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13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - South Park...off the h... · 0 replies · +1 points

I was very disappointed to hear that this South Park episode has created so much controversy. South Park literally makes fun of everyone, everything and anything. Yes there are certain individuals that they make fun of more than others but South Park is a satirical social commentary, so what else are they supposed to do? In this two part episode they make fun of every major religion and whoever those religions worship. I really think people need to stop being so sensitive and allow South Park to say whatever they want. South Park has been poking fun at anything relevant for fourteen seasons and I really do not see it stopping anytime in the near future. It’s a hilarious show, they make fun of Christianity all the time and I do not take it personally at all. I am not upset nor offended by any matter, which is why other people should feel the same.
I really did not realize how much power South Park has. If they can get this many people worked up over something, I’d argue that its one of the most powerful shows on television. That being said, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are also two of the most powerful writers around. They are so powerful that their lives were in danger? I couldn’t believe it when I initially heard this. That the creators of south park, yes south park, were threatened by a group of Muslim radicals. Is this serious? I guess these guys are just as influential as the most iconic news anchors and anyone else on television. It is kind of humorous because their entire show is just one huge joke. Its about a group of elementary school kids with dirty mouths and completely outrageous plots. It is also a cartoon and since it is a cartoon it should not be taken seriously at all.
I wonder what Sam’s thoughts are on this episode, I really hope he brings it up in the next class. I would like to hear his analysis on the episode. I think he probably won’t like it. South Park makes you think about things, which is essentially what Sam’s goal as a professor is. Sam would be contradicting himself if he said that it was garbage or inaccurate. I think he would talk about how its an attack on Muslims and how its not fair, but at the same time if you ever have watched South Park previously, you know that they absolutely kill Judaism. South Park makes fun of Jewish people every single episode multiple times. So if someone if going to be upset, it should not be the Muslims since they were only mentioned once, it should be the Jewish people because they get ripped on over and over again.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - What about the men? · 0 replies · +1 points

As a male I really feel no urge to conform to society’s norms. I really feel like the difference between guys and girls is that guys really just do not care about what other people think. Generally speaking, girls just care way too much what other people think. They also get so embarrassed over the smallest most insignificant events. It’s really a shame that this is the case, because girls would be much more fun if they approached life like guys. If they had the “I don’t give a shit attitude” that guys live their life by, the world would be a much better place. Girls care way too much about their social standing and what other people think of them. I think it would be extremely interesting to actually see how they would act and by interesting I mean hilarious. Every environment would just be more fun if girls just didn’t care. No one likes uptight people because they just ruin everyone’s time. I think uptight people, girls and guys, are the people that feel the need to conform to the norms of today’s world. Don’t get me wrong I like when girls get all done up and look great, but I really feel that sometimes they do it for the wrong reasons. In class on Tuesday, I was really disappointed to hear that some girls dress up and try and look hot so they can be hotter than the next girl rather than just trying to look good for their own self respect. I know that on a night when I go out I try and look clean cut and put together so I can look my personal best, not cause I’m comparing myself to the other guys out there. I really do not know why girls feel the need to make such a big deal about conforming to societies norms, but I wish I did so I could talk to them about it. I would give them some great advice about how they shouldn’t care at all and just live their life. All the time the spent worrying about what other girls looked like and trying to be hotter than the next girl could be spent in a more efficient way once I finished talking to them. Many times, these girls spend more time worrying about how they look when they could be worrying about more important things. What happens if the girls worry more about what they look like compared to what they think of themselves? What happens to these girls self esteems? As a guy, when I make a decision on a girl, whether consciously or subconsciously, my decision it usually based on how they treat themselves and the people around them. If a girl takes the time to ‘make themselves up,’ but at the same times is a jerk to the people around them, their demeanor usually deters me and other guys from approaching them. It is much more becoming for a girl to act and dress the way they want then the way their friends and peers decide they should. I’d rather date a girl who takes pride in her personality and appearance then a girl who takes pride in her appearance and social status. It is more enjoyable and easier for a guys to talk to a girl who prides herself in personality than it is for a girl who focuses on her appearance. And to be honest, it is often ‘sexier’ for a girl to wear whatever she feels comfortable in, but at the same time can hold an interesting conversation.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - How Can We Ever "Win"? · 0 replies · +1 points

