I never thought that upon reading this blog entry, my view or opinion about something so particular would change so drastically. This letter really touched my heart. I will be the first to say that before I read this , I never really thought about how or what a prisoner felt, especially one who was sentenced to life in prison. In my eyes, they deserved it. It was the consequence of the crime that they committed, and they deserved and everything that came their way. No questions asked. I didn’t care about them, and didn’t think that anyone else should either. I have always been against the death penalty. I firmly believe that the person should live with what they did on a daily basis that it should haunt them. The death penalty would just be an easy way out for them. To me, they were ruthless, selfish, unemotional people that deserved the worse that could possibly be given to them. Anyone who could commit such an act had no feelings. They were inhumane, or so I thought. Then, I read this inmate’s letter. I got a whole different perspective about prisoners. It changed how I felt towards them. Yes, some of them have committed unforgiveable acts, but then again they are still human. Humans with feelings like you and I, at least, some of them. They have children and families that they care for just like you and I. One mistake, one wrong turn, one bad deed, brought them here. Just one. One thing that defined who they were as a person. To everyone, they are criminals. Criminals who should be kept locked up, and never let out. Some of them murderers. This letter helped me realize that not every prisoner is heartless, and that prison can actually help change a person. It can help them do a complete 180. Help them reflect on the acts that they have committed, and genuinely just change them. Help them achieve that compassion for their fellow inmate. They are able to put their differences and hatred for one each other, for one moment, for that one moment of compassion. They are still people with feelings. They still need the same comfort that each and every one of us needs. They need to know that someone still cares. This letter has really opened my eyes to this. To me, prisons just consisted of fights. No one cared about each other. It was each man for his own. This blog entry helped me realize that that was truly a dumb perspective. You will always find someone who cares and is compassionate, even where you least expect it. It could be your enemy. It could be in prison.

I don’t know much about welfare. Actually, I know little to nothing about it. I know a few facts based on things I have heard about it. Many people are ashamed to be on welfare. I think this is mainly because they are frowned upon by our society. Many people take advantage of welfare, by just collecting the money from the government instead of actually trying to find a job. But, I also I know that welfare is helping a lot of people that are struggling to make ends meet.
Eliminating welfare completely, to me, would be a bad decision. Even though there are those people that take advantage of the welfare system, there are also people in it that truly need the government’s help when it comes to buying food and etc. Eliminating welfare wouldn’t be fair to these people. These people that actually need it. That no matter they do they aren’t able to provide food on the table and a roof for their families. This doesn’t mean that these people are lazy. I have learned that sometimes certain people just don’t have the means to get a decent education, and through this class I learned that sometimes something as simple as your race can determine whether or not you get the job or whether or not you can even get a decent job. Yes, some people take advantage of the welfare system, but should we eliminate it just because of the handful that does? Yes, some people on the welfare system are just being lazy, but not all of them. Eliminating the welfare system won’t make these handful of lazy people find jobs. They’ll find another source, or another loophole. Eliminating welfare will hugely impact those people that solely depend on it, in many ways. If they weren’t able to get jobs due to their education means or race, they still won’t be able to. The elimination of welfare won’t change that fact. In fact, they will be worse off. Now, they’ll have no jobs and no help from the government. How are they suppose to get through life day by day? So, in my opinion, people don’t need motivation to find jobs, jobs need to stop being discriminatory to them. And also, eliminating welfare won’t help the handful of lazies find jobs either. The elimination of welfare wont change the fact that they are still lazy.
Overall, even though welfare system has its flaws, it is also helping a vast majority of people. Everyone and everything possesses its own flaws. Flaws are things that can always be fixed, if we put forth the time and effort. We can’t expect things to be one hundred percent perfect. It just isn’t really possible. In my opinion, the elimination of welfare would lead to greater problems.

