en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/764267 Comments by samj113 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/isnt-migration-conflict-inevitable__trashed/#IDComment70006265 How is this situation different? We come to a land and take it away from those that have it already because we can, because we want to be 'king of the mountain' and we have more power. That doesn't make it right at all, though. I agree with you on one thing, life is definitely not fair. This has been proven evident by the countless amounts of Native Americans now living in trailers because they have been constantly beaten down by this nation of 'patriots'. When during his inaugural address, the president who said that we took this desolate land and transformed into something great, he was simply stating the condition of this land that most people (at least this was how I viewed it) initially hear about the situation with Native Americans. Perhaps if this land really was desolate and nobody occupied it, I could see how the two situations are different. The fact that Native Americans had tribes, had lives, had homes, and we essentially just bulldozed over all of this and forced those that survived the attack to live in shoddy, low income neighborhoods is very much the same situation you described. If the Mexican army did attack us, they would most likely not defeat us in a war (simply because the United States spends the most money out of any other country on their military...) but if they were stronger, or if the rest of the world combined attempted to take our land, would you still say that life is unfair and that's the way it goes? If hundreds of thousands of your friends and families are killed through genocide, I have a hunch you would feel that the two situations seem to parallel each other... Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:50:52 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/isnt-migration-conflict-inevitable__trashed/#IDComment70006265 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-health-care__trashed/#IDComment70003681 People who were not born in this country are no different than people who were born in this country. My mother and sister were not born in this country, but they have both spent the majority of their lives living here and are, especially my sister, very Patriotic. Denying them health coverage simply based on their background seems ridiculous to me. We all share the same basic functions and the same species name. Taking care of and looking after one another is one of the most fundamental survival tactics of any species. The fact that we all don't share the same level of care (in terms of health, income, access to food/water) seems really wrong to me. In an ideal world, we would all be accepted as members of humanity and we would all receive the same level of health care. Sadly this is not the case, and even people who are citizens of a country, myself included, still are not covered in terms of health care. The technology that countless members of our society use to try and find cures to new health ailments, and even those that study to become nurses and doctors that simply help save lives day after day in a hospital should share their gifts of assisting human life with all of humanity. When a natural disaster occurs (such as Haiti) many American doctors flocked to the nation in trouble to assist as much as they can. In places in Africa or Central America where poverty stricken nations are losing their populations due to malnutrition, inadequate sources of water and shelter, it makes me wonder why more people don't leave and help? Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:41:12 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-about-health-care__trashed/#IDComment70003681 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/south-park-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment70001373 When I found out that people had taken offense to this episode, my initial reaction wasn’t very considerate of the people of the Muslim religion. I thought it was ridiculous that people could see the episode of South Park, and react in rage and threaten to kill the creators. South Park is a cartoon and it is not real life. When I was in elementary school my best friend and I had this joke about our invisible friend Muhammad. I had no idea that there was so much controversy over allowing this character to have a physical form. If I did, I probably would have poked more fun at it because I wouldn’t have (and still really don’t) understood the drama that comes along with a visual of a god. It’s not like it’s an accurate depiction of the god, nobody actually has an accurate depiction of his or her god. Once I stepped out of my own shoes and tried to see this in the eyes of a Muslim who took offense, I began to see where this anger could come from. Many people have religious beliefs, much different than my lack of any, and these people hold true to these beliefs and live by these laws that their god has set forth for them. Holding onto something as strongly as many religious people do leads me to realize how this poking fun at their god could be offensive. It’s hard for me to put it into a perspective I can understand, though. I am not religious and I don’t have a god, let alone one that cannot be visualized. However, the anger these people must be feeling doesn’t justify threats to kill those who are simply making it into a joke. And it is also not as if this was the only religion they poked fun at, South Park is sure to leave nobody out of their jokes. What could make somebody who is religious and following the rules of their god, which include unconditional love and forgiveness, want to kill another person? People who feel that they are killing ‘for’ their god seem insane to me. How could a god that loves and accepts you be so willing to force you into murder? To me, this doesn’t seem to make any sense, especially if we are all welcome to become followers of this same god. Sometimes I feel that religion accidentally leads to acts of violence and hate more than it should. People should practice what they preach. If people who strongly believe in a god or religion that teaches forgiveness and unconditional love, they should be able to forgive those and love those who believe in different things than they do. They should also not hate and want to kill those that offend them. Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:34:00 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/south-park-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment70001373 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/the-tyranny-of-radical-muslims__trashed/#IDComment68436677 I agree with this post. Allah and God are the same. I have recently started saying ‘OMA’ instead of ‘OMG’ to emphasize my feelings on this subject to my friends. We all feel that the way we think is right. This is a natural borne thing to every person in the world. We are all egocentric and it is hard to realize it in most cases. We all think we have the best personality, the best family, our group of friends is the funniest, but everybody else in the world has these same feelings of superiority. I feel that this closely parallels how we all feel about religion. We all see religion as a black and white type of phenomena that has specific rules and regulations one must obey to be a true Christian/Buddhist/Muslim, but what if all of our gods are the same person? What if the extra rules and regulations are all man-made? It is hard to consider ourselves as in the wrong, but with recent views on this war, I feel that we should all consider ourselves in the wrong. My opinion on religion is that if one is going to believe in something, whether it is different than or the same as what you yourself believe in, they should be respected. We are all under this mindset of being right and never wrong, but if we look around at the world, we are all wrong. To go along with what this girl said about her husband being very against the beliefs Osama Bin Laden has, many people don’t realize that he is not voicing the opinions of the masses. He has his own beliefs and a small group of followers. There are so many other people that believe in the Muslim religion who do not follow the words of Osama Bin Laden. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 22:23:15 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/the-tyranny-of-radical-muslims__trashed/#IDComment68436677 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/creating-terrorists__trashed/#IDComment68435594 If my family were killed by a group of people that were already invading my country and altering my life, I would be very inclined to become a suicide bomber. I never really thought that these people could be avenging the deaths of loved ones, I always assumed they had either been brainwashed into religious reasons, or are doing it for financial stability for loved ones they will leave behind. Seeing it in this light is really powerful. I can fully understand why people who feel that they have nothing left to live for in life because they lost those they love, could feel the need to destroy the lives of people on the side of the enemy. Looking at war from the perspective of the ‘enemy’ is really enlightening. Hearing that soldiers we have trained and sent into a foreign country have the audacity and willingness to kill innocent civilians, especially the youth and women who are pregnant, is very unnerving. I never really thought that this nation could breed people with the ability to kill like this. These people have families of their own back in America; it’s not hard to see the similarities between our two countries, especially in a simple view of family. The fact that these civilians know that they are going to be killed and quickly get married before we invade is so sad! And the fact that the media is extremely selective about what is allowed to be broadcasted back home just leads our people even further into the dark. There are so many things wrong with this war, and this is just another thing I can add to the list. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 22:13:48 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/creating-terrorists__trashed/#IDComment68435594 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68433555 During class on Thursday, I was given the chance to try looking at the world and our country from a different perspective. It really frightened me to experience the world in this way. If the tables were turned on this country and China was trying to take our coal, we would react in much the same way the people in the Middle East are reacting. Growing up, I never really took the time to question why we were in these wars. I would see images from the Gulf war of oil mines on fire and American soldiers walking the streets of Iraq and this all seemed very normal to me. It seemed right. Now I think to how our country works, the way we take everything we can from anyone who isn’t as powerful as us, just because we want it. It seems very juvenile to act the way our country has acted over the past couple of decades. We realize that we need something, and we make up an excuse to get it, at any costs. The fact that the people in these countries know already, before we even penetrate their streets, that civilians, largely, are going to be the ones to die is not only very sad but also really unfair. America runs a lot of its foreign business