en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/4258587 Comments by ryandsmith28 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/20/voices-from-the-classroom-156/#IDComment343922500 For me, I personally feel like my parents would be just as open with me as they are currently if I was in a gay or interracial relationship. I was raised a Catholic, so my parents do believe that marriage is a sacred agreement and ritual as part of our culture, but they always have been very aware and upset about how discriminated LGBT couples are. In this way my parents really cannot be classified as highly devout religious people, but that mentality is probably why I am so supportive of everyone having equal rights, regardless of the issue. My parents have always wanted me to be happy; they put it as their top priority and it is something that I probably take for granted on far too many occasions. If I were to be a homosexual, I do feel like they still would want me to be able to connect with somebody who makes me happy in just the same way they want to see me with a girl who makes me happy. While the issue of gay rights has never really been discussed in my family because no one in my family (that I’m aware of) has come out, my mother is someone who believes in everyone having a right to be happy just the same regardless of their orientation. She, more than anything, cannot stand to see me or anyone unhappy in their lives. In my family, strangely enough, it would be my sister who would be the judgmental one. She had an epiphany about her religious spirit in college and is now a devout Baptist Christian. On more than one occasion she has stated how she finds gay marriage to be a completely unordinary and “wrong” union. If I were to come out and tell my sister, I feel that she would disown me from the family entirely and not acknowledge my existence. While I definitely disagree with my sister’s beliefs, I also know that people who are strong in their religious morals are just going to see gays as second-class people. While I would be forever upset with my sister for not accepting me if this situation were to arise, I would have no choice but to just accept that she and I would never see eye to eye on this issue. The biggest problem that would stem from this would be stubbornness from both parties and not agreeing to disagree. Like I said though, my parents have always wanted happiness in people, regardless of their beliefs. It was how I was raised, and I’m very confident that their acceptance of all people is a big reason why I’m an advocate for equal rights for all people. Sat, 21 Apr 2012 03:51:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/20/voices-from-the-classroom-156/#IDComment343922500 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/12/voices-from-the-classroom-147/#IDComment338576801 For me, the dilemma of who to save when you’re all drowning between your mother, child, and significant other, is really a no brainer. Obviously it is a horrible hypothetical scenario that would probably challenge for the ranking of worst possible thing to have to deal with. There are certainly arguments for saving all three, but to me, saving the child is an absolutely easy choice. Even if the hypothetical child was 18 or 19 years old, the fact of the matter is, this is the youngest person of the three options to save. In our lives we consider it an absolute tragedy when somebody passes too soon at way too young an age. While losing your mother would never be an easy thing to have to handle, your mother probably lived a very fulfilled life, having raised you. Also, I know with my mother this would be the case, many mothers biggest initiative is to do anything to protect their children, even if it took the ultimate sacrifice. On the topic of saving the significant other, there are a few modes of thinking. With most couples, there is some fighting back and forth, and many times it is a very taxing relationship. This is not to say that losing my girlfriend wouldn’t be absolutely terrible, but who’s to say it would have even lasted forever? That’s one of those risks you have to take in this hypothetical nightmare. It’s also worth noting, you can always find someone else, and love is very much a crapshoot; sometimes peoples’ second marriages turn out to be all they’ve been looking for. You cannot replace your mother and you can’t replace your child; having another one would not be able to fill the void of the lost child. The argument, however, is absolutely unquestioned to me to save the child. I also believe in the saying I said earlier, that you’d do anything to protect your child. I know if it was me, and I felt like I had accomplished enough with my life, I would want my child to be able to have the chance to live out his or her dreams. It would be awful to have to leave my child if I were to perish, but ultimately it’s the life lessons they learn that allow them to lead full lives. If you look at our society, the saddest news stories always revolve around children because having their innocence taken at such a young age is something no one can sit and ignore. Look no further than this past November on this campus if you want to see a theme of sadness and regret for child victims. We as a society need to protect our children, because they are the ones who can impact the world long after we perish. Sat, 14 Apr 2012 02:42:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/12/voices-from-the-classroom-147/#IDComment338576801 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/03/voices-from-the-classroom-141/#IDComment333276037 Now I am not a woman, so I wouldn’t be able to fully understand the mindset of what is considered “disrespecting” one’s self. However, in