You can easily ‘win’ in this situation. The solution to the problem is time. As time goes on, and generations have passed, I feel the race issue will become quiet irrelevant. If you look at the improvements we made on the racial issue in the past fifty to forty years, you can see a huge improvement. Now it may be biased of me to predict the total disappearance of racism, due to the fact that we live in a peaceful country, but as society progresses with race so will our kids. People are looking more at the personality of someone then their appearance. Media is a good example of this. When you see famous minorities getting praised and loved for their successful accomplishments by younger kids, you know that those kids will see passed the race issue.
The race issue, however, will not heal soon. Some people are raised in a racist environment, and are taught that racism is exceptional and right. It’s unavoidable for some but I do believe it will not last. My grandparents have a racial point of view but I’m not racist at all. In fact, they have become more understanding of other races because they have interacted with some of my friends that aren’t the same race. I can’t say that it’s the same way for everyone, but it does show me that people can change their opinions.
In the video, the girl referred to that you couldn’t get too close to someone because his or her negative racial opinion will come out eventually. I don’t believe this to be true. I think the problem is that it’s hard for different races to get along because of how they were raised in an economic standpoint. Let’s face it, most wealthy people are white (or predominantly one race in other cultures), and the ones that aren’t people that required new money. I say new as in recently received it and am new to the fact that they are in the opposite from where they started.
I also believe this statement to be false because everyone is different. You can’t stop trying to be friends of different race because of a fear that you have with each other’s ‘true’ feelings coming out. If someone is your friend then they are your friends, you either like someone or you don’t. It’s easy to look past race if you are really fond of someone.
To conclude, in my opinion the easiest way to stop race is to just stop talking about it. Keep race out of your head and look at everyone as just a person. By doing this, you aren’t reminded of stereotypical features of a race. You look at them for the person that they really are.

13 years ago @ Race Relations Project - What's the big deal wi... · 0 replies · +1 points

The fact that women have periods should not be a topic of conversation. Yes, every month you do release one egg from your ovary supply which is accompanied by bleeding. That being said, there is no reason to make a big deal that this "miracle experience" occurs once a month. Even though the "bleeding" does allow you to result in a pregnancy, (not that any college girl would EVER want a baby, nor would a college girl EVER be responsible enough to raise a baby), it doesn't mean there is a need to bring up the point that you have finally reached the age that you can have a baby. Also, girls love to use the excuse of having a period for being in a bad mood and being an overall unpleasant person to be around. Just suck it up and deal with your unbalanced hormonal situation. Yes, you have to put up with the inconvenience for a week max, and yest guys don't have this problem, but there is no reason to milk the situation into gaining sympathy from men.

Women developed ovaries, men developed testicles. We don't compain about having to carry them around all the time. there is no reason for women to complain about their evolutionary cycle. If you are truely proud about this magical thing you have developed, then why is there so much discussion about what a problem it is. The only reason it is a problem in the first place is because men have to deal with women consistently complaining about having live with it for a week or have uneccessary PMS moods. Be mature and stop complaining.

If men had periods, it would be turned into some glorified drinking game where we all have some sort of competition of who has the longest/ shortest period, and just embrace the fact that we have it, not complain the whole time. It shouldn't be considered an inconvenience. A miracle of life should never be inconvenience. That being said, men occasionally find periods to be an inconvenience also, however we never complain about it. It is something that men and women both have to deal with in a way but since there is nothing either of us can do about it, and its a natural party of a womens life, there is no reason to complain at all.

