en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/1193969 Comments by sioux2010 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80345993 I am very sorry to hear about your mothers accident. I wrote my blog on sort of the same idea you did, My cousin is paralyzed from his neck down from some kid who shot him in the neck. This lecture hit home for me like it did for you for that reason. I know that when times are tough i step back and realize, Im healthy, I can walk and have so many opportunities that so many others do not. I too agree with the comedian sayin that It is nice to be white and not have to worry about the things that people of color need to worry about. Its a shame that they need to worry about such things but I am happy that I do not. I know of many people who have to deal with those sort of things like your muslim friend, and I cannot even imagine having to deal with it. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:43:18 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80345993 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80340137 I never really thought of it that way, that at any point in the history of mankind, whitre people have not really suffered as much as people of color have. And people of color cannot go back and really find a time where their people have lived as whites have. Now I also know that white people have had some hard times as well too, maily peoples of Jewish decent, so do not think that Im excluding all white people from hardship, that is not what i am trying to imply. It is very strange to think that throught the history of mankind it has always been "dominated" by the white race, and peoples of color have generally had to put up with white people for that entire time. I am lucky enough to look at my life and not say that I have dissabilities and so many hardships that other people have to face in today world. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:42:59 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80340137 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80340123 It has made me realize that even though my life has been filled with some hard times and I may think that my life is aweful when nothing works like it should, I just step back and think to myself, at least I have my health, I can walk, I can do anything. Now im not saying that my cousins life sucks at all, he still lives a great life, its just a little harder than it should be. It takes some getting used to, being around him and feeding him and everything of that sort, like Sam said in the lecture, but you eventually almost dont notice it and think about it all the time. Relating to the lecture, I dont think about being white all the time and dont really think about hardships that I face. Kind of like in the video of the comedian talking about how white people over the years have had a great life and we have had nothing to worry about. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:42:49 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80340123 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80340113 During this lecture, while Sam was talking about people with paralysis, all I could think about was my cousin and his problem. I have a close cousin of mine who lives a few minutes away from me and works in my town. At the age of 19 during his freshman year of college, he was shot in the neck and is now paralyzed from the neck down. He is now in his upper 30's and has been dealing with his problem for quite some time. He needs to be driven around everywhere, needs changed, bathed, and fed. Imagine not being able to scratch your arm if it itches, hug your mother, and going through life needing the help of others, and not being able to do so many things on your own. Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:42:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80340113 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79368130 It is an unreal image when most of the inmates incarcerated in movies are white. It just gives a false sense of what is really happening. Racism is a huge factor in policing today, thought it is not as bad as it used to be here in the United States, It still needs to be terminated completely. I have seen videos and documentaries of how a white male can do a crime and get off with a warning or just a fine, yet at the same time when a black or brown male does the same thing he is incarcerated for however long a period of time. The justice system needs to be a little more balanced. Wed, 9 Jun 2010 22:38:49 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79368130 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79366524 One of the most famous lines from any poem, or of that that I can remember, is from Robert Frost and it reads “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” This talks about the same thing, being that making certain choices like a different road or whatever it may be can change the story of your life forever, and the lives of those after you. Wed, 9 Jun 2010 22:24:31 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79366524 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79366502 This is a very interesting topic when Sam begins to talk about the paths that we choose and the paths that our ancestors chose and its effect on others. I believe that each decision we choose in our lifetime sends us on a different path and send us on a whole new path in the universe. There are billions and billions of lines drawn through the universe that is our life’s path. Each decision we make, even the smallest, minute decision, changes our path and leads us to an entirely different lifestyle. For example, walking down a certain road to get to the grocery store instead of another can change your life from being an ordinary Joe, to the multi-million dollar business man you wish to be. Half of it is due to chance and luck like Sam says. Maybe you meet someone on that different road you just took that you never knew was there. He turns out to be a head-honcho to some corporation or maybe an inventor and asks you for an investment. All because you happened to walk down some road that you don’t normally do. Wed, 9 Jun 2010 22:24:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79366502 