I can’t even begin to explain how much this class has impacted my way of thinking. More times than not, when we learn or experience something life changing, only for that short moment in time, do we change our ways. For example, you hear about alcohol related deaths or experience times of extreme drunkenness and say “I am never drinking again.” But a few days later, sure enough we are back into our old habits. I can say with ease that this will not be the case for me in this class. My eyes will continue to remain open to new experiences and open to a new way of thinking. The way Sam has presented the information really has changed my outlook. I distinctively remember the first day of class, he said, “My job isn’t to tell you how to think, it’s to make you think.” He has done just that. Every time I think I have a viewpoint that is valid and justifiable, he presents us with the opposing viewpoint. It sends me thru a whirlwind of emotions, but it causes me to grow as a person.

This class has not caused me to progress from a stage 3 to a stage 6, but for the first time ever, it caused me to be aware of race. I used to never really notice race- never really had much experience with those of a different race- and never really learned a different prospective. This class has really been my first encounter with race. I learned so much from those of different races. But what I still find myself questioning most often is how can we progress and take what we learn inside the classroom and extend it to our lives? How can we sit in our discussion groups and talk about such intense topics and then leave and continue on in our own lives? I guess we will just need to keep working at this and striving to one day live next door to someone of a different race and live completely normally.

I now have noticed myself questioning the statements friends or family of mine make. I usually will come back with a comment igniting them to think differently or telling them the honest truth about how ignorant they appear.

I live a pretty comfortable life. What this class has taught me is how many people don’t live in the same way that most Penn Staters can relate to. It really gets you thinking about perspective. How can you complain about working instead of partying when there are enslaved young men being held captive to make something we view as a simple commodity? We eat chocolate because its there and its cheap, we wear imported clothes from China because they’re there and they’re cheap, but do we truly understand the impact we are making on someone else’s life? I know so many of us will continue eating chocolate and continue buying cheap clothes made my slaves, but if we learned anything at all from this class-we will have an increased level of awareness and maybe someday, things will be drastically different. It won’t happen from one voice, but it can happen from millions of voices.

When Sam began talking about child abductions and how much fear we live in, it really hit home with me. He basically was describing my single most complex fear and to be honest, my fear only began via exposure to the news. This is the point that Sam made very clear: we have been taught to live in fear because of the negative media portrayed on the news, in television shows, and in movies. In 2002, for some reason that I would love to take back, I watched the reenactment movie of Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapping. I could not sleep for a year and I distinctively remember thinking ‘I cannot wait until I’m older and past the age where it is likely I’ll get kidnapped.’ Elizabeth Smart was 14, and at the time I was 11. I wanted to be 18 because for some reason, that was the age I thought I would be safe. Looking back, I realize how messed up my though process was. But that was my greatest fear and I’m not quite sure I would have lived in fear if I hadn’t seen this kidnapping in Salt Lake City, nearly 2,500 miles from my home, portrayed so much on the news. Our fears generally ignite from all the “what ifs” we see happen to others on TV. My mom always says how times have changed. She used to be gone all day when she was a kid and would bike down high ways that nobody these days would even think of doing. She said her parents would live by the motto ‘No news is good news.’ But tell me why she thinks that times were safer back then when we clearly have evidence to prove otherwise? Were families exposed to less television and media with headlines of all the bad stuff in this world? I can say for sure that during my mom’s generation, the Baby Boomers, there were no shows like Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, where murder, rapes, and abductions are the storyline of the show. I never really thought to define the way I live my life as fearful, but Sam proved me otherwise. I realize that I live in fear in so many aspects of my life, and it all comes back to constantly thinking about the “what ifs” that can happen. The fear of flying when it is more likely to die on the way to the airport than in the plane itself. The fear of kidnapping when only 100 kids a year get abducted. The fear of walking home late at night, when really how many stories do you hear about a girl being killed in State College walking back from the library? You see, this stuff rarely occurs but those rare occurrences end up consuming the thoughts of millions of Americans. I will take away a few things about this concept of fear. For one, I have learned that our reasons of living in fear don’t really stand valid. Next time I question the safety and view the world as being negative, I will think back to this topic of fear and hopefully redirect my feelings towards a more positive channel.

