gdp's Comments

Race Relations Project : How am I not a racist?

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 02:36:35 +0000

This is a really interesting question. I agree with the earlier posts that everyone has at least a little bit of racism in them. Even the most open minded people cannot know as much about the life and struggles of other races as much as they do of their own. This is not intentional racism or hatred of other race, which is a common connotation of racism; it is just a part of life. A person can dedicate their life to getting to know another race but in my opinion if you are not living it firsthand you can never get the full experience; you will always be getting the translated version from experience to words. This inexperience and lack of knowledge will lead to gaps in the information that will be filled in and often come back out as racism. I decided to comment on this because it is very similar to the thoughts I was having in class today when Sam’s old TA was telling us about his trip to Haiti. I am not saying that it is racism. I don’t really know what it would be called but what you are talking about I would not day is racism. I would say it is more of ethnocentrism in that you are seeing your own culture as right and better than others. You are seeing that your country with all of these resources and money as the best way to accomplish things, and maybe it is, but maybe other countries don’t see it that way and they think that they will be able to accomplish more doing it their way. What I connected this to in class today was when the TA was telling us about all of the non-profit organizations and how what they were doing was the wrong way to do it. he explained his point and why he thought that he had a better way of doing things, but who is he to say what is right? To me it seemed as if he was putting down all of the efforts these organizations are making and saying all of their efforts are going in the wrong direction. When a girl in class said that there are organizations working from within and doing what he said was the right thing he found a flaw in that saying that they could not drill wells where they were. So if water should not be given to them because it doesn’t build their economy but they cannot create wells, then where is the water supposed to come from? It seemed as if no matter what anyone was doing it was not as good as what he was planning to do and that is exactly what he was saying all of the organizations were saying about one another. I’m not trying to take away from what he is doing in Haiti, but I just think he should take a step back and see what he is saying before he points the finger at these organizations that are supposed to be on the same team as him.

Race Relations Project : Christian Invaders - the turnaround

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:15:50 +0000

The people who wrote no, not at all to the survey at the end of class just didn’t get it. The person who responded first on this post didn’t get it. It wasn’t a dig at Christians in any way. Sam was just saying that we only see a small portion of what it is really like over there and we shouldn’t take it all at face value. And even more he was saying that just as we see them, they see us. So no he wasn’t saying all of those things about Christians are true, he was saying that is how it is portrayed on their news and TV and it isn’t their fault that is all they know, just as it is not our fault that what we see is all that we know. He was just trying to open our eyes to this so now it is your fault if you chose not to listen.

Race Relations Project : Christian Invaders - the turnaround

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:15:37 +0000

That country would then attack the entire US because of one class’s actions. No one seemed to respond and I left the class feeling like people were angry at me for offering a different view. What the hell? Isn’t that what we are in class for, to learn and see things different ways, not just to reinforce our already established beliefs? I realized how alone I really was in my thoughts and again got mad about how happy people were in their ignorance. Finally I came to this class now I realize that all of what Sam was saying was not radical to me at all. To me it was normal and not seeing it this way was radical. But now I understand that to most of the class this was radical. Some people did open up to the idea that it was something they had never thought of before and felt bad for not realizing it, but again I watched hundreds of people not get it.

Race Relations Project : Christian Invaders - the turnaround

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:15:12 +0000

This semester I am taking another soc class with Eric Silver about deviance. I don’t remember how it came up, but we listened to a few songs about the war and then discussed them. It surprised me how many of these educated people were saying how proud they were of these songs. Even Donny, the TA for soc119, was pumping his fist and clapping in pride of these songs about we’ll put a boot in your ass it’s the American way… what?! Really? All that says to me is we are to stubborn and pig headed to work things out with other countries that we just build up our military and bomb people until they do what we want. It made me ashamed to be American hearing these songs and the things people were saying about it. I finally raised my hand and commented that no countries even attacked us; it would be the same as if our class got together and on our own attacked a country.

Race Relations Project : Christian Invaders - the turnaround

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:14:43 +0000

I was kind of annoyed at first that this class was talked up so much and made out to be so radical. I have thought all of these things for years even when I was in high school, I was young and stupid, but I still knew that there was another side to things. I knew that there were innocent people in Iraq that were against the war and wanted no part of it, but they had no choice because there were bombs falling in their towns. I knew it was no wonder they wanted to kill all Americans because the Americans they were seeing were George Bush or other political leaders that I didn’t agree with either, but if that was all they knew then how could they not have that image of us and not want to kill us. I thought it was ignorant when people couldn’t see this side of it and eventually withdrew from discussions about it because it just made me so mad how ignorant people could be and not be willing to open their eyes. This really made me believe ignorance is bliss.

