en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2419772 Comments by pennstate56 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/how-has-your-opinion-changed-on-illegal-immigration-119-blog/#IDComment144946370 My opinion about illegal immigration before this class was pretty simple. I understood the fact that these people are trying desperately to make a good life for their families and for themselves. They (immigrants) are risking literally everything to come to the United States and try to find work so that they can send the money back home, wherever that is. I think for all intents and purposes in this discussion, we seem to be talking about illegal immigrants from Mexico. In my experiences, undocumented workers go through so many hardships. My mom works at a horse farm and works with men from Mexico who are illegal and undocumented. I have gotten to know some of them and they are some of the nicest people that I have met. Obviously there is a tough language barrier, but it works both ways and we try our best to get past it. My mom will tell me that these guys work harder than so many people that she knows, and they are paid so poorly because they are immigrants. So with the class that we had about illegal immigration, my views have not been altered too much from what I believed already. I am not the type of person that says “We should deport every Mexican” and things like that, although there are those people in the United States. One of the biggest things that Sam stressed was that these illegal immigrants are people. No matter which way you look at it, they are and they should be treated like people. One of the most interesting things that I look back on regarding this topic is something that happened to me over winter break. I was driving down a very snowy road and noticed that a truck had slid off and the driver was trying all by himself to get it back on the road. No one else was helping him. Not the police, not anyone. I stopped and got out because I had a shovel in my car and thought I’d give him a hand. The man was of some sort of Hispanic descent and could not speak English. Although I could not communicate very well, we were able to get his truck back on the road. I always think to myself, if I was discriminatory towards immigrants such as this man appeared to be, I probably would not have helped him, and that made me feel pretty good about myself. So when people ask me what I think about illegal immigration, I am never quite sure of the answer. I think the biggest thing that I can stress is that they are people, and need to be treated like that by so many more people. Thu, 21 Apr 2011 23:40:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/how-has-your-opinion-changed-on-illegal-immigration-119-blog/#IDComment144946370 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143276100 One of the biggest problems that I see from this situation is the fact that Americans do not acknowledge what Native Americans went through and what they had to give up so that we can have what we have today. What this obviously brings up is the discussion about mascots in sports that revolve around Native American names. Sports teams such as the “Redskins” are actually offensive to those who trace their ancestry to those who died because they only wanted to stay on their land instead of giving it up to the white man who only wanted the land so that they could expand in the attempt to gain fortune and gold. When I always used to think about mascots in sports and Native American nicknames Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:56:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143276100 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143276084 I cannot imagine someone coming to my house and saying that if I do not give up our land, that I will be killed. However, back in the day that was allowed and somehow we seem to forget that today. Today we hear about the problems felt by the African American, Mexican, and all the other communities. It is funny to me that we do not hear the complaints of Native Americans, who have honestly given up more than anyone else in history. It is also weird that I do not, on a daily basis, hear the complaints of people who have had everything taken away from them. Hearing this argument today actually opened my eyes big time because I never seriously thought that Native Americans were facing such hardships and troubles. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:56:04 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143276084 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143275812 I never thought that the names given to the teams would be actually offensive to people who would watch them play. For example, if there was a team known as the Philadelphia, and do not judge me here, “Niggers,” obviously this would not pass and it would not be allowed to be a mascot name. However, a derogatory name such as the Redskins is allowed because the plight of the Native American population has not been blown up to the extent that the racism of every other race has been. This lecture really opened my eyes to this. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:54:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143275812 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143275667 One, I am a big fan of Dave Matthews so hearing “Don’t Drink the Water” was a big plus for me. However, I had never thought about what the lyrics of the song really meant. Now, I am not sure that they completely were referring to the way that white men removed Native Americans from their homes and their reservations, but they were definitely aimed in that direction. The lyrics actually spoke to me, as dumb as that sounds. The way that Native Americans were removed from their land and forced to give up everything that they had established in the, what is now, United States of America was so wrong and morally objectionable. Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:53:59 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/12/what-are-your-thoughts-on-everything-we-saw-and-heard-in-lecture-about-native-americans-119-blog/#IDComment143275667 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/after-this-class-do-you-still-blame-terrorism-119-blog/#IDComment141125705 What do I think about terrorism and terrorists after the lecture? I honestly can say that I feel exactly the same way as I did before. I believe that everything that terrorists stand for (and by terrorists I am assuming we are talking about the ones from the Middle East, such as those who committed the attacks on September 11) is completely wrong. I know that they may say that they are doing it because their god wishes them to. This is unbelievable to me. A god, whichever you believe in and instill your faith in, is there to help shape one’s moral values. There is nothing moral about taking the lives of another person. I don’t care which god you believe in, there just simply isn’t. The one thing that I can sort of understand from the point of citizens in the Middle East, not on the basis of terrorism, but rather their interpretation of the United States. I can understand how we might look like the enemy when we are unleashing war and destroying countries. Where I think the lecture took this point too far is where Sam said that you can understand why citizens would support the terrorists. I just know that this is not the case. Yes, some people may support terrorism, but it is a very small number. Believe it or not, there are a lot of level minded people in the world who do not make generalizations and stereotypes of different groups of people. Just like how I, an American citizen, know that the whole Middle East is not full of terrorists, many Middle Eastern citizens know that most Americans are not on a crusade to convert people to Christianity. We get so wrapped up by actions by one individual or a small group that we think that everyone like them must be the same way. This is prejudice at its finest. During a World in Conversation discussion that I was involved in during the fall semester, we talked about US-Middle East relations. One of the best points that I heard brought up is how there are Christian radicals just as there are radical Muslims. However, these are not discussed because they are not seen as the “enemy.” I can totally see where this is validated. I am sure that there are plenty of folks in the Middle East who view America as the enemy. But I am also confident that there are plenty of people who do not feel that way at all, and see us simply as people. There will probably always be tensions between the United States and the Middle East. What we need to do is reach a point where we can go without seeing the other as the enemy. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 00:33:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/05/after-this-class-do-you-still-blame-terrorism-119-blog/#IDComment141125705 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/would-you-point-out-the-people-of-your-own-race-who-make-racial-slurs-or-prejudice-comments-119-blog/#IDComment138187223 This is a difficult question to answer, which is kind of sad I guess. I am a white guy and of course it both offends me and makes me feel uncomfortable when I see people making racist comments or even making racial slurs towards another person. Now, this is where it gets difficult. On one hand, I completely disagree with what they say. On the other, I am not a very outspoken person so I might just not say anything at all. In no way is this agreeing with the person or me being a “bad person” for not stopping the actions from being taken. I have plenty of friends who unfortunately think it is ok to throw around racist and sexist slurs without thinking about it. I know that deep down they don’t actually feel that way towards different types of people, but that doesn’t make it ok. I don’t actually feel that way and I am able to compose myself and not say stupid things to impress people or make them laugh. Essentially, what it all comes down to is that I know that I am not racist and that I don’t make those sorts of comments. That is good enough for me. In this world, there is only so much that you can control. I find that it is a lot easier to just worry about myself than trying to convince people that doing certain things are wrong. Some people are dead set in their ways and there is no changing that. One of the brothers in my fraternity is what many people would deem a redneck. He loves hunting, fishing, and country music. Another thing that he loves to do is throw around the n word. It has gotten to the point with me that when he says it I don’t even think about it. No matter what I do, his ideology is set. However, I think he does it much more for attention and so that people will be like “oh, he must be from the South.” I only think this because I’ve seen him actually be very civil around black people and around people of other races. The biggest problem is that racial slurs such as nigger have been thrown around so much that they are losing their touch. Obviously, if a white guy calls a black guy by this term then there will be an uproar. But, then why is ok for black people to use it and throw it around all the time. The more that terms such as this (and even slut, whore, etc.) are thrown around casually, the less meaning they will have. This is why I don’t get involved when people use racial slurs. It simply isn’t worth my time. Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:22:49 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/22/would-you-point-out-the-people-of-your-own-race-who-make-racial-slurs-or-prejudice-comments-119-blog/#IDComment138187223 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135946950 The diversity here at Penn State actually reflects my high school pretty closely. Last I heard, the percentage of white students at Penn State is around 83 percent. This is very close to my high school, except we were actually higher in that category. My home town is actually around 92 percent white. That reflects my high school pretty well. We didn’t have many black students at all. If anything, most of our “diversity” came from Asian students. When I was looking at schools, which isn’t really fair because I only wanted to go to Penn State, diversity never played a factor in where I looked. For example, I wouldn’t have picked another school over Penn State because they are more diverse. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with a very diverse school, but it is nice going to a school where the area is very close to where I grew up which helps me feel more comfortable going here. I don’t’ feel like the diversity here at Penn State is an issue. I feel like Penn State gives a lot more kids a shot at an education than a lot of other schools and try to accommodate people with things such as the satellite schools. They are able to reach out to many different types of students and have more diversity than a lot of schools that I know of. I also believe that this is one of the things that has made Penn State such a premier university. They provide job opportunities and networking to students that if they went to a smaller school, may not have any of those opportunities or advantages. Also, Penn State as a whole shares something that I didn’t come across at any other school. The “Penn State Pride” that is hyped up on every tour and campus visit is so true. Never once have I seen someone say anything derogatory towards another person if they are a student here or are wearing a Penn State shirt. It’s a brotherhood/sisterhood that goes much deeper than skin color. When we are at a football game, I don’t think there’s anyone who says, “I’m not sitting next to that black guy” or something along those lines. We are one unit pulling for/representing our school. The story of how the We Are Penn State saying came to be is one of my favorites and represents this very well. When the football team was set to play SMU in the Cotton Bowl in 1948, SMU asked that Penn State play without Wally Triplett, Penn State’s first African American starter. Steve Suhey responded “We are Penn State,” implying you either get all of us or none of us. While I won’t say we live in a perfect place where there is absolutely no racism, the diversity here is definitely something to be proud of. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 00:54:54 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135946950 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment134359878 Something like affirmative action is created with good intentions, obviously. The thing is, it feels like in todays day and age that it might be going too far. As a white person, I feel like I actually have so much less going for me when I want to get a job because corporations are shoving diversity down the throats of employers, who may not end up looking at who is more qualified for the position. In turn, they may end up giving someone a job solely because they are not white, which contradicts the idea of equal and fair employment opportunities. I feel that as a white male, I have even less going for me because now women are viewed as those who should get the job over a male. This has impacted me the most when it comes to college selection and getting accepted to schools. While I do not think that I have directly felt the effects of not getting into a school because I am white, I think that definitely plays a role in today’s admissions process. I don’t think that race or ethnicity should even be included on an admissions application. Admission to a school should be based entirely on whether you are more qualified than another person and whether you meet the criteria for the school or not. Nowadays, schools will try to meet quotas that are set forth by God only knows who. They will go into admissions with a mindset that they want, say, 10% of their acceptances to be black. Maybe they have to turn down that many white, or Asian, or Hispanic students who are better qualified in order to meet this quota. This is a hypothetical situation, but it does happen and it is wrong. It is just like getting a job. The only criteria that they should judge a potential candidate on are their credentials and whether those credentials meet the standards of the institution. The NFL put into effect the Rooney Rule, where NFL teams are required to interview minority candidates when looking for a new head coach. There is much opposition to this within the league because many teams feel that they already have their ideal coach selected when they decide to fire their current one. This leads to them holding sham interviews with a minority candidate, who has no hope of gaining the job because they already know who they want. I don’t believe that is the way to gain equality. I honestly think that is pretty demeaning to have to interview someone who has no shot at a job. This is where affirmative action has gone too far. Equality in education and employment should be based off of merit, not your race. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 04:25:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/02/is-it-possible-for-affirmative-action-to-take-things-too-far-119-blog/#IDComment134359878 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/is-it-selfish-for-people-in-poverty-to-have-more-kids-because-of-their-lower-income-119-blog/#IDComment130762206 I don’t think that it is necessarily selfish for poor people to have children because having kids is an act of bringing another life into the world and some people give up a lot in order to do that. So in that case, it is not selfish whatsoever. Giving life to another individual is the definition of the most selfless act that a person can commit. The only thing that I can think that it could possibly be interpreted as is irresponsible. I think that it is irresponsible to bring a kid into the world who is going to struggle because you don’t have the financial means to support them. Whenever you make the decision to have a child, you not only have to think about what is best for your current situation, but you must also think about how the child is going to grow up and how they as individuals are going to be shaped by what they are given. This goes back to our discussion about determinism. If a child is born into very bad poverty, they