Watching the beginning of the video, I couldn’t understand why Sam said that it would be the most disturbing video we would encounter all semester. Towards the end, I completely understood what he meant, and where he was coming from. I was shocked and speechless. What do you even say after seeing something like that? There are no words. I think that the reason it shocked so many of us in such an intense way is because it was actually brought to our attention, in a right in your face type of way. But is it really a surprise that these children think this way? Look at today’s media, what are they portraying? White is beautiful. The lighter the better. White is the way to be. White is “nice”. These are the things that children see on a day to day basis. This is what society is teaching our children today. And this is why children of a different race or a different color think this way in the video. The part in which Sam stopped the video is the part that truly left me without words to say. I was absolutely speechless. The part in which the little girl identifies the black doll as the “bad” doll, and the white doll as the “nice” doll. When she is asked which doll she looks like, you can see the struggle in her face to give the girl the black doll. It really broke my heart, and made me so sad to think that this little girl probably thinks that she is not as beautiful compared to a white person, when in fact she is just as beautiful, or in her words “nice”. There are no words to say after a video like that, but there sure are explanations. And the explanation I came up with for these children’s train of thought was society. You can teach your children that they are beautiful no matter what color they are, or how their hair is, but unless today’s society as a whole changes their perspective on beauty as a whole, we are going to have children that will always feel and think like the way in the video. There will always be children that will think that they are “bad” solely because the color of your skin. I hope that through the years we can all come to a point in society in which this can change, because having young children of a different race think little of themselves is just unacceptable. I wish we would have been able to talk more about the video, also. Hearing my classmates opinions on the matter would have been interesting, because I wasn’t even too sure what I thought, or what I would have said.

In today’s society, we hear about discriminatory acts in the business world so often, it is just sad. But where do we draw the line? How can we tell the difference from an incident that was clearly a discriminatory act, or an incident in which the company’s policy was just not followed through? I am actually not surprised that this incident happened under the Abercrombie and Fitch company. I currently work at Abercrombie and Fitch, and they have a strict “look policy” that you have to abide by. They tell you all this before you are hired, right down to how the girls should wear their makeup and what colors their nails to be. You are even given a pamphlet to read regarding their look policy. We have to remember that Abercrombie and Fitch is a business. A business that tries to make profit based on their outward appearance. So they hire what they consider are people that meet the standards that they set. They have a certain style that they want to portray to the public, which is why they tell you to look and dress a specific way. I can’t really completely agree that this was a discriminatory act. The funny thing is that in this pamphlet it states how the Abercrombie and Fitch company does not discriminate against race, religion etc. I can’t really completely agree that this was a discriminatory act, although it wasn’t right. I don’t believe that it was completely discriminatory because we all know that this is how there business works. I think the major thing wrong here is that they were aware that she would be wearing the hijab. She made sure she told them about it. The company told her that iw would be okay as long as it was certain colors. She complied with what they told her, and still they fired her. This gives her enough reason to be upset, and does not set a good image for Abercrombie and Fitch. If they knew from the beginning that the hijab would result into a problem for there so called “look” , they should not have hired her in the first place, and gave her false expectations. Many stores have a certain “look” that you have to abide to. It’s all for the sake of business. Sadly, this poor girl got the short end of the stick, and was given false expectations. Now, this doesn’t mean that Abercrombie and Fitch hasn’t had instances where they are racist or blatantly discriminatory. Because, I, myself have witnessed it. I just don’t think that in this particular case, it should be regarded as so. It was wrong yes, but discriminatory. I am just not sure. This brings me back to my first question. How do we know for sure when an incident was discriminatory or not? Where do we draw the line?

I have to say that I strongly disagree with the statement that theme parties are racist, and that they are somehow geared towards the racism of black people. Also, only white people host them? I can’t say I agree with that either. I’m Hispanic, and I, myself, have hosted many themed parties, and none of them had anything to do with race. Personally, most theme parties that I have heard of or been to don’t have to do with race at all. Anything but a cup, anything but clothes, ceos and business hoes, ugly Christmas sweaters? I really don’t see how any of these even remotely have to do with racism, in any way. Themed parties are merely just to spice things up.

