Before reading this letter, I have to admit that I believed that not all, but most of the people in prison are terrible people. Whether or not they have issues or are found guilty by insanity, whatever the reason may be, I have a very sheltered view of prison. I still believe that many people in prison did terrible things and deserve to be in there. Most of these people inflicted pain on numerous people and need to face the consequences for their horrendous actions.

I am a firm believer in “once a ____, always a _____.” Therefore, I don’t believe that many people can go from being a murder to learning their lesson and becoming this great person. This may seem like a stubborn and close-minded point of view, which it very well may be, but that is the way I look at it. I’m not saying that a prisoner can’t be sorry for what they’ve done, or feel compassion towards other prisoners, but the chances of these people making a life change is very slim.

I can’t lie, when reading this letter I became a little frustrated. I do not know this man and have no intentions of judging him or his character, but it seemed to me that he was trying to tell us that prisoners could feel compassion too. I had no doubt in this before; these people are human beings, just like us and can feel the same ways we do. Obviously, if someone is hurting or having a hard time with something, someone is going to feel empathetic towards him or her. The fact that they are in prison probably makes this harder to believe, but I know people who are sympathetic and some people who don’t give a shit about anyone but himself or herself. I feel like prison may have some impact on this, but for the most part I believe that if a person is always sympathetic, they will continue to be that way, and the same for the opposite. If a person has never been sympathetic, being in prison might change their perspective, but probably not.

On a more positive note, maybe this guy truly has realized what he did is wrong. To be honest, I don’t know how much I believe that, but I’m sure he’s had time to reflect on his actions. I don’t know if I believe he could actually change if he did have a chance to get out or redeem himself, but maybe he has found a new understanding of himself and life in general.

I can honestly say now that I have a more open mind about prisoners and the way they feel. So, thanks for putting this letter up.

Before today’s lecture, I had not given this kind of thought to the war. Basically, I had a background of what was going on but did not know anything in detail. I still don’t know too much, but I will now make it a point to learn.

In my discussion group, we watched this trailer and I became immediately interested in the topic. A few people had really enlightening insights and it taught me a lot about what I had previously been oblivious to. Sam’s lecture really opened my eyes and made me want to learn more about the war. It made me look at the war and its reasons from a different perspective.

Whereas some people say that Sam is trying to change our minds, or make us think the way he does, or talks disrespectfully about different cultures, I completely disagree. Although I may not agree with everything he says, he has some great points and does his job (getting us to think outside the box and look at things from a different perspective) well. If I get nothing else from this class, I definitely learned to open mind to different things.

Concerning the war, I have the upmost respect for our military and the soldiers who are fighting in Iraq. They are out there fighting for our country, for whatever reason, and are probably the bravest people around. I think it was very interesting how Sam made the class think from the Arab/Muslim’s perspective today. It’s true that so many people look at things from one side of the argument, especially when people are being brainwashed about incorrect things. I have to admit that I was pretty disturbed by the pictures and videos we saw today. Like Sam said, I definitely felt fear after watching that one video. I actually got a little choked up after hearing some facts about the war.

I now realize that although we have had terrorist acts against us, the people in Iraq are living their lives in fear. We might be scared or anxious about what’s going to happen with the war, or if there will be another terrorist attack, but Muslims live their lives in complete fear. The war is actually going on in their country, their towns, and their neighborhoods. I cannot even imagine what it would be like if we lived in a war zone. I really feel for the innocent civilians in Iraq, and it is definitely unfair that they are being killed because of the bad people who run their country.

Although there is really no solution to not killing innocent civilians, I believe the U.S. military is doing everything they can to protect our country, while killing as few innocent people as they possibly can.

I agree 100% with the girl who posted this video. What is the big deal with periods? Besides the fact that they suck (because of cramps, uncomfortable-ness, etc.), I don’t understand why the topic is so touchy and offends people as much as it does. I actually never thought about it the way this girl does but when you do think about it, we are lucky to have periods. God has given us this “gift” to be able to procreate and give birth, and we should be honored to have this ability.

On another note, it boggles my mind that people (both guys and girls) are uncomfortable talking about it and/or gets offended by the topic. Okay, obviously I don’t want to sit around and talk about “bleeding” all day, but a period is a natural thing that EVERY girl has to deal with. It’s understandable that guys don’t get the whole thing or even want to discuss it, but to become offended by the topic I just don’t understand. We talked about this in our discussion group today and everyone seemed pretty cool with the topic. I think we were all in agreement that we don’t want a visual of Sam’s wife’s “bleeding,” and find it kind of strange that he likes to look at it in the toilet. However, we were able to talk about it without people becoming offended or acting in immature ways. I, along with the majority of people in my group, just felt that Sam was off topic with the whole “bleeding” discussion and it got a little out of control. Don’t get me wrong .. to each their own. I’m not judging anyone or telling anyone how to feel about something, I’m just saying that I’m comfortable with the topic of women getting their period.

