I think the whole gay debate is should just be over. I agree that most people that are gay are born that way and they should be able to express their sexuality freely. But at the same time, I know it would be hard for me to tell my parents if I was gay. However, they could completely accept me. One of my Mom’s co workers was married for 10 years, but everyone thought she was gay for the longest time. Whenever she was asked if she was gay, she had a perfect cover up--she was married. After my Moms co-worker got divorced she started dating a girl and has never been happier. My Mom was so happy for her because she was finally expressing feelings that she was fighting back her whole life. My Dad would be just as accepting as my Mom. One of my cousins is out and she always brings her girlfriend to family functions. I once asked my Dad what he would do if me or one of my sisters was gay, and his response was, “What would I do? Beat you?” Meaning that there would be nothing he could do and he would still love me for who I am--seeing that nothing about me would change besides my significant other. I cannot stand when people are like they are probably just gay to get attention, they choose to be that way. I completely disagree. I feel like saying Did you choose to be straight? The point is no one consciously chooses their sexuality--they act on how they feel. One of my friends says all the time that she knew she was gay when she was 5 and looking back at baby pictures confirms it. All of her baby pictures are her running around in boy clothes, playing with boy toys and only having boys that were friends. One picture even showed her playing with trucks while her 4 other sisters were playing with barbies. Why should anyone hide how they feel? If someone said being straight was wrong would everyone start to be gay in order to fit into society. I feel so bad for those people that hide their true sexuality. Sometimes it is so obvious if someone is gay...but it is difficult to ask if the person has yet to come out. I agree with the one guy in class that said what do you have to lose by asking someone? “The worst they could say would be fuck you.” It just baffles me that in 2012 people still struggle with homosexual couples and people. Even though the United States has came a long way accepting gay people (for example in the work place) we still have a long way to go. Just because gay people don’t fit the norm doesn’t mean they should have to confirm to society.

I think that it is crazy that some people are so ignorant and blind to the fact that the Trayvon Martin case has nothing to do with race. In class Sam said that the significant difference between the large number of black and brown people that credit the murder to race and the much smaller amount of white people that think the murder has nothing to do with race has to do with a lot of factors. The main factor that increases the gap is what people choose to hear. We all have experience with the media twisting and turning facts in a case in order to get a good story in the Sandusky scandal. Reporters and news personal will do anything to get a story. It’s not a problem that the Trayvon Martin is getting so much publicity, but it’s a problem that the case has so many details and differences that are being twisted by the media and their viewers. Black people hear certain facts, such as the racial comments in the 911 phone call, the fact that it was a predominately white neighborhood and the fact that he was wearing a hood and completely shut off their minds to any other possibilities besides race....leading an increased amount of black people to credit the murder to race. However, there is a number of possibilities to why white people do not think this is a race issue. One reason could be that many white people do not want to believe that race is still a problem is society today so they completely shut down the issue. It could also be that they do not want to think that in the year 2012 a black person would just be murdered because of their skin color. It could also be because white people are more interested in all the details of the case instead of shutting everything out. When I first heard about the Trayvon Martin case, I immediately felt sick to my stomach. I felt horrible for his family, friends and peers. How could someone kill an innocent kid because of their race? After the case received more publicity, I listened to every opinion and what seemed to be “facts” of the case and then formed my own opinion. Some may argue that Trayvon attacked the guy that murdered him because when the police arrived he had a bloody nose. People could also dwell on the fact that some neighbors reported that it looked as though Trayvon was acting shady around the neighborhood rather than dwelling on race. Even after hearing the facts, I still believe Trayvon was murdered in cold blood. How could a man who is over 200 pounds feel threatened by a 17 year old boy under 150 pounds? Also if this man had a gun and Trayvon was weaponless, there is no way he can plead self defense. I hope that Trayvon is given justice and his murderer pays for his actions for the rest of his life.

