I am very sorry to hear about your mothers accident. I wrote my blog on sort of the same idea you did, My cousin is paralyzed from his neck down from some kid who shot him in the neck. This lecture hit home for me like it did for you for that reason. I know that when times are tough i step back and realize, Im healthy, I can walk and have so many opportunities that so many others do not. I too agree with the comedian sayin that It is nice to be white and not have to worry about the things that people of color need to worry about. Its a shame that they need to worry about such things but I am happy that I do not. I know of many people who have to deal with those sort of things like your muslim friend, and I cannot even imagine having to deal with it.
I never really thought of it that way, that at any point in the history of mankind, whitre people have not really suffered as much as people of color have. And people of color cannot go back and really find a time where their people have lived as whites have. Now I also know that white people have had some hard times as well too, maily peoples of Jewish decent, so do not think that Im excluding all white people from hardship, that is not what i am trying to imply. It is very strange to think that throught the history of mankind it has always been "dominated" by the white race, and peoples of color have generally had to put up with white people for that entire time. I am lucky enough to look at my life and not say that I have dissabilities and so many hardships that other people have to face in today world.
It has made me realize that even though my life has been filled with some hard times and I may think that my life is aweful when nothing works like it should, I just step back and think to myself, at least I have my health, I can walk, I can do anything. Now im not saying that my cousins life sucks at all, he still lives a great life, its just a little harder than it should be. It takes some getting used to, being around him and feeding him and everything of that sort, like Sam said in the lecture, but you eventually almost dont notice it and think about it all the time. Relating to the lecture, I dont think about being white all the time and dont really think about hardships that I face. Kind of like in the video of the comedian talking about how white people over the years have had a great life and we have had nothing to worry about.
During this lecture, while Sam was talking about people with paralysis, all I could think about was my cousin and his problem. I have a close cousin of mine who lives a few minutes away from me and works in my town. At the age of 19 during his freshman year of college, he was shot in the neck and is now paralyzed from the neck down. He is now in his upper 30's and has been dealing with his problem for quite some time. He needs to be driven around everywhere, needs changed, bathed, and fed. Imagine not being able to scratch your arm if it itches, hug your mother, and going through life needing the help of others, and not being able to do so many things on your own.
It is an unreal image when most of the inmates incarcerated in movies are white. It just gives a false sense of what is really happening. Racism is a huge factor in policing today, thought it is not as bad as it used to be here in the United States, It still needs to be terminated completely. I have seen videos and documentaries of how a white male can do a crime and get off with a warning or just a fine, yet at the same time when a black or brown male does the same thing he is incarcerated for however long a period of time. The justice system needs to be a little more balanced.
One of the most famous lines from any poem, or of that that I can remember, is from Robert Frost and it reads “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” This talks about the same thing, being that making certain choices like a different road or whatever it may be can change the story of your life forever, and the lives of those after you.
This is a very interesting topic when Sam begins to talk about the paths that we choose and the paths that our ancestors chose and its effect on others. I believe that each decision we choose in our lifetime sends us on a different path and send us on a whole new path in the universe. There are billions and billions of lines drawn through the universe that is our life’s path. Each decision we make, even the smallest, minute decision, changes our path and leads us to an entirely different lifestyle. For example, walking down a certain road to get to the grocery store instead of another can change your life from being an ordinary Joe, to the multi-million dollar business man you wish to be. Half of it is due to chance and luck like Sam says. Maybe you meet someone on that different road you just took that you never knew was there. He turns out to be a head-honcho to some corporation or maybe an inventor and asks you for an investment. All because you happened to walk down some road that you don’t normally do.
That was a very interesting lecture haha. Loved the way it began, it was a very interesting way to show how we are free to do what we wish but yet there are some things that are out of our control that shape us to do or not do certain actions. The imaginary strings were a very true topic to talk about. You see it all the time especially here in America where we ARE actually free to do what we wish (with some exceptions like murder and stuff like that) but at the same time the way we were raised as children and the customs that we have been taught and have practiced for so many years. For example, I do not have to say thank you to someone who holds a door open for me, or I don’t have to help someone move or lift heavy objects because they do indeed need help, but I do because I was raised to be a gentleman and to be polite. It just comes naturally to me. There is no NEED for me to do that and I am free to not do those things if I choose to, but I do because of what I think of the outside forces that Sam talks about.
I feel the same way about this topic. It is unbelievable how we automatically think of things like that based on how soemone looks. People today are so stereotypical and its just unreal. One thing that I really hate to hear is how some races blame any problems that they think they have on other races. Like "Its the White Mans Fault, its his evildoing." or "If we could just get rid of all those blacks and browns our problems will be solved." I hear things like this all the time and when I hear it and just cant believe that people think like this and actually believe what they are saying. its sickening.
You cannot blame your problems on society, only yourself. I hate it when people blame their problems on something else (unless of course it is something you cannot control like illness, etc.) It is tragic when you feel that you have to make choices that are going to have a negative effect on your life but will help your family in the long run. No one wants to be put in those situations and they are not fair. But I respect those who can make those difficult choices and sacrifice something of theirs for the better good of someone else.
But like Sam mentioned in lecture, we all have obstacles to face and we all have to deal with them (some more worse than others, but still.) You have a responsibility to take care of your family and do whatever is necessary to see that your family is well off.
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Brainchild