I understand where the girl is coming from in this question, of why don’t we care when a huge number of people die, yet if someone close to us dies we stop whatever we are doing. I just feel as if people are never really going to care about something if it doesn’t touch home with them or they have no personal connection with it. If one person dies, and that person had a huge impact on your life of course you are going to feel some type of way. However if 300,000 people who you never met before die, it probably won’t make a difference to you, because it doesn’t hit home with you, they had nothing to do with anything I have done in my life why should I care about them.

I wish people did not think this way, but that lack of a personal connection is what truly keeps people who are away from a natural disaster from truly feeling the pain of those experiencing or directly affected by these disasters. However it is completely understandable for someone who has no true connection with the situation.

For me personally when I first found about 9/11 I was like that’s terrible, and I did not realize that my aunt worked at the World Trade Centers, so I was just like wow that sucks, but once I found out that my aunt worked there it hit home with me and I was immediately put onto a completely higher level of worry about the situation. I found out that she wasn’t at work when it happened, but that situation right there was a time when the personal part of something truly showed me how much more I care when it touches me personally.

Also with the tragedy in Haiti I remember at the beginning of the semester I felt terrible about it, and wanted to donate and do what I could to help, but seeing it on CNN and understanding the destruction was what really made me want to help, however I know If I had family or close friends down there when it happened I would have done so much more to help out with it. CNN and other channels showed the destruction and pain that people were in, which helped to personalize it to me and made me willing to give more money to the cause, and also see what I can do to help with the devastation.

The main point I have been trying to make is just that things will always matter more if you are personally affected, whether it is that one person that you know and love or those 300,000 innocent bystanders you never met, you will most likely care more about that 1 person and not the 300,000 other people.

I do not agree with the girl who made this video. I have been to quite a few theme parties in my life and I do not find them as racist towards black people. Obviously there could be parties themed in a way that would be racist towards black people, however I have not heard of any that have been of that nature. I feel that the theme parties are more used as a way of giving people a chance to be creative at a party, rather than doing the same thing every time. Me as a black man would not consider it racist if someone came to a theme party dressed as a “thug” or “gangsta” as long as it was just meant to have a good time and as long as they were not carrying themselves intending on insulting the culture of black America.
From the themed parties that I have attended or heard of thrown by either black people or white I have yet to hear of one that is just blatantly racist, I haven’t heard of a KKK themed party or a urban style themed party. These would obviously be extreme and the fact that they would be at the expense of an entire races respect would be means enough for them not to occur. On the same hand I have been to black themed parties and they were not in any way set on mocking white people. I feel as if there will always be racist people, and these are the people who show up themed parties with the intent of insulting people of other races; however this should not ruin the creativity and fun of everyone.
The idea of a themed party is obviously not meant to insult people, it is meant more so as a way of expression in a way that you otherwise would not be expected to do. There are overall just too many different themes that can and have been used at parties to consider them a way of making fun of a different group of people. Like lingerie themed party could be considered a way of making fun of people who don’t wear underwear if this person’s video is meant to be as literal as it seemed. Or a Christmas party could be meant to make people of other religions feel bad, the truth is just that these parties are meant for everyone to have a good time and obviously it should not be at the expense of others, but the majority of the people are not doing anything to offend anyone. Why should the few rotten apples that are in every bunch ruin something that everyone enjoys. Last comment is that black people do have themed parties too because I have been to a few.

I feel that money has a lot to do with how black people end up in jail much more than white people. Like the girl in this video said white people on average have a lot more money than black people so they are able to basically buy there way out of jail. Whether it is through hiring the best lawyers to defend them or if it is just having connections and being able to get off with a mere slap on the wrist while blacks and other minorities get time in jail for these same or similar crimes.
However I feel that money only helps to a certain point. I honestly feel that judges do take race into account when making their decisions whether it is on purpose or just an subconscious point. I do not feel it is necessarily because they are racist, I feel like they are just naturally going to favor helping the person that looks more like them than the black man or other minority who they can not relate with at all. I feel that Sam said it best when he was saying the judge would compare the criminal to himself in high school or one of his friends or even his child, while the black kid would have nothing at all that would relate to the judge, thus leading the judge to have much less sympathy for the criminal.
Another situation which causes for more black people to end up in jail than white, is that police are much more attentive to crime and the drug war in urban areas than in the suburbs. Black people live more in these urban city areas than the whites so police officers are obviously more attentive to them, than the white kid in the suburban neighborhood who smokes. Then in these situations the rich white kids from the suburbs if they are actually caught obviously have the money to afford a top notch lawyer and since it’s not a serious crime they often get off scotch free while the black man has a lawyer appointed to him who doesn’t really care about the case and is getting paid either way and he just lets his defendant go down.
So all this is to say that I definitely agree that money is a serious part of the reason colored people end up in jail for the same crimes as white people. However I feel that it is not the only reason. I agree with Sam a lot about how the whole “I’m at the top of the mountain so I will help the people similar to me so we stay at the top of the mountain idea.”

