7/7/10
Before this lesson, I did not know how closely related nepotism and affirmative action are. I was surprised to learn that most of the people who are affected by affirmative action are white females. Furthermore, I found it interesting that people of color who benefit from this are actually from the middle class. I agree with the point that Dr. Richards made, that there will never be complete equality in the world. I think that every step one makes towards equality helps but I do not think that it will be eliminated completely. It is unfortunate that the world will not be equal. There have been many attempts to gain equality in the past. They have made immense strides towards equal opportunity but still so much discrimination and hate remains. It seems that everyone I talk to agrees with the fact that they wish people were equal in the world. In reality, it is very hard to make the world equal, and I do not think that (at least in my lifetime) everyone will be equal and have equal opportunities.
The Oprah video was very upsetting. As an aspiring teacher, it was very sad to see how different schools can be, even when they are in close vicinities. It is a shame that some students have excess resources that they do not even take advantage of, whereas some students do not even have the bare minimum. As the one girl from the urban school said, she and her fellow peers would be able to succeed and get their test scores up if they had the opportunities that the other students at the other school had. I agree with the one student at the end of the lecture about school funding. I thought his idea of putting tax dollars all together and dividing it up upon schools was a good start towards equality. It would enable all schools to have the same amount of money to provide for their students so that every student has the opportunity to succeed in school. Unfortunately, it sounds good but it will probably not take affect. People all over the world have their own opinions regarding equality. Some people do not even care or take notice to the different opportunities that students are presented with. There are also some people who do not think that students from urban and suburban areas even deserve the same resources and chances. Personally, I think that for the future we need well-educated citizens. What happens when those students who did not have the chance to show their skills and abilities do not even graduate high school? The few that do graduate high school, do they even have the opportunity to go to college and further their education? What are the consequences of this inequality on the future of society?

7/7/10
Much like you, I always thought that affirmative action mainly affected people of color. I found it very interesting that it actually affects whites more. I thought that your point about why men have more jobs and are making more money than women was very fascinating. I have never thought of reasoning such as that before but I also think that you have a very valid point. I do think that women will be making the same amount of money as men one day. It is somewhat unfortunate that in the world succeeding depends on who you know, not necessarily what you know.

7/4/10
I agree with the fact that the past cannot be changed. However, I do think that we can learn from the past, when faced with similar situations. I also think that regulations and laws are obviously necessary to handle immigration and the number of immigrants coming into this country illegally. I think that they should be allowed citizenship if they go through the process of becoming one. If they are so intent on coming here and bettering their lives, why won’t they take the extra effort? Regarding Congo, the dog, I agree that any dog that attacks a human being should be put down. This sort of situation should never become a racial issue.

7/4/10
Immigration has been an issue that I have not given much thought to in my life before this lesson. Learning about it was a fairly new topic to me and I found it interesting and somewhat surprising. From what I had learned about immigration, I always thought it was more of a political issue than it really is. In reality, everyone has to deal with it and face the issue. I did not understand the extent to which immigration is, in a way, a positive asset to manufacturers and businesses. They are able to hire workers for a lower cost, which is especially important during the current recession. On the negative side, they are taking jobs away from citizens, which is one of the main reasons some are so against immigration. Obviously, some people are in favor of immigration, whereas some have strong feelings against it. Personally, I’ve remained against it because I do not feel that others should be able to come to this country, and remain in this country illegally, and be able to benefit from it. However, I do feel that some reside here in a more positive way and contribute more than some others do. Immigrants are always looked down upon in our society. When they come here, they are often times poor, and Dr. Richards was right, poor people are sometimes treated worse than others in the world. In a way, it is wrong that they are treated poorly and can be disrespected from others in our society. Dr. Richard’s example of which roommate you would like better, the rich one or the poor one, was unfortunately very true. I have had to deal with both ends of the spectrum, and things were a lot more pleasant around my one roommate who was always on time with bills etc.
Dr. Richards really opened my eyes to the fact that immigration is going to continue. Given globalization, people all over the world will keep traveling and transferring to other locations. Another point that Dr. Richards made that I had not given thought to before was the fact that the current immigration rates are the same as they have been in past history. For some reason, I have always thought that the current immigration rates are much higher than they ever have been before.
Regarding immigrants themselves, I think that they have a lot of courage, motivation, and determination. It is very hard for one to completely move their life to another country, in hopes to have a better future. In some cases, it does not lead to an improved life and ends up having the opposite effect than some think. Overall, I think this lesson opened my eyes to a more positive side of immigration and a better understanding of the entire process.

6/30/10
The first few slides of the lecture caught me by surprise. When Dr. Richards was discussing the questions that were asked along with their statistics, the numbers were very real to me. It was concrete evidence of a lot of unfortunate stereotypes that some face. Regarding living with many immigrants, it did not surprise me that Hispanics were the largest percentage and whites were the lowest. I think that whites are the most against living with many immigrants because of their opinions towards immigrants taking jobs away from Americans, among other things. It was interesting to me that Dr. Richards pointed out the difference between Republicans and Democrats regarding living in a community made up mainly of people of their same racial ancestry. If Dr. Richards did not point it out, I would not have made the connection that the percentage of Republicans is much higher than Democrats, showing that Republicans are more racist. The difference between whites and blacks who would prefer to live in a community made up mainly of people of their same racial ancestry was shocking to me. 23% versus 9%? It just shows how close-minded whites are towards blacks, and other races too. Blacks’ having a lower percentage, in a way shows that they are actually more open to other cultures and multiculturalism, unlike whites. White people would not say they would rather live in a community of their same ancestry if they did not have an issue or something against other races and ethnicities.
Regarding LGBT relations, I have absolutely no problems. I do not understand why anyone would be against gays. Personally, I feel that everyone should have an equal opportunity to be with the person they choose to be with for the rest of their lives. It is a shame that young people who are gay have such a hard time coming out and are forced to deal with so many issues against them. But why should they have to be scrutinized for their sexual identity? As Dr. Richards said, it is not really a choice. I think that is a cause for trouble in young people. It is not a choice, and they have trouble realizing and coming to terms with the fact that they may be gay. I think it is fear of the unknown. They have to face going against the “norm” of society and having to deal with the consequences. Also, while watching the lecture I thought about how little society knows about the LGBT community. I also think that it is hard for people to come to terms with a “label” that those around them do not know much about, thus they will most likely be against it initially. If the world became more educated and more open minded toward these issues, then I think the scrutiny against them will eventually disappear.

