I agree, I think that a lot of times hard work still cannot cut it. Some people are just more fortunate than others, or come from a family with money. Others may have all the right tools to succeed because they work hard and have determination, but they will not see any wealth just because they did not catch a break. In our society, it is easier to get rich if you already have money. This means better schools, better colleges, better career opportunities. If you do not have a lot of money to begin with, then you face an extremely uphill climb.

I agree, these shows like South Park and Family Guy hold nothing back when it comes to poking fun at any group possible. What makes it not as severe is that they do it to every group imaginable. Maybe it would be a little more offensive if, say, the shows put Christians in a positive light but constantly makes fun of Muslims. It is not like this show. Every religion, racial group, and sexual orientation is up for ridicule. How can people be offended by South Parks stance when they don’t even have a stance, because they make fun of every possible group one could identify with.

I think that it can be such a hard cycle to break for someone to become wealthy in America. Most of the time, people get rich because they already have money. For example, a family with a lot of money can put their kid in good schools in good areas, and then prestigious colleges. With this college experience, kids can get good jobs after they are out of school and start to build their own wealth. Now, for a kid that grows up in the ghetto with a low-income family. Most of the time, they live in a bad area, with under-funded schools. The chances of these kids attending a well-respected university are a lot less than the kid that lives for a suburban middle-class family. Therefore, it is a cycle that is really hard to break into. Not surprisingly, immigrants face these same problems, and maybe even to a much more difficult extent.
Immigrants that come into this country illegally face an incredible uphill battle. They get no government aid, and have a hard time finding places to live. A lot of the time, they are coming into the country with no money. They literally have to start from rock bottom. Because of this, they have to fend for themselves and work their asses off just to scrape by. What makes it even harder is knowing that they probably will not reap the benefits of their work, and many will never be considered wealthy. They just work for the fact that it’s better than their home, and they are also giving their children and grandchildren a better opportunity.
While I believe that hard work can benefit people, in the end it usually comes down to what kind of money you already have. The cases where people do make it from poverty and become successful are usually attributed to good luck, good fortune, lots of hard work, or a combination of the three. It is this way because of the way our society is set up. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. The impoverished and immigrants stay in the slums and most of them can’t make it out. It is a brutal cycle but is the way of life here.
It really is amazing to think that these immigrants would come to live a life like this. Many of us consider it so bad, but they are coming here because they think it is BETTER than the life they lived. I could not even imagine what kind of poverty or living conditions they had lived in in their previous country that made them want to come to a place where they worked for a miniscule amount of money and awful living.

I agree, I think that when people experience a traumatic event, like losing a loved one, they sometimes take a course of action that many people consider "crazy." However, many of these people may be thinking rationally in light of what has happened. They may feel so angry at the people who took their loved ones life that they feel they are responsible for making them pay the price. Also, they may consider suicide because they do not want to continue living without their partner at their side. I think many people are quick to label suicide bombers as psychotics and insane (and many of them may be) but there are also those that feel the need to act as revenge.

I really liked this lecture because it made everyone step back and take a look at the situation from a neutral perspective. I am very patriotic and support my country, but I also have to say that I could understand what many of these insurgents feel. They are defending their homeland and their families. I have to say, I would definitely do the same if something like that occurred on our home soil. Sam did a good job of making people look at it through the eyes of people that live in the Middle East. I think that it made many people realize, including myself, that this war is a lot dirtier than politicians let on.

