This letter was very touching to me. It gives me a new outlook on these people called “lifers”, as well as other people who have committed crimes, especially ones based on impulse. In certain dramatic situations, impulses take over and bad decisions occur and sometimes crime is committed. Granted these lifers are sentenced to life for a reason, so the crime most likely didn’t occur because of a simple impulsive action, it must have been heinous. Whatever the case, people can change, some change easily, but it may take awhile for others. I appreciate the words that this man has written because it proves humans can always change for the better, but of course it depends on the situation and person.
Dramatic situations such as a sudden death in a family or a traumatic accident can alter one’s views on life and change his/her outlook on life for the worst, but some overcome it and become stronger as a person. For example, my father died when I was only ten years old. I never thought about whether I was a strong or weak person, but if I had to guess how I felt if someone asked me that when I was let’s say nine years old, I would have said weak. I never really did anything physical and my emotional strength was never tested. That changed the day I found out my dad had just died. Thinking back on those days of grief, I of course become saddened, and tend to get emotional, but the experience, as a whole, has made me such a strong person. My mother, I would say was a weak person at the time too. She was in tears a lot and I felt that even when I was at a young age, I felt I had to step up and help her with as much as I can. I still remember when my uncle told me to help take care of her, which is ironic because she’s my mom and she’s supposed to be taking care of me. I had to step up and help my brothers in the situation too. They were so young that it was such a hard idea to comprehend, but I had to help raise them. I feel bad for them the most because memories are so hard to remember when people are young, and they were only six and seven when our dad died, so they probably don’t have many distinct memories. I can connect with this story because I could have easily rebelled and become a horrible person. I could have questioned so many things, life, religion, anything that would make sense of the situation. I could have become an awful teenager who got into trouble and did things for attention, but to me that didn’t make sense. Causing trouble doesn’t make sense, but neither did my dad dying, but sometimes nothing in life make sense. Human nature is just how it is and whether it makes sense or not, it’s just life. Becoming a better and stronger person after tough situations is one of the better aspects of human nature, and I’m happy both the man who wrote this letter and I share that.

My family is half Chinese and I was always raised to speak the language to communicate with my grandma, who doesn’t speak English very well. The dialect I speak though is very small, so hardly anyone knows it. A lot of my Chinese friends actually went to Chinese school to learn either Mandarin or Cantonese, since those are the most popular Chinese dialects. For some reason, I wasn’t interested in learning the language and was in a way, against it. I think at the time though, I wasn’t proud to be Chinese and kind of ashamed.. which now that I think about it.. it makes me sad that I felt that way before. Nonetheless, as much as I didn’t want to take the classes, I did and I didn’t learn a lot, but I still remember some things and in the end, I’m glad I did it. If I thoroughly tried to learn though, I could have probably learned a lot and retained it. The reason why my family wanted my brothers, cousins and I to learn Chinese is because of the same fact that Sam has said: Chinese is becoming a popular language in the business world. Although it’s technically the number one language in the world now (because of the natural fact that Asia is a big continent with many citizens) I would consider English to be the number one language in the business world. It would certainly help people who are bilingual to succeed, but I don’t think it’s necessary.
I personally am a Spanish minor and I feel like that would help me more, especially in this country when Spanish is the second popular language. I’m really glad that schools are incorporating Chinese as a language though. In a way it’s surprising to me, but in a good way. I lived in the city of Philadelphia when I was in elementary school and I was actually taught Chinese in fourth grade. It wasn’t offered anymore shortly after though, because of the costs. It makes more sense for a diverse city like Philadelphia to offer Chinese because of the population of Chinese in the city, so for schools that aren’t as diverse, I think it’s a great step in the direction of spreading diversity. However, cutting down on some languages is sad. When I was in middle school, Spanish, French and German were offered and it seems weird to me that French and German would be cut. But as I’m writing, it would make sense since Chinese is such a dominant language now. Instead of being ashamed now, It makes me proud that I am Chinese and I can take pride in the fact that I know the language.. even if it’s only a tiny bit.

