I wouldn’t really go as far to say that affirmative action is lowering the quality of the people who hold the positions because affirmative action isn’t just about the color of someone’s skin. Yes, they do select people of color over others but that doesn’t mean they aren’t qualified for the position anyway. People think of it as if they just select random black and brown people off the street or something and say “Hey, you’re a doctor now”. Regardless whether or not the person selected still isn’t as qualified as another person, they are still qualified for the position in general and that is the whole point. To give people of color and women a chance, to diversify the companies and corporations in this day and age. People need to realize that even though racial relations and issues are getting better, there is still racism out there. You have to look at the kids of color growing up in today’s age. If everyone in a corporation is white, every person of a higher position is white, how does that make the kids of color feel growing up in today’s age? Everyone needs roll models and people like to see people who look like them in positions of high ranking too. You have to acknowledge the bigger picture and just stop thinking so much about someone not being qualified for the job getting the job because in all actuality they really are and are doing a whole lot more for society it comes down to it. I’m not saying anyone should get a free pass because that wouldn’t be fair but certain people should get a chance because the reality of things is that still today people are still basis towards white men rather than men and women of color or even just women in general.

Women want to know why men don't care or get grossed out by women's periods. In the general opinion, it doesn't happen to us so it's not something we can relate too. I honestly don't see this subject as a big deal on both sides. Women want men to understand periods and everything but we never will because it doesn't happen to us, on the other side with men who are grossed out by it - I understand because I personally think it's kind of gross but it's nothing to drastic. Any guy who has had a girlfriend long enough to experience what it's like when a girl goes through a few cycles knows. The be completely honest, women switch up when it comes to periods. I understand hormones and everything, whatever. Just because you’re on your period doesn't give you the right to be mad at the world. If it was just a physical thing then it would be whatever, no one would care and it wouldn't be a big deal. My only problem with women and there periods (not all but from my experience) is that when they are on their periods, they are going though their thing with cramps and all the other bodily effects but don't take it out on the world and feel the need to act rude just because something is happening to you. A girl told me that when she has her period it's like a couple days of bad days. Guys have bad days too, do what you got to do to get over it and when it’s done it's done. I'm not one to bash women and their whole period thing but for those women who are rude as hell and feel like their period is an excuse to be mad at the world it's like come on man. Whose fault is this? It's not ours nor is it yours. It's just something natural that has to happen. End of story.

If a slave owner somehow traveled through time and saw the diversity in culture today, his head would probably and literally explode. His point of view of society would be so misdirected it would be sickening. Whites back in those times thought that any person of color or different from whites were like animals. It would be like any regular human going into the future and seeing cats and dogs as an active part of society (in a figurative sense of course). I feel that white people back then, not only did they have a true hate for people of color but they thought of us and a lesser kind of people. As if we were only meant to cater to them in ways of labor. The real question would be how different it would be for anyone in today’s society who is non-racist no matter what color they are to go back to those times and see how they would be treated. It would be a cruel and rude awakening for anyone to experience. We think that we know and have seen racism. The honest truth is no one of this generation has seen anything close to the degree of racism that was endured upon people of color in those times. People used to get hung and lynched for no reason at all but just because of the color of their skin or where they came from or even religion. Being killed as if they were animals and not people and it was normal. People I feel would just turn their cheeks to this kind of behavior because not only was it accepted but god forbid if you spoke out against something like this. You’d probably be treated just as bad or maybe even worse because you’d be looked at like a traitor to your own kind. The fact of it is disgusting, and it is something that I hope no one would ever have to see or witness. But back to the main subject, we as a people have come a long way. Racism still does exist in this world and this nation but the fact that it is so different and that it is more of a mental sociological thing opposed to how things used to be is taking baby steps towards a better way of life and progress that Dr. King’s dream is finally yet slowly coming true.

I’m not even going to be discrete on this subject – this story is pretty ridiculous. It’s 2010 and matters like this are still happening. It’s pretty sickening and disappointing that even after how far we have come as a nation on racial and social issues that something this small really needs to be entertained. So what, the girl is a lesbian. Does that really give someone the right to take away her right to go to the prom with her girlfriend? It’s just stupid; it’s obvious that no matter how old you are that there are still people who are very immature about certain matters. They act as if this girl and her girlfriend are going to participate in sexual acts at prom or do something inappropriate. No, they just want to go to their prom and dance and have a good time like everyone else in their graduating class. It’s just got to stop. One day all the ridiculous “unwritten laws” need to be erased and let everyone just be equal. People are too concerned on how they will look or how it makes them feel but in actuality it has nothing to do with them at all so why do they even care so much? Just because there is something that bothers you or there is something that you’re not comfortable with doesn’t mean or it doesn’t give you the right to rain on someone else’s parade. I’m not exactly someone who is like an activist about gay and lesbian rights and supportive of what they do but I mean as a heterosexual male that really wouldn’t bother me. Whether it was two lesbians or two gay men, that’s not my business to make sure that they can’t enjoy themselves at a prom function. That goes for anyone, whether it’s gay, straight, interracial relationships, etc… Just let everyone enjoy themselves and stop making people who are different from you feel bad or out casted because they are outside the norms of society. It’s not hurting anyone; nothing negative is coming from it so I don’t see the problem.