Race Relations Project : Flip the Script for a Moment

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 16:00:41 +0000

I think it is just amazing how society and the human mind work. It is actually ridiculous to think about how we all come together and vote on who should be in power. I don’t care who you are or how much education you have, there is no one person that I feel has the ability to run an entire country. Americans are all self righteous about how we have the best system in place in electing a president and we think we have the right to go into other countries and put our system in place there too. Well here is my take on things… Isn’t it fairer to have a system of government where one person or even better yet a group of people can work together and by their own efforts gain control over the entire country? Isn’t that more natural that the strongest or smartest will rise to the top. If one group is in power and another group has the strength to overthrow them, then isn’t it only fair that they are in power because they earned their position there. In nature the lion did not become the “king of the jungle” through campaigning and one vote for each animal; lions fought their way to the top and proved their right to be there. Isn’t this a natural process and one that we should take on as a country? But wait. Lions did not become king of the jungle on their own. We as humans gave them this title and when we say they are the top of the animal kingdom we mean the top except for us because of course we are much greater than any other animal on the planet. Or are we? Are we really just hiding in our cities and houses afraid to go out into the real world because we know that the kind of the jungle can and will kill us because they are naturally superior. Or are we superior because we figured out a system to protect ourselves? Is anyone really superior or do we as humans place each other in a hierarchy but really we are all the same and we are all equal as humans as well as all equal as animals. So who are these people that run for president and say they are the best fit to run this country, who are they to think they are better than me at knowing what is best and who am I for falling for it? While we look at other countries and see all of the flaws within their system, perhaps they are doing the same to us, we are just too self centered to see that. And of course we will never let their rational view from the outside take effect because in order to be in charge here you have to be born here and live here for years so you are fully brainwashed before you may take power. We all say we want change and support our political party by going into a little booth every four years and voting between political mold figure one and political mold figure two. We feel good about doing our part and voting and we go home and watch the states turn a little color on the TV. We get a new president and we believe that our vote decided who it was. How do we know it’s not all just an act? Is my vote really counted, does it matter, do we really live in a state where our rulers are predetermined and we are convinced that we, as a country, chose who is in power. Does our feeling of choice give us greater satisfaction in our leader when he is really doing the same thing anyone else would do? Who knows? It’s easier to just not talk about it or think about it, just like race.

Race Relations Project : What are all of you thinking about Asians?

Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:33:15 +0000

I only know what I know and I personally could not tell the difference between an Asian and an Asian American at first glance. As Sam talked about earlier in the semester it is just something that we learn or don’t learn through our lives through exposure. I grew up in a small town with no Asians except the one family that owned the Chinese restaurant so I never really had the chance to look at Asians or Asian Americans and learn the differences in features. I would say I may be able to tell if there were obvious cultural differences in clothing, speech, or other social cues that someone was not American but more than that I am clueless. I have never really thought about it before in class but now that you say it, we really don’t spend much time talking about Asians. I really just clumped that with brow people but the more I think about it, if I was a “brown person” I would be pretty annoyed with this class. I feel like we address so many issues with white people and fear and guilt with race. We talk a lot about slavery and black people that can or cannot trace their history to slavery and other large black and white issues. Most of the time brown people get clumped in with “black and brown people” when now that I think about it seems to be skipping over brown people all together, not just Asians. I do not know much about brown people or what their struggles are but I would think there are much different than that of a black persons. I understand that they are both minority statuses so they often get clumped together but I would think that this class would be the first place that would be recognized and addressed. I just think about sitting in class after experiencing a life full of unique experiences as a brown person. It would definitely be different from white people who are the majority and essentially don’t have to face discrimination based on their skin color at any point in their lives. They are clueless to any of it and are here to learn more. I would see the black people and know that my fight is so much different from theirs. I don’t identify with slavery and I know my family came here because they wanted to. I am not included in the racist comments about the “loud black girls in the hub” that was texted in by an ignorant classmate nor am I one of the girls that straighten my hair like a white girls, but my hair is not naturally in tight curls either. I would be sitting in class taking in the cultures of so many others, which is fine and what I am here for, but when is it my turn to hear about the struggle of my own people. What about the discrimination that we face. The stereotype of smart Asians is quite different than ignorant black people so where in our culture did it become okay to clump all minorities together and why is Sam perpetuating this mistake?