To say that they are only hosted by white people is to be a little misinformed. It is not something fair to say or think. I also think that before making this comment. You have to take into consideration the context of the situation. We go to Penn State. I am like 1 of the 20 Hispanics that go here. Most of the student body here is white. So, of course, most parties that you may attend will be hosted by a white person.
I’m not saying that there aren’t themed parties out there that poke fun at certain racial groups. Just that it is rather rare. And when they do, it is not only to make fun of black people. How about the Jersey Shore themed parties?

I feel like sometimes we may look into things from a negative perspective, and try to make them more than what they truly are. Yes, many things out there are extremely racist and biased, but not everything in the world is. Sometimes things are just what they are meant to be. In this case, just plain fun. People sometimes try to find something racist in every aspect of life. I just hope people realize that not everything is racist! Theme parties are just an excuse to look silly while drinking, that’s all. I have to agree with saying that this question/video is a joke. I don’t understand how anyone could come to that conclusion. Then again, opinions have to do with personal experiences.

I will be the first to say that I am one of those people that isn’t very aware of other cultures. I know about plenty about my culture and that’s about it. This doesn’t mean I am close minded, because learning about other and different cultures truly fascinates me. I love learning how different each and every one of us is, even though at times I can’t fully understand it. It just means that it is impossible to know about every culture and their rituals. I am not Jewish, nor do I live in New York. So personally, I have absolutely no idea what a tefillin is, what it is used for, or what it even looks like. And if I saw, someone strapping this on themselves on a plane, I can’t say I wouldn’t have been worried also.

In our society today, we live in constant fear of what will happen due to past events, especially when it comes to flying in planes. It’s normal. I know I’m extra aware of my surroundings every time I fly on a plane. Its not because of discrimination or anything like that. It is just human instinct. If something seems a little out of the ordinary to me, I will be telling someone as soon as possible.

At the same time, it is sad that we aren’t more culturally aware as a whole. But you can’t really expect everyone to be aware of every culture and its rituals. It is simply just plain American ignorance. It’s almost impossible. I think that this incident might have been taken a little out of proportion. It should have been dealt with differently. Yeah, it was something that seemed suspect to the flight attendants. And Yes, it was something that should have been brought to the pilot’s attention. And Yes, I believe that diverting the plane was probably the best idea, since they weren’t familiar or sure as to what was going on. But, I don’t feel that this 17 yr old and his younger sister should have been handcuffed in front of everyone. More should have been done before this was done. Placing a hand cuffs on someone, changes things immensely. It could have definitely been handled with a better and more different approach.

I was definitely one of those people that wanted to go see Avatar as soon as it came out. It wasn’t because of the storyline. It wasn’t because of the actors in it. It wasn’t because I thought the blue people were cool. It was simply because I love three -dimensional movies. As I was watching the movie, I quickly realized how similar it was to the Disney’s Pocahontas, basically the same exact storyline. The idea or theory of the whole “Messiah” complex never dawned upon me. After reading David Brook’s article, I feel somewhat caught in the middle. I am not sure if I completely agree with this theory, but I don’t completely disagree either.
Now the reason I don’t completely agree with this Messiah complex theory is because I feel like if we actually sit there and start dissecting every little thing, like movies, or just something in general, we can find something racial with absolutely each and every one of them. I feel that sometimes we read too much into things, and forget that it could have simply just been a movie. Personally, I have watched plenty of movies in which a black or brown person was the hero. So because of this, I have to say that this theory is only relevant in some instances or situations.
The reason that I don’t completely disagree with the Messiah complex is because these movies were made with the historical perception that the “white” man saved us all. Isn’t that basically what we learned in history class throughout our lives? Last semester, I took a CMLIT class and many of the readings we had were rather interesting. They had to do with journals entries from explorers ranging from William Bradford to Columbus. They all had different views as to what the Native Americans were to them. But still many of them described them as savages needing to be tamed or saved, or describing them as possessing animal like features. This kind of shows that more than a century later, the white man’s perception still hasn’t changed. They still regard themselves as the “heroes of the world”, when really they are not. I just think that it is something carried out throughout the years, and something that sadly we have learned in our history classes. Because of these historical perceptions, many movies have been made with this perception. Although this is true in many cases, we must still remember that not everything is made with a racial intent. Sometimes things can simply just be movies. Simple as that.

