en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2403507 Comments by onewaylove http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/would-you-hire-illegal-immigrants-over-legal-residents-for-less-pay-119-blog/#IDComment144654583 I think it definitely depend on what type of business I would be running if I had to decide between illegal immigrants and legal residents. Because like Sam said, I do agree that really all illegal immigrants that risk it all coming over here have a strong drive to work much harder than most if not all Americans have, in a lot of instances, the illegal immigrants really need the money more than most Americans do, but like I said, hiring them would depend on the kind of business I was running. For example, a business based primarily off of cash purchases that I would try to hide from the government such as a painting business, home improvement business or landscaping business. Illegal immigrants would work cheap, not that I would deprive them of payment that they most certainly earned, but they wouldn’t require nearly as much as a legal American would want, or need to be paid for that matter. Paying illegal immigrants would be able to be done in cash only so I wouldn’t have to take taxes out of their salary, and most of my payments, and illegal immigrants would work much better than white people outside, it wouldn’t matter what the conditions were the illegal immigrants would always be sure to get the entire job done in a quality way because lets face it white people are lazy. I’ve had white people paint my house before, it takes them five times as long as the Mexicans take to paint an entire house, they cut corners, so usually the job has to be done twice, they demand you pay them much more than they deserve, even after the shit job they’ve done, and they just plain suck. Also, Immigrants need the money much more than most white people do, and since its easier for white people to get a job other places than it is a minorities, it is only fair that I give these sort of opportunities to the Mexicans. Everybody wins. A business where I would reluctantly hire legal citizens (white People) over illegal immigrants would be a restaurant, a store, or something of that nature. First of all because its much more of a hassle to hide these paychecks from the government and that could be a problem, and two because illegal immigrants are probably to overqualified for these jobs compared to the lazy white people that I would give them to. I wouldn’t hire illegal immigrants for these jobs also because Id rather them go somewhere where they can pay them better for their work and they would be busy all day such as another landscaping business or something. Mexicans would run out of duties to do in a restaurant in about one hour as opposed to the white person who would take one hour to wash a pile of dishes. Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:43:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/would-you-hire-illegal-immigrants-over-legal-residents-for-less-pay-119-blog/#IDComment144654583 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/#IDComment142587370 I would first like to start of by saying that anyone that says they would turn down an offer due to nepotism is full of crap. I would love to meet someone (especially in this economy) that would have the balls to turn down an offer for a job just because someone was doing them a favor. Alot of people are saying bad things about nepotism and how it may not be fair. But people aren’t looking at this from both sides of the fence. What about an unemployed single mother with 3 kids that gets a job from her best friends brother, or a convicted felon with a family that cant find a job because of a criminal record. Its because of some situtions like these that I don’t necessarily believe that nepotism is a bad thing. Id like to use my dad for example, owning his own company, he has the power to create, or destroy jobs. However, he is very fair when it comes to hiring and paychecks. A couple years ago, his brother and sister were unemployed for quite sometime. As it turned out, he was shorthanded at his company at the same time. Now instead of hiring someone that had an extensive background in his industry, which he easily could have, he gave them a job. Clearly if they weren’t related to him it wouldn’t have been so easy to get a job working for him, but nepotism gave them a shot. So now two previously unemployed people had money to support their families and when is that a bad thing? However like almost anyone who works for family, they seemed to believe that they could slack off and get away with it. So they started showing up late for work, being lazy in the office, and other stuff like that until he fired them both. And this is why I don’t think nepotism is completely unfair. People can help you get opportunities, but you still have to work hard to benefit from them or you will be replaced, its that simple. I will be reaping the benefits of nepotism this summer working for him, but he made it perfectly clear, that if I don’t work up to the same level as all of his other employees, I will be fired. Im sure there are tons more people qualified than me even to take over my dads company when he does not want to run it anymore, but my dad does not plan on giving anyone that opportunity. It is my father’s company, therefore he can do whatever the hell he wants with it, just as it should be for anyone. Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:15:02 +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/#IDComment142587370 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141129451 I think Sam was completely right when he said that this was going to be the best lecture of the year. Just by the energy he had when he was presenting it made this one hundred times better than most every other lecture. It really shows that this is a topic that Sam was very passionate about and I think he is right to assume that it’s something worth making us all aware of. I personally really didn’t know that the biggest reason we were over in Iraq in the first place was because of oil. Well I wasn’t really surprised when I found out, but I didn’t know that it was such a huge part of why we were at war with them, and the way Sam presented the facts really shows that were completely out of line to be over there in the first place. Aside from Sam’s enthusiasm in delivering the lecture, is the way that he tried to put us all in the mindset of Muslims living in Iraq. Even in the beginning when he told us to imagine that scenario about china coming to America and basically doing to us what we are doing to Iraq. For me at least, it helped a lot in understanding what the Muslims are going through and the hardships that we are putting them through. Another thing that made this lecture very effective was Sam’s use of facts to back up everything he was saying. They were very powerful facts, and for once someone gave the whole truth about what was going on in Iraq. This Lecture changed my view on a lot of things, I used to think the US had a justifiable reason for being at war, but now I think what were doing is dumb. I was shocked at his evidence about the violent Christians. I’m Christian myself and I’ve never seen the side of Christians that Sam showed us, but I do believe that its there. It really reinforces my view that a lot of religion is a scam to get money out of people and force unwanted beliefs on others. Not all of it is this way, but obviously some extremists are there. One fault I saw with this lecture is that Sam didn’t touch on the fact that all of the Middle East is in shambles, only the places we are in are. He also didn’t talk about the groups of Christians that really do mean well for everyone. And try to help people. So, in a way this was sort of a one sided viewpoint lecture, but then again sam was over exaggerating in order to get his point across. All in all, I definitely think this was his best lecture to date. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 00:57:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/do-you-think-sam-was-right-in-saying-this-will-be-the-best-lecture-of-the-year-119-blog/#IDComment141129451 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment139697540 I have a lot of problems with the way people perceive the unequality of wealth in America, but in a way I do see where some people are coming from. Of course I agree with Sam on the fact that a lot of people cheat the system whether it be by scamming people, stealing from people or other unfair practices in the corporate world. However, I also think that a lot of people feel that everyone that’s successful, unfairly aquired their status and cheated their way to the top. I also believe that people like minorities which Sam showed us have a much harder time of getting ahead have a chance to get ahead. Although it is small, it is there, but unfortunately they have to work ten times harder than everyone else to get the same position as someone who is not a minority. Id like to use my dad as an example. He is 100% Hispanic from Colombia and he moved here when he was 8 years old. He did not speak a word of English nor did anyone else in his family. However, despite these obstacles, in high school he started working for some smaller companies working his way up the corporate ladder while supporting himself since his mom and dad had very low paying jobs. , When he got out of high school he did not go to college, rather he kept working until a few years later he opened his own company. Today he runs 5 companies, 3 of them being multi million dollar companies all by himself. This is why my outlook on inequality isn’t really as strong as some others may be, except I still have a good idea on how it can be a negative effect. One of my unless lived in America all his life, except he is African American. He struggles to find work and support his family, and you cant help but say that it is because he is black because it is. Hes a very skilled electrician, but he constantly misses out on job opportunies because a white man may apply for the same job as him. So, my outlook on inequality is different than others based on my own experiences. I know it exists, and im very aware of how it effects different people, but I have a strong feeling that it can be overcome with an extremely large amount of very hard work. Its very unfortunate that it exists, but unfortunately it doesn’t look like this problem is going away anytime soon so we have no choice but to deal with it. Sun, 3 Apr 2011 18:09:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/30/so-what-your-take-on-those-inequality-classes/#IDComment139697540 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/has-barak-obama%e2%80%99s-presidency-helped-the-race-movement-119-blog/#IDComment137631589 . Barack has already began doing great things with his presidency trying to help the struggle with inequality and hopefully it continues. Barack also serves as a great role model for many young colored kids who want to go somewhere in life and better themselves. Being that barack came from an underprivileged family, endured many problems with drugs as he was growing up, and still came out as such a successful person gives people living in situations simialer to his a great sense of hope. Sure many of them accept that they are not going to be as great as him, but just them knowing theres a chance of getting out of their low quality of life is very possible. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 04:04:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/has-barak-obama%e2%80%99s-presidency-helped-the-race-movement-119-blog/#IDComment137631589 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/has-barak-obama%e2%80%99s-presidency-helped-the-race-movement-119-blog/#IDComment137630473 The election of barack obama definitely has had a great effect on the race movement. Whether hes black muslim or anything else I cant remember, but finally having a president of a different race definitely helps with the movement towards equality. Firstly, a president of a different race, obama, really helps break the ice when it comes to bringing up racial issues in government. Its much easier for someone of a minority race to talk about racial issues, than someone of white race. Given there are some black representatives in government like congress and the house of representatives, barack obama holds the highest position in government therefore opening the floor for racial issues to be discussed. Having a black president also helps because we have someone in office who knows what its like to be the victim of racism for many years. Since Barack was a minority growing up, he has been through the civil rights movement and has seen the struggles the black men and women and other colored people have had to endure throughout the years. Barack now has the power to make a change to that. Its one thing bringing up race issues, but since Barack is in the highest office, he obviously has a lot of pull in government. So upon proposing new plans towards the advancement of equality, he also has a lot of oversight in seeing that his ideas, and other ideas for that matter are carried out. Really I am shocked that we accepted a colored president so quickly. We basically just got out of the civil rights movement, all of our past presidents have been extremely white, and we have made barely any advancement towards equality in prior years. And for barack obama to come out on top in the election, over a woman for that matter shocks me. I don’t think that we would have elected barack if he was of any other race such as asian, Indian or even jewish. I think that his election really shows how far our society has come. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 03:59:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/has-barak-obama%e2%80%99s-presidency-helped-the-race-movement-119-blog/#IDComment137630473 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135946054 I was really shocked at the numbers of diversity sam showed us in class. When Im walking around campus I feel like there are plenty more racial groups walking around than the statistics said. I was especially shocked that Asians only accounting for 4.6% of the population because sometimes I feel like there are more of them everywhere than there are white people. It was also pretty interesting that native Americans only make up .1 percent of the school, which amounts to only about 230 students across the whole campus. That being said, I think penn state is doing a pretty good job of trying to diversify the school. I mean maybe it doesn’t look that way on paper with over 70% of the universities population still being identified as white, but there definitely is a good amount of diversity around campus. I was pretty surprised when we counted the amount of colored people in the penn state advertisement, I thought there was going to be much more colored than white people like the Penn state commercial. Sometimes it almost looks like the school is trying too hard to diversify the school with their advertising. They don’t portray the school as it actually is in terms of ratios of ethnic group. The diversity issue did affect my decision to come here. I also think diversity does play a big part in a lot of people’s decisions of where they decide to go to school. Its easy to say that diversity had no bearing on your decision if you’re a white person going to a predominantly white school, you may tell people that your decision had nothing to do with diversity, but what if you were accepted to a school that was predominantly black, would you be saying the same thing? Odds are most white people would have a problem going to a predominantly black school, and choosing to go to a different school over that school means that ultimately race does have a pretty big bearing on your decision. I personally don’t care much whether there is diversity or not, I think people exaggerate the need for it. Sure theres some benefits to it like learning about new cultures other than your own, but what really is another positive to diversity? If people want to be considered the same, and don’t want to be classified based on their racial group, then I think It would make much more sense to not really ignore diversity, but just turn a little attention away from it and treat people equally like we have been trying to do for so many years. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 00:48:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135946054 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment134009669 Personally,I think the r-word is much more offensive than any racial slur. The r-word is in some cases used in a different context to mean slow down, or something similar to that, but most people mean to use it as on offensive word without even knowing it. People use the word while they are associating with friends, referring to themselves or something they don’t like. It usually does not cross the persons mind that they are in a sense mocking a group of people born with a serious birth defect that 1 they cant help, and 2 gives them a hard time to go about everyday life. I definitely agree with the man in the video saying we need a new word. There are plenty of words in the English language that are perfectly fine to say without offending anybody so I don’t see what would be so hard about picking one of them. I have always been conscious about using the r word, i cant remember the last time I might have said it, but when I use it I know that I wouldn’t say it in public, and any time I say it is purely a mistake. I feel a great deal of pity for people with disabilities, and I have a great deal of respect for them as well for being able to live so well in this day and age. Although many of us look down on them and don’t