I really liked the Oprah video too. I went to a great high school, yet did not appreciate all the things that I could have done during my time there. There were so many different classes and clubs that were all free and available for me to take and learn more things about the world. My school did not have a cool swimming pool, but it had a gym and so many activities that I regret not taking advantage of today. The Oprah video made me regret my high school years as well. As for affirmative action, I am right with you. It annoys me when I work my butt off at a minimum wage job and people who never work during the school year just receive some awesome internship that pays triple what I get. I feel like because of this we will always be unequal. I am with you on this whole blog!

Being Asian-American, I’ve always had in the back of mind a feeling of getting less in life or receiving less benefits and opportunities than other people. I did however, realize how lucky I was to be a woman. I always knew that white people had more beneficiaries and it was not a huge surprise to me when I heard that white women receive the most benefits.
As for affirmative action, I did not know what to expect from the lecture. I know times have changed and everyone is trying to NOT be racist or stereotypical. I thought it was really interesting how we all really do think we are not being racist, and are being a lot more open minded than we are. Thinking is so different than making a stand and saying things out loud and acting the way we think. I love how all of Sam’s lectures helps us realize facts like this and helps us really open up our minds about different problems we have in society today.
Is affirmative action egging on our racism and inequality? Or is it a step to diminish inequality? Because of the fact that white women are actually the most benefitted from this idea makes me feel as though it is attempting to help society, even though society already does have it’s own prejudices. If everyone were to think like Obama (if he actually truly acts his wishes; for his children to not benefit from affirmative action because of their already laid out opportunities), I think affirmative action may be more effective. Right now it is just a guideline, and a rule. People view it so differently, as I did before hearing the lecture. There are so many people that are doing just fine in our country and affirmative action should benefit those who need it the most and are living unequal, struggling lives. It sucks that there are so many rules and biases around this idea though.
I feel like for nepotism, I really do agree that people can get amazing opportunities through the people they know. I personally know people who have gotten incredible internships and jobs lined up for them after college, just because of their parents or family friends. This is to me, a bit unfair, but I am happy for my friends who have this privilege. My family is the first to live here in America and our social network is not as big as those who have been living here longer. I can not hold that against those who “easily” get great hook ups and such, but I do believe things happen for a reason, and people who have experienced nepotism do qualify for these opportunities and may actually work even harder than people think they do. I liked this lecture because it helped me think differently about my position in this country and in my world.

I am annoyed as well when people say that foreigners need to speak English. These people don’t know these immigrants lives! It’s crazy how people, like how Sam said, think they do not need to learn a different language (even if they’re living there) yet get worked up about how foreigners can’t speak English. It is really complicated to learn a language completely. I feel like even fluent multilingual people even have trouble with some of the words, idioms, phrases, etc. I understand both sides have good and bad points, but people need to be more open about these minute issues. Everyone is just trying to live their life. Just because people can not learn English perfectly or speak it in the United States does nto mean that they don’t want to or mean to.

I have thought about immigration a lot during my life, especially because my parents are from Korea and immigrated to the United States about 30 years ago. They have struggled with many things during their years here, and even today, they still face problems of being first generation. I’m really glad that we covered immigration in lecture. I feel as though immigration/minority issues are quite recent. The immigration acts were only passed in the 60’s/70’s; that is only half of someone’s life!! I can not imagine how my parents experienced this time period or how people treated them. My parents just wanted a better job and life in America, and I feel as though anti-immigration people made their experience a lot more difficult than they thought it would be. Sam brought up an issue I’ve been introduced to before. I know a lot of people do not like immigrants because they “don’t want to learn English” or are “taking over jobs that they could be getting”, especially due to the recent strive for diversity in the work place. Many immigrants come from places were they make a fraction of what they make here, no matter what job they perform. Yes, immigrants may be willing to perform jobs that “we” do not want to (such as laborious jobs), but they can not help it. They do not have the criteria that people who grew up here have. They don’t have the same education, culture, background and maybe even skills to get higher paying jobs, even if they want to. The immigrants that work at my workplace are remarkable. They do anything and everything job related and pick up skills extremely quickly.
Because I come from a family where my parents do not speak English perfectly, I do not agree with the fact that immigrants and foreigners that live in America should be forced to speak English. I believe that they should attempt to learn English in order to communicate better with others and obtain more opportunities, but it’s not as easy as people think. My parents have lived in America for decades and they still have problems with English grammar and saying correct sentences. It’s not that immigrants do not want to learn the language, it’s the fact that it is extremely difficult to learn a language completely. Idioms and words are so different in every language; how are you supposed to learn a language completely when there are so many different twists and differences in languages? Everyone just wants to make a living, have a better life, and survive our world. We basically have the same motives, so I wish people would stop being so blind about immigrants. Don’t you think they WANT to try to fit in the America culture?

I found all the statistics about multiculturalism fascinating as well. This is a topic I do not think about on a daily basis because it is just not around me. I’ve always thought my neighborhood was not very diverse, because I am one of several Asians in my community. Race doesn’t always equal diversity however. Raised by first generation Korean parents, I know how hard it is for immigrants to start a new life here in America and adjust to all the drastically different cultures here. Even so, I agree that immigrants should attempt to open up and absorb the customs of the place they are now living in. I feel as though it is part of survival and may solve some of the racial tension we have today.

