I agree. I feel as though the scholarships and grants that are established for minorities are only helping society and not harming. Affirmative action, in my opinion, is not a bad thing due to all of the inequalities that exist in America. Unfortunately for some, this is the only way they may be able to succeed. Imagine if all of those programs that were attached to affirmative action were gone. A lot of students and employees may not be where they are today. Now, I do believe that someone who is qualified should get ahead regardless of the circumstances. However, in terms of education and funding, this practice should be implemented to the fullest extent for all minorities.

When I used to think of affirmative action, I used to believe that I was entitled to it and that I should receive all of the benefits of it. I felt as though my “people” deserved whatever benefits that they received just because of the history that we have been through. No reparations and no official apology for centuries, and the only productive program was affirmative action. This was the least that the government could do. Therefore, when I really learned about the program and the true beneficiaries of it, I was forced to come out of my own ignorance and learn more about the program.
The fact the blacks are not the main people the reap the benefit of affirmative action was shocking, but believable. To be honest, statistically one would obviously see this. However, when you are a minority [and I am speaking from a personal standpoint], you tend to take things more personal. Any time that there is a program or anything that should be benefiting minorities; you tend to think that it should only apply to your type of minority or whoever you are. Me personally, I am an African American female and consider myself to be African American first. I am more concerned about my blackness than my womanhood. With that being said, I believed that if affirmative action was not benefiting black people it was not working and that it was ineffective. However, affirmative action is helping a many of women get to where they need to be, and without it, they would not have some of the jobs and opportunities they have now. So in a sense, I am still reaping the benefits. In theory, I should really be pleased with the program being that I am both black and a woman.
I just believe, after taking this course in general, that we all need to open our eyes. Just because something does not look as it should, or you may think that it is not working, does not mean that is not a positive thing. The more “afro centric” I became, the more crucial I was of the minor things in life, things that I should have investigated more. To reach true equality and full awareness means to step out of one’s self and observe. You have to leave behind your own inhibitions and preconceived notions in order to see the world in the true state that it is in. Then and only then, in my opinion, can you work to change it and educate it. For example, instead of me being so crucial of the affirmative action program, I should have looked more heavily into it and sought out if it was working before I went and judged it.

I agree with your standpoint on immigration. I believe that they should have a chance to become citizens, however I think that it is unfair for taxpayers to have to cover people who essentially should not be in the country. Unfortunately, there is no middle ground in my opinion. It is virtually impossible for an immigrant to come over to the states legally, especially if they are in a rush. America puts immigrants through a lot when they are trying to be legal, so in a sense they have to go that route for their own safety and the process in general. Again, I just wish there was something that could be done so everyone wins, but unfortunately we know that is impossible.

“Business and large landowners have shaped our immigration policy.” This quote hit home for me and also led me back to one of the beginning lessons when Sam stated how we need to take action. We cannot willingly sit back and know what is going on in our society, yet do nothing about it.
I believe that is a shame that when it comes to American consumerism, we as citizens tend to turn a blind eye on what is going on with immigrants even though they are responsible for a large majority of the goods that we use on a daily basis. And from that point, there is a general sense that exists in America that immigrants are threatening to our culture in general.
The fact the business and large landowners are shaping our immigration policy shows, in my opinion, how much of a machine Americans have become. The majority of the viewpoints that exist are based off of the success of big business, while the consideration for humans is tossed to the side. If it is not profitable to someone, they tend not to care. And as many argue that they do care, the level of action that one is willing to do to change the issue is limited.
I also think that this is alarming that this mentality exists within the minority community, especially the Black community. Immigrants are essentially being used as slaves, similarly to that of our ancestors, yet many of us believe that they should not have a place in the country and should leave. Many African Americans believe that immigrants are taking away from potential jobs and economic advantages, however the same jobs that immigrants are supposedly “taking,” no one was willingly applying for them. Immigrants receive less pay and respect in general, and many Americans are not willing to be subjected to those factors.
I believe that more Americans need to become avidly involved in the immigration debate and determine from an informed position, whether or not to side with the harsh treatment or believe that they should become full citizens. I believe that too many people are making their decisions based off what is being fed to them through news outlets which is extremely biased in terms of who the stations supporters are. At one point in time, everyone was an immigrant. Many of our grandparents or ancestors could probably provide experiences or tales of how they got to America and the treatment they received during that process. There are not many people that will say that their journey to America was a fun filled happy experience, and thus we need to put ourselves in other people’s shoes. If you can imagine yourself as an immigrant and doing whatever it took to become a citizen, then you should take that and stand up.

I am African American and I strongly believe that the LBGT community has been treated far worse than my own community in the long run. I feel as though people are afraid to acknowledge this fact or do not want to give notice to it because of their own prejudices. I am also a Christian which is another rarity being that I fully support LBGT rights and actions. I completely agree with you in the sense that the relationship is undeniable. I wish that more Christian minorities especially would realize this connection because it is quite hypocritical not to. One cannot pick certain sections out of the Bible and use them as they see fit or to justify their own prejudices.