I feel that why certain people of color choose the white option on applications is because they feel that whatever the application is for that they will look more appealing and better there chances of getting what they want out of the process. Because it is still in thought that people of color are still discriminated against and will have a poorer chance of acceptance if they put that they are Hispanic, black, Native American, etc… However, nowadays it is almost seemed that it is better to mark down your true race because of things such as affirmative action. People of color are getting more of a chance these days but not necessarily for the right reason. Companies and such have to meet quotas and there are certain discrimination laws against not having a diverse correlation of people you accept into your company, school, etc… I’ve never been one to put down I was white on an application because I felt it would better my chances. I am proud of whom I am and I want to be accepted for who I am. I don’t feel I have to lie or hide behind the truth to get by in life. In the end it will come back to haunt you because let’s just say you put down you were white when you weren’t and got accepted simply on that fact. When it comes down that you found out you were accepted just because they thought you were white and you aren’t, that isn’t too good of a feeling to me. That isn’t something that I would want to happen to me. Some people do though and that’s unfortunate. I wish that there were more people that were more comfortable in their own shoes nowadays because it is a new world that we live in. Just Barrack Obama being president is a big step not just for blacks but for all people who are discriminated against saying that they can do a certain thing or be a part of a certain group. One day equality will stand but for now, baby steps.

When it comes down to black and white people, I don’t think anyone is ever going to see eye to eye on this topic. It’s kind of a forgive but don’t forget kind of thing because when you really debate the topic it mainly goes back to slavery and how blacks used to be treated in the past. It’s something that as a person of the black community, I can’t really ever let it go even though it didn’t happen to me specifically but it did still happen to my people. So, growing up with a history that our ancestors were slaves to white people kind of leaves a pit in your stomach a little bit like “I can’t believe that happened and went on for so long”. People act as if just because it’s been over for a while that it didn’t take place for hundreds of years. They say we were free from slavery in the 1800’s but in actually we may have gotten our rights but still the aftershocks and the discrimination still goes on to this day. Maybe not as intense or as brutal is it used to be, but people over look the fact that it still exists in today’s age.
So it’s still kind of hard to swallow and have complete equality between black and white people when not all white people are still open to the fact of blacks. Today’s date it’s not so much of discrimination and negative acts but more of guilt and sorrow for blacks because of what we went through which if you as me is just as bad. Sometimes I feel that we as black people aren’t looked at as equal, but just as black as if we are of some kind of other species or dogs or something. When black and white isn’t black and white anymore and it is simply just people as a whole, then the debate and the discussions will stop but I honestly still believe that even though we have come a long way as a nation dealing with this topic, we have even further to go to make it a reality. Obama.

Soccer is still one of the only sports to this day that takes the sport so serious and personal that losing can actually be real dangerous and harmful to the players and who the players represent. I'm not surprised by this video because being a fan of the sport; I have noticed since a long time ago that soccer fans and the culture of soccer can get very racial, especially in Europe. In Europe, just as the video states, racial issues are different. There is no civil rights movement and not even that many people of color in Europe as it is. With soccer being the most popular sport in the world, Europeans take it very seriously. So with that said, I'm not too surprised of how racist they can be when it comes to winning and supporting there team. I'm saying by any means that this behavior is right but it's almost expected because what is the one thing, the one way of insulting someone or getting in someone’s head that pretty much will touch a nerve on anyone world wide - racial issues or religion. They don't have the kind of diversity nor is soccer of that importance to us in the United States anyway so you won't really see that kind of behavior over here. However, over in Europe it almost comes with the territory. This video does in a odd way make me feel good because it does show how long we have come as Americans or I should say "United Statesians" (Yea, I listen in class) racially. The dream is really coming true that all people can live among each other and live there lives equally without segregation or judgment forced upon them. Other people from outside the United States literally hate us for what we stand for and how we go about our ways as a nation but honestly, when you really look at it, I've never been more proud to be from here because it is obvious that people around the world need to open their eyes a little wider to what is really important - and it's not skin color, it's equality.

Soc 119 is ill.

I know this is the first post of the blog but this one especially caught my eye due to your points you made because this post touches me in two ways personally. Growing up, I too struggled with beliefs in the church, Jesus, and other views dealing with religion. I still do not consider myself religious because of the controversy that comes along with it, but now that I am older and more mature I look at it in a different light. It's more of an understanding of the message behind the story. I feel like with religion, stories and tales are taken too literal and people ignore the message behind it. I don't take the crucifixion so literal but the message behind it I do. It's almost that sometimes it takes a tragedy to open people's eyes up to realities of life then a normal casualty would. I have many friends of Haitian descent back home and that I grew up with in high school that have a lot of family still in Haiti. They have been a very poor country for a very long time and it is almost that the reality of what these people are going through was and has been ignored for a while. Not just Haiti, but there are many other countries in the world going through the same poverty. It's only when something ridiculously tragic happens that people feel the need to do something or even care about the issue. You can't stop a earthquake from happening or any other natural disaster, such as how hurricane Katrina was to Louisiana, but when a country is to the point where their citizens and community can barely in survive as is, why isn't anyone doing anything about that issue itself? Just the fact that this country can hardly survive on their own, we wait until they have completely nothing to acknowledge their problems and now help. It should of never gotten to this point because not only was the country not even prepared for a disaster of this magnitude, but the result is more horrific then anyone could imagine. I'm not saying it's possible to help every single country to the point to keep the world safe and economically up to par because that is very unrealistic but it's sad that this is always what it takes for people to simply just help. For once I would just wish that situations like this could have been prevented or alteast helped out in the slightest before something of this caliber happens. It's a reality we all as people have to face because everyone just waits until it gets pushed to the limit to do something. Natural disasters happen but it's clear that the world needs a wake up call.