I do agree with this girl, it is hard to see why, most of the time, we escape devastation and a lot of the pain that exists in the world is thrust upon other people. A few years ago I would have completely agreed with this statement regarding the affect of a natural disaster or any other attack; if it affected me personally it would have had a much bigger effect on my life than just being aware of another disaster that took place somewhere around the world.
This is not the first time in the history of my life, at a time when I have been aware of what goes on in the world that 300,000 people have died. People have heard about and talked about all those suffering in Darfur and in other areas of the world where people are constantly dying. It is true that these issues come to the surface now and again, but most of the time they are of unimportance to us and the things that affect us directly, like a test or a quiz, become more important than the lives of others.
Currently, where I stand in life, I feel that I am lucky enough to empathize with all people, not only those who are closely connected with me. I think it is safe to assume that many people, especially those wrapped in the college lifestyle, are still in the position of life to feel and think in a more selfish matter, which is perfectly acceptable. It takes time and learning, about yourself and others, to know that you can empathize and feel for people other than yourself or those closely connected to you. I, luckily, have had the influence of many knowledgeable people to grow in a way that I could not have without their influence.
I feel that most people will sit through Sam’s class and think that they need to do something because they have that ability. The sad thing that will come of this is that most of these people won’t do anything. They will feel some sort of way about something, but that is all it will become; they will never do anything with those feelings.
In regards to the others, the ones who don’t move on, the ones that have situations affect our lives; it is not so easy to get out there and save the world; believe me I have tried. I have been accepted to a long term volunteer program at an orphanage in South Africa with disadvantaged children, but because I do not have the funds, I cannot make the trip and help others. Sometimes people want to help, but sometimes they just can’t.

For Sam’s sake and all of the other kids who are thoroughly enjoying this class and learning a lot about the world, as well as themselves, I hope that he is one of only a few people who feel this way. Maybe this person has strong views on certain topics such as gay and lesbian relationships and marriage and his views haven’t been changed in that aspect, but I hope that although he feels like his opinions haven’t changed I hope he has been able to learn something while sitting through this class. I actually would find it quite arrogant and completely false for someone to have gone through this class and feel that they haven’t learned anything. Sam has experienced much more than any of us can hope to experience in our lifetime and there is so much knowledge to take from that.
I’ve always thought of myself as being an open person, so none of my views have necessarily been changed because I don’t think that what I thought before about certain issues was different from what Sam has taught us. In regards to the issues that I have thought about in the past and the way I have felt about them, most of them have been confirmed by Sam’s teachings. I always knew that there was inequality between the “white team” and the “black and brown team”, but learning about different statistics and scenarios has given me more information and has helped me to confirm what I know and to really know that something need to be done. To me, what has been truly amazing about this class isn’t that Sam has changed my views about things, but that he has actually helped me to create views about subjects I was unaware about before. To be honest, there were many issues that I knew little or nothing about before stepping into this class. I had no idea that slavery today was such an issue. I had heard minor things about it from friends who had taken this class previously, but knew nothing about it at all, therefore I had no opinion. After learning about what Sam has had to say about modern day slavery, as well as other things, I have been able to form an opinion and take a stance on different issues.
Unless this student knew all there was to know about all these things that Sam has talked about, all the statistics, the personal accounts, and all the other information that has been given to us, I find it hard to believe that this person hasn’t had his views changed or was able to create any. I don’t even think this class is necessarily about changing one’s opinion; we just have to feel some sort of way about something.

I am really happy that this boy asked this question. It has made me think about how people who are multiracial have to deal with this issue. This reminds me of when Sam mentioned that white people never really had to think about race when they were younger, unlike people of color who are usually aware of race at a much earlier age. This boys situation is similar to me because I have never really thought of this issue, whereas people who are dealing with it have definitely been aware of it for a long time. Both of my parents are white and of the same religion and I have never faced an issue like this where I am torn and feel the need to decide who I am.
I also have many friends who have been raised by parents of different religions who do not seem to face this issue either. Most of them have been raised to be one religion and have parents that are both white, therefore they see themselves as white and as the religion they have been raised as
I feel really bad that this boy seems to be facing such turmoil about this issue and upset that this class has brought upon this thinking in him. I feel that this class is supposed to make one think and is meant and supposed to bring answers and enlightenment to different issues, not make someone feel like he has to question who he is. To me, ethnicity, how you were raised and the way you think about life and the way you value and view different things is more important than how you classify your race and the color of your skin. If this boy sees himself as being Hispanic then that is all that should matter. But if he does feels that he needs to categorize himself, which I wish he didn’t feel like, and he sees himself as Hispanic and if Hispanic is seen as being a part of the black and brown team then that is how he should see and categorize himself. He should stick with how he originally felt about race.
I think that the fact that this boy, as well as many other people along with him, feel that they need to put themselves on a team just means that our society still has a ways to go when dealing with race relations. It would be nice, but I guess this sounds a bit idealistic and a little too optimistic for right now, if no one ever felt that they needed to be part of either the white team or the brown and black team. It would be nice if we could all just see ourselves as one.

