en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/1112615 Comments by pennstategirl5 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85215896 July 6th, 2010 8:16 PM It is crazy to think that I never really had any type of positive opinion about affirmative action, yet as you pointed out, I go to Penn State. Just the little bit of how you said it has impacted you in getting a job for the summer I could definitely relate to, yet never even considered comparing that to affirmative action. The networking opportunities that arise after attending Penn State are ridiculous and honestly not to use them is dumb, but it is just really crazy to think that two things are so completely similar but thought of in completely different ways. Wed, 7 Jul 2010 00:19:47 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85215896 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85213735 July 6, 2010 8:00 PM After listening to the lecture this week that fact that white women are the ones who are greatly affected by affirmative action really made me think. I had always been one to think that people of color were the ones who were helped most by it, but really stopping to think about it, affirmative action is helping out the majority of Americans. For example, there are more women than men in the United States, and there are more white women than colored women in the United States as well. The fact that the white women is the majority of the population in the United States makes me laugh since 10% of affirmative action is going to help the majority. Many people may argue that women’s wages are lower than a man’s even when they are performing the same job, with this being said I had another thought while listening to the lecture. My parent’s are in there fifty’s and right now my dad makes a lot more money than my mom. I think that this is true for a lot of people my age. Many years ago it was expected that the man be the main bread provider for the family and often expected that the woman stay home to raise the children. As we have seen in more recent years this expectation has started to go away. I feel that it is a lot more popular and often times expected for both parents to work in order to provide for their households. As of right now men are making more money than women because, perhaps…this is just a thought, because they have had longer, less interrupted careers than the typical woman. Since the expectation for women to be in the work force as well as their partner I am hoping that by the time I am my parent’s age, I am twenty right now, that women will be making the same as men or even more since technically there are more women in college right now than men which will hopefully lead to more women in the work force than men in the future. This is all just my ramblings so I honestly have no clue, but that’s just what I think may end up occurring. On another note, I never thought about how nepotism and affirmative action are actually so related. They essentially are the same thing it just doesn’t sound as much like a handout to me when you consider it in terms of nepotism. My dad always says with half sarcasm, “It’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know.” I have found that to be true for my life as well. Many of my friends who have already graduated ended up getting jobs strictly because of someone having a connection. Wed, 7 Jul 2010 00:00:42 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85213735 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84721984 July 4th, 2010 12:17 PM While listening to this weeks lecture the way in which Sam made the comparison of an immigrant compared to a poor college roommate. I had never thought about immigrants in a way that hit close to home like that. Luckily my roommate is one of the wealthy people and it is incredibly easy to live with her because there is never an awkward moment with money. But his way of comparing it to a situation I have, having a roommate, was a great way to think about it. You want to have a roommate who is helpful to you, not one that is not, which is why people only yell at the immigrants when they aren’t helping us out. It is crazy to think how much business controls the immigration policy because it really shouldn’t be that way since the immigration policy affects everyone yet business is what dictates it. When Sam said, “Nobody wants poor people, and nobody wants strangers. Because strangers are odd” I couldn’t help but agree which makes me feel terrible, but in all honesty strangers are awkward. As I heard about the story of Congo and him biting the illegal immigrant and how an assemblyman sponsored “Congo’s bill” I was outraged. I couldn’t believe that they were willing to spare the dogs life and not really even care about the illegal immigrant who was attacked. Yes, they were giving him a nice sum of money but this assemblyman basically is saying that the dogs life is more important that the illegal immigrants, which is not right. The rant we saw throughout the lecture, I tried to tolerate, but the comments people wrote were sickening. I understand that illegal immigrants shouldn’t be here but if big business wants them here, they are going to be here. We can not fix this no matter what policies we put into place because the big businesses want them here in order to help them with their business. I have a tough time figuring out where I stand with this issue because I agree that they are illegal and shouldn’t be in the United States but if they aren’t going to ever leave then I just have to accept that. On top of that we were all immigrants at one point to the United States, that’s what makes us the “melting pot” that we are. On that note though it is true what the man in the video stated about how if there is an ex convict who travels across the border and I decide to hire him to help me he should be deported and I should be arrested. If these are our laws then we can’t throw them by the waste side just because business wants