In my opinion, I think if Sam would have warned us about the discussion we were going to have, things would have gone a little differently in class. Maybe if he would have said, “okay, today we’re going to talk about why men and women can’t openly discuss women’s menstrual cycles,” then the class would have reacted in a different way. In all reality, the majority of us would have probably been like “what the ****,” but at least we would have known what was coming.

To be honest, I just laughed at the whole thing because I don’t expect anything less from Sam. He is a crazy guy, with crazy thoughts and basically just says what’s on his mind at any given time. I know he offends some people, but I actually like to hear what he has to say (even if it is not something I agree with). Taking this class and having Sam as a professor has definitely made me think a lot differently about things and has opened my eyes to new things.

I think it is absolutely crazy that a school would cancel their prom just to prevent a lesbian couple from attending. Not only is this discrimination against homosexuals, it personally affects the two girls, as well as their entire junior and senior classes. Although I find this incident absurd, unfortunately I am not that surprised. Even though we have come a long way regarding racism, sexism, etc., people still find ways to discriminate against those who are different.

Homosexuals have come a LONG way but they still do not have the same rights as heterosexuals. For example, gay people are not allowed to get married. This is a whole different issue, but it is just one thing that discriminates against homosexuals. The fact that a high school would cancel their prom in fear of a gay couple attending is crazy, but also not surprising.

When I think about this incident, I’m sad to say that this could very well happen at my high school. Because I attended a Catholic high school, homosexuals are not accepted. Don’t get me wrong, there were many gay people in my school and most people accepted them. However, under the Catholic religion, homosexuality is considered wrong. For our prom, people were not even allowed to attend the dance without a date. One of my friends didn’t want to go without her boyfriend (who wasn’t allowed to go) and the school president wouldn’t let her attend alone. Now that is crazy! I know schools that allow their students to go to the prom alone, with a group of friends (girls, guys, whoever). However, my school wouldn’t even let a girl go to the prom alone. She was devastated about missing her prom, so I can only imagine how these girls felt.

In addition to McMillen being upset about missing the prom, now the whole school is being punished. When she said “a bunch of kids at school are really going to hate me for this” I felt so bad because it’s probably true. We all know how malicious high school kids can be, especially when it comes to something as big and serious as the prom. Now, not only does this poor girl have to deal with the fact that she’s be discriminated against, she has the cancellation of the prom on her shoulders, as well as all her classmates hating her for it.

This school and its officials should be ashamed of themselves for their actions. In my opinion, they need to wake up and join the 21st century. Hopefully this incident will open up the eyes of people who would act in the same way, and bring some change into the world of discrimination.

I’d have to disagree with this statement about all themed parties being geared towards making fun of racial stereotypes. I’ve been to a few themed parties before and none of them have been what this girl thinks they are. I know that some themed parties are geared toward “gangsters” or a specific time like “70s” or “80s” but neither of these is making fun of a specific race. Other themed parties I know of are “office hoes and CEO’s,” “anything but clothes,” and “Jersey Shore.” Again, I do not see any of these making fun of a certain race or racial stereotype.

Also, I don’t think that only white people have themed parties. Yes, it may seem that a majority of white people or certain fraternities or sororities have themed parties, but that doesn’t mean that only white people have these parties – whatever that means anyway. I’m sure Black, Asian, Hispanic, Native American, etc. people have themed parties as well as white people. In fact, I’ve seen numerous races at the themed parties I’ve attended – not only white people.

In my opinion, themed parties are thrown to be different than just any regular party. They are meant for fun, not to make fun of people. Instead of people dressing up in normal clothes, it’s a chance for everyone to have some fun, be creative and laugh at one another. To be honest, I’m not a fan of themed parties but not for any reason in particular. I just can’t understand why someone would think that these parties are meant to make fun of racial groups. The only possible theme I can think of that remotely pokes at race is the “gangster” theme. However, even this theme could be geared towards anyone. Black, white and/or Asian people can be considered “gangster.”

I would not call myself a racist person, but I feel like many black people I’ve come across feel similar to the way this girl feels. She’s pretty much saying that white people are finding a way to come at certain racial stereotypes. I know that where I’m from, a lot of black people feel like white people are out to get them or something. Obviously not all black people feel this way, but the reason I know this is because they told me. For example, one black kid in my class would always say, “why am I getting in trouble? Because I’m black.” I don’t get that because no, you’re getting in trouble because you did something wrong (just as a white person would get in trouble).

Basically, I’m restating what everyone else said about this statement. I can try to understand where this girl is coming from, but because I am white, I guess I can’t fully understand. I just have a different opinion and don’t agree that themed parties are geared toward making fun of racial stereotypes.