The guy in the video made the point that marriage is a religious institution and that non-religious peoples union shouldn’t be called marriage right along with gay and lesbian unions. He said that the fact that it began as a religious thing means that other unions should take another name. I have to disagree with his statements. I feel that marriage has been transformed through time just like everything else in the United States. It is ok that marriage began as a religious institution, but all things change with time so I believe people should just accept that it is no longer based solely around religion. Just like how it is offered to non-religious people I feel there is nothing wrong with it being offered to gays and lesbians.
I also believe that the changes in the sector of marriage are for the good of the United States, for the simple fact that our country is all about progression. By accepting gay marriage I feel that it would be the best way of showing how far we have come. Although some states have accepted the change as inevitable the nation as a whole is still holding on to old traditions. For the simple fact that marriage will never be solely a component of religion anymore the country must continue to move forward as a whole.
He believes that marriages between non-religious people should go in the same category as marriage between gays and lesbian, I don’t understand why they can’t all just be the same category, at the end of the day marriage should be for two people that love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together. As much as straight marriages go wrong and end in divorce I feel that if two people of the same sex love each other and can stay together until “death do they part” than I feel that it deserves to be called a marriage.
I feel that the problem with people is that they are too afraid of change, and I feel that although not all changes are good, the ones that are not bad and that do not negatively affect people should just be accepted. I do not understand why someone believes that. I feel that since two people of the same sex getting married should not concern anyone besides the two of them that it should be ok that they do it. It does not negatively affect other people by any means so I believe that others even those who feel negatively towards gay unions should just suck it up and deal with it. Because your lack of liking or acceptance for their love does not change their love, it shouldn’t stop their ability to get married either.

I agree with Laurie a lot in her reasoning behind why black and white is always a problem in America. Although I believe that slavery is a big part of the reasoning behind the problem I feel that it also comes down to the actions of black people after before and after slavery as well. There has been conflict even in the past where the Greeks stole the idea of philosophy from the Egyptians, and I’m sure in many other situations as well. So this leads me to believe that the situation began with the proximity of blacks to white, where they have always been closer so there distinct differences caused a clash early in history long before slavery.
I believe that things such as slavery, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights movement definitely built upon the already established situation. I also believe that the question of black or white comes up often due to the tension between the “races” as a whole. In America black and white is so important and significant because of all of the things she spoke of and also that white people have always made up the majority of the population and blacks have always been the second largest population.
In school we learn about American history and blacks and white make up the large majority of accomplishments and failures in the history books. So this shows us from an early age everything that black people and white people have gone through together, while we don’t highlight the situations and conflicts with other races nearly as much. It seems as if there is always a rivalry between white and black people in all aspects of life, which for the most part has been dominated by the white people. So just how in sports Penn State will be brought up with Ohio State and UNC will be brought up with duke, black will always be brought up in comparison with white.
Another reason race is still significant in every aspect of life is that there is still a lot of racism in this country and any chance someone has to put down another race they most likely are going to take, especially if it makes their own race look better. All in all I feel that this current situation where black and white are always brought up in conversations will not change just for the history of conflict and even the current conflicts between the races. The question will only go away when all people are actually treated equal and the economic levels of the groups even out, but until then the issue of black and white will always come up. I feel as if it is not necessarily a bad thing but it definitely wouldn’t be as significant if the historical situation of black and white people wasn’t as conflicted as it is.

When I first saw Avatar I really enjoyed the movie and I took it as very good story line, which kind of reminded me of the situation where the Europeans had come to America and taken over the Native Americans land. The story line was very interesting to me, how the crippled man was basically given a second chance to live life just through the Avatars way of life. I found it very interesting how they showed the people of the world’s connection with the world and even how the different tribes carried themselves. I felt like the message in the movie was much more strong towards how wrong it was of the Europeans to take the land from the Native Americans than that a white man was needed to save the indigenous people.
I did not think of it as a white man coming to the rescue of the native people like David Brooks had said, however after hearing his thoughts it definitely made me think about the movie and in fact the whole movie industry in a different light. Having the white man as the hero to the indigenous people and the urban people is a reoccurring theme in a lot of Hollywood movies, I can think of ten movies, where this has happened without straining myself. I can’t think of more than one or two movies right now where the places are traded and the black men are saving troubled white people.
I feel like this has a lot to do with the people writing movies though, upon my first thought I am assuming that most directors or producers would consider themselves white, and obviously their first idea would be to have white men saving the day so it really is no surprise that this occurs. Another reason that this occurs is, because the majority of the American public is white people so the target audience would most likely rather see someone similar to them as the hero then another person. It is in the same category as the image of Jesus as a white man, yet when tests are done on the geography of the area and the type of people who would live in the land where Jesus would have lived.
I have definitely been conditioned to just accept the white hero as the norm when watching movies. Obviously there have been many heroes in everyday life in the black community, but the black community does not get the credit it deserves in the movie industry. The black movies that are in Hollywood currently are along the lines of Tyler Perry films, which basically just play off the many black stereotypes in the world. I feel like these movies do nothing toward the advancement of the black community and black movies need to be along the lines of Spike Lee’s films which send a true message and have much more truth to them.

