I once heard someone say, “Close your eyes to what you can’t imagine”. People have this fear of what they can’t understand. When they can’t understand something, even more so because it is something about another group of people unlike themselves, they come up with these misguided views of something they really shouldn’t be judging at all. Making it something that is a choice gives them some comfort because it gives them an explanation for something they can’t understand and also holds the people they are describing accountable for it and making it something wrong. Being gay is a sin and you choose to be gay so now you have to fix it. Making it something that is someone else’s fault also gives them comfort because it gives them this false idea that it can be cured or it is some sort of phase the individual is going through. I mean it’s the same way we get scared of darkness or the ocean and in our minds we think something might be there when it really isn’t and we’re usually exaggerating. In a way it is understandable but at the same time you can be mad because we shouldn’t really judge things (especially people) when we don’t understand them or simply because we are afraid.
The problem comes up with understanding and the ability to at least try to understand others. When people don’t understand something they are afraid and they also want to act like it hasn’t defeated them so they come up with this quick, ignorant explanation. For me being gay was always around me so I never really got to make any sort of misguided view. I have an aunt who is lesbian and a cousin who is transsexual; both at the extremes of their gayness. But growing up with them close to me I also saw them shift into these people that they are now and while some can see that as them making a choice to turn gay and start dressing a certain way or whatever. Yes they were both “normal” little boys and girls, my aunt even had boyfriends when she was younger and her hair was longer. But as they grew older they started changing and everybody saw it; my family even tried to make explanations that were a little out there as well. To me it was just the same way every body changes; we figure out what we like and don’t like and we start shaping our lives to fit those opinions. It’s not a choice but just simply what that person likes just the same way some people become doctors and others business people.

Latent prejudice is a social problem itself. There are countless amounts of implications that are caused by latent prejudice but if it weren’t for societies mixing together it wouldn’t even exist (in a racial sense of course). The problem is is that it shapes a lot of our world by effecting the decisions and actions that we make. I can be raised to do something a certain way and unknowingly this is because of a some type of prejudice that’s subconsciously shaping my decision to do it this way. For example, I can choose to go to one auto repair shop on a one side of town even though there is one who on the closer side of my town that is also cheaper. However, the one that is closer and cheaper is in a bad area (the ghetto) and that is why it is cheaper. I won’t go to that repair shop, I’ll go to the other one that is in a little ritzier of a neighborhood and is bigger and fancier. However, what I might not know is that the one that is closer to me is actually safer because the one that is further is secretly doing business with a drug cartel and the store is really just a front. The one that is closer is run by a legitimate business man, who may be African American, but he has been working on cars for over twenty years and is known around the town for being friendly and not trying to get over on his customers like most auto shops do. I know this is an extreme case but its true. A lot of the time we decide to do things and we don’t know that it is because we have these ideas that one thing is better than the other and these ideas aren’t based on anything but what we were conditioned to believe. We might buy from Walmart, or travel to France, or buy a house in the Hamptons and it’s all because we are conditioned to believe that these things are the best. The implications that this latent prejudice has is that it keeps us away from other things that are probably much better and from experiencing something different than what we know and possibly something that could alter our worldviews. We might not realize it but there is something good and something bad about every individual, group, culture, race and so on. Because of our latent beliefs we will never really get to know those goods and bads about others because we are being held hostage by our own minds in this world that we made up for ourselves. All that is going to do is leave us in the same dilemma that we have always been in and not allow us to grow or change and that is the worst thing that somebody can do.

