First, I would like to start off by saying that I think that this class was probably the most eye-opening lecture that I have ever heard and that I did not want the class to end. The question that is still in my mind is: what now? What are we, as American citizens, supposed to do to help this? I wish there was something that we were able to do, but unfortunately, I do not think that there is anything. The people in our military are not bad people; they are simply doing their job. Now, after hearing Sam's lecture, it has really let me see the other side and try and imagine what these civilians are feeling. The part where Sam had us imagine this as the Iraqi military invading the streets of the United States is when I think things clicked for me. At the beginning, I was having a hard time understanding why he was trying to get us to look at things from a different perspective. I did not think I would leave that room thinking any different that I had when I walked in, but I definitely am looking at things with a more "critical eye" now that i walked out of that classroom. I was talking to a friend of mine who is currently in the United States Army and he did not want to hear a word I was saying. It is not that he didn't want to listen to me, but he didn't want to hear things about the countries that we are at war with and how any of us are feeling bad or trying to see the conditions through the lens of someone from Iraq or Afghanistan. I guess what I need to do is try and look at things through both lenses and know that our military is doing what they think is best for our country even if some people do not agree with that statement. I think after sitting through this lecture, I will not judge people from those countries anymore because they really are just like us. They didn't choose for some of their leaders to act the way they did, but it is those actions that the civilians now have to deal with. I showed my mom and my sister the video for this blog and explained to them a little bit about what the class what about. My mom did not have much to say in response to it; I think she was taking it all in. My sister on the other hand kind of saw things the way that I am now seeing them. I found that a little bit interesting because she dated someone in the U.S. Marines, so I would have thought that she would definitely not see things in any way except for a strictly military view. She was the opposite which surprised me.

When I first saw this video in class, I honestly did not know how to react. At first, I just sat there almost in shock because I had no words. I could not believe what I was seeing and hearing come out of the mouths of these kids. When Sam had us watch the video for a second time, I started to tear up because to know that this is how children really think is very disturbing. Thinking back to my childhood, I guess I was never put in that position because I am white and did not really have to choose between a white doll or an African American doll. I remember seeing the different colors of dolls in the toy stores, but when you are so young, you do not think about things such as the race of the doll you just picked out with your birthday money. I think I kind of understand why these children said that they would choose the white doll over the African American one, but I guess I just thought all along that they would naturally side with the doll that is the same color as they are. To know that the kids did not choose the African American doll because it was the "mean doll" was the part that bothered me the most. Our society has led kids today to believe that people of color are the ones who are "mean" and that white people are the ones you can trust. I do not agree with that way of thinking and I also know that, according to statistics on crime, it is not true that white people are not as "mean" as African American people. White people are just as guilty as any person of any other race or ethnicity to cause harm to someone else. We are all human which means that we are all able to do the same things.

This video clip made me really think about my future and what I will want to teach my children. I want them to be able to understand race and that we are all different, yet still the same; that one person is not more trustworthy than the other just based on the color of their skin. Every viewpoint should be taken into effect, whether you agree with it or not and you should respect every persons viewpoint.

I think this video did speak volumes to our class, just by the simple responses from those kids in the video. The silence in the classroom was just like a "wow" reaction. I think many of us did not know how to react, and even though some people reacted differently than others, I think we all received the same message: That we may not be verbally teaching kids to like or not like certain people or things, and this may sound cliche, but our actions speak louder than words and kids imitate every move adults make.

This topic in class definitely came as a surprise to me, but I do think that it is a good comparison to our discussion in class. I think Sam is completely right when he says that this is something that we should be able to talk about and not feel awkward when discussing it. Yes, at first, it did seem a little bit off topic, but when you think about the concept as a whole, all of his points relate right back to one another. When we did the poll that asked whether females thought Sam was right on point with what he was talking about, I was surprised that more people did not agree with him than what the survey showed. I would like to know what some peoples reasons are for not agreeing with him, because in my eyes, he hit the nail right on the head. I also found it very interesting when he brought up the point of this being a man's world that we live in. I actually never thought about it in that way either. It would actually probably be quite funny to see our world as a "woman's world" even just for a day, and to see how people would react to certain environments and situations. I was telling my friends about what we talked about in class and how everyone reacted, and they reacted the exact same way. That is how we are taught to act toward this topic, and that is why it is not really an accepted topic of speech. Most people do not want to hear about it, but when a woman says that they "don't feel well," other people are nosy and they ask why, and then the woman is basically forced to explain. We live in a society where certain people or cultures choose what is right and what is wrong when it comes to what activities or viewpoints or topics of conversation are accepted. I would never have expected to be comparing a woman's menstrual cycle to viewpoints in a class on race relations, but this shows that we can relate many things to each other; you just have to dig deeper into topics and uncover the real point. I think our class may start to realize that this "thing" is not disgusting because, like Sam said, we would not be here if it were not for this normal body function. I think our society as a whole needs to realize that it is not weird to discuss certain things because they are a way of life. One thing that needs to be remembered though is that there is a time and a place for every conversation.