in ways that are very unfair. We take from the poor and give to the rich, ourselves. We are already on top, and we keep playing king of the mountain until we can soak up the last bits of any resource this world has to offer, because, deep down, I guess America feels that they are entitled to it. I am not sure about how I feel about this subject, but my friends and I have had discussions on whether or not the “War on Terrorism” is even a legitimate war. Were we even attacked by terrorists of another country? Or were these people working for our government? This idea seems very far-fetched to me, but I cannot help but wonder about it. I know that if someone reads this who is very pro-war and patriotic they will immediately reply in anger, but I would just like to ask them to contemplate it for a few moments. We are now in the war simply because of oil (and because we feel we owe the people of these countries some “assistance” due to the destruction we caused over the past decade). What if that’s the whole reason we were there in the beginning of this war? I’m not saying it’s definite, I’m just saying it’s possible. What if the government, out of desperation for oil to fuel our booming economy, set up an “attack” on our soil so it would reach to the hearts of the masses? It is really unnerving to consider this and still continue to live in a country where its own government stages attacks on innocent civilians. This is probably a main reason why most people automatically block it out once they first hear it. I am just asking those who think it is impossible, to hypothetically consider it, and see if things start to begin to make sense. I, myself, have not come to a conclusion on this subject, but I constantly find myself wondering about it. Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:56:32 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/christian-invaders-the-turnaround__trashed/#IDComment68433555 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66710923 I think that one of the most important things one can do to gain more knowledge is challenge their own opinions. We sometimes like to think that we are the only ones that are right. I have a friend who I cannot have a conversation with about religion or America and some of the naughty things we do because she will completely shut down and ignore every point I’m making because she has already predetermined that she is the one thinking correctly. People like this make me sad. Expanding our minds through discussion is one of the greatest ways to create deeper thoughts and stronger opinions on subjects that our controversial. If everybody thought the same way, we would know that that way was most likely right. Since we all think differently, I think it is vital to bounce ideas off of one another and create discussions that stimulate the mind in ways that it may have never been stimulated before. Shutting down once an opinion you disagree with comes along is very typical, but the point of this class, I think, is to work past this time and let the different ideas flow into your mind. They don’t have to be accepted or seen as the right way, but they are supposed to make us think about the opinions we have already formed. How can we believe that our ideas are right if they have never been challenged? I have this problem when I talk to members of my family about religion, because they shut down into a ‘God is right and that’s that’ type of mentality. If it is never permitted to be challenged… how can one be so sure? Fri, 9 Apr 2010 02:59:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/i-really-want-to-know-also__trashed/#IDComment66710923 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment66099238 I also come from a Hispanic mother and a white father, but I personally identify with the "white team" more than I do on the Hispanic team. The reason for this is because in class we were asked what kind of a background we had growing up and the types of people we interacted with growing up, our friends, our school, which family we saw more often, etc. I come from a mildly racist white town and I have never really considered myself anything other than white. I say that I'm Hispanic when asked on scholarships or applications, but when I am just hanging out with my friends (who are mostly white) I never really feel different. Growing up, I felt like I was different because I knew certain Spanish phrases my mom said which I had assumed everybody knew, not knowing they were Spanish. I felt so different and it was hard to relate to the white culture that surrounded me. Now I don't ever feel this difference from my childhood because I have been completely absorbed into the white culture. I don't really relate to either "team" though when we're asked in class to participate on a team. I feel like I am more CULTURALLY white, but biologically I am still 50/50 Hispanic and white, so I find it hard to chose a side. Mon, 5 Apr 2010 20:51:02 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-about-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment66099238 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-if-we-got-rid-of-welfare__trashed/#IDComment66098324 The way that I view welfare is as a way to try to bring the poorest people in the country to a standard of living that gives them the ability to survive. Many people in welfare do get trapped and drain it for all that it's worth without even thinking about joining the working class. Other people try to utilize the time that they are given to acquire skills to get a job and the ability to keep a job. Many people on welfare are single parents, or young parents who are struggling to get by. These people may have made choices that have caused their monetary disposition, but