Personally, I believe that society does not necessarily hate immigrants in general. I think that immigrants are portrayed badly and therefore cause society to hate them. Perhaps it might not be pure hate, but just that bandwagon hate that causes a domino effect. For example, immigrants might be mentioned in the news in a bad way spreading that bad idea of them to every home that watches it. Kids are then taught these lessons from their parents saying how immigrants are bad. Society might also perceive immigrants or illegal immigrants as bad because of the fact that they are illegal. Being illegal means that you are not allowed to be in the country you entered illegally; The United States in this case. The United States today has thousands of illegal immigrants today. These illegal aliens, as some call them, are only here for a better future not just for themselves, but for their children too. Some have jobs, and some do not. Those who not, most likely do not have homes either. These people live by the day not knowing if they’ll make it through. I understand that they are illegal and therefore should not be allowed in this country, but everyone deserves a chance to live. Society also dislikes immigrants because they take away jobs that white people feel they belong to them. This might well be true, but most of these jobs are low paying miserable jobs that most white people would not take anyway. They just do not like the idea of people who are not even supposed to be in the country take their supposed jobs away from them. Being Hispanic myself, I can relate to people and how the migrate to another country. Fortunately I was able to come to this country legally, but I can still relate to illegal immigrants just because of the fact that we are all here for a better life. Anyway, when it comes to helping out an illegal immigrant cross the border illegally to the United States, I do not think I would be able to do it. First of all, I have no power or the first idea on how to cross people to the other side. I guess it all depends on who the people were. I mean if it was my mother or father or close family member then maybe I would go out of my way to try and get them here anyway possible. I am aware that that would be breaking the law and could get in some serious trouble, but