I have never necessarily ever thought that themed parties were in any way a way for white people to be racist or prejudice against other races. Since coming to Penn State and joining a sorority (themed parties are definitely a normal experience among people in the greek community many times a year) I have been to my fair share of themed parties and have never once thought that these parties were aimed specifically at a certain race or used as a means to show racism. I have been to parties where it may be a “gangster” theme, but I have never felt like it was planned as means to show racism. I think that many people plan parties with that theme thinking people will dress up in the way that someone living a gangster lifestyle would. I guess that when people think of “gangsters” they relate that lifestyle to black people and other races more than they do white people, but I have never heard of anyone throwing those parties with the intention of people being racist. I think in certain types of parties people are playing off of stereotypes that exist, but I do not think people ever take these stereotypes to such a high level that one would consider them a facilitator of racism.
Many of the themed parties that I have been to or heard of are not even a gangster theme. These types included beach parties, CEOs and corporate hoes, golf pros and tennis hoes, high school clique parties, toga parties, different holiday themed parties, and many more. To me, none of these, or the outfits that people have worn to these parties have ever seemed racist. Instead of these parties encouraging racism, like some people may think they do, I think these parties are more of an enabler to encourage young girls to dress in inappropriately clothing. Almost every name of themed parties includes the word ho in it, basically forcing girls and making them think they need to dress in a certain way. If anything, I feel that is the worst thing that would come out of a themed party.
Until it was just said in this video question, I was not aware that some people thought white people were the only ones to throw themed parties and that it was something that was not done by other races. I have been to a lot themed parties in which many black people, Hispanic people and other races besides white people were present and participating. After hearing this question I took some time to truly think if these parties were racist, and after much thought I still cannot really see how one could feel that way about all themed parties.

I feel that the genocide that was committed against the Native Americans was absolutely a terrible thing and it does hit home for me. While I was never a part of either, obviously considering my age, I have many family members and many extended family friends that either fought, or were in some way a part of the Holocaust. In regards to the Holocaust though, I am of Jewish decent, which almost automatically makes that genocide hit home with me. Not only does that fact that I am Jewish make the Holocaust resonate with me personally, but in general, people may feel more of an association with the Holocaust because is still somewhat in our distant past. I think the reason people may have trouble relating to, or even feeling bad for the Native Americans and the genocide that was committed against them is because it may be hard for them to feel something personally towards it or feel connected to it because it is so far in our history’s past. While I do not feel this way, the Holocaust was a world war, and while the Jewish population was the main target, many more people and many groups were discriminated against and killed. I think the lack of personal connection and historical distance are the two main reasons for the disinterest and low levels of shame connected with the Native American genocide.
The information regarding the genocide and the current conditions that these groups and tribes live in has never been presented to me and examples have never been shown to me in the way that Sam Richards has done for the class. To be honest, before this I was never really taught of what exactly is still going on today. I had learned that Columbus came to this “empty” land and claimed it as his own, but in reality pushed out the Native Americans, but that is pretty much the extent of what I knew. I think something in the education system needs to change to try and get our country to make a push in the right direction. I understand when people say, we shouldn’t be responsible and take the blame for what our ancestors did, and for some maybe that is true, but even if that is true, why don’t we feel the need to help our fellow human beings? After the Holocaust happened, the Jewish population was given land. If people were to take responsibility for what happened, we may not be able to distribute land right away, but at least the way that the Native Americans are living in now could be fixed up and they would not have to live in such poverty stricken conditions.

This question has actually been brought up in my recitation class more than once and I have always thought it was quite an interesting question. My first reaction and first answer is that many people think lesbians are hot and in some cases lesbians and lesbian actions have become just part of society, take Katy Perry’s song “I kissed a girl”. I am sure there were probably arguments brought out against that song and people boycotting it, but if there were I certainly did not hear of any of them and it became a huge hit and make Katy Perry pretty famous. I have been out before where girls get really drunk and start making out with their friends and no one really says a word about it, unless it is complimenting and cheering on their actions. No one ever calls them gay, but I can pretty much guarantee that if boys were to do that in the middle of a party things would probably get weird and people would most likely call them gay.
I think another reason why a woman being gay is more acceptable than men being gay is because men have always had this idea of being manly surrounding them. When people think of men, I am sure the first few things that come to their minds are things like sports and being strong. When someone is gay, I feel like people take all those things that straight men like to do and just assume that gay men do not anymore. If women are seen as “butch” I do not think it creates such a rise out of people as it does when men are more feminine.
I think in time these things and the stigma surrounding gay people and gay marriage and everything else that comes with it will change. Our society is always moving forward and making changes every day. Not too long ago black people and women were denied rights that others were granted, but people became more accepting and saw that changes to the rights these groups were given needed to be changed and it eventually was. I have no doubt that we will keep moving forward with these issues and eventually gay men and gay women will not be seen in such a bad light.

