en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/763051 Comments by qwerty0220 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment70061218 When Sam first talked about how he went and visited lifers in prison with his wife I thought, “Who cares?” These people had done something so bad that society has decided they are useless and not worth humanities efforts to try and make them a better person. I was strongly in favor of the death penalty and I am stunned to see that what I thought was wrong. When people think about lifers they think about someone who is not that educated and more of a rough-edged violent person than someone who seems peaceful and smart and seems like they know and understand everything that is going on around them and are at peace with it. Thinking about lifers now, it makes me wonder what they do when they are in their cells. They have probably like twenty hours a day to sit in their cells and just think about things. The things they think about have to be mind-blowing when you are sitting in your cell for twenty hours a day for seven days a week for probably thirty years or more, depending on when you got sent to jail. These people know that they are never going to get out of jail and yet they seem to gain a sense of calm or closure from knowing that they won’t be leaving jail anymore. I wonder if it is easier for these guys to relax and settle down when they realize they don’t have to conform to societies pressures anymore and they can be with people who are closer to their own mindset. When I looked at and read this letter, I was amazed by how educated it sounded. For a man who never even graduated high school to write something like this is very impressive. When I think about people in prison I think that they are more illiterate than that they can write like this, so I am quite impressed. The other thing that amazed me about this letter was how compassionate this lifer and other people in prison are. In the real world I see plenty of people who are not compassionate at all and yet these people who aren’t trying to impress anyone or to conform to any public pressure are showing compassion for this man who had his son die in a car crash. Furthermore this lifer said that he saw a guy who hated this man letting him cry on his shoulder because he can’t get in touch with anyone else on his phone. Reading this letter makes me wonder if perhaps there isn’t something we can all learn about from these lifers and if I have been mistaken in my belief that these lifers are not important enough for society to care about them anymore. Sat, 24 Apr 2010 02:13:41 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/letter-from-an-inmate__trashed/#IDComment70061218 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-health-care__trashed/#IDComment69988264 I believe that health care should be an equal right to everyone. What gives people in the U.S. the right to decide that some group of individuals doesn’t deserve the right of health care? We could be sentencing some of these immigrants to death if they can’t afford health care on their own and we don’t offer it to them. I know that it would create a bigger burden on hospitals and the government if they have to support illegal immigrants but if they tried hard enough I’m sure illegal immigrants would find a way around the system anyway so we might as well just give everyone health care from the beginning. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:51:46 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-health-care__trashed/#IDComment69988264 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment69986068 I for one favor hard work over just having money but in this country I’m not sure if just working hard is enough. You see these immigrants all working hard and trying to give themselves a better life but they end up living in these crappy houses and barely being able to support their family. Then you look at the other side of things and you see all these rich people who are lazy and only rich because of their family. You see them and you wonder why can’t they be the ones who have to struggle, because they don’t deserve to have the money, they just won the genetic lottery while the immigrants didn’t. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:45:34 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-people-who-can-only-afford-hard-work__trashed/#IDComment69986068 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/creating-terrorists__trashed/#IDComment68469904 When I first saw this video, I was completely shocked. For someone to care so much about something that they will kill themselves for it is a level of dedication that is incredible. This lady cared so much about her beliefs that she sacrificed her own life for it. Even though she believed in something that is terrible and is terrorism, she still believed so much in it that she would sacrifice herself. That takes a lot of commitment and I’m slightly impressed by that. However, while watching this video I felt a mixture of being disgusted and being impressed by her commitment. Even though I was impressed with the woman’s commitment and her sacrifice, it doesn’t mean that I believe in terrorism or that what she was doing was the right thing. I believe that there are better things she can be doing to show that she doesn’t like the government or whatever. In the United States, when someone doesn’t agree with something they peacefully protest it; they don’t strap bombs to their bodies and blow themselves up. I don’t understand why other countries, mostly in the Middle East, have resorted to violence and terrorism instead of peace protests when they find something that they don’t like. In regards to the article, I have never thought about terrorism from the other side. I don’t believe in terrorism but I can’t say that the things they do are necessarily evil. They are just trying to protect themselves and their country much as we are. The only difference is that they are harming innocent lives and killing themselves in the process of protecting their country. While they are justifying themselves by saying we are the attackers and terrorists and they are the defenders and innocents I don’t necessarily believe that. How can they say they are not terrorists when they are killing innocent civilians and themselves in the process? Even though we are paying 2,000 dollars for the loss of every family member I don’t believe that it is enough. 