en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/3126788 Comments by smg5211 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/30/week-8-%e2%80%93-lesson-14-affirmative-action/#IDComment170525708 The nepotism stuff is hard for me too, because I have benefited from nepotism. However, I try to look at it as I am luck to have this opportunity, and I am going to take it. I won’t feel bad about taking it, and I cant be upset when someone else benefits from nepotism over me. Someone is always going to have more, and someone is always going to have less opportunity than someone else. All you can really do is, take any good opportunities that come your way and help people who you feel deserve to be helped. Maybe if you are given an opportunity through nepotism, you can help give someone with less opportunity a chance to benefit from your nepotism. Pay it forward as some may say. Thu, 7 Jul 2011 04:22:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/30/week-8-%e2%80%93-lesson-14-affirmative-action/#IDComment170525708 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/30/week-8-%e2%80%93-lesson-14-affirmative-action/#IDComment170520491 Affermitave action is one of those things that I have depated about with friends, and mostly came to know about it during the time that I was graduating from High School. I was really upset when I found out that some people of certain races were given benefits, and preference over others who were just as qualified. However, during this class, I have learned that some races are more likely to have opportunities, and benefit from nepotism over other races. It was funny that Sam talked about being a libertarian, because I am a libritarian, and have based my views on live and let live Ideas. However, during this class I see now that as a human race we are going to do things to keep our friends and family at the top. However, as a white person woman who has benefited nepotism feel that if I did not take these opportunities that I have been given, then someone else will. I don’t agree that I feel that I deserve it more than others, or that I feel entitled to nepotism. I see the opportunities that I am given, and take them with great appreciation. However, I have not gotten many of my opportunities due to my family per say, but through connetctions, and contacts that I myself have made. Then I think back to what situations I had the chance to meet these people. I have a family that gave me the option of living at their beach house, and a car to drive, and nice close to wear so that I was presentable, and so on and so on. This leads me to feel bad for those less fortunate to not have these same opportunities. I am glad that Sam touched on the fact of criteria for affirmative action, because I think that part about affirmative action that bothered me the most, was that it benefited people based on race, and physical differences, and not those of social differences. So my friends in high school, who were half black, half Hispanic, and half native American, who really looked no different then me were able to check that ethnicity on college aps, while I was stuck putting down that I was white. And they had all the same, or more opportunities that I had while growing up, but because of their race, they had a leg up on me. I would say that I could agree with Obama about the fact that affirmative action should be used as long as it includes social class, and not color. However this leads me to people who play the system of being on financial aid, and all of that stuff, and I am not going to get into all of that right now. Thu, 7 Jul 2011 03:57:49 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/30/week-8-%e2%80%93-lesson-14-affirmative-action/#IDComment170520491 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment169479759 I completely agree. There is so much that we don't know. The government hides so much from us, and right and wrong can become very blurry. Such as conspiracy theories, and all that. Also I was thinking about how immigrants who are exploited and are forced to work for less than minimum wage could be considered the equivalence of modern day slaves. However, they do choose to come to this country, and choose to work for less than this amount. We are controlling the borders, but still letting enough immigrants to come in? What is too much and too little, and what is right and what is wrong. How much wrong do we let slide to achieve what we need to achieve? This has been an issue since we got here, and began killing off Native Americans for their land. As Children we are thought that the Indians helped the pilgrims grow food, hunt. And that they all had turkey dinner together and gave thanks. This story is about as real as Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny. Mon, 4 Jul 2011 02:23:47 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment169479759 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment169476180 In the beginning of lecture 13 Sam once again brought up an eye opening view that most of us would have never even thought about. The fact that, our ancestors and the first people to colonize America were in fact immigrants themselves. Instead of assimilating into the Native Americans culture, we killed them and took the land for ourselves. The more I thought about this, the more I realized that if I could go back in history, and change this, I wouldn’t. America would not be even close to the way it is today if we had not taken this land for our own. The question for me is, if we had gone about it in a more civilized way, what would our country be like today. The Native Americans may have not been willing