I have never given thought to the fact that many inner city schools that are predominately black require metal detectors at the door, locker and drug searches while private schools and county schools do not have any of these requirements until class on Thursday. I always just thought that it was normal because it was what I was use to my entire life. I went to a private high school that was filled with many kids that came from wealthy families. I also knew many kids that did drugs and sold drugs on and off school property. However, we never had random locker searches or drug dogs come in to raid our school. My junior year in high school three girls drank in the school parking lot and came into school intoxicated, when they were caught they barely got in trouble. The police were never involved. Luckily for them, this was because the school did not want all the bad publicity. There were so many days that I walked into the school with the over whelming smell of weed, but staff never did anything about it. It is so hard to think that innocent students get randomly drug tested and have to walk through a metal detector in order to get into their schools, but many guilty kids walk around private and county schools high and drunk without any punishment. I think that all schools should incorporate the pre cautious laws or get rid of them all together. For example, my mom’s best friend works at an inner city school and she feels that she would not be safe without the metal detectors. There has been occasions where she has been threatened and scared, but it has not always been by black or brown students. It almost isn’t fair that so many more people are caught with drugs because of the school that they go to. This idea goes along with racism in the criminal justice system. Inner city schools that are predominately black often do random drug searches causing many people from those schools to get into trouble. Whereas private schools tend to be more white and they never get caught with drugs because in many cases there is no such thing as a random drug search. However, my mom’s best friend said that she has not noticed many people coming into school under the influence nor do many people get caught with drugs in her school. This could be because the students are aware that teachers are on the look out and that there is a possibility for random drug searches. I cannot help but wonder how many people in a private or county school would get in trouble if the cops came into their schools and did a random drug search without warning. I’m sure the numbers would be greater than the school would like to admit.

Last class we watched a video about Asians that were randomly stopped and asked questions about a topic that the interviewer knew they would not know the answer to. When we were asked for responses to the video, one white male spoke out and said that the video was very funny and that American comedy is based off of race jokes. When Asians spoke out against this video they also said that it was comical and that they laughed throughout the video. Many people in the class had responses back to the white guy, but no one had a problem with the Asians laughing at the video. One main difference between what was said by the white and asian responses was that the white guy added that he thought it was funny because the Asians in the video could not comprehend the question. Also, they struggled with word pronunciation. One Asian girl made a response that a lot of the people in the class agreed with. She stated that the video was painful to watch and it was unfair because the interviewer chose to interview what appeared to be the most “nerdy” Asians. It also wasn’t funny to her because the interviewees were caught completely off guard. In all reality, this video was comical to any viewer at first. But after awhile I agree with the fact that it was painful to watch. It was also cruel because we were laughing at them and not with them. The Asians had no idea that they were being targeted and then made fun of. I thought it was completely unfair to target the “nerdy” Asians and ask them questions about sports (which are very americanized). Before this blog question I didn’t even realize that the white man was attacked for stating their opinion and the Asians were not. This could possibly be because in a way, white people were never oppressed and in some cases have never experienced any form of racism. Minorities, such as Asians, are constantly being made fun of for their accents, pronunciation, and often times because of stereotypes. This video showed Asian stereotypes of not knowing anything about sports and that they are all intelligent. In all reality, if I was stopped and asked the questions that the Asians were being asked in the video, I would respond in the same way. I found it completely unfair that Asians were targeted in this video. However, I agree that there is a lot of comedy in race jokes, especially Kevin Hart. But the major difference is that Kevin Hart jokes about black people, essentially making fun of himself. White people sought out Asians for their video, which was unfair because they did not know that they were being made fun of.

I completely agree with the idea that if Trayvon Martin was white and his shooter was black, the shooter would currently be in jail. It is completely unfair that color still plays a major role in our criminal justice system. I was shocked to learn in my introduction to law course, crim 113, the statistics of those who receive the death penalty in our society. The amount of black people that receive the death penalty compared to whites is shocking. One study found while looking back at court decisions that when there was a black victim and a black murderer, the murder received the death penalty sentence 15 percent of the time. When the victim was white and the murderer was black, the murderer was given the death penalty sentence 70 percent of the time. The actual percentages of people that were put to death were 1 percent of black men who killed another black man and 22 percent of black men who killed a white person. For someone who has never taken a crime, law and justice course-- these statistics are almost too difficult to grasp. If someone told me these facts outside of a classroom setting, I would most likely laugh in their face because of how ill informed I was about racism in the United States. There should be a required crime, law and justice course for people who are clueless about these facts. What do these numbers say about our society and culture? Does it mean that a black person’s life is not equal to the life of a white person? Although the United States has come a long way in closing race gaps, it seems as though our society has yet to close them in the criminal justice system. It’s so upsetting to know that our criminal justice system is still so flawed and in such favor for the majority, the white people. Another shocking fact in Trayvon’s murder is that Trayvon, the victim, was tested for drugs; but the shooter, was not drug tested. How can anyone possibly think that is fair? An innocent kid was shot and killed and the man is not in jail. In so many cases justice is never served. I cannot believe that the shooter chased after Trayvon and ended his shot life but is not in prison. It’s almost embarrassing to live in a society where things like the Trayvon Martin shooting happen so often. It is also mind blowing that the shooter is claiming that he was afraid of Trayvon. What was he afraid of? His skin color? The idea of this white man getting a non guilty verdict in his trail is sickening. Trayvon deserves justice, as does every other victim of any horrible crimes.