The concept of "having to deal with a perdiod" only makes women look weaker as a race. There is no need to complain and make a big deal of it. Just embrace the fact that you have to "bleed" for a week (which is strong word, and brings unecessarily vivid descriptions to the issue) and allow it to happen with out letting the world know.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - What are all of you th... · 0 replies · +1 points

I feel like Americans do not differentiate between Asians and Asian Americans. Rather than looking at the two groups as two completely different types of people, Asians and Asian Americans are grouped together as “Asians”. I understand that Asian and Asian Americans are completely different culturally, but I’m also guilty of grouping them together as one large group of “Asians”. Is it my fault that I can’t tell the difference between Asian and Asian Americans? I went to a high school with probably 10 people of Asian heritage out of a whopping 1200 kids. My high school is probably one of the least diverse high schools in all of New Jersey. I just have not had a lot of interaction with Asians and Asians Americans. Since I haven’t had a lot of interaction with Asian and Asian Americans, how should I be able to differentiate between the two?
I know that there are plenty of Asian countries, but when people talk about Asians there are really only two types of Asians. For whatever reason the general American public believes that the only two types of Asians are the Japanese and the Chinese. Can the majority of Americans even differentiate between Japanese and Chinese? I really don’t think most people, white or brown, even have the slightest clue of the physical facial differences between Chinese people and Japanese people. At the same time, is there a lot of facials qualities that differ between Asian Americans and Asians?
If two different types of Asian or Asian Americans were placed next to each other and I had to make a guess where they were from or what their heritage was, I would have an extremely difficult time guessing. I would be extremely unconfident once I made my decision because I literally would have no idea. I would not base my decision off physical features because I don’t know the differences between the different types of Asians. I think my safest bet would be trying to differentiate between Asian Americans and an Asian rather than make a distinction between two specific types of Asian heritages. I would base my distinction on styles of clothing. Whoever was sporting a more Americanized style of clothing would be guess for an Asian American. It is kind of pathetic style of clothing would be the way I would attempt to distinct between the two, but I really do not know how else I would go about it.
In addition, I think that people group Asian Americans and Asians together because the majority of Asians Americans speak Korean, Japanese, or some other language. Not only do they speak it fluently, they speak it as the main language in their household. I believe that this is one of the main reasons why people tend to group Asians and Asians Americans as the universal group of Asians.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - I Reckon She Can Hit · 0 replies · +1 points

I really liked Natalie Randolph’s response to why it took a woman so long to land a job as a high school head football coach. Like Natalie said, women’s football is a fairly new and innovative concept in the wide world of sports. Natalie said that she places plenty of pressure on herself, but I think she does not know what she’s getting into. I also don’t think she realizes how important her success or failure is to the future of woman’s football.
I really would have like to know the situation she is stepping into. Is she replacing a long time successful coach, or looking to build a program that that has traditionally struggled. These are two completely different scenarios that play a key role in the overall expectations for Randolph. For Randolph’s sake, it would be better if her job were to turn around a poor football team rather than replace a previous successful coach.
I think it is great that she earned this opportunity and I hope she experiences success. If Natalie Randolph puts a big fat goose egg in the win column this year, there is no doubt in my mind that she will be the last woman hired as a football coach for quite some time. I don’t believe that high school athletic directors would want to take the chance on another woman coach especially if Natalie Randolph’s tenure is a disaster.
If I were an athletic director the two things I would look for in a coach is credentials and playing experience. Once again I wished that the interview went into Natalie’s previous coaching experience if she has any. I would never hire a coach unless they had several years of previous coaching experience. Natalie said that she “helped out” on her old school’s coaching staff but I wished she elaborated on her role and if she was a coach for a specific position. Playing experience is extremely important for a high school football coach. This increases their credibility as a coach because you know that they went through the brutal triple sessions and know the small things that are often overlooked by those that have not played. Natalie didn’t play football in high school or college. I honestly feel that if she played 4 years of high school football rather than for the women’s team, her appeal as a coach would be significantly greater. She ran track in college, so doesn’t that make her more appealing as a track coach?
If I was a player on Natalie Randolph’s team I really don’t know what I would think. As a former high school football player, I think the head coach needs the intimidation factor. This shows your players that there isn’t any messing around and that you mean business. If Natalie can instill this into her players the slightest bit, then I believe that will greatly help her out. If she can’t keep players inline, she has an extremely tough task ahead of her.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Why Is This Racist? R... · 0 replies · +1 points