I actually wasn't in class this week because I was stuck in New York with Sandy but it's funny and ironic that this was one of the topics of this week because it was actually something I was thinking about earlier. On some social network I saw a posting about what a lot of politicians were saying about abortions in the cases of rape. A lot of their argument was based on their belief that the manner in which life was conceived doesn’t have anything to do with the life that was conceived and that they shouldn’t suffer (be aborted) because of that. Basically these pro-lifers stick to the fact that it is a life and it shouldn’t be killed. Paul Ryan put their idea perfectly into words when he said, “the method of conception doesn’t change the idea of life.” In a way you can say that these people have no empathy but I think there are other factors to take into consideration. Of course to high politicians as some of these were the same rules don’t apply and they never really expect their family to come into that type of situation. To them it is relative and they really can’t put their selves into the shoes of it being their daughter or mother or sister, however I think if it were to happen to them it would change their views on the whole matter pretty quickly, especially in the case of rape for people with such high status. That’s not an issue that they really have to worry about and so why would they. But moreover in a sense they do have some empathy because they are thinking of the life of a child that doesn’t get to survive just because their mother was raped. However, many people take this as them being insensitive and in many ways it does show their lack of empathy. For example, Todd Akin was quoted saying, “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.” And a lot of other politicians used this as a basis to their argument as well. That whole thing that he is referring to is the woman’s reproductive system and basically what he is saying is that if a woman is really being raped (i.e. she really doesn’t secretly want it or she didn’t lie) her reproductive system wouldn’t work and she wouldn’t be able to become pregnant in the first place. This is extremely insensitive and untrue to the woman and their bodies. Rape doesn’t stop reproductive organs from working and to say so is does show a lack of empathy for these women who have been raped. However there is also a lack of empathy when looking at bringing a child into a world where the mother wasn’t ready to care for it or when he or she is a product of something so ugly. Where is the empathy for the mother and the child when looking at how his life would turn out.

My biggest question after the lecture about Indians or “Native Americans” or what have you is about the future. What is next? I left the lecture feeling as though I had some type of responsibility to help to change the situation for them or try and make things better in anyway possible. I don’t know if it was because I felt responsible for the situation they were in because to be honest it isn’t my fault; I wasn’t anywhere near existence when this land was taken from the natives and didn’t give in to that at all. It could just be the empathy that I am feeling for these people and being that I have more I feel that it is my responsibility to give and help those who are less fortunate (sort of in the same way that Sam is actively involved in helping Haiti and such). However, I was thinking also that maybe it is because I do feel guilty. I am not guilty because I did this and am the reason for the situation that these natives are living in. I am guilty because I am benefiting from the actions that Europeans had taken however many years ago. I am able to live in “America” and have all that I need and live in my big buildings and go to schools with thousands of other students who are also taking full advantage of this land that is not ours. I know that it is not my doing that they are in the situation that they are in but at the same time it is because we have so much that they have so little, and in that I feel wrong, I feel like I should give back.
So the question that I was left with was “What’s next?” But there’s way more to that question then just what is next. Part of me was thinking about the whole situation and almost feeling a sense of hopelessness. What could possibly be done to fix their situation and how much would it take? Is it even possible? I started thinking about the situation as a whole and the rate of suicides, alcohol and drug use, and the poverty levels. All of it together just made me feel like the situation had just gotten so bad that there was no recovering. So in addition to my question of what’s next I would like to ask if the natives even feel that they can recover from the situation that they are in. I started thinking of the old saying, “if you can’t beat them, join them”. By all means I am completely against what has been done to the natives and I do believe that rightfully this land belongs to them I just don’t see them getting it back (given how many “Americans” are here and how long it has been since it was taken) and just feel that if they keep trying to stay where they are it is going to be detrimental to their health, well-being and to their future in general. Maybe trying to incorporate them more into the American culture and schools and ways of living would prove to be helpful and it doesn’t mean they have to lose who they are. America is made up of immigrants, we all are, and we still hold close to us the traditions and ways of our ancestors while still involving ourselves in American ways. I don’t mean to sound ignorant or like they should just give up I just feel like maybe it would be in their best interest.
On top of that, I would like to know how outsiders can help. I definitely want to look into helping natives in some way but I don’t know how and I don’t know how open they are to having us Americans come try and help when in reality we are the problem.

