en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/2409741 Comments by supaq2tharescue http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/would-you-hire-illegal-immigrants-over-legal-residents-for-less-pay-119-blog/#IDComment145275793 Hirring an illegal immigrant as a business owner makes the most sense because they will work for less money and will thus increase my profit. Since profit is the main goal of any business I would definitely hire someone who came to America illegally. To answer the question posted however, I would not hire only illegal immigrants or only people who are actually citizens. No matter what hiring one group of people is bad for any business. It decreases diversity and can look bad on your company as it may seem that you are being predjudice. In this case it would be the worst business decision ever to hire only people who crossed the boarders illegally. This is for obvious reasons. If you do so, it would look extremely fishy as to why you are making millions of dollars with no employees other than yourself. This would attract a lot of unwanted attention and legal problems for any company doing this. The problem that I see with hiring only U.S. citizens is that they expect to be paid extremely high wages and will only do certain jobs. At least in my area, the majority of manual labor occupations is completed by people who are illegal. I myself have worked with a landscaping company before and there were a couple of people who were U.S. citizens however there were far more that were not. Can you really fault the business owner for hiring them? Sure if they were strictly hiring illegal immigrants. This, however, is usually not the case. For example my uncle has a landscaping business and he hires illegal immigrants as well. I asked him a while back why he hires them and his response was essentially that there aren’t that many people interested in working landscaping jobs and many of the ones who do a poor job and are not motivated to do the necessary work. In my opinion illegal immigrants who are willing to do the jobs that most people are not are vital to Americas continuing success. We need to allow the ones who are here to stay here, and then we need to make it easier for them to gain access to becoming an American citizen. Yes there is the problem of America becoming over populated. I however don’t think that it is that big of a deal. A majority of the people who come here to work want to make some money to go back to their homeland so that they can take care of their families. Sat, 23 Apr 2011 02:42:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/19/would-you-hire-illegal-immigrants-over-legal-residents-for-less-pay-119-blog/#IDComment145275793 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/do-you-agree-with-foreign-aids-use-of-pictures-of-children-119-blog/#IDComment141137655 It’s hard to watch TV for longer than an hour without seeing some commercial asking for you to donate money to some organization. In those commercials you are almost guaranteed to see some old guy talking with and some really cheesy music in the background. While all this is going on there is always pictures of some kids digging through trash or around buildings that are old and crumbling. But the question is, is this sending the wrong message to Americans. In my opinion, yes it definitely sends the wrong message to the many Americans who watch it. I know that when I see commercials similar to the one described I feel as if I need to donate money. The problem that I see however, is that these people don’t need money. They need someone that has knowledge and connections that can help them establish a business or improve their community. Based on what Ernso was saying in class this seems to be the best thing for a majority of these impoverished nations. So to me the new question is, how do we change these commercials so that it’s not so much about donating money but rather time. Perhaps instead of showing pictures of starving malnourished children you could show pictures of people demonstrating their businesses and rather than a guy saying how in need of money they are he could talk about how they need help developing their business. A final question is, why is showing pictures of impoverished children wrong. I think that the problem with this is not just that it sends the wrong message but in my opinion it says that the people depicted can’t help themselves. While yes this is true I believe that it does so in a demeaning way. The only other commercial that is made in this fashion is commercials for helping injured or endangered animals. Is this correlation intentional, no probably not. The problem however is that the similarities are to relevant for it not to be considered. So in summary I think that these commercials will never go away because they are truly effective. Let’s be honest whenever you see these commercials you can’t help but feel some sort of compassion for the people depicted. I believe that if similar techniques are used but in a manor that shows people being productive there may be more desire to help in a more hands on fashion rather than a monetary way. Sat, 9 Apr 2011 01:40:55 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/04/07/do-you-agree-with-foreign-aids-use-of-pictures-of-children-119-blog/#IDComment141137655 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/29/do-you-ever-feel-uncomfortable-around-two-or-more-people-speaking-another-language-119-blog/#IDComment139284372 I have been in numerous situations where the people around me have spoken a different language. The level of uncomfortability that I felt varied from situation to situation. What this leads me to believe that it’s not so much the fact that there are people around me speaking a different language but rather that I have no clue what they are saying. We have all seen that movie where there’s a scene where people are talking in