In my opinion, talking to the Iranian man through Skype was one of the highlights of my sociology 119 experience so far. The fact that we could actually talk to a person face to face about aspects of his and our culture was mind-boggling. I had never really had the chance to talk to people from the Middle East, but especially Iran and it blew me away on how similar he is to us here in America. If I were not told that he was from Iran there would have easily been a chance that he could have been an immigrant in any major cities in the United States. So as we continued to talk to him as a class, the more I realized how much the media influences our opinions about certain countries like this. At least for my generation, I feel that you would not find many people that would openly want to travel to Iran because of fear. However, when put into perspective, we are more of a dangerous country then are. We are all proud to be an American, but many of us are sheltered from the international world. There was one part of our conversation that really caught me off guard. As we were talking someone from an Iran’s neighboring country (Yemen) asked the man how he felt about his country. Sam was quick to cut the man off telling us that he will answer the question later. After the man was finished speaking about American culture and many other things, Sam told us that he is putting himself in jeopardy just by talking to us through Skype. After comparing the United States to Iran for almost twenty minutes, it really surprised me that he could not even talk about certain topics openly. I also realized how much we actually take for granted here in the United States, never having to worry about what we say or do. But the ultimate take away from this experience is that they are just normal people like us over here. They may have different cultural practices, but that does not mean we have to hate them by any means. Sam continues to amaze me with how I perceive the world through “the other side”. Just a little empathy in soldiers, politicians, and every day people can really make a difference in how we communicate and see other people. If more Americans gave people like this man a chance, then they would really see that they are just as normal as we are. He wanted to do everything in his power to show that he and his people are not dangerous. Taking a step back he actually put his life on the line to show 700 Americans that he is a safe person.

When the question was asked to the audience about joining the military, I immediately raised my hand that I thought about joining the military. I have come from a family where both my grandfathers were drafted into the military and my uncle was a captain in the navy. I had never really understood why anyone would join the military, when they could have a future full of opportunities. But the first time I had wanted to go into the military was when I was at my friend’s grandfather’s funeral and the song “Taps” began to play. The only feeling that I could think of at that point was respect. No matter what this person has been through, they put themselves on the line for what their country. As the song stuck in my head, so did this feeling. I realized how grateful we are to have people step up that we do not need a draft anymore. Even though there is no law that says we have to serve our country, it made me think that as an American it is my duty to serve my country at some point. Regardless if that may be as an active soldier or helping out back in our own country, it is our duty to continue to fight for our freedoms and rights. Also I like to reiterate what the men who visited our class on Thursday were saying. The military is strictly there for protection and not to commit acts of violence for any other purpose. I also feel like you can really appreciate what your country stands for when you have to protect what is yours. Being a part of the military benefits you, but it benefits the people who you love and care about. You are also fighting for what our ancestors established and maintained as a country. There is a special bond between veterans through experiences that can never be shared with normal people. In Israel, they have a law that every citizen has to join the military for one year. Even though people may disagree with the law, it gives people an experience that they may love or hate, but will always remember. The pride for your country that is established after having to put on a uniform is beyond anything I know. But the biggest thing that still sticks with me for the reason for wanting to join the military is respect. There are obviously pros and cons to every decision one may make, but earning the respect of millions would absolutely do it for me. It is something that I think every person should consider at one point in their life even if they decide to never go through with it.

Even though one may want to believe that race can be thought of as one’s actions over how they look, but race is skin color. Race is one’s heritage and it essentially is based all upon looks. If one believes that it is based on actions, I would say that then how could a black person act “white”. Stereotyping does not make someone a different race. It is hard to sit there and say that someone is a type of race when they are clearly, white or black. So as easy as it is to say that your actions describe your race more like one type then the other. I like the idea of one being called a white black person because it shows that there is no stereotype for one type of race. You cannot act just black because there’s always someone out there who breaks those stereotypes. Again without trying to sound harsh, in our culture we our taught to “judge a book by its cover”. As we talked about in our discussion group, we all have an idea of what beauty is and also an idea of what ugly is. It is just something that is inherent in our culture. Obviously there are different extremes to the extent of how one perceives appearance, but it is something that will always affect how we see one another. I mentioned before that race has to do with heritage and where you came from. Like how your actions represent your family and who you are, but they also represent your race as a whole. Stereotypes are created from multiple groups of people. Not saying that stereotyping is the correct thing to do, but it would not be a stereotype if it did not satisfy a certain idea about a group. The act of perceiving people’s race is a normative topic. There is no right or wrong way to do it, but it is just something that is going to happen within our culture. In my opinion, humans have an easier time accepting people that are most similar to them. But as a culture we are continuing to grow from our old stereotypes. Just as my parents are less racist then my grandparents, my kids will be less racist then me. As much as I would like to say race isn’t a big deal in our society, we still have discussions about how race affects our every day lives. But race can never be determined by actions because then it is not race as much as it is personality type. As we were founded on a country of multiple races, we will one day see an entirely integrated society where race is just what you look like not how you are perceived.

I feel the most troubling issue surrounding race in today’s society how we deal with race in the workforce. We keep trying to get away from the stereotypes of our ancestors and the racism that still surround our country. However, we still talk about race opposed to other factors, which make up certain situations. Just the other day I was watching ESPN and they begin talking about how there are not enough nonwhite coaches in the NFL. I understand why this is still a topic that continues to come up, but it is just hard to not think about race when it is such a prevalent discussion in all aspects of our society. I do not know what would be a good approach to step away from race, but it is tough to not look at the color of someone’s skin when it is being discussed all the time. I have always been under the impression that you get what you earn, but it is tough to not think about skin when people are receiving jobs or getting into schools because of the color of their skin. Many people are also scared to come forward because of the face that someone will call them racist. It is the 21st century, and it is time that the people who are most qualified for the position receive the job. No special treatment should be given out because of one’s race. I am glad that the United States has comes such a long way regarding race as a topic, but life will never be fair and it is time that employers understand that. This is obviously something that will not be solved over night, but I hope we are going in the right direction. It may be something that it small, but it can be the difference between a job and unemployed. In class we discussed the wealth gap between whites and minorities. It is tough to see the division of wealth be as high as 20:1, but it is something that is hard to change. No single person makes or breaks those statistics so it is hard to see those statistics and not think about race in the workforce. There is not a single reason I can think of other than culture. But I hope it changes over time, giving equal opportunities regardless the person’s skin color. I also think the biggest step in our country was election of Barrack Obama for a second term. Not only did we come together as a nation, but also we as a country looked beyond skin color for a president. It is essential times like that, which makes me believe that one day we will be a completely integrated society. Until then we should continue to look beyond race to see individuals that help us create our society.