My opinion and attitude towards illegal immigration has changed drastically since our lecture Tuesday. My attitude towards most things are rather laissez-faire, if it doesn’t directly impact my life I don’t give it all that much consideration. Immigration, among a few other things was however an interest and concern of mine. I have always believed that we should protect and enforce our borders in order to keep the “rift-raft” out.
It wasn’t necessarily the lecture on immigration that caused me to review and reevaluate my views and attitudes toward illegal immigrants. It was a culmination of both the lectures involving mention of the Native Americans and the illegal immigrants that got me thinking. History repeats itself, that is something we always hear, but how true is it? In this case its very true. We did in fact remove an entire people from their land in order to claim it as our own. More recently my own ancestors have come to the United States in search of better opportunities. Immigration into the States is obviously nothing new, this is the land of immigrants. And so my view has changed drastically. I understand the reasons for immigrants coming into the States, its for no other reason but to better themselves and their families, when you think about it it’s a pretty noble feat; risking it all for the betterment of ones family. We think mostly of Mexicans when we talk about illegal immigration, and we think of them as lazy. Sam was right in pointing out that they are far from lazy if they are willing to pick up their livelihood and risk entering the United States, all for the sake of their family. I also believe the story Erick shared with the class on Tuesday helped to change my opinion on illegal immigration. Running into him on the street you would never guess that he was an illegal immigrant who crossed the border under dark of night and smuggled into the country.
There is no way of stopping illegal immigration, but the way we are combating it is all wrong.

My interpretation of Native Americans has always been that they are a happy and proud people. The only time I ever learned about the Indians was in grade school Social Studies, leaving out certain details of course. And so I never game much consideration to the Native Americans. My interest in their plight has been ignited however, I truly feel bad for these people and their nation. I have never given the Native Americans much thought or consideration, I understand that this land was theirs, and we took it but I didn’t pay mind to it. After Sam began talking weeks ago about the genocide that occurred here on our soil by our ancestors, killing the native people, I began an internal struggle with the idea. I always knew what we had done was wrong but I never thought of it in terms of genocide. I only ever considered the holocaust a genocide. However he is right it was a full blown genocide and we are all guilty because today we claim this land as your land and my land, but not the Indians land. We robbed a people of everything they had, and send them to reservations, concealing their fate. And so I feel bad knowing that the living conditions are so horrific. This is America a land of opportunity, to see the men women and children from whom we stole this land, living in some of the worst poverty imaginable, makes me feel sick in a way. I know the American government can do more to help. I feel like the story of the Native Americans is one that should be told and truthfully told, teach our children that the land was stolen and a people forced to live where we determined them fit. If we teach the cruelties I believe people will take not and stand up to help these people. I believe the Native Americans deserve better, we cannot just ignore their existence. It’s hard to imagine that such poverty exists in this country, not to mention the ridiculous unemployment rates or the rampant alcohol and drug abuse. This is not what I think of when I think of the Indians and it shouldn’t be. We as Americans need to do more to help our brothers and sisters on the reservations.

I have been in this situation only a handful of times in my life and I cant say it has ever made me uncomfortable in any way shape or form. I like the fact that here I can walk down the street and be exposed to a foreign language. There is no reason to feel uncomfortable. Do you think they are talking about you? Have an open mind and accept the other cultures in the world, embrace the differences.
I just brought the idea up to a group of friends im sitting with. A lot of them say they would feel uncomfortable but that it all depends on the situation. If you are the only one in the room who doesn’t speak the language of course you will feel uncomfortable. You have no one to talk to so you sit by yourself and feel uncomfortable.
The only way I would personally feel uncomfortable around people speaking another language is if I were alone in a foreign country with no understanding of the culture and I were completely lost. I’ve never felt uncomfortable however. Who knows the reasons why some people are more paranoid than others when it comes to foreigners in “our” country.
I really have nothing else to say it’s a pretty cut and dry debate in my opinion. If you feel awkward or uncomfortable you are just ignorant of other peoples cultures. That may be a harsh statement. I just feel that living in the twenty-first century one should expect to encounter such happenstances. That may be just an opinion but It makes sense.