another language and acting like what they are saying is harmless but when you read the subtitles they are saying something to the contrary. I believe that it is the fear of the unknown that makes us uncomfortable. With that being said, it is necessary to look at where these situations occur. In my experiences I usually feel uncomfortable when it is a small group of people. For example I was riding in the car with my some of my friends that speak Spanish. I don’t completely understand the language but the entire car ride they were speaking Spanish. I didn’t have a problem with it at first but they continued to speak the language. In that situation I was pretty sure that they weren’t speaking any wrongs against me however it didn’t make sense as to why they wouldn’t speak a language that we all understood. They all speak perfectly good English so it’s not like it would have been an inconvenience for them. It seemed like they were trying to be exclusive and leave me out of their conversation. Another situation where someone might be speaking another language around me is out in public, like at a grocery store or foreign restaurant. In these situations I feel less uncomfortable and actually more inquisitive. In these types of situations its I can justify the use of native language because it may be easier for both parties to communicate. For example I was recently at a Thai restaurant and while I was waiting on my order I could hear the employees speaking in their native tongue. I feel like this was completely appropriate as it adds to the environment but it wasn’t like I was forced to be around them and it was also obvious that they weren’t talking about me. I feel like the level of uncomfortability stems from two things. The first being the situation and whether or not it is appropriate for someone to use one language or another. By no means am I saying that everyone should know English but rather if you have the capacity to speak a language that those around you understand then you should use it. The second thing that I think creates a level of uncomfortability is the environment that the conversation is occurring. Sat, 2 Apr 2011 03:34:16 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/29/do-you-ever-feel-uncomfortable-around-two-or-more-people-speaking-another-language-119-blog/#IDComment139284372 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137608858 I have been involved in two racial discriminating events in my life. The first occurred when I was younger and the other when I came to Penn State. When I think back on these situations I think about what I could have done differently and that maybe what I did do was not the most appropriate way of handling things. The first racial situation I was put in was when I was younger and in high school. I was in a American Eagle store at one of the local malls. While I was browsing I noticed a one of the workers across from me and didn’t think much of it until I went to a completely different part of the store. Again I begin browsing one of the clothes racks and I notice the same person refolding perfectly folded clothes at the table next to me. In the moment I just thought that the person was just being meticulous and a little creepy until I talked to a friend who had a similar experience at the same store. Coming from the D.C. Metropolitan area, I had never experienced racism and thought that it was a thing of the past and nobody felt that way. Obviously since I didn’t recognize it then it was hard to look back and say this was definitely racism however looking back it certainly has the trademark signs of it. My second experience with racism was here at Penn State. It was Halloween night and been out party hopping with my friends. While we were moving from one party to another we walked past a fight and somehow one of my friends ended up getting involved. After my friends removed my friend and began walking away from the fight someone in the crowd yelled out something that ended in “…you nigger”. For some reason when I heard that statement the world stopped and it was all out war. All I wanted to do was get to anyone in the crowd and create havoc. I normally don’t have problems with people’s use of the word because I don’t believe that a word can be only used by one race in a casual manor. However what I do have a problem with is when someone uses the word in its original derogatory context. Looking back on each situation I believe that there is something that could have been handled differently. In the first case I believe that I should have confronted the man and asked what he was doing and why he was following me. In the second I should not have lashed out in the aggressive manor that I did. Either way I have learned something from each situation and have knowledge and experience for future situations that may arise. Sat, 26 Mar 2011 01:17:37 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/24/how-have-you-acted-when-involved-in-racist-or-discriminating-events-119-blog/#IDComment137608858 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135957340 To some people, and even the university, the school is in need of some color. With about 80 percent white, it is pretty safe to say that Penn State is a white school and has been so since its establishment. It would make since that the university would want to change this statistic as being diverse is a major draw to many potential students. First I think it is relevant to say that I am a black male. One of the reasons that I chose Penn State is because it isn’t 50/50 when it comes to race. Almost all of my schooling has been done in an environment where white people were the minority, about 20% of the schools population. I figured that college is the best way to get experience for the real world and decided that a change needed to be made. Penn state matches the racial profile of the world almost exactly with approximately 80% of the population