Well first of all, this is an absolutely disgusting and disturbing game. Whoever created these games and thought that they were a good idea has an extremely sick and disturbed mind. But, even more disturbing is the fact that people are actually buying this stuff. What does that say about those customers? I would think that it would be about the same as the people who created this video game, that they too have sick and disturbing minds. But, I feel like we also have to look at the culture in which produced these video games, Japan. To me, and others I have talked to about these, seem to agree that the Japanese people are really different, for my taste, when it comes to sexual things. They seem to be more out there and willing to try different things then most people I know. So for a video game like this to be created, to the Japanese people, it may not seem to be that weird and disturbing. It does show a little bit of hope to know that even their government would not even give a comment to the CNN reporter, and the only person that would would not even give their name. I could only take this as them being too ashamed to be able to give a public statement, but I do not know what country would want to admit to something this intense and disturbing.

If someone were to argue that this video game could offer potential rapists an outlet so that they do not have to actually assault someone, I would have to strongly disagree with them. One, this could potentially give rapists more ideas on how to rape someone. Two, I am sure that rapist would still continue to rape others, as well as, possibly play these video games as an added bonus. Three, this video game could also increase the amount of rapes that occur because this is just a virtual game, it is not the real thing, which is something most people usually want. So, in the end, it may just increase a rapist need to go out and rape someone.

Altogether, this video game is just absolutely horrible and disturbing. I could never ever see my guy friends play a game like this while drinking a couple of beers, and I am one-hundred percent positive they would never want to be around a game like this. It creates a horrible image of the way people think. Also, in the CNN video it looked as though the victims were all female, I could be wrong about this there might be male victims as well, but if there are not, the creators do not seem to have much respect for women. I can only wonder how Japanese women feel about this.

This census is really confusing and I feel like it will end up not being even close to accurate when people fill out the race section. I do not understand why they felt like they had to add "Negro" to the census. I mean I understand that they did it so that they older generations would not be as confused, but I do not think it was a necessary word to be added. I am sure that the older generation would still know which race to mark down. I talked about this issue in one of my other classes and when some black students found out that the word "Negro" was added to the Census they became very offended. I do not think it was the intention of the Census makers to offend people or to be racist, they were just trying to figure out a way be to as accurate as possible. I can understand when people become offended when the word "Negro" has a personal meaning because it was once used often as a derogatory meaning. I think that CNN could have done a much better job of showing if people were offended by this issue or not. Just asking random people what they thought was not a very good way of showing people are offended by this. They could have gone straight to the people who created the Census and asked them what the purpose of adding "Negro" on to the Census and why they thought it was necessary to add it as well as asking random people what they thought of this situation. Personally, I find it really hard to connect with this issue because all I fill in is white so I have never actually looked at the other categories. But, when someone is half Native American and half Hispanic or whatever they may be, it would be very confusing trying to figure out what to fill in. This is especially true when thinking of what the point of the Census actually is, which is to figure out how many people are in a certain population or area, in order to better accommodate the areas population. Now a days, what does it matter what race lives in what area or how many people are in a certain area? There is such an increasing amount of illegal immigrants coming to America it makes it even harder to find an accurate count as to the number of people in a population. Maybe we should focus more on this issue than worry about people being offended by a word that has no meaning anymore, but than again for some people this word does still have a meaning especially if people grew up during a time were this word was used against others.

I think is it completely wrong to say that theme parties are done mostly to offend blacks and are mostly held by whites. Even though there was a case at a university in San Diego were, a mostly white fraternity held a theme party in honor of Black History month and people were suppose to dress as people in the ghetto, this is just one intense, theme parties are not usually racist and generated towards blacks. I have been to a lot of theme parties and the themes varied from ceo's and corporate hoes, tropical, toga, rave, and anything but cloths. If anything theme parties are more geared to girls having an actual reason to dress scandalous and sluty, not towards being racist. If there is a theme party and it is "gangster" or "ghetto", why would this have to automatically be geared towards blacks, there are plenty of white people and other races that live in the ghetto and are gangster. Also, why is it that white people are the only ones who have theme parties? A lot of my friends who are black love having theme parties. No matter what the theme is, even if its gangster, white trash, or gieoto, there is a very low percent of people who think of these parties as racist because they happen and are held all the time and it is not looked at as putting other races down, it is just for fun and is really not a big deal. Now if someone references the party that was held in honor of black history month, I can see that as being an issue, because they went way over board by being extremely pacific in telling what girls and guys should wear, how they should act, and what kind of drinks they would have. This was rude of them to do especially since they related it back to black history month. It looks like this was just the stupidity of people who are probably never around races other than white and have no idea what a variety of other races act like. The only influence they probably get is through the media and how they portray other races and through out the generations of their family. The only thing I think is true in this question is when she said that most white people hold theme parties. I think we do this because it is just another way of adding more fun to a party and instead of just dressing in regular clothes, it gives everyone who is attending a chance to dress up in different outfits that do not have to have anything to do with race and being racist.

