en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/1153940 Comments by queenofsanity8 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/30/week-8-%e2%80%93-lesson-14-affirmative-action/#IDComment170520524 I agree. I feel as though the scholarships and grants that are established for minorities are only helping society and not harming. Affirmative action, in my opinion, is not a bad thing due to all of the inequalities that exist in America. Unfortunately for some, this is the only way they may be able to succeed. Imagine if all of those programs that were attached to affirmative action were gone. A lot of students and employees may not be where they are today. Now, I do believe that someone who is qualified should get ahead regardless of the circumstances. However, in terms of education and funding, this practice should be implemented to the fullest extent for all minorities. Thu, 7 Jul 2011 03:58:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/30/week-8-%e2%80%93-lesson-14-affirmative-action/#IDComment170520524 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/30/week-8-%e2%80%93-lesson-14-affirmative-action/#IDComment170519730 When I used to think of affirmative action, I used to believe that I was entitled to it and that I should receive all of the benefits of it. I felt as though my “people” deserved whatever benefits that they received just because of the history that we have been through. No reparations and no official apology for centuries, and the only productive program was affirmative action. This was the least that the government could do. Therefore, when I really learned about the program and the true beneficiaries of it, I was forced to come out of my own ignorance and learn more about the program. The fact the blacks are not the main people the reap the benefit of affirmative action was shocking, but believable. To be honest, statistically one would obviously see this. However, when you are a minority [and I am speaking from a personal standpoint], you tend to take things more personal. Any time that there is a program or anything that should be benefiting minorities; you tend to think that it should only apply to your type of minority or whoever you are. Me personally, I am an African American female and consider myself to be African American first. I am more concerned about my blackness than my womanhood. With that being said, I believed that if affirmative action was not benefiting black people it was not working and that it was ineffective. However, affirmative action is helping a many of women get to where they need to be, and without it, they would not have some of the jobs and opportunities they have now. So in a sense, I am still reaping the benefits. In theory, I should really be pleased with the program being that I am both black and a woman. I just believe, after taking this course in general, that we all need to open our eyes. Just because something does not look as it should, or you may think that it is not working, does not mean that is not a positive thing. The more “afro centric” I became, the more crucial I was of the minor things in life, things that I should have investigated more. To reach true equality and full awareness means to step out of one’s self and observe. You have to leave behind your own inhibitions and preconceived notions in order to see the world in the true state that it is in. Then and only then, in my opinion, can you work to change it and educate it. For example, instead of me being so crucial of the affirmative action program, I should have looked more heavily into it and sought out if it was working before I went and judged it. Thu, 7 Jul 2011 03:54:19 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/30/week-8-%e2%80%93-lesson-14-affirmative-action/#IDComment170519730 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment168472073 I agree with your standpoint on immigration. I believe that they should have a chance to become citizens, however I think that it is unfair for taxpayers to have to cover people who essentially should not be in the country. Unfortunately, there is no middle ground in my opinion. It is virtually impossible for an immigrant to come over to the states legally, especially if they are in a rush. America puts immigrants through a lot when they are trying to be legal, so in a sense they have to go that route for their own safety and the process in general. Again, I just wish there was something that could be done so everyone wins, but unfortunately we know that is impossible. Thu, 30 Jun 2011 23:08:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment168472073 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment168471110 “Business and large landowners have shaped our immigration policy.” This quote hit home for me and also led me back to one of the beginning lessons when Sam stated how we need to take action. We cannot willingly sit back and know what is going on in our society, yet do nothing about it. I believe that is a shame that when it comes to American consumerism, we as citizens tend to turn a blind eye on what is going on with immigrants even though they are responsible for a large majority of the goods that we use on a daily basis. And from that point, there is a general sense that exists in America that immigrants are threatening to our culture in general. The fact the business and large landowners are shaping our immigration policy shows, in my opinion, how much of a machine Americans have become. The majority of the viewpoints that exist are based off of the success of big business, while the consideration for humans is tossed to the side. If it is not profitable to someone, they tend not to care. And as many argue that they do care, the level of action that one is willing to do to change the issue is limited. I also think that this is alarming that this mentality exists within the minority community, especially the Black community. Immigrants are essentially being used as slaves, similarly to that of our ancestors, yet