I think the idea of an NBA league strictly for white players is an awful idea. There are so many reasons why this would not work. First off, the quality of basketball would be atrocious. The players would not be nearly as athletic. This “white only” league would be a completely different style and stress 5 vs. 5 much more. The style of play has more similarities to high school basketball than it does to the NBA style of play. Although it would become more of a team game, this is really not entertaining even the slightest bit. As a white fan I would much rather watch LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Durant dunk and hit game winning shots than see a 5’10 white player execute a fundamentally sound back-door lay up. These guys are professionals; the best in their trade, why wouldn’t anyone want to watch the best athletes in the entire world compete against each other. Clearly this guy is way too opinionated and knows absolutely nothing about basketball. This league would get very little to zero fan support. The only way this league would last one season is if they could put people in the seats, which they wouldn’t be able to. Lets say there is an “all white” league team in Los Angeles, I do not know one person that would rather watch the white squad over Kobe Bryant. I think everyone would even watch the god awful Nets play instead of a bunch of semi decent college players that all just happen to be white. It is really just a formula for disaster.
The NBA does need to clean their image up though, especially due to recent events. David Stern can’t tolerate players attacking fans, the majority of the players carrying guns into the locker room, consistent drug violations and anything illegal that anyone could associate with the “Thug” stereotype. All David Stern’s weak suspensions do is give people like this guy firepower. What’s hard to understand is that if David Stern kicked guys like Ron Artest and Gilbert Arenas out of the NBA, it really wouldn’t hurt it all that much. It would hurt the teams a great deal, but who cares it is their fault. They invested in these guys, with all the millions of dollars put towards scouting and drafting; they should have realized that the negatives outweigh the positives for these players. Kids idolize professional athletes, what kind of a message is David Stern sending the public by not kicking players out of the league that have deserved that punishment. I’m all about giving someone a second chance, which is exactly what Michael Vick is getting now. Ron Artest should have been suspended for attacking that fan in Detroit. David Stern should not be commissioner of the NBA or he should strive to be more like the NFL’s commissioner Robert Goodell.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Native Americans: Ques... · 0 replies · +1 points

I think the main reason why it does not hit home with the majority of people is due to unfamiliarity. There was never a great amount of importance and significance placed on the genocide of the Native Americans in the multiple history classes that I took during my years from elementary school to high school. Many of the history books and lectures focus on the great things that America had to accomplish to become the great nation we currently are. The negative aspects that occurred over the duration of our nation’s history are often left out or vaguely touched upon. Native American history takes a back seat to America’s issues of slavery and the civil rights movement. I think this is because America has made huge strides towards abolishing slavery, so our country essentially righted our wrongdoings. This is not the same with the Native Americans because in my mind it seems as though it is becoming less and less of an issue. This might also be a result of not living in an area where Native Americans are more prevalent. I also personally do not know anyone that refers to themselves as a Native American. Maybe if I had a friend that was Native American I would understand the issue in greater detail and it would hit home.

Information on Native American history, despite the trail of tears, really just was not in any of the textbooks or lectures in any of my history classes growing up. Everything that happened to the Native Americans is obviously upsetting, but it doesn’t affect me that much because I didn’t experience it first hand and I honestly just really have not learned that much about it. Everyone knows generally what happened, but not to what extent and the gruesome actions and details. We simply were not educated on the issue; I know if we had developed a base of Native American history during elementary school it would affect me much more on a personal level.

When I was in third grade we went on a field trip to some sort of a reenactment or reservation of the Lenape Indians. It was actually pretty interesting because they broke down many different aspects of their culture. They talked about their song and dance, clothing, hunting, and the different foods they ate. In instances like this I feel like Native Americans place so much importance on educating and explain their culture to Americans. I think this would be the perfect time to display what actually happened to their tribe. They could educate children on certain things that are not learned in school at all. I just felt that this would be the opportunity for them to express the horrendous and terrible acts that their people endured rather than explaining their culture. I think the genocide is so much more important and doesn’t get the exposure it deserves.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Avatar and the White M... · 0 replies · +1 points