I thought this video was so sad. I’ve actually heard of this test before and have seen a very similar video. My reaction was the same. It’s heartbreaking to see the kids choose the bad or ugly doll and they have to choose the one that looks like them. Watching their faces is so disheartening.
I believe the media has a lot to do with the reactions of the kids. Racism is in the media. However, media isn’t the cause of racism. People in the older generations are more proned to being racist. Sadly, I know my grandmother who is very old fashioned, is sometimes racist. I’ve heard comments in the past from her about blacks being “bad” but that’s because she’s personally had some bad experiences with them. I was lucky enough to not believe in her thoughts completely though. It’s so crazy how thoughts can develop in kids’ minds and they don’t question why a black doll is automatically bad and ugly, or why a white doll is good and pretty. It’s sad what society has become. In my opinion though, I feel like times are changing and racism is not as prominent.
It’s weird that different races believe that being lighter or darker leads to beauty. For most blacks, being lighter is better, and for most whites, being tan is better. For Asians, being lighter is better. However for me, even though I’m Asian, I prefer to be tan because that’s what I’m used to in the American culture. My grandma though, is always criticizing how dark I am because she’s so used to the idea that light skinned people are better looking. I know she doesn’t truly get upset about how dark I get though, it’s more of her just making fun of me.
It’s so weird how times have changed. Years ago, being dark meant you worked outside so you were most likely poor working hard for your money, while if you were white, you worked inside with little labor. But in some cultures, having light skin made you look pale and ill. No matter what, cultural ideas will always change, but it’s up to the people to decide what makes them happy and beautiful inside.

Reading some of these comments is very interesting. Some people are confused as to what Sam means when he says brown people. When Sam talks about the brown group, I believe Asians are part of it. It’s true that not all Asians are brown, but in a sense “yellow”. To make things easier though, Sam has to say brown to keep things short and sweet. To save time, he can’t list all the colors of each race. But now thinking about, he would really need to only add one color.
It’s weird to hear of Asian people saying that they’re not Asian, but they consider themselves white. I’m Asian myself, and the thought of me being white never crossed my mind. I’ve always been Asian in my eyes. Although I’ve lived in the suburbs in an extremely white community, I never considered myself white. My friends were mostly white and I did notice I started “acting” white but never considered it my race, which is even weird to say since race is such a generally a clear cut thing.
To me, I can tell the difference between an Asian American and a Native Asian because of the obvious differences, such as the way they talk and dress. In one comment though, someone said they “dress Asian.” How can the name of a type of wardrobe be the name of a race? I don’t see it. I’ve also noticed how most Asians are always hanging out together, and for some reason it’s annoying to me. I guess it’s because I don’t and it bothers me since this causes a stereotype for Asians. Although I see a lot of black people hanging out together, it doesn’t bother me, but why does it with Asians? It boggles my mind. Another thing that bothers me is when Native or International Asian students talk loudly and it’s clear they’re not Asian American, or so it seems. I really don’t understand why it bothers me so much though. It might be because it adds to the stereotype as well, but it really shouldn’t. As I’m thinking about it, I guess it just makes me upset because I feel like these people would annoy others through the way they talk and I don’t want someone to look at me and think I’m annoying too. I’m realizing there needs to be some evaluation in my life because I shouldn’t be feeling this way lol.

I think this is a great question. For me, I never thought about it because I’m just Asian. Granted I’m mixed with Chinese and Cambodian, but it’s easy to categorize where I go into. To answer the question is hard because at first, I was thinking that whatever side that is the majority would be the classification. However, one can be equally half a race. At first I disagreed that the classification should be done according to what the person feels comfortable with, but I can understand why he/she would. It’s not in his/her control where she grows up in or the culture that surrounds him/her, so if a person is half white and black, but grew up in a white neigborhood, but looks more black, maybe he/she would consider him/herself to be white. However, another person of the same background can consider him/herself black. It’s all relative. As I’m saying this though, I’m realizing appearance is significant in this issue because a mixed white/black person would actually look more black and that’s just because of scientific/genetic reasons, so I’m still unsure how a decision can be made, if one has to be made at all..

I think it’s great that Natalie Randolph received the coaching position. To be one of the first women to be a football coach is a big honor. I never really thought about the idea of a woman being a football coach, since the sport is so dominated by men. I didn’t even know there was a league of professional players who are women until I saw this video, which is surprising to me. I feel like I should have known about something that is revolutionary to our cultural society. I’m surprised I haven’t seen any coverage on TV or in the news at all. I’m even more shocked that they were founded in 1999 and I had no idea about until 11 years later! I don’t feel like I’m an ignorant person, especially when it comes to big news and sports. Although I’m not a huge sports fan, I do keep up with Philadelphia teams, just because that’s where I’m from. But to not know that there’s a women’s league is almost astonishing to me. I’m glad at least I know this now.