I think I would have to also agree with the kid in the clip. What I do not understand is why there was that uproar when the comment about the "loud black girls in the computer lab" was posted, but when comments are made about white people, nothing can be said because it is then labeled as racist. I agree with Sam when he said in class the other day about how the worst name you could call a white person is "racist." I think black people do not believe that they are racist; they just believe they are expressing their opinion about white people, but white people do the same to black people and are then considered to be rude and ignorant. I think black and white people are both ignorant when it comes to understanding the other color and aspects that are important to their cultures. When comments were posted on the board about white people and how they are "rich" and "snobby", I took a lot of offense to that because, yes, I am white, but no, I am not rich and I would not consider myself snobby either. I do think us white people have an advantage in life because we are white, but I do not think that being white considers us to be snobby or even rich. Yes, the statistics do show that white people earn more than black people, but that should not group all white people as one group and only one group. The uproar that happened in the front of the class when certain comments were posted is exactly what I would have expected from any group of people, especially a group like our class that is very diverse. I think I can speak for many other white people when I say that white people feel that they are not allowed to take offense or become angry when comments are made that are not necessarily true.
We were instructed to keep our comments mature, but I think seeing some of the comments that were not all that appropriate is seeing exactly what many people were probably thinking at that time but did not want to post it. If the person who did post the comment about the girls in the computer lab would stand up and admit to saying that and not be afraid to do it, then I don't see a problem because that is how they feel and are not afraid to admit it. It is very easy to hide behind the text messages because they are sent anonymously and nobody can peg you for saying something that might be "racist." I do think though that if you can't stand up in front of such a large and diverse group and say something, then you really shouldn't say it at all. Black and white people both need to learn to be more respectful of each other and not make comments that will really piss others off or easily upset other people.

I find this very interesting because my sister and I were just discussing this last week about how it is always mostly white women that are competing for the bachelor who, in every season (or almost every season I think), has been a white male. I don't think white women are the only ones willing to humiliate themselves by being rejected on a show like this, but maybe the only ones willing to take the risk of rejection? Or maybe the bachelor has some say as to which type of women he would like to be in his "pool" to choose from. I don't necessarily think it is fair to say that white women are willing to humiliate themselves. I am not saying this because I am white but because I think that black and brown women are just not chosen as much as contestants for the show because this deals with someone's life, no matter how real or not you think it is. We, as humans, are naturally attracted to someone of our same color most of the time. I do find it interesting that they have not had a black or brown bachelor on the show and in my opinion I honestly think that the popularity of the show would go down if there were a black or brown male as the bachelor trying to win someone's heart. I am guessing that the female contestants on the show would be predominantly black or brown just like they are predominantly white when there is a white bachelor. I would like to see what the ratings and number of viewings would be if they decided to one day have a person of color be the bachelor or bachelorette. I have noticed on the show that they have been using women who are rejected by the bachelor as the next bachelorette. I guess they do kind of deserve a "second chance" if they want it and they are the ones calling the shots this time around. I do think that many of the contestants appear on the show just to get their name out there and be known, kind of in the sense of a popularity contest. I'm sure that many of them find relationships after they have been dismissed from the show just because different people know who they are now. My question would be are the women actually there to find "true love" or are they there to become known? I do not know if many of them take this as seriously as they should or maybe they take it more seriously in the beginning than they should. I do not think that enough of the women realize that only one woman out of the 25 can win, so their chance is very small.

