7/7..I agree with you 100% on this. White men don't have much that doesn't benefit them, and even the things that don't, end up doing so in the end. I almost feel that the entire issue of affirmative action is very, very cyclical. If you give this to a group it helps them Well, by helping that group you made something more difficult for one or two other groups. You listen to their problems and help them. Well, naturally, this will cause an issue with another group. It just keeps going. It always seems that the more you help a certain group of people, the more issues begin to arise with another. Like I had said in my post, there is always going to be something considered to be unequal. It sucks to realize, but it is true.

7/7.I have always felt that inequality that is something that will remain forever is some form. The inequalities that can occur when applying for a job don’t even have to be due to someone’s race, gender, political views, religion, etc. I could be one of two people who walk into a job interview. The person who is next to me could be my identical twin, who has the same exact qualifications I have. The only difference is that my twin is married to the boss’s daughter. He gets hired. Classic nepotism clearly demonstrated. I never really looked deeply into affirmative action. It’s not that I find I unimportant, or I disagreed with it, it was probably because I saw no way for it to affect me as a white male. Well, once again, I was showed the inner workings of something, in this case affirmative action, in a new light. Seeing the people, who are benefited by affirmative actions connected to white men, wasn’t something I would have seen coming. White men just can’t get away from being benefited. It isn’t fair to people who just can’t seem to be benefited at all. The video that was shown with the difference in the schools was very interesting. I knew that schools like those existed, but I didn’t think they were located so closely to one another. When the female student in the math class had no clue what was going on, after she had earned an “A” in trigonometry, it showed the differences in simple teaching. Having a better school, teachers, and overall better education, plays a huge aspect in the future of these young people. The worst part it, there is nothing the less privileged children can do. The poor school has to attempt to gain more federal funding to pay for the things they need, but it would take millions to make that a good school. A student at the end of the video who was interviewed and said: “well we pay taxes through the roof, that’s probably why we were better.” The fact is the taxes cannot be raised substantially in these poor communities. No one would be able to afford the increase in payment. That reinforced the fact Sam was proving when he had the three students stand up for the “race to the top of the steps.” Things that were out of their control predetermined all their starting points in life. They could not control where their parents lived or how much money they had. That example alone really demonstrated what affirmative action does. It attempts to give everyone an equal start, without pulling any others back. In my eyes nepotism is luck, all luck. Most of the jobs I have had were, in fact, due to nepotism. I met most of the people who helped me randomly at some random place. It’s those lucky connections that you don’t expect to help you in the future. I don’t think people focus on it as much because it is such a common thing. It happens all the time to almost everyone, and often people don’t realize how lucky they are. The big difference, other than nepotism is helping those you know, in my eyes between the two, is that Affirmative action and nepotism both do give some unfair advantages, but, affirmative actions doesn’t pull people back, nepotism can. A company may interview an extra person, just like Sam’s example, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he will get hired. They are given the same starting point. With nepotism, the person who is more qualified, has no shot and is held back.

Ok, yes I do agree with some of what you are saying here. I do think that we need to allow immigration policies to change, and admit more people. I also agree with the idea of check-ups and documentations. Certain business do rely on these people’s labor in order to make their businesses work. I really don’t agree with calling them “resources.” They are still people and deserve to be at least treated as such. They aren’t cattle. They rely on us more than we do them. They are trying to better themselves by any means necessary and its condonable. The idea of them taking peoples jobs and saying tough luck would almost be irrelevant if one were to pass laws and have legal documentations. They would be subject to minimum wage laws just like everyone else. This would eliminate the concept of firing a person who makes minimum wage at a manual labor job in order to hire a cheaper means of labor. I know a lot of people who rely on manual jobs, such as the ones you listed, in order to feed their families. It’s not always as simple as taking a few classes.

