Well to start out, I think that it is completely unfortunate. It embarrasses me about America’s history. I don’t understand how people can still be patriotic to a country that has been the cause of such a terrible genocide. It’s a shame the Native American people are living in the conditions as seen in the videos and portrayed by the statistics. It’s really not fair, but that doesn’t change things. I just want to ask, what can we do? That’s the problem; no one ever really tell us what to do. I don’t have much to give, but is that suppose to be the answer; give them are possessions or wealth. Honestly though, what can we do to help, or show our support? Upon leaving class I discussed with my boyfriend what we learned, and I could only describe it as a sad lecture. It’s a sad situation. The ironic thing about these lectures is my family has always believed we have Native American ancestry. I really don’t know if I can believe it or not? As statistics show, most people who think they have ancestry of Native American blood, they actually don’t. I feel a certain way about this, as Sam would say, even if we did have Native American blood, it’s not like we take part in their culture, or understand their lifestyle on the reservation. Most of all, we don’t really feel their pain, or share their position in the social ladder or suffer their unemployment, poverty, or assault. So I don’t really feel right claiming I share ancestry with Native Americans. If I did, if my family did, wouldn’t we be an alliance with them. Instead we’re fortunate to have the life we do. I remember watching a comedian once who touched base on this whole concept. He said he hates when white people throw out into a conversation that they have native American ancestry, he hysterically went on to say why the fuck do they do this? Is it to feel better about their dominating murderous European ancestors? Do they want to get in good with the minorities, feel like they’re on their level in some way? He really touched base on an interesting concept. Why do so many white people like to claim they have Native American ancestry? The Native American history and domination is quite sad, but it’s something to feel a prideful allegiance and connection to fighting for. As I read in the Shadowboxing book, one account of a Latino American taking pride in his Mexican heritage. Also this man said, America doesn’t have a culture. That’s how I feel. I feel as if minorities have a pride, have a bond over their rough history. As Europeans, what is our culture? We sure don’t seem to practice it any way in my household.

After this class I still have somewhat mixed views on terrorism. After lecture I understand much more where people are coming from when they fight back against the United States and honestly I do not blame them. It makes sense that the people living in Iraq fight back against the United States. I think the issue is that we believe that we are doing the right thing and we are helping them, yet we do not know the truth about what life is like for them. I think that most people have good intentions when talking about Iraq and the United State’s action when dealing with other countries, but I believe that far too often people do not understand what we are truly doing when we go into another country. What I find most frustrating is how some Americans believe that our way is the best way. Who is to say that the way we choose to live our lives is the way that everyone else in the world would want to live? What gives us the authority to say that someone in another country lives his or her life “wrong?” I find this particularly frustrating because often times when we decide that people live “wrong” we know little to nothing about their homes, their lives, anything about them! How are we to say that we know what is best for someone else when we know nothing about them. That just does not make any sense to me. When it comes to people from other cultures and nations, you cannot decide what it best for them if you do not understand them. It is frustrating to me that people feel that because the United States is a powerful country we are entitled to control other people’s lives. I believe that we should help other people and countries when it is needed but we need to understand that not everyone lives as Americans. But I have found that the same issue bothers me here at home in the United States. I think far too often we pass judgment on others without stopping to think about that person’s situation or life. I think we all need to learn to not be as quick to judge and to step back and see things from a perspective other than our own. It aggravates me when people are judgmental and critical others because I think that far too often they choose one part of a person’s situation that they disapprove of and they ignore the rest of the circumstances. My final thought on terrorism is that while I understand why it happens, it frustrates me because it only continues the cycle of violence. However, I’m not quite sure I have an answer for how to stop the cycle; I can only hope that in the future things progress and get better.

