Thoughts. Let's see. Well, I don't know if you can put sadness, despair, anger, and hopelessness into coherent thoughts that convey half of what those words mean, but I'll try. I never looked at American soil as Native American soil before. I didn't think Native Americans valued land ownership the way Europeans did (that's what I was taught in all those useless American history classes in elementary school), so I guess that's how I justified it in my own mind. Well, THEY didn't even see the land as their own, so how could it be wrong for the Europeans to come and take it? But the images I saw in class today just broke my heart. How is it possible for me to see America as a rich country when there are people living like that here as well? And seeing it on Al Jazeera added to that shock because it forced me to step outside of my American nationality and see it through the eyes of a foreigner watching that broadcast. It shocked me to think that a country could let a portion of its people live in poverty like that. So now I'm just disgusted and angry, but mostly, I'm sad that people treat each other the way they do. I know we talk a lot on the big scale in Soc 119 because, well thats how you can make sense of things. But all of those people are individuals, and throughout history, individuals killed them. Violence happens on a mass scale but it starts at an individual level. And that's what really gets me, not just with this class but all the other lectures. The way people are treated starts at a person-to-person level.

I don't know what the ultimate conclusion is. I don't know what the ultimate solution is, and I'm sure there are people a lot smarter than me puzzling over this problem. I don't know any Native Americans or anyone with Native American ancestry, but today, I felt as connected to them as I did to my own ancestors because to me, we are all the same. We look different, we act different, we believe different things, we do different things, we possess different things, but we are still human beings and individuals. I just wish more people treated each other as such.

Honestly, I've been against the war in Iraq for a while now, so this lecture didn't really change my perspective much. It just made me incredibly sad. Not even angry or pissed off at America. I've already been through my "angry and pissed off at America" phase and now I'm just sad. When a country is in power, it will do whatever it takes to stay in power, even if that means killing 29 civilians just to kill one "bad guy." Even if that means invading a country for oil.

There is ONE thing that I didn't consider before - it was the religious aspect of this war. I grew up a Catholic, and throughout my entire childhood as a Catholic, I never really identified as a Catholic. If you asked me to describe myself, I wouldn't immediately say "Catholic." It's strange since Christianity calls us to be disciples in every aspect of our lives. It's probably not surprising that I no longer identify with that religion at all. But I never considered that the dominant religion in America is Christianity and that is how other religious cultures see America. I never thought of Americans as Bible-wielding soldiers of God, but after this class, I can see how those messages get construed in the eyes of Iraqi Muslims.

It was definitely one of Sam's most shattering classes, and I'm probably going to think abut the role of religion (and how Muslims see Americans in a religious context) next time I read a news story on the Middle East.

In short, because Americans need to realize they're not the only damn people in the world. You can't say one thing is better than something else without being familiar with both things. It would be illogical to do so. Yet, it is perfectly acceptable for Americans to say OUR culture, OUR society, OUR language is not only better than everyone else's, but it is the BEST. How many U.S. presidents or politicians have said that the America is the "best country in the world"? I'm not trying to say nationalism is a bad thing, but Americans take it to the extreme. We are not the only important people in the world, English is not the only useful language, and other cultures may have things that are BETTER than what we have in America. That's the first reason (for me) that America not only benefits from multiculturalism, but it absolutely needs it.

Another reason is that technology is growing fast - especially communications technology. Communication is instant and our ability to connect with other cultures is amazing. Also, research shows that young people across the world are more alike than ever before - that is, a young person in NYC has more in common with a young person in Tokyo than with an old American lady living in rural South Dakota. I don't know about you, but I think that's incredible. Recently, I was talking to a Korean girl at Penn State Behrend campus. Her first time in the United States was when she came here to go to PSB. She has lived in Korea and Paris, and she also spoke English remarkably well. If America doesn't become more multicultural, we're going to fall far behind the rest of the world. An isolationist mentality will destroy America.

I'm not sure if it was a joke, if the people who posted it were serious, or if they were just plain stupid. I'm leaning towards the third explanation. Honestly, I'm one of those people that Sam complains about when he says, "C'mon - you have no faith in people." Well, I think that people are ignorant. I think they will ultimately be guided by their emotions rather than rational thought - no matter how many college degrees they have. I think one of the characteristics of modern education is a lack of respect for history - and I'm not talking about dates of major events or important people. I'm talking about a people's history - who people were, what they were like, how they felt, what happened to them. American history classes always frustrated me because it focused on broad themes that were almost always told from the same perspective, the majority perspective. I never learned about the Civil Rights Movement from the point of view of Malcolm X, or the WWII years through the eyes of Japanese Americans. And the American Revolution was always glorified in my elementary history lessons. I was not only taught American values, but I was taught to be proud of them and to defend them.

I think there is a real danger in oversimplifying history. Facts may be facts, but interpretation of the facts is left entirely up to debate, especially when interpreting historical events. When I think about this story of "white power" in State College, I think that whoever posted that symbol doesn't really understand history. I don't believe he or she or they see the value in empathizing with the struggle against racism. I don't think they were ever taught that their whole reality is influenced by the fact that they're white. I think they just feel anger and fear towards something they don't understand. After all, who can say they truly understand race or race relations?