us to. Sun, 4 Jul 2010 16:17:06 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84721984 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84721913 July 4th, 2010 12:16 PM After reading your comment I felt like we were in the same boat. This issue happens to be one where I can never truly figure out where I stand. I found it especially interesting from hearing this issue from a business perspective because I too had never thought about it in that way. I also agree with how you stated that at one point many of our ancestors were doing the work that no one wanted to do and were looked down upon, but now they are just Americans. I don’t know if that will happen with the illegal immigrants we are dealing with now, but it will be exciting to see what time will tell. Sun, 4 Jul 2010 16:16:28 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84721913 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83555317 June 30th, 2010 5:54 PM I agree with you completely about how as people go to college their minds are much more open to multiculturalism. In the high school I attended I could literally count the number of black people on my hand. Not that I have any issues with anyone who is black, the area I grew up in just wasn’t very populated with black people. When I came to school here, even though many may not think that Penn State University is very diverse, I found it to be eye opening and a great opportunity to meet people I wouldn’t ordinarily interact with in my hometown. Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:54:43 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83555317 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83549342 June 30th, 2010 5:31 PM After listening to this week’s lecture the LGBT Issues lecture stuck the most with me. I started to think about how ridiculous it is to claim that gay people flaunt their gayness. Not only are they just displaying affection in a way that is normal or comfortable to them but also they are also essentially doing the same thing as straight people. It is kind of outrageous for people to think that because they are straight everyone is supposed to be straight and if you are not you are not only choosing to be gay but you are also wrong in your “decision”. Another problem is when people say that you are choosing to be gay. I’m a straight person and my entire life I have known I was straight. I feel that if someone had the same feelings as me they wouldn’t choose to be gay because they wouldn’t be attracted to the opposite sex. If gay people grew up with the same mentality of having feeling for the same sex as I have had for the opposite sex then more than likely they knew of these feelings their whole life and would be hiding their true selves if they didn’t act on it. I will never be able to fully comprehend what being gay is like but if I can compare it to being straight it really isn’t a big deal. You fall in love with a person, what does it matter if that person happens to be the same sex as yourself. As Sam brought up in the lecture, businesses are on board with gay people and it’s only a matter of time that everyone will realize how irrelevant a person’s sexual orientation is to their personality and overall characteristics. Another point that Sam brought up in the lecture was that he found it ironic how people who have struggled with minority struggles, for example people of color, are not nearly as accepting to the gay community as they “should be”. I find it kind of ironic too. I’m not going to sit here being a white straight person and say that the two are similar and if you are a person of color you should be more accepting of gays because they are going through a similar struggle that you faced, because I can’t place myself in either one of your shoes. I do find it odd though that if you are familiar with someone constantly judging you based on a characteristic of yourself, why would you want to wish the same onto someone else? I will say that being a person who is white and straight and hasn’t had any major controversial issues that have “held me back” I am completely willing to accept anyone of a different sexual orientation because I feel that if people are willing to accept my decision to like men, I should be willing to accept and respect their liking to the same sex. Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:31:11 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83549342 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81821573 June 23rd, 2010 9:39 PM I think you bring up a very interesting point about how racism in taught even if it is just by letting the girl know that what she said wasn’t appropriate. If we let our children grow up saying that black people are “dirty” without correcting them and then the black child teaches the white child that he or she really is not dirty, that is the color of his or her skin, I wonder how our attitudes would be changed. If instead of correcting our children for not being “politically correct” or “appropriate” we would let them handle these confrontations by themselves? Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:39:54 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81821573 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81820149 June 23rd 9:30 PM After hearing this weeks lecture I was completely taken back by some of the topics that were brought up. I should have written down everything throughout both lectures that struck me, because there were so many, but I’ll just start where I remember. As Sam mentioned all of the cities and their population of different races and how depending on where you are coming from I thought back to last school year. In my class last year we were “forced” to do a race relations session for a grade. I went into it expecting it to be uncomfortable but I’m not someone who really shy’s away from speaking my mind so I wasn’t expecting it to be that bad. When I got there I was pleasantly surprised. We were in a small room with