I know I’m not a guy but I also think that its not only men who are saying things about women who let hair grow on certain parts of their bodies. Having ancestry in Bolivia and Puerto Rico has granted me the gift of having a little more hair on my bodies than most American girls. My arms are something that has always bothered me and of course the few dark facial hairs that I saw my grandmother, mother, and finally myself bleach since I can remember. But my arm hairs more so because there was never anything I can do about them. I remember in second grade a girl turning to me and making fun of me while we were all siting in a circle on the rug. She had seen the hairs on my arms that were darker and a little more plentiful and made fun of me because, I guess, girls weren’t supposed to have that. I went to a school that was in Greenwich Village and filled with a lot of rich, white families. I’m pretty much over it, but at the time it made me feel horrible. The point is another female made me feel like I wasn’t fitting the female role. Its as though even females have this set way of what they should look like, and if we don’t fit each others needs and expectations we aren’t accepted among those females who do. I guess it is in the end to submit to a men’s desire of how women should look, but more so because of how society portrays a women and how she should look. However, I think it is crazy that women would make fun of other women on their appearance without understanding the things that females have to do for their appearance. I mean, I know we were only in the second grade, but I have heard plenty of women in college making fun of other women walking by who had a different hair cut or style or was from a different country. I am in no way a feminist but as women we should stand together by understanding and not give in to the societal pressures. Of course, I will go back to properly grooming myself but just as a side note; the girl who had made fun of me came the next day with a t-shirt on. The boy sitting next to me spotted her underarm hair growing when she raised her hand. He quickly pointed it out (almost as if to get her back for me the day before) and she quickly turned red. She was African-American so she also had thicker and darker hair than most of our white classmates. Which also brings in the issue of race because as people of color we should even more understand the differences in hair types. Yet we make fun of each other without thinking of the time when we will also be made fun of.

Its always shocking when you find out that somebody is something other than what you had assumed. But I don’t know what is more shocking; the fact that they may look one way and appear another or that we decided that they were a certain thing and because they aren’t we are surprised, as if we know it all and what we say is right. The appearance questions in class did show a lot and I am not going to lie and say that I got them all right. I don’t think that the fact that so many people got those questions wrong really give to the notion that we are racist. Instead I think it really just is an extension of our ignorance, and in no way is that an excuse, but at the same time you can’t expect unexposed people to know any better. The thing that you have to take into account is where a person is from, where they have been, and how much they really know about the countless amounts of different races. One of the hardest races that there are to differentiate between are those races that fall under the Asian category. One thing that people don’t realize is that there are many different types of Asians and being that Asia is so big and has such different environments they can have very different looks from each other. However, someone who is from the middle of Pennsylvania, a completely (or close to it) Caucasian neighborhood, and probably the only time they have been exposed to Asians is in the movies would most likely have a hard time identifying an Asian from Korea as Korean. A person from a city such as New York where there are whole areas labeled Little China and Little Korea and so on is much more likely to be able to differentiate between a few different Asian races, but even these people have there one sighted views on how an “Asian” is supposed to look. Obviously somebody from Asia or an archaeologist, or some other profession where travel was necessary, is going to have the easiest time differentiating between different Asians, possibly even down to the tribe. Really at the end matters like these come down to experience. It is about what we have been exposed to, shown and even taught by people that we considered elders. A lot of our views come from our parents, but even more so just society in general. When an American thinks of an Asian person they already have one face set in mind and that is someone with skinny eyes, a flat face, tan skin, and black hair. That is simply what we have been thought and conditioned to know and picture. However, if we were taught something else or maybe sought after an alternative to the truth we are already taught and questioned the truth our answers would be a little more enlightened and correct.

The thing about differences is that we have been raised to be afraid of them. When we see something that is very unlike us or does things a different way, instead of embracing it and finding it to be a good thing we find it to be weird or scary or we are intimidated by it. Maybe it is because of humans need to compete and their belief that the way that they do things is the right way. Sam thinks we should embrace differences as a way of ultimately not focusing them. I think that this is interesting alternative views on cultural differences. I would just change one thing and that is the ending of his proposal where we stop focusing on differences. The problem is that we are socially conditioned to ignore the differences because if we recognize and acknowledge them we are accused of having racist tendencies. What I think is that acknowledging differences shouldn’t be a bad thing at all, we shouldn’t think that people are racist just for noticing differences, because in all reality the differences are there. I don’t think Sam should have ended his goal in stopping the focus on differences because for me that still implies that there is something wrong with acknowledging the differences.
There is a good side to differences. People build great relationships off of differences alone (opposites attract) just because of the new experiences that can be taught and learned because of one another and the bond that is built from that shared knowledge. And that doesn’t only apply to different races and cultures but just from people in general. We are all different and into different things and have learned different habits. While my friend might be able to show me how to ride a horse, I might be able to teach her how to draw a human figure. If it weren’t for the different people that we have met with different skills and lifestyles we wouldn’t be the people that we are today. I think that we tend to think difference is something bad and that means that there is something that is better and of course we like to think of ourselves as better than others. However, I have come to learn that even a person with a disability can teach you something that you wouldn’t have experienced if not for that disability. For example, my little brother had a speech impediment when he was first learning how to speak. My father and I had tried to help him as much as possible but he still struggled and became impatient at times when he couldn’t say the desired word or phrase. While this may seem like something that is just an inconvenience I believe that it serves its purpose too. My brother taught me a lot of patience when he was going through this phase. More importantly he taught me the determination that someone could put into something because he never gave up or stopped talking and as much as he messed up is as much as he tried. And I believe it made him a stronger person as well because it was something that he struggled with but it was also something that he overcame. Now we can’t get him to stop talking!