I like how this lecture started out on sort of a lighter note, but very quickly shifted. Yes, the cartoons are funny, but they do have a very important message. What the European settlers did was in fact terrorism. Their doors were broke down. They were forced to change. That seems slightly back words, doesn’t it? Whenever anyone today visits a foreign country or land, they don’t force the people around them to act differently or speak their language do they? I can’t fly to Italy, pick out a nice house, move in, and then begin yelling at my neighbors. I can’t scream at them to speak English, or to do everything as I do. They would think I was a whack job. Well, isn’t this very similar to what happened to the Native American people? I never actually thought of it like that. I always thought of it as “yea ok, the land was taken, but we weren’t that horrible to them.” I never looked into the Native American’s history. I always had just heard about “America The Brave.” America, the country that fought for its freedom, not the country that took and destroyed them. Jackson talking about the things that they did to those people I was speechless. Holy Shit…That’s all that came to mind. How sick and deluded does someone have to be to do something like that!?! Why would they cut off noses for a body count? I’m sure that there are much, much easier ways to do something like that. The thought of removing pieces of human flesh, and scalps as a show of pride is pure barbarity. I am almost shocked. All I ever heard about was how America was always threatened and had to fight people who did so. What did these people do? They had land we wanted. So let’s go kill them. Sounds like a goo idea. You know what? My neighbor has a nice yard, I think I will scalp him and call it my own, then say I was the hero of that. I’ll just say he was a danger to my freedom. There is a difference between freedom, and greed. You can’t just take something, and when someone says no, you call it a violation of YOUR freedom. Well what about THEIR freedoms. Nobody likes poor people, unless you can exploit them. Yes, poor people do get on my nerves at times. Often the people, who break into homes to steal things, or rob people, are poor. So there are reasons why there can be some hard feelings, but I don’t think that that is race segregated. If I lived with someone who was poor and didn’t pay their bill, I wouldn’t care what race they belonged to. I know a lot of poor white people where I am from. There are also a lot of poor Latino people as well. The fact that most immigrants are rather wealthy also seems to be a worldwide thing. Often to move to another country, without having a job ready when one gets there, requires a great deal of money no matter where you are from. Business rules almost everything. If you have the money, you can go wherever you please, but if you don’t you better have a good use. It’s something that is almost impossible to find equilibrium. Money makes the world go round, it also makes people not look clearly into what matter. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” Yea right, that doesn’t apply so much anymore, now does it. America the land of Hypocorisms.

To me it seems that many of the stereo types today have roots in Hollywood. Most of the stereotypes that deal with Asian people and knowledge of martial arts, were formed in movies. I don't think it was something that happened intentionally, but now it has grown to be an issue. It does bring to light the issue that racism is more than just a black versus white issue. I remember when We talked about racism in school, and about half of my classed was shocked when they found out it was racist to make fun of Latino students. A lot of people just don’t understand what being racist really is, and its ignorance that causes racism.

6-23-10
I completely agree with Sam’s statements about the pre-awakening stages. As a white male, I to remember the days when I began to realize that I am white. I do have a race group. I am white. Then I look at someone who is of color and think about when they noticed their race. Since the time they were young they were forced to notice it. I feel that it would cause certain issues for anyone who was somewhat different. Being forced to notice that you are different and need to find your “subgroup.” Being a white male I never was forced to do this. I fit the norm and had no problems. I remember the first time I was faced with being the different one. I was literally the only white person in a room, and was getting awkward stairs like I didn’t belong there. Now attempting to live in a situation that’s always that way would be horrible. To already be forced into the awakening stage at a young age had to be a pretty tough experience. To me people of the LGBT community seem to have the roughest time with this. Even though it may not happen at the same young age as it does for people of color, but it seems to be a much more emotional experience. They have no one who they can talk to. It is something that they can attempt to conceal. Hiding skin color is not manageable are all, but hiding sexual orientation, is plausible. One of my closest friends forced himself to not be true to himself or other for 6 years before coming out to us. Being forced into an awakening stage, and then not being able to tell anyone, or embrace your culture would be almost torturous. They are stuck in the middle, they know but are afraid to tell anyone. Eventually most come to terms with it eventually, but until they do I have seen the struggles people face. I thought certain parts of my growing up were extremely difficult and unfair, but upon looking into the differences that people of different races and groups go through, mine don’t seem to bad. This lecture made me really look into things of this matter. I noticed that people who go through this stage, seemed to take one of two routes. They accepted it and let it drive them, or they became angry and hateful. The race themes that are pounded into our heads when we are young were touched on, and that was something I never had took notice to. It made us think that white was right and better. The white supremacy ideas are inadvertently taught to us. That is something that I didn’t notice ever and it is kind of scary when you think about it

6-20-10
Agreed. It was Amazing that children could be saying these things. There are some crazy people in the world. I don’t think that these children honestly feel this way. I feel that the ideas were pounded in there head every since they were very, very young. When this is all you know, and you are taught these things when given very biased one sided facts, its understandable for them to say these things. Children are very easily influenced, so when their parents tell them this is what is right, often they will believe them. Only in the future when they are given the true facts about events such as the holocaust or the gay community, will they be able to make a true decision on how they feel. Once they realize that their parents have been lying to them and conditioning them to appreciate hate, they are going to resent their parents for a long time.