some ways, I find this notion of women dressing more “openly” a little deceiving. There are plenty of women who respect themselves and their image while still dressing in a way that raises eyebrows. Now if they are clearly trying to be scantily clad, I can certainly understand the argument that the woman is disrespecting herself and putting a bad image in the world for women. I do think that a relatively small percentage of women who, more or less, act provocatively, ruin it for the majority of women who are given a bad image for dressing more openly. However, let’s just say there was a woman who wore a bikini down the shore in the summer on a daily basis. Let’s also say she was one who paid close attention to her health, hygiene, and appearance, and as a result, is seen as “hot” or “sexy” or whatever term somebody wants to use in this spot. I feel that if you’re taking care of yourself to make yourself happy, it is inconceivable to me that that would be seen as “disrespecting yourself” or your body. In fact, I personally find it the highest form of self-respect to see somebody paying close attention to his or her well-being. This doesn’t mean starving themselves, but being mindful of the meals they eat. I almost find it more disrespectful for someone to just be completely careless with their health and hygiene habits. I do genuinely feel bad for women who have to deal with a major double standard of looking sexy and attractive while not crossing the line to “slutty.” If a woman’s chief goal in life truly was to go around hooking up with any attractive guy she meets, I will admit that I think that’s her not respecting herself for who she is, but rather as an object. However, for your “average” college girl who likes to look good and mingle with friends at parties, I don’t see that as disrespecting one’s self so long as they stick to their principles and not allow society’s expectations to make them change who they are. By society’s expectations, I mean the image of the skinny girl. I certainly don’t think that Muslim women who wear headscarves are disrespecting themselves either. It’s important that they live by their standards given in their religion. Regardless of culture or religion, I still feel that the same general “rules” apply for self-respect, particularly with regards with women. If a woman takes care of herself and lives by her own moral and ethical standards, whether those be religious based or otherwise, that shows a woman who doesn’t conform to what society wants. Fri, 6 Apr 2012 19:29:06 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/04/03/voices-from-the-classroom-141/#IDComment333276037 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/27/voices-from-the-classroom-136/#IDComment328060648 I was not very surprised to hear the white gentleman get called out in class for his bluntly honest opinion of the video regarding the Asian students at USC who were oblivious to the football program. In my opinion, and it’s something I find myself checking myself on a lot, white people seem to be more criticized for any comments with even a hint of racial mockery. Now whether this is because of the idea of white supremacy is not really my place to judge, but I feel that since it’s the white person laughing at Asians, that is seen as immoral and spiteful. The other side to this is that the Asian student, who also found the video of the oblivious Asian students to be humorous, was given absolute no grief (at least not outwardly) for having that opinion. I think the reason that this is the case is because of my own hypothetical theory: we can make fun of ourselves (or in this case, our race) all we want and have that be okay, but making fun of another race or ethnic group is seen as racist humor. Speaking from my own experience, I know that when I am watching something comedic that may make fun of Asians or black people or another race, I will not lie, most of the time I think it is hysterical. However, in a society that is so quick to want to call people out for being racists, I do tend to keep those feelings within and try to shield my laughter in the process. My reasoning for this is that I don’t want any people of that race who may be around me to think that I am racist, when in fact I have friends of European descent, black friends, Asian friends, and other cultural backgrounds. In this particular class example, it does not really surprise me that the foreign student who called out the white man for laughing at the video did what she did. I do tend to feel that if I was in her shoes and I was more or less “new” to American culture, I probably would find it a little troubling that we love to mock other races as much as we do. However, at the same time, I don’t think that should be held at a more “wrong” level than laughing at a video of dumb, oblivious white people, black people, or any other race. I choose to focus on the humor of the obliviousness of the students in the video, not the race they are. That is truthfully where the humor stood with me. I find it absolutely hysterical to see unsuspecting people who are uninformed try to speak intelligently about something they have no clue about. I know that if I got in front of a camera and tried to explain organic chemistry, a lot of people in the world would get a huge laugh at my idiocy. All in all, I feel that white people probably are quicker to be called out for finding racial comedy funny, whereas Asians, blacks, etc. get a “free pass” of sorts because it’s their own people getting mocked. Fri, 30 Mar 2012 21:16:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/27/voices-from-the-classroom-136/#IDComment328060648 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/22/voices-from-the-classroom-128/#IDComment322950813 