After today’s lecture, my perspective about illegal immigrants has changed. I grew up in a household where illegal immigrants have never been talked about or views were never discussed. I know my own grandparents would probably have a negative viewpoint on this subject just because they lived through the Great Depression and through World War II. They always said that they are outsiders coming to a place that is not theirs and to a place where they do not belong. But if they were sitting in Sam’s class on Tuesday that their point of views would be changed. I do not feel any different about immigration because it does not affect me and if it did, there would be no way of trying to fix the issue. I was surprised to see that businesses are the people who shape immigration and control it. You would think the federal government and officials would be the total controllers, but it is not that way at all. My grandma worked at a small shop for a number of years and worked her way up to get good pay. Illegal immigrants started coming and being hired at the small shop she worked at and started to take away her hours… of course, just like anyone else, she got very frustrated with the situation and ended up having to find a different job because she was not getting enough hours which in turn does not give her enough money. And it was hard for her because she had ten children to raise at home. One thing she did say was that every single one of them were hard workers. No matter what time of day it was they were always on their toes and doing the work as best as they could and doing it as fast as they could. Another issue that Sam brought up is that we are all illegal immigrants ourselves. This is not our land completely because someone from somewhere else had to come here in the first place. People are always quick to judge illegal immigration and they do not even understand that they are actually illegal immigrants themselves! So overall I have to say that people are very unaware of this topic of illegal immigrants. I just wish people were not quick to judge and immediately give false accusations. No one should ever underestimate illegal immigrants because they have great work ethics and they truly do mean well. I feel bad for them sometimes because of the hardships they have to face trying to get into this country. People need to respect them because they hope for the same things we hope for: a good job that makes money to raise a family, a nice house to live in, and happiness. The only way to get happiness though is to come here, so we should accept them.

The telephone game that Terrel did in class yesterday was so interesting. I remember playing that game as a little kid with simple phrases or sentences and being so excited to see how much it had changed when it reached the last person. We used to play in 4th grade all the time for hours upon hour I have never seen the telephone game played with a large story as it was yesterday. Whenever stories are proposed to different races, I think those people tell the story in their own terms. For example, the word nigger was mentioned in the direct text of the story. It was so cool to see that not one person said it when telling the story to the other students. People were trying to be politically correct or maybe it was because that their parents taught them to never say that. Or maybe the place where they come from has many people of race and it is so impolite to say such a word. It is impolite period. However, different cultures allow different things and that is why there are many debates. I also thought it was so interesting to see that when people tell stories, they tell certain details and tweek them a little bit because they cannot remember them fully. By the story got to the last person, the person had the story completely wrong. I think this is a great way to show how word travels fast and how rumors get started. One person tells one thing to someone and then the next person tells someone else but changes it around a little bit because they cannot remember the story fully and then by the time it gets to 10 people the story is completely different. This is why people are so resentful and hateful towards people because people think that they were the ones who started the untrue story& but in reality, they could have had the story right but whoever they told messed the story up. BUT, we never know the real truth from anybody at anytime. It is just a lack of listening during a conversation. We no longer have to rely on face to face communication to talk to one another, which is why miscommunication takes place. I do have to say that the stories did change a little bit between races but not significant enough to raise a problem.

I was actually really surprised at the fact that so many people have been in racist or discrimination situations. More than half of the class! WOW! To be honest, here at Penn State there has only been one instance where I have experienced this. I was getting off the White Loop on a Friday night with my boyfriend in the late hours of the night. Obviously many people were intoxicated and I heard a white man yell the “n” word at a black man. Of course the black man defended himself and fought back. Both of the men started pushing each other and saying mean things to each other. I literally stopped in my tracks, turned around and stood there in awe because I have never witnessed something like this. I could not believe how cruel someone could be. You know, we are all human with hopes and dreams we wish to accomplish. What makes it right for anyone including that white man to say anything to anyone of his own race or different race? The answer is simply, nothing. I even said to my boyfriend that I feel bad for that black man because he did absolutely NOTHING in order to be treated the way in which he was. I probably would have tried to break up the fight and argument but being as small as I am and being a girl, I do not think I would have had enough authority to do so. And I really do not think either of them would want to listen to me. Eventually the pushing and shoving ended and both of the boys went on their separate ways. Looking back, no matter how small I am, I really should have tried to break it up or told my boyfriend to help the matter. I certainly do regret not doing anything to stop the situation. Now, as for the future, because I have had this experience, I will be ready to face a situation similar to this head on and productively. I will do something to stop the racial harassment and comments that people have to deal with. I think I acted the way I did because I have never encountered a situation such as this. Where I come from is predominantly white, no joke. I live in small town with a reasonable amount of residents with maybe only one or two black families. That is it. In my high school, there is only one black boy (who I was friends with) and race was never an issue wherever I was or what I was doing. My school was very accepting to the black boy and he had tons of friends. Not one word was ever said to offend him in any way possible.