they are still people and they should be treated humanely (being fed, being housed, schooling for their children, etc). The fact that welfare members are seen as free riders definitely puts welfare in a bad light, but people need to realize that these poor people, in many cases, did not live luxurious lifestyles in the beginning of their lives and then dream of being on welfare where they would have to do nothing and get paid. Many people dream of lifestyles where they work hard and make a lot of money, but instead, life paths are altered and people are thrown into lives of despair and they need monetary assistance to get out. I feel it is our duty as not only citizens, but also as fellow human beings to help these people. Mon, 5 Apr 2010 20:44:16 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/what-if-we-got-rid-of-welfare__trashed/#IDComment66098324 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66001919 Knowing that there are people out there who find this sort of video gaming fun is so disturbing, and also quite frightening. There doesn’t seem to be much of a difference between this kind of a game and a war/shooting type of game in terms of being humane, but I feel as though there are major differences in what message these games are sending across. This rape video game is teaching people how to rape women. Many people don’t need a video game to teach them how to rape, but how many more people will find the idea appealing after playing such a game? If music can negatively influence children into violence, and video games are portraying violence in a first-person perspective, many children are going to form new ideas on how they feel about rape and violence. I know people who have been raped and I feel that such a video game could cause many people to take offense, even those who haven’t been raped. It’s very unnerving to see that this type of a game has been selling, let alone been created. I understand that different countries have different cultures, but there is nothing humane about raping innocent women. The idea behind the game seems to be to see how well one can rape a girl. If people take some scenarios and ideas from the game to be applied in their day to day lives, this game could cause a rise in rape. Depicting this game to make out innocent women as the victim is bad enough, but in some of the games, young teenage girls are also being raped. The fact that these are made readily available in the US shortly after their release in Japan is another scary aspect of this whole business. Many people now have access to a video game that portrays rape as a goal and something that gets rewarded at the end. I feel as though this video game is degrading towards women and I do not feel that it should be allowed to be produced. If people begin to play this and develop interest in raping women on the streets, there will be a stronger, new formed fear of going out at night alone. I, personally do not want to be afraid to walk the streets at night. I know we all live in a safe place like State College, but with people playing this game, I feel as though we are thrown into greater danger. I understand that there are many people out there who are taking their rape sexual frustration out on this game and not on other people. I also can’t help but think that for every person this relieves of their sexual frustration, there will be 10 more children brainwashed into becoming rapists by playing these games. Mon, 5 Apr 2010 05:35:44 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/04/this-is-totally-off-the-hook__trashed/#IDComment66001919 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64274468 This video shocked me. I had no idea that children, at that young of an age, take a stronger liking to dolls that do not represent who they are or who they're related to. I can't decide if these children realize these racial differences subtly and draw their own conclusions at this young age, or if they are told by their family that they are 'bad' and that white people are 'good'. These poor little kids are being brought up into a world where they are taught that they are less than the white people they interact with. Some children are oblivious to it (like the example of Sam's friend's kid who said that her skin was dirty), which is what I thought all children were until they reach a certain age and wonder about racial differences. These kids were still toddlers or preschoolers and they already realized that they weren't the same. I don't know how it happens, if it's the messages we see at a young age on the news about criminals or ads on TV that are mostly white children. When I was younger, I never really wondered about the ethnicity of dolls. I am half Spanish, and I never once requested or questioned why I didn't have a Spanish doll, I was already satisfied with the white dolls I played with all the time. It's so crazy to think that socialization is happening at that young of an age; children can't even avoid it. Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:27:59 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/those-damn-dolls__trashed/#IDComment64274468 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment63953653 On my way out of class I spent a great deal of time wondering about this, too. What is the big deal about periods? When we were talking about periods, it didn't exactly make me uncomfortable or embarrassed but I wanted to stop talking about it. I didn't know why this was, though. It sort of made my vagina hurt, sort of bringing back memories of my time of the month. It is such a natural thing. Almost every woman does it, or at least has done it. Animals do it, also. Why do we get so nervous about it and unwilling to discuss it? I think it must have a lot to do with the images that are drawn in our minds when we hear the word or think about it for too long. But it seems as though some people view the whole process as "artistic", so why do some of us get so repulsed over it? Without our periods, as Sam said, none of us would be here, so you would think we would all be open and willing to learn everything we could about them. When I was younger and I would go shopping with my mom to the drug store she would insist we pay for her feminine pads at the pharmacy, or make me carry them around. My mom is a pretty strange person, but looking back on this it is the most ridiculous thing that she felt this way about something as natural as her period! She clearly had children, and therefore, had her period at at least some point in her life. The fact that she was trying to hide it from people she didn't even know was weird to me then, and even weirder to me now. I don't care who knows I have my period, but when we start to discuss the gory details, I begin to become less comfortable. I don't exactly understand why this is. The graphic images Sam depicted of his wife during her time of the month were not visually appealing to anyone in the room (except for Sam for some reason!). However, besides the images they created, I think that discussing periods in a less graphic matter will result in the same sort of backlash. The comparison Sam made about periods and hunger both being natural aspects of life was really interesting. Why do we feel so open about feeling hungry, but when it comes to having our periods we get shy? I feel as though it must be a social construct. I can't imagine cave women being embarrassed and ashamed of their periods. And I'm sure in these days, men were much more open to this as well. We all know about periods, so what is the harm in talking about them? Thu, 25 Mar 2010 03:32:11 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment63953653 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/native-hawaiians-ever-think-of-them__trashed/#IDComment63789121 I honestly had no idea that things were like this in Hawaii. On top of the fact that the natives of this island were overthrown by the ancestors of our oppressive government, these people are worse off than the people who have recently integrated themselves into the natives' land. The fact that it has taken a century for anything to even be done to try and change this unjust system is unreal to me. It is also only being done (or at least largely) due to our new president's original homeland being Hawaii. If we hadn't had a Hawaiian president in office, I'm sure that this unfair system wouldn't be challenged for centuries to come. Since Hawaii isn't a part of the continental United States, I feel that this has a large part to do with why I had never even heard of this injustice. The rates of poverty and homelessness being high for the native population are so unfair. I just don't get how a group of people can run the land of so many others by just coming in and taking over. Then once they've taken the land, they ruin it for the natives. This has also happened to Native Americans and it is insanely unfair! Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:58:00 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/native-hawaiians-ever-think-of-them__trashed/#IDComment63789121 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment63788302 On my way out of class I spent a great deal of time wondering about this, too. What is the big deal about periods? When we were talking about periods, it didn't exactly make me uncomfortable or embarrassed but I wanted to stop talking about it. I didn't know why this was, though. It sort of made my vagina hurt, sort of bringing back memories of my time of the month. It is such a natural thing. Almost every woman does it, or at least has done it. Animals do it, also. Why do we get so nervous about it and unwilling to discuss it? I think it must have a lot to do with the images that are drawn in our minds when we hear the word or think about it for too long. But it seems as though some people view the whole process as "artistic", so why do some of us get so repulsed over it? Without our periods, as Sam said, none of us would be here, so you would think we would all be open and willing to learn everything we could about them. When I was younger and I would go shopping with my mom to the drug store she would insist we pay for her feminine pads at the pharmacy, or make me carry them around. My mom is a pretty strange person, but looking back on this it is the most ridiculous thing that she felt this way about something as natural as her period! She clearly had children, and therefore, had her period at at least some point in her life. The fact that she was trying to hide it from people she didn't even know was weird to me then, and even weirder to me now. I don't care who knows I have my period, but when we start to discuss the gory details, I begin to become less comfortable. I don't exactly understand why this is. The graphic images Sam depicted of his wife during her time of the month were not visually appealing to anyone in the room (except for Sam for some reason!). However, besides the images they created, I think that discussing periods in a less graphic matter will result in the same sort of backlash. The comparison Sam made about periods and hunger both being natural aspects of life was really interesting. Why do we feel so open about feeling hungry, but when it comes to having our periods we get shy? I feel as though it must be a social construct. I can't imagine cave women being embarrassed and ashamed of their periods. And I'm sure in these days, men were much more open to this as well. We all know