This video was very crazy for me to see. I had no clue about the situation in soccer in European countries. I knew that there were soccer hooligans and everything that are very extreme fans, that will fight other teams fans and taunt all the players. However I had no clue that these fans would act as extremely as they do. Seeing the fans with their Nazi flags and the salutes that they do is completely mind boggling for me. I knew that there were still people that were elitist and completely against people of the minorities, but the surprising thing is how out in the open they are in Europe. The video explained how Europe never had the civil rights period with its black citizens due to the fact that there is such a small population of them. They also never had as extreme a problem as that of the United States. However they obviously currently have a problem with it and it needs to be addressed immediately.
Even in America with the KKK they wore masks because even during that time period in The United States they knew not to show their identities. If these fans came to America acting this way towards black athletes, there would literally probably be a battle in the stands during the game, because there are obviously many more black sports fans here.
I understand that these people are doing this in order to help the team that they support win, but it is ridiculous for them to take it as far as they do. When I heard the part about the coach of the Spanish team talking about Thierry Henry I could not believe that he was only fined $5,000. Football players get fined five times as much as that for taking out a sharpie and signing the ball after they score a touchdown. This coach was literally putting down the other team’s player due to his race, and did not even understand what was wrong with his statements. He did not even pretend to apologize about the situation. I was obviously raised in a different situation, because I just cannot see how someone could say these things and truly believe that the statements were ok.
My respect for the black soccer players in Europe has raised a lot through watching that video. I find it very hard to understand how the soccer leagues do not do more to stop these situations. I played soccer throughout my childhood and I never had any clue of the situation of the sport, In fact I love playing pretty much all sports, but I feel that it would be so damaging psychologically to have to listen to fans make fun of me over my race non-stop and even throw bananas on the field. The stories of the African players in Europe picking the ball up due to the situation is completely understandable to me, because I know that listening to the racism day in and day out has to be ridiculously draining. My respect for the entire sport has gone down due to these fans ignorance and lack of sensitivity. This was very eye opening and hopefully this situation improves by the World Cup coming up this summer.

chicken

I as a black man am not surprised by this article at all. I agree with many of the people who have commented on this article in saying that the reason he spoke this way is mostly because of the age of Senator Reid. Although the Senator has probably should have selected his words wiser he was partially correct in his statements. He was wrong in the sense that he described Obama speaking style “with no negro dialects” simply because it is obvious that a politician would not speak in slang of any type. No professional or business man of any race or any kind would speak in “negro dialects”, simply because it is unprofessional and obviously meant for a different setting in general. So that statement by itself was just ignorant, because no public official would be elected acted like that so of course the president could not be elected speaking in that manner. However I do agree with him in the sense that it would have been much less likely that President Obama had been elected if he had been darker in skin color. The fact that Obama is half white and has the ability to demand a crowds attention when he speaks, were very significant in his election, his light skin and less strong features were much more aesthetically pleasing to the non-black community, which made it easier for them to relate and accept him as a candidate.
I honestly did not believe that there was any chance that a black man would be elected president as recent as two years ago. I just could not see it happening. However the mistakes of George W. Bush and Barack Obama’s ability to speak in front of a crowd led us down this road. I believe that the mistakes of former President Bush, and the economic distress that the United States immediately dealt with during his term caused people to turn their backs completely on the Republican Party. So the election was completely in the hands of the Democrats and it come down to a black man and a white women, and America ultimately believed that the black man could do a better job than the white women and that of basically a third term of George W. Bush, which was what people ultimately believed would occur if John McCain had been elected. These situations ultimately led to the election of Barack Obama as president, and if he had come along earlier in history I honestly do not believe he would have been able to gain as large of a following as he gained at this time.
I basically believe that although, his statements were worded terribly. It might have been because of his age like was said, but in the end he should know what he is saying and although I do not believe he is racist, I believe he needs to definitely think before he speaks in the future.