Although I wouldn’t define myself as a feminist, I respect the idea women being empowering, and this is a great video to show it. She’s humble and she’s passionate about the game. Just from seeing her speak, it seems like she would be completely devoted to coaching and genuinely wanting her team to succeed. She also said she’s gotten support from the team and people who are close to her, but she’s unaware of how the community feels. I would think the community supports her now, but the thought crossed my mind that it might not anymore if for example, the team becomes a losing one. I can picture comments about her not being competent enough to lead the team to victories just because she’s a woman, which is unfortunate and shouldn’t happen.

After I finished watching this video, I was going to start off my comment by saying how sad it was, since it clearly is. However, I started reading some random comments by the repliers. Some started off with my same original thoughts, but others I just couldn’t believe. For example, jim5049 was just rude! He acknowledged the parents as “the first asian girl” and “the other girl” who “looks like a boy”. He was in a sense not even acknowledging them. He disrespected them; they aren’t girls or boys but rather women. Others were appalled by the video due to things like the government taking away the mother of the family and immigration laws, but I am appalled at jim5049’s and some of the others’ thoughts. I would think that voluntarily taking this class would make a person have an open mind about the issues in our society relating inequality, but these people don’t seem to have one. What is also annoying with the comment is his argument about family. According to him family must be blood only. Of course, technically that’s the case, but family isn’t just a technical word. Family is a group of people who you love and would do anything for, which can consist of extremely close friends and/or roommates. Calling a parent’s friend “Aunt Connie” isn’t “lying”, it’s just a respectful way to address someone older who’s close to the family; it’s not “stupid”. Now I realize I’m complaining about one comment and I should actually reply to it, but I’m not the confrontational type and I definitely don’t want to start drama; I simply disagree completely about his thoughts.
Now in regards to the video, this is such a touchy issue. Immigration issues are huge in the nation currently and it has to be addressed and fixed and this is how the government is dealing with it. I don’t necessarily support it, but it’s kind of the only way. There are too many people, but not enough room. There are so many legal residents who don’t have jobs and other economical issues involved with this topic that illegal residents have to have consequences. I say I don’t support it because my family members were immigrants here and moved here for better lives. If they hadn’t I wouldn’t be here now. Granted they eventually became legal citizens, so maybe it’s not the same argument. I do believe in gay marriage though and it’s a shame that the government doesn’t believe in it too.

In my opinion, and also the majority of people in my recitation class, I didn’t think the lecture on Tuesday was that amazing like Sam said it was going to be. Don’t get me wrong, I love the passion and enthusiasm of Sam, but I really don’t feel he provided me with ‘gold’. He just reminded me of how different everyone’s lives are and gave me more examples. I agree with BThomas8 in that it was just common sense. Yes, people struggle differently; life is certainly not fair. It’s not that hard to believe. That’s how I felt about the lecture, but as I’m thinking about why I feel this way, I’m wondering why others felt this was such a great lecture. Did those people who ‘learned’ so much from this lecture not realize this all before? Do I have that much more life experience than a lot of my classmates that I’ve already learned all this? I don’t know if that’s the case, but even through TV, you know that life is not the same for everyone. It makes me think about people in the class and in the world in general, especially people in the US. A lot of people in our nation have it really easy, but are they that oblivious that they don’t realize that it’s not easy for everyone. Are they so trapped in their own little world that they can’t see others’ struggles? I have a really hard time believing that. Although there may be ‘dumb’ people out there, I think everyone realizes that life is not fair for everyone so I question some of thoughts/’new knowledge’ of the previous repliers.
Now in regards to freedom vs determinism, life consists of both obviously. Without family background, one wouldn’t know where to start out in life. If your family’s rich, life will be easier than if you had a poor family. However, if your family’s rich, that doesn’t guarantee that you will be when you’re old. It’s all about the decisions you make… but to a certain extent. They have to be wise decisions of course. You can’t simply drop out of school because you simply want to or you’re ‘tired of it’. I mean, you can, but there are consequences. As much as I want to be a bum sometimes, I really don’t in actuality. I want to have a successful job where I won’t have to worry about money a lot. But if one day soon I wanted to drop out of school, my chances of obtaining a steady job will decrease. And even though I don’t want to pay off my loans (who would?), I wouldn’t have money to do so and of course, that would be breaking the law. The freedom to make decisions is important and it shouldn’t be freedom vs determinism, it should be freedom and determinism.