Unfortunately, I feel like Chinjerai’s reverse example of the Trayvon Martin incident is accurate to our society. He speculated that had the attacker and, ultimately, murderer of the young teenager was black and the victim was a white male, the black shooter would be apprehended and behind bars pretty much immediately. People speculate that our society today is racist-free and people are more open and accepting of other races, cultures, ethnicities, and other things of the like. But unfortunately, the harsh reality remains that there are still a frightening number of white people who, whether it be because they’re older, because of past family opinions, or another cause, look at black people as second-class citizens. In thinking this way, they tend to presume that the black people are the ones associated with these types of crimes, because statistically speaking, we assume that people who aren’t as stable in status resort to crime. Many people like to believe that in the decade following Dr. Martin Luther King’s passing, America slowly began to be a more open society. And while some formal forms of segregation and discrimination have been eliminated (i.e. Black and white water fountains, schools, etc), there are countless noteworthy examples of just absolutely ruthless targeting of blacks as a minority in a bad light. Look no further than Rodney King getting beaten by the white police officers for proof of that. In sports, we have seen the race card be played as well. Whether it was Rush Limbaugh calling out Donovan McNabb for only getting praise as an NFL quarterback because he is black, or a hockey fan in Ontario throwing a banana on the ice when black player Wayne Simmonds was taking a penalty host, and these are just a few examples. Countless others, I don’t doubt, get lost because of our short attention spans. If you ask me what has to be done to change this alarming trend, I honestly don’t know what to say, because no piece of legislation will ever be able to fully enforce somebody being true to the law regardless of race. It sounds so simple and silly to think this would ever actually work as a solution, but it is law enforcement’s responsibility to leave ANY ill feelings toward other races at the door, or don’t become involved in criminal justice. There are still, as we’ve seen through the Trayvon Martin incident, many times where blacks or other minority groups are unfairly disrespected and ignored in criminal matters. I do believe that the next generation of adults (our college-aged generation) will be more open-minded on this particular topic, but there will always be those outliers and people who just, for whatever reason, do not accept another race as being equal in society. As I’ve said to many people, we live in a messed up world. Fri, 23 Mar 2012 21:51:31 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/03/22/voices-from-the-classroom-128/#IDComment322950813 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/29/what-more-do-you-want-to-think-about/#IDComment305220767 As a big fan of sports, I have always been kind of curious about the ways in which we think about race and sports, so the lecture on sports with regards to race was one that really struck me as intriguing. I had never really thought about the fact that certain geographic regions have evolved in ways to make them more suited for a particular sport or activity. For example, one big difference was the different sized torsos and legs of people in Africa versus people in Asia. While I do understand these genetic differences can sometimes play a role in making somebody better at a sport than somebody else, but I have the hardest time accepting that race directly impacts what sport the person is likely to play or what is a “better option” of a sport for a person. Perhaps I am a bit stubborn in my thinking, but I still feel like a person’s environment in which they grew up in is a far more telling sign of what sport that athlete will lean towards. People who grow up in the colder northern climates will naturally have access to a hockey rink outdoors on any frozen body of water. On the contrary, people in dryer, more arid regions are better suited for games like soccer or activities like running. I find it a bit hasty and misleading to say that black people are more likely to be the skilled basketball players, the highest jumpers, or the fastest sprinters. As an avid hockey fan, I have seen one of my favorite players, Wayne Simmonds, play a lot of times, and I wonder to myself, if he wasn’t black, would he be held to the same high standard that he receives? Or would he just blend in with all the other white players in the NHL? I can understand why the majority of white people tend to have more interest in hockey than basketball, which is a more “black” sport. But I absolutely despise when people automatically classify someone as liking a certain sport just based on their race and the expectations we hold for people of said race. I personally know many black people who are extremely dedicated hockey fans. I guess, what I would love to hear in more detail is what leads us to make race an issue in sports. And when I say “issue”, perhaps that is misleading. It just seems that certain races are seen in certain sports differently. When Rush Limbaugh made his rant about Donovan McNabb getting attention because he is black, he brought an interesting point to the foreground in sports. Do we classify people of certain races as better than others in their particular sport just because they are black or white or brown? If you ask me, any white rookie superstar would receive far less attention than Jeremy Lin is right now, because we just