en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/1126160 Comments by xforeveryoung https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85429466 I was actually not extremely suprised that white woman are the group of people who benefited from affirmative action the most. I feel that woman would have a bigger say into making sure that they were hired then colored people. I agree with your dad in saying it is not about what you know, its about who you know. That is totally true in this day and age. People still need to have some intelligence but if you but down the right stuff on your application or some good connections you are always better off. I have benefited from this and i think that almost everyone has. Thu, 8 Jul 2010 02:41:03 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85429466 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85425976 part 3 It can be seen in great detail in the Oprah video and that is only one example of the inequality in our school system. The hardest part to understand is why the students from the suburban school district got to have a better school. Why do they get to have three pools and a huge gym and weight room? That question doesn’t even begin to cover the problems that this intercity school has. The student who talked about getting an A in her trig class at Haper school district and then went to this suburban school district and didn’t understand anything in the trig class, I found this to be sickening. I feel so bad for the girl. She obviously wants to do well and succeed in life but all of these things are stacked against her and it all started with where she was born. Thu, 8 Jul 2010 02:20:25 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85425976 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85425922 part 2 I know there are other instances where family members of mine have benefited of this. Two of my cousins applied at a company where my uncle was the manager of one of their stories. I find it hard to believe that both of them would have been hired if it were not for my uncle. I’m not saying this because they were not qualified because they were but in this economy for two people to be hired who are related at a company is quite surprising. I really found the Oprah video with the two different schools extremely interesting. I am an education major and I have learned that there is a huge amount of inequality in our schools. It is something that we need to fix in this country. Thu, 8 Jul 2010 02:20:02 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85425922 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85425818 part 1 I thought that this lecture was very interesting about affirmative action. I thought it was really interesting about how affirmative action and nepotism are pretty much the same thing; although both, nepotism and affirmative action are looked at differently. I think that everyone has at some point in their lives have benefited from nepotism and if they think that they haven’t then they are in denial. I know that I have benefited from nepotism. I volunteered in a youth basketball program by refereeing games every Saturday morning over the winter months. The lady who ran the program was partially in charge of a summer camp. She told me that if I wanted she could get me a job at the summer camp. I had not even filled out an application or taken the drug test needed and I was already hired. I don’t know if they had other people who had applied and I was chosen over them or not. I was only hired because I knew her and another guy who used to ref with me got a job as well. Thu, 8 Jul 2010 02:19:21 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-8-lesson-14-affirmative-action__trashed/#IDComment85425818 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84819236 I agree with you when you said that immigration will continue to be an issue for America. I understand that America needs immigration for it to be the country that it is today. I know people from my family and friends who think that people who immigrate should drop everything and just join our culture. I don't believe that they should stop doing what they know in their own culture like their traditions and other things. I do however find it frustrating at times when they don't make an effort to learn english at all. I know if I moved to a different country I would make an effort to learn their language so I could understand the world around me. Mon, 5 Jul 2010 03:14:49 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84819236 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84818601 Part 3 I know as an individual I need to understand that immigrants are not going to submerge into American culture right away and some many never submerge. I do find it frustrating at times that people do not know how to speak English and that I have to press 1 for English at ATMs but I need to understand that if I lived in a different country I would not stop speaking my native language. Although I believe at sometimes that we should shut down immigration into the country completely because of our economic crisis, I also know that if immigration gets shut down American culture would not be the same. I struggle at times understanding why some Americans believe it is okay for illegal immigration because I feel illegal immigrants who are getting paid under the table are taking jobs away from American citizens. I think that this is hurting our economy because now American citizens are receiving higher income tax. I do believe that immigration is good for our country and I would never truly want to shut down the borders; however at times I find immigration frustrating. Mon, 5 Jul 2010 03:08:53 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84818601 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84818568 Part 2 With illegal immigration at the forefront of politics, it is hard for some American’s to understand that the people who immigrate to America today are not going to dive into our culture. The immigrants come in with their own languages, traditions and culture. Just like the Europeans did hundreds of years ago. I know when my Great- Grandfather immigrated from Germany after the First World War he didn’t speak English. Also he moved into the German section of the city. He was allowed time to fully submerge into our American culture. Although he never fully forgot his German traditions and culture he became American. I still remember, 11 years after his death, the German song we used to sing together whenever I went over to his house. Mon, 5 Jul 2010 03:08:32 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84818568 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84818548 Part 1 I think this lecture was really important for the understanding and moving forward of race relations. Immigration is an important topic in today’s politics and is a major issue along the US and Mexico border. Many people are too busy looking at the negative parts of immigration and are not seeing the importance of immigration to the country and what