I have mixed views about the whole concept of illegal immigration. On one side i agree with it and on the other I disagree. People are trying to come into our country to better their lives, they want to come to this country so they can have a better life than theirs in their country. I know this because my house keeper’s parents were illegal immigrants. She was taught from a very young age that she had to work hard to make her life better. My house keeper is one of the most hard working people I know, and i could not imagine my life without her in it. Although these people are doing something “illegal” i can understand why they are doing it. They just want more opportunities. The fact that immigrants are fighting to get into this country should be enough flatter for us American citizens, but the fact that people are getting arrested for it is just messed up. Yes I believe that people should have to follow rules and do the right thing in order to get into this country, but it shouldn’t take so long to become a citizen and it shouldn’t cost so much money.
The reason that people try to come into this country illegally is because of the time and the money. These people aren’t looking to do something illegal, but it is just the easiest way to do it. They would rather take the risk in doing it illegally and get into the country than waste the time and money doing it the right way. I personally think it is a little sad that we are still faced with the issue of illegal immigrants because we should have found a solution but now and the fact that we haven’t is sad.
There is always good and bad that come out of every situation, but the fact that most illegal immigrants want to come into the country to better their lives and work hard is a beautiful thing. And the fact that we won’t and don’t let them into our country until they pay a certain amount of money, or wait a certain amount of years is so sickening. I am not saying i have a solution for illegal immigration or that I promote it, but i think it is about time that we start looking for a solution. Illegal immigration is a big topic that is spoken about daily. People should be trying to find something to do about it instead of complaining about the amount of illegal immigrants who are in the country and who are trying to get into the country. Picture yourself as an illegal immigrant, trying to get into a country where you know your life would be better, and them not letting you in. You too would probably do anything to just get into that country. These people really aren’t trying to do anything wrong, they just want a better life than they have now.

I agree with how the student in the video clip feels about mourning people dying and how we are all one world and we should care more about other people. But she said it herself, that if someone in her family died then she might take some time off from school to mourn. She didn’t say if 300,000 Americans died she would take time off to mourn. So she is basically contradicting herself when she says if something isn’t directly affecting us we just move on with our lives. Because by saying if someone in her family died, it would be directly affecting her. I would like to know that if 300,000 people who wouldn’t be affecting her life died, would she still take the time off to mourn?

I think there is definitely a difference in being a racist and feeling the way this student did while visiting these different countries. Living in America, or any developed countries for that matter, the citizens must feel some sense of superiority over third world countries. I myself feel as if I am privileged living in America, so I feel as if I am better than people living in third world counties. I do not consider this a racist idea though, I think it is more of a spoiled idea. Living in America we are exposed to so many things that people in third world countries will never even know about. So without sounding rude or inconsiderate to those people living in third world countries, I, like the student in the video, feel as if I am more important than those people.

After sitting in class on Thursday and listening to Sam lecture, a million thoughts were running through my mind. Sam made us sit in the class and pretend like we were Muslim students listening to Sam lecture about the war. I really think that by doing this, Sam got through to most of us, or at least he got through to me. For the first time since 9/11 I actually understood the thinking’s behind Muslim people. The war that we are fighting right now is basically over oil, and it’s their oil. Like Sam said in class, we, Americans, are going into a foreign land and taking something that belongs to the Muslim people. For example, if someone came into my house and started talking things that belonged to me, I would be mad. Especially if these people would do this time and time again. My anger would build up and I would begin to hate these people. This is how the Middle Eastern people feel about us Americans. I am not saying that the war we are fighting is useless and is only about Americans “steeling” oil from the Middle Eastern people, but I do think a lot of the war is a big misunderstanding. To be honest, after 9/11 I had so much hate and anger build up towards any Middle Eastern person. The news would broadcast all the horrible things that the Taliban were doing after 9/11 such as burning flags, cheering, and celebrating. I never understood how people could be so corrupt and hate others so much. I didn’t know why they attacked American, I just thought it was a random act of terrorism. It wasn’t until Thursday that I realized how sick and tired these people must be of Americans just coming and invading them and taking this that don’t belong to them. And most of the class even said that if they actually lived in the Middle East they would join a group that would be against America and try everything to make them stop invading. Things just get so much clearer when you take a moment to see things through other people’s eyes. I never thought that the Muslim people lived their lives in such fear. The clips that Sam showed in class were truly disturbing. I was sitting in my chair and I was freaked out. At one point I actually wanted to get out of my chair and leave, I was scared. It is very scary thinking about how groups of people have so much hate towards America that they actually want to kill each and every one of us. Just thinking about it now is scaring me. I really think everyone has to start understanding one another or else this world is just going to become more corrupt than it already is.

I was wondering the same thing as this girl after leaving class the other day, “What is step two?” We all know how simple and easy it is just stop eating chocolate because a slave made it. Sadly, that is not enough. Me not eating a piece of chocolate is not going to stop a slave being beaten to still make chocolate. Not enough people are aware that slaves are being used to make the chocolate, therefore not enough people are going to be willing to stop eating chocolate. And even if we got everyone in the world to stop eating chocolate, what about the slaves who are being used to find coffee beans? How can we just boycott every single product that a slave was being used for? What is the next step? Do we protest? Do we write letters? How is it possible for us to inform millions of people about slave use that is still going on in the world today? I do not have an answer for, what the next step is, but i do think that someone should come up with something quickly so we can start changing the way things are.