6-20-10
Holy hell…The holocaust was an exaggeration? Are you kidding me? Okay I understand the fact that some people take the realization of their whiteness as a reason to possibly feel superior, but rationalizing the holocaust?!! That was something that I would have expected to hear from an older, nasty man. When I heard two young girls speaking like that, I was dumbfounded? It seems to me that white people have issues meeting in the middle. They either take one extreme or another. White people seem to either become so racist and give themselves a false sense of superiority, or they are petrified, and almost refuse to talk about any racial issues because they don’t want to cause a disturbance. It confuses me to attempt to understand these possible ways of thinking. Sam said it best, “if you hit someone in the street, does it matter what color they are?” Of course it doesn’t matter. People are people. You will get in the same amount of trouble for killing a black person as a white person, right? Everyone has a thought process, and if they know you aren’t trying to offend them, often you aren’t going to lash out at you in a rage. Put yourself in their place. If someone were to ask me “hey are you stupid because you are kind of polish?” I am not going to explode on them. I am going to explain sadly no I am not. If I were I would have so much fun poking fun at myself! I don’t think that a simple question automatically means someone is racist or being intentionally hurtful. Most people need to realize that. The red house video did explain it very well. Everyone shops for furniture right? People are people race doesn’t change the fact that people are willing to talk to one another with out arguing about race. I feel that a lot of people who think they are in stage 3 actually are not. I know white people who will say they understand inequalities and white privledges, but truly they do not. They make excuses for discrimination, and say that most of it is just in peoples heads. I notice this in my home town. When I talk about things such as this class to people here, they say things like “oh, I get it, I know how those things are, but most of it is nonsense.” That’s not understanding, that’s lying to everyone, including yourself. Until you realize that these things are real, and that they do have impacts, you aren’t truly in stage 3. It is ignorance that blinds us. Even though there are laws and regulations now, there are always loop holes. I can tell that I am possibly in stage three. I become angered at people and find myself arguing with them when they speak stupidly. This class seems to work well as ammo when engaging in these arguments. It is amazing how many people I never realized really are ignorant. I do feel that I will not feel guilt for being white. It was how I was born and I could never control it. What our ancestors have done to one another is in no way how I feel things should be. The only way to move forward is discuss these things with one another and let one another know that these feelings are not more. People are people, and thats how the world needs to see things.

June 16, 2010 Lesson 8, White people
I never really took notice to the fact that white people never talk about being white. I am white. So, why didn’t I take notice to that? I notice that people of color often talk about their skin or other factors concerning their race, but didn’t ever think about my skin color just because I am white. It amazed me that simply in the opening line of a lecture I could make an epiphany like that. The idea of sense of self and shaping it didn’t seem like It was something that would be possible to make a complex subject. I always thought of it as something that was simple. Someone asked who you were and you told them the things about yourself that made you, you. What I didn’t realize were the things that I left out that other people may have considered an issue. The idea of height, bring straight, or being right handed don’t often come to mind as something that would shape me, but what about other people? The way Sam said “It’s just the way it is, it’s an Is-ness thing,” sort of made all of that click. It seemed to me that the things that people considered shaped them were all things that were different from what the social norms are. People who are extremely tall or short consider it a major aspect of their life. People who are gay clearly consider it important. Things that violated the idea of normality were the focus areas for people. At first when Sam said about white people being stuck in just stage two I did not exactly believe him. I thought there is no way that most white people only make it that far into the stages. After listening to the lecture and gaining a better understanding of it, he is definitely right. Most of the white people I know do avoid all racial issues. They would rather avoid all of the political issues that would pertain to race. Rather than attempting to learn, or just bring issues to light that they aren’t certain about, they will completely avoid them to avoid being uncomfortable. I think it is because they are afraid of offending a person who is different. The idea of just not understanding how people are plays into things a lot. When he brought up the idea of being handicapped I did think about it. I don’t know what it is like to be handicapped nor do I understand what it is like to deal with people who are. I do lack experience with things like that. If people had experience around people who are different than them, they begin to understand why people are the way they are. It comes back to being rounded. If you spend your life around people who are all like you, I can understand how someone could get stuck in the first two stages.

I can understand what you are getting at here, and somewhat agree/disagree. People in the world today are all given equal opportunities to make themselves better. Between student aid and things along those lines, almost everyone can go to school and make themselves a better person. There are situations of that I feel still give certain races small disadvantages here in America. Whether people admit it or not a lot of places still have racism and discrimination. I know even in the small town I live in, if an inner city black person were to come in and ask for a job at almost any business, IF he were to get hired there is a very very slim chance that he would ever make it past a low level position. That is due to discrimination. They couldn't leave because that takes money and you can't do that if you have no job. People get stuck in situations like this where they can't become better.