2,000 dollars isn’t even close to being enough to cover the loss of a family member. I know that the United States doesn’t have to give any money technically but if we are going to give anything we should give enough to make it worth it so that the surviving family members don’t become terrorists themselves and kill innocent people for no reason. Take for example, Haji Sharabuddin, the 80 year old person who lost two sons, two daughters, and a granddaughter in the attacks. He then said that he would destroy everything and launch his own suicide attack on the United States. This is probably the worst thing that could have happened. For this person to result to thinking about killing himself and many innocent people because he is angry is terrible. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 03:31:26 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/creating-terrorists__trashed/#IDComment68469904 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-men__trashed/#IDComment68453802 Yes I do believe that guys have to conform to society to the degree that woman do. While most people look at woman and just assume they are conforming because they are trying to act like the woman in magazines and television men have the same problem. Men try just as hard as woman to fit in. They try and wear the same clothes as the people they see on television and they go to the gym and try to get the same body and shape as the people that are in magazines. So while many people don’t seem to believe that guys conform to society as much as woman, I believe that they do. Sat, 17 Apr 2010 01:08:12 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-the-men__trashed/#IDComment68453802 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66921679 When I first signed up for this class, I just saw a class that got pretty good reviews on ratemyprofessor.com and was a gen ed that I needed to graduate. On the first day I went into class and listened to the things Sam said and I thought to myself that this guy was crazy and I should drop this class or I was probably going to fail it. I was talking later with my friends and we decided that we weren’t going to drop it because we thought that some of the things he said could be useful and there wasn’t a better class for us to pick up instead. It is now almost the end of the year and I can honestly say that this class hasn’t really done all that much for me. While all of my friends seem to find more and more insight out of Sam and this class I find myself struggling to pay attention and comprehend what he is saying, especially as the weather is getting better and better. All of my friends walk out of the class talking about the things he said and how it makes them feel and how it has changed their lives and I just don’t seem to be affected by it like they are. I just believe that most of the things Sam has said seem to be common sense or things that I don’t really seem interested in. When that happens I find myself zoning out and missing the rest of the lecture, which might include stuff that isn’t common sense I just can’t seem to pay attention enough to see what is and isn’t common sense. It’s not that I think Sam is a boring guy it’s just that he gets off subject really easily and starts to ramble and he goes completely off subject a lot and that makes it hard for me to pay attention to him. It’s not that I believe that the stuff we discuss in this class isn’t important it’s just that I feel like it’s things we should already have thought about and already reached an opinion on before entering class. Like when he talked about slavery and eating the chocolate, I already knew that slavery was involved in many things, not necessarily just making chocolate. Even though I saw the video and thought it was slightly disturbing I still ate the second piece, while most of my friends looked at me like I was crazy for eating the second piece. So this class is teaching me some things, but it didn’t change my opinion and I will still eat chocolate and buy things from Wal-Mart, even though I now know that they are made by slaves. Sat, 10 Apr 2010 02:31:24 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66921679 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/the-white-minorities__trashed/#IDComment65690616 When I first read this article, I was thinking about many things. First, would the non-Hispanic Caucasians still consider themselves to be the majority even though they will no longer be in the majority? When this officially happens there is a chance that it could be really bad for the people in the majority now because the people who will soon be in the majority could try and force their way into the majority and power through violence or other means that could result in violence. Than I thought that this was all common sense, because it was obvious that eventually the whites would no longer be in the majority. I than wondered whether the White would still be in the majority just because of how everything is viewed. Even though on paper it may say that there are fewer whites than everybody else I don’t believe that we will notice a change at all. The people in control would still be white and the people getting screwed out of everything would still be the minorities. I can’t think of a way for this to change, even if the white people are no longer in the majority, because it is too deeply rooted inside of everybody that the white people have the power right now. Maybe in a couple of generations when the white people haven’t been in the majority for years you may start to see a change in who holds the power reins and who has all the control but I can’t see it happening in any of our lifetime’s or even happening in our kid’s lifetimes. Another thing I thought about was that even though the white people would be in the minorities it doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be the majority in terms of race groups. White people tend to categorize every racial group that isn’t white into the minority group. Just because white people do that doesn’t mean every group does that so the African American racial group may still see themselves as being in the minority cause there would still be less African Americans in the United States than White people and the same thing with Mexican Americans. Just because as a whole, the minority group of people will