I am a woman, and I feel as that women do place more pressure on themselves to get dressed up to go out then guys do. Take a typical Friday night in State College. Just like the lecture said, girls will be walking down the street in mile-high heels, short skirts and dresses, with their hair and makeup done, I definitely know that I do; while the guy walking next to them is in jeans, a polo and sneakers. Why? We want to impress the guys we are with, the guys we are going to see, and the other girls that are out there. I think that it is not only dressing for the guys, but to compete with all the other girls that are doing the exact same thing. True, we may say that we want to get all dressed up to go out, and yes, in this culture, it is expected of us to do so. I for one, like when the weekend rolls around and I know that I can get dressed up in a cute shirt and jeans, heels and a do my hair nice to go out. My best friend hates it when I tell her to get dressed up to go out. She would love to out in a tank top and sweats. But, society and our culture tells us that as girls to get dolled up. So do I buy into it? Yes, but I like to. My boyfriend yells at me constantly not to wear heels out because by the end of the night, he is the one carrying me home as my feet hurt so much. But am I going to stop dressing up? No. It is the way that we think and the way that us girls think about the weekends and think about having a good time. We like to get dressed up. Remember dress-up when you were five? Well, welcome to Friday nights. So am I going to think about it more, maybe, but am I going to change? Probably not. I do think that it is nice when guys put a little bit of an effort into what they wear when they go out also so it is not just us girls who are getting dressed up. I know some guys who take longer to get ready than I do. However, the question about do we think that we actually want to dress up when guys dress the same? Yes I do. I believe that even though we might complain about how at the end of the night our feet are killing us from our high heels, and how we can’t walk, the effort of getting ready and putting on makeup, that is the fun part. That is the part that makes the night. Maybe I am just a girlie girl though, and cannot speak for everyone, but I love getting dressed up.

What do I think about the diversity at Penn State? I think without a doubt that Penn State is not really diverse at all, being that the majority of the student population is white. This is a very clear, if you just walk around campus, yes you will see people of different race, but the majority of the people that you are going to come across are white. I find it sort of interesting how many people really think that Penn State is such a diverse campus. For example, in class the other day with Professor Richards took a Penn State pamphlet and went through it and began to count all of the people in the pictures that were white, and the same with the people of color. When you actually attend this campus, you do see the significant handful of diverse students but the majority of the students on this campus are primarily white. This campus is known worldwide with students coming from all over the place, students from urban city areas in the United States like Philadelphia, New York, Pittsburgh and many more places. So, why is it that this campus isn’t as diverse as some other campuses, is it because we’re located directly in the middle of Pennsylvania and surrounded by nothing more than farmland. The lack of racial diversity at Penn State did not affect my decision to attend. I chose Penn State based on its reputation, future employment prospects, quality of education, choice of majors, and a number of other factors. I did look at the percentage breakdown of races here, but I did not pay it too much attention. I didn’t place an immense importance on this because I attended predominantly white and black schools in the past. Being mixed and embracing all ethnicities is something that I have been around my whole life. All in all, it would be nice to see this campus more diverse like it is advertised so that we can learn more from each other, understand the variety of different cultures that exist, and maybe even have the ambition to connect with all sorts of different individuals. It’s a great thing to knowledge yourself from different people, different cultures, different value and beliefs.

I do not feel guilty about the advantages I have in life compared to slaves. I had no control over the slavery in the United States and also had no impact on it. It happened many years ago and I had no role in it. However I do realize that I am very lucky to have the advantages that I have, but I do not feel guilty about it compared to slaves. My lifestyle is what it is because of my ancestors and how they lived their lives, which was then passed down generations to my parents. But I do understand that slaves have very few advantages and I sympathize with them. Slavery was a terrible thing in this country and I do not condone it at all, but that does not mean I should feel guilty for it. I usually feel guilty if I feel I have done something to affect that person or group of people. I had no impact on slavery and could not possibly have done anything to stop it. I know that slavery still exists today, and I do not protest or do anything to make a difference, and maybe for that I feel a little guilty. I suppose there are things I could be doing to get the word out about current slavery, but that has nothing to do with the advantages that I have. Also I may feel guilty if I had not taken advantage of the opportunities I had. If I didn’t, I may feel that someone else would be better off with these opportunities. But I did take advantage of every opportunity that I had, I worked hard and made it into a great college to continue my education in hopes of getting a successful job. I am now able to learn about these people who have fewer advantages than I. If I weren’t able to further my education, I wouldn’t be learning about the groups of people who experience disadvantages in life. Then I would be uninformed and I wouldn’t be as grateful for everything that I have. Not taking advantage of everything I have may lead me to have children that have fewer advantages than I, which could lead to a general increase in disadvantaged people. By taking advantage of every opportunity, I am helping decrease the disadvantaged population in the long run. Watching the videos about slaves and seeing what they go through and how hard it is makes me that much more grateful for the house, food, and loving parents that I have. I definitely do not feel guilty about the advantages that I have. I was fortunate enough to be born into a family that has many advantages and opportunities for me to succeed. I am very grateful for everything that I have, but I also feel bad for the disadvantages slaves have.