I agree with this guy that we should not have to accept the blames or wrongs for something we had nothing to do with. Like this guy, I know my ancestors had nothing to do with what happened to the Native American’s during the time the colonist came to the “new world” because my ancestors were immigrants, and more than likely, were prostituted for being immigrants who just wanted to better their own lives. Since I know my own ancestors had nothing to do with what happened, I feel bad for what happened and I think we should try and do something for them, but I’m not going to accept blame for something I, and my ancestors had nothing to do with.
When Sam said we are all responsible for what happened whether we want to accept it or not, I took this as because we are choosing to live on land in which was once “Red Land”, we need to take some type of responsibility and make sure the Native American’s, who we took the land from, are taken care of and not reduced to living in poverty stricken reserves. I thought about what Sam said when he stated that not all Native American’s are living in poverty reserves, that some are very wealthy because they own casino’s and only have to split the profits between around seventeen people. My first thought was if the people in the poverty reserves know that other reserves are doing very well for themselves, then why would they not move into those reserves. We see this happening in many countries when people move to a different country, or even city, to better their lives. Then I thought, it is probably totally different for Native American’s, the people on these preserves are their close family and friends, and they can not just pick up and leave them. If they did just leave they would probably to looked down upon. Plus, who is to say that the Native American’s in the wealthy preserves would openly welcome and accept the Native American’s from the poverty stricken reserves. I think we as American’s, who are choosing to live on this previously owned land, should help in some way to better the lives of the Native American reserves. I think the government should be doing more in its power to help these people, which is something we might never see. I think we are really disrespecting Native American’s by letting these people live in such poverty that they would be willing to commit suicide over living the lift that they do, especially since these are the people who were here long before the colonist came to America.

I think lesbian woman couples are more excepting than gay man couples because woman and mainly men seem to be more comfortable talking about and seeing lesbians than gays. In my opinion when I see lesbian couples it does not bother me because I think it is great that two people have found someone that they are comfortable with and want to be with, even though it is two people of the same sex. Also, women seem to be more comfortable and accepting about sexuality. I think women tend to be more accepting of an individuals choice to have a same sex relationship. When it comes to men and lesbians, I think many men think it is cool too see lesbian couples and become turned on by it. When men see gay couples, generally, they get very uncomfortable with it because it is not very “manly”. My guy friends have even said, they are okay with gay couples, but they still get uncomfortable around it and the only problem they would have is if a gay male tried hitting on them, but after talking to some gay males some have said that they can tell when a guy is gay or not so straight man are more than likely not going to get hit on by a gay male. Also, it can sometimes have to do with how an individual grows up, if they are around same sex relationships or have decisions about it they may be more acceptable towards it rather then someone who has never been around it and the topic was never brought up. Parent’s, generally, have a huge influence on their children, so if an individual grows up with parents who accept same sex relationships then I think the child will grow up with the same values, but if an individuals parents are not accepting of same sex relationships, and opening bash them then that has a huge impact on the child in which the child will probably grow up with those same values. The parent’s ideas about same sex relationships usually have to do with the time period in which they grew up. If parents grew up in the 40’s and 50’s their opinions on gay and lesbian relationships might not be as open as parents who grew up in the late 60’s and 70’s when times were more open and accepting of different lifestyles. The 60’s and 70’s were also a time period were if someone was a lesbian or gay they “came out” verses someone from the 40’s or 50’s when they, most likely, kept it to themselves. Even though society has changed and has grown more accepting of lesbians and gays, there is obviously still those people who either completely disagree with same sex relationships, or they are okay with one but not the other.

Another group of individuals who were persecuted were Asians after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Many of them were put into camps so the military could keep an eye on them even though they had nothing to do with the attack. Also during the Koran and Vietnam wars, many American’s did not trust anyone who looked remotely like they had any Asian background. I do not think it is fair to limit conflicts and issues to just Blacks and Whites when it is obvious that other cultures, and racial backgrounds, have been through times just as tough of times as other races. I think there are other issues that can be discussed between other “races” that are not Black or White. I think if people could stop being concerned with what happened in the past, the whole discussion of Black and White would slowly come to a stop and it would help racial issues. (3)