Now, what I get most from this class as a whole, is the ability to view things from the other perspective. Those skeptics out there could probably make a good case saying the reason that there is a low number of abductions each year is because of the fact that parents don’t let their kids walk to school and that they take more safety precautions. I wonder if parents stop restricting their child’s freedom if anything bad will actually happen. My guess is it won’t but someone could think differently- but that’s the beauty of the unknown and different opinions.

We have spent so much time this semester talking about white supremacy. I still find myself thinking about race and immediately visualizing ‘white vs. black’. Maybe it is because our country has so much negative past history between these two racial groups. But I do think we sometimes overlook racial tension towards other minority groups. The video we watched in class is a perfect example. Fox stepped on that fine line between funny and offensive, and some would say that Fox even crossed it. Obviously there are two sides to each situation. As an Asian American watching it, you can laugh it off and just go along with the joke relating to the heavy accents and lack of knowledge Asians have of Americanized sports. But the second that someone of a different race finds it funny- you run into a problem- especially if the person laughing is white. Why? How can one sit back and think it is okay to laugh at their own racial group but nobody else can? Do they realize that by enforcing that type of unwritten rule they are in fact keeping the issue of race an ongoing issue? In society’s eyes, if you find a joke toward another group funny, that automatically deems you are racist. I am not saying I agree with the Fox video, because I definitely think they crossed the line and took advantage of the fact that the Asians being interviewed had no idea they were the butt of a joke. However, I am just trying to bring in the unbiased viewpoint of, for example, just an outsider looking in. Let’s say a black person was to think the video from Fox was funny. It would be more along the lines of minority groups making passes for each other. For example, in class the other day Zieme was talking about how black people like watermelon and how when he attended parties he consciously thought ‘don’t get the watermelon, go for the chips’. At that point in class, he had basically the entire student population in class laughing. Now if a white person was to point that concept out to the class I am sure that everyone would think they were racist. I guess I am trying to figure out if some Asians can find humor in the severity of some other Asian’s accent or if a black person can mock the types of food black people like, then why can’t someone of a different race make a comment? Sam always says that we will never solve this issue on race until we can have conversations about it, but does that work for jokes as well? I don’t know when there will be a time where one race can openly make jokes towards another race without it being offensive.

Now going back to the example of the Fox video, I do wonder the opinions of the Asians who were interviewed. Did they see it on TV or online and understand what was going on- that they were being mocked? I do think if you are the one being insulted without your consent, it is not funny. The Asians in the interview did not sign up to get laughed at. But I do think that as someone who is just in the audience watching- it can sometimes be interpreted differently and it doesn’t necessarily have to be classified as right or wrong.

I grew up in a predominately white town. I refer to it as the “Medford Bubble.” There was hardly any diversity in my town. I never walked down the hallways and consciously took notice of those with a skin color different than mine. But after speaking with those of color in my discussion group, I realized something- the people of color in my town acted like those with white skin. Or those with white skin acted like those of color. Regardless, I would hardly call the situations I experienced with race true diversity. The only thing that was different was skin color. I never really came across those from truly different backgrounds until coming to college, more specifically, until taking SOC 119. I have a few friends of different colors, but overall, most of my friends have a similar background as I do. Now does this make me a stage 1 or stage 2 just because of my lack of experience with diversity? I do admit that I have not really been around those of very different cultures than mine but it is not from a lack of trying or a lack of being open. I do not purposely try to remain in an environment where most of my friends and acquaintances share the same culture as me.
This question was appealing to answer because I do agree with the part that just because I do not have past experiences with diversity does not mean that I am not open to it. Part of the reason I love attending the lectures and the discussion groups because for the first time ever, I feel that I am finally learning from those of different cultures. It is interesting to hear other people’s viewpoints, especially when the person sees and experiences the world completely differently than I do.
I also think that a lot of the reason why I am so open to other cultures is how my parents raised me. I know many people from my hometown that would never want to experience other cultures and are so quick to judge others. But my parents taught me to look past differences. And these differences can be on a small scale, not just differences between races and cultures.
I am still trying to wrestle with my own opinions on the different sociological stages people go through when dealing with racial relations. Part of the reason I think I have this struggle is because of the fact that I come from a predominately white town. I never really had to give it much thought. I just always used to think “that there is a whole world out there that I can not wait to experience.” I guess I did go through the first stages as I was growing up, but I now realize that I still have a ways to go. I need to continue interacting with those of different cultures beyond the parameters of SOC 119.