I never gave much thought to interracial couples growing up. I am sure that is has something to do with the area in which I was raised. I do recall however my reactions to the first mixed couple I ever met however. It was a party with my parents good friends one of whom had brought a black guy as a date. I was a little confused to be honest never having seen a white woman and black man together in person let alone been in the same room as them. This got me to thinking. I had never before this point even considered black and white people together in a romantic relationship. Of course I understood from tv and interactions with others that you could make friends with people of other races but never before this occasion had I considered such a relationship. When it comes to personal romantic relationships I have never dated outside my race, unless you count this one Jewish girl, but I am definitely not opposed to it. I don’t think beauty, be it physical or emotional has anything to do with the color of a person’s skin, but more what is on the inside. Now if you were to come across me ten years from now and I am indeed married itll probably be to a white girl, not because I find white girls most attractive but because, for the most part, all my female friends are white. We were discussing in our groups the idea of bringing a person of a different race home and introducing them as our significant other and what our parents would say/do in response. I think what we must try and do is eliminate the stigma towards interracial couples, many people are blind to the fact that interracial couples exist and treat them like any other couple. Others however see a black man walking down the street holding a white girls hand and automatically make assumptions about the relationship, I know because I have been there. Its something that can be hard to avoid but when it comes down to the bare facts, we are all human and love isn’t bound by color, so why should we get up in arms over the little things?

I don’t understand why it is that such focus is always centered on the diversity or lack thereof at Penn State. This school is not all that diverse but why does that warrant so much debate? I give it little to no thought or consideration. This school is mostly white, but aren’t most colleges? And so I don’t think there is a problem with the makeup of the student body in terms of ethnic backgrounds. I was surprised to see that the percentage of black students at Penn state is below five percent. I would have assumed it was higher, ten percent or so. I am used to this though because of the area I was raised in. My town was full of white people and only white people. And so I don’t give much consideration to the fact that most everyone here is white I just feel well, at home I guess you could say. When applying I knew Penn State was predominantly white and so when I found out my roommate was black I was kind of shocked and joked with him about the chances. This brings me to another point. The fact that all the black students are confined to Pennypacker is odd, you would be hard pressed to find a black student anywhere else in East.
I do have to admit that because Penn State is so white, whenever I see a big black kid I assume they are either on the football team or the basketball team, now that I know the percentage of black students however I may be correct more often then I once thought. But honestly I give very little thought to the diversity here, while I think the school could branch out more to the minorities, especially the black community, I also sit here and continue to wonder why it matters. Whether the percentage of minorities is forty percent or twenty five percent , nothing will change. The school would be see as more diverse but that’s it. So why is it that Penn State has attempted to diversify itself more in the last five or so years? That is something I just don’t understand. Race shouldn’t even be considered in the application process, scholarships should be based on merit and social economic status, the race card should never be pulled. And so when I look into a class of 700 I don’t see 31.5 black people I see a classroom full of Penn Staters.

But as I sit here and reflect, I can see where he is coming from even if I don’t totally agree with him. I understand that those who qualify for affirmative action are less well off then others, but I don’t know how those in charge can decide who does and who doesn’t receive action. Why is it that the sons of the woman from Ohio don’t receive help from the government? I have worked with habitat in the past down in David Kentucky, which is one of the most impoverished counties in the country. The people I have met down there are some of the most genuine people I have ever met. They are stuck in a perpetual cycle, that as far as I know the only way to break it is through education. There is no way these kids can, on their own, find the money to pay for college and so they sit there and do nothing with themselves. An easy fix would be to grant these people the same action that those in the inner cities are granted and then we could say affirmative action allows for equal opportunity.

I have never really agreed with affirmative action. The purpose is to promote equality when in fact it is the very last thing it accomplishes. When I think of affirmative action I immediately think of black people and I would be willing to guess that most white people do. I can remember years ago when my cousin was applying to college and when he got the letter back from Harvard saying he had been declined an offer. This was a kid who had scored perfectly on his SAT’s, he was scary smart. My uncle was enraged when he learned my cousin hadn’t been accepted. He resorted to blaming it on the system, and the fact that Harvard was already full of smart white kids. I didn’t understand his points when he was making them years ago.