I think that most men feel the need to conform to society just as women do. This comes from one of the basic human instincts to “fit in.” For the most part, people do not want to be viewed as strange or weird. Therefore, they act, dress, and try to look a certain way in order to appear normal. People make a big deal about how women feel the need to conform to society. For example, women feel pressured to be rail-thin and have long flowing hair because they see models in magazines and commercials with the same look. However, I think the fact that men feel the need to conform is overlooked.
One of the main stereotypes of men is the “macho” characteristic. This persona is thought to be tough, strong, and good-looking. He also likes sports and loves good-looking women. This kind of stereotype is the kind you see all over TV, whether it be in commercials or shows. For example, body wash and shampoo companies like Old Spice portray men that are well built and attractive. By using these men, the companies are conveying two images. One is easily visible, while the other is subtler. First of all, they want men around the country to think “Wow, these men use Old Spice and they are considered great all-around guys. Maybe I should use it too.” The second message is “Old Spice is using men that look like this to sell their products. Maybe I should try to look like that because that is the ‘ideal’ man.”
I think this all comes down to how men want to be viewed by women. For the most part, men would like to be attractive to the opposite sex. It is primal human nature to appeal to a mate. Therefore, when they see good-looking men on TV, they feel like they need to act and dress and look like these men. If men are watching a movie with their girlfriends and a good-looking actor comes on the screen and the girlfriend goes “Oh my god, he’s so hot,” don’t you think the boyfriend is thinking to himself “Damn, I need to workout to look like him/do my hairstyle like his/wear the kind of clothes he has on.” People may not acknowledge it, but men feel very similar pressures to conform to society that women do. The reason that it is a more serious issue for women is that by conforming to society also means getting skinny, which can bring on certain health risks like malnutrition or eating disorders. Thankfully, men do not have to sacrifice their health in order to look like the all-American guy. However, there could be a point in the future where they may feel the need.

I think the saddest part of this story is the fact that our world is going to these sorts of entertainment outlets. Even worse, the makers of these games would not make them if they did not think people would by them. This rape game is about as bad is it can get, but where will it stop? In the future, will there be games where you can torture a virtual person, similar to the movie Saw or Hostel? Or a slasher game where you can massacre a family like Jason Voorhees? With games immersing players using 3-D technology and advanced graphics, these games start to cross the line into reality and it could cause a severe problem down the road if players continue to play them.

When I first started this class, I thought to myself “Alright, this teacher is pretty chill, but it sounds like all of the stuff he’s saying is just preachy B.S. and it can get pretty boring.” As the semester has gone on, however, I have noticed that I have come to realize a lot of things regarding not only race, but also discrimination in general. In my every day life, I can specifically point out to instances where a year ago, I may have said or done something different.
One of the main points that stood out to me was towards the beginning of the year, when we were discussing race. The little “fun fact” kind of summed of my belief: that we are closer to chimpanzees than African elephants are to Asian elephants, and that we are so similar to other human beings of all races that it is an insignificant difference. I was interested in learning about why certain people from certain areas of the world looked a certain way, like why black people actually have dark skin (increased melanin). Because of this, it really started to make me think “If people are so similar, how can one group honestly admit dominance over another.” It saddens me that we still live in a world where people judge others so quickly just because of the color of their skin, or some other feature that is found in a certain ethnicity. We are all so similar, yet you would think that each different race was from a different planet if you looked at the way people act.
Another topic that Sam covered dealt with race and its effect on the real world. I was shocked to see the numbers on both juveniles and adults and how many more blacks and Hispanics were being convicted than white people, even though they committed the same crime. I can’t say I was surprised, because many people discriminate. The most interesting fact, to me, though was when researchers submitted resumes that were exactly the same, and the results came back that showed that companies were more willing to hire a white person with a felony conviction of possession of cocaine with intent to sell, than they were to hire a black person with no criminal record. That alone absolutely blew my mind that people could be that racist, yet act as if nothing was wrong. It shows we still have a long way to go for equality.
Even though Sam’s lectures may get repetitive, and people may not like to admit it, I feel as though this class was definitely worth it. At first I was skeptical, but some of the information that I have learned in this class has definitely made me look differently at some of the things we do as a society.

I'm with you, I do not think that I have ever thought to myself "You know, I deserve this because I am white." White people may get more in our society, but I think that, for the most part, white people do not really have a sense of entitlement. Also, like you said, I don't think that an increase in minorities is really going to cause some power shift to another race. This country is becoming more and more multi-racial, so in fifty years there may not even be a dominating race.

I agree, I think that in this time period, with the United States becoming such a multi-cultural country, it is important that we come up with a universal way to label people for the census. It is different than 50 years ago, where most people could point to a specific country or region where they were from (African, Chinese, Irish, etc.) Now, people do not really know how to label themselves even. If a person has a mother who is a Native American and a father who is from Kenya, what do they mark down on the census. In reality, it is difficult for people to put one specific race down, so there needs to be a better way to categorize people in order to make decisions.