My thoughts on illegal immigration did change a lot after Tuesday’s lecture. I have always been very supportive of new legal immigrants into America because I think diversity is very important and necessary in today’s society. When people are able to live in the same country, they slowly begin to start learning about eachother’s cultures and customs which in turn should increase the chances of them getting along while decreasing the chances of wars oversees.

A reason why I am a fan of immigration is because both of my parents were born in other countries and immigrated to America-Ellis Island! My mother came with her parents from Sicily when she was a baby, and my father came with his large family from Cape Verde when he was about 5 years old. They decided to move to America because life if their home countries were not very good and they were not making a lot of money. They thought that in America, they could make their lives better and then their future generations would also have better, more successful lives.

On the other hand, illegal immigration did not have as much support before the lecture. Before the lecture I was on the fence on the issue; I didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it either. I saw the pros and cons but I did not have a set opinion to stick with. I knew it was obviously illegal so they should not be doing that, and it also increases the population in an already overpopulated country (especially in the cities where a lot of illegal immigrants live). Hearing Eric’s story was really special. I will not forget that for the rest of my life, and I will be telling others that my T.A. for Soc119 in college was an illegal immigrant from Mexico!

First of all, I think that all of the illegal immigrants here should stay here in the new life that they risked and not be afraid of being deported. I also really liked the idea that Sam gave us on how this land actually is not the property of the U.S. government at all. It actually is the land of the Native Americans. The Mexican illegal immigrants coming into America today is just like how the Conquistadors wanted to come into the land hundreds of years ago when the Natives roamed abundantly and freely.

The U.S, of all people, should be the most accepting of people coming into America since we thought it was okay for us to do and also because we consider ourselves a melting pot. We should allow immigration but have stricter regulations to make sure they want to come for good reasons so that we eliminate drug trafficking, gangs, terrorists, and other dangerous or illegal reasons. Eric’s story is a real life testament that show how many illegal immigrants want to come here for the right reasons and want a better life.

The lecture about Native Americans and how much pain they have been through really touched me in a way that is hard to completely convey but I will try to put my feelings and thoughts into words to the best of my ability here. Sam talked about them briefly earlier in the semester leaving me wanting more, so I was very excited when I found out the entire lecture was going to be about Native Americans.

It is so hard to imagine that the land right under my feet was the home and land of the Natives. They were the first people to live on this land and they really appreciated everything about the beautiful nature of the country. Everything was perfectly fine until people from another land wanted to explore, and they once they found America, they wanted to make it their own home. It’s like having a house in which you family has had for generations and then a new family comes into town and kills everyone in that house so that they can live there.

Another horrible aspect of the invaders was that they had guns, and the Native Americans only had spears and arrows during their war. Actually, it is unfair to say it was a war; it was, as Sam called it, a slaughter and genocide. They wanted to destroy every Native American in sight without understanding they were destroying families and an entire culture. Thankfully, they did not kill every one of them so there are still people of the culture, but they are kept in reservations. I think it is so wrong and sad that the people who have been here for hundreds of years before the Europeans have to be kept in reservations, excluding them from the rest of us who are not Native Americans.

The song was also really interesting to listen to because although I have heard the song before, I never knew what it meant. “Don’t Drink the Water” sends a message so deep to the listener and I hope everyone who heard it can also agree. I felt disgusted and speechless at the end of the song. I just sat there sinking in the lyrics and its message, wishing there was something I could do to end the problem but it’s too late. The slaughter was the longest one in recorded history and just being able to live here demonstrates that the damage has been done.

The lecture of how the Europeans took over the land and culture of the Native people kind of reminded me of the lecture Sam taught about how the U.S is going into the Middle East and taking their oil. History should be a lesson so that we do not make the same mistake in the future. The slaughter of the Native Americans should teach us not to invade other people’s resources like we do for oil in the Middle East. The world should try harder to work together peacefully so that everyone is happy in the end.

It is hard for me to decide how I feel because I have mixed feelings after being in class. One part of me can sympathize with them with the fact that we are bossing them around and telling them what to do with their oil, but I am also more upset at terrorists for wanted to kill all of the Christians when we both believe in the same God. The graphic and scary video Sam showed us about the Jihad really impacted me. The segment which showed pictures of 9/11 really made me tear up, especially the pictures of the people jumping out the windows of the Twin Towers. I especially felt sad for my friend sitting next to me, who I know has a lot painful memories from that day. The video actually made me cry because all of those people were innocent and had families.