many of us believe that they should not have a place in the country and should leave. Many African Americans believe that immigrants are taking away from potential jobs and economic advantages, however the same jobs that immigrants are supposedly “taking,” no one was willingly applying for them. Immigrants receive less pay and respect in general, and many Americans are not willing to be subjected to those factors. I believe that more Americans need to become avidly involved in the immigration debate and determine from an informed position, whether or not to side with the harsh treatment or believe that they should become full citizens. I believe that too many people are making their decisions based off what is being fed to them through news outlets which is extremely biased in terms of who the stations supporters are. At one point in time, everyone was an immigrant. Many of our grandparents or ancestors could probably provide experiences or tales of how they got to America and the treatment they received during that process. There are not many people that will say that their journey to America was a fun filled happy experience, and thus we need to put ourselves in other people’s shoes. If you can imagine yourself as an immigrant and doing whatever it took to become a citizen, then you should take that and stand up. Thu, 30 Jun 2011 23:04:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment168471110 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment168171484 I am African American and I strongly believe that the LBGT community has been treated far worse than my own community in the long run. I feel as though people are afraid to acknowledge this fact or do not want to give notice to it because of their own prejudices. I am also a Christian which is another rarity being that I fully support LBGT rights and actions. I completely agree with you in the sense that the relationship is undeniable. I wish that more Christian minorities especially would realize this connection because it is quite hypocritical not to. One cannot pick certain sections out of the Bible and use them as they see fit or to justify their own prejudices. Thu, 30 Jun 2011 03:31:40 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment168171484 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment168170690 I never liked the concept of assimilation because, to me, it is too intertwined with the idea of euro centrism. It comes off as an offensive concept. One that clearly states that you have to go along with the norm to be accepted, and if you don’t than you don’t deserve to be respected or even acknowledged. Once again, I have a problem with that. I have a close friend who is African and her parent used to work at a Fortune 500 company. When customers would call her parent, they would immediately catch an attitude because they heard the accent through the phone. Immediately they judged my friend’s parent and their intellect, as well as their overall ability to perform the job well. Sometimes, my friend said, the customer on the other end would request to speak with another representative. Little did they know, that my friend’s parent was a manager and it would’ve been extremely wise to speak with them rather than a lower level associate. How many times do we do this? I am a minority myself, however if I call technical support and customer service and I hear an accent, I immediately anticipate a difficult phone call or experience. I am just being honest. We have this mindset as Americans that our way is the best way and any other way is wrong. I thought the statistics that were brought up in class regarding the grocery store scenario was interesting being that I immediately correlated my own experiences to that occasion. Like I said before, my initial reaction when speaking with someone from another country is to anticipate a language barrier and thus the worst. I soon learned that this was not the way to go. I believe that once we find out or observe that someone may be different, we immediately get uncomfortable and expect things to happen that will never come into fruition. Why should we assume that someone won’t be able to understand us or are any less intelligent? I see this often in the African American community and it could be because I am in it, or it could be a phenomenon in minority communities in which we discriminate against each other just to promote our own social status. Africans are every bit as part of the Black Diaspora as African Americans, and yet because they may sound different or do things in a different way, we automatically shun them and judge them as a whole. Grant it, I do believe that if you live in America then you should attempt to learn the language, however there is no way to know or judge if a person is not making any attempts to do so. Point blank, I think it is just ignorance on our part to assume the worst. Thu, 30 Jun 2011 03:27:13 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment168170690 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-3-4/#IDComment165653591 I thought that it was interesting how you brought up proving your race credentials because this is also a problem within the Black community. If you do anything that is against the stereotype, such as wearing surf or skater clothes, being intelligent, working full time corporate jobs, or not speaking in slang or Ebonics, you are viewed acting White. Even if you are using you skin as your credentials this is still not enough. Bottom line, you just have to embrace who you are and convey that you are either willing to learn the other side or understand where they are coming from. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 03:19:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-3-4/#IDComment165653591 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-3-4/#IDComment165650492 I could never understand how racism could be taught from a parent to a child. I mean, I understand how it is possible and that it happens all too often, however I still cannot wrap my head around the concept of preaching hate as if it is okay to do. How can someone who lives in America seriously still think that the segregation and supremacy of one race is the way to live? The news clip that was shown with the twin girls thoroughly upset me. I was extremely angry for a number of reasons. One, being they just sounded unintelligent and I was more concerned about their overall ability to comprehend and analyze more than anything. I believe that you cannot really be angry at the girls. In many ways they are being exploited. The mother was just going along with what their children wanted as well as the politician. They are simply being used for their benefit. One has to question what exactly is the motive for their parents as well as the politician. Why would you brainwash those children that way? To me that makes no sense and is what is precisely wrong with race relations in America today. I think that the most vivid image in the video was when the kids were dancing around the swastika as if it was a jovial matter. Even when the interviewer asked them about the Holocaust they stated that they didn’t believe it was that extreme of an event and that is was fabricated. Again this goes back to the parents feeding them this garbage. Me personally, I never understood White Nationalism because I do no believe that someone can be fully white. What even is white? I believe that they are basing it off of their skin color. Perhaps these “nationalists” do not know about their true heritage. To say that they are true American would be a complete and utter lie. Everyone has come from somewhere. There is no way that these people are just white. So therefore, is this European nationalism? Do they hate the Europeans as well? Do they hate the Irish? It just doesn’t make sense to me. If they truly believed in the country they would stand by what it stands for and the direction it is going. Grant it, one could try to change it if they did not believe in its current principles but there is still a right way of doing so. Not by brainwashing children. How do these kids even survive in school? What would even happen to them when they are in the real world as see that there is life outside of what they have been brainwashed to believe? All in all, I just think the whole thing is sad and disgusting. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 03:04:43 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-3-4/#IDComment165650492 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/22/week-6-%e2%80%93-lesson-10-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-people-of-color-stages-1-4/#IDComment165650273 I was interested to see that the numbers of Penn State surprised you although I could completely understand. To know that this is a primarily white institution and see that everyday in comparison to actually seeing the data and facts are two very unique experiences. I believe that more students at Penn State, of all races and ethnicities, need to see exactly what the demographic makeup of their school is. It could be productive for some, allowing them to see that they are not alone and that there are other minorities in the same position or at least in a similar position. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 03:03:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/22/week-6-%e2%80%93-lesson-10-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-people-of-color-stages-1-4/#IDComment165650273 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/22/week-6-%e2%80%93-lesson-10-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-people-of-color-stages-1-4/#IDComment165646879 Watching the movie clip was the most interesting part of the lecture in my opinion. I could completely relate and understand exactly where the individual girls who were featured were coming from and the experiences that they all shared. One girl in particular hit home the best. She was the one that was talking about the time in which she cut her hair and her mother liked it at first, but later asked when she was going to get rid of it. I had a very similar experience when I cut my hair in high school. At first, it was encouraged and all of my family members thought it was very nice. Later however, as they saw that this wasn’t just a style for the moment or a phase, they questioned how long I was going to keep it and what I had planned on doing with it as if being in my natural state was not sufficient or beautiful in it of itself. I believe that this is a very prevalent issue within the Black community. We tend to not embrace our natural beauty all because of the Eurocentric perspectives, ideals, and images that have been put before us. Any time that we step out of the “norm” we are considered somewhat rebellious or labeled as different. Most of the time, we are labeled as eccentric. Any type of terminology that would denote different is used. Again, I think that this is an upsetting occurrence within the Black community and it happens all of the time. Even referring to the baby selection experiment is a representation of how Blacks feel about each other if we look different than what is perceived as right. The African American children were stating that they prefer the White doll because it looks nicer and it is not mean or bad. Little do they understand at this point in time, is that in a way they are hating themselves. They are saying that what they are is wrong and is bad. What do you think they will do when they get older and are able to make decisions for themselves in order to be considered good? For the female, one could assume that she will do everything in her power to look as Eurocentric as possible from straightening her hair, to possibly even using skin lightening cream. For the male, unfortunately I have no assumption. Through my experiences, I have seen that the women within my community tend to strive to look European at a greater rate than their male counterparts. I just believe that everyone needs to accept themselves for who they are and what they look like regardless of whether it is viewed as good, bad, or ugly. If you are not comfortable with what you look like in its natural form than there are deeper issues present that no makeup, hairstyles, or surgery can fix. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 02:46:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/22/week-6-%e2%80%93-lesson-10-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-people-of-color-stages-1-4/#IDComment165646879 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-1-2/#IDComment162849787 I think what is interesting is that you seem to have the opportunity to “pass” as a white person. Have you ever consciously done so? If you have, then what it means to be white somewhere had to cross your mind in my opinion. I completely agree with everything you said, by the way. I just think that it would be interesting if you were observing the benefits of being white and internalized what that meant and then used it to your benefit. Even if you didn’t know or weren’t aware that you did it, it is still interesting to see if you have. Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:32:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-1-2/#IDComment162849787 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-1-2/#IDComment162848918 White people do not feel their whiteness. This is an interesting concept to me primarily because I am African-American and I and reminded of such every single day. However, after watching this lesson I began to wonder, “Why is that?” “Who exactly is reminding me of my race on a daily basis?” When Sam brought up the experience about the students that he had that were working in North Philadelphia, I immediately resonated with this discussion. He stated that the students were working with youth as young as five years old and teaching them how they should react in the event that they are pulled over by the police. Why are we doing this? I can’t even pinpoint the age I was told I was Black and all the implications that came with it. Grant it, if you look around when you are a child and you see that your skin is a little bit darker than everyone else, clearly you will internalize that perception and come to the conclusion that you are different. It didn’t help that I went to a Catholic school for all of my elementary school years. There were about five black people in my grade every year that I was in attendance which was from kindergarten until the eighth grade. What I am noticing though is that there is this culture within the Black community that makes us protect our own, if you will. We inform our children of how the world is in an attempt to protect them from racism, prejudice, etc. However, how do we know this is not doing more harm? I can recall a specific time in which my friends were my friends. White, Black, it didn’t matter to me when I went to that school because these were the people I was growing up with and was around every day. Nevertheless, when I got older I started noticing that we (the Black kids) were doing different things. We would rap songs at recess and do all the newest dances while everyone else just watched us. They didn’t get it at all. In fact, sometimes we would get in trouble for singing certain songs or doing certain dance moves because it wasn’t understood. The nuns apparently did not like Biggie Smalls too much. Go across the playground though and the white kids are rapping Eminem. While pushing each other. And cursing because their friend missed the catch for the touchdown. I come home, talk to my mother, and she (who grew up during Civil Rights) breaks it down for me and tells me, this is just how the world is. She didn’t say, “Well you shouldn’t be singing those songs because it’s inappropriate.” No, she led me to believe I should be expecting this treatment. In the end, I am beginning to wonder what a world would be like in which my blackness wasn’t a staple or a conversation starter. I wonder what it feels like to be a fish in the water and have no clue what water is. Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:28:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-1-2/#IDComment162848918 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160775357 I think that you brought up a good point about how most of your friends believe that Affirmative Action took away many of their potential jobs and opportunities because this is the general argument in White America. Instead of really evaluating who is benefiting the most from that program, there is an assumption that minorities are advancing because of it. If this were the case, many of the issues that occur with minority communities that are related to the economy and education would be non-existent. I never fully understood how people could see all of the disparity that goes on, yet still believe that minorities are being spoon food opportunities left and right. Wed, 8 Jun 2011 22:51:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160775357 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160774338 We judge other people really often. As Americans, I truly believe this is what we do best. It’s as if it comes with the territory of being American. We look at a situation and make snap judgments about it, which then turns into stereotypes, which then turn into racism, which evolves into hate, and manifests itself into destruction. It is a really bad thing. I believe this may be, if it was possible to pinpoint one thing that I hate the most about talks of race and ethnicity, the top thing I hate the most. How we as a people judge so freely. When Sam Richards brought up the scenario of a grandparent driving through North Philadelphia and saying how “they” made the neighborhood bad, it struck a nerve. One, because I know exactly what North Philadelphia looks like and it is nothing nice (no offence to my North Philly folks). But in all honesty, everyone knows not to play around in North Philly. It looks just as bad as people