are far less likely to succeed than someone who is born into a family that can provide many more opportunities. If we look at the video that we saw in class, the son of Tammy is clearly frustrated with the situation that he is in, but it seems like he is doing his best to make the most out of his life and the best to perfect himself as a person. He tries to dress well, present himself well, and do well academically; all of these aspects can help lead to a promising future. I think the only thing that he needs is to recognize how much his mother is trying to provide for the family by walking to work every day for 10.5 miles each way. I’m not going to lie, I don’t think I could possibly do that. It is also tough to hear how hard he tries in school, only to hear him say that he is not “Harvard material.” He will never be that because he simply does not have the money to say that. Unfortunately, in today’s world the rich are those who are able to succeed. It is a vicious cycle. Those who are stuck in poor areas and families who are doing their best to get out have a ton of trouble doing so because the current system of higher education is swayed towards the upper and middle classes. So, those who are trying to escape the lower class lifestyle have all the chips stacked against them. In conclusion, it isn’t selfish in the least to have children if you are poor. If anything, it is somewhat irresponsible unless you instill the sense in them that they can succeed and get out of the current surroundings. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 04:28:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/is-it-selfish-for-people-in-poverty-to-have-more-kids-because-of-their-lower-income-119-blog/#IDComment130762206 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-can-we-make-people-more-aware-of-the-slavery-that-is-still-going-on-119-blog/#IDComment128893602 It’s definitely unfortunate that we still live in a world where slavery exists. It’s a shame and you would think that society would have advanced enough to know that certain things are wrong. This is one of them. It is stunning that there is more slavery today in the world than there ever was before. To think that, as Dr. Richards pointed out, a kid could be chained to a wall and forced to loom a carpet could actually be happening is simply astonishing. There are steps that can definitely be taken to help stop slavery as it is today. When we talked about the cocoa and how the major chocolate producers drive down the prices of cocoa so that they can make as much profit as possible, I was taken back. Putting a face on the products that we buy as consumers really makes you think about where your money is going. I like how Dr. Richards said that we should not feel guilt about this issue, however. Guilt is the last thing that we should be feeling. Just because we purchase items here in the United States that might have traces to slavery, does not mean that we support slavery and are awful people. What it means is that the world is screwed up and people should be fighting to change it. There are a million good causes out there that people contribute to every day. For example, we have THON at Penn State. We don’t feel guilty about cancer and how it has affected so many people. We do everything that we can so that those who are affected by it can get the support they need and the comfort of knowing that there are people out there who care about them. This is what the world needs to do when it comes to an issue such as slavery. We have seen what we as people can do for a cause that we believe in. I am dancing this year at THON, and have been so moved and touched by everything that I have experienced this year, and I hope that those that we are helping feel the same thing. This is what needs to be done for an issue such as slavery, and I am sure that there are movements and causes dedicated to helping end slavery and helping to protect those who have been affected by it. What we can do is be more open minded about where our material goods come from. Yeah, your iPhone has parts made by slaves. Don’t feel guilty about owning an iPhone, simply open your mind to the possibility that slavery still exists in this world and we need to do something to stop it. Fri, 18 Feb 2011 19:51:41 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/17/how-can-we-make-people-more-aware-of-the-slavery-that-is-still-going-on-119-blog/#IDComment128893602 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/how-have-the-choices-youve-made-and-determinism-affected-your-life-119-blog/#IDComment127465905 I would say that my journey to Penn State definitely was because of free will (I don’t know how much of it was free since I was raised to come here but…). It wasn’t at all because I was put in a good situation or was raised in a good household in a suburban community. There are plenty of kids that were in my exact same situation at school that didn’t make it to Penn State or even go to college for that matter. I was dedicated to getting into Penn State because I knew that I wanted to go there since I was born. I knew that to get in I needed to get good grades and stay out of trouble. Obviously, I did a good enough job of this in high school that I was able to meet my goal. There were a number of kids that grew up in wealthy homes and were “given” all the right advantages in life that simply slacked off and got into trouble throughout high school. Am I saying that determination doesn’t play a role in where people end up in life? Absolutely not. I definitely had more advantages growing up than someone in the middle of the city who went to a school with poor funding. I recognize that I grew up in an upper middle class household in a great school district. I never had to worry about the police patrolling my neighborhood or having to get a job to help support my family. It’s unfortunate that the United States has become so split amongst the classes and that there are definitely minorities who struggle much more through life than I did, and they could be ten times smarter than I am. They just wouldn’t have the resources that I did growing up to get to college. I do feel like, however, that if you are dedicated enough towards achieving a goal, that you can get there. As cliché as that sounds, I think it’s pretty true. Again, I’ll use a huge cliché, but look at our President and Vice President. Our President didn’t have the resources that even I did growing up, but he went further than I will ever go (probably) in my life. Our Vice President came from a working class family in Scranton, Pennsylvania. No matter what we try to do as a country, this problem will always exist. There will always be people who are better off than others. There will also always be people who work harder than others. It’s just the way it is. I feel like if you work hard enough, you can get far in life no matter how much money you came from or what high school you went to. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 03:31:58 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/08/how-have-the-choices-youve-made-and-determinism-affected-your-life-119-blog/#IDComment127465905 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/01/what-is-the-difference-between-a-colored-and-white-comedian-119-blog/#IDComment125988720 The whole thing with the white comedian versus any other is that no matter what context the jokes are in, it can be taken in such a wrong way. It all goes back to being politically correct. If someone says something that can be taken to be offensive in any way, there will be someone out there to call it racist. When Chris Rock does his stand up routine and makes fun of both blacks and everyone else, nobody finds it offensive or done in poor taste. People have an understanding that since it is being used as a device for comedy, it shouldn’t be taken seriously. However, when a white person does standup and makes jokes about any other race, there will be someone to call him/her a racist. I just can’t understand it. I think the worst part about it is that there is definitely a double standard out there. For example, when it comes to the n word, if a white person says it then they are instantly tagged as being racist. However, there are definitely blacks that use the word when simply addressing their friends. It’s in rap music non-stop. I can’t comprehend why if this word is so offensive to black people, why do they continue to use it? In a country (which has come a long way from where we were) where there are still race differences and issues, and we are pushing for equality, we can’t be offended by everything that we hear. If everyone in this country saw the races equally, then we wouldn’t have to talk about why a white comedian can’t make jokes about Asian people or black people or anyone else. I think my biggest issue about the problems that we face today is that everything comes back to race. It is so easy for a minority to accuse someone of being a racist, whether it’s because they did not get a job, didn’t get a loan, or they simply had an argument with someone. That’s why we have the term “playing the race card.” It seems to happen more and more often nowadays. I don’t know why it is and I hope someone can enlighten me. It also isn’t solely individuals. Different organizations will make huge deals out of nothing because they felt that something was racist against the people that they represent. One of the biggest stories I’ve heard referring to this was at West Chester University, where I’m from, there is a black student union. Well, a white student decided he was going to start a white student union. Of course within days of the news getting out, it turned into court cases about whether he could do that, calling it racist. I don’t see how that is. If we are pushing for racial equality, then why do only certain groups get to have something as a student union? Doesn’t seem very “equal” to me. Fri, 4 Feb 2011 20:55:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/01/what-is-the-difference-between-a-colored-and-white-comedian-119-blog/#IDComment125988720 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/what-does-the-confederate-flag-mean-to-you-119-blog/#IDComment124442075 Having grown up in suburban Philadelphia, I can’t comment that I know everything about how people in the South act or feel, but I have a pretty good idea. I have relatives and friends who either live in the South or used to. One of the best impressions of the Confederate flag that I ever got was when my family visited my uncle down in Georgia. As we drove down south, we started noticing that the Confederate flag became more and more common until we reached Georgia and saw it very frequently. The idea that I got from most circumstances was that people were simply “proud” that they were from the South and wanted to embrace that by having a bumper sticker of the Confederate battle flag on their trucks. I’m sure some were harmless, but there are definitely others that mean more than that. There is still a lot of racism in the South (and the North for that matter). It is naïve to think that it doesn’t exist. It gets ugly when people fly the Confederate battle flag for what it originally stood for during the Civil War. The South was fighting so that they could keep slavery as part of their everyday life. By flying that flag, it definitely implies to a lot of people that you are racist, simply because of what that flag means. In my own experience at Penn State, I met one of the most racist people that I know. He happens to be a brother in my fraternity and I have no problem with him at all. But he has a Confederate flag in his room as well as some mounted deer heads. He embraces Southern culture, and unfortunately that includes being intensely racist. He doesn’t like our President solely based off of the fact that he is black. No matter what decision he makes in office, it will be wrong in my brother’s eyes because of the color of his skin. I don’t agree with this at all and personally feel that racism has no place in today’s day and age but it will always be around. My one friend from home now attends the University of Alabama and said it is a completely different lifestyle than it was in PA. He joined the biggest fraternity on campus and said that it is completely white. There are no minorities of any type considered a brother. He told me that it is just bred into the culture down there that white people are inherently better and that the South should always hold a grudge against both blacks and the North for what happened way back in the day. I think its ridiculous and he does too. It’s weird to think that even today we live in almost two different countries. The pride that the South has probably will never die, and as long as that happens, the Confederate battle flag will always be flying. Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:38:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/27/what-does-the-confederate-flag-mean-to-you-119-blog/#IDComment124442075 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment124412074 I thought that this activity was very interesting, and very edgy at the same time. Splitting someone into a racial group that they don’t belong to can be pretty offensive to them. But I think that is the whole point of this class. Anything said in this class would be considered awkward or maybe even offensive in any other context or setting. We have to train ourselves not to see people because of their race, which is very difficult to do when we live in a society where that is one of the first things that we see. I don’t think that we’ll ever be able to erase the instinctive mentality of noticing people’s race, but we can’t make judgments based off of what we see. Also we have to get rid of the sensitivity regarding race. It has become such a touchy subject, and that is one reason this class is so different. I’ll admit it, as a white guy I am always trying to be conscious about what I say and who is around me when I say certain things. I am always conscious about if it might offend someone, and I don’t think we should have to be that sensitive about it. Altogether though, the activity was pretty cool. I don’t think that I would’ve been able to split the students apart by race. One, because I just don’t think I’m very good at recognizing the hundreds of other countries of origin. I don’t think that can be held against me. Also, there are so many people with mixed backgrounds that it makes it almost impossible to figure out which race someone is. I’ve gotta give some credit to those girls because they did a pretty good job splitting people up to the best of their ability. It was also pretty cool learning the next class that our different features were passed down because of survival by our ancestors. So, therefore, some races do have certain features that make it easy to recognize them (such as the “Asian Eye”). In the end, it was impossible to put everyone into separate groups because it is almost impossible to know where different people come from, what ethnicity they are, and anything like that. The “moral” I guess is that people make judgments way too quickly in today’s society and that has to change. Then, upon talking about political correctness, it made even more sense that this activity was difficult. By putting people into groups, it is going against the fundamental aspects of being politically correct in today’s environment. Simply by sorting someone into the wrong group could offend someone a lot. That is why political correctness has gone too far in today’s day and age. We shouldn’t always have to worry about accidentally offending someone without meaning to. Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:18:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment124412074 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122838081 I thought that this activity was very interesting, and very edgy at the same time. Splitting someone into a racial group that they don’t belong to can be pretty offensive to them. But I think that is the whole point of this class. Anything said in this class would be considered awkward or maybe even offensive in any other context or setting. We have to train ourselves not to see people because of their race, which is very difficult to do when we live in a society where that is one of the first things that we see. I don’t think that we’ll ever be able to erase the instinctive mentality of noticing people’s race, but we can’t make judgments based off of what we see. Also we have to get rid of the sensitivity regarding race. It has become such a touchy subject, and that is one reason this class is so different. I’ll admit it, as a white guy I am always trying to be conscious about what I say and who is around me when I say certain things. I am always conscious about if it might offend someone, and I don’t think we should have to be that sensitive about it. Altogether though, the activity was pretty cool. I don’t think that I would’ve been able to split the students apart by race. One, because I just don’t think I’m very good at recognizing the hundreds of other countries of origin. I don’t think that can be held against me. Also, there are so many people with mixed backgrounds that it makes it almost impossible to figure out which race someone is. I’ve gotta give some credit to those girls because they did a pretty good job splitting people up to the best of their ability. It was also pretty cool learning the next class that our different features were passed down because of survival by our ancestors. So, therefore, some races do have certain features that make it easy to recognize them (such as the “Asian Eye”). In the end, it was impossible to put everyone into separate groups because it is almost impossible to know where different people come from, what ethnicity they are, and anything like that. The “moral” I guess is that people make judgments way too quickly in today’s society and that has to change. Fri, 21 Jan 2011 20:14:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/18/what-do-you-think-blog-2/#IDComment122838081 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cr%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122414133 SOC 119 Thu, 20 Jan 2011 02:47:21 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cr%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment122414133