it stands for. The first people to immigrate to America are Europeans. It is important to understand that when Europeans first came to America they didn’t just start acting like Americans. Many of our traditions in America come from other cultures around the world. Immigration is an important aspect of America. This is true even in today’s culture. In truth without immigrants America would never be what it is today. The Native Americans would still have rights to all the land and technology would not be what it is today. Mon, 5 Jul 2010 03:08:15 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-13-immigration__trashed/#IDComment84818548 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83640620 I have to agree with you when you said that you would actually mind living with immigrants. I feel the same way you do. I know it's probably not right but I know I would have a problem living in an area with a lot of people who didn't speak the same language I did. I would struggle with the fact that I would have no idea what they were saying. I guess I believe this because your home is supposed to be a place where you feel comfortable and I wouldn't be comfortable if I couldn't understand my neighbors. I have nothing against immigrants and I feel they have every right to be in this country however I wouldn't be comfortable living in a community with a lot of immigrants. Thu, 1 Jul 2010 03:21:46 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83640620 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83639240 6/30 I found this lecture to be very interesting and eye opening. The statistics in the lecture were somewhat surprising and somewhat not surprising. At first I was extremely surprised about the statistics that were given because of political correctness, saying what you think is the right thing and not always what you truly feel. I was honestly not very surprised at the low percentage of people who want to live in a more diverse community. There shouldn’t be any reason why you wouldn’t want to live with people who are slightly different then you but only just over half of all people under the age of 65 want to live in a more diverse community. I would be lying if I told you that I would want to live in a community with a high number of immigrants. Its not that I’m racist or think that immigrants have no right to come to our country, it more the fact that I would struggle with the language barrier, that more than likely, would be present. I would most likely be with the other 84% of conservatives who say that don’t want to live with many immigrants. I also know that it is stupid to not want to live with someone who speaks a different language than me but I can’t say I would want to live with them. I was surprised at the number of republicans that answered that they would prefer to live in a community made up mainly of people of their same racial ancestry. I would of thought that with political correctness and saying the right thing, that the percentage would have been lower. After thinking about it a little bit, I’m actually not as surprised about that figure. The reason is not that I believe republicans are racist; however I can see in conversations with my family (who are republicans) that they prefer to live in an area that has people like them in it. I don’t find this to be right but the percentage does not surprise me. The final statistic that I didn’t find surprising was the increase in the percentage of black, Hispanic and Asian enrollment in suburban schools. I am an education major and I have seen in volunteer hours and observations of schools that suburban schools are becoming more and more diverse. I noticed this the most in a school near my hometown. This school is on the out skirts of Reading and used to be primarily white in the 1990s. Now there are more and more Hispanic and black students that have moved into the area to get away from Reading. I think this is good for schools to become more diverse so their students can learn to live in a diverse community. Thu, 1 Jul 2010 03:16:23 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-7-lesson-12-multiculturalism-lgbt__trashed/#IDComment83639240 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81840049 I agree with you. Most of the information in this lecture was new to me as well. I found it hard to understand the impact that whiteness had on other races. I do have to say that I was not surprised to find out that Penn State was 83% white. The only reason this didn't surprise me was because my roommate and I had a conversation on the population of students at Penn State. Since I am a white person from a 99% white town I thought that Penn State was very diverse but her being an African American thought that Penn State was not very diverse and should be even more diverse then it is. Thu, 24 Jun 2010 03:05:12 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81840049 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81838228 I thought this lecture was very interesting. I am a white person so I find that this is very unfamiliar to me. I was most surprised about the story of the preschooler who came home saying that her friend told her she was “dirty”. I don’t think I fully understood race until my late teen years. I come from a small mainly white town where a very small amount of black or Hispanic people. This young girl had to think about the color of her skin when she was only four years old. The deepest thought I had in preschool was what color shirt to wear that day or what shape to build my blocks in. I was struck by how soon this affects people of color. I know at my summer job as a camp counselor, we have only two children who aren’t white. I never really thought about how they felt being the only two children of color. As an education major, I knew prior to this course that children of color do worse in schools than their white peers. I didn’t however know that children of color who did worse in school are more popular than children of color who did better in school. This to me really doesn’t make any sense. I don’t understand how, how you perform in school is managing whiteness. So the students who do well in school are becoming close to the white culture so that aren’t as popular… I’m not saying that they should want to be like the white culture; however I am saying that being smart should not be a “white” thing. I found the video “A Girl Like Me” very interesting. I was surprised to hear the black people have a a standard for beauty that says that litter skin is more beautiful. I don’t know anything about color since I am a white person from a 99% white town. I do believe that this could be because of the whole whiteness is more beautiful thing. But, I do get confused at times. I know as a white person we find tan/darker skin to be more beautiful and more and more young girls are going to tanning salons. So why is it that black people what to have lighter skin to look more beautiful and white people what to have darker skin to look more beautiful. I also found it kind of wild that the children in the “A Girl Like ME” video decided to play with the white doll instead of the black doll. At the age of these children they could be just figuring out what beauty is and try to learn from what there friends and parent are telling them Thu, 24 Jun 2010 02:58:03 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment81838228 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment81169367 I agree with you about how shocking the twin girls video was. Its appalling that people like this are supported by communities and political officials in our country. But what is even more shocking is how young they are and their parents have led them to believe these ideas about the world. After saying this I don't believe that the government has any right under our constitution to do anything about these people. I am in no way defending them but they are stating their beliefs in a peaceful manner. Our constitution says we have the freedom of speech and they don't have the right to do anything to stop them if it is peaceful. Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:28:02 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment81169367 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment81167359 I thought this lecture was very interesting. I found the video of the twin girls absolutely shocking. I know that there are crazy white supremacists out there but to hear these girls who were only teenagers speak about preserving the race was appalling. I think what struck me the most were their views on the holocaust. When asked about the 6 million Jews that were killed by Hitler’s Germany, the one twin responded by saying I doubt there were even that many Jews back then. Wow, just wow! What is even more shocking is the support that their parents, community members and political officials were giving them. I seriously doubt that their views on race will ever change. I also got a good laugh out of the black people love us website. It was hilarious how they made fun of white people by using Sally and Johnny. I think that white people do try to do “black” things to fit because they don’t want to offend black people. However it does go back to the example Dr. Richards uses all the time about speaking Spanish at a Spanish restaurant and the waitress gets offended. Black people probably get offended when white people try to act like them saying brother or other things like that. I don’t think it very hard to understand why white people don’t call black people “black.” There are so many times that white people just don’t understand what to say where and when to say it. Many times we are so caught up and not offending people we are stuck. I really liked the example that Dr. Richards used in class about white students not being able to designate between the TA’s by saying the black guy and the non-black guy. I find that there are two things that need to happen in order for race relations to continue moving forward. First, people need to stop being afraid to talk about race. Mainly the people that need to stop being afraid are white people. There are times that you are going to offend someone, that is a given; however there will be more times that you wont offend someone than you will. Second, people need to stop being offended all the time. I don’t see any problem in calling someone black. It’s not racist. I’m referring to the color of your skin. Stuff like that drives me crazy. I also hate the fact that people get offended when we do something such as calling someone “bro” or speaking Spanish at a restaurant. The word “bro” is not a racist word. Its not written in stone that only certain people can call other people “bro.” So people need to stop being offended over stupid things so people can move on in the race discussion. Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:04:29 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment81167359 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80519893 I have to agree with you about Robert Byrd. He only put out that statement to save his but so he could continue to be a senator. I think he really didn't think anything of it when he said "white nigger" but he meant to say it. It's clear that it wasn't a slip up. I do have to say that while racism does still exist today I think the point he was trying to make was how much relations between races have changed over the years not necessarily that it was all gone. But I do agree that racism still affects how people think and who people are in America. Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:02:40 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80519893 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80519183 I found this lecture to be extremely interesting. I am a white person and I haven’t really thought about myself as a white person until recently. I was surprised to learn that there were 6 stages of Racial Identity. I know that I am probably a round stage 2. I don’t know if I’m any further than that stage because I don’t know what those stages necessarily mean yet. I am curious as to why Professor Richards said in class that white people mainly never get to stages five or six but I guess that is a discussion for another class time. I think that a majority of white people are probably at stage 1. I know that we know that we are white but I don’t think we fully understand what it means to be white like a person of color understands what it means to be a person of color. I don’t think being in stage 1 makes a white person racist. I don’t believe that these levels have much to do with racism. I thought that the comedy clips were very interesting that were shown in class. The clip with Dave Chappelle, when he was talking about doing drugs with your white friends, was very funny and a good example. There is another comedian Katt Williams who does a joke about never drinking with white people because we drink whatever we can find. I find this joke hilarious because he begins by saying how black people have one drink that they always drink and a back up incase they don’t have their first choice. Then he goes into saying that white people will mix the strangest things in with their alcohol like red bull and liquor. I can see the truth to this joke and that’s what makes they joke funny. The other comedian that was shown who talked about the how awesome it is being white I found more interesting than the other clip. I had thought about being white and the advantages before this lecture; however I hadn’t really thought about it in a powerful way. I mean I didn’t think of being white as me having power of people of color. After the clip there was a thought that popped into my head about discrimination and how I never really had to deal with that. Even in the beginning of this lecture, when Professor Richards asked about how you would define yourself white wasn’t one of the words I would use. I wouldn’t say I was short because I’m not but I would use daughter and sister to show that I was a woman. It is weird how things come out when they affect us everyday like skin color, height or a