Just to add on to my previous post.... A girl in class today said something about being from Hawaii. Although here in Pennsylvania she's perceived as your typical white girl over there she was the minority and she suffered with first hand racism. She started to go on about how we don't know anybody's background or what struggles they might have had and what things might be offensive to them. I feel like this summed up part of what I was trying to say perfectly. While it is understandable that African Americans would be angered by the use of the term colored people, they also can't expect everybody to know what will and will not offend them. They have no clue what words might offend me and to go around with that mentality would leave you mad at everyone who utters words of no meaning to them. I just feel like while it is out of ignorance to use the term given what we have learned now, it is also ignorant to expect everybody to understand your history and not offend you at all.

I think that a lot of people had things to say at the ending of the last Soc 119 class. I know I had raised my hand a few times. The thing that angers me most about these issues is that both sides really think that their perspective is right, and there could be no alternative. Im hispanic and with issues like these we are usually left out because it's always black against white. What I think is that there is a middle point, but it is crowded and blocked by so much anger, fear, and even racism itself. When the white girl who stood up and accidentally said colored people instead of people of color I don't believe that she was trying to be racist or even knew the meaning of those words to certain other individuals in the class. However, we can't be mad at her for not knowing the history of a people that were not her own, because as she pointed out we don't know the full history of the Jewish or the Irish or every other race for that matter. And while I can understand the anger and implications that come along with that choice of words, I think that with the abolishment of the Jim Crow laws and such, the derogatory meaning of the words have also and the meaning has evolved to include much more than what it used to. People of color include blacks, Asians, hispanic, Indians, and everything other than white. Thinking that colored people is only geared towards African Americans in a racist way is only holding yourself and others in the past and not allowing us to move on from the racism and old meanings of things.

Society and everybody in the united states don’t like immigrants. People wonder why but the one thing that we know for sure is that people don’t like immigrants because most of us are greedy. We don’t like things to be taken from us even if the person who is getting it needs it much more than us. Also, we don’t like to share. And often times even if they are only opportunities and we won’t even need them to fall back on we want them there to help us feel more secure and less hopeless. So we rather people who need it don’t get it as long as it we are able to take it for ourselves. Also, I think there is a difference between every immigrant and Mexican immigrants. People are bias and they tend to think of Mexicans as lazy and people that we cannot trust. They make stereotypes and think that Mexicans are the only ones that can be immigrants. They tend to not think about the fact that most people are immigrants or descended from immigrants. I thought it was really interesting when Sam brought up the fact that when we hear of immigrants we tend to think of Mexicans. However, we are ALL immigrants. The only people that wouldn’t be considered immigrants would be Native Americans but nobody would want to think of themselves as an immigrant or descendent thereof. And it is really unfair. We unfairly took this land away from its rightful owner and then want to have the say as to who else is allowed to come here. It kind of relates to what Sam said in lecture about the fact that most people (Mexicans) come here and give their family the opportunity to come as well. However, when it comes to others of their kind, they do not want to leave that door open. If you really think about it we are doing the same exact thing but with everybody around the world no matter where they are from. To me, I feel like immigrants are not harming me or my family by staying and making a living here and if anything we are allowing them to do so more by not allowing their work to be legal. Also most people do not realize but our country would not be able to function as well as it does if we did not have the immigrants doing all the hard work in the background for pay that is much less than they deserve. I remember a few years back when the Mexicans were going to go on strike, and all of a sudden everybody became scared as to what would happen if they were to actually go through with it. The same people that were trying to force the immigrants out were scared to see them go and we never even allowed the chance. What would happen if they actually had gone through with it?