I have a five year old cousin and a three year old cousin who are sisters. I love hanging out with them; not just because they are cute or funny but because they are still so innocent. They are unbiased, unracist and just see life in simple manners. I was I could be more like them. Every day we are bombarded with media that tells us to act this was, think this way… do this thing. When the hell did it become okay for people to not even use their own minds when making decisions!?!? Then there are people like the man who donated his kidney…. We should all be more like him. I don’t even think I can name one cashier at my grocery store… let alone ever think to donate a vital organ to one of them. I am pleasantly amazed that people like this man still exist in today’s fucked up selfish world. I don’t believe in God or angels or any of that but this man is truly a saint. I wish I were more like him too. I think we should all try to be more like him.
In regards to the adorable little boy, I say to him “don’t loose your innocence”. I think that’s what the problem is these days…. Everyone know everything about everyone. Do you want to know who you ex is hooking up with? Just check Facebook. Or if you want to know what Brittany ate for lunch? Just check Twitter. Its ridiculous how much information we can get on the internet…. Its not natural. We are not supposed to know every tiny detail of everyone’s lives. Its like humans are getting closer and closer to being God like…I don’t mean that in a good way. Im rambling.
What I am trying to get at is that society, technology and media have really fucked us up. There are not many people like the man in the video left in the world and that is quite a shame. We need more people like him. We should all work to actually get to know people… don’t allow the Internet to be your connection to someone…. Talk to them in person! We could all learn a lot from children too. We should aspire to be more like them… don’t take life too seriously. Its like Sam says “we are all going to die anyway” so you better do something fucking amazing like this guy did and act more like this little boy did because if not, no one will ever remember you.

I regret to say that hard work is no longer the only requirement to get what you want or, in many cases, need. In today’s society everything is run by money. In the case of illegal immigrants and the inability to pay to legally immigrate, I am not sure that asking people to only legally immigrate is realistic. People will always want to immigrate to the United States… it’s the land of opportunity (or at least is it supposed to be) and they will do what ever it takes to get here. A green piece of paper is not going to stop them.

We were just discussing this topic in my religion class the other day. I had not heard about this incident and was in no way surprised that the writers for South Park had chosen to write an episode making fun of Muhammad. This show has made fun of everyone under the sun, including Jesus. It seems to me that the issue here is that the perpetrators may not be able to handle a joke like everyone else that has been made fun of by South park has been able to. I can understand why this may be upsetting but it is in no means a just reason to threaten someone’s life.

I think it was a really great idea for Sam and Laurie to have one of the “lifers” they know write the class a letter. This letter really opened up my eyes to how much we associate prisoners with only negative characteristics. I was refreshing to realize how normal these people are. At the same time, from this letter, it seems that this man is not ordinary…. But much more than ordinary. He seems to have a knowledge and understanding of his life that not many people can claim to have.
This experience that he described was also very refreshing. It’s not that I thought prisoners were un-human but I never really considered them in this light… that sounds really bad.
This is why I really like Sam’s class, it makes me think about things that I have never even considered; things that I knew existed but, I guess, forgot about… or they just never crossed my mind. While describing his experience of watching the two men, I didn’t even realize he was describing an experience in a prison yard. Its like besides the fact that the men are in prison, this experience was completely normal…something that could happen to anyone.
I really think that we, as a society, need to really work hard to break down the walls of discrimination and preconceived notions. We should all get to read letters from “lifers”. I think that the newspapers would really entertain and benefit their readers if they included letters like this in their publications. Media representation is the only way for people to have access to important documents like this one. This is the only way that we have a chance to become informed rather than ignorant to what is actually happening in our worlds… our prisons.
It really bows me away how this man didn’t even graduate from high school and yet here he is writing letters to a college level sociology class and probably (like in my case) blowing peoples minds. The only issue I can see that would stop people from reading letters like this one, if they were represented in the media, is fear. Fear that what we know to me “true” is actually a lie. Its really hard for people to be able to consider this… its like trying to fit your left show on your right foot… down right uncomfortable and not something you want to do. But I implore people to have the courage to question everything they believe to be true… it’s the only way to actually become informed.

I think that this question is really a case of the answer “being in the eye of the beholder”. I don’t really think that here is a definitive and correct answer to this issue. I can completely understand both side of the argument though. I can understand how a person can go to another country and see people less fortunate than themselves and reflect of the fact that they have access to so many more resources. On the other hand, I would definitely be offended if I was one of those less fortunate persons. Its truly disheartening to realize that the world has become a place where your success is based of resources rather than talent or loyalty or morality.