about eight of us and we just started talking about random things that had to do with race. One of the questions that was given to us was if we thought, compared to where we came from, if Penn State University was diverse. To me Penn State is a lot more diverse than where I am from. Another person in my group was from Pittsburgh, which is where I am from, and I was expecting him to say something similar. He went on to tell me that it wasn’t at all diverse to where he was from. I was really confused and asked him where he lived in Pittsburgh and he told me he went to a city school. I live in a suburb about 10 minutes away from the city. Where I live it is mostly white, this made me really take a step back and realize that even if we live ten minutes away from one another we are living totally different lives and having totally different experiences. That’s really crazy to think about. Another idea I found interesting during this lecture was when the person in the classroom asked the question about how you can tell the difference about a black person being homophobic versus a black person being homophobic because of his culture. I find that ridiculous that a country could actually want to stone someone for being gay, but if you grow up in that type of environment you can’t really help but be shaped to think anything but that gays aren’t “right”…this is also outrageous that a country’s beliefs can be that personal. I never really noticed it until Sam brought it up but it does seem like there are a lot of black people who have a hard(er) time accepting gay people than other races. I find this interesting because of what he was saying in lecture about how they can want everyone to be accepting of them but then they go and turn around and discriminate towards a minority. Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:30:22 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81820149 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment81146423 June 20th, 2010 6:45 PM I find your post to be very interesting. I am a white person and to be completely honest before this class didn’t think about my race on a daily basis. I live in a mostly white area and just continued on with life not thinking about it. When Sam mentioned about how white people never really talk about their race I could relate a lot. While he said that we are given more opportunities because of our skin color I accepted that but thought about affirmative action, like you said. Then also thought that affirmative action doesn’t compare to the advantages we probably receive. I find it really hard to even express what I’m trying to say because I will never know what it’s like to not be white but to answer your question as to why we would even wonder about not having all of the privileges we have…to me it is because I want to understand. I want to be able to understand how well off I do have it, to appreciate it more and to understand that maybe my idea of how other races are truly affected is probably not right on. I want to be able to know if what my idea of being a black person and how black people are treated is accurate (I assume it isn’t) but I want to understand how another race lives in order to be able to just simply understand. I know this will never happen but even for example, if I had a black friend that I could ask literally every question that came into my mind without feeling as if I were being perceived as racist, as I do fear when I talk about race, I feel as if that would help me to gain a better understanding. Sun, 20 Jun 2010 22:52:52 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment81146423 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment81101623 June 20th, 2010 11:38 AM While listening to this weeks lecture as Sam began to tell everyone that white people don't talk about race because they don't want to be considered racist I found myself agreeing with him one hundred percent. I’ve realized that when I am around people who are a different race I find myself not behaving how I ordinarily would. Not that I speak of race often but while around people of a different race I try even harder to not talk about race at all. I could really relate to when he was talking about when students want to talk to his TA and you don’t know how to go about identifying which TA without using their race. I always feel as if I am offending them even though it’s just a physical feature I would otherwise, such as the guy with the blonde hair or brown hair. It’s very odd that we can refer to other physical features like hair color or eye color and no one thinks twice about it, but when we use the color of skin to describe someone it causes people to be uncomfortable. I like how it matters in which instance it is okay to use the description of race, if you are using their race in a derogatory way or when it has nothing to do with what you are trying to say it obviously makes sense that that is not okay. I have never felt guilty for being white, because I did not choose to be white so I don’t believe I have anything to be guilty for. I don’t know if maybe I feel this way because I am white and maybe I would have a different perspective if I were a different race. I have felt bad because of certain things that have happened in the past, but to be completely honest I don’t feel guilt. I was not the person who caused that to happen so I don’t know why I would feel guilty, which makes me wonder why we have to feel guilt in order to go through all of these stages. I hope I’m not sounding inconsiderate but that is just how I think about it. I don’t like that “you can never talk yourself out of being racist”. I hope that is not true. I feel that a lot of people are always looking for some reason to become angry with someone, no matter their race. I never knew that black people thought that white people smelled like wet dogs when we got rained on. I think that’s funny, I have never heard of that. Also I never knew that there were a lot of white people who didn’t use washcloths. Sun, 20 Jun 2010 15:38:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment81101623 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment80443452 June 16th, 2010 12:26 PM I enjoyed reading your comment because I too agree that it is really hard to know ones self. Before hearing this lecture I never really thought about what makes me, me. I am a white girl and in all honesty I don’t really think about my skin color often. I don’t hold myself higher than another race because I agree that we are all the same. I also appreciate the fact that you put in an effort to help make people feel comfortable when they are in uncomfortable situations about race. I know that I have definitely been put in a situation before where I really didn’t know what to say because I didn’t want to offend anyone. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:30:48 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment80443452 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment80442053 June 16th, 2010 12:17 PM While watching this week’s lecture I realized many aspects of my life are ones in which I never have really stopped to think about. I am a white girl who is 5 feet 5 inches, right handed, straight, brown hair, supportive family whose parents are still married, of average weight, and was brought up with my parents being able to provide for me. Since most of these qualities are “normal” as I walk through life I have never really thought about them and how they impact my viewpoint on life. It is very strange to think about how if I was a shorter person that it would probably make an impact on everything I do. Also how if you are gay you have that “light bulb moment” when I do not think I have ever thought twice about being straight. It is strange to think about. When Sam went on to talk about pre awakening I thought about how true it was. As he told the story about being in the whirl pool with a man who was paralyzed and he fell into the water and Sam did not realize what was happening I felt as if I could relate. I work at a camp as a camp counselor for students with physically, learning, and emotional disabilities during the summer. The first year I worked there I was a little bit hesitant around the kids in the wheel chairs. I was not sure what these kids were capable of and what they were not capable of. Since I never wanted to belittle them I always wanted to let them do as much as they could on their own, after all many had been like this their whole life and they probably had their routine down. It also made me nervous though because I did not want to expect too much from them and cause them to feel inadequate when they could not meet my unreal expectations. After about a week or two of trying not to step on their toes, I finally sat down with a few of the kids and told them I was clueless about how capable they are but I wanted to learn. After that day they were so much more open about everything and I learned that many of them did not mind one bit talking about their disabilities. I was so happy I decided to ask them about it rather than always second guessing myself. The next year I went back and it got easier because I had experience. I am about to start there next week for my third summer and can only hope that I will be even more capable of helping them in an appropriate manner than I have been the other two years. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:18:13 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment80442053 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79352500 June 9th, 2010 4:31 PM I find myself agreeing with the majority of your post. The strings that are hard to remove and that impact our lives such as race or gender have been given to us, and we can’t change them. It is possible though for us to give into the stereotypes that are known to be associated with a certain race or a certain gender. I believe that it is up to you how you choose to act, and even if you are in a society that is predominately white or predominately black it still is your decision on which way you want to act. Wed, 9 Jun 2010 20:31:25 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79352500 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79350898 June 9th, 2010 4:18 PM This week’s lecture caused me to put myself in the classroom. When Sam asked Avery from class to scratch his balls, I immediately laughed because any “normal” person wouldn’t do that in a classroom filled with 700 people. It made me begin to wonder though how many of our actions each day are done because we free willingly choose to make them and how many we hold back because of what is socially acceptable. When Avery said “if the itch I’ll scratch them” it made me believe that he might be one of the only people who would willingly stand in front of that many people and do something that isn’t socially acceptable. It also made me wonder, when Sam said why is it any different than scratching you head, as to why we aren’t able to live in a world where we are free to flaunt our “private parts”. I know in some cases this can date back to the bible, but if we all have these parts we choose to cover them or not talk about them as we would our leg or our arm. It just really made me think as to how many things I do each day, or don’t do in that matter, for the sake of others not being offended or me not being embarrassed. Switching gears as the lecture continued to the topic of playing king of the mountain I also gained a new perspective on things. If you are the king of something and want to maintain your position, in all actuality it only makes sense to do everything in your power to make those around you weaker. I feel as if racism may not have even started as a hatred for another because they were different, but almost as if it were to just protect what they know. I’ve never thought about anything like that before, I always just had in my mind white people being assholes. This new way of looking