This story, to me, is a perfect analogous example of how it is so much more convenient and less of a hassle to just take the easy route instead of working hard and creating another path. This seems to be a smaller tribe and a community of few people; because of this one would assume that they were close each other, especially considering the photos shown of her with other people from her community. Why did the people of this tribe just give up on their language? It seems as though they took the easy way out. They already had a language that they all spoke and it was easier to just throw away this language that was around for 65,000 years, then it was to take the time to continue the language of the culture. It is sad to think that maybe no one cared enough about their roots to try and keep the language alive.
Although it may sound as if I am pointing the finger at these people and judging them for moving on, I am not. I of course have heard about languages dying out, specifically Latin. When I learned that Latin was a dead language and people only take those courses now in high school for SAT purposes it did not mean anything to me. Hearing this woman’s story about her tribe and how this is the last time anyone would ever hear these words being spoken it struck a chord in me and got me thinking. Like I said, I am not judging this tribe; I am instead relating her story back to my own life.
I am of Jewish descent, but I do not know Hebrew. I spent five years in Hebrew school growing up learning about the culture and learning the language. Eventually I had my Bat Mitzvah and from then on I stopped studying Hebrew. I hate to admit it, but I stopped because it was easier to just go on speaking English instead of continuing to learn. It is possible that one day, hopefully thousands of years from now, Hebrew will be a dead language, and there will be a story just like Anvita Abbi, someone was the last person to ever speak your culture’s language.
It is hard to imagine the language of one’s culture being dead, especially if there are millions of people out there who are speaking it at this very moment. But if people do not stop and think about the future consequences of simply moving on with life and choosing the easiest path ahead of them instead of taking the time to learn things like languages, then eventually these 7,000 languages we have will be down to a few.

When I had originally seen previews for Avatar, I did not have any interest in seeing it, but when I heard all the hype about the special effects and how long James Cameron had waited to make it, I felt like I had to see it, and I am so glad I did. Like many other people, I absolutely loved it, so much in fact that I saw it again only a few days later. Like any movie, watching it for a second time, it revealed things to me that I had not previously thought about the first time that I saw it. However, these thoughts were not at all the same the ones David Brooks mentions in his article.
After reading what Brooks had to say about the White Messiah Fable that our age has created, it definitely got me thinking. I would have never thought about that on my own and I am not too sure how many people out there have. After seeing the movie, I personally felt like it was more of a message about how we are destroying our own planet, and if the detrimental things we are doing do not stop and reverse themselves we are going to be out of luck. Narration in the movie even specifically says how humans destroyed their mother and how we were relying on this other planet. Maybe I took the message too literally and did not look into as much as Brooks and some others did. Personally, I felt that this was the significance and tone that James Cameron was trying to project to his audiences, not the fact that white people become the messiah for natives.
In the movie, the protagonist is originally working with the military in order to gain entry and trust from the natives, so that the military can steal their land and their resources. In this movie, as well as Pocahontas (that is the only movie I have seen of all that are mentioned in the article), while the person is white who is helping them and coming to the rescue, he is only able to help them because he is aware of what is going on and knows what these people are planning to do. This “messiah” is not just some random white dude who comes out of nowhere; he is part of the larger, more powerful group. Would it not be more interesting to look at the fact that the destructive forces are always the white people instead of the fact that the person who is saving the natives is white? Maybe that is the real message; white people are the destroyers of life, instead of them being the saviors.

This incident really resonates with me, as I am a young Jewish girl. There have been many times while growing up that people have simply been unaware and confused about certain rituals that my family and I perform. For example, many people I know do not understand why my family and I celebrate the New Year around September instead of with everyone else in January. I have never and do not think I would ever be annoyed or feel disrespected that people do not understand our rituals. The Jewish population is such a small percentage of the entire population that our rituals are not out in the open and recognized as much as those of, say the Catholic population.
While it is upsetting to me that a young boy had to go through all this hectic drama just because he was praying, I can certainly understand why it would draw attention and for some, like in the case of this flight attendant, attract some fear in those who were watching. Not only are the standard rituals that the entire Jewish population practices not known by people, but in my experience I have really only seen the use of tefillin being used by those who are more on the religious side, making it even less known. I can completely understand the reason for panic, we are constantly in this battle and war against terror and people will do anything to prevent another attack. I am sure that if I were in a situation where something instilled panic in me, I would want anything and everything done to prevent an incident from happening, even if there was no risk for one.
I wonder though, if there were other people on the plane who were panicked as well, did anyone mention anything to the flight attendant, or did she take matters into her own hands? Of course that is part of her job and responsibilities, but I wonder if this could have been prevented with the help of someone on the plane who was aware of what was going on.
To me, this incident is a wake up call and I hope it is to others as well. There are so many religions, cultures and different practices out there that I am sure NONE of us have any idea about. We should use this example as the facilitator in opening our minds and learning about all of these other people that exist in the world. Maybe if we were all a little less ignorant and a little more educated we would not have another incident like this one, and would not have to put other people in the position this young boy was put in.

georgie