I have never heard this man speak before but I really like his way of thinking and feel like I have very similar opinions. I can understand why people would be so freaked out by him, his ideas question he very nature of how our society is set up, but I think that people need to just open their eyes and be brave... and accept the fact that our system is fuc*ed up. The only way we are ever going ot repair our system, is to admit that it is flawed…. Something that some people (I don’t know how) honestly believe to not be true.

I think that this lecture was a huge eye opener for me. It not that i never thought about the whole war but i never really understood it. Little did i know such a simple explanation was right in from of my eyes. It makes total sense to me as to why the people in the middle east are fighting back against troops. I would do it too if I was in their situation! With regards to the whole chrisitan invasion… it seems kind of crazy. Im not sure if I believe it or not. I suppose its possible but it just seems so strange.

This is a really tough question to answer but I am going to attempt. I don’t really think any one person can claim they have the grand knowledge of what the end result of learning about or practicing race relations should be. I honestly don’t think its even possible to claim an end goal. To me if there were an end to race relations, those of us fighting to make a difference would have lost the battle.
I think that as long as there are people in the world we will have differences and opposing opinions… if not, then the government has probably changed us all into robots.
I think that ideally (but not realistically) every person would accept the differences we have with each other and find them to be a blessing instead of a reason for death, torture and discrimination. This is never going to happen. I know I sound like a huge pessimist but its true. People will always find themselves better, smarter, more attractive or more deserving than others. And as long as they do, there will be discrimination, death and torture because of those differences.
So, what are we to do if there is not end result? What is the point of continuing the fight for race equality? The point is, that we can at least lessen the pan of those who experience discrimination. We can teach people to embrace our differences. We can teach people to understand and not be ashamed of how they feel about race but rather to accept that they need to make an effort to understand race relations and accept each other.
This task may seem daunting to some people but I think that’s where Sam’s class comes in. His class has really facilitated these thoughts and feelings in me and in many other people as well. All I think we can really do is one; spread the word about Sam’s class. Two; we can continue to make steps towards our goal by continuing our race relations experience past Sam’s class and into talks and other activities. Lastly we can make the conscious effort to not let Sam’s words go in one ear and out the other but rather really take them to heart. Ponder them. Then act on them. That to me, is the most important step, action. If you see some injustice or misunderstanding, don’t just sit there, do something. Help the world become informed about race relations.

I think that there is definitely a second step in fighting slaver and I think that maybe Sam didn’t talk about it because it may just be too hard for students to be expected to take this step. I think that after realizing that slavery exists the next step is to participate in anti-slavery activities and buy anti-slavery products. This step can be really hard for college students because eating anti-slavery foods is nearly impossible in the dining commons and anti-slavery products tend to cost more… a big turn off for students. Although its really tough to live an anti-slavery life we should all do our part.

These games are really disturbing but I wasn’t really surprised that they were occurring in the Japanese culture. My friend who grew up in Japan was explaining to me how this kind of culture is actually quite common in Japan because of the “oppressed culture”. She was saying how if anyone has any kind of though that differs from the norm (in this example raping for fun) they, socially, cannot express this so “sub cultures become saturated with sex and freakiness”. Well said.
The fact that the videogame gives players the option to grope, rape and humiliate a young woman (she didn’t even look like she was 18) is disgusting. I think the youthfulness of the female in the games is an issue (if not the completely banning theses games) because it promotes sexual actions with under age women. Even if the game simulates women of age, I don’t think it has any place in the media.
People may claim that it is there own personal choice as to the subject of their gaming, and I agree, but I don’t think rape should one of those choices. If people want to play games where they go to far away lands or have mystical pets, that fine but any game where you cause harm to another person, I think, is not a good idea. A huge percentage of gamers are young children. Games that promote violence or rape have no place in the minds of our youth.
With regards to who should regulate the game contents/themes, I am not entirely sure. In some ways, it would be good if the government regulated the games because there could be a high standard set by law. I feel like if there was a law that regulated the games there would be a better chance of success.
On the other hand, if the gaming industry regulated the game contents, there could be some temptation to not uphold the law. Why would the gaming industry want to bad a product that has a demand and therefore, would make them money? It seems unlikely this would be successful.
These games have no place in any society and they should be banned without exception. Those who defend the games saying it’s a persons right to the contents of their gaming choice, I say that the risk of the youth getting their hands on this content it too high to ignore.