to share either. So I guess it was survival of the fittest. Even though it was not right. The one point that Sam made about Immigration and business was very educational for me as well. I have honestly never thought about immigration too much, or was never that educated on the subject. The story about the crops made me feel that immigration is needed because if people are paid under the table, then they can be paid salaries that are below minimum wage. Although I feel the need to do this to support our countries economy, I also see that exploiting any person is wrong. So its one of those double edge sword things for me. I know its not right, but it works. But going back to the slavery thing, freeing slaves caused us to pay for the services that they gave us for free. I guess it’s different because immigrants choose to come to our country. But do they choose to be exploited? The other point that was discussed about immigration happening in waves made me laugh, because it kind of touched home for me. I moved to FL to help a company, but the guys who started the company used to live in Ocean City Maryland, and worked for the same company that I worked for there. When they wanted to hire people, they hired people who they knew, and trusted. So now there is a group of 12 of us all living in Fl, and we all are from Pa. or Md. Its funny because everyone knows us as the group that’s all from Pa. or Md. So its kind of like we all immigrated to the same place because of opportunities, and the people that we knew. Its different than moving to another country, but as an analogy to what Sam was saying, we all moved in a wave to the same place. And we did it because of the networks that we had in this location. Mon, 4 Jul 2011 02:06:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-13-immigration/#IDComment169476180 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment168153349 I agree with what you are saying. As weird as this sounds, this lecture reminded me of the movie Cone Heads. When the daughter was born, and raised on earth, and she had never known the customs of whatever planet they were from. Then she was culture shocked into her planets culture, and was forced to live as they did right away. I know this example seems far-fetched, but if you were uprooted into a foreign land, didn’t know the language, or the culture, you would want to live in an area where other people had, or were still going through the same type of transition. Also if we were all more excepting, we could learn from them as they learn from us. Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:52:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment168153349 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment168151170 The Lesson 12 lectures were interesting, and identified completely with my point of view on gays and lesbians. I have always been the type to feel that if people are not doing anything to harm anyone else, and as long as I am not doing anything to harm others, that we should all live our lives they way we choose without judgment and let others live the way they want to as well. I’m not gay, and I wouldn’t expect gay people to judge me for being straight, so why should we Judge them for being gay? I think the biggest thing is that people don’t like what they do not understand. Or if they do understand it, they may conform to society and completely go the other way becoming anti-gay. Like Sam said in the lecture about the guys whom were gay bashers coming out eventually as being gay. I really liked the way Sam incorporated religion into the second lecture because I had always identified myself as a Christian growing up. However I remember the moment that I realized that I was not. I believe in god (higher power) whatever you choose to call it. However, while I was walking on college, a guy from a church came up to me on the street and asked me if I would call myself a liar, and I said “no”. Then he asked if I had ever lied, and I said, “Well yeah, maybe white lies to protect peoples feelings.” He replied with, what would you call someone who lies ? and he started pointing out that technically I was a liar, and a thief, and looked at other people with lust. He then ended with “ well that is why Jesus died for our sins”. And I remember thinking at that moment how that sounded really dumb and that I may slip up and make mistakes in life, but I have never done anything harmful to others, and I never have done anything out of malice, and this guy is saying that I’m a liar, and calling me out for having sex before marriage! At the end of this little talk, he had actually talked me out of being Christian and made me think about how I want to live my life as a good person, and by the golden rule. Not by judging others or making them feel judged, the way he was making me feel judged. So when gay people are being judged, and hated by Christians for loving another human being that makes Christians the hypocrites. Because they are basically saying that if a man killed another man and asked Jesus for forgiveness then he could go to heaven, but if a gay man did not ask for forgiveness for being gay (because he should not have to) then he would be denied? Thu, 30 Jun 2011 01:41:42 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/26/week-7-%e2%80%93-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt/#IDComment168151170 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/22/week-6-%e2%80%93-lesson-10-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-people-of-color-stages-1-4/#IDComment165656694 I agree with you about the experiment done about the dolls. This video made me very sad. It’s hard