I agree with what this girl said, but then I take sides also because my dad is a member of law enforcement. They are not just going to go after you because you are black. They are going after you because you either did something wrong, or they were suspicious of you doing something that you were not supposed to be doing. I think the reason we see more prisoners who are of color is because there are many black and brown people who live in areas that are not very well developed and therefore there are drugs and crime in those areas. The other thing is that there are many white people who live in under-developed areas and many black and brown people who live in the better places of towns and cities. I think the main thing that we need to understand though is that it is not the color of our skin that gets us into trouble. It is the things we do and the situations that we get ourselves into. I believe that our parents and the people who raised us and taught us right from wrong are the ones responsible for this. When we have parents that do not care what we do and ones that let their 10 year olds out to roam the streets late at night, that is when we find trouble. Those children are the ones whose parents did not teach them right from wrong when they were younger and they are now dealing with those consequences. If we want to see crime rates go down and we want to make a difference, then we need to start with OUR children and by teaching them really what is right and what is wrong and not letting them figure it out on their own by getting themselves into trouble to realize the difference. The money aspect of it is not the issue. Children can be taught many things no matter where they live and no matter how much money their parents make. If the parents of that child want him or her to do well and succeed in life, then they have every chance of making that happen. It all starts with basic common sense. The child should be not necessarily asleep, but inside the house at a reasonable time of night and not outside messing around and destroying other people’s property with their friends. I think peer pressure has a lot to do with crimes as well because they will think they are being left out if they do not participate, when it really is in their best interest to just walk away. We need to make the change and teach our children to perform differently and not rely on others to change now because it will not happen. I know it is impossible to get everyone to do this, but that is why it is hard to make change because there are so many people that do not want to change their ways.

I think it is very sad how these people that are receiving welfare checks are being called such names as "animals". I do think that all of being on welfare has to do with choices that were made early in a persons' life, but that does not mean that they are animals. One thing that I do not agree with is that some of these people who are on welfare and receiving support are using this amount of money to buy things that are not necessary to living everyday life. They are using it for their big screen television sets, their video gaming systems, their iPods and many other things that most of us would not consider necessities. It is sad when I go to places such as walmart and these people have so much in their carts that is not needed. Yes, I understand that their children needs a few toys here and there to play with and keep themselves occupied, but they do not need these movies and expensive gaming systems that their parents are buying for them just because that is the latest trend. I, along with the rest of the people across this country, have money taken out of our paychecks in order to support these people that do not have jobs. If you physically are not able to hold a job, then I am totally fine with having a small amount taken out of my check so that you can eat dinner every night and such things like that. But, I don't agree with these people going out to dinner at restaurants that they can not normally afford just because they are simply to lazy to have a job and want everything to just be handed to them. That is not how things work in the real world, but just because they are lazy does not mean that they should be called "animals".

I thought this article was very interesting due to the fact that our country is very cautious and suspicious when it comes to "foreign" objects that they see on planes because they automatically think that it is an explosive object or that the passenger on the plane is a terrorist and out to cause harm. I think many of us are so ignorant to the fact that there are other religions out there besides the one we decide to practice that others of us are offended when someone else asks us any questions about our faith. It is almost as if they have offended us because they are simply curious to know something about us and not being selfish and only wanting to know about the things that concern them.____I think it is important that professionals (especially those in professions such as flight attendants, pilots, government officials and many more) be required to learn about other religions and customs so that instances, like the one mentioned in this article, don't happen when they do. It is understandable, a l east to me, that this particular flight attendant was just taking precautions because of our terror threat level here in the United States, but I also think that the workers on that plane should have investigated it a little more instead of inconveniencing the other passengers by accusing this innocent boy of doing something that he totally did not mean to happen. I am sure that he did not realize that his prayer process would create such a stir and that he would end up being forced off the plane and placed into handcuffs.____It seems that he and his family did not take too much offense to the fact that he was accused of I guess plotting a terror attack. Many people would have created such uproar about this and had every news station and newspaper knowing that people are being accused of these things.__

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I think that all viewpoints are important to know about and explore because they make us who and what we are, and that is that we are all different. If we were all the same, life would be boring and there would be no variety, which in turn would not be fun at all. When I see someone who is “different” than me, I try to realize that it is good that they are different because that makes me who I am and makes that person who they are.

In regards to Harry Reid making the comment that he did, I think he deserves to receive the scrutiny. Just because he is in political office does not mean that he has the right to say whatever he wants, whenever he wants, to whomever he wants. If he is not going to use correct “terminology” when speaking about different ethnic or racial groups, then he will not be respected as a political figure or even as a person in everyday society. I am sure that he got much more attention than the average American would just because he is in office, but someone of that standing should know when and where to use certain terms.