I completely agree that power and privilege stays with those who are powerful and very privileged. I always thought it was that way because children of the powerful grow up and take over their family business or they simply follow in their parents foot steps. I also thought and power was just handed to them by their parents, grandparents, etc. Which in some families that is the case. For example, growing up in a dynasty, you automatically take over for your parents when they pass away. I also know many people that get by working for a family business and the plans of one day becoming the business owner. However, I never thought of other advantages that the powerful are given just because of who they are. Everyone could work harder to become rich, elite and powerful, but lets be real. Obviously someone with wealthy parents are going to be able to afford the best schools in the country and have all the luxuries that come along with that. Although it is possible, by in large, it is not very realistic for someone who comes from a run down home, bad neighborhood, with under privileged parents to become powerful. Even though they may be just as intelligent and driven, unfortunately they just do not have the right resources. Another factor relating to this is who people are surrounded by and who they know. If you can afford to go to the top of the line schools in the area, clearly you will be surrounded by peers that are also powerful and privileged. Being around these people has advantages. You somehow feel competition and push yourself to your limit on school work. On the other hand, if you are around people that do not have a care in the world for education, it is likely that you will agree with the people that you are around. I always use to hate when I heard people say, “You are a product of your environment,” but to some extent it is true. Powerful, rich and privileged parents most likely place pressure on their children to succeed just like they did, even if it was just handed to them. Even though it is disappointing, the root of this problem is money. For example, someone who is struggling to pay bills, living pay check to pay check is worrying about their next meal and not thinking about becoming the next president, business owner, doctor or lawyer. They worry about making money to get by, not to become powerful. It is almost impossible to become powerful without money. And if you do not come from money, it is difficult to get ahead in this world. Sad but true, this seems like a never ending cycle that revolves around money.

Even though this semester is only half way over, Soc 119 has opened my eyes to so many ideas and concepts that I have never thought about before. The most eye opening topic for me was the concept of white supremacy and how it still exists in our society today. I still cannot believe how minorities in our culture are still discriminated against just because of the color of their skin and where they are from. I knew that in the past black and brown people were turned down houses, apartments, jobs and often denied basic rights, but I had no idea it still went on as much as it does today. For example, if a white person with a felony record applied for the same job as a black person without a felony record, the white person is more likely to receive the job. This does not sit well with me at all. I do not feel comfortable that a potential felon, that made a bad choice, has the opportunity for a job over an innocent person without a record, only guilty of having the “wrong” skin color. Wouldn’t you think people would rather have an innocent black family living in their neighborhood over a white man that has committed a serious crime? I also cannot believe that in the year 2012 people are still being judged by their name and if it sounds like a white persons name or a black persons name. I have a friend who is white and her name is Lateesha, no one can pronounce her name and when she meets someone in person that already knows her name, they are shocked to see that she is a white person with blonde hair. When this was brought up to me in lecture, I could not think of anyone I know that has been personally affected by not getting a job or an apartment lease because of their skin color. However, I learned differently when this topic was talked about in our discussion groups. It was extremely upsetting to me to know that someone who works so hard can get turned down simply because of their skin color. Also in our discussion groups we talked about how attractive women have an advantage in our society over people are not considered attractive. We talked about how attractive women are more likely to get jobs and talk themselves out of certain situations, like getting in trouble with the police. It is so unfortunate that this even exists in our culture. Why do pretty/hot/sexy girls have an advantage over someone who is less attractive...even if the girl has a higher education and a better personality? I knew that racism still existed in our society, but not to this extent.

In class on Tuesday, Sam explained that black, hispanic and latino people score lower on standardized tests compared to whites and asians because of a stereotype bias. I never thought about that idea until Sam opened my mind to a new idea that is often not talked about outside of a classroom setting. I always credited the difference of SAT and other important test scores to economic class, people they surrounded themselves with and the school system they grew up in. I never took into account the pressure they are faced before and during the exam to over come the barrier of having lower scores. I also never thought about how hard it must be trying to prove society’s expectations and stereotypes wrong. Stereotype bias is a subconscious act, so blacks, hispanics and latinos don’t know that it is happening either. When asking my friend who is black if they ever thought they were under pressure before taking their SATS to over come this bias, they had no idea what I was talking about. After I explained the concept, they agreed completely. Even though society today is much better in terms of accepting race, it is far from perfect and color is often still an issue. In order to fix the problem of lower tests scores, the race gap needs to be closed completely. I understand that there are out lairs, and some blacks, hispanics and latinos score higher than whites and asians; but Sam’s statistics were shocking even with a control group. Being in a social psychology class this semester, I try to think about social situations that cause people to act in certain ways rather than crediting the act to one’s individual personality. This is a perfect example how most Americans think that minorities have lower test scores because they are dumb and do not have educational values, but in reality they are under extreme pressure. This pressure to prove society wrong is a never ending cycle. Because they are faced with the pressure to prove society wrong, stereotype bias occurs, causing lower test scores and allowing society to think that their preconceived notions are correct. Americans need to become more aware of the social situations, such as what the individual is going through, rather than assuming something is wrong with their inner personality. In order to close the race gap completely, the issue of color no longer can be an issue. As sad as it seems, stereotype bias will be present during test times until no one even notices color. When no one notices the difference between blacks, hispanics, latinos, whites and asians stereotype bias will no longer exist because minorities will no longer be under pressure to prove themselves to the rest of society.