to imagine that even a black child would see being white as being good, and more beautiful. I feel like the media is predominantly white, so when watching TV, and when choosing famous people to look up to, the choices of the minority is much smaller. If the media was 90% black people, the world might see beauty in a different way. The part about the video that really hit me, was when the girl responded that the white doll was better, and when asked about what doll looked like her, you could see how it hit her. She paused, and was taking in the fact that she had just put herself as a black girl into this negative category without even realizing it. I think that media should focus on integrating races. I remember the version of Cinderella staring Brandy made no sense when it came to race and the cast. Cinderella was Black, her mother and one step sister were White and the other one was Black. The part that really stuck out as odd was that the king was white, the queen was black, and the prince was Asian. However, I think that what they were trying to do was really cool. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 03:36:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/22/week-6-%e2%80%93-lesson-10-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-people-of-color-stages-1-4/#IDComment165656694 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/22/week-6-%e2%80%93-lesson-10-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-people-of-color-stages-1-4/#IDComment165653885 In this lecture Sam talked about people of color living in two worlds, I never really thought about it like that, but I guess I see why black people try to manage their white culture. I have always thought that it was an education thing, and I guess in a way I am correct. The more educated that people of color become, the more they act “white.” I have a few black friends that actually identified much closer with white people growing up. However when she got to college, she actually started to spend a lot more time with black students. I know see that she had not really Identified herself as black, and was in the pre-awakening stage before college. When she found a group of black students who she identified with, and who were on the same level as she was, I think that she was “awakened”, and found her place within her culture. While watching the lecture, I wondered, “what about people who are adopted?” and as soon as I thought it, it was answered. Also the story about the black girl crying over being called dirty brought back a memory of mine. When I was in Elementary school, there was an Asian girl who was adopted by two white parents. She had a brother who played baseball with my brother, so she and I would play together during the games. I remember thinking about how she looked different than most people, and I asked her why her nose was so flat. I realized after I asked her that she had never thought about it before, and she became really upset. I felt so bad, and tried to take it back, but the whole had already been dug. I guess that I may have been the first person to point in out to her that she was different. I did not mean it in a mean way, just more of a curious way. I was an observant, and curious child. This story stick in my own head as a time I felt bad for hurting a girls feelings, but I wonder if she remembers this as a time when she was asked about her race, and differences. I couldn’t believe the results of the doll test. I would assume that girls of color would want to play with a doll that they identified with the most. I remember getting the Samantha (American Girl Doll) because we shared the same name, and had the same hair and eye color. Seeing the % of girls choosing the white doll was shocking, and saddening to me. Thu, 23 Jun 2011 03:21:22 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/22/week-6-%e2%80%93-lesson-10-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-people-of-color-stages-1-4/#IDComment165653885 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-3-4/#IDComment164468097 I have mixed feelings on this blog, some bad, some that could offend, and some that are personal situations I’ve been in and around. The fact is that we all should be happy with who we are. There are times where you are put in a situation, where you would have to respond a certain way; and then completely different but in a similar scenario. For example a black friend of mine hates the “N” word, used in any form: such as a white friend singing it in a rap song. Now I understand where he could be coming from, but the fact that most culture and blending of our society, force us to be confronted with this particular situation almost everyday. Now here is where I feel it’s a little messed up. This friend will use it all the time to greet a white male, black male or an acquaintance of one of these males. Followed by some sort of secret handshake. So where do we cross the line there. Should I be offended when he calls one of my white friends, the “N” word, or tell him to stop wining so much when it is sung a loud; and wasn’t in anyway trying to offend him. Just a thought I had when I read this. I feel like these sorts of scenarios should be dealt with in the easiest way possible. Don’t feel offend about yourself if you don’t respond in the same way twice. It all depends on other people’s reactions. Mon, 20 Jun 2011 03:53:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-3-4/#IDComment164468097 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-1-2/#IDComment163048392 That is a really interesting insight for me. I am white, so reading your feedback from the lecture gave me a second