The lecture put some insight into why the terrorists feel so upset, but I believe there are no legitimate reasons for attacks on innocent people and killing thousands upon thousands of people. Their terrorist attacks make the U.S upset which then leads to bringing out army to their land and causing even more problems. The attacks brought even more hate towards them and cause more racists comments and stereotypes towards Middle Eastern looking people, especially towards the men.

The biggest problem is when there is a group of people with a lot of power for having an abundance of oil, and those people are also not very understanding towards Christians and the desperation that the U.S has for oil. Essentially, terrorists think that Christians = U.S. and U.S. = bad guys. That kind of ignorance is what causes wars. If everyone took this Soc119 class, I believe that there really would be world peace. That is because we learn about all types of cultures and can understand why they do the things that they do.

These terrorist want world domination, much like Hitler did, whom I’m sure everyone can agree was a man with a mental disorder who had power. This mental disorder is one that can brainwash people to love hate and war and so anything that the leader tells them to do. I think these terrorists have been brainwashed to think a certain way since the day they were born. They have been taught to hate and to kill Christians. They do not know the teachings of Christianity or that our religions are much more similar than they can imagine.

I think the most important thing we can do to end terrorism is to have the children go to school, and play sports or instruments. If they are put into school, they will either not have time to be a part of the jihad or they will be smart enough to know it is wrong. War will not bring peace; just more war and more killed innocent people.

Absolutely! I can say that I already have. With my 5+ years in studying Spanish, I have learned the language which will stay with me for the rest of my life. My knowledge of the Spanish language and culture has already added more credibility to my resume which will make my chances of being offered any job, better. If you plan on doing any sort of job, a business job in my situation, knowing a different language other than English is very important because the world is becoming smaller and smaller. That means that companies and organizations are working together with other people all around the world, and since there is no world language, people need to learn how to communicate and work with the people from countries who speak a different language.

Like Sam said in class, in the United States the main language is English (#1) but Spanish is really close in importance (#1a). I was glad that I learned Spanish all throughout high school and for a semester at Penn State because I feel comfortable going to Spain or any other Spanish speaking countries and be able to communicate with other people to either conduct business or to simply be social. Another language with is quickly becoming more and more popular and essential for people to learn is the language of China, Mandarin. The other Chinese language is Cantonese but Mandarin is more popular to know. The reason why I would like to learn Mandarin is because a lot of jobs, especially in business, are now having bases in China and doing business with people there because of how powerful China has become in the world. There are also a lot of perks with being able to communicate with partners from other countries.

I would probably have a higher salary and be able to travel to different countries of the world where I can have many experiences of a lifetime. Even if you do not know a language that the company wants you to know, many times they will provide you with material to learn it. Currently, a very popular program that companies and even the average people just willing to learn a new language, are investing their money in Rosetta Stone. Rosetta Stone is a program where you can play a disk in on your computer or television and learn any of the numerous languages at your own pace and with comfort from your home. Business people may want to learn Mandarin, and fashion people might like to learn to French or Italian.

The world is becoming smaller and more equal every day, so it would be ignorant to not want to learn a different language. Even though I am happy to know Spanish and know that it would contribute to my future job, I would still be open to expand my knowledge of a language and culture of a different country because it will open even more doors and opportunities for me in my job and life.

I think it is hard to date someone of a different race if the place where you are from is predominately one race. I am a female from a predominately white area and so when I was growing up, I would be around mostly white people in everything I did such as school, sports, and social events. It’s not like there were no people from other races, but it would seem like they were either related or would just group together and not be very close with other. It’s not that I was adverse to guys of other races; it was just that I had more opportunities to be friends and close with “white” guys.

Another reason why some people may find it difficult to date someone from a different race than their own can be because of their families. Some families have parents or grandparents who may be a little racist or have their own ideals established about what certain types of people represent. My family is not like this at all, but I know one girl who said that if she were to marry a black man, her grandparents would seriously not attend her wedding. I was so shocked to hear that people still have views like that, but I think it is more common with older generations.

As time goes on, and people are educated more about race, I feel like people are slowly becoming more sensitive to racism. It would be very rare and surprising to hear someone today be judgmental and speak negatively about an interracial couple. Sadly, there are still some incidents of negative views with these types of couples. Like Sam said in class, if a black guy is walking on the sidewalk holding a white girls hand, and they walk past a group of black girls, the couple will slowly let go of each other’s hands and act casual. The guy is nervous about what the other black girls will think about him because the girls (who are in the Immersion stage) want the black guy to stick together with black girls. These girls are in the Immersion stage because they are only interested in their own race and do not approve of men of their race liking a girl from a different race. This situation is another reason why it is hard to date outside of your race.