I think it only made issues worse when people would see military men having to guard children as they walked to school, during the Civil Rights Act. Just like we are still learning and reading about slavery, and even though it may be kept in the back of our minds, people saw these images of segregation and the images that stay with them helps keep the issues and conflicts alive. Ultimately, I do not know if there is a real, straightforward answer as to why race relation discussions always turn to a topic between Blacks and Whites. Why do people never discuss what happened between the Native Americans and the Whites? Why do people never talk about how the Native Americans were forced, or eventually forced, out of their homes and had their land taken away from them? I guess one could answer this question in the sense that we do not really see Native American’s, nor any other ethnic group for that matter, as really fighting for their freedom and equality. (2)

I think Laurie is making a very good point, every time a race related topic is brought up more than half of the time is it between Blacks and Whites. I think this is mainly because we have seen so many conflicts and issues between these two “races”. I do not know a lot of facts about this topic, but I think the issue started with slavery and even though a Civil War broke out to end slavery, not much was done after the battle was over to fix and help the slaves. Since this was such a huge part of American history we continue to learn and read about it and I think when the topic of Blacks and White are brought up this is a topic that is in the back of our minds. Later on, way after slavery was over, America was still seeing segregation against Blacks. (1)

Unfortunately, I have not been able to go see Avatar mainly because when previews first started coming out I had no desire to go see it because I had no idea what the plot was about, I found it to be confusing how they decided to present the story line. As I started talking to my friends about this movie my desire to want to see it changed because my friends made a very valid point, Avatar is the new Star Wars in terms of the new and very advanced technology it used to be produced. When my friends went to see it they came back with very mixed reviews, some said they had no idea what they just saw and were very confused on what was happening during the movie, so they did not find it to be that great of a movie. Others loved it and could not get enough of it, I think that was mainly because of the amazing visual effects James Cameron and his team were able to create.
I would have to agree with Brooks' when he states that Avatar is just another "White Messiah" fable. The writers and producers did create the film as the classic white male rebelling against his own people, in this case a military force, and being the knight and shining armor of a native culture the military force is trying to attack. We have seen this example in one to many story lines. As Brooks' mentions a prime example is the Disney classic, "Pocahontas", where white males come to the new world looking for a new settlement and find people of a different culture already living there, and it is a white male. John Smith, who becomes the hero by making relations with the natives and defending them against his own people. However, in the past, and recent movie history, there have been examples of the black male being the hero and protecting the world or some group of people from others wanting to harm them. For example, Will Smith's "Independence Day", when the aliens want to attack the world it is Will Smith who is the brave soldier and wants to go fight the aliens and save the world, with the help of Jeff Goldblum, in which they end up being the hero's. In a more recent movie, "The Taking of Pelham 123", is it the white male, John Travolta who is paying the part of "bad guy" by holding people hostage on the subway train and asking for a $10 million dollar ransom. It is Denzel Washington, a black male, who John Travolta chooses to use as a way to get the money and, in the end, it is Denzel Washington who saves the hostages. Even though the plots of "The White Messiah" are seen far more often then the opposite, I think in the future we will see more films of the opposite being produced.

As a person who had no idea what a "teffilin” is and is not Jewish if I saw one on a plane I would get a little freaked out too, but I would not assume the boy had a bomb or any kind of weapon on him. Especially if he was just sitting there quietly with, going from the picture, reading from some type of paper. Thinking from the flight attendants point of view, she would have to be concerned because this now part of her job, protecting the passengers and reporting things they seem to be suspicious behavior. Since some of the passengers knew what was going on you would think one of the passengers would say something to the flight attendant, like explain what the boy was doing, so she would not freak out. Or the flight attendant would ask why the boy was wearing, what looked like to her, cables or wires when she asked him what he was doing. I would ask why the boy would not explain why he was wearing the "teffilin", but this is a normal, daily, thing for him, so I would not expect him to think of explaining what he was wearing to her.

It is a little comforting to know that our airplane security system is reacting so harshly to things that look and appear to be "suspicious behavior", but at the same time it is sad to know people are not as aware of other cultures practices as I think we should be. It would be unfair to think that everyone could and would learn about other people’s cultures since there are such a variety of other cultures in the world. Especially since there are a large amount of the population in the world that would just not care enough to learn about other cultures and their practices. It is also sad it know that anything out of the ordinary, whatever that actually is, is deemed to being thought of as strange and causes people to panic and freak out. It very much proves the point that is it hard to trust other people, especially the things others have never seen before. This is even more true when see something of another religious culture that they have never seen before, but because of events such as September 11th it can give people a good reason to panic and freak out. It is unfortunate to know that people, like this 17 year-old Jewish boy could not carry out a religious ritual, something of his everyday life, because others are unfamiliar with it. This event could end up causing airport security to ban people from carrying out their religious rituals.