look at things. I agree with what you are saying completely. Its just like how when we are younger, we are treated differently based on our gender. If we were not told what is appropriate behavior for a boy versus a girl, we would all probable be a little more alike. If black youth was not told to basically accept how the world is, maybe there would be more change. Thu, 16 Jun 2011 02:55:57 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-1-2/#IDComment163048392 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-1-2/#IDComment163044148 This lecture was a different experience for me, than the others, mostly because I am white. It was a way to reflect instead of learning to understand other races by putting myself in their shoes. The only time I think of myself as white is when I am comparing myself to someone else of another race. This lecture made me think about how black people get together and celebrate being black. If white people came together and celebrated being white, we would be looked at as racist. The stages were very interesting to me, because I feel that since I have come to college I have moved out of the awakening stage that I was stuck in before. It was funny when you made the comment about identifying people by the race they are. I still find myself beating around the bush when trying to identify the only black guy in a group of white people. I even sometimes know I am doing it, so I get distracted by the thought of not identifying him as black and I end up saying something like, “the guy in pants”, when they are all wearing pants. I was dying laughing at the video about the immigrant crossing sign. I remember a friend of mine told me about that sign, and I did not believe that it was a real thing. I loved the loaded questions that guy was asking and the responses that he was getting in return. The story Sam told about speaking Spanish to the waitress reminded me of a story about my Dad. My dad got Rosetta Stone, and has been working on it for over a year now. Living in Pennsylvania, he doesn’t really have much practice speaking it, so any chance that he gets, he takes. We were on vacation in Tahoe California, and we walked past two Hispanic looking men who were shoveling the snow. My dad said “buenas dias” as we walked by, and the men, (in a very American accent) just looked at him, and said hi. We laughed so hard because he just assumed that they spoke Spanish because they looks Hispanic, they were shoveling snow, and there were two of them together. You can’t win if your white. Your either raciest for talking about race, or if you don’t talk about it, your still racist. I have always been a very speak what’s on your mind kind of person, but when it comes to opening up about race, I’m never the first to start the conversation, unless it is amongst other white people. I have made friends watch the lectures with me, just so I have someone to discuss them with. Thu, 16 Jun 2011 02:41:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/07/week-5-%e2%80%93-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-%e2%80%93-white-people-stages-1-2/#IDComment163044148 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160812432 What you said about the United States being united made me think about if we are united now. I think as a country we are a group, but I feel that we have the black and brown group, and the white group. If we all were on the same playing field from the beginning, I think that the system of wealthy and powerful people staying ahead would be the same, but the variety of those people would be greater. I also think that more interracial marriages would exist, and everyone would procreate, creating lots of mixed children and families. Essentially bringing everyone together, and making our country more United. Thu, 9 Jun 2011 01:57:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160812432 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160811090 The second part of lecture 6 was really interesting. I never knew that States were allowed to choose who would receive the benefits that the Veterans were given. I can’t believe that. I feel like our world would so be much different if everyone would have been given the same treatment. When I was applying to college, I remember feeling that affirmative action was not fair. I didn’t understand why black people were given scholarship money for being black, because if they were to give white people scholarships for being white it would be considered racist. Now I completely see the other side and this it seems very fair. The statistics about criminal justice were very interesting, but not that surprising. I feel that the reason is not a corrupt justice system; I think it has to do with family background. I feel like 80% of the people I know smoke, or have smoked marijuana, but most of them are recreational users, and do it while they are with friends that they trust and in their suburban homes. In the suburbs, cops are not usually driving around looking for drugs or drug dealers. I would like to see how many of the people in your survey are regular, or recreational users. The thing that did concern me was the part where you looked at apples to apples statistics, and the chances of being moved into the regular jail if you’re white vs. black. That makes me feel contradictory to what I felt above. I don’t know if it is intentional racism from the judges, but more deep-rooted feelings of racism that we are all exposed to at some point in our lives. In one of my psych classes we did an online quiz that tested our first reaction to people who are young verses old, and black verses white. Faces would pop up on