People might judge you and speak badly behind your back. I feel like as time progresses, the boundaries between dating people of other races will disintegrate and people will let go of buried judgments and worries. One day I hope people will feel free to date anyone in the world no matter what their race is and live peacefully.

I have seen this video once before in my Soc 1 class last semester, but that did not stop me from having the same sad reaction as I did that first time. The children in the video did not identify the doll that looked more similar to them in regards to be the good doll. This is strange because you would normally think children that age would pick the doll they related to the most to be their favorite doll, but they preferred to play with the “good” white doll. What made them think like this? Well, there could be many reasons ranging from music, the news, movies, and their own life experiences.

If a little kid is watching the news, he or she is more like to see a black man rather than a white man being talked about for a crime. After seeing that over and over again, it just becomes expected and they are not shocked by it any more. They will also just start to associate crime with colored people, like them, and that is a bad thing. Also, with music, they might turn on a pop radio station which will probably play music by more white people than colored. If they switch the station to a rap station, of predominately black people, they will most likely hear more cursing or bleeps to cover up the cursing. Kids know that cursing is not good, so again, they associate the naughty music with colored people, who look like them. Movies also express this kind of negative view for colored people. Either it is talking about terrorists from the Middle East, or gangs from the city, they are both negative images for colored people that kids are watching and remembering.

This all builds up in their mind that colored people are not as good as white people. What really could impact their view are their own life experiences. Maybe growing up they have learned that it is safer to like in a predominately white neighborhood than a black one because there is less crime. Also, their mothers might not let the children out to long in the sun because she does not want their skin to become too dark. This is telling the child that it is better to have lighter skin than darker skin. A lot of colored people even turn to skin whitening creams to make their skin lighter.

The first time I saw this video I was completely shocked that these very young kids thought that the white doll was they good doll so they wanted to play with that one instead of the “bad” darker doll. I am still upset about it but less shocked because of what I have learned about how media really impacts how people view races.

This is a serious issue that the well-off countries of the world seem to be ignoring, or at least not doing enough to make a dramatic change to help it. I believe those who are in power could really make a difference if they just started a huge campaign or educate as many people as possible about the 3 billion people who do not have enough to eat. They are a highly respected icon to the country in which they serve so people will tend to follow their lead if they see it is for a good cause. They have the money to start up organizations and events. It would also help if these powerful people spoke up on news or in the newspaper more about this, so that people are at least educated on what is going on in other parts of the world.

Some people truly have no idea that there is real hunger out there and that people are dying from it every day. Also, another way to help this cause is to start up on-going food drives in all communities to be donated to foreign countries where the people who do not have enough to eat live. I think it is great where there is a food drive once in a while or during Christmas, but it is obviously not enough to end world hunger. If there was a box collecting non-perishables every day of the year, I really think it would make some difference.

As far as the other suggestion you made about limiting the number of children people can have or if there should be an age limit, I think that is completely ridiculous. I can see how yes, that may decrease the sources our country will use, but it will not end world hunger. In addition to not even going to be an answer for world hunger, I think those restrictions would be very controversial and unethical in the eyes of most people. By making those laws, you are restricting a person’s freedom over their body and I believe the Unites States will be very against that.

Instead of setting an age limit before a girl can have children, maybe there should be more free confidential help for girls who want birth control or other types of support to stay pregnant free. A lot of girls who get pregnant at a young age never plan on it, and are not ready for it, but they never had the opportunity for birth control or abortion because of financial purposes. Whether it takes many small steps, or one large one from a powerful voice, it is going to take time to cure world hunger and give the 3 billion people who do not have enough food a healthy life, but I think it is possible if we all try.

I think that there is a lot of racism towards both black people and Muslims, but currently, I think more racism is directed to Muslims. If it’s not one thing it’s another; just one ongoing cycle. Just when racism towards black people seemed to go down, 9/11 happened and not a lot of people started to be racist to Muslims. This was just a simple way for Americans to point and finger and put blame on someone for the attacks on 9/11. It think that is completely unfair and unjustifiable because even thought the terrorists were Muslim, they were a extremists involved with Al Qaeda. That does not mean every Muslim or Middle Eastern looking person supported or had any connection to the terrorism. Most of the Muslim families migrated from the Middle East for the same reasons that our ancestors came to America; for freedom and a better life. After 9/11, I can only imagine the looks every Muslim person was getting and every bad name they were told. How can Americans be so ignorant to be so cruel and judgmental to Muslims? They obviously know nothing about the culture or religion or else they would know only a small extremist group would do such a thing. Every other Muslim has values and morals as mostly everyone else, especially Christians, who make up much of the religion in America. I feel like what the black community went though in America until the end of the 1960’s, is pretty similar to the way Muslims are being treated. Maybe not so much now, but definitely for a few years after 9/11, people would avoid them and be very racist towards them. The FBI and other investigators would knock down innocent people’s doors and arrest them with no reason. While arrested, they would be stripped down completely naked, given minimal food, was beaten, and was not allowed to contact their families to let them know where they were. Can you imagine your innocent father being dragged out of your house and not know why or where he was going or when you would see him again? Some people actually died in jail in vain. I still feel like even though more people are educated about the Muslims and Middle Easterners, some people still are racist because in the back of their mind they have placed a permanent sticker on anyone who looks like the terrorists from 9/11. The worst is still in airports. These poor innocent people are still afraid to fly on planes! I would feel uncomfortable too with everyone staring at you, watching your every move, and the security people always searching you head to toe and not the light skinned, blonde guy next to you. The best thing for Muslims to do is keep educating people about who they are and how they feel about 9/11 and how it affected their lives. So, with all that said, I believe people are more racists towards Muslims and not black people.

I can understand if the people living in third world countries or people who live off the streets use the ignorance card because the truly most likely will have no idea about the slavery that is put into making most chocolate. Not just with that situation, but they probably do not have access to television or newspapers, or education, so they do not know what is going on in the world. Although it is NOT okay that the poverty rate is extremely high still, they should not be held responsible for not making a change because they do not know there needs to be one made. Those who should be responsible and who should never use the ignorance card are people like me and you. We are aware how much poverty there is, how slavery still exists, and many other problems in the world.

Anyone who is in college should be considered highly educated and should start making smarter choices and doing the right thing. What is the point of learning about anything and especially the world, if we do not do anything to make the world a better place? It cannot be expected by all of us to conquer world hunger in one day, but we can still make a difference by doing small things. This is all starts with not being ignorant. We know better, and so we cannot use the ignorance card to make our lives easier. Like what Sam said in class, we have a choice to buy Fair Trade chocolate which we learned is 100% not made by slave labor. This is a small act to show you are against slavery and maybe one day there will be enough press and light shown in the issue so it can end. Hopefully, one day, everyone will be eating Fair Trade chocolate.

If the people who are educated refuse not to do anything, who will or even can? I few cents from each person could make a huge difference for a cause. If a classroom of 700 students donated 50cents, we could instantly raise $350 that could go for buying food for a family to keep them alive. Wouldn’t it be awesome to say that you actually were part of saving another human beings life? I know I’d think so. I try to give money out in small amounts whenever I can for causes.

I am part of THON and I’d like to think all of the money I raised and the support I give to the kids with cancer have helped save a life. Some people will refuse to look away and give nothing when they obviously are not living in poverty. How can we accept a change in the world if people who are capable to do so just simply look away? I know educated people can’t afford to always keep opening up their wallets for every cause they pass by, but there is no reason to pull the ignorance card out every time either.

During one class period, I at first thought leaned towards free-will but I then I changed my mind and thought I felt more towards the determinism side. What Sam was trying to teach us was not to lean either direction and to be right in the middle because we really do not know how each person in brought up. I agree with Sam that each person is different and maybe some people have a more determined lifestyle than others, but it is better to be right in the middle. In my life, it seems like the most important things in my life have been determined by my parents, and the smaller, more personal choices have come from me. My parents were the exact opposite.
They came to America at a young age with their families so that they could have a better life. Even though they were poor in America, my parents did not want to settle for just making it by in life. They took things upon themselves to make sure they had a job, and also put themselves into after school programs to prepare them for college. All throughout high school no one was pushing them to do their homework or to get good grades, but they pushed themselves to the limit because they were determined to make a better future. So, I guess for them, their life was formed by choices more than determinism.
It is safe to say that their choices have made my life a lot easier than theirs. They made sure I went to the best school possible in the area in which we live so that I may get a good education and go far in life. They also provided me with endless opportunities to get involved with sports and other after school activities. I didn’t even have a choice as to which high school I went to; they sent to the one Catholic high school in the area. I did however start making my own decisions when I began applying to colleges. I chose all of the school I applied to, and wrote my own essays without any help whatsoever from my parents. Still to this day, they have never read my essays and I don’t even think they know what I wrote about. I got accepted into almost all the colleges I applied to and then made the decision to come to Penn State on my own as well.
Since being in college I have made a lot of choices such as joining numerous clubs and organizations. So, as you can read the early stages of my life were determined, but after high school, I had to be on my own and make my own decisions that will shape my future.