see them as capable human beings, they continue to prove people wrong by holding jobs, starting families, and leading relatively normal lives. Granted some of them are just to mentally ill to be able to function normally without a great deal of help, but the ones that aren’t really do a great job without it. One experience that Ive had with this word is particularly disturbing to me, one of my good friends from home’s brother has autism. Even though he has this detrimental disease, she still uses phrases like, “you’re a retard”, or “that’s retarded”, and I think that’s extremely disrespectful to her brother, and her family but yet she continues to use the word like its meaning is harmless. That just shows what its overuse has done to the meaning. It is so overlooked and used so commonly in our society that some people are completely blind to its meaning, so it may be even to late to stop it. Its worth a shot however. I think having some mentally retarded people speak to others and share how they feel when they hear the word misused would be very effective in educating people of its hidden meaning, and overtime it might ultimately lead to the end of its usage. Fri, 11 Mar 2011 01:51:48 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment134009669 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/23/what-is-your-opinion-of-affirmative-action-and-has-the-lecture-had-an-effect-on-you-119-blog/#IDComment130361672 rmative action are a set of rules that ensure there is diversity in places such as schools and workplaces to ensure that those in charge of hiring people or letting people into schools don’t let any prejudices they have interfere with how they judge people. Before these lectures from Sam about how people really are unequal in society, I had a preconceived belief that affirmative action was unfair. With all the talk about how were all “equal” nowadays, someone what’s someone to think if they don’t know the facts? It may appear that the minorities are getting special treatment from affirmative action but this is clearly still not the case. I think affirmative action is necessary, however I don’t believe that its going to be the answer to all of our problems when it comes to inequality. There is not much anyone can do to make sure that inequality is being handled properly, except to forcibly enact regulations such as this. I believe that this is the only effective way to see that this is carried out. Affirmative action does help, but it only puts a small dent in treating minorities equal. Even with programs like affirmative action out there, Its still harder for minorities to to things like getting a job, getting a loan, and although we see it less with them getting into certain schools, there are still some cases where their different race will play a factor in whether they are enrolled or not. Affirmative action is especially helpful in places considered to be sort of “ghetto.” Behind all of the crime and violence there are sure to be a few people working hard in there sub par school to get into a good college, get a good job and eventually be able to move out of town. Since the schools are considered to be less effective colleges may look at a good GPA in that school as a poor one in another and therefore that student may have a tougher time getting in. Affirmative action increases the chances for these students and really levels out the playing field in a lot of aspects, so affirmative action is definitely a good thing to have around. I also think ive had an experience with affirmative action. Im half Hispanic, pretty upper class, and I went to a pretty accredited high school. I had a high GPA and my SAT scores were just alright. Despite this I decided to just apply to some IVY League schools for the hell of it maybe see if id get in. I ended up getting into Dartmouth and cornell. I didn’t really have any interest in attending any of these schools, but some of my friends with either equal credentials or better got denied from both of these schools. So in this aspect, I think its even a little unfair that I qualified for these two schools just because of my Hispanic background and others got denied because they were white. Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:36:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/23/what-is-your-opinion-of-affirmative-action-and-has-the-lecture-had-an-effect-on-you-119-blog/#IDComment130361672 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/#IDComment128599413 I think the arrests of different races have more to do with more police in urban places, but this is due to more crime in urban areas. Of course there are going to be some cops that are going to be racist and will try to single out a certain race such as blacks for instance, the police call this profiling and in a dangerous urban area I think its absolutely necessary. I don’t think its anyone’s fault that more people of different races are getting arrested other than those people themselves. Harlem NJ for instance is an area heavily populated with black people, and also has a high crime rate/drug rate, so cops obviously have to be very observant of their surroundings. If someone looks even remotely suspicious its most likely that the person is going to be approached by the cops. Its simple, if the person isn’t doing anything wrong they wont get arrested. Races want to stop being singled out? Stop doing drugs stop stealing shit and stop killing people. There are less white people getting arrested because they live in much more low profile areas with less crime, therefore unless they really screw up, their simply not going to get caught. There definitely is a higher concentration of cops in dangerous urban areas, but who could blame them with all of the crime. In urban areas, 40% of the people who live there are estimated to own guns. Of that 40%, 30% of those people have used, or aren’t afraid to use, so with these numbers cops have to be extremely careful to effectively do their job and save the lives of innocent people. One thing Sam said that struck me was how kids convicted of the same crime are six times less likely to be convicted if they are right. This I believe does show a racist side of the justice system. The terms of the arrest probably weren’t based on race, but rather based on the fact that the kid doing the crime was a dumbass, but to be 6 times more likely to be convicted than a white person, a black person almost doesn’t stand a chance. This is the reason for the excess of black people in our prisons, racist judges. Ill bet in 98% of arrests of people of different races is because of them doing something illegal and getting caught. However ultimately being sent to jail is because of the racist judges, or juries that convict them in the end. Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:20:44 +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/#IDComment128599413 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/how-have-the-choices-youve-made-and-determinism-affected-your-life-119-blog/#IDComment127044787 The choices I made and determinism had a pretty big effect on how I ended up here. My parents both didn’t go to college, and my dad had to do a lot by himself while he was growing up like finding a job on his own, buying a car on his own and for a good portion of his high school years he had to help support his family. Kind of like Sam, he made the choice to work hard and let his grades suffer. In the end it turned out he never really had to go to college though because 1 his family absolutely did not have the money, and 2 his grades weren’t good enough to get him into a crappy community college. Luckily, he found some good jobs during his high school years where he learned his business well and was able to open up his own company that became very successful. My mom never went to college, but she also got a job right after high school and worked hard to support my dad. Since my parents didn’t go to college, they used that as a way to push me harder to go to college and have an education like they were never able to have. So, my parents are definitely were a big part in influencing where I am today. They always expected me to go to college, it was never a question. Thankfully my family has enough money to finance me at college so I am very lucky that I can focus on school, and not have to worry about paying for it. With this being said, as much as I believe everything we do is influenced by the choices we make, I think the choices our parents make directly influence ours. For example, if my parents didn’t choose to work hard and make something out of themselves, and therefore not have enough money to send me to college, I would have had to make different choices to work while I was in school, or if it would even be worth it to go to college. I like what Sam said that every human being in America has an equal opportunity to make something of themselves if they choose to work enough. No one makes a fortune sitting on their ass at home trying to find a job. You make money doing whatever you have to do. My dad paid for his first motorcycle when he was a kid by selling fireworks, washing cars, mowing lawns, and working at a gas station. That’s proof enough to me that if you really want something you can have it. It may be harder to obtain for you than for some other people, but there is a way to get it and I think a lot of people don’t realize that. Thu, 10 Feb 2011 03:52:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/how-have-the-choices-youve-made-and-determinism-affected-your-life-119-blog/#IDComment127044787 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/inequality-in-home-ownership-119-blog/#IDComment125962681 I really don’t think that race has anything to do with whether a person owns a home or not. Like the above comment says, there are so many mixed races that it’s extremely hard to keep track of those numbers that Sam showed us. Its not that I thought the numbers were inaccurate, I just think that the numbers weren’t significant. I don’t think there’s really any trend in the capabilities of different races of owning a home or getting a job for that matter. Sure, there are some business owners who are just dumb and will not hire a minority because of a certain prejudice, but those are the unsuccessful businessmen. A smart one while hire whoever they think best suits the job. Referring back to one of the comments above again, someone said that minorities have fewer opportunities than do whites. That’s a completely false statement. Id like to use my father as an example, he came to this country from Colombia, his did was a compulsive gambler, his mom didn’t have a job, he was 8 years old, and no one in the family spoke a word of English. Now if that isn’t the definition of minority, I don’t know what is. Anyway while he was in high school, my dad worked 3 jobs, one at a gas station, one at a carwash, and one on Wall Street. Also Id like you to keep in mind that my dad was also a D student in school. After high school, he went on to work for a trucking company for 10 years until he was ready to open up his own which has grown into a multimillion-dollar company. So, I don’t think that minorities have any more of a hard time than anyone else finding jobs, it all comes down to how dedicated you are, and how much you really want to do something. Also, nowadays it appears that its actually easier for minorities to get jobs because everyone is looking for, “diversity.” Look at the entertainment industry for example. Count the amount of commercials you see with black people in them. Every one has at least one black person in it as a lead role, or multiple black people as supporting roles. So, I believe that inequality when it comes to financial stability is for lack of a better word, bullshit. It all comes out to how hard a person works to be successful and how much time a person is dedicated to achieving their