Until this discussion in class and the discussion in my group, I never really had a concrete opinion about war. Maybe it’s because I never really had to talk about it. It has just always been happening in a place so far from what I can relate to. Maybe it’s because I was too young to realize everything that was going on when Operation Iraqi Freedom began. In my group’s discussion, one of the students was very against war. I am certainly against innocent lives being taken and obviously would like our soldiers to all make it back safely, but I really don’t think that we will ever live in a world where war is nonexistent. There will always be countries like ours that have so much power compared to other countries like Iraq who have such little power. We won’t, at least in our lifetime, live in an ideal war where everyone can get along. Religion, economies, cultures, and many other differences certainly stand in our way. But, there still morals in war that we should hold on to. Yes, easier to say you won’t kill civilians when the Iraqi soldiers are shooting at your friend, but until we are in the shoes of those at war we will never know. I did have a strong opinion on the videos we watched in class. Clearly, the soldiers abused their power and thought that their mindless acts of bullying- in simple terms- was classified as following orders. I was really shocked when I saw this, and a large piece of my heart ached for the man whose car was destroyed. I guess I have been naïve this whole time during the war to think that this does not go on over there. I would like to believe that it doesn’t happen often and these videos were the extreme acts. But once again, there is an opposing side. That soldier may have watched their best friend die and were shot at moments before. We can really never know the reasons behind someone’s actions until we are in their shoes. As far as what we can do about it as just regular American citizens, I am not exactly sure. I do think we can educate ourselves, and by doing so, educate those around us who have such strong opinions but without any just. We can let them know that they should see both sides of the situation.

I said earlier that the original name of the war was Operation Iraqi Freedom. As I wrote that, I realized just how correct Sam was in class yesterday. By a large, this is a war on oil, yet we are able to justify our invasion by calling it Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sam was responding to something that a student asked Basim. He said from an American standpoint, we like to think that our governments is doing the right thing or at least trying to. And I really do believe that this is the case for some of the actions taking place in Iraq. Yes, we killed Saddam Hussein- and we believed that by removing this man from power, we would be freeing Iraqis. I’m sure if you asked them if they feel free when they look outside at US tankers and US soldiers in uniform they don’t feel very free. I was just really moved by Sam’s speech on empathy and I am having a hard time being able to justify the war from an American standpoint as I imagine myself in the shoes of an innocent civilian. I could not even begin to wrap my head around the possibility of some country with such great power destroying and invading my hometown. It’s really hard to have such a strong opinion on something so powerful as war when you really empathize with those of the opposing side.

There are so many things in class that have challenged the way I think and the way I view the world. This class has hands down made the most impact on my life so far. I have learned so much in just 16 short lectures and I truly believe my entire outlook on how I will continue living my life has been altered.

A few topics, comments, etc. still stand out so evidently in my mind. The conversation in a recent class about what white families would say around the dinner table about affirmative action caught my attention. White students were reserved when discussing affirmative action. Sam joked and brought up the opposing viewpoint by asking what our white families say at the dinner table. This was interesting to me. To be honest, I have heard my parents talking down on affirmative action. I never really had a viewpoint on it before, and when they would say something about it- I kind of just paid no attention to it. But now, after being in Soc119, I realized that my parents were completely wrong. They do not realize how much of an advantage they have for just having white skin. The problem is that they don’t realize that they have many advantages simply because they never really had disadvantages.