What an interesting question to be brought up! To be honest, I do not think that I would ever date a black guy. Sorry, but no offense to all of you out there. I just do not find myself physically attracted to any black men. Maybe it is because I am not around them enough, or have not found one that is really good looking, but I just would never do it. Even though physical attraction is not the only thing I should look at, everyone knows that that is the first thing girls look for in a guy. I do have some friends that are black males and they sure do have good hearts and mean well but not once had I ever looked at them in a way to be my boyfriend or significant other.
Another reason I would not date a black guy is because of how I was raised. My dad has always said that if I dated a black guy and brought him home for my parents to meet, he would disown me. Literally, I would be homeless and would receive no money nor have a car. Yes, I guess you could say he is racist and it is sometimes embarrassing to admit because I am not racist at all. He is only like that because that was how he was raised and that is how he wants his children, including myself to be raised. He does not know any better and just does not agree with that subject. Trust me, he is a very nice man with great morals, religious, and such, but his girls dating a black guy is a very touchy subject and is my every mean forbidden. Sometimes we talk about the “what if’s” and he gets weird on the subject. He usually just says, “Shut up! It will not happen.” And that is the end of the talk. I do have to disagree with him in some ways, because he should want happiness for his children and if dating a black guy and pursuing marriage with him is what we want, then he should be happy. But it just does not work that way. I do disagree with him again, because he was brought up in such a way that he has the mentality that most black people are no good. I cannot believe I just said that, but I do disagree with him. He does not realize that not ever black man is terrible. Granted, yeah some of them are into drugs and crime, but those are in jail! He just doesn’t get the fact that black men are the same as white men. They can be prosperous, have great jobs, be great fathers, and be great husbands.
Overall, I would like to apologize to all the black men out there. I feel bad saying I would never date you, but it is just a part of life. I hope you respect my honesty though.

In all honesty, I have never once thought about my race and getting particular privileges. Sam proposed the question today asking the entire class if they felt any type of guilt for being white. I am white… and I have no guilt what so ever. To my surprise, people did say they felt guilty and I do not understand for one second as to why they said they feel this way. In my perspective, I had no choice to choose if I was going to be black, white, Hispanic, Asian or any other particular race. Therefore why should I feel guilty for being white like I am when I had completely zero control of what color I was coming into this world.
I guess for the people in class who said they do feel some sort of guilt, it could be because whites have certain privileges over other people of color and nationality, but still certainly they didn’t choose their race or start the ongoing phenomenon of racism in our society today. Even though some white people have done some cruel, undeserving, and unfair things to others such as slavery and taking land from people, doesn’t mean I should feel guilty. This happened in history and as far as I know, could still be happening today but I am unaware of it. As my mom has always said, you can’t change the actions of the world at once, but you can help issues by changing your own actions to bring about happiness to yourself. So this means that I cannot change anything that is currently occurring, and in reality, everyone knows they cannot change the world so why would anyone feel guilty? We didn’t start racism, some one else did. We can’t help it that someone chooses a white person over a black person in a job interview. We are not the employee seeking a new worker so why feel guilty if you have no control over the situation? Also, white people isn’t the only race to do harmful things to others, so if Sam asked if white people have guilt then why didn’t he ask Asians, or Latinos or any other race if they had guilt because those races too could have done something to another human being. Why does he always single out the white race? But still, those people of other races should not feel guilty of their race because again, they had no control over the actions of people of their same race.
At the end of the day, I always think that everyone is faced with opportunities, whether they choose to take the good one or ones is their choice. I think anyone can do good in this world if they put their mind to it and that includes all races, not just white people. I am proud to be white because that is who I am and I should be accepting of myself. No one should ever have to feel any type of guilt for their race, they should be proud they have the chance to be here on earth and have the abilities that they do.