disability but if they don’t you don’t think of them. Thu, 17 Jun 2010 02:54:40 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment80519183 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79359751 I was also not surprised to find out that our prisons are disproportionately filled with minorities. I figured that there were more black and brown people in prisons. People would figure that the amount of people in one race who does drugs would be proportionate to the amount of people in that race who are imprisoned for a drug crime. My grandparents always talk about how the city looked when they lived there compared to now, as well. They live outside of a mainly Hispanic populated city. They are always making comments about how the terrible the city looks now. Wed, 9 Jun 2010 21:28:06 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79359751 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79356835 6/9/10 I really enjoyed the lectures this week. I thought both of them were equally as interesting. The first lecture on “Being the Man on Top” was very interesting but I really didn’t find any of the information surprising. If you can be the race or group that makes it to the top of the mountain over any other race or group it is obvious by human nature that you aren’t going to let anyone else get close to you. If a person is like you then they are allowed closer than a person is very different from you. On the other hand, I don’t think that races were pushed away only because they were different. I believe that once white people got on top they lived in fear of losing the top spot. The race that they believed could take the power from them was the blacks. Black people scared the white people on top. This is why the amount of discrimination against the black race never changed after the Civil War. I wasn’t very surprised to see that once slavery ended whites still held supremacy over blacks. Although I don’t believe that it was everywhere. I agree that in the south once the slaves were set free there was no way in hell that they were getting any land. But, I do believe that blacks who made it up into the northern states or went out towards the west faired better at finding a place to live and a job than the blacks that stayed in the south. The second lecture that focused on racial discrimination in the judicial system, I am embarrassed to say surprised me. I was not surprised to find out that a higher percentage of black and brown people are incarcerated than white people. That percentage is something that can’t be ignored. It is something that can be seen by looking in a prison anywhere in the United States. What really surprised me was how blacks and brown juveniles are more likely than white juveniles to be transferred to adult facilities when they committed the same crime. That is seriously crazy. They committed the same crime but blacks are 18.4 times more likely to be transferred to an adult facility. When Dr. Richards said, “some white people just don’t see it”. I have mixed feelings about this statement. I’m a white person and I don’t think I don’t see it. I believe that I just don’t want to say that there is something wrong with our legal system. The United States’ legal system is something that is supposed to be non-racist and non-bias in anyway but when there are proven statistics that say that there is some sort of racism going on it hard for people to admit a problem. Either way there is a problem going on and people would be stupid not to see it. Wed, 9 Jun 2010 21:00:54 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79356835 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78755982 That's a really good point you made about children who might not like a sport because the people who play it don't really look like them. I can totally see that happening and I never really thought about it before. I noticed the other day when watching a Flyers game that not only are the players predominately white but the fans are predominately white. This is also true for sports like Nascar. You can also see this, but not as much, in sports like basketball and football where there are mostly African American players and a good number of the fans are going to be African Americans. I'm not sure if that has to do with culture or what it is, but its definitely something to think about. Sun, 6 Jun 2010 04:19:32 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78755982 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78755574 These two lectures this week were very interesting and enjoyable. I was very surprised to find out how poor the different races really were. I knew that there is and always was a gap between races when it came to income. However I didn’t fully understand how huge this gap is. Professor Richards said that White’s with homes are worth almost $80,000 but Latino/as with homes are not even worth $10,000. That is a $70,000 gap!! I just find that this happening in today’s world is ridiculous. I’m really not sure who or what is to blame for this gap, however I’m almost positive that it is not a biological reason. I think what surprised me the most is that Professor Richard’s said that a Native American without a home is worth pretty much nothing. How insane is it that white people can be worth over $20,000 without a home when a Native American is worth nothing. It really blew my mind. I also enjoyed hearing about the differences in the types of people who played different sports. I have to agree with the statement that a lot of Hispanics play baseball but I do think that baseball might be one of the most diverse sports America has. When Sam said that African American’s have dominated the basketball courts it is completely true. Did you know that when Duke played Baylor for the NCAA Men’s National Championship it was the first time in a number of years that half the players on the court could be white? That means that for years and years over half the players on the basketball court were non-white (more than likely they were black). It was weird to see this because you hear about movies like Glory Road and others breaking the color barrier but you don’t hear something like this so, I found it very surprising. Also, Professor Richards talked about how Ice Hockey is a predominately white sport and Canadians and Europeans mostly play it. I am a huge Philadelphia sports fan so naturally I have watched the Flyers throughout the playoffs. I don’t really watch them too much over there season so I’m not too familiar with the other teams. When we played Montreal in the semi-finals they had a black guy on their team. I must say I was surprised (maybe a little too surprised). They also had a Hispanic guy on their team with the last name Gomez. It just goes to show us the may be hockey is becoming more popular with other races and cultures. I really liked these lectures. I found them to be very interesting and informative. But the Japanese video at the end of lecture one was absolutely insane. Sun, 6 Jun 2010 04:13:18 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78755574