Everyone who has been blogging has interesting opinions about discrimination and our role as a society to stand up for people who are normally discriminated against. I agree that as a whole, we do not always make the right decision in doing this. The excuse that it is “not our place” is somewhat understandable, but like others have said, if every single person thought this way, we wouldn’t have even made it this far today. Some people are taught to keep to themselves, not be “nosy,” or to keep out of other people’s business. However, maybe by getting ourselves a little more involved and expressing our opinions about certain issues such as discrimination, we could make a bigger difference in the world. Isn’t that how Martin Luther King Jr. did it? For example, if he hadn’t gotten involved, black people probably wouldn’t be where they are today.

Personally, I can’t recall being in a situation like the one on the video about the Muslim woman. But to be honest, I may have been in a similar situation at some point in my life and overlooked it. Obviously it wouldn’t have been as noticeable because if so, I’d like to think that I would take a stand and stand up for that person being discriminated against. However, knowing my personality, I tend to keep a lot of things to myself and not express my own opinion as much as I should. I have been working on this for a while now and this past class has made me think about it on a more racial/cultural standpoint. Every person, along with his or her opinion, matters in the world. If everyone was quiet and didn’t take a stand, our world would definitely be in a bad place.

We are all aware that discrimination is a terrible thing that happens in all parts of the world, most likely everyday. What we are not exactly aware of is how to put this horrific action to an end. Maybe if everyone was more educated on the topic, could look at the topic from another person’s perspective, and stop being so stubborn we could be a lot closer to ending discrimination. The problem is that many people do discriminate against others and think there is nothing wrong with it. On the other hand, a great number of people, like many students in our SOC119 class, are against discrimination and would like to see it fade away. For now, maybe each person simply standing up for another person will make us one step closer to ending discrimination. I think that America, as a whole, needs to stick together and defend one another in order for discrimination to end.

To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect when signing up for SOC119. I had no idea what we were going to learn or talk about in class. I assumed we’d talk about race, different cultures, etc. but I did not fathom that we would be talking about homosexuality.

I decided to take this class to broaden my horizons. I come from a city where everything is always the same; every body knows each other and different things are not very accepted. In my opinion, I don’t think that Sam is trying to manipulate us or change our perception of how we think about certain issues. I really don’t think he cares that much. I think he cares about opening our eyes to the different ways of life and things all over the world. I think he’s trying to get people like me to realize that there is a big world and not everything can be viewed from the eyes of one person.

Regarding homosexuals and gay marriage, I’m not really sure where I stand. Being a Catholic, I should be against any type of marriage that is not between a man and woman. That’s what they’ve been telling us since the beginning. However, like Sam stated the other day, majority of people break the “rules” all the time. Many people have sex outside of marriage, get drunk, have sex without the intention of procreating, etc. This is why I’m not sure of my opinion about the matter. I guess I just haven’t thought about it that much.

If I HAD to decide I’d say that I agree with “unions” for homosexuals but not “actual marriages.” I believe that homosexuals should have the same rights as heterosexuals, no matter what the circumstances. However, I’m torn because of my religion.

Another issue considering homosexuals is adoption. My aunt has two lesbian friends who have adopted two children. They go about life as normal, but I can’t help but think about their kids. It really is strange to think of children having two “moms” or two “dads.” I’m all for equal rights and changing things, but the norm has always been a family including a mother and father. No matter how many changes are made or laws that may be passed, I don’t think this norm will ever change.

In reality, homosexuals have come a long way considering the horrific things that went on back in the day. Although they still struggle with many issues and always will, it is definitely something to take pride in. My thoughts would be to keep pursuing equal rights in every aspect for homosexuals. Gays have come this far, things can only get better from here on out.

I definitely agree that when discussing race relations, the topic always shifts to the controversy between black and whites. For some reason, Asians, Hispanics, and other minorities are always left out of the conversation. I’m not exactly sure why this happens but there are some theories.

We talked about this in my discussion group the other day and it seemed pretty clear why this occurs. Although there are some fuzzy parts, it seems simple to understand. From when we are young, we are taught about the history between black and white people. One of the first things we learn in History class is about slavery. Yes, slavery happened and it was between black and white people, but we’ve come a long way from then so I find it irritating that we still thrive on those issues today.

It’s understandable that black people are still hurt by slavery and resent white people because of the horrible act. However, this is a new day and age and things are COMPLETELY different now. Yes, slavery was a horrible thing, but the people that are here today were not involved. Although I may be white, that doesn’t mean that I should be held accountable for what “my people” did back then. Maybe if we all stopped concentrating on things that happened in the past (SO many years ago), we could find a way to resolve our issues and be done with these controversies.