goal. Fri, 4 Feb 2011 18:27:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/03/inequality-in-home-ownership-119-blog/#IDComment125962681 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124401032 First off, I would like to ask what exactly is wrong with people hanging out with people in your own race? Just because someone hangs out with someone in their own ethnic group does not mean that they’re not open to meeting new people and having different experiences. Also, the girl in the video stated that “all” international students travel in their own little groups and aren’t open to meeting new people. This is also a sketchy statement, because I have plenty of international exchange student friends from Scotland, Australia, and England, and all of them and their friends love hanging out with my American friends and I and learning about our different culture. Now to answer the question, people tend to make friends with people they have similarities with. I don’t know about others, but I wouldn’t enjoy being around someone I didn’t have one thing in common with. So, making friends with people in the same ethnic group is like a sense of security for some people because if you don’t have one common interest, you will always have some common ground of being the same ethnic group, so you will share some of the same customs, and have similar beliefs about things that you can both relate to whether it be the same holidays you celebrate, or the same political views. Now again, just because people like making friends in the same race doesn’t mean they wont make any friends in a different race. Maybe some ignorant people are like that, but I feel like we don’t even have a choice to not branch out to different people anymore. America is just such a diverse place, and if you find yourself hanging out with only people of your race and ethnicity you’re going to be quite lonely. Just look at Penn State. You can’t even walk to class without seeing over a hundred people of a different race, so if someone is going to isolate themselves from different races and ethnicities, they are going to have a hard time making a lot of friends. So, first there is nothing wrong with hanging out with people that are the same ethnicity as you. It is with these people that you are going to have a lot in common with, and therefore get along well with. Second, even though some people are ignorant and don’t reach out to different kinds of people it is very hard to do so at this day and age because of the great amount of diversity we have. The bottom line is, everyone one is unique, so the more people you get to know from different backgrounds, the more youll experience, and the more youll be overall accepting of other cultures. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:15:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/26/why-do-we-associate-with-people-of-the-same-race-and-ethnicity-as-ourselves-119-blog/#IDComment124401032 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cu%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment123354003 Soc119 Mon, 24 Jan 2011 01:44:06 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cu%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment123354003 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment122405828 In today’s society stereotypes still exist, and always will exist. However, I believe they exist on more of an individual level more than a society as a whole. Of course some people choose not to take part in believing certain stereotypes, but on the contrary, there are of course plenty of people the choose to believe them, and form their relationships with other people according to them. I think stereotypes are unique to each person, and that people form their own stereotypes based on their own experiences with only a small fraction of a certain group of people. Of course, there is always a group of people that will form their beliefs solely on what other people say, but I believe most of them develop stereotypes themselves. For example I would like to mention the stereotype about all black people eating fried chicken. If one were to walk into the Big Onion in the freshman commons on wing night Wednesday, it will appear that every African American at Penn State has lined up to get their portion of fried chicken with buffalo sauce. Personally, when I walk in there I cant help but to think that every single black person loves fried chicken, and until I’m proven wrong, for example by meeting a Vegetarian African American, that belief will always be in the back of my mind. This brings me to another point, that although stereotypes are bad, in the end I think they make us more accepting people as long as we are open to new beliefs. For instance if someone goes through life believing that Jewish people are self centered and selfish, and then somewhere along the lines they run into a Jewish person who is kind, generous and always helping others, that person will say to themselves “wow, I was wrong.” When that person realizes how they have been wrong all of those years for pre judging people because of their race, it will most likely show them that stereotypes aren’t worth believing. I think that people really overreact to stereotypes. They will always be around, so everyone might as well learn to deal with them. I’m Spanish, and I find stereotypes about Spanish people hilarious, and that’s how I deal with them. Some people stress over them, and for these people it’s going to be impossible to ever get over them. They’ll be around forever, so when we can learn to laugh and shake off what other people think, well live more relaxed lives. If the people who have stereotypes against your particular race aren’t close to you, who cares. Do they really have a big enough impact on your life that you should let some stupid beliefs you know you aren’t true influence your beliefs? Thu, 20 Jan 2011 01:51:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment122405828