I guess we never realize how many poor people are out there. I guess we never realize how many are actually have the same race as ourselves. And with what Sam said about your own race and being poor, it was quite shocking. He said if you are white and there is a poor person who is white, you are going to be a lot harsher on them because they are the same race and you seem to be living fine and you cannot grasp the concept of them being poor and being the same race as yourself.
As I watched the video of Tammy, I truly did feel terrible for her. She lived in a rickety trailer, with junk and excess things around it, no car, a burger king job, kids, and bills. How can you not feel bad for her? And some white people don’t. It is so sad to think that you cannot feel any bit of shame for a woman who walks ten miles to work everyday in rain, sleet, snow, or sun, or whatever mother nature brings that day. It is crazy to see people live like this. Because of my feelings towards Tammy, I do have to say that I am going to have to disagree with Sam and his point he made in class. I truly think I am just a heartfelt person and no matter what race a poor person is I will feel bad.
I was just in Florida over Christmas visiting some relatives and I am here now for spring break, and I have seen a few homeless people. They were holding signs in intersections that said “Homeless, No money, Three Starving Kids” or “Need Money, Buy Bottles of Water from Me”. And too be honest, one was Mexican, one was black, and I saw a few whites. I felt the same guilt towards all of them. I felt so terrible inside to see that people have to suffer through their lives, barely getting by to keep themselves alive.
However, my brother is a prime example of what Sam said. Ever since he bought his own house and he is fixing it up now, but ever since then, he doesn’t understand how white people can be poor when people around his home and our family do just perfectly fine. I told him about what Sam had said about free will and determinism, which helped a little bit, but he still cannot wrap his head around it. He says that he knows a poor white man and he just wont get all the help he can get because he doesn’t want to rely on others or make someone else do the work for him to give him money. My brother then said, “Look they do it to themselves.” But that isn’t always true. Getting poor is a mix between determinism and free will, but staying poor is another. There is help out there for poor people and whether they want to take the help they are granted is completely their choice.

Today, many people are so quick to make false judgments about people, whether they are dumb, smart, black, white, whatever it is. People think they are educated enough to say certain words as these, but quite frankly they do not realize that they have no knowledge of the topic whatsoever. I think this one of the main reasons people immediately think that people from other countries or other parts of their own country are so different. In fact, they are different in a lot of ways. Sometimes they take on a different style of apparel, or they speak a different language, or simply have a different religion in which they are loyal to every day. But there is one thing that we cannot let fool us, that is the way they dress.
For example, in class on Tuesday the last fifteen minutes of class was used for a woman to ask a handful of arabs or muslims questions about everyday life. The woman first told them all to speak into the microphone saying their name and where they are from. One of the three girls was wearing a scarf around her neck and head known as a hijab. There I was making false assumptions that she directly came from a different country such as the Middle East or something. Surprisingly, the girl was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania only an hour or so from my own home town. I was completely shocked by this but then I realized how diverse the United States is and how many people are attracted to this region of the world. Another question asked was what they want us as Americans to know about them that we as Americans don’t really understand. One answered saying that he wants us to know that they have the same wants and needs as we do. They want to live a happy life, they want to go to college and get a great degree, they have high hopes and dreams of becoming a doctor or whatever they want to do. It made me think about how harsh and judgmental I was and not even realizing it when I was doing it.
I think the main reason why we think people are so different is because we aren’t exposed to other cultures and people from other countries as often. We are constantly surrounding ourselves with people that we know, that we trust, and that we like. That and the fact that people just judge and think they are right, when clearly that is not the case at all.
Overall, I really liked the last fifteen minutes of class yesterday. I truly think it was an eye opener to many people because it doesn’t matter what they are wearing on their head or if they are practicing their religion publicly, I am sure that they would want the same things as every human being wants, happiness and a great life ahead.

Yesterday when watching the video on slavery in class, I realized that I had never ever thought about how things get made. All I ever think about is how we get to opportunity to buy and consume these things. I feel like everyone is so uneducated on the fact that there is still slavery in this world going on, and I will admit, I am one of those who is uneducated. Since there is a very slim to none amount of slavery in the United States, I suppose I could say that I pull the ignorance card. I never have actually paid attention to the slavery that still exists in the world and how people are forced into doing this without anything in return for their hard work. I just sit here and enjoy the products they make and now I feel like a guilty bitch who is completely heartless.
I was in complete and utter awe and shock when I was sitting in class watching the video. It is mind boggling to me to think that there are children and adults in our world suffering every day, not getting paid or any benefits, for making consumer goods just so we can buy them. And I was especially shocked at the beatings of the children who tried to escape the agonizing duties of work each day or simply did not work hard enough. How could anyone be so cruel, ruthless, and unjust to these human beings? You know, they are human just like all of us and we don’t get treated that way when we work at our jobs, so why does seem they are so different from us and the plantation owners can just live to punch and pound them to the muddy ground? They were whipped to the point blood and welts covered their boney and malnutrition bodies. Not one person should ever have to go through these lifestyles and being treated like shit.
When I was a kid, I would attend the grocery store with my mom and tell her all the food and things that I wanted for myself. She would reply saying there were millions of people around the world starving and only getting a few grains of rice each week to live off of. Then, I would not pick out anything I wanted because the thought of people starving was scary to me. She also used to tell me every night before bed to thank God for how lucky I am to have a family, a house to live in, and a bed to sleep in at night. Be thankful for the covers that I have, the school I go to, the clothes I have, and the opportunities I am given. I think Americans take advantage of what we have and are given in a negative way. We do not appreciate what we are given and we absolutely should and be grateful for the things we have at all times because no matter what item it may be, I am sure that a child in slavery had some help in producing it.