I don't know if I would prefer it to be serious, a joke, or plain stupidity. The thing with stupid people is that they think they're smart. That's a problem, in my opinion. If it's a joke, then that's sick because those people really do understand what the symbol means and they think it's funny. If they're serious, well then that opens up an opportunity to engage them and discuss these issues. Just talking about these issues can be a sign of progress, sometimes.

I think a lot of how we view success has to do with our culture and our "American values." I don't know what everyone else was taught in school, but American history was always glorified in my elementary and high schools. I grew up believing in the Founding Fathers, the enduring victory of freedom, the claim that a man (it was always a man) can make the most of himself in America (my marketing professor defines this as the belief in "upward mobility"). Of course, all of this gets accomplished through hard work and sacrifice. I was not just taught this lesson in my history classes. My parents raised me on the same value: hard work can lead to success. However, CAN LEAD to success is very different from a GUARANTEE of success. My parents also taught me that life is sometimes unfair, that shit happens. Exactly like the free will v. determinism debate we've been having in class.

There are a couple things that come to mind whenever I think about this subject. The first is that I often hear professors complain about the sense of entitlement in their students (yes, I've spent wayyy too much time with some of my professors). Students always want to be rewarded for their hard work. "I spent so much time on that paper - I deserve a better grade!" or "I studied for that test - I deserve at least a B!" Yet, professors sit there with their Ph. D. and laugh at this because hard work doesn't always produce good quality, and if only we focused more on the QUALITY of our work, then maybe we would have been successful. I don't necessarily agree with this point of view, either, because sometimes you are the very best... but you still don't succeed. My favorite book is Dr. Seuss' Oh! The Places You'll Go! Lines like "Life's a Great Balancing Act" and "Kid, you'll move mountains" never cease to inspire me. But here, I'm thinking of the one where he says, "Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest... Except when you don't because sometimes, you won't." Sometimes, you don't succeed, and it has nothing to do with hard work or quality. Sometimes, shit happens. Do we call that determinism?

The second thing I think of is that in some parts of the world, upward mobility doesn't exist. In some places, hard work doesn't promise success, it's just a given in life. You do it because you have always done it, and the people before you did it. In some places, working hard isn't working hard, it's just living life. I think we (we = American students at a prestigious university) can distinguish between hard work and just work or hard work and hardly working because we can afford to do so. Because we have choices in our life... some of us choose to work hard and I think we find ways to translate that into success. Some of us choose to not work hard, but that doesn't mean we won't succeed. Which leads me to conclude that this belief that hard work leads to success is purely a socio-cultural phenomenon. That's not to say it isn't somewhat true.

Oh, and as far as education goes... it helps because our society values education. But honestly, the more I "learn" in school, the more I realize how much I can really never know. There's no such thing as smart, and people who think they are smart are very lonely people.

I think the entire human race is built on conformity. We herd together into groups with people who think like us and act like us. We teach our kids to think like us and act like us. We build cultures and societies and impose rules in the form of laws and customs. We hold those customs dear to us because they are symbols of who we are as individuals. Imagine a world with no customs or cultures or conformity. Imagine if people were truly free to make their own choices to be who they are. It can't happen. People are too afraid, and our fear pushes us to conform. It's like the expression, "safety in numbers." We can't stand on our own and feel comfortable with ourselves. We need affirmation, we need reassurance, we need a justification for our own existence and a reason for being who we are. I think as soon as human beings form a community, any community, we create an environment that encourages conformity, which produces a new level of fear. This is the fear of not conforming, or the fear of being different.

Racism is a result of this kind of fear. Racism highlights our most basic differences - our physical appearances - and convinces us that it's bad. Fear is at the root of racism. It grows and develops into anger and eventually hate. Racists don't even realize how afraid they are because they are so wrapped up in hate. Then, once one thing happens that reaffirms this fear or this hate, it creates a snowball effect. Pretty soon, they see everything through this prism of fear, anger and hate. Everything reaffirms their beliefs.

However, I think the kind of fear that breeds racism is one that is learned. Children learn to conform and the kind of conformity that leads to racist thoughts and actions is taught. I often look at TV shows, advertisements, celebrities, or other symbols of pop culture. Most of these things teach us better ways on how to conform. How can we look "normal"? How can we act "normally."? How can we make others approve of us? How can we connect with others? What's cool? What's not? Then, I think about my own experiences as a child and what I learned from certain memories. I felt embarrassed in elementary school when I was the only kid to pack a lunch on chicken finger day. I felt embarrassed in middle school when my French teacher read my essay aloud and the kid next to me started snickering. That was when I learned that standing out, being different was BAD. We are inhabitants of this planet and so fear is natural. Fear can save us from death, but it can also destroy us if we let it. Animals don't have a choice to be afraid - they just react. We have a choice. Too few people make the choice to not be afraid of differences.