I think many people do not like when other people generalize their ethnic background because they are proud of where they are from. It is ignorant to just assume someones race. If you are interested in knowing one’s background, one may be surprised on how open the person would be to share their ethnicity. I can’t help but to think about Karen from “Mean Girls” when she finds out Cady (Lindsay Lohan) is from Africa, she asks, “Why are you white?” Assuming ones race could cause a lot of problems and make many people mad. Many proud Koreans would hate to be grouped generally with all Asians. Someone that I work with at home identifies himself as Jamaican, but does not get offended when someone assumes that he is black. He loves talking about his background and the traditions from his culture. I feel like most people are the same way, but we choose to focus on the few who take great offense. However, it would be extremely annoying correcting everyone that groups you into a race category. I am clearly white and no one has ever mistaken me to be a different race, unless I’m really tan during the summer time. However, I don’t think I would be offended if I was to be mistaken for a different race. Instead, I would inform them of the cultural and locational differences. I could imagine that it would be frustrating at times, but people need to be informed about different ancestries. To many white people, they don’t understand the difference between black and Dominican, Hispanic and Mexican or Korean and Chinese. There is so much stereo tying and generalizing that some people of differences races don’t even correct people when they are wrong, which is not the smartest thing to do. When people ignore other’s mistakes they allow people (mostly white people) to get away with unintentional stereo typing. I myself find it extremely interesting to learn about other cultures and where people come from. Even though I am unaware of many differences from Koreans and Chinese people, I know that they exist. I can see how one would be offended being grouped into a category because people identify themselves as so many different things. It’s not always black and white...literally. Someone could be grouped into a white category, but they associate themselves as being German, Italian, Polish or even mixed. Although assuming someones ethnic background can be offensive and in some cases annoying, most people don’t mind. Instead of assuming or generalizing, you should ask people about their backgrounds in order to increase your knowledge of the world. My knowledge and interests of other races and background have increased dramatically from soc119 already.

White people avoid the topic of race because they feel like they are going to offend someone by making a comment that people of other races won’t approve of. The main reason white people avoid the race topic is because they get mixed feelings of what they are allowed to say and what they aren’t allowed to say. However, I came to realize that not talking about race can be more offensive then speaking your mind. I can’t stop thinking about last Thursdays class and all of the white people that were called out of the class to talk or point out an issue of race. For example, the girl from rural PA that never really hangs around black people was asked to pick out the darkest girl in a room filled with over 700 people. The darkest girl was from Ghana and was well aware that she was going to be picked out the the crowd. She embraces her dark color and had never known any difference. The white girl only made it awkward because she thought the girl from Ghana would be offended. The girl from Ghana had so much confidence in herself and did not care about talking about where she came from and her race. Another example of a confident black person in the class was the guy who was picked out and stood next to the girl who was asked if she could choose his sperm from a sperm bank. He was well aware that most white girls wouldn’t pick his sperm if given the choice. Quite frankly, he didn’t really care. The girl chocked on her words and didn’t have any idea what to say. White people are always so afraid of offending someone of color, but in reality most black and brown people do not care. It’s not like race is a new thing in our society. Black people embrace their culture, ethnicity and race...so why should white people be afraid to talk about it as well? Another example of a person in the class with confidence was the female who stood up when Sam asked for a person of color with kinky hair. She grew up with her hair and obviously is well aware of her hair’s texture and look. On the other hand, if Sam asked for a white person with frizzy, curly hair to volunteer and stand up, most white girls would shy away from being called out for their “flaws.” When it comes down to it, black people are not offended when white people talk about race. They know that they are different from white people in terms of looks. It isn’t like white people are telling black people something they don’t know. The day that white people feel more comfortable with their appearance and talking about races, is the day that we will become closer in connecting race relations.