I really think that determinism and my choices have both affected how I have received the ability to get into Penn State. It was also just a given in my house that I was attending college because I am the baby of the family and both my brother and sister had both attended Penn State as well. Neither of my parents got the privilege to attend college because my mother was one of ten kids and my dad was one of six. In their houses, going to college wasn’t even an option because of the expenses and the unfairness of one getting to go and not the other. Thankfully, my mom and dad have done well their whole lives to enable my siblings and I to make it to college.
I can remember the first time my mom had spoken to my kindergarten teacher at parent-teacher conferences. My teacher said I had a natural ability to succeed and that my parents should keep encouraging me to portray good work ethic and to keep up with my studies. I carried that throughout the private grade school I attended. After grade school I was given the choice to go to a public school or a private catholic school, which was much smaller. I chose the small catholic private school to attend. There were many advantages to my choice. I had a good relationship with all of my teachers and had the ability to ask questions because of the small class sizes. I also got to take the advanced classes because of my placement test scores being higher than average. With that being said, I took AP courses my senior year and excelled enough to get into the school I wanted to go to most.
In addition to doing well in school, I was involved in many extracurricular activities that my school offered. My mom was behind this all, making sure I was involved with my school and community. My brother and sister also were good role models because everything they did, I obviously wanted to do too. I was class president all four years of high school, and volleyball captain of the varsity squad for three years. I was involved in the student activities council, students against destructive decisions, national honor society, health club, and the prolife club. Being in these various clubs and being active in my community truly set me aside from many of my friends and students applying to Penn State. I would not have been in any of this if it weren’t for my family. At home, I was given unending support and encouragement to always be the best that I could. Even if I wasn’t granted the success I wished for, I was still complimented and was told to keep trying. I also knew that I had my other relatives behind me all the way as well as my faith.

I would like to start off by saying that I have never heard the terms “oreo” or “twinkie” to describe a race who is acting like another race. I would feel a little bit degraded if someone called me that even though the words themselves are related to food and have a completely different meaning. It is just the fact that they made up a term to call you that and it is completely ridiculous in my eyes. Who came up with these words anyways?
As Sam always states in class, people in today’s society are classified by what color they are. He always says that black people are blacks, whites are whites, and reds are Indians, but there are so many other races out there: Asians, latinos/Latinas, Arabs, and Hispanics just to name a few. I truly think that these colors to identify races are overly harsh and definitely wrong. We often see in class pictures of people and we have to choose which one is black. I always get them wrong because I just look for color and that it not correct to judge by.
So then things come about like “oreo” and “twinkie” because people are quick to judge race just by color. What if that “black” person wasn’t actually black and was a completely different nationality? Would people still call him or her an “oreo” if that “black” person was trying to act “white”? And is there such thing as a straight up white person? Some Asians are very pale.. are they considered white? Say you called them one of these terms, but they aren’t actually white, they are asian. I don’t get it. It is so wrong and harsh to put these terms on people and I strongly disagree with them.
As said in the video, people always say, “That white person is acting so black!” or “That black person is acting so white!” But why is it that you never hear a person say, “That white/black person is acting so Asian.” Or, “That white/black person is acting so Mexican.” I think society is so set on opposites like black and white and nothing in between or out of the ordinary of those two colors. No matter what race you are, society either categorizes you into white culture or black culture and doing this action is not right. There is no reason for it, but people just want to make it easier on themselves to categorize this way that is wrong and hurtful to many. I don’t see anything wrong with Asians, Hispanics, Mexicans, or any other race. I am by far not racist. Then why can’t we all see them as their own culture, not color, to classify them. Why can’t we classify the blacks as their culture? Maybe they are from Africa or maybe they grew up in New York, but we can still classify them by their race or culture and not color.