I think Sam said in class that comedians are funny because they make fun of the obvious. What I think is that the power of their humor comes from their own experiences. And they aren't crazy, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. They are normal, day-to-day observations that most people don't think about and that comedians not only think about, but find ways to laugh about. So when I look at a white person making fun of another race and creating tension, I think it's because of a couple of things. First, I think it's a credibility issue. Some people take offense when a white person tries to imitate a black person because for the most part, white people don't really know what it is like to be a black person. My black friend just recently told me a story the other day about how he was asked to move from his seat on a bus because the white woman sitting next to him didn't feel "comfortable." And it hit me - I have no fucking clue what it's like to be discriminated against based on physical appearance. Sure, I get made fun of because I'm short and blonde, but it's not like some old woman is going to be afraid if God forbid I should sit next to her on a bus. So even if a white comedian is saying something truly funny about a different race, I still think it still creates tension because how much can a white person REALLY relate to the situation they're laughing at? Because at the end of the day, white people and black people are different, even if those differences are only on the surface.

The second reason I think it's harder for a white person to make fun of different races is our need as a society to be politically correct. We are taught that we can't be too offensive, even if the "offensive" thing is an observation. When it comes to speaking our mind and using our right to free speech, there are so many factors that ultimately lead us to self-censorship. Political correctness, in my opinion, is a way for the powers that be to tame us. Think about it, when you're angry, do you always say what you really want to say? Or do you say something else that won't hurt the other person's feelings as much? I'm not saying there should be no rules of civility... I just think it's overdone with political correctness. And in the case of white comedians making fun of other races... if they're remarking on an observation or experience, then I think they deserve as many laughs as the Iranian guy.

Obviously, there is no simple answer to this question. What I believe is this: people hang out with people who are similar to them. When I think about who my friends are, I can pick out the differences among them, but if I were to be honest with myself - we are all very much the same. The similarities can be seen on a superficial level through our interests and personalities. We also (usually) have similar previous life experiences - for me, that experience is one of growing up in an upper-middle class conservative community 40 minutes north of Pittsburgh. There isn't much diversity where I come from, but even after I came to Penn State and became exposed to the diversity of a college campus (even though PSU is still very homogeneous in my opinion), all of my new friends had stories like mine, except with different details inserted here and there. I sometimes wonder how, on a campus of 40, 000 students, I manage to find the friends that are like me in so many ways, and the answer I come to is... it's just human nature. We gravitate to the people who are like us because there is a primal need to herd together, to be a part of a group. I don't believe in an independent man and/or woman. Although we have the ability (in theory) to think independently, I don't believe we have the ability to live independently. Dr. Richards made an interesting point about the meaning of "freedom" the other day in class. He said that we are never truly free because we are burdened by the rules and norms of the cultures we belong to. I agree with him, and I think the same concept applies here. To put it simply, I agree with everyone who says it is an issue of comfort, but I don't think we always make the decisions to associate with our own race/culture/ethnicity consciously.

I also think that when people share a culture together, it brings them together, and when faced with diversity, being close to those who share those similarities can be a way of reaffirming who they are. It is a reminder that they are not alone, and that is very comforting.

All of that being said, I think we can change the way we interact with different ethnic/racial groups. I don't think we HAVE to stay in our own little culture just because we feel comfortable with it. In my own personal heaven, people don't just see diversity, they embrace it with love. Love demands mutual respect and caring for another human being. It is the only source of true happiness I have encountered. If we weren't so afraid to step out of our cultural box and approach someone who may not even speak our language let alone share the same taste in music or fashion sense, and if we could do that lovingly, then the world would be a much better place. And you know what? I actually believe it's possible.

I agree with those who say stereotypes are built in to our society. We learn them from our family, from our friends, from our education system, from the media. But is there another reason? It seems to me that this question asks a deeper one - if what we are taught is wrong, why not change it? It seems so easy. But it's not, is it? What I get from Dr. Richards' lectures is that people are unique and different, and it's impossible to classify them. But that's a lot harder, isn't it? Try to live one day without stereotypes. Try to NOT judge a person based on the brand he or she is wearing. Stereotypes are reinforced by the media, outside influences, blah blah blah, but what about our own thoughts? Stereotypes exist because our brains need to categorize, need to classify information. I don't believe that stereotypes need to exist, especially not if they're based on physical characteristics that ultimately have little to do with who a person is. I just think the foundations for stereotypes are built in because the human brain is constantly trying to find ways to process all of the information we receive.

Another thing I was thinking about that isn't really related to what I just said, but what role do advertisers have in building stereotypes? A lot of us were quick to blame the media, but who are the media? There is pop culture media - movies, music, videos, etc. But what about the advertisements we see on TV, in magazines, on our favorite internet sites? Those ads aren't just showing off random people... they are targeting an audience. So, if a clothing store wants to sell to upper middle-class white males, they are going to put an upper middle-class white male in their ad. Without really thinking about it, we digest this information and begin to associate that clothing store with a certain race and socio-economic status.

Soc 119