soon be bigger than all the white people in the United States doesn’t mean the minority groups themselves think of it that way, since they all see themselves as being completely different from each other. While reading this article I was thinking about many things but I feel like this article is just simply going to disappear and not really be acknowledged by anybody after this because the white people in power are going to try and pretend that they are still in the majority group so they can stay in power as long as possible. Sat, 3 Apr 2010 03:21:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/the-white-minorities__trashed/#IDComment65690616 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-if-we-got-rid-of-welfare__trashed/#IDComment65688379 I believe that the welfare idea in itself is a good concept but that our government has not put it into effect in a good way. The government has made the welfare system too good for the people who need it so that they aren’t motivated or interested in getting off of the program and getting set up on their own two feet again, which is what it is supposed to be intended for. Since all these people have been losing their jobs and going on welfare, they have noticed all the benefits they get from going on welfare and they are choosing to just not look for a job and just continue to rely on the government money that keeps coming in. Sat, 3 Apr 2010 02:57:50 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-if-we-got-rid-of-welfare__trashed/#IDComment65688379 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/is-quality-the-question__trashed/#IDComment65687987 Just because you are using affirmative action doesn’t necessarily mean you are lowering the quality of the individuals. If you are hiring in the medical field, just because you hire a minority doesn’t mean that the minority is worse at being a doctor than a white male. Affirmative action doesn’t mean that you are hiring somebody just because they are a minority; they also have to meet the qualifications of the job. I feel like that is one of the biggest misconceptions that everybody has about affirmative action and it makes people hate the idea of affirmative action because they believe that they are losing out of jobs to people who are less qualified. Sat, 3 Apr 2010 02:53:48 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/is-quality-the-question__trashed/#IDComment65687987 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64290131 When I watched this video, I was almost stunned. I knew that Sam talked about how disturbing this video was going to be and how it was going to be one of the disturbing videos in the whole class but I could not believe what happened if I wasn’t watching it with my own eyes. When I saw that African American kids were saying that the white doll was the one they would rather have and then saying that the white doll was the nice one and the black doll being the bad looking one I couldn’t believe what they were saying. Did the children know that they were black or did they think they were white? I can’t see the children picking the black doll as being the bad looking one if they had known that they were indeed black like the dolls. These kids were so young I am wondering how they became convinced that the black doll was the bad one and the white doll was the good one. I would figure that their parents would try and make them feel like they are the nice type and not the bad looking type but yet the kids still say it. That was probably what shocked me the most about this video. These African American kids said that the white doll was nice and the black doll was the bad looking one. I am thinking about it again now and I still can’t believe that they said that. I’m still just so shocked that they say that. The white people are so much in the majority that they are able to get young African American children to believe that being white is better than being black at that young age. I wonder what would happen if they did this experiment in a different place where being white is not in the majority, such as Africa or China. Would the African American kids still pick the white doll as being the nice one and the black doll as the bad looking one or would they choose the black one as the nice one because the majority is African American and they don’t have the same bias as in America. I also wonder whether Asian people in China would pick a black or white doll, or just say that they like them both the same, since neither the African American nor a white group is in the majority. The one thing that confused me about this video was that the people who were interviewed were mostly African American girls but they had a few African American boys too. I know that when I was that age I didn’t like playing with dolls like that and I’m wondering if maybe the African American boys felt the same way I did and the researchers could have used something else like G.I. Joe’s or something. Sat, 27 Mar 2010 03:26:53 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64290131 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/if-men-could-menstruate__trashed/#IDComment64250892 I believe that if men could have periods, tampons would still cost money. I mean, there are plenty of things men use, such as deodorant or toilet paper, that aren’t free. I don’t see how tampons would be any different from those things so they would still cost money. The reason that more men aren’t educated about the menstrual cycle is that during the sex education talk in middle school or whatever, the teachers would focus on the female part for the girls and the guys would go off somewhere different and learn about the male part. Since they were done in two separate areas the guys missed out on the female part of it. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:17:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/if-men-could-menstruate__trashed/#IDComment64250892 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment64250428 When I heard the term “bleeding” from Sam used to describe periods I really wasn’t that disgusted with it. I mean, isn’t that what happens when you get your period. When people say they are taking a shit they say they are pooping, not that they are defecating. I was completely shocked to see how disgusted people got with the term bleeding. I even saw that some of the students were leaving the room rather than listen to Sam use that term. If Sam was talking about somebody bleeding from a cut, I severely doubt whether anyone would have left the room or been disgusted by him talking. Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:13:40 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment64250428 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/the-world-is-full-of-surprises__trashed/#IDComment63050065 Before reading this article, I have never thought about the possibility of Jewish Africans before. I mean, I always assumed that there wasn’t a color line making it so that there could only be white Jewish people but I couldn’t really think of any colored Jewish people. Now, to see a whole tribe of 80,000 Jewish people of color it makes much more sense because you figure that with all the people in the world, there has to be some Jewish people of color. The only problem with this tribe is that some people may not find them to be “truly” Jewish because they don’t practice the religion. Reading this article, I was very impressed that these Jewish people were able to keep their culture intact throughout all 3,000 years. I guess that could be because of how strict the elders were in regards to marrying a non-Lemba or really interacting with anyone who was not part of the tribe. It looks like that is starting to change however, as the articles states that younger Lemba are taking a more traditional view and are starting to interact and marry non-Lemba’s, which will change their culture somewhat. After surviving 3,000 years with relatively the same culture, I think that it would be a shame for this culture to die out or drastically change now, just because of a few young liberals. I also thought it was interesting that most of these Lemba people were of the Christian or Muslim religion. A lot of people that I know aren’t quite sure whether being Jewish is a culture or a religion, and for these people they have quite obviously decided it is a culture, and have chosen to become a different religion. I believe that there are a lot of Jewish people in the United States and around the world who believe that being Jewish is a religion as much as a culture and they are probably very unhappy and angry that these Lemba people are still considering themselves Jewish even though they don’t practice the Jewish religion. I believe that the ngoma lungundu, a replica of the Biblical Ark of the Covenent, is something that the Lemba people should be proud that they have in their possession. This ngoma lungundu was carbon dated to be about 700 years old and is the closest descendent of the Ark that is known today. For something this valuable in a religious sense to be in the hands of a people that have been “lost” for nearly 3,000 years makes me believe that maybe there are other “lost” cultures out in the world that may have valuable religious artifacts just waiting to be found. I’m glad that the Lemba people allowed the ngoma lungundu to be displayed at a Harare museum rather than keeping it to themselves. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:10:40 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/the-world-is-full-of-surprises__trashed/#IDComment63050065 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment63023761 I didn’t consider this question until now but I believe he is right. I think that the texting idea is a good one but all the people saying rude comments will cause Sam to stop using it eventually. I believe that if you can’t stand up and say it, you shouldn’t say it when no one will be able to tell who is saying it. I believe that the reason that people reacted differently to when the people of color made rude comments than when the white people made rude comments is because everybody was trying to be politically correct and white people were afraid of saying something bad about the rude comments so they didn’t offend the people of color. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:42:29 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/does-this-rudeness-thing-cut-both-ways__trashed/#IDComment63023761 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/is-anyone-else-getting-this-stuff__trashed/#IDComment63022825 The reason that I took soc 119 was to become more open racially and to be able to talk about race without feeling weird about it. After reading Laurie’s book I believe that this is doable I just have to try harder and pretend that I am always sitting inside of the race relations circle. Once that happens I should be able to talk to other people about race, religion, or any other topic that comes out. The only problem that I have with that is I would still be very worried with saying something that someone of color takes as offensive. Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:34:56 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/is-anyone-else-getting-this-stuff__trashed/#IDComment63022825 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/a-long-long-way-indeed__trashed/#IDComment61578178 I believe that this individual brought up a very good point. I watch ESPN and MTV and such all the time and I don’t even notice these things anymore. I turn on ESPN or MTV and I see things about black athletes or rappers and I’m just like, whatever, because I’m used to it. If I were a slave-owner from the past I would be shocked by how far we’ve come. If I was a slave-owner I wouldn’t even be able to comprehend what is happening. Things have changed so much since we had slaves that they wouldn’t be able to understand anything that is going on but I believe that they would be upset and angry that so much attention is being focused on minorities instead of on white people. Secondly, you have to consider how far African Americans and other minorities have come in a political sense. No one would have believed that there could be an African American president five years ago and now we have one and everyone seems to be okay with it. The progression in race relations that has occurred in the political spectrum just in the past five to ten years is incredible and it is something that I’ve overlooked and have barely noticed. Ten years ago I don’t think anyone could imagine their being a minority president, much like not very many people can imagine a women being president now but I bet that there will be a female president within five to ten more years, and at that point in time it would be