at it though doesn’t justify all that has happened over the years to others and how poorly they were treated, but it does cause me to believe that I would have probably done the same thing in order to protect my power status or family. Another thing Avery said in class, about just needing to keep working harder, was always the way I felt. In my mind I thought that as long as you worked hard and did everything in your power to succeed you would, not necessarily catch a break, but you would end up all right. Same put things into perspective when he said when can you just not take anymore? Can you move to Canada to find land? Not only is working hard not enough, but when everyone doesn’t want you to succeed I understand how that can take its toll on you. Wed, 9 Jun 2010 20:18:22 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79350898 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78541873 June 4, 2010 3:13 PM I too took ETHP115 and you essentially covered all of my thoughts I had while Sam was giving the lecture. When Oprah came on I immediately thought of Geoffrey Canada, as you did, and how incredible his work in Harlem was. To everyone who claimed minority students weren't capable or as capable as white students, he flat out proved them wrong. He made many aware that as long as students are given the tools to succeed they will be more willing to put in the effort. The students that Oprah showed from Harper were in awe of the suburban school and couldn't have even imagined a better school. Learning in an environment that is run down and not clean or safe makes the students feel as if they aren't worthy of a nice facility. If they aren't worthy of a nice learning environment they might beg the question, then what are we worthy of? Fri, 4 Jun 2010 19:13:23 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78541873 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78540769 June 4, 2010 3:00 PM After watching lecture five about understanding social inequality I found myself, yet again, with a new perspective of things. As Sam brought students up to the front of the classroom and posed the question as to why the white person is richer or more successful in life compared to the black or brown person in my head without even realizing I was doing it, I noticed myself factoring race into justifying it. It was truly amazing that you don’t attribute race or even think about race when two people appear to be the same race. It’s as if our brains magnify the color of our skin to be ultimately more important than any other reason behind it, probably because it is the most apparent. I felt terrible that I would think this way when I didn’t know any of those students at all. The stereotypes we grow up hearing and sometimes fall into make much more of an impact that I had ever realized. I have heard several stereotypes about several different races throughout my lifetime and a few of them I have found to be somewhat true but I never felt as if I held that stereotype true for all people of a certain race. I acknowledge that sometimes stereotypes hold a certain amount of truth but there are always exceptions I found which prevented me from automatically associating all people of a certain race with that stereotype but after the lecture today I found myself wondering if maybe I do associate them subconsciously. That scares me a little that I can flat out think one way but my brain makes connections without me even thinking about it. Another aspect of the lecture that I felt was interesting is how intellect is in the middle of determinism and freewill. I agree with this one hundred percent. Often times in English classes throughout my high school years we would get into deep discussions about fate or freewill and without fail I would always get extremely frustrated because I believed that both of these play major roles in a persons life. As Sam gave an example of obstacles in your way and it’s up to you to use your brain and go around them or to simply give up it really put a lot into perspective for me. I have had a rather easy road thus fair (knock on wood) in my college career and I think about the times where I complain about my work load or complain about teachers and now I realize that this is what I signed up for. I chose to go to college, I chose to take these courses, I knew what I was getting myself into. Who am I to complain? Fri, 4 Jun 2010 19:00:38 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78540769 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism__trashed/#IDComment78247193 June 2nd 2010 3:11 PM I agree completely with the reasons you gave as to why Americans don't name their child Jesus. In certain cultures it is okay for people to name their child Jesus because that is what is socially acceptable. My cousin is pregnant but if she named her child Jesus, as a Christian I would laugh and wonder why she thinks her son is worthy of the name Jesus when, in my culture, Jesus is the name of someone who died for us. I could see how naming your child after Jesus would make sense. After all you do name children after people you respect and love, and if you are religious Jesus would definitely be one of those people but in the United States it is definitely not a common occurrence. Wed, 2 Jun 2010 19:11:54 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism__trashed/#IDComment78247193 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism__trashed/#IDComment78245885 June 2nd, 2010 3:00 pm After hearing this weeks lecture I found myself confused. Not in a way that I didn’t understand what I had just heard but in a sense of my personal beliefs being confused. Growing up my father was in the Army and most of my favorite memories are from growing up on military bases. When I got to college I seriously contemplated joining Army ROTC, I had an interview with one of the recruiters right before Christmas break of my freshman year. I came home and during the entire break I thought about if I truly wanted