana and paraphernalia ( a grinder). I was fortunate enough to get a good lawyer and he was able to get me off with only light probation (ARD). While I was in court another kid was before the judge ahead of me and as I was sitting in the court room I was listening. His case was very similar to mine, he had a lawyer with him, except he was black. He did not receive as light of a sentence as I did and I never thought much of it. I'm not saying that the judge was racist, I do not know the full details of this kids case and if he has a previous record. I'm just saying it makes me wonder if my white skin helped me out in the court room. Tue, 8 Jun 2010 16:42:29 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79140045 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79139913 I've heard some of the statistics that Sam mentioned in class before but it never really hit home then because I had never really sat down and thought about it afterward. It seems to me that the "War on Drugs" is really a war on black people. It looks like another way the people on top of the mountain are trying to create disadvantages for people not in their own group. Getting caught up in the criminal justice system is certainly equivalent to the example Sam used in class of tying someone’s arm behind their back. I am not saying that this is all the white mans fault either though. When you decide to use drugs or sell them you are taking a certain risk, knowingly partaking in an illegal activity. That decision is all on you, nobody forced that joint in your mouth and forced you to inhale. Tue, 8 Jun 2010 16:42:15 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79139913 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79139910 6/8/10 The statistics about crime and race in this weeks lecture was pretty disheartening especially for a country that prides itself on equality for everyone before the law. The statistics on drug offenders by race and the incarceration rates were pretty blatantly racist. I do not know what else to conclude other than racism when black and brown peple are incarcerated at such higher rates than whites. When the crimes and criminal histories were exactly the same for a black person and a white person the black person was more likely to go to prison. The amount of black people in prison as a percentage is also very telling. When nearly half of our prison population is of one race there is clearly something going on there. Blacks only make up 12% of the US population but 44% of the prison population! It does not stop sounding ridiculous to me. Tue, 8 Jun 2010 16:42:09 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79139910 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79133139 6/8 Yeah the prisons in this country are way too full. It is crazy that we house 25% of the worlds prison population considering that we only make up a small portion of the worlds population. I think there are far too many nonviolent offenders in jail serving time. Instead of locking up a nonviolent drug offender, could we not offer some form of rehabilitation, which would actually solve the addiction problem instead of getting someone caught up in the vicious convict cycle. Throwing people in jail for using drugs is not solving the drug problem in this country. We need a new strategy dealing with criminal justice in this society. Tue, 8 Jun 2010 15:58:45 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79133139 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78515405 The other topic I found particularly interesting was the biological factor and sports. Its funny how many people, especially white people believe that somehow blacks can jump higher than whites by way of an extra bone. I think that it is more of a socioeconomic and cultural thing that leads many African-Americas to play basketball. It’s a similar thing in hockey. I played hockey for 15 years and I only had a handful of black teammates. Some were better and others were bad but race has no effect on being a good hockey player as there are so many factors that go into it. Hockey is an expensive sport to play and really limits opportunities for kids who live in a lower socioeconomic climate like inner cities. You don't see many hockey rinks in the city but you do see a lot of basketball courts. Fri, 4 Jun 2010 14:25:50 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78515405 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78515389 The Oprah segment about an inner city school compared to a suburban school was really telling. It was painfully clear which school provided better opportunities and advantages. The inner city school was really run down and did not even have water in their pool while the suburban school had a massive olympic size pool. Students from the inner city school certainly have more challenges and obstacles in their way but can still effect their situation by the choices that they make. The graduation rates for the two high schools were on opposite ends of the spectrum with he suburban school having a graduation rate of 99% I think and the inner city school's graduation rate was below 50%. The statistics that Sam showed in class about income and SAT scores were really interesting as well. I’m not sure exactly why higher incomes equate to higher scores on the SAT's but I imagine that it has something to do with wealth presents more opportunities for students. Fri, 4 Jun 2010 14:25:40 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78515389