Realistically speaking, this may never happen. We have definitely come a long way concerning racism, but some people might remain racist and pass that on to future generations. In my opinion, I think it’s stupid to be racist. There are always issues that can be resolved. The color of a person’s skin or the culture they were brought up in should not matter to most of us today.

In addition, this controversy between blacks and whites might leave out other minorities because black people were the ones to actually stand up and fight for their rights. They were in the light most of the time, while Asians, Hispanics, etc. followed in their footsteps. Therefore, when we think about the Civil Rights movement, we think about blacks gaining their rights from white people. Other minorities were involved in this movement, but black people dominated. I wonder if these other minority groups take offense to this topic. Do they feel that they are not being recognized?

Honestly, I just wish that we could drop this whole racism/segregation/prejudice/hatred towards people of different races and cultures. In reality, this probably won’t happen anytime soon, but just think of how much better things could be if we overcame these differences. Let’s be sorry for things we’ve done and leave the past in the past.

I definitely agree with this blog. I pretty much feel the same way since I am also from Philadelphia where the majority of my friends were Christian and Roman Catholic as well. To be honest, I had no idea what a teffillin is and I'm still not 100% sure. Growing up in a Roman Catholic household and attending Catholic school, we solely focused on Catholicism. Although, once I got to High School I learned a little bit about Judaism, it was definitely not in enough depth to fully understand the religion.

I don’t think that it was a bad idea to stop the plane and check for what could have been a horrific incident. I certainly would have been concerned if I saw someone take something out of his or her bag and wrap it around his or her body -- but that’s just me. I’ll admit that I’m not very educated on other religions and/or cultures, but I am open to learning more about other people and their customs. That’s actually one reason I decided to take SOC119. After attending a Race Relations session, which was required by one of my other classes, I began to think more about other people and religions/cultures/customs they believe in and practice. Our topic during that session actually focused on Judaism because there were two Jewish girls in the group who began telling us all about Jewish customs (they didn’t mention the teffillin, or I would have recognized when I read this article!). Others, who were Buddhist, Muslim and Catholic, also joined in and told their stories. Like I stated earlier, I come from South Philly where almost everyone is Italian and Roman Catholic. I guess you can say I’m pretty sheltered and almost naïve about others. However, I do want to broaden my horizons and encourage others to do so as well.

While I feel that it was a good idea to take precautions, I do feel bad for the boy that was being accused. Obviously he was just a young boy who decided to use his time on the plane to pray. Can you imagine doing something extremely normal to you and soon after have a gun pointed at you, put in hand cuffs, and being accused of some sort of terrorist action?

I do think that it is better to be safe than sorry and our past experiences with terrorist attacks (most importantly 9/11) have made our country more aware and less trusting of people. I also believe that people should be able to practice their customs as they please, but people who are unaware of these specific customs should be able to question them if they feel they are in some sort of danger. Maybe a solution to this whole incident is to become more aware of different customs, but not everyone is interested or willing to do this.

After watching this video on racial discrimination in European soccer games, I began to think deeply about the issue. In my opinion, living in America has definitely distorted the perception that I have about racism. Of course I’ve learned about racism and discrimination that occurred in earlier years, but I honestly didn’t think that it still existed today. I’m not naïve in the sense that people are still racist and do in fact make racial slurs or comments. However, I did not think that actions, like those of the soccer fans, coaches and people in general, would be tolerated in the world today.

It’s shocking that people could be so cruel to other human beings, especially those who are playing a sport for your country. I’m more than sure some fans in our country make racial slurs or comments about players of different cultures. However, it is not the whole stadium chanting demeaning things, singling out players and making them feel inferior. The whole point of sport fans is to encourage and cheer on the specific sport team to do well in the game. I can’t even begin to imagine what the players in Europe went and are still going through. Each and every one of the “different” players have to step out on the field everyday, knowing that they are going to be taunted at and harassed throughout the duration of the game. I definitely commend them for their bravery and courage to stand up for themselves and people of their race and culture.

In order for this hatred to come to an end, the FIFA president said that there would penalties initiated and people would be punished for their racist actions. However, in all reality, is this going to stop racism and discrimination? My guess is no. Discrimination has been around forever and it probably will never go away completely. Sure, we have come a long way in America, but simply installing penalties and giving fines to people will not change their views and beliefs. One person or organization is not going to be able to do away with racism altogether.

It would be great if new regulations and/or inspiring commercials by players pleading for abuse to end would essentially stop racism and change people’s actions. However, we all know that this is clearly not the case. Some people are stuck in their ways and refuse to look at things from a different perspective, while others are willing to learn new things and change their views. There is no way that everyone will be persuaded to change, but I guess trying in every way possible is the best way to go.

Hopefully racism and discrimination in Europe, and every where else for that matter, lessens and people begin to treat one another with equal value and more respect.