6/30/10
I agree with you about the fact that people are homophobic possibly because they are actually scared of realizing they could be gay. Personally, I do not understand why one would be scared. I also do not sympathize with those who are against gays and gay marriages. Shouldn’t everyone be able to be happy and be with the one they love? No matter their sex? While watching the lecture, I also thought about how little society really knows about the LGBT community and how much we still need to learn. I do not think it is fair to judge people about their sexual partner when you do not even understand.

6/23/10
The information in this particular lesson was completely new to me. Since I had never been exposed to nor thought about the racial identity stages whites go through, I had obviously never really learned about the racial identity stages people of color go through. Regarding the pre-awakening stage, it was interesting to me that they sometimes just naturally assume that they are white. After the story Dr. Richards told about the black girl who was told she was “dirty” made me realize that any person who is not white is faced with the “consequences” of that. It is obviously not their fault, and it is a shame that society has gone on in such a way where people of color are forced to tolerate being teased for that. I could not imagine being a young person of color and have an experience such as being told I was dirty. Before they are even old enough to understand race and its issues, they have no choice but to deal with it in a negative way. That particular girl will grow up and never forget that story, as it will continue to affect her life and her attitudes. The third stage, immersion, interested me too. It is fascinating to me that they can reach a stage where they view white people as irrelevant and become engulfed in their own culture. Furthermore, the fact that this stage also has a notable positive and negative side to it reveals, to me, that it is a difficult stage to be in. Personally, from what I have learned, I would imagine that this is a difficult place for them to reach and even be in. Before taking this class, I would have thought that it would be very simple to reach this stage and even higher ones. I had never really been exposed to anything that gave me any insight about what they are going through and what they face on a daily basis. Now, I imagine that it is very difficult for them to be at a point where whites do not matter in their lives and will no longer continue to have such a large impact on them. One fact that really surprised me was that Penn State is roughly 83% white. Just the other day my roommate told me that one reason why she does not like Oprah is because Oprah thinks that Penn State is not diverse enough, which is why she chose not to donate to THON. After my roommate told me that, I began having negative thoughts about Oprah too. I did not realize the statistics. Once Dr. Richards mentioned the percentages in the lecture, I immediately thought about Oprah. To my surprise, I started to think she might have a point that Penn State might not be diverse enough. But what does “diverse enough” even mean?

6/23/10 I was uncertain since the beginning of the lesson because I had a similar feeling regarding how unfamiliar this lesson was going to be to me. After watching the lesson I also thought about how difficult it must be for people of color at a young age. They are faced with being discriminated for their color when they do not even understand why. Regarding the fact that the better grades you receive, the less popular you are, I drew a similar conclusion. I pondered that fact for a while before realizing that to them it must show more “characteristics” of whites which is why people of color look down upon them.

6/20/10
While watching this lecture, I was mostly impacted by the video of the twin girls and the discussion about guilt. Watching the video clip about the girls, I was shocked. It almost amazed me in the fact that girls like that really exist. They do not know better than to listen to their parents and abide by the same ideas that they have. The girls were so passionate about their beliefs and ideas at such a young age when in reality they probably do not even fully know what they are promoting. As the girls grow up and enter the real world, they will most likely face many obstacles. When the one twin said that there were probably not even that many Jews during the Holocaust, I was surprised at how serious she was. She truly did believe that which made me think, what else do these girls have a hindered view about? When Dr. Richards began speaking about guilt, I was one of those students thinking about how much guilt I feel on a daily basis. I thought about what it has been in the past week or so that I have made myself feel so guilty about. Do I really even know what true guilt is? I thought I did until Dr. Richards revealed its definition and started investigating the topic a little bit more. I know that guilt is obviously feeling bad to an extent, but I did not have an idea about its further implications. When Dr. Richards asked students in the class if they ever feel guilty for being white or feel guilt for another race, I thought back to what I brainstormed caused me guilt in the past week. I would not necessarily say that I feel bad for being white. It is true to say that through this class I have gained a better understanding of what it means to be white which has lead me to become more thankful that I am. Just because I am white and gain from the benefits of being white, does not mean that I feel bad for someone who is not. It is unfair that other races are discriminated against but I do not take that any further and begin to feel bad for them, thus I do not feel guilty for being white. I think that one can see unfairness and understand that it is in the world without having to feel guilty for other races. Moving onto white guilt, I did not even know that it had an underlying meaning. I do think that there are many people in the world who have white guilt or experience white guilt. Personally, at this point in my life I do not feel that I have truly experienced white guilt.

6/20/10
Looking back on the lecture, the video clip about the twin girls was the main portion that really stuck out in my mind. I had the same thoughts that you did. I was dumfounded by the fact that the one twin said she did not even think there were that amount of Jews during the Holocaust. It is surprising to see how their mother did not even think anything was wrong with this, as if it was totally normal. To her, it might be, but I thought it was a little extreme as well. I also agree with you in the fact that it seems that whites cannot do anything right, one way or the other, and whites can never win.