In all reality, yes I think it is somewhat selfish and also irresponsible of them. They are in poverty and having more kids isn't going to help them at all. I know that it is hard to tell someone that having a lot of kids is wrong. I mean pro creating is something that can never be taken away from you by another human. Though in this instance you have to think about how your kids feel. For example in class today we watched Tammy's story. Do you honestly believe that her kids were that happy? She said herself that she wasn't happy so I can't imagine her kids were. Her one son kept talking about how he wanted more out of life and wanted to better himself. It is your responsibility as a parent to be able to support yourself and your kids. I think it is wrong to tell a person they can’t have a kid at all. But if you have your first kid and you are struggling to support them, clothe them, and feed them, then it is wrong of you to have another. I do think that is very responsible and courageous of Tammy but if she were to have seven or eight kids, she wouldn’t be able to take care of them, the way she is managing with her own boys now. You have to remember that most poor families do not have the money to afford items that would normally prevent pregnancy like birth control or condoms. So, if they do not have the money to afford them and there are no businesses in the area that provide these services free of charge, how can we expect them to refrain from sexual acts forever? Eventually, they will end up getting pregnant and often if they could not afford a form of protection, they certainly cannot afford an abortion, which leads to another child. While I do not think that we should necessarily blame the poor, we need to address the fact that sometimes their large families is more a result of lack of free services for protection than of ignorance. As for Tammy and her sons, it hurt me because all she wanted to become was a school teacher but in reality I knew and the rest of the class knew that her dreams simply would never come true and her son’s dream of going to college probably wouldn’t come true either.

After watching the video of the kids who grew up in the poor high school, it really opened my eyes to the fact that determinism probably has played more of a role in my life than I thought. Those kids didn’t receive as good of an education as others had, decreasing their scores on the SAT’s and other tests. This doesn’t seem fair, but it is how determinism affects our lives. At the same time, even though my parents had the money to get me an SAT tutor, it was my choice to do it. Nobody was telling me I had to, but I wanted to get into Penn State and knew it would better my chances. I chose to study hard, do my homework, and be involved in school and extracurricular activities in order to be accepted here. My parents rather executed those ideas into our household though. We were taught growing up that you would only go far in life if you work hard at where you are trying to get. I grew up a very fortunate person. People I love and who love me back, an amazing family, awesome friends and the support of an army for anything I set my mind to, surround me. Regardless of the support I have, I had to make the decision to really want to be accepted here at Penn State in order to get in. My parents are also not currently here to tell me to study and get good grades in college, but I chose to stay in and give up partying some nights to get my work done. Today, I still chose to get involved on campus with various organizations. Again, no one told me to do so, but I knew it was a great way to meet good friends and give back to the community. I have always been one to believe that through hard work, anything is possible, but I am aware that determinism plays some of the role. My Dad, for example, grew up with parents who didn’t go to college. He told me how when he was in his senior year of high school, his parents didn’t even bring up the idea of college. He went to visit the schools himself and got in all by himself. He did not grow up in the same settings as I did, but he chose to have a different lifestyle than his parents. Where one grew up may have some effect on where they end up, but I believe with determination and hard work, everyone can succeed.