claim, and you feel that when you go. You immediately know that you are in a bad area. For someone who is out of town, or not knowledgeable of the area I would assume it could be frightening. The more important reason why I found this scenario to be interesting was because of what the grandfather said. He did not think to analyze why the people who lived in North Philly made it the way it is, or if they even did anything at all. For all we know, those people could have been placed in a bad situation. They could be trapped with no way of getting out. Perhaps they are too consumed with surviving to fight to make their area better. Maybe they have tried to make their area better and no one has listened to them. Or maybe, they are just completely comfortable and do not care how their area looks and what goes on as long as their individual situation is okay. The point of it all is that no one knows, yet we are so assured in our explanations and evaluations of people and their respective situations based on what we have been forced to believe that we make assumptions. Unfounded, truth be told, very stupid assumptions. I too am guilty of such. Even being an African-American, this occurs heavily within my own community. Those who “make it out the hood” so to speak tend to look down on those who did not and assume they just want to be lazy. I believe we all need to just stop assuming and thoroughly investigate our thoughts before we put labels on an entire group of people. Wed, 8 Jun 2011 22:46:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160774338 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159697425 completely agree with how you view sports. I thought it was funny how you stated that African Americans do not like hockey and provided some explanation to that notion such as the lack of hockey rinks in inner city areas. To be completely honest, on more social or dialogical level, we often joke stating that the reason is due to the fact that we (black people) do not like cold weather, do not like ice skating, and there is no way we would allow someone to just randomly start a fight while we are trying to play a game. At any rate, I never really analyzed what my neighborhood or other neighborhoods looked like in terms of recreational activities so I thought that was extremely interesting and valid. I see more milk crates and stand alone basketball courts than I see anything else, which is kind of sad, but true. Sun, 5 Jun 2011 20:48:14 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159697425 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159694288 I was very excited to see that this lecture was dealing with inequality and Sam Richards added theories and numerical values to what I have been feeling all of my life. As an African-American, I always knew that society in general was unequal due to personal experience. Going through high-school I saw that the minorities were the ones that did not seem to achieve or graduate at the same rate as others, however when you are not being taught and having these perceptions explained, you tend to think that your assertion is unfounded. However, to see the actual education statistics sort of solidified my notion. I truly feel like the most interesting aspect of the lecture was when Sam asked people to make sense of the differences and then asked white, brown, and black people to come to the front of the room. I thought that it was interesting to point out how quickly we make assertions about people due to their ethnicity or gender, or even appearance. The discussion about immigrants and how those who are African is when the most thought provoking questions came to mind. I have many African friends and I can honestly say that none of them are poor. To me I consider them to be in the “normal” income range for a minority in meaning that there may be some struggle, but in the end no one is living in a ghetto or a hood. Everyone is still attending Penn State which happens to be quite expensive for anyone. What was interesting was, I thought about all of the images that we see of Africa and how we are trained to think about the inhabitants of that country as an impoverished people. We rarely, if at all, see that the there are countries and cities that flourish and hence would not assume that there are people “like us.” From that regard, I believe this is what makes viewing inequality amongst others as difficult. If one was to think that they were being mistreated based on their ethnicity, they may look at another’s situation and think they do not share the same plight when in fact inequality is inequality. For example, an African may come to this country facing the discrimination and the stereotypes that America puts on them and may look at an African American and think that their woes or concerns are unfounded and that they are spoiled (I have personally heard this argument). Because we are trained to perceive things in black and white, we would fail to acknowledge that if one group struggles we all struggle and allow this type of thinking to continue and may most likely fail to educate out of frustration. What should be happening is drawing connections and bonds rather than putting another group of people down in an attempt to elevate one’s own Sun, 5 Jun 2011 20:38:11 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159694288 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158388277 I believe the most important part of the lecture was when Sam asked everyone the question about whether or not you would fight in the war because it puts you in an awkward position. We are supposed to be patriotic and supportive of what our country does, however when we mentally put ourselves in our “enemy’s” shoes we see that what we are doing could be wrong. I think that this lecture just dealt with the idea of what we consider as normal all around. Even down to the names as you mentioned was a representation of that. I cannot explain why we do not name our children Jesus either, other than maybe out