the screen, and you had to click good or bad within the fist two seconds. I think that every generation is getting less racist, and more excepting. This takes me back to the history of black suppression that you spoke of in this lecture. If they were treated equally from the time they were freed from slavery, the times now would be much much different. So hopefully each generation will keep getting better. Thu, 9 Jun 2011 01:49:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/06/02/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality/#IDComment160811090 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159822249 First I wanted to respond to your comment about why blacks and Mexican did not have as much money, and I would say its because Blacks were oppressed, and were not able to get good jobs at one point, and were forced to live in areas where school systems were poor. For example, not being able to live in the Sundown Towns from article 11 reading. Also poor Mexicans can run across the border and without a green card, a good job is impossible to get. Also about your theory on Free will vs. Determinism and class comparison, I agree to some point. However I would think that believing in determinism would be depressing for someone who is poor. I think that believing in Free Will for that person would be motivating, and empowering. Mon, 6 Jun 2011 03:34:41 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159822249 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159818826 This lecture about inequality was really awesome. When everything is really laid out there for us to evaluate, it’s almost impossible to feel that one race is any better or worse than any other. And it was really shocking to see the ways that oppression is still around today. Even though everyone has equal rights, and everyone is able to make there own choices, being born in a middle class white person makes success easier. The video about the two schools hit home for me, because I was the girl in the school that had brand-new everything, and unlimited amounts of recourses available to me. My high school spent millions of dollars on remodeling the year before I got to the 9th grade. Senior year everyone I knew was graduating, and most of them had been accepted and were going to college. There were also maybe 10 black kids in my whole school out of about 2,000 students. I can’t believe that while I went to this high school, and probably took the amenities for granted, other kids were going to schools like that other one. Even though schools are no longer segregated, this reminded me of segregated schools in the 50’s. Where white schools were given more money for books, staff and the facility, and the black schools were given left overs, and very little money. This lecture made me feel like even though we have come along way, we still have a long way to go. It’s crazy to see how hard it is for some people to go to college, or even graduate high school do to outside forces beyond control. I guess when we are born it’s the luck of the draw. I am a Psych minor, and the whole Free Will vs. Determinism debate has always been my favorite thing to think about. I have always felt like certain events and opportunities come our way for a reason, and the choices that we make regarding those events either lead us one way or another. Whenever I have big decisions to make such as taking a job/internship or moving, I always go with my gut feeling on what I think I am supposed to do. But that also makes me wonder if we are all born into certain situations for a reason. Is it a test? Or maybe you are just a catalyst for something greater. So I guess that would be more of the determinism side. However, I do believe that we have the choice to make one choice over another. Anyways, back to race. It seems to me that because the cycle is so hard to break, and moving up the social and economic ladder is not easy. Oppression of Native Americans, and Blacks still exist, and will continue to exist. Mon, 6 Jun 2011 03:22:50 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality/#IDComment159818826 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158383900 I also thought about that movie. The Story of the weaverbird is inspirational. I believe that the South African girl’s maid told the story, if I remember correctly. The story foreshadowed her journey to America and what she would learn there. If only people could live the same way as this bird. As far as the alien theory of evolution, I think that sounds pretty far fetched. I am not sure what to believe as far as where we originally came from, like are we made from stardust? Was it some sort of plan? Or is our existence a complete accident? Thu, 2 Jun 2011 01:55:23 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158383900 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158379631 I feel that ethnocentrism is very similar to racism in the way that ignorance is the main reason that it exists. Knowing and understanding other cultures can reduce the amount of ethnocentric feelings that we have. In the lecture when you talked about the fine line between right and wrong, I struggled to rationalize what that line is. I do feel there is a fine line between right and wrong, such as the examples you gave of stoning, and the use of the electric chair. I feel stoning someone for committing adultery seems harsh, and I also feel that (old Sparky) is actually too kind. I feel that life in prison is a worse punishment. Then when we get into animal cruelty, and generations of cultural practices, the line becomes blurry because what I feel is acceptable may not be acceptable