I have to disagree with this post. I am completely against with what the French government is trying to do. It is not the job of the French government to ban the use of burqas or the government’s right. Let alone try to give them a $1000 fine for wearing them. I don’t see the government fining women that stroll the streets half naked. Doesn’t that portray something too? You said that women should have a right to choose whether or not they want to wear the burqas. They won’t be able to make that choice, if the burqa is actually banned. Also, you stated that the use of the burqa threatens the women’s individuality and creativity. I think the burqa creates their individuality and creativity, which is why it was noticed in the first place. I think that the individuality that burqas create is what is truly posing a problem for the French government. The French government is trying to justify this law by saying that many of the women are forced to wear it by the men in their lives, which is not always the case. Yes, it may be at times true, but many of the women also choose to wear it. How do we know that this is not their form of expressing themselves? We don’t. Personally, I don’t know much about the Muslim religion to know, and I doubt that the French government knows much more. Government and religion have always been kept separately. Why should it be any different in this case? Just because something is strange and different to us, does not mean that we have the right to judge it. Since when is the government allowed to dictate what one should and should not wear. They have never said anything about the absurd latest fashion trends that have come out throughout the years. I think this is probably because it is “normal” to our, or in this case, the French society, to see them. In the video excerpt, the guy says, "Burqas are not just an article of clothing, but a symbol that is incompatible with the French Republic". Why is it incompatible with the French Republic? I understand if the use of the burqa was in any way harming someone, but that is not the case. The use of burqas is not posing a threat to anyone at all. This statement just proves that its incompatibility is just due to the mere fact that it is different to what the French society is used to. It is insignificant, when they say that nowhere in the Koran does it say to wear burqas. Nowhere in the Bible does it say to wear crosses, but still some people do. They are religious traditions that have come to play throughout time. I think that this law would be absolutely ridiculous to pass, and that they should respect the Muslim religion and its traditions.

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I didn’t actually believe that these whitening creams existed, let alone actually worked, until this case with Sammy Sosa. I don’t agree with the use of these creams and etc. to change yourself into something that you aren’t. But in our society, having white features is what is predominantly seen as” beautiful”. We can see this everywhere we look such as TV, commercials, and ads. I don’t know if any of you have ever heard of the very controversial L’Oreal ad of Beyonce, in which her skin and hair was lightened to make her look “white”. This ad was very controversial because people thought that it was relaying the message, “Use our product and look whiter.” I feel like by using these whitening creams, we are conforming to what society is trying to make us believe. I can’t even think why anyone would want to be lighter. I love my skin color, and wouldn’t change anything about it for the world. People just need to realize that we are all beautiful in our own way and embrace who they are. Also, I was reading through the comments and replies on this post, and I noticed that they were all pretty similar. They all dealt with Sammy Sosa wanting to become “white”. I don’t think he wanted to be “white” as in American. I’m sure he is still proud of where he came from and embraces his culture. The thing is that in Dominican Republic there is discrimination within the culture itself. I’ve heard it countless of times within my family or just when I’m over there. The lighter you are the more good looking and the higher social standing you are thought to possess. It’s the idea that is engraved in their minds growing up, and maybe that is why Sammy Sosa wanted to become of a lighter complexion. He has his life set for him, he is known worldwide and has money to last him a lifetime. Why would he even care what other people see him as? I think it goes back to this idea that the lighter you are the higher social standing people see you as. He has the money. Why not the looks to match it? Sammy Sosa conformed to this crazy idea, which to me is probably the most absurd thing I have ever heard. Its sad to see the extent that some people would go to conform to society. If everyone were white, life would be so boring. I mean we would all look the same. Where’s the fun in that? We would have all become society’s little robots, conforming to every idea that has been thrown at us. I personally like learning about other cultures and love seeing the differences between other people and myself. Everyone just truly needs to do things for themselves, and stop doing things for other people.