of respect. However, again that is just us subscribing to the norm without evaluation and deciding for ourselves. Thu, 2 Jun 2011 02:16:00 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158388277 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158386795 The lectures this week were interesting to me, not because of the subject matter but how Sam Richards connected everything. I have never been one to be enthused to talk about oil and war, however when Sam intertwined the fact that this was essentially a Christian war, that is what caught my eye. It was just one of those things that I did not really think about. We know that our nation is “under God,” so by right everything that America does should reflect that notion. Therefore, a war against another people would be a Crusade as Bush put it. I feel as though Christians, including myself, get so caught up in the religion and what it means to us in a spiritual sense that we do not evaluate what people are doing with our religion. There are wars and violence created with God as the backbone and we put a blind eye to it. This could be due to the fact that we are so engulfed with our walk and our faith, or it could be that we do not want to face the truth. Another part of the lecture that stood out was the connection that was made in regards to how we as Americans chastise Muslims for trying to convert others and then label them as extremist, even though they are just fulfilling their mission. To me, this is one of the strongest examples of Ethnocentrism that has ever been brought to my attention. Just because it is “different” from what we are used to, we label it as something that it is wrong in an attempt to solidify our beliefs. America is overseas promoting Democracy because we feel (or our government feels, depending on how you look at it) that it is the way to live. Is that not extremist? How do you force an entire group of people to change their beliefs just because you think it is wrong? We are invading their land and killing their people all because we feel as though it is the right thing to do. Well then, Muslims feel as though converting is the right thing to do. In fact, it is their mission! Like Sam said, they are commanded by a higher power to bring light to the word, which is exactly what Christians are commanded to do. We are supposed to bring the word of God to as many people as possible while we are here on Earth. If we are going to deem one thing as extremist, then we have to do the same for others. It is only right. But that is America at its finest….our morality is skewed to benefit our own agendas. Thu, 2 Jun 2011 02:08:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158386795 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/14/week-1-lesson-1-whadya-know/#IDComment156566506 I think it was shocking to hear about how many people are in poverty. When we get so involved in our own lives and our own situations we don’t really focus on how others are living. I believe that poverty is a concept that you have to experience in order to fully grasp what others are going through unfortunately. I believe that we can help by spreading knowledge and giving what we can like you said, but we also need to take it a step further. If we have the knowledge, tools, and resources then we should be the voice that others don’t have. Fri, 27 May 2011 03:21:08 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/14/week-1-lesson-1-whadya-know/#IDComment156566506 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/14/week-1-lesson-1-whadya-know/#IDComment156562964 I feel like the “Whatd’ya Know?” quiz disproved everything that I thought I knew about people in general. Everything that I assumed was proved incorrect but the main question that was the most interesting to me was “Which of the following groups is most likely to attempt suicide?” From first glance I assumed the answer would have to be either LGBT youth or Young white females, which seemed to be the consensus of the class. In fact, the student who made the point about how the media portrays women was the exact logic that I used in choosing that answer. For LGBT youth however, I figured that this was absolutely the right choice because, in my opinion, they live the hardest life. They are forced to either portray themselves as something they are not or be subjected to ridicule from various outlets. Essentially they are outcast just for being who they are, and in high school you already have to deal with enough, so to add another reason for people to hate you just makes a bad situation worse. Sam Richards brought up a fantastic point, though. How can this particular group have the highest reported attempted suicides if this is the largest group that people don’t know about? In meaning, these are people who are predominately hidden. They stay in the closet for most of their adolescence just for acceptance and in most cases, just to survive. Therefore, how could a parent correctly identify why their child attempted suicide if they had no idea what they were even going through? And how fair is it for us to assume that this particular group of people are the most unstable and would want to commit suicide? I believe that this class will continue to make me have this reaction on a variety of topics. I feel as though I have a good foundation in the topics, but the specifics are what I find most interesting. For example, I know that race is a social construct but it’s crucial to understand why that is and even what it was created in the first place. We have to learn how our society works in order to correctly evaluate, and exist within in it. We cannot walk around with misconceptions about one another and subscribe to stereotypes that are based in a lack of knowledge. We need to learn about why and who gave us certain mentalities that we have and then decide whether or not we should adhere to them. Fri, 27 May 2011 03:04:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/14/week-1-lesson-1-whadya-know/#IDComment156562964