naturally do not think of Asians as star basketball players. Thu, 1 Mar 2012 06:56:34 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/29/what-more-do-you-want-to-think-about/#IDComment305220767 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/23/voices-from-the-classroom-112/#IDComment300848830 Asians being classified as “smart” is still a form of racism in much the same way that a negative trait can be seen as racist to another group. Just to give an example of a negative assumption being racist, one could be seeing white athletes as slow, unable to jump as high as black people, etc. Assuming an Asian is smart can lead to other negative forms of racist remarks as well. In our society, we have a tendency to think that people who are really smart have shortcomings socially and as a result, are “nerds”, “have no life”, and aren’t “cool.” I know from my own personal experience, I have friends who see that if they have an Asian professor or an Asian classmate, they’ll immediately chuckle and go “ha ha, he’s Asian” or “she must know math” or “she can’t drive a car.” I can’t tell you how much it infuriates me to hear people automatically make these remarks. They always say, “Oh it’s just a joke,” but we as a society immediately go back to the same stereotypical, racist comments just out of sheer impulse. When an Asian driver cuts you off on the road, I am even guilty of saying “Those Asians may be smart, but god damn it, they are horrible drivers.” This promotes inequality because now the average person has a certain type of mindset about Asian people. It doesn’t even have to be a case of someone truly believing these stereotypes to be true; subconsciously many of us have these thoughts and, when we don’t know or are too lazy to get to know the person deeper, we fall back on these stereotypes. More specifically, I see this as still being racist just because of the simple fact that it is a generalization that we make about the Asian race and so often just assume to be true for all Asians. The honest truth is there are plenty of Asian people who can’t do basic math. And there are plenty of people of other races who are geniuses as well. However, this idea still promotes inequality, and one example we can see is in the school systems. There are certain school districts that are more Asian-Oriental just in terms of student breakdown. As a result, these schools cannot be looked at with the same perspective as a predominantly white school. And from this, all kinds of assumptions based on the test scores of these students come to the forefront. In the end, I guess what I’m trying to convey is, racism can still be existent whether the racist remark is complimentary or derogatory, and we would be naïve to think that calling Asians smart by default is NOT racist. Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:10:25 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/23/voices-from-the-classroom-112/#IDComment300848830 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/16/voices-from-the-classroom-108/#IDComment294565219 In my opinion, races don’t dominate certain sports as much as certain geographic and demographic factors do. I say this in a couple of different ways. I’ll use the example of ice hockey, which happens to be a sport I follow very closely. If you look at NHL players, you will find that the vast majority of them come from nations in the northern hemisphere, where, as we’ve seen throughout the course of history, people are generally are white in skin color. I don’t think race has anything to do with the popularity of hockey though. Instead, if you look at the geographics of northern nations, it is unbearably cold in the winters in places such as northwestern Canada, Sweden, Finland, and much of northern Europe. Therefore, in a colder climate, ice hockey becomes a sport that can be played on a regular basis so long as you have a stick and a puck and just a body of water in general. On the other hand, looking at sports like baseball and basketball that are best to be played outside in warmer weather, has been a more popular option in many nations in central and South America, as well as in southern Asia. It just so happens that the races of the people in these areas are more brown or black in nature. So once again, we see that race really isn’t so much a determining factor as geographic location is. In America, though, I do understand why it seems some races happen to be more inclined to be involved in particular sports. In professional football and basketball, black athletes are the majority of the participants. We in nature have a tendency to follow in the paths of our “heroes” of the sports world. Since basketball and football are dominated by star black athletes such as LeBron James, Adrian Peterson, and countless others, many athletes, but most notably black ones, will have a tendency to follow in those paths. We in our culture today also have the tendency to assume black athletes run faster and jump higher than white people. I feel that on some level, this drives some black athletes to push themselves into a sport, having seen their role models reach their potentials in those particular sports. On the other end of the spectrum, white people in America seem to have a tendency to go into hockey or baseball, with both sports also drawing attention from international crowds more so than football and basketball. The most well known names in these sports are generally white. I find it difficult to say that race is what determines what sport somebody is likely to go into. It just so happens that the regions that athletes of these sports predominantly come from, are mostly white or black. Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:19:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/16/voices-from-the-classroom-108/#IDComment294565219 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/02/voices-from-the-classroom-98/#IDComment283090991 I feel that the topic of girls and hairstyles as they relate to race is not really an issue of race at all. I don’t necessarily feel like it’s the case where a white girl wants to be like a black girl and get curls in her hair or a black girl wanting to be like a white girl by straightening her hair. More likely, I feel that in our culture, we all, guys and girls alike, have some genetic trait about ourselves that we either don’t like or we think gets redundant with time. Having grown up with an older sister, I saw every different combination of hair color and hair style come out with my sister. She was born with straight blonde hair, but it eventually darkened over time. This did not stop her from experimenting with all different styles. She has had perms, waves in her hair, short hair, and hair that went halfway down her back. I also know for a fact that not once did she model her hair after one person in particular. She just always was a fan of trying all kinds of different looks to see what satisfied her the most. Even if hairstyle was something where, for example, a young white girl admired Jennifer Hudson and as a result wanted to mimic her hairstyle, that does not necessarily mean that the girl wishes to have black qualities. Rather than this being a topic of race, I find this to be a topic related to the way we look at popular culture. Over the course of our history, many different popular figures of different races have popularized trends or styles when it comes to clothing, hairstyle, music, and so much more. The student asking this question brings up the argument that perhaps we aren’t satisfied with what we have, and I think this is very accurate to our nature. Why else would different styles of music be more popular than others on seemingly a yearly basis? It seems like the shelf life of each popular trend, whether it is in music, fashion, glamour, or another area, is slimmer than ever. There is always a part of us that wants to fit in and conform with society, but at the exact same time, we have a tendency to get bored or uninterested very quickly with various ideas or popular fads. In our lifetimes alone, we’ve seen the rise and fall in popularity of “the Rachel” haircut from the TV show Friends, tie-dye has come and gone, and we’ve seen spandex leggings go from being “in” to “out” and then back “in” style. And we’ve seen this happen with all races, which is why I feel race isn’t a factor here. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 20:57:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/02/02/voices-from-the-classroom-98/#IDComment283090991 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/17/voices-from-the-classroom-90/#IDComment269360148 I can honestly say that I have never once thought about the absolute hell that Native Americans have lived through, seeing their land get completely seized from right under their feet by the Colonists. I find it very ironic that we, the people who are descendants of these "land-stealers", consider ourselves "Americans." These people were entitled to their land, had longstanding spiritual ties and deep-rooted families. Our society is so focused on how to improve our own lives that our selfish nature makes us completely oblivious to the world around us. Worse yet, we sometimes are not even intentionally ignorant! I noticed this even as I was progressing in school. One of the first history lessons I can ever remember being taught was the story of Christopher Columbus discovering America. He and the early settlers, from the perspective of my teachers in school, were always seen as heroes, as well as the Founding Fathers that followed. Rarely, although I contend never at all were we told about the Native Americans that previously had resided in modern day America. The entire idea of settling and constructing a society with the freedom for people to be able to say and do what they wanted overshadowed any heinous act of genocide that may have been committed to run the Natives out. Meanwhile, I sit back admittedly oblivious to it myself, as in today's society, we look at Mexicans and immediately classify them as illegal immigrants regardless of what their life story may be. And for any immigrants in general, we just find them to be people using our country to get themselves jobs and force we, the actual American citizens, into hardship. I think we can look back at our history and note that we “Americans” have always been so blissfully unaware of the harm we are causing other people in trying to pursue our own happiness. Sure, we like to think that we contribute to noble causes, and while we do, it will never be enough to repay the Native Americans for indirectly driving much of them to their exits and deaths. I find it painfully funny how back when the Natives got their land stolen, it was our own ancestors that were responsible for exploiting these peoples' land. Frankly, I am a little disturbed that we were misled about our country's history growing up in school. We take for granted our lives on a daily basis, but if we got exploited the way the Natives did, I venture to say we would have a better understanding of why it is so unfair that Native Americans have seen their livelihood and heritage almost completely disintegrate as big business corporate United States culture is the primary concern nowadays. Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:18:07 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2012/01/17/voices-from-the-classroom-90/#IDComment269360148