I believe it is selfish to have an inordinate number of children regardless of social status. It is socially irresponsible for impoverished people to breed like rabbits, because who ultimately takes care of them? The tax payers. I know human rights activists would find fault in my statement, saying that it is inhumane to cap peoples reproductive rights based on income and of course any government trying to do so would be labeled a dictatorship. So in reality there is nothing we can do.
I would be interested to learn as to why those less well off seem to have more children. A few factors come to mind, the availability of birth control for one. The pill isn’t cheap especially when there is no medical insurance to help foot the bill. Perhaps the increase in children per household as the income declines can be attributed to this factor. Could it maybe be a cultural thing?
I thank God I wasn’t born into the conditions Tammy and her sons have to endure. In my opinion if you are that poor you shouldn’t be parenting at all, not until you get your act together. It may seem harsh but no child deserves to be born into that shithole. It’s a shame that there isn’t a curriculum that must be completed and certain financial goals established before children are brought into the world by a mother and father then we could at least assure a better quality of life for these people. Its harsh to be saying these things but I don’t think I’ve said anything that everyone hasn’t at least wrestled with.
So is it selfish to have a lot of kids if you are dirt poor like Tammy? In my opinion for what is counts, yes its totally selfish. Sometimes pregnancies aren’t planned, but 22 children? Come on why would you ever do that to yourself and your children? What could the standards of living possibly be like in a rural landscape in a double wide with 21 siblings? Its not fair to the children who have to grow up in this way, from the start they are dealt a bad hand and its going take a hell of a lot of work to get out of there.

In comparison to the remainder of the world we lead privileged lives. Water is delivered to my house in a truck driven by a man in a uniform and kept at a crisp 43 degrees. Sewage is swept far from my home by pipe and I can control the climate in my home with the touch of a button. Life is pretty easy as a white kid born into the upper middle class in a suburb of Philadelphia. Maybe every Saturday I had to cut the grass or rake the leaves. Of course I thought it was the worst and I fought it weekly but I knew I had it good. Its seems like life everywhere sucks, I mean all you need to do is watch tv on a Sunday morning to see that.
And so I guess I feel guilty, guilty for the fact that I can get water at my sink and not have to walk miles only to find a dry well. I don’t know how else to feel. Should we feel guilty? If I interpreted Sam correctly yesterday as long as I understand what the slaves have to endure I can be o.k. with the fact that I am consuming product X. And so I guess I don’t have to feel bad for the way I live according to that theory. Ive seen a few National Geographic specials about life in Africa so I guess I am an expert. Therefore the way we live compared to others doesn’t really bother me.
Of course I feel for those who live in impoverished nations ravaged by war and what not. But I feel like as a Nation we turn a cold shoulder, myself included. We don’t want to face the facts that what we see on those early Sunday morning Children’s Relief Fund commercials are actually happening; in this just world. So I feel bad that in America our idea of a hard day at work would fail in comparison to the billions of workers across the globe. And I feel bad that in America we waste our money and allow ourselves to become corrupt. But most of all I feel bad for my lack of interest and my ignorance on subject. I can see now however how bad the conditions are and now I want to do something to help.

In comparison to the remainder of the world we lead privileged lives. Water is delivered to my house in a truck driven by a man in a uniform and kept at a crisp 43 degrees. Sewage is swept far from my home by pipe and I can control the climate in my home with the touch of a button. Life is pretty easy as a white kid born into the upper middle class in a suburb of Philadelphia. Maybe every Saturday I had to cut the grass or rake the leaves. Of course I thought it was the worst and I fought it weekly but I knew I had it good. Its seems like life everywhere sucks, I mean all you need to do is watch tv on a Sunday morning to see that.
And so I guess I feel guilty, guilty for the fact that I can get water at my sink and not have to walk miles only to find a dry well. I don’t know how else to feel. Should we feel guilty? If I interpreted Sam correctly yesterday as long as I understand what the slaves have to endure I can be o.k. with the fact that I am consuming product X. And so I guess I don’t have to feel bad for the way I live according to that theory. Ive seen a few National Geographic specials about life in Africa so I guess I am an expert. Therefore the way we live compared to others doesn’t really bother me.
Of course I feel for those who live in impoverished nations ravaged by war and what not. But I feel like as a Nation we turn a cold shoulder, myself included. We don’t want to face the facts that what we see on those early Sunday morning Children’s Relief Fund commercials are actually happening; in this just world. So I feel bad that in America our idea of a hard day at work would fail in comparison to the billions of workers across the globe. And I feel bad that in America we waste our money and allow ourselves to become corrupt. But most of all I feel bad for my lack of interest and my ignorance on subject. I can see now however how bad the conditions are and now I want to do something to help.