I’ve always wondered how children (adopted or biologically related) of homosexual couples turn out to be. I’m ignorant on this topic because I’ve never encountered (except on reality shows on TV, which I really try not to absorb into my beliefs of how our society is) a gay couple with a child. I support gay rights; I believe that one should live their live the way they think is appropriate and that will fulfill their life and make them happy and successful. People are so afraid of what is different and even more afraid of changes, such as accepting gay people or not putting race as a factor of many judgments.
I feel as though if a gay couple wants to have a child and are putting the constant effort to try and have a child just proves that they will provide a loving, caring home for the child. Yes, there may be struggles with the child when it grows older, but that is due to the fact that our society is so quick to judge and assume and are so used to the “norms” of our society; go to school, get married (to the opposite sex), get a job, have children, blah blah. I think with time, these issues that we have today with our differences will slowly change for the better, or maybe even for the worse. It is a shame and sad to me that we can not immediately change the views of the majority of the people of this world. It is so hard to see another way when you have been brought up in an environment that “everyone” lives the same way and follows the same social rules. Like, what is the definition of being normal? I believe there is a majority that lives the same way and thinks the same way and lives the same kind of life, but to those individuals that choose to live in a different lifestyle; what is so wrong about that? Yes sure, it creates issues, but only because people choose it to make it an issue. All the strikes and picketing for anti-gay rights are so unnecessary in my mind. It’s a waste of time. Those actions aren’t going to stop anyone from not being who they are.
There are hundreds of unfit parents out in our world. My friends parents are worse and more uncaring than those gay couple that strive to have a child and love it unconditionally. These couples are not stupid. They know and have thought about all the hardships their child will face, but because the adoption system is hard and gay couples already have faced more hardships than many of us have, I feel like they have proven to be driven, caring, passionate people, thus, can be great parents and role models.

I am Korean and definitely defined myself as white when I was growing up. I thought the same fact was extremely intriguing. During high school, I felt like I lived a double life because I was trying to fit in with my predominantly white high school, and fulfill the wishes of my traditional Korean parents. The amphibian analogy was indeed awesome. I feel like that is how I felt some of my life. I was moved by the doll movie as well. The few most momentous race moments I’ve had were when I was a child, and it is really sad to see how much society effects and shapes our views on different races as well as how racial groups act.

I was very surprised and interested at the fact that adopted children of different races than their adoptee families are better off in the long run. I think that makes sense, because I know a Korean girl who was adopted into a white family and two white boys who were adopted by a white family. The Korean girl has very little problems and their family is very normal in my community whereas the two boys seem to have had drug and behavioral problems. I never really thought about this fact until the lecture brought it up.
I also thought the Racial Identity Stages were interesting and felt myself connecting with each stage. I remember when I was in Stage Two, the Awakening stage. That stage was actually very impactful on my life; I still remember when I realized that I was different than the majority of my peers. I grew up in a predominantly white area and never realized the impact of my race until I was in elementary school. When we are young children, I feel as though we are all treated well, if not, pretty well. This treatment definitely started to change as I grew older and people started cracking race jokes and pointing out my differences. I am really glad I am at the stage I am now with my race, because I really do not care what people think of my heritage and I appreciate my culture a lot more than I did when I was younger. My experiences when I was a child reminded me of this lecture. I was somewhat relieved to hear that some racial groups think they are white and identify themselves as white when they grow up in a white environment. I have definitely experienced this fact first hand and am glad others have been impacted the same way.
I thought the doll video was crazy. It really is sad to see how much impact society has on young children and on everyone! When I was younger, I sometimes wished that I was white, just to be like my peers. Thinking back on those days, I definitely would have chosen a white doll if I was given that experiment; I just thought that was normal when I was younger.
Race and racism are huge part of some people’s lives. I know I have experienced many racial experiences during my life; they are still very vivid memories. I noticed in my Voice Thread group that many stories are childhood stories. It is sad that we are exposed to these matters so early on in life. These attitudes and ideas learned are what keeps our society the way it is; sometimes very prejudiced.

I agree that guild was an important part of these lectures. White people will definitely feel guilt if they have a conscience. White people are the main group that have caused troubles to many minorties and other groups. It’s very cool to see the different treatments and ways of different countries.

It is very interesting to see how different races interact all differently in a conversation. It is also interesting that in some context, different racist remarks are okay to say but in other contexts, it is very inappropriate. All in our society, we are conditioned to learn different viewpoints and stereotypes. It’s sad that this happens at a very young age. Children mimic so many things that adults do and say. This is why there are so many acceptable situations that should not be okay.
I’ve never thought about white guilt. As a Korean-American, I just assumed that white people thought they were superior and looked down at other people of other ethnicities. Guilt is a good thing in relation to racism. Everyone should feel guilty about the actions they do that are or are not racist.
I felt guilty about being Asian sometimes. Just because I did not appreciate my heritage. Throughout my years at school, I eventually became more open about my race and would have many conversations with my friends on race. I wish people were more comfortable and open about the race topic. I feel as though we only have societal’s views on different races and thus we have many stereotyping problems. We all need to be more open about races and stop judging so much. Our world would be so much of a better place. Open conversations about racism will help our world become a less stereotyping, judgmental place.