I never liked the concept of assimilation because, to me, it is too intertwined with the idea of euro centrism. It comes off as an offensive concept. One that clearly states that you have to go along with the norm to be accepted, and if you don’t than you don’t deserve to be respected or even acknowledged. Once again, I have a problem with that.
I have a close friend who is African and her parent used to work at a Fortune 500 company. When customers would call her parent, they would immediately catch an attitude because they heard the accent through the phone. Immediately they judged my friend’s parent and their intellect, as well as their overall ability to perform the job well. Sometimes, my friend said, the customer on the other end would request to speak with another representative. Little did they know, that my friend’s parent was a manager and it would’ve been extremely wise to speak with them rather than a lower level associate.
How many times do we do this? I am a minority myself, however if I call technical support and customer service and I hear an accent, I immediately anticipate a difficult phone call or experience. I am just being honest. We have this mindset as Americans that our way is the best way and any other way is wrong.
I thought the statistics that were brought up in class regarding the grocery store scenario was interesting being that I immediately correlated my own experiences to that occasion. Like I said before, my initial reaction when speaking with someone from another country is to anticipate a language barrier and thus the worst. I soon learned that this was not the way to go.
I believe that once we find out or observe that someone may be different, we immediately get uncomfortable and expect things to happen that will never come into fruition. Why should we assume that someone won’t be able to understand us or are any less intelligent? I see this often in the African American community and it could be because I am in it, or it could be a phenomenon in minority communities in which we discriminate against each other just to promote our own social status. Africans are every bit as part of the Black Diaspora as African Americans, and yet because they may sound different or do things in a different way, we automatically shun them and judge them as a whole.
Grant it, I do believe that if you live in America then you should attempt to learn the language, however there is no way to know or judge if a person is not making any attempts to do so. Point blank, I think it is just ignorance on our part to assume the worst.

I thought that it was interesting how you brought up proving your race credentials because this is also a problem within the Black community. If you do anything that is against the stereotype, such as wearing surf or skater clothes, being intelligent, working full time corporate jobs, or not speaking in slang or Ebonics, you are viewed acting White. Even if you are using you skin as your credentials this is still not enough. Bottom line, you just have to embrace who you are and convey that you are either willing to learn the other side or understand where they are coming from.

I could never understand how racism could be taught from a parent to a child. I mean, I understand how it is possible and that it happens all too often, however I still cannot wrap my head around the concept of preaching hate as if it is okay to do. How can someone who lives in America seriously still think that the segregation and supremacy of one race is the way to live?

The news clip that was shown with the twin girls thoroughly upset me. I was extremely angry for a number of reasons. One, being they just sounded unintelligent and I was more concerned about their overall ability to comprehend and analyze more than anything. I believe that you cannot really be angry at the girls. In many ways they are being exploited. The mother was just going along with what their children wanted as well as the politician. They are simply being used for their benefit. One has to question what exactly is the motive for their parents as well as the politician. Why would you brainwash those children that way? To me that makes no sense and is what is precisely wrong with race relations in America today.

I think that the most vivid image in the video was when the kids were dancing around the swastika as if it was a jovial matter. Even when the interviewer asked them about the Holocaust they stated that they didn’t believe it was that extreme of an event and that is was fabricated. Again this goes back to the parents feeding them this garbage.

Me personally, I never understood White Nationalism because I do no believe that someone can be fully white. What even is white? I believe that they are basing it off of their skin color. Perhaps these “nationalists” do not know about their true heritage. To say that they are true American would be a complete and utter lie. Everyone has come from somewhere. There is no way that these people are just white. So therefore, is this European nationalism? Do they hate the Europeans as well? Do they hate the Irish? It just doesn’t make sense to me. If they truly believed in the country they would stand by what it stands for and the direction it is going. Grant it, one could try to change it if they did not believe in its current principles but there is still a right way of doing so. Not by brainwashing children. How do these kids even survive in school? What would even happen to them when they are in the real world as see that there is life outside of what they have been brainwashed to believe? All in all, I just think the whole thing is sad and disgusting.

I was interested to see that the numbers of Penn State surprised you although I could completely understand. To know that this is a primarily white institution and see that everyday in comparison to actually seeing the data and facts are two very unique experiences. I believe that more students at Penn State, of all races and ethnicities, need to see exactly what the demographic makeup of their school is. It could be productive for some, allowing them to see that they are not alone and that there are other minorities in the same position or at least in a similar position.

Watching the movie clip was the most interesting part of the lecture in my opinion. I could completely relate and understand exactly where the individual girls who were featured were coming from and the experiences that they all shared.

One girl in particular hit home the best. She was the one that was talking about the time in which she cut her hair and her mother liked it at first, but later asked when she was going to get rid of it. I had a very similar experience when I cut my hair in high school. At first, it was encouraged and all of my family members thought it was very nice. Later however, as they saw that this wasn’t just a style for the moment or a phase, they questioned how long I was going to keep it and what I had planned on doing with it as if being in my natural state was not sufficient or beautiful in it of itself.

I believe that this is a very prevalent issue within the Black community. We tend to not embrace our natural beauty all because of the Eurocentric perspectives, ideals, and images that have been put before us. Any time that we step out of the “norm” we are considered somewhat rebellious or labeled as different. Most of the time, we are labeled as eccentric. Any type of terminology that would denote different is used.

Again, I think that this is an upsetting occurrence within the Black community and it happens all of the time. Even referring to the baby selection experiment is a representation of how Blacks feel about each other if we look different than what is perceived as right. The African American children were stating that they prefer the White doll because it looks nicer and it is not mean or bad. Little do they understand at this point in time, is that in a way they are hating themselves. They are saying that what they are is wrong and is bad.

What do you think they will do when they get older and are able to make decisions for themselves in order to be considered good? For the female, one could assume that she will do everything in her power to look as Eurocentric as possible from straightening her hair, to possibly even using skin lightening cream. For the male, unfortunately I have no assumption. Through my experiences, I have seen that the women within my community tend to strive to look European at a greater rate than their male counterparts.

I just believe that everyone needs to accept themselves for who they are and what they look like regardless of whether it is viewed as good, bad, or ugly. If you are not comfortable with what you look like in its natural form than there are deeper issues present that no makeup, hairstyles, or surgery can fix.