Another topic in class we discussed that really stood out to me was the topic of white supremacy. Something in my discussion group really made me think and question diversity. A black student in my group said you are wanted for diversity based on your skin color but you must fit the white image. I have never really thought of diversity in that way and it really is upsetting to bring all these facts to the table. They want diversity- black skin, but white concepts. But so then is skin color really what we see? Or are we blind to skin color as long as the person of a different race acts and shares similar views as you do. Sam said in class that most people end up living in the same socioeconomic class that they were raised in. Yes- some who were raised poor become rich, and some who were raised rich become poor, but for the most part- you stay in the same general class that you were raised in. So what do we have to do to further break down racial divisions? Adding diversity by simply making people of different skin colors coexist in one neighborhood really wouldn’t solve anything. But maybe if we could make people of different colors and incomes live next door the barriers will begin to fall. Obviously, this is a lot easier said than done, but if you could eliminate segregated neighborhoods, you could slowly eliminate racism. I want to know Sam’s opinions how we can change the concept of white supremacy. How, other than further educating ourselves, can we make an impact on society?

How? This is the hardest question to answer regarding racial discrimination. How can we change it? How has this issue of race even come into existence? I don’t know if this is ever going to be a thing of the past. But why can’t it be an easy fix? This is the main issue. This topic is such a challenge to even talk about or discuss, so fixing it is definitely going to be a lot harder. I wish it were simple. But it’s not.

I have many ideas how we could eliminate racial discrimination. We could be open-minded. We could eliminate asking what race a person is on a job or college application. I feel that if we are asking about someone’s race it matters on his or her application, so if we eliminate that question, we eliminate the idea that race matters. This relates to what Sam was saying in class about how test scores go down immediately after asking what a person’s race is. We can try to encourage people of different races to interact with each other. It’s obviously easier said than done.

Racial discrimination will always exist because of human nature. Statistics show the social differences between humans are prominent. It would take dramatic changes in the prospective of racial differences in order to change these statistics. The foremost problems occur in education and employment. Because of social class, certain races are not able to attain an education that would allow them to have a job that would raise their economic standing.

If somebody was to knock my religious views without knowing anything about it, I am not really sure I would be bothered. I am not the most practicing religious person, but I do believe in God and creationism. However, I understand that people are entitled to their own opinion. I wouldn’t confront anyone who makes judgments without knowing and agreeing with my views. To be honest, I would be considered a hypocrite if I ever was to become irritated by someone’s opinion about religion. Partly because, I myself, am arrogant. I don’t have nearly enough knowledge about any other religion to be able to make such strong statements. I do sometimes think how could someone be Atheist? But I don’t know all the facts, nor do I know their reasoning behind their views.

Sam stated that most of us chose our religion based on what are parents believe. I do agree with that statement, considering it is a fact based on statistics, and also because many of us our shaped by our environment. This goes beyond religion. We grow accustomed to what our environment values and what the rest of society is doing. For example, certain people of similar religious descents live in the same area. People moving into that area are more likely to be of that same religion due to similar beliefs. Humans chose to be around those similar to them. It’s a simple truth that is proven true in many aspects of life.

I found Sam’s lecture about this topic to be really interesting. Partly because he always has a way of making you see something from a different perspective. I always believed in God and creationism, but after going through high school and college, I am intrigued to learn about evolution. I find these two separate views to be contrasting, however, they can be intertwined. I believe that God created man, and everything else on Earth. However, I believe that humans have evolved over time. It is a very interesting topic to discuss and I am open to hearing both sides of the argument.

I think religion is easier to talk about than race. In my own experiences, religion is easier to avoid simply because you cannot always perceive one’s religion based on their appearance. Skin color and physical differences are easier to perceive. Therefore, this topic can be hidden and disguised without having conversations about it. I’m not saying it is easier for everyone, as some people are extremely religious and much more knowledgeable than I am. It is interesting to see how religion and race work with and against each other. I wonder where the rest of the class will take us as we continue to bring religion into discussion.

