en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2455930 Comments by outtabrooklyn http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/if-prison-has-taken-anything-away-from-me/#IDComment145129666 To me, this was an extremely powerful letter, and only because of one word; love. Prison can be one of the most mind-numbing places you could ever be in, and virtually makes you feel like your wasting away. The thing that makes prison worse is that time and the people outside of prison are not wasting away and moving just as planned. Love is one of the hardest things to see waste away while inside prison. One of my good friends went to prison for an extremely dumb act he committed one night while out. Someone had made a joke about his girlfriend and in retaliation he got into a fight with the individual and was sentenced to six months in jail. I remember the one thing he kept repeating to me and my other friends, watch out for his girlfriend. He knew his life would not be destroyed just because of six months, but what he was worried about was his relationship. While he was rotting in jail like a common criminal she would be out in freshmen year of college, going to parties, meeting new people and having new experiences that he would miss out on. He kept thinking that it would be the end of them, that she would meet someone new while he was in jail and he would step out of jail without anyone in his heart anymore. He truly loved her and was a mess right before he went away, calling everyone a hundred times to ask us to help watch out for his girlfriend. While in jail he wrote her letters everyday to try to keep it in her mind (and heart) that he still loved her and wanted to continue on when he got out. This letter is extremely powerful because it makes me think about people who love someone even more, to the point of marriage, who get sentenced to live in jail. The hardship it must be knowing you will never get another night to lay in bed with your wife again and the constant thought while sitting in your small, silent jail cell that she might be doing that with another man. That kind of thought is enough to make even the most sane man go crazy. Love is the most powerful thing in this universe and to deny someone of it is literally an invitation to go insane. This truly makes me appreciate what I have and makes me think about all that I can lose and get taken away. Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:54:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/21/if-prison-has-taken-anything-away-from-me/#IDComment145129666 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/what-does-it-say-about-our-society-if-schools-are-more-segregated-now-than-in-the-1970s-119-blog/#IDComment143194672 This information was a huge shocker to me, but I can see were it is coming from and why schools are still segregated as much as they were when racism was a huge problem. I use “still” and “were” with a purpose in this post. If you ask me, schools were never un-segregated to begin with, instead the option was made that anyone can attend any school. In New York, it may seem very mixed when it comes to races but when you really look closely you can see how it is not. My school was completely mixed, and had no majority. Other schools however, were not only heavily white but almost exclusively white. This was not due to the way society thinks and their opinion on races, however it was merely a fact of financial circumstances. Every public school by me has no majority race and is mixed very finely, however, Catholic schools are much more predominately white. That is because they are more expensive and require an education tuition. The tuition is not that high (mine was about four grand I believe) but solely the fact it was not free kept many kids from going. Unfortunately that was mostly blacks and Hispanics, as their overall income is lower in New York then whites. Private schools on the other hand can reach almost 12,000 dollars a year for one student (the cost of putting me through all of high school). I could not afford that even being pretty middle class. I believe this is the reason our schools were never truly segregated. If you looked at the racial ratios of public schools, they would be pretty mixed, but catholic and private schools are very different. Sure they are allowed to be mixed, but most people cannot afford them. It has nothing to do with our racial attitudes as a society (I knew several black kids that went to the 12,000 dollar a year school as they could afford it and weren’t shown any prejudice) but instead the financial problems between races that were never fixed from the Civil Rights Movement. The reason for segregation back in the 70s was hate and racism, the reason for the segregation nowadays is much more the financial burden that some schools costs. Sure there is some racism at the very top of the private institutions, but as a whole they would take anyone who waives that 12,000 dollars a year in front of them and say I want to go here. As a society I think comparing our racial attitudes between now and the 70s is a joke, we are completely more cultural now and know where our thoughts were wrong back in those days. Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:16:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/14/what-does-it-say-about-our-society-if-schools-are-more-segregated-now-than-in-the-1970s-119-blog/#IDComment143194672 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/29/do-you-ever-feel-uncomfortable-around-two-or-more-people-speaking-another-language-119-blog/#IDComment139233213 Living in New York, this kind of situation almost always comes up at least once a day, and if you were like me and took public transportation to school, it happened quite often. On the train, there are people of every race speaking every language you can think of, and some even you cannot think of. These are the only times I get uncomfortable, when I cannot deceiver what language they are speaking, as for some reason that gets me nervous. I was on the train one time going home from school, the peak of rush hour, when the trains are packed beyond belief, when two strange looking men got on the train. They caught my notice right away, as they looked