to someone else. We tend to accept the way things are done in our own culture because that is what is normal for us. We accept these things, but not everyone feels the same way about all issues. Just like all Muslims are not radical terrorists, and all Americans are not how they are depicted to Muslims through media. I know it seems cheesy to say, but why can’t we all just live by the Golden Rule and “do on to others the way we would want them to do to us”? If everyone just stopped being greedy, and judgmental of others we could live in peace. I know it is a far-fetched thought. I was really touched by the 2nd half of the lecture when we were asked to put our selves in the shoes of Muslims. I had never thought about how we were perceived by them. We become self centered in our own views and only focus on the bad when it suits us. I believe that we are sort of force fed these negative images of Iraq so that we can justify killing innocent civilians. I liked what you said about understanding why Muslims would want to kill American soldiers. Although it is wrong to do, I believe that Understanding eliminates hatred. After this lecture I feel more understanding, and knowledgeable about other cultures in general. While watching that video of the American soldiers crushing that car for looting, I became very angry. I kept thinking about how I would feel if someone crushed my car and then laughed about it. Then when I heard that he was a taxi driver I felt really sad, and felt hatred towards those American soldiers. Those are the few soldiers that make the US look like ass holes. Seeing America perceived in this way was very disheartening, and very eye opening as well Thu, 2 Jun 2011 01:35:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/25/week-3-lesson-4-ethnocentrism/#IDComment158379631 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/22/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race/#IDComment156181117 I completely agree with your statement about the skin whitening cream. Everyone is beautiful in there own way, and confidence in ones self is attractive in itself. I actually watched a Tyra episode about this the other day. She started by asking the audience to rate people on attractiveness by showing each part of their body at a time. Then the audience was introduced to each person, and they shared their personality. The audience did a second rating based on who they would rather date, and the results were completely opposite once the audience was introduced to them. Looks can get you in the door, but personality, and confidence is what keeps you there. Thu, 26 May 2011 01:26:38 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/22/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race/#IDComment156181117 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/22/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race/#IDComment156178310 I found your lectures to be really eye opening. I never thought about races and how they are actually very hard to define because of the amount of mixing throughout history. I also was shocked at the entire worlds perception of beauty. I am a white female, but I had never thought about what it would feel like to actually be a different race. I wonder how it would affect my personality, not because of the way I would be as a person, but because of the way I was treated, looked at, or felt about the way I look. This lecture also made me think about slavery, and how it still affects our world today. What if instead of black slaves, we used white slaves, and differentiated our selves’ by hair color and all blondes, or brunettes, or red heads were slaves. How would this change our perception of the world today? Also I was shocked to hear about the number of slaves that are being used today. You said in your lecture that no one does anything about it, but I feel that the reason could be because it would be hard to identify the slaves today. At least when black slaves were being freed, it was easy to identify whom the slaves were that needed to be free. Then slavery was much more out in the open and in people’s faces. Today it is Illegal, and hush hush. Creating awareness of this problem could be beneficial, I am just wondering if anyone else has ideas about what could be done. Lastly I found it interesting, and completely understandable that people with a college education tend to believe in evolution. We are constantly expanding our knowledge through science. At one point people believed that the world was flat, and that certainly didn’t make it true. Just because the bible (a book created a long time ago) tells us something, it does not make it true, or a proven fact. I feel that ignorance is the largest foundation for racism. People who have been told to believe something, and have no outside knowledge of the truth will have no reason to go against what they are told. I feel that even though our world still sees race, every generation becomes more open minded, and educated about it. While our grandparents grew up in a world when blacks and whites were segregated, our parents grew up in a world where racism was instilled unconsciously. Each generation seems to be more educated, and open minded about race. I think the world conservation project was a great addition to Penn State, and if everyone in the world was able to come together, open up about stereotypes, and really find a common ground with all races, religions, and social classes, the world could be a little more peaceful. ( wishful thinking) Thu, 26 May 2011 01:12:52 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/05/22/week-two-lesson-2-intro-to-race/#IDComment156178310