When the topic of religion is brought up, I always identify myself as Roman Catholic. I wouldn’t necessarily say I am an extremely religious person, as I sort of strayed away from going to church ever since I made my Confirmation. But that’s beside the point; I believe in the particular ways and beliefs of the Catholic Church, so to me, that’s always been enough. Sam brought up an interesting point when he said when you look in the mirror and pick out your imperfections- you are really telling God that He screwed up when He created you. I never really saw it through that particular lens before. I mean, when you are little the phrase “God made you beautiful in your own way” was always embedded in my head. But as we get older and we don’t have crushes on people in elementary school simply because they let you do a “frontsies backsies” in the recess line, we begin to develop a standard of beauty. Are we attracted to people through our own selection process? Or are we attracted to people based on what the norms and standards of beauty show us in magazines? Do we find beauty in someone who doesn’t meet the “standard” and is out of reach of that standard by the same amount that you are? What strikes me the most is that I catch myself viewing the world through the “standard” created by… whom exactly? How and when did society create these expectations of beauty? But I guess it is just the way it’s always been- a mold and an idea that has been set and reset into the minds of society. When and how would this standard ever change?

This kind of brings me back to the day when lecture was recorded. Sam had a conversation with the girl who was picked out to be the darkest student in the class. Sam told her that she was fantastically beautiful but she had to realize she would never be in a magazine. Her features don’t allow her to. And that statement was not built off the basis solely because she is black, but rather because her features don’t meet the ‘white’ standard. The black women we see in magazines have features that closely resemble those “ideal” features of whites- thin nose, certain lips, good bone structure, etc. etc. Why? Why is a thin nose the standard and why do we strive to achieve that? How did we get to a place where we want to aspire to look like others because we aren’t ‘perfect’ enough? How did we get to the point where we judge ourselves more on what society believes rather than the fact that someone of greater power created us to be unique and beautiful in our own way? And the worst part is, is that I am guilty of it- I question why I got my dad’s nose as opposed to my mom’s thin nose, and I wish my hair was straight and a little thicker. It’s hard to think differently about this matter when the majority of society is seeing it through the same twisted lens. It’s a weird feeling to come to terms with- knowing that I should look in the mirror and not compare myself to the “standard” of beauty, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to.

I think that we must stop viewing the United States as an English-only speaking country. Our country technically doesn’t have a national language even though some would argue this concept by simply using statistics to prove that English is the most common language in households across America. But regardless, Americans must start looking at things from a difference perspective. I am not saying everyone should go out and buy Rosetta Stone to become fluent Spanish speakers. But if you have the opportunity and the resources to become bilingual- why not? We must stop being arrogant and sheltered when some say “It’s America, learn English.” I find that phrase to be quite odd because when we go to foreign countries in Europe, we expect them to at least know enough English to communicate with us. So why can’t the Spanish speaking people in our country expect that we know some Spanish to communicate with them.
As always, there are two sides to the story and people will argue that undocumented Spanish speakers should not be influencing the language we speak in the United States. Maybe I am unbiased to this situation because I have never lived in a place where there was a high population of Spanish speakers. I look at it from the view point of learning to speak Spanish will make me a more well-rounded and competitive person in the work force. But I have to say, that if I did grow up somewhere where Spanish was spoken at a higher rate, I might be among those saying how frustrating it is. I don’t know. All I do know is that we won’t be able to stop it from happening so instead of complaining about it we might as well go with it. Professor Richards made a good point when he said “We can swim with the rest of the fish downstream or be the one fish swimming upstream.” I don’t think that being bilingual in Spanish will become pressing for many years to come but it is something that is going to happen in the future. Instead of challenging and objecting it, we need to acknowledge that fact that it is indeed happening. The Spanish language will never dominate the English language, but Spanish will become our second language whether we like it or not. Maybe we could all be wrong, maybe Spanish speakers will eventually assimilate and generations from now will speak only English. I am not sure what’s to come, but for now, I think attempting to learn Spanish and being open minded to the concept is the most intelligent thing to do.