to join the Army. After input from family members that I attempted to not hear I finally decided that it wasn’t for me. I also thought that I was only a freshman and I had until the summer before my junior year to decide. With this being said, it’s probably not a shocker to tell you I have also always held a very conservative political view. (I will be the first to tell you that is probably from my parents being republicans as well.) The way you presented the warn going on now in this lecture was the first time I had ever thought about it in a different way. I had my blinders on completely and I now feel like a hypocrite. The way that we view Arabs, and the way we assume all of them are radically Muslim, is the exact way that they feel about us. I’m a Christian, a Catholic to be precise and I attend mass every weekend alone while my three best friends at school are Catholics. We’ve talked about religion before and our faith but I have never once tried to impose my views on them or make them feel guilty for not attending mass with me. And I certainly have never gone around trying to convert others to Christians, yet when I used to think of Arabs I thought only of the most radical sorts of Muslims. Just like you pointed out in lecture they are only a small amount of the Muslims, just like in the United States there are only a small amount of Christians, who are very radical. Why is it that this is the first time this point has ever been brought up to me? I’m 20 years old and go to one of the best schools in the country, yet this is the first time I have been able to open my eyes and realize that the Arabs that I have been imagining for the past 20 years are probably only a small percentage of the Arabs that actually exist. With this being said I never thought that I was one to believe that my culture was “better” than another, but I do feel as if I wasn’t able to see the complexity of another culture. I wasn’t unwilling I guess I just never had been shown it in a different light. I feel as if after just this one lecture if it can’t alter how I view the world that there has to be so much more I am completely biased to. Wed, 2 Jun 2010 19:01:09 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism__trashed/#IDComment78245885 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race__trashed/#IDComment77244789 After viewing this weeks two-part lecture I literally sat at my computer after the lectures were completed trying to digest all that I had heard. I first found it interesting that we are in a class called, Race and Relations yet there are an infinite number of racial groups in the world. It makes me laugh that something all of us are so familiar with, the word race, is basically made up and can be broken down into a million different groups just based on how you think. I was also in shock that Carollus Linneaus decided he was important enough to choose the categories of race for the entire world. And on top of that, he chose 3, or 4 depending on how you look at it, for the entire WORLD. That is crazy. The way in which he describes the different groups too is incredibly stereotypical and sadly I noticed that these stereotypes still exist in today’s society, which begs the question, when will stereotypes be overlooked or forgotten? Will there ever be the day? I also found it thought provoking when you asked in lecture if anyone went home to attempt to get rid of their “slave made” items and no one did, even those with slavery ancestry. It makes me laugh that sometimes people who have a direct connection with slavery will make very large deals about it and how much their ancestors went through, but then didn’t even take the time to rid themselves of their slave made items. (I’m not saying any of those people were in your lecture hall at the time, but just in general) It makes me feel like I understand how slavery has come so far, even today, without stopping. It’s almost too easy to overlook because there is so much of it and people feel like they aren’t enough to stop it. The video that you showed at the end of class was a little mind blowing. I had never thought about the human race in such a light. As I watched the video I kept thinking to myself how did stuff like this even come to be. Why do we as a human race value a medal trophy or take great pride in being awarded by people who are no different than us? And why is it that we are all here in the world but some people are awarding the prizes? Why are they more important than the rest of us to be the ones to decide who is deemed worthy of a prize? It’s absolutely mind blowing. I also never realized how similar everyone is. 99.9% of us is the same but we pay so much attention to that almost insignificant .01% that seems to get in the way of so much. That .01% is what can cause people to be hired in certain jobs such as modeling or in TV. It’s incredible to think about. Wed, 26 May 2010 21:36:04 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race__trashed/#IDComment77244789 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race__trashed/#IDComment77227395 I too found it crazy that with as many different ethniciteis that there are in the world, that Linneaus thought he could classify them into three colors, White, dark, and Red. I mean seriously? That's as creative as you are going to get? Sadly even in today's world these categories stil exist. The video that you said was very powerful to you at the end, was also incredibly powerful to me as well. After watching it I just sat there after the lecture was over and pondered. What makes one person in the grand scheme of things so powerful that other people will study them and discuss them. Why is what one person has to say more or less meaningful than another person. We were all put here on earth, as humans, why do some people hold more power and respect from others. It makes absolutely no sense. Wed, 26 May 2010 18:51:30 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race__trashed/#IDComment77227395