complete foreign, but I noticed that I could not quite pick out what they were. As they got closer to look for a place to stand, they began speaking an odd language. It was not any Asian, European or Spanish sounding language I had ever heard before. On top of this, they appeared extremely nervous. Their voices were very high pitched and one of the men was constantly looking around and twitching his eyes, not to mention the oddly wide briefcase one man was holding. Now, being on the New York Subway heading towards downtown, everyone is always weary of some type of attack that could happen, but what always keeps me calm is thinking that no matter what language someone is speaking, another person on the train can understand them and they would be able to tell and hopefully do something if anything was going to happen. The thing was, it seemed to me as though this was a very odd language that I could not even make out. I got extremely nervous, thinking that there was a chance, maybe a good one, that they could be some type of terrorists. Racist or no racist, everyone from New York riding the subway has these thoughts. I got more and more nervous as we began approaching the more populated subway stops, and it got worse as they seemed more and more nervous. Then, to my surprise, they just got off the train. I realized at that moment what they were doing; they were lost, like every other non-New Yorker riding the subway. My unfamiliarity to their language got me so nervous I labeled them as terrorists. From that time on I have learned not to fear a language I do not know. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 00:12:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/29/do-you-ever-feel-uncomfortable-around-two-or-more-people-speaking-another-language-119-blog/#IDComment139233213 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137609097 I have witnessed and been apart of several situations when racism was a big factor. I have seen ones that resulted in nothing more then an argument and ones that escalated into a full on brawl that could have been avoided. The answer to if how you respond to those situations was right can often be very hard to answer. One of the more recent, and major events, was when a couple of friends and I traveled to a different neighborhood in Brooklyn for a night out. One of my friends was black, and we were going to a predominately violent white neighborhood where, with lack of a better phrase, “black kids weren’t welcome.” We were having a good time until some drunk idiot decided to start a fight. Me and my friends were not involved but they just, being drunk and very racist type kids, started getting at my black friend for being the cause to the fight. We tried ignoring them, but that didn’t work, so we decided to leave. That’s when it happened. They took their racism way too far and walked up to my friend and broke a bottle over his head screaming the “n” word. Now I know we are suppose to stop and think and way the situation and try to go about it without violence, but my (and my friends) sudden, spontaneous reaction was to throw a punch. A fight broke out. The fight soon got bigger, and became very dangerous. I did not realize it at the time but after the fight broke up, one of my friends laid on the floor, covered in blood. He had his jaw wired shut and also broke a rib. A lot of other kids, both from our group and there’s, were hurt. I completely regret acting on impulse and charge at the kid, but to me, what else could I do. How could I let someone break a bottle over my friend’s head for nothing more then being black? I still do not know if I acted in the right situation, but I would like to believe I, as Spike Lee said, did the right thing. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 01:19:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137609097 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135957431 The diversity at Penn State is one of the main reasons I came to this school. My public high school back in New York was as diverse as it gets; with over 115 countries being represented in the student body. The thing was, the diversity at my high school isn’t on purpose. There are schools in my area at are called “international” or “multi-cultural” schools, but my school was a regular public school, just so happen to be over 115 different nationalities living in my area. Diversity is a big thing to me, but lack of diversity still is not a bad thing. Penn State has tons of diversity, evident in all the different organizations and clubs that focus on certain nationalities or races. Even if you’re the most out their race, you can always find a club or group of people of your race at this school. At my girlfriend’s school in Connecticut, there is absolutely no diversity. They are all middle to way upper class mostly white students, and the idea of a Pacific Islander organization, which I know many people in here at this school, would seem absurd to them. The most amazing part of it all is most of them are student run organizations at our school; these clubs or groups with 100s of kids were just started by the same people who fill them, kids. That is where Penn State separates itself from other schools with high diversity. High diversity is one thing, but high diversity with even higher pride in your race or nationality is whole different level. Diversity can be set by the school, by accepting certain races over others, but this diversity here is because our schools is a great school and every strives to get in here, they don’t even think twice just because they are of a certain race. That means a lot, Penn State lets students be able to stand up for their race instead of just being another statistic in the college review books that look good for prospective students. The diversity here is topped by not many other schools and was a major factor in my college choice. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:02:35 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135957431 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/what-would-make-this-guy-less-white/#IDComment134322771 To me, this video and question together make a very easy to fall for trap that it seems many people have fallen for. The question of whether or not this man resembles the quintessential attributes of a “white guy” line everyone up for being racist without knowing it. The easiest way to analyze this is to sit there and talk about his clothing, way of speaking, physical appearance and overall demeanor and say “this guy is so white, he uses proper English, has his shirt tucked in, a not stylish haircut and doesn’t look like he even knows how to use a gun.” “He’s awkward, doesn’t seem to do anything right and resembles a high school math teacher.” Although the high school math teacher thing is right it is ridiculous to say, and is being just as racist as saying baggy jeans, a low fitted, bad grammar and a huge chain makes someone black or hood. Don’t think so? Well saying all that stuff makes him white means that those who aren’t white do not do those things does it not? Now that seems a lot more racist doesn’t it? Because there is little to none outspoken racism and stereotypical portrayals of white guys, it seems you really can’t be racist to them, but that is very wrong, as stereotyping one race can lead to more racism to another. What makes him white to me? The fact he is dumb enough to not only buy but try to sell such a ridiculous product. The very true and non racist fact of the matter is that the quintessential white guy has a bigger disposable income than the common man of other races, and therefore has the stupidity to buy things such as this gun holder when you can not only just put the gun in your pocket but pretty much makes this out of regular house hold items. People with less disposable income have to be more economically savvy. This might come off as racist, saying white people are rich and minorities are poor, but I am not saying that all I am saying is that through statistics, white people have a much larger disposable income then other races. Just because you have a disposable income does not mean you should throw money away on stupid things, my main thing that makes someone white, they have things that no one needs, and spent a good amount of money on it. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:29:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/what-would-make-this-guy-less-white/#IDComment134322771 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/scholarships-for-white-men/#IDComment132247375 This is one of the kind of topics that everyone probably has on their minds but won’t voice their opinions on the basis of not being racist. The fact is this; there tons of scholarships for almost ever race you can be. They are created by people of that minority that want to see people of their own race fulfill something that without financial backing of some kind would not be able to achieve because of their family’s money situation. Now many people would argue that white is the “power” race, and that we either have the money to go to college or can get help because we are white. That may be true with the admission process, as although it is wrong sometimes colleges do take one race over the other, especially whites, but that does nothing to help them out with the situation of paying for college. Take this into effect; I have a friend back in Brooklyn (who is white) and he was looking at colleges this past year. He was lucky enough to have the grades to get into some extremely good schools, one being Harvard, and some regular schools, such as Pace and St. Joesphs in Phili. Now he was the kind of kid who busted his *** in high school, did so many extra groups and sports and was the all around perfect student. Harvard was the school he wanted to go to, I mean who denies Harvard? Well he did. He received a few thousand dollars in scholarships, from various organizations in New York, but not because of his race because of the extra work he put in outside of the class. Now tell me is that right? Is right to receive a scholarship just because of your race and nothing else? Does the fact that he put in all that work in school, got into the school on his own and did all that extra work not mean anything just because of his skin color? Say this; what if someone of a different race was in that exact situation, would it be just a matter of skin color to choose who gets the money to go to the school. All of these scholarships based race to me are wrong, my friend did not come from a good family, they were extremely poor and he should have never been able to get the grades with the kind of stuff that he went through and had to settle for a much lower score because of it. This happens ever year, to every race, even whites and for this reason the whole college tuition process, not even the acceptance is extremely messed up and political. Fri, 4 Mar 2011 01:36:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/28/scholarships-for-white-men/#IDComment132247375 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/22/do-you-think-in-today%e2%80%99s-society-people-are-more-racist-toward-muslims-or-blacks-119-blog/#IDComment130695758 This is once again another problem that I can answer with some good experience. Being from New York City, we have a large minority population of all nationalities, and also a large amount of prejudice. I have many friends who are African American and many who are Arabic, as I am not prejudice at all, however, some of my friends are and I can totally see what race is targeted the most. Arabic people are almost always targeted by people for prejudice, even more so after they have had a few drinks. For instance, most car service drivers are Arabic, and they have the hardest time. When people are drunk (such as my friends) derogatory terms are thrown around like no other, calling them Mohammad, Bin-Laden and some other terms not for this post. There is a reason for this abuse, in my neighborhood at least, but not for the right reasons. After September 11th, Arabic people have begun being targeted as terrorists right away. Whether it is calling them terrorists or just being racist and leaving the subway car once someone with a turban gets on the train. I have to admit even I have that problem. After the attacks on the World Trade Center, I have a tendency to get very nervous and paranoid once someone with a turban or a long white dress and Arabic clothing get on a plane or a train. It is not that I am racist but that I have heard enough about this and that with threats from terrorists saying they have people in our cities ready to exploit new attacks that I get wary. However, since I am not racist, I only get nervous, other people for instance do more then get paranoid. I have been on several trains where someone has openly, in front of everyone, begun yelling and cursing out an Arabic individual telling them to get off the train before they get beat up so they cannot blow up the train. African American racial profiling to me has become a thing of the past, at least for myself. There are still many racist people against blacks, but at least they have to understand besides the color of the skin there is no reason to hate them, the terrorist attacks give people a reason (even though it is a stereotypical judgment that should not be made but still is) to hate Arabs. Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:14:17 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/22/do-you-think-in-today%e2%80%99s-society-people-are-more-racist-toward-muslims-or-blacks-119-blog/#IDComment130695758 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/#IDComment128985294 I can take an opinion on this topic with some pretty good experience, as I live in a very crime heavy portion of Brooklyn, yet I am a white male. The problem with the high number of African American arrests in my area to me has nothing to do with the number of police. In Brooklyn, we literally have a different precinct every 30 to 40 blocks or so, which to us is easy walking distance. There are literally the same number of cops in my neighborhood, a predominately mixed neighborhood, as there are in the next one over, which is an almost all African American neighborhood. There are many, many more arrests in the next neighborhood down, yet there is the same number of cops patrolling. The reason, as I realized quickly, is the difference in the number of minorities in my neighborhood as the other. My main group of friends has about ten people in it, only 3 of which are black, and I noticed when the cops stop us, even if we are in the wrong, they can be very easy on us. Usually making us stop what we are doing, give them anything we have and they we will give us a warning and be on their way. However, when I go to the other neighborhood, in which I am one of the only white kids there, I have received numerous citations and fines and even when they give us a warning, it is a much more harsh warning, with a lot of verbal abuse and use of the handcuffs. The verbal abuse is very racist orientated too. They would constantly berate you, calling you delinquents, low lives and some words not appropriate for the post. They would never use any words like this towards me in my neighborhood, besides the occasional stupidity one, and only give us a citation when they have already given us a warning and have to give us on. I have also noticed they give us citations in the other neighborhood much more quicker without thinking or hearing us, pulling out the pad before they even get out of the car. Same number of cops, same race of cops (usually Hispanic or white with few African Americans) yet very different attitudes towards different races. The problem because especially apparent when kids from the other neighborhood come to ours, then the cops in our neighborhood become the most strict cops ever, and hand out citations (usually to them only) like it was nothing. The problem with the police force has nothing to do with its number, it has to do with whether or not the cop WANTS to give you a summons or arrest you, which to me, usually becomes a question of racism. Sat, 19 Feb 2011 01:43:06 +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/#IDComment128985294 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment124457480 This could honestly be one of the most ridiculous stories I have ever heard about, yet it does not surprise me all that much. There are a lot of parts in this article that make me question the intelligence of the police force, but by the most perplexing statement would be when the investigator said “There was nothing that transpired, as far as threats, showing the weapon off, anything like that." You cannot blame the police force for making a big deal out of it obviously the child did not mean to bring a real gun to PRE-K! But the situation could have easily gone from kind of bad to extremely bad, had he fired it thinking it was fake and killed a child. You all keep saying it was not a big deal at all but imagine if your child were killed during class because a child accidently brought a gun to class, you wouldn’t think it was too funny. The fact the police had any thoughts the child did it purposely with an intent of a threat is the insane part. A pre-schooler is learning the alphabet, and probably does not even know how to hold a serious grudge. The fact they’re having an investigation and asking for witnesses and evidence is the biggest waste of money I have heard of since the Knicks hired Isaiah Thomas. That money they are putting into this investigation should be to trying to educate those who buy guns how to keep them out of the hands of people who do not know how to use them. There is nothing to investigate; the kid’s father is the one who should be the suspect. It stuns me how this kid is getting suspended and probably now has a label from all the other parents when it should be his stepfather getting all that. The stepfather should be paying a fine going to not only gun class BUT also parenting class, cause that is obviously what he lacks. His lapse in judgment could have lead to the death of a child! Overall they should lay a heavy fine on the stepfather for leaving the gun in the car with a child, because every child whether intelligent or a little less smart is always curious! Sat, 29 Jan 2011 02:29:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/americans-gone-wild/#IDComment124457480 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cp%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122887383 Soc 001 Sat, 22 Jan 2011 00:53:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cp%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122887383