considered nothing special. We talk in class a lot about how far we still have to come in race and ethnic relations. The comment made by this guy in our Soc class shows us a little of how far we’ve come. I believe that it is just as important to look back as it is to look forward. Maybe by looking at how much progress we have made in race relations will help us in the future because it proves that it’s possible. When people only look at how much further we have to go sometimes it burns them out so they can’t do anymore work because they only see the negative. Every now and then it is a good thing to look behind and see how far we’ve come, making this a good thing to bring up. Before listening to what this kid said, I went and watched ESPN and didn’t notice anything unusual about watching minorities on it. After listening to his comments, I realized that it is truly a miracle that the United States has progressed this far in race and ethnic relations and it’s a shame that more people don’t look at how far we’ve progressed but only how far we have to come. Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:59:06 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/a-long-long-way-indeed__trashed/#IDComment61578178 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59948738 While reality shows on ABC may show predominantly white people, reality shows on other channels are more racially diverse. For example, on MTV or VH1 the reality shows tend to have a much more racially diverse crowd. I just believe that the people who watch MTV or VH1 are younger and more acceptable of other cultures than the people who watch ABC. I don’t believe that the executives at ABC would have the main character of The Bachelor be a minority and include a minority cast because they wouldn’t think that as many people would watch it, or else they would have already done it. Fri, 5 Mar 2010 22:27:50 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59948738 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59945385 I can’t believe that she was fired by Abercrombie and Fitch after being told that she could wear a head scarf. If Abercrombie and Fitch thought that this went against their look policy they should not have hired her in the first place. I used to shop at Abercrombie and Fitch when I was younger and I always noticed that the store employees seemed to be mostly white and not very diverse. Back then I didn’t think much about it but now it makes more sense that they were discriminating against other races and just hiring white people to work there. Fri, 5 Mar 2010 22:07:46 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/fired-for-a-scarf__trashed/#IDComment59945385 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/1880__trashed/#IDComment58892548 I believe that it is both a good and bad thing that this oil boom happened on Native American territory. One reason I believe it is good is because some tribes of Native Americans are finally making money and they will finally be able to move out of the poorest economic group. With the more than $179 million dollars in lease payments being made the Three Affiliated Tribes should be able to take care of many things they need, such as paying off their debts and providing health care. This money could also be used so that their children can go to college, and continue to move up in the world. Another reason that I believe this is a good thing is because the Native Americans are sort of getting back at the government now. If the government knew there was oil where the reservation was, they would have moved the Native Americans to somewhere else, with probably less natural resources. The government tries to do whatever it can to bring the Native Americans down so for a couple of tribes to find this much oil on their land is awesome and a good way of getting back at the government. I also consider this to be a bad thing. One reason that I think it is bad is because it is going against what the Native Americans originally believed. What I have always heard and learned about Native Americans was that they respected and cared for the land over everything else. I was taught that they didn’t let anything go to waste, so when they killed animals like buffalo made sure not to waste any or to kill more than they need. With this oil find the Native Americans will be digging and cutting holes into the ground. I feel like the ancestors of these current Native Americans would be very displeased if they see them destroying the land, rather than helping to protect it. Another reason I consider this a bad thing is because of how bad oil refineries are. Oil refineries harm people’s health and they bring pollution. With the oil find being on Native American land I’m willing to bet that mostly Native Americans will be the ones working in the oil refineries. This is very bad for their health as they get all these chemicals and things into their bodies and those chemicals end up destroying their lungs and other vital organs. Also, there will be lots of pollution put into the environment because of these oil refineries. The one thing this country doesn’t need any more of is pollution. Also, all this pollution can hurt the Native Americans, as it could potentially get into their water stream and poison them in some way. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:04:22 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/1880__trashed/#IDComment58892548 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-question-two__trashed/#IDComment58480504 I believe that the amount of money someone has does plays a more important role in the justice system than what race somebody is. People with more money tend to be able to get away with more things, because they can buy the better lawyers who are able to spread the most doubt in a jury making their client innocent. Whether someone is white or black, if they have the same amount of money they will pretty much the same chance as being proven innocent. Take the case of O.J. Simpson for instance. He is an African American man with a lot of money who was clearly able to buy his freedom with that money. Even though he was an African American with a lot of evidence against him he still was able to walk free, because of the money. Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:05:11 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-question-two__trashed/#IDComment58480504