of America being white and a little less than 80% of Penn State being white. This was an important quality to me because I was essentially being educated in a bubble prior to graduating and going to college. I figured that the best thing for me to be prepared for the real world was to learn about how people from all different backgrounds operated especially white people. When I was looking into colleges a close uncle like figure told made it very clear that the black culture and white culture are very different. He continued to point out that as much as I didn’t want to admit it, money makes things happen and I would need a good job to do what I wanted in life as well as continue living the way I wanted to live. He said that if I wanted that dream job that I would probably have to appeal to a white employer and that the best way to do that is know, in general of course, what they like, expect, and do in social environments. In my opinion the ethnic make up of Penn State is fine. I don’t have a problem with finding friends of color. I also have many friends who are white and I try to keep a balance of friends that are of color and who are just straight up white. Sometimes when I am the only black person in the class I do feel some sort of way but that feeling usually last only the first week and afterwards I forget about it. So all in all I don’t really have a problem with the diversity at penn State. Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:01:56 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/18/what-do-you-think-of-the-diversity-at-penn-state-119-blog/#IDComment135957340 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment134345644 Part:3 The second reason i believe that the word will continue to be ised for a long time is that it has no real support behind it. There is no major push from people to stop using the word. There is no brand to publicize it like woth aids or similar problems in todays society. I believe that in todays media intensive society the only way to get the word out through about anything is through the media. Perhaps if somone in power were to start up the movement amd get national coverage the word would be removed sooner but until thia happena i don't believe that this word will continue to be used in society. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:48:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment134345644 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment134345600 Part: 2 In my opinion this word will be very difficult to get people to stop usong this word in particular. I believe this to be true because of two reasons. The first is that it can be used in many different ways. Unlike many other derogatory words, retard can be used to descibe anything much like the word thing. Because it is such an easy word to use, it would be a harrd habit for people to break. Even in the video people were aware that the word was offensive but they continued to use it. Because of this it will be hard for generation after generation to discontinue the use of the word. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:48:10 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment134345600 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment134345275 Part: 1 I completely agree that the use of the R-word is very offensive amd i can understand why it should be stopped. It is very similar to refering to something as gay. This term can mever be completely irradicated from a majority of peoples vocabularies for its multifunctional ease of use. The problems with the use of the word arre similar to those with the N-word and any other derogatory word for that matter. It is a desciptive word that is offensive to a large group of people. It is understandable that someone who has a mental disability to take offense to the term when someone uses it to describe a person or thing that is stupid. It would be similar to some one saying "I cant believe that. He is so (insert your name here)". With that statement it is easy to see how the term would be offensive. Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:46:12 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/03/09/the-r-word-and-the-oblivious-others/#IDComment134345275 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130745206 The experiment that Sam conducted was very eye opening. No body, for the most part, sat where the audience or I thought. After this happened it made me wonder, why did the majority of the people sit next to the Asian girl and not the person of a similar race or just more diversity in who sat where. Did they subconsciously think that sitting there was a safe place where they wouldn’t be considered racist or did they sit there just because that seat look most comfortable. In my mind I don’t care to much where I sit. Focusing on this classroom in particular, I don’t think that I have any bias towards with where I sit. This is usually because my friends have already saved me a seat or I’m trying to find a seat where all my friends can sit with me. When I saw this question made me wonder what I would do if I didn’t know anybody in the class. Would I be more conscious where I sit and who I sit next to or would it even mater. I would like to think that I am an ideal person but don’t we all? To answer this question I began to think about what I do when I sit on the bus. I chose the bus because, in general, you don’t know the majority of the people that are on there. If the bus is moderately filled where there are seats open but if you sit in one you’ll be forced to sit next to someone. When I thought about this situation and tried to recall similar times all I could remember was some sense of uncomfortability. But this uncomfortable feeling did not stem from racist thoughts or feelings. It wasn’t like in my mind I was saying oh he’s X race so I’m not going to sit there. When I thought further about what I was thinking