Race Relations Project : This Is Getting to Be Too Much

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:25:45 +0000

Watching this video I had mixed feelings about the situation and how the representatives handled the events. As the boy in the video was talking about the teach in I couldn’t help but feel sort of angry at him for the way he look at it. The university held an event to try to make the situation better and he was saying it was not their place to have a teach in and that they should have done more or other things. I just kept thinking that the University would of course have an event and see how the students responded and engaged in the activity. He said he wants the university to do more but I think he was counteracting that by walking out of the first event. If the university sees that students are walking out and not participating in the events that they hold then they will stop holding events. Even if he thought that it was not the responsibility for the university to organize it he could have spoke about that at the teach in and said that he feels more violated because of their actions. If he just left the university officials would have no idea why and would settle on bad student participation and discontinue their efforts. If he would have spoke out as they were asking maybe he could have made a change in the university’s plan. He also says it is the responsibility of student organizations to hold the teach in events, but he did not mention any organizations that were planning an event to get the word out about it. If the organizations are not stepping up and holding the events than why is it so bad that the university is. What is the difference of who starts it, as long as it is happening I would think that he would want to get involved and speak up with his ideas. Overall his withdrawal from the event angers me. If he thought there was a problem there he should have spoke up about it there as that is what it was intended for. Instead he held off and waited to bad talk the university on the news when they have no way of responding or defending their actions. The university would not hold the event if they did not think it would be helpful and were probably hoping to see where to go from there. If there was no feedback from students such as the one in the video then how should they know what to do next? I am not saying the university did the best they could to combat the racist issues, I just think that the boy in the video was victimizing himself and saying how bad it was and that it needed to change, but he did not do his part to make that change. I think this is often the case when black and brown people look at racism; it is easy to point the finger at white people and say they need to change, but as Sam said for every finger you point, three point back at you. If you are going to cry discrimination, you have to ask yourself if you are doing just as much as you are asking of the white guy next to you.

Race Relations Project : Native Americans: Question Four

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:22:31 +0000

After I wrote this post I wanted to look more into the issue and I found this video and it makes the same point I am saying. As individuals we need to recognize the discrimination, and as a country we need to pass more legislation to reserve their rights. They have already lost so much as a people; the least we can do is respect their religious traditions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZhcoQ9gyMk

Race Relations Project : Native Americans: Question Four

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:22:07 +0000

The next time you are at a sporting event of the Chiefs, the Indians, the Redskins, just remember what that really means. To us it may seem like a sign of respect but the best comparison I can think of (as a catholic girl) is someone dressing up as a nun for Halloween. That is sac-religious not respect and the mockery we have made of Indian tradition is the same disrespect.

Race Relations Project : Native Americans: Question Four

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:21:41 +0000

Today we avoid this topic and put it aside on reservations because it is easier to ignore, than to feel this guilt and unsettling feeling about it. Overall, I know this was said, but just by knowing about the problem we are already making a difference. The only problem is so many people in the class were still trying to suppress those feelings and deny their responsibility. So more than education about the subject is our acceptance of it; I’m not saying take on the “blame” or feel guilty I am just saying really let it sink in and realize what they went through and are still going through as a people.

Race Relations Project : Native Americans: Question Four

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:21:12 +0000

. I think that is the exact point; for some reason we do feel guilty about what our ancestors did so long ago and if you ask me, if we still feel this guilt generations later that really means something. I also think it means we all know that Native Americans are still being mistreated today. If we heard about this and didn’t feel any kind of way about it then maybe it would mean it was fair and we won fair and square, but for most of us it does make us uncomfortable.

Race Relations Project : Native Americans: Question Four

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:20:40 +0000

I agree with you completely. I feel like a lot of people in this class think that Sam is personally attacking them on this as well as many other topics. In this situation I think that more people are asking what he thinks they should do not really because they want to do something to really better it, but more they know that there isn’t anything they can do and they are trying to prove him wrong; or even better yet they are trying to calm that inner part of themselves that he has offended and reassure themselves that there is nothing they can do so it is fine to sit and do nothing. It is hard to sit in class as a white person and hear what our country is trying so hard to suppress and forget about. One student asked when we will stop getting the blame and Sam said when we stop taking it on.