I can understand as to why this student felt offended by some of the things said in class about LL bean or Jesse Jackson, but as Sam said, if aren’t thinking like he is then you are still stuck in one of the stages, “Immersion stage,” to be exact. When sitting in class listening to Sam speak, I don’t find myself to be offended by anything that he says. He isn’t a professor for nothing, he is passionate and very intelligent in Sociology. When sitting in class we might forget that Sam has gotten past prejudice and racism and that he is trying to get us all to understand everything he teaches us. He might say things in a way that shock or even make us wonder why we are listening to him, but he knows what he is talking about. He tries, and i think does a great job, relating the information we have to know and understand to situations that we will all be put in at some point in our life. By getting offended and worked up over the things he says in class, simply means that maybe you aren’t ready to move through the stages and eventually “win.” To me, Sam has “won” and is trying to get each and every one of us to see that it is possible to move past all the prejudices and racism put into our world.

After listening to this student speak, I truly feel bad for him. I don’t feel bad for him because he is a multicultural boy, but because he feel confused about who he is and what he should be “categorized” as in society. I think it would be awesome to grow up in a multicultural family. You get to learn so much about two totally different cultures and be apart of them. For some reason, when speaking to multicultural people they are always confused about how they should feel. I guess coming from both white parents I will never understand how it feels to grow up in this boys situation. I don’t understand why people who have the same situation as this boy have to feel confused. How is it that our society has become so one sided? Why does everything have to be the “normal” way in order for people to feel socially accepted? Who even gets to decides what is normal and what is accepted? This is why people like this student feel uncomfortable with their multicultural lives when they should be able to embrace that fact that they are different. Different is what makes the world go round, and people should be more “accepting” to those who don’t fit into the mainstream of our society.

I said before that I was raised by two white parents, but thinking about it, I am multicultural. My mother is Italian and my father is Irish, therefore I am both. Why is it that I do not feel confused about my cultural and this boy does? Is it because mainly because of his skin town? He said he grew up with his mom’s ethnicity, so he is Hispanic, but he doesn’t know what race he would be consider. Sam stated during one of the first classes that race doesn’t mean anything. So why is it that people like this boy feel the need to have to identify themselves as a part of a certain race? Is it because as a society we relate a large part of our lives to race? Or because he wants to fit in with a certain “race” and not just be an outsider? Should people like this student even feel the need to have to identify themselves? These questions just keep coming to my mind and as much as I want the answers, I personally don’t have any answers for them. This leads me to think more about this topic, if I don’t know the answers to these questions, then this topic shouldn’t be that important. And if this topic wasn’t so important, then people like this boy wouldn’t feel uncomfortable or feel the need to fit in somewhere in society.

I just wish that one day, every person, know matter what color, culture, race, size, etc. can feel comfortable with who they are and live their lives the way they want. That every person wouldn’t feel as if they are being judged, or left out, or having to prove themselves just to fit in. I know it’s a corny thing to wish for but it’s the truth. The world would be so much less complicated if everyone could just be who they wanted.

I agree with this Asian student. Sam, as well as many white Americans, vaguely mentions anything about Asians and American Asians. I am unsure as to why people seem to not include Asians when talking about races. Is it because we just make very broad groups, such as Whites, Blacks, and Browns? Or is it because we just do not feel the need to speak as much about them? I do not know what the reason is, but I do think we should start including them in our conversations. The Asian population in America is increasing at a very rapid rate, therefore maybe we should start talking about them. As for the part of this students question about being able to determine the difference between Asians and American Asians, I really do not know if I could do it. I don’t know enough about Asians to be able to determine the differences, which is kind of sad. I can totally understand why Asians feel like they are left out, because as a white person I think they are. But I also think this should and can change if people start reaching out to Asians and getting to understand and know them better.

I understand where this question is coming from. when i was sitting in class i was thinking the same thing to my friend next to me. i just didn’t understand why the “colored people” were making a scene out of something that was texted. I understand if people are offended and hurt, but why does that make it right for them to freak out and yell and scream. I just don’t understand why “colored people” find it necessary to always be heard. Not to say that white people don’t make scenes or get angry, but we react in different ways. And we could see that very clearly in class with the texts. It wasn’t even like the white people were being more rude with their comments about the colored people, i think at times both got a little offensive. But i do feel like the colored people made more of a scene out of it, and i would also like to know why.

I agree with you on the fact that we are able to give birth because of our periods. And yes that is a miracle but it is also very inconvenient when you are not planning on having a family any time soon. It is just a hassle to have your period at such a young age and have to deal with it for such a long time. And you have to deal with all the side effects, like cramps and mood swings and cravings and buying tampons. Tampons are a whole new issue because first off they cost money, second off you have to worry about changing them every 6 hours for fear of getting THS. And what happens if you bleed through your tampon and it goes on your pants? Now thats just embarrassing. It is just not a fun thing to have to go through, especially when i am not planning on having children at this point in my life. I wish the menstrual cycle only started when you wanted it to, now that would be ideal!