For a movie received plenty of hype, I believe that Avatar truly lived up to it. In my mind it surpassed what I was expecting, so much that I saw it twice in theatres. In the beginning of David Brooks’ article I could absolutely see the connections that he was trying to make. However as the article continued, I began disagreeing more and more.
Brooks kept mentioning these “White Messiah” plot lines. I agree that all the other movies that he listed fit the “White Messiah” criteria much more than Avatar did. I understand where Brooks is coming from attempting to prove that Avatar is also has a “White Messiah” plot line, but it is too much of a stretch for me personally.
Brooks claims that the hero in Avatar was the “white former Marine.” I initially thought that there were two major things wrong with this claim. The first was that I felt that hero was not the right word to describe the Marine’s roll in the movie, but a better term would be protagonist. The viewer is constantly seeing this world through his eye and has seen him do heroic things, but doesn’t consider him the hero.
This brings me to my second problem with Brooks claim. I personally feel that generally speaking that a Hero saves the day and resolves some type of conflict. Avatar concludes unlike any of the other “white messiah” plotlines. Nothing is really resolved in the conflict between the Navi and Humans. Since nothing was resolved, I believe that the movie is ultimately Hero-less. When I watch a movie with a character that could be considered a “hero”, I normally tend to side with the hero more often than not. Brooks argues that the Marine “saves the day’. Once again, saves the day is a poor choice of words. He was merely fixing something that was his fault. The Marine knew of everything that was going to happen and didn’t decide to act on it until it was too late. In my mind hero don’t mess anything up and if the do, then it is not at the end of the movie.
After the first time I saw Avatar many of my friends said that the plotline makes humans look terrible. I completely felt the same way, which is the complete opposite of anything that “White messiah” plotlines represent. Brooks backs up some of what he says and is actually pretty convincing, but some of his claims are such a stretch. There is no “White messiah” in this movie at all, if anything they are seen to be the problem and ruin the Navi’s land. There is really nothing that the Marine did that would make me think that he was the hero of the movie especially since nothing was resolved.

14 years ago @ Race Relations Project - Racism Looks Pretty Mi... · 0 replies · +1 points

I can’t believe how many years behind in the civil rights movement Europe is in comparison to the United States, which is not saying much. Not only is it years behind, but it is also extremely hateful. These acts by European soccer players are more inappropriate and uncalled for than actions committed by American fans over 50 years ago. It baffles me how far behind Europe’s culture is, especially since everything in society today is global and international.
As a Jets fan I have been to my fair share of football games and have heard my fair share of slurs, chants, and obscenities. It was so bad in the late 1990’s that my dad wouldn’t bring me to Jets games because he felt that it wasn’t appropriate. But nothing that is comparable to things I have heard said about African soccer players. Everything from bananas being thrown on the field at them to chants of go back to Africa. Most recently I heard a story about a player named Emmanuel Adebayor. He played soccer for a team in England and while on that team he said he was harassed by his own fans for being black. His own fans! He was recently traded to another team because of these problems. It is unbelievable that fans can do such horrendous things to players let alone to players of their own team.
Many of America’s professional as well as collegiate teams and programs deal with more minor and less drastic forms of racism. I feel that this is most noticeable with not just athletes but more regularly with coaches. Many people including reporters, coaches, and the general public, feel that African American coaches do not get an equal look and opportunity as the white coaches. Many felt that this was such an alarming issue and as a result, the NFL passed the “Rooney Rule”. The rule requires teams to interview minority coaches for head coaching opportunities as well as other higher positions in a franchise.
Another problem that American sports face is the recruiting process. Not simply in big schools but throughout the NCAA. Kids face discrimation based on religion or ethnic background. Even though athletics in the United States is making moves in the right direction, this is still an ongoing problem that needs to end.
In a world that had always pushed acceptance and peace it is a shame that in such an innocent venue as sports people still display such cruel behavior. It is not only a bad image for sports in general, but it is a shame that young fans and players have to see such behavior. Sports are meant to build character not break it down. I hope someday we can all live in a world were people are accepted for who they are.