Race Relations Project : LGBT Class - Question Four

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:32:55 +0000

I really appreciate that you did back up your religious reasons for your beliefs on gay marriage. That was the first time I have heard an explanation of that sort and I do see where you are coming from. I grew up in a catholic family and my uncle is actually a priest. I have always been for gay marriage rights, but my religious background has nothing to do with it and I think that is how it should be for everyone. I see the reasoning for you not wanting gay marriage in your church, but that is their responsibility to uphold that ideal. We have always heard that there is a separation of church and state, or rather that there should be. This statement in my mind is the reasoning for why my, your, or anyone’s religious beliefs should not be the reason that there are laws against being gay. If I walked into my church and heard that they turned people away that were gay and wanted to get married I would not be surprised or upset at all. The church reserves the right to turn them away and that is where the boundary should lie. The government should stay out of it and do their job and leave the churches to do theirs. There is no reason for the government to enforce laws against gay marriage at the federal, state, or local level. There is no harm to society in allowing gay marriage and in my opinion all of the efforts everyone is making to get gay marriage legalized are a waste of energy. Not a waste in that they are fighting, but a waste in that they have to fight at all; it should be a non issue. I don’t understand how anyone can say that the government should control who we are allowed to spend the rest of our life with in a romantic union. I know that someday gay rights will be legal and our great grandchildren will look back at this and see how ignorant we were to not have equal rights for gays all along. I don’t have some strong belief system that may or may not be true to back my argument, but I do know that gay people are people too and that should be all that matters. We have the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness and I would say that laws against gay marriage interfere with that right for many gay and straight people in this country. Overall I do understand that marriage is a sacred institution and should not be used in such ways as the joke in class proposed it was. But I think the bigger point of the joke that you were missing is that just because two people are the same sex doesn’t mean their love is less sacred, and they would probably cherish their union more than anyone that is strait and takes marriage for granted.

Race Relations Project : Animals vs. Humans vs. Welfare Cheats

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:18:29 +0000

I don’t understand how a politician could make a comment this outlandish in public. A huge part of their job is public appearances and addressing the community. It was obviously not a scripted comment but it really makes me think. He obviously didn’t mean to say it, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t mean it. Not only does this look bad for him, but what does this say about us; we are the population that elected this ignorant man. If we are electing these people to run our country they shouldn’t really need someone writing every word for them in order to speak in public. I think this should really be an eye opening experience to all of us that vote for our public officials. We all see politicians as they allow us to see them. They all have platforms and campaigns, but these are usually based on what they think we want to hear rather than what they really believe. In this case we obviously fell for it and are now all in total shock when the truth came out. I know we all want to believe what they say, but this is not the first time a public official has been blemished with some scandal or blemish they had previously been hiding. I don’t see the real shock value in the whole issue. As for what he said about people on welfare being animals, I think who is he to talk? There are many different situations with people who are on welfare and yes some people may take advantage of the system and use it there are many that are hard working people that just need a little help. It is probably his close ties that make me sick when thinking about the distribution of money in our country and how we can just never get enough. It is the richest people in the country that don’t want taxes to be raised but don’t they realize that their taxes are so high because they are making so much money. They are charged more in taxes than some people even make and they are still the ones bitching about the loss. Yeah it is a lot of money, but in comparison to your earnings it should not be a big deal. I am sure no one he knows are getting taken down to the poverty line due to taxing and I think it is the least they can do to help out the poor man on welfare working two jobs trying to feed his kids. The more we have the more we seem to want in this country and I think something needs to be done about it. I think he should have lost his job for the comments he made and kept from any other job in public affairs. Let him see how it feels to lose a job and have nowhere to turn and then we will see who is on welfare.

Race Relations Project : Avatar and the White Man's Burden

Fri, 5 Feb 2010 17:45:35 +0000

I have not seen the movie Avatar and I have no desire to see the movie in or out of the theatre. It is not just this movie in particular that I am not interested in, but I am not interested in movies at all because they are all the same waste of my time, predictable, and very stereotypical. I understand why you posted this link and that to some people it is a huge awakening or confusion, but to me it is just another guy thinking he is smart when stating the obvious. There are other articles online that are saying the same thing about this movie and all I want to say is what did you expect? It may come as a shock to someone who has never watched a movie before but in our society all movies are based on prejudice and stereotypes. The majority of us grew up on the classic Disney movies, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and the list goes on. All of these movies are based on a young beautiful girl. By chance none of these girls have a mother and they all wind up in some predicament that they just can’t seem to get out of. The movie portrays their struggle to find a resolution, but in the end they all need their father or their prince charming to save them. This depicts women as stupid and helpless waiting for the man to save them just as Avatar depicts blacks and browns waiting for the white man to save them. Walt Disney was very racist and sexist and it is shown in his movies. If this is what we are showing our children and passing through generations how can we be surprised if adult movies contain the same themes. Of all of the offensive movies in the world why is Avatar being questioned when it is really just following suit. You also have to look at it though the eyes of the producers. Everyone in the business is just trying to make money and the way that they will do that is to get high ratings and reviews. No one wants to watch a movie where everyone is equal, there is no conflict, and someone doesn’t get to be the hero. It is a part of our society that white men have an advantage. I am not saying it is right I am just saying that is the way it is so it makes sense that this ideal is projected in movies. Also although the white man saves the black and brown people, he first realizes that they are better people and that he wants to be one of them so I think that is a compliment to add one positive note.