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79366482 That was a very interesting lecture haha. Loved the way it began, it was a very interesting way to show how we are free to do what we wish but yet there are some things that are out of our control that shape us to do or not do certain actions. The imaginary strings were a very true topic to talk about. You see it all the time especially here in America where we ARE actually free to do what we wish (with some exceptions like murder and stuff like that) but at the same time the way we were raised as children and the customs that we have been taught and have practiced for so many years. For example, I do not have to say thank you to someone who holds a door open for me, or I don’t have to help someone move or lift heavy objects because they do indeed need help, but I do because I was raised to be a gentleman and to be polite. It just comes naturally to me. There is no NEED for me to do that and I am free to not do those things if I choose to, but I do because of what I think of the outside forces that Sam talks about. Wed, 9 Jun 2010 22:24:07 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79366482 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78822371 I feel the same way about this topic. It is unbelievable how we automatically think of things like that based on how soemone looks. People today are so stereotypical and its just unreal. One thing that I really hate to hear is how some races blame any problems that they think they have on other races. Like "Its the White Mans Fault, its his evildoing." or "If we could just get rid of all those blacks and browns our problems will be solved." I hear things like this all the time and when I hear it and just cant believe that people think like this and actually believe what they are saying. its sickening. Sun, 6 Jun 2010 19:10:54 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78822371 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78817692 You cannot blame your problems on society, only yourself. I hate it when people blame their problems on something else (unless of course it is something you cannot control like illness, etc.) It is tragic when you feel that you have to make choices that are going to have a negative effect on your life but will help your family in the long run. No one wants to be put in those situations and they are not fair. But I respect those who can make those difficult choices and sacrifice something of theirs for the better good of someone else. But like Sam mentioned in lecture, we all have obstacles to face and we all have to deal with them (some more worse than others, but still.) You have a responsibility to take care of your family and do whatever is necessary to see that your family is well off. Sun, 6 Jun 2010 18:12:15 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78817692 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78817673 I have also seen Socio-Psycho Cognitive inequality in my home town. From what I have seen, this really pisses me off and I don’t exactly feel bad for these people. These people who choose to not go out and strive as hard as others and don’t work, collect unemployment, and are on welfare, and yet they complain saying society has put them in this situation. These people also have many children even thought they cannot support them and they complain that they do not have enough money to survive. These are people of all races and all colors. I am not trying to single out any specific race. But when you don’t make the choices you need to and try to always take the easy way out all the time, you cannot have the same things in life as others and you have no one to blame but yourself. Sun, 6 Jun 2010 18:11:58 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78817673 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78817651 I really liked in lecture the part when Sam talked about the Biological, Socio-Psycho Cognitive, and the Socio-Structural causes of inequality. These all make viable reasons as to why there is inequality among others. Although I do not agree with the Biological reason, our genetic differences (our appearances) are the reasons for our inequality in the first place. When I think of this Biological reason, the first thing that comes to mind is the issue of slavery. Inequality based on biological differences is in my opinion the biggest problem that we have to face today in society. I have not experienced it on a huge scale, but I have seen it on smaller levels, often times in sports. A coach will play a white kid over a black kid even though the white kid is not nearly as good as the black kid, and vice versa. All because of the color of their skin, they are accepted or rejected in society. Sun, 6 Jun 2010 18:11:39 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78817651 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism__trashed/#IDComment78287391 I think that that is ethnocentrism. I have experienced the same thing in my travels to different areas. It is usually the first thing you see about a country or city that sticks with you and that’s how you perceive that country or city whenever you first think about it or hear the name. It does kind of make you generalize what you hear about the country to the country as a whole. And it is hard to not do that with the first thing that you hear. But we all just have to realize that we cannot only focus on one aspect of the country but we have to think about everything together. Thu, 3 Jun 2010 00:00:30 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism__trashed/#IDComment78287391 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism__trashed/#IDComment78282894 And for instance, take hunting deer. Deer have no natural enemy. If hunting were not allowed to take part or no one hunted at all, there would be an overpopulation of deer running wild in the country. You may think this is a good thing but what you don’t realize is that the more deer there are, the more accidents will occur on highways, backstreets, and anywhere else one may drive. Deer will be killed (and for no purpose of eating meat so their bodies will go to waste), people could be injured, and property damaged. And as well as that, deer eat crops that our