I have yet to see Avatar but I have been wanting to because of the hoopla about it. When I first saw the previews, even with the amazing looking special effects, I didn’t have a real interest in watching it because it looked like an action film and I’m not really into those that much. After I heard it had a good story line though, it sparked my interest. Now even reading the article, I’m more interested in watching the movie.
I can see valid points made by Brooks, but because of his cynicism, it makes me want to disagree with him, but that’s obviously unfair. I can see his points about the White Messiah because clearly in our society there are a lot of films that include this idea of a white male being the “hero”. As I’m typing this though, I’m wondering though, why is there hardly a white female being the hero in top box office films? That’s another topic though, since we’re talking about race here. As I was listening to Sam’s video about the majority of films including white males as heroes, I thought about possible films I’ve seen that didn’t include a white male hero, and the only movie I could think of is “I am Legend” with Will Smith. But after I went on imdb.com I realized Will Smith has other films where he is the hero or one of the heroes that saves “mankind”. And I also thought about Denzel Washington and he’s had films where he is the hero. These two actors are the exceptions though. In Hollywood, the majority of actors are white. I think it’s mere coincidence that actors who are the main heroes in films are white. It’s statistics.

However, I do see the other side of the argument. I feel that as a minority myself, we do see whites as more superior. It’s just how it is. The majority of my family members were immigrants and they weren’t educated and struggled while attending school and obtaining jobs. It was simply easier for whites to go to school and apply for jobs because they knew the language. I do understand that all “whites” that are here doesn’t necessarily mean that they weren’t immigrants, so some whites didn’t have it easy either, but I feel like they had it easier. And the simple reason is because they looked like the majority. It really is unfortunate that people are judged by their skin color, but I really do hope this changes in the near future.

As I am reading the details of this article, I slowly get irritated by the people and actions that took place. At first it sounded like the flight attendant reported what she saw right away without asking the teenager questions, which would have been unfair to him, but clearly she did. I would have been mad if I were the teenager or anyone else on the plane. But after I thought about it, I don't know how I would have reacted if I were in the flight attendant's shoes. I, like many non Jewish people, didn't know what tefillin was and would have been scared or worried too, so I personally might not have even asked questions and would have reported it right away. But it's all relative.. you don't know how you would react til the situation happens.
It's really a shame though that so many people are ignorant. But ignorance is not necessarily a fault. Granted, some people blatantly choose not to care about other religions or cultures which is true ignorance, but for most, ignorance occurs because we are just not surrounded with differences that directly affect our lives. Ignorance is such a bad sounding word that some people don't associate it with simply innocence. You can't help where others around you live, so if non Jewish people live around you, how are you to know what Jewish culture and religion is like?
I feel bad for the teenager and his younger sister. The fact that they were handcuffed is crazy. Luckily, they weren't outraged and caused a commotion because of the fact. If they did, that would have caused more news. I don't know how I would react if I had to be handcuffed for some unknown reason. There's a part of me that would possibly be outraged, but I'm not the type of person that would cause a scene, so I probably would have been patient and cooperative too. Deep down though, I would be burning up inside. Therefore, I respect these kids. Not only were they proper and non aggressive, they are so religious enough to pray biding by ritual. I'm not religious, but there's a part of me that wants to be. To believe in something so strong without doubt in the religion is intriguing to me.
To answer the question from Mr_Martian, it's sad but I don't think people, especially those in my generation, will be able to fully recover from 9/11. There is a fear of terrorism and it's unfortunate. Granted, it's not as bad as it was before, especially with all the new security measures, but psychology the effects will carry on for awhile. It's so sad because I can picture the thoughts that go through people's head when they see an Arab person on the same plane.. "Could he be a terrorist? Something can happen to this plane. Am I going to die?" It's sad because those thoughts could quite possibly cross my mind and it's so unfortunate.