Race Relations Project : Last Name Begins with "L"

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 17:19:24 +0000

hello

Race Relations Project : Racism Looks Pretty Mild on This Side of the Atlantic

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:14:40 +0000

The racism is this video is so outright and public is what makes it so shocking in my opinion. Most of us know there is racism in the world today and even here in our own country, but living here has perhaps blurred our perception of how bad it actually is. I’m sure we all know a few people that are racist but in our minds these individuals are not doing anything outrageous or on a large scale that needs to be immediately addressed. Often the racism is internalized due to the taboo nature of racism here today and is only brought up in the privacy of a home or private situation. We see this and are okay with it because it is not blatantly in our face or immediately harming anyone. On the other hand there is the Ku Klux Klan who are well known for their racism and very public about it. They do however cover their faces and act as an unknown member of the group rather than as an individual. They act at night when no one is expected to be around so their identities are not found out and they are not judged or punished in their daily lives for their racist actions. This is the most public and well know racist group in our society and they are still not being truly open in their actions, hiding behind masks and in the dark of the night. The racism in this video was not like what we are used to. The few individuals and the Ku Klux Klan are our greatest ideas of racism and the individuals in this video were not like that at all. These fans would come out to one of the largest events in their country and the most widely watched sport in the world with no disguise or shame and declare their racism as loud as they could. They were proud that their countries team didn’t have any blacks, even if they were the best players in the game. They made signs to show how proud they were of their anti-black feelings and draped it across the stands with no one objecting and no social or lawful punishment or reaction at all. Their racism was not a dividing factor as it is here but rather a unifying factor that brings the fans together as a community against blacks. These differences in the presentation of racism really show me why racism seems pretty mild on this side of the Atlantic. Yes racism still exists here all over the country, but it is well known to be taboo and there are social repercussions if a person’s racism is put on display. There are not the same repercussions there and until there are there is not going to be much of a change.

Race Relations Project : Haiti's Calamity

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:12:52 +0000

I agree with the posts that an event like this really makes us take a step back and evaluate what is important in our lives and how insignificant our problems really are. It makes us all feel good to know that we could put money in the bags in class and help in that small way even if it isn’t much it is better than nothing; all together we donated a pretty substantial amount for an off the cuff fundraiser. We are all “poor college kids” so it’s hard to put our extra cash into a bag in class and resist the temptation to keep it for a snack on the way home or a case of beer for the weekend. I’m not saying that we are making a huge sacrifice or we are going to go without food or anything, just that personally being on a tight budget it’s a little harder to give up all the cash in your wallet. I was thinking about all of this and how I could respond to any of the entries while watching TV. I come from a strong religious background, but don’t hold a strong loyalty to it myself so I didn’t feel that I stand in a position to evaluate the situation from that perspective. I am interested in our society and as I watched my roommates and myself watching TV I couldn’t help but evaluate the situation. Here we are watching an ex- playmate that had moved out of the playboy mansion go grocery shopping for the first time and try to decorate and clean the new mansion she bought before her boyfriend came to visit. We were sitting there watching it, keeping her ratings up and essentially paying for the groceries she was buying. She came to the checkout and spent $400 on groceries; mind you she is the only person living at the house currently. So that’s $400 on food for one person and then she dropped a dozen eggs on the floor as she was struggling to put everything away because the kitchen was so big she didn’t know where to put everything. This situation got me to think about our donation to Haiti, although it wasn’t much for us it was all we could do and it was more than some people are doing that have a much greater resource base than any of us. Not to say that this girl on TV didn’t do anything, but it would be a surprise to me if she even turned on the news and knew about the situation, let alone tried to do anything to help. I could never imagine spending $400 on food for myself but I had $400 to do so I know I would rather donate it to Haiti or anywhere else that needs it more than me. It just made me wonder what our society is coming to with all of these reality TV shows that are funding these lives of the young and the hopeless.