farmers plant. I know I may have gotten off track with this but I am just trying to prove a point that hunting, while you may think it’s inhumane and cruel, is in fact the better way to eat. I agree with Sam when he talked about this. Wed, 2 Jun 2010 23:22:20 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism__trashed/#IDComment78282894 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism__trashed/#IDComment78282880 I myself am a hunter and I hunt for the excitement, the thrill of the chase, and for the meat of the deer. There is a sense of self accomplishment when you yourself put meat on the dinner table that you worked so hard for and you went out and got yourself. That may sound awful to some of you but ill have you know that I have the utmost respect for the animal I kill. I literally thank it for supplying my family and I with food. There is a sense of respect for the animal, as much as you may not think so, there is a great deal of it. Wed, 2 Jun 2010 23:22:12 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism__trashed/#IDComment78282880 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism__trashed/#IDComment78282837 I believe 100% that hunting is more ethical AND humane when it comes to eating meat. Factory farming is cruel and unusual punishment. Not to mention it is horrible for your health. It is much safer and much more healthy to eat freshly killed meat. There are no toxins or whatever else factory farms put into their meat or feed their cows. This is 100% lean meat with nothing else but all natural ingredients. Factory farms are putting so many bad things into their animals and they basically just breed them to die. To go out and to hunt for sport is one thing, but even then, those hunters more often than not, eat the meat as well as visit the taxidermist. It is much more ethical to kill an animal in the wild and eat it than to just stand by and allow factory farms to continue and slaughter animals. That’s another thing. You think killing a deer to eat it is bad? How about you go visit a “slaughter house” and tell me that that’s more humane. You will never eat meat again if you see how the animals are treated and eventually slaughtered. Wed, 2 Jun 2010 23:21:46 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism__trashed/#IDComment78282837 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race__trashed/#IDComment78276092 I thought it was interesting how Sam said that we all in fact had some “black” in us. I am Lithuanian, Italian, and Irish. It is hard for me to imagine that I have any black heritage in me whatsoever, but I guess that would come from the Italian part of me as one student said in the lecture. But I guess that we can all trace our heritage back to Africa if you believe in the theory of evolution. Wed, 2 Jun 2010 22:25:19 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race__trashed/#IDComment78276092 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race__trashed/#IDComment78276073 A good question that I liked from someone in the audience was the question about why white girls go tanning? If a certain culture looks down on a race because they have a different color of skin then themselves, then they go and change their skin tone to look somewhat like the people who they are in fact being discriminatory against, then how can you be so discriminatory towards those peoples? I can understand why people may want to change their appearance, like the woman who had the "european eye" surgery. They want to become and look more like what is said to be the "dominant race." Those who look different than the white race are often persecuted and oppressed against and this is a way that has been developed that people may feel a little more secure about themselves and may also feel that they will not be treated as badly as they were before. It is pathetic to think that even in this century after we say everyone is equal and after everything that has happened throughout the world from apartheid to concentration camps and to slavery, that people of certain races still feel that they are better than others and are also degrading towards others. Wed, 2 Jun 2010 22:25:08 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race__trashed/#IDComment78276073 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race__trashed/#IDComment78276051 these Lectures are great, I really wish that I could take them in person and not online, but I guess this will do haha. How can one man categorize people in such ways? What gives him the right to label people as such? There is no one race better than the next. We were all created as one and just because someone looks a little different or because he speaks another language does not make him less than you. Carolus Linneaus made correlations between the color of your skin and the mental and or physical attributes that contribute to a "race." What research has ever been conducted to show such correlations? What really puzzles me is the facts that he said blacks were "lazy." If they were so lazy then why were they enslaved for so many years working in the fields. And who is this Blumenbach character? how can he go and make a pyramid of races? it just does not make sense to me. Wed, 2 Jun 2010 22:24:55 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race__trashed/#IDComment78276051 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-1-lesson-1-whadya-know__trashed/#IDComment78275918 There are also several monuments all over campus that are designed by peoples of the Sioux tribe and are beautiful pieces of art. Even the school logo was designed by a member of the Sioux tribe. They have no mascot who runs around chanting and wearing war paint like florida State University does, who is actually a white, non-Native American, and that is degrading to the Native Americans. The givernment and other Universities or colleges need to embrace these people and not continue to opress them, especially if your school has the mascot and bears the name of a Native American tribe. Calling them the lowest of the low is an unbelievable thing to say, especially to a culture that has been here longer than we have. Wed, 2 Jun 2010 22:23:34 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-1-lesson-1-whadya-know__trashed/#IDComment78275918