about periods, so what is the harm in talking about them? Wed, 24 Mar 2010 03:51:10 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/whats-the-big-deal-with-periods__trashed/#IDComment63788302 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-happens-to-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment62827685 I have recently started wondering this same thing. I never know when I am 'allowed' to participate in these survey questions because I am half Honduran, half Caucasian. I don't think it really matters what we are racially, but when I, personally, think about what my race is, it changes from day to day. I can be Hispanic when it matters (scholarships and such) but I can also be Caucasian in all other situations, if I so choose. Growing up, I always thought I was different, but I would try to hide it. I wouldn't feel comfortable sharing that I was Hispanic with my classmates because I was afraid of being different. Since high school, though, I have learned to embrace my heritage and differences in a way that I never would have done in my youth. I love having the background I have, being able to chose from day to day what I want to 'be'. As for when the questions come up, I can chose to be on either side because I feel that I am actually on both sides of the issue. I have dealt with feeling different and mild cases of discrimination, but I have also felt the privilege of being a 'white' American my whole life. I really don't care what I am considered racially, most of the time. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:02:21 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/what-happens-to-multiracial-people__trashed/#IDComment62827685 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment62507663 When I first heard this story I couldn't believe it! These poor girls clearly care deeply for each other and the fact that the school thinks that they can put a stop to them making their feelings public is ridiculous! Growing up, we all picture our high school proms. Everyone imagines getting dressed up and dancing and having a great time with a person they really care about. It doesn’t matter if this person is the same gender as them or not, the point of the prom is not to make sure boys are paired up with girls, it is to make sure that every boy and girl chooses their date on the basis of friendship and, in some cases, love. Regardless of how socially acceptable it is, each person should be granted their wishes when it comes to their high school prom. I wonder what’s next: if the town that wanted to ban interracial marriages will put a ban on interracial couples attending dances together??? Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:56:35 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/prom-or-no-prom-just-dont-let-the-queer-students-dance-together__trashed/#IDComment62507663 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/women-and-sports__trashed/#IDComment62506540 When I was in elementary school I told my dad I wanted to be a wrestler. It was mostly because my dad is a big fan of wrestling and I just wanted his attention, but he automatically said NO. I don’t think I was too serious about it so I didn’t really argue. Looking back on this time now, though, I would love to ask my dad exactly why he thought I couldn’t be a wrestler. There are plenty of girls wrestling on high school teams, but they are definitely still far from the majority. My friend wrestles and he talks about girls that wrestle him in a much different way than he does his male competitors. This is pretty interesting. Boys seem to see girls, no matter how strong or fit they actually are, as lesser and more likely to lose against any boy. Having a girl beat you must be one of the most embarrassing things tat wrestlers encounter. If a girl and a boy of the same strength and weight class wrestle a boy of lesser strength, the weaker boy who gets defeated will more than likely try to come up with any excuse for this besides the fact that she is stronger than him. “I didn’t want to hurt a girl” is the most common excuse I’ve heard. After all the years of women trying to fight for equal rights, women are still looked down upon as the weaker, or less capable of doing physical work. In most cases, I feel as though this stereotype is accurate, but there are plenty of cases out there where women are much, much stronger than their male counterparts. The foundation of our society is set on men wearing pants and women wearing dresses. These are the roles we were forced into from birth. Even as young as our first two years, we are given gender roles. Mothers spend more time catering to and being concerned with their young daughters than they are to their young sons. In a study, it was shown that mothers of young toddlers show more affection and concern for their daughters and expect that their sons will be more independent and take care of themselves. Even before we are born we are given colors that represent our genders, and toys that are a reflection of our genders. Many parents make extra sure that their children do not get mixed up with the “wrong” toys or begin to favor the “wrong” colors. This is especially true for young boys and their fathers. My sister’s husband thought it was wrong of me to give my nephew, Ethan, a doll as a gift. When I asked him why, he said, “He’s not a girl! We don’t want him to like dolls!” I argued that it’s just a toy and that he’s just a baby, he won’t care if it’s a doll. I also asked him what he was afraid of by letting Ethan play with a doll. He said he didn’t want Ethan to be gay because he played with dolls. I sort of backed off and let it go, but I really don’t understand this mindset at all! If Ethan plays with dolls or plays with trucks, if he IS gay, nothing we give him to play with is going to encourage it, or stop it. The only thing these toys could do would be to open up his young eyes to a world with dolls! He could learn a thing or two about taking care of babies, which is what his father is now doing. My niece loves her dolls, and Ethan doesn’t really care to much about them. This seems a little troubling to think about because one day Ethan will have “dolls” (babies) and if he could have played with dolls he may have had a more loving and caring outlook on these future children than he would have not being allowed to take care of fake dolls in his infancy. The world will never know! Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:50:18 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/women-and-sports__trashed/#IDComment62506540 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-four__trashed/#IDComment59837435 I think we could do what Sam told us to do. We need to learn about this situation as much as possible and tell as many people as we can. I, personally, have told at least 3 of my friends so far about this situation. It is so insane that we live on the land that was taken from poor, innocent people. We tell ourselves that we made peace with these people. We even created a holiday to celebrate this time in our history! We celebrate it every year with our families! When we can create a holiday to mask the time we spent destroying their lives, we may have gone too far. Learning about this in elementary school, dressing up like an Indian at times, now seems like mocking their culture. Genocide is not something we should celebrate in my church's preschool classes! Fri, 5 Mar 2010 04:39:55 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/native-americans-question-four__trashed/#IDComment59837435 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/a-long-long-way-indeed__trashed/#IDComment59836463 I think that slave owners would be appalled to see all the black people on tv today. But if they turned off their tv's and went to a mall to see how differently blacks are treated when they are amongst secret racists, they would be proud of America. The fact that black people who have never been to jail don't get called back as much as white people who have been to jail is insane! Slave owners would be happy to see that despite the freedom that black people have gained, they still have a long way to go. We definitely have come a long, long way since the era of the Civil War, but we still have a lot of work to do. We have a new president, but there are still acts of racism happening every day. I think it will take baby steps, but some day we will all see people the same way, no matter what color or gender they are. Fri, 5 Mar 2010 04:28:59 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/a-long-long-way-indeed__trashed/#IDComment59836463 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59833235 This is actually something I’ve quickly pondered before, but then automatically dismissed because mismatching races is something I think very few companies or corporations rarely do. When I watch commercials on t.v, they are usually matched up perfectly with race-white couple, black family, Asian lovers. This never really seemed too strange to me, which leads me to wonder if this is why I never pondered why things are like this. The reason that I do a double take when people of different races are together is unexplainable to me. I guess I just think it’s bizarre because I never really see people doing this. However, I, myself, am a product of mixed racial backgrounds and I feel as though I forget this lot. I never really see my mom as being Hispanic. She doesn’t even have citizenship in this country and I don’t even feel like that makes any difference in how my dad and her are together. The language barriers didn’t even stop them from falling in love! But, for some reason, I never once went into deep thought about why networks usually air races as matching each other perfectly. True love is blind; it has nothing to do with appearances. This should be motivation enough for networks to show the world what different types of racial differences have found love amongst themselves. I think a main reason for this is just because it is what the majority of people do. In my experiences, I have found that most people are with people that look similar to them. When I go to the mall, most people stick to their own races when it comes to who they hold hands with when in public. Even walking around campus, I see mostly races intermingling that are the same. This causes me to wonder if the reason they’re together is because of the pressures of society to stay within your race when it comes to choosing a partner, or if it’s the other way around; if choosing a partner on the basis of similar races is causing networks to show mostly people of the same race getting together on their shows. I feel like our nation is the biggest melting pot on the planet, yet, on our television shows, we try to make sure we stay within our own racial boundaries. It’s quite contradictory. Our country actually contradicts itself in many more ways than this subtlety. Perhaps this segregation of inter-racial mixing has to do with keeping a race “pure”. My one friend back home has a boyfriend who will not let her wear black and white together because it represents inter-racial relationships. I think this kid is a moron (his name is Flint!!!), but he’s not the only person out there trying to keep races separate, he’s just much more public about his feelings. Fri, 5 Mar 2010 03:50:56 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/03/are-whites-the-only-people-willing-to-humiliate-themselves__trashed/#IDComment59833235