about when I chose where I wanted to sit it was centered more about what will be the most comfortable seat. What I realized was that these thoughts were not so much racist as they were discriminatory. I can recall thoughts like oh he stinks or wow she’s fat. When I realized this I was pretty ashamed because this level of discrimination is essentially equivalent to being racist. After I got over the fact that wow my thoughts are horrible I started to wonder what other people thought when they got on the bus and there was an open seat next to me. I can clearly recall times when the seat next to me was the only seat open. It made me wonder where the people thinking oh that guy looks scary or was it because I’m black. Sat, 26 Feb 2011 02:18:53 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/24/how-conscious-are-you-of-your-seat-in-class-before-and-after-todays-lecture-119-blog/#IDComment130745206 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/16/do-arrests-of-different-races-occur-more-due-to-racism-or-more-police-in-urban-areas-119-blog/#IDComment129001284 I believe that racism is not a major cause to why the numbers are skewed towards more people of color being arrested than white people. In my opinion a major part of why the numbers are the way that they are is largely a result of how drug arrests are usually made and followed up. Racism on the other hand is still a part of the problem. A lot of drug arrests come from people committing some other crime. Police are nosey by nature and will gladly investigate any reason to get you into more trouble. For example one day I was watching some show about police and a man was pulled over for speeding. This simple stop turned into an arrest when the officer saw a High Times magazine in the passenger seat and assumed he was carrying something on him and investigated. Another reason I believe that the numbers are skewed in the way that they are is from their relation to gang activity. While it is obvious that a lot of drug dealers are not gang affiliated, there are a lot that are. Focusing in on urban areas where many gangs thrive it is safe to say that a majority of them are people of color. The point of a gang is to get money through illegal means. In doing this, the gang will inevitably begin to draw attention to itself. When this happens authorities will get involved and begin to investigate. As a result they will begin to make arrests working their way from the bottom up. In general, the people on the bottom will be the drug dealers. The bottom of any organization will be the most populated in most cases and as a result a lot of people will be arrested and charged with drug possession. As far as arrests in general go, I believe that there is a little bit of racism involved. In my opinion it goes back to what Sam was saying when he did the king of the hill example. He said that when you’re on to you want your people to stay on top. Let’s face it, white people are on top. Also there are many white people in the police force. We could use the same example that I used of the man who was pulled over for speeding. Were he a white man pulled over by a white officer there is a very high possibility that he would have gotten off with just a ticket rather than getting searched and arrested. In today’s world, racism and racial favoring are becoming less of an issue which is why I believe that racism is not a major factor. Sat, 19 Feb 2011 02:44:03 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/16/do-arrests-of-different-races-occur-more-due-to-racism-or-more-police-in-urban-areas-119-blog/#IDComment129001284 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/renting-disparities-due-to-race-119-blog/#IDComment127408640 The situation that Sam proposed about rent is an interesting one. Ultimately this comes down to race and trust. If you think about it, the person at the rent office essentially has the power to allow whomever they choose to live in their building. Depending on someone’s experiences or thoughts on racism I can completely see race being a determining factor when it comes to getting an apartment. First, to address the major factor of blatant racism. Obviously if someone is a racist they will clearly deny you a chance to live in that particular building or make it very difficult to do so. In my opinion this is less likely reasons why someone would deny someone rent. This is largely in part to the fact that people are more accepting of other races. While there are definitely still racist people in the world they would be forced to keep their racist actions to the side and risk losing their job. What I think is the main cause of why someone would deny another person the ability to live in their building is caused by stereotyping. A common stereotype of people of color is that they are lazy, always late, and reckless with another person’s property. Renting a house or apartment is mainly about business where the goal is to make money. If you are the owner you want to get the money that is owed to you as well as as few problems within your establishment. With these stereotypes it is difficult to trust someone to give you what is rightfully yours. Is this ok? Absolutely not. Does it make sense as an owner to screen your residents, yes to some degree? You should obviously not base someone’s ability to pay rent solely on a persons race. This goes back to the study that was mentioned in the video. While yes the person very well could be racist but, in my opinion, it is that they weren’t comfortable with the persons of another race. An example would be Sam working as a painter. He would receive jobs from white people because he is white while the black male who was just as good would only receive jobs from black people. To me this is a comfortability factor. For example Woodmore, Maryland is one of the wealthiest communities of black people where the median income is $103,000. Now if you are making that kind of money you could obviously move into any area you want but because people chose to be around people that are similar they have accumulated here to form a wealthy community of black people. Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:16:36 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/10/renting-disparities-due-to-race-119-blog/#IDComment127408640 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/01/what-is-the-difference-between-a-colored-and-white-comedian-119-blog/#IDComment126053438 A common topic with comedians is race. Often times you will see a comedian say something that refers either directly or indirectly to race. Why this is a common topic I have no idea, but it makes people laugh. But why is it that when a person of color makes a joke about race its almost always met with laughter but when a white person makes a race joke it creates an awkward tension in the room. In my opinion this is because, in a few major cases, white people have used race to oppress another race. Thus when a white person makes a joke about another race it may be taken as racist or ignorant. In class Sam mentioned “white guilt”. I believe that this is a major reason why a race joke may be taken the wrong way or create that awkward feeling. Why it’s seen as ok for a person of color to make a joke about another race is because they are essentially seen as the same, a minority or a person of color. This would be seen as essentially making fun of your own people. Sadly this is the reality of comedy however wrong or unfair it may be. No matter what, race will always be a sensitive subject and cause people to feel some sort of way albeit positive or negative. This stems from all the things that are attached to race. Usually race is tied to some sort of genocide or oppression. I attribute this to the tense feeling people may have when a joke about race is made. From the time we are able to understand race to the time we die we are told that everyone is equal and racism is bad. Even though you may not be thinking these thoughts when a race joke is made it is still embedded in your mind that everyone is equal and the fact that someone is pointing out differences between people based on race may not sit right in our minds, even though we know that the person means no harm. If you think about it, many jokes that comedians tell, in some way make us feel somewhat uncomfortable. For example when a comedian tells a sex joke you may feel embarrassed that you do what they are talking about or even that fact that they are talking about sex in general but you laugh because in a way it’s funny but also because you don’t know what to do other than laugh. It is because of this that I feel we laugh regardless when any one makes a joke about race. Racial jokes will never die because comedians talk about what they know and what they know best is their own race. Sat, 5 Feb 2011 02:15:27 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/02/01/what-is-the-difference-between-a-colored-and-white-comedian-119-blog/#IDComment126053438 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment122890804 Stereotypes have been around for as long as people have been in existence. They will never go away and they will forever be a part of society. I think stereotypes exist for two reasons. The first being ignorance and the second is because in a majority of times they are true. First we must look at where stereotypes come from. They did not arise from the blue, but rather generated from a large group of people either doing the some of the same things or having similar habits or traits. For example, a common stereotype for my race is that we like watermelon and fried chicken. I am not going to lie. I love watermelon and fried chicken as do many of my fellow African American’s. As you can see this follows the trend of a large group doing something similar. However, to that point, that is not to say that all African American people like watermelon and fried chicken. I happen to know several people who are of African American decent and absolutely hate both watermelon and chicken in general. Stereotypes will continue to exist because of ignorance. Many of the negative stereotypes were generated out of dislike for one race from another. For example, the stereotype that African Americans are dumb and lazy. While yes there are some African American’s that are indeed remedial and some who wouldn’t get off the couch if their house was on fire, this is still a small minority. First, one’s level of education has nothing to do with someone’s level of intelligence. There is a decent sized group of people in the world who are college educated but still don’t know how to get through some daily functions necessary to survive in todays world. This is not to take away from their book smarts but, in my opinion, true intelligence is a harmonious balance of someone who is both book and “street” smart. Essentially, stereotypes are here to stay. They will continue to exist for as long as humanity exists. It allows humans to give justifications to why a person is the way they are. Personally, I think stereotypes benefit me. When someone has a preconceived notion of how I am “supposed” to act they are shocked when they get the contrary. For example, if you haven’t noticed I am a black male and corporate America expects me to use slang or be sloppy in my dress. However, when I show up to meet someone about a job I will be remembered for being different than what they expected Sat, 22 Jan 2011 01:17:29 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/14/why-do-we-still-have-stereotypes-blog-1/#IDComment122890804 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cb%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121176759 soc119 Thu, 13 Jan 2011 23:20:28 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2011/01/10/last-name-%e2%80%9cb%e2%80%9d-%e2%80%93-intense-debate/#IDComment121176759