As much as I would like to believe and say that race will not be in an issue in the future, I do not see that happening what so ever. That is just the way that the world is, we have labels and stereotypes, and that is how we look at people. We label and stereotype so many people by so many different aspects, we label based on gender, income, religion, and of course by the color of their skin. I would definitely say our nation has come along way since slavery, but it is not forgotten. There will always be those people in the world who have issues with different races other than their own and will refuse to think any other way. It is like an ongoing cycle, people’s families that have issues with different races will raise their children that way, who will raise their children, and so on and so forth. Think of your parents, grandparents, and even your great grandparents. For some people this may not be the case, but I know for a lot of us there were racial issues rooted in us from our family members, because they did not live in a world like today where everyone is a lot more accepting. Unfortunately for some people they were not able to break this streak in their families and that is how the cycle keeps repeating itself. It is very hard to break the sequence, and oppose what your family members say and do, but when you do it is a great feeling. I would never consider myself as a racist person by any means, but there are definitely stereotypes that I assume about people of a certain race just because that is what I grew up knowing. An example would be, I always seem to stereotype Asians as being smart math students, but when I was in Sam’s class and when he asked the question “How many people in here are Asian and a math whiz?” and maybe four people raised their hands. I wasn’t trying to stereotype, but that is just what I was around when I was growing up. Our generation has the ability to make a change and put a stop to all of this, some things have changed, but there is definitely a lot more that can be done. I feel as if people were just informed of what is going on in the world, and more open minded to new things instead of just being stuck in the “old days” this race problem can be put to rest once and for all. So yes, I do hope that things change in the future and everyone is more accepting, but sensibly I do not see that happening.

Body Image Issues: Image issues are a huge problem in the world today; there are many people that have serious issues in looking at themselves everyday in the mirror. They would do anything just to change their appearances. If people knew why they looked like they did, and knew that it came from their ancestors I don’t think it would be as big of a problem as it is today. I think that if more people stressed the fact, you look the way you do because of your ancestors and where you are from, there would be less people having issues with their physical appearance. Some people might not be ok with that, but other people might stop all of the struggles they are going through and accept who they are as a person. Plastic surgery is the biggest way to change you personal appearance, and people are going under everyday. Plastic surgery is something that I am totally against, but knowing that people are going under the knife everyday and taking away their ancestry, whether it be their nose, mouth, chin, eyes, ears, or even their whole face, they are taking away apart of themselves that they can never get back. People are doing this and paying crazy amounts of money just to fit into the norm of society. Any more people don’t want to look different, they want to fit in, and by having plastic surgery they can do that. It doesn’t comfort anyone to open up a magazine and look at the spread of all of the models that are so skinny, with perfect faces, and perfect bodies, their butts are great and their breasts are just right. People try to conform to what society views as adequate rather than staying true to them selves and embrace the body they were born with. Obviously body image issues are around and are probably never going to stop, but I think that if people stressed more that you look the way you do because of who you are and your ancestors, people would be able to live more relaxed lives, rather than trying to fit in with everyone else around them. Embracing who you are as the person, your body type, your body image, not only makes you feel better about yourself, but it also shows that you are proud of your heritage in some way because this is how you look for a reason and it shouldn’t be tainted.

I thought that the exercise that we did in class was interesting, fun, and very mind-boggling. I would have never been able to be one of those two girls in the front of the classroom that day trying to categorize all of the people. The exercise that we did was very empowering. I did not know that there were even close to that many different races all over the world. It shows that you cannot just divide people on their skin color or on how they look. As the class was going on I was trying to categorize the people in the groups from my seat, and I think I got not even a quarter of the people in the correct places. It is so hard because while growing up we always just stereotyped people on their skin color and that was it; not on where their ancestors were from, or their religion, basically just on the way that they looked. That exercise really showed how much stereotyping goes on everyday. But I do have to say it was empowering to hear all of their ethnicities, and hear about their back rounds and what not. Another point I would like to make is the quote “all Orientals looks the same,” I could not believe what an eye opener this was for me. I do have to say that yes, I am guilty, I have said before that I believe that all Orientals look the same, but when I saw that video I could not believe what I saw. Evert single person looked different, yes some of their features were the same, but you can say the same for every other nationality. Their eyes were different, their noses, their mouths, it was awesome to see and be proven wrong. It really opened up a spot in my mind to different races.
After just four lectures in Professor Richard’s class I have learned more about race and ethnicity than I have in my whole life. I used to see race as such a simple thing, I saw it as such a simple word, something that really meant nothing. But after doing these exercises and seeing the facts, it honestly seems like a whole different world out there. I used to see the world as just blacks; whites, Asians, but now I see so much more in depth of what is really around me. Everyone will still have the images in their mind of the typical white boy, the African American, the Asians, but I really can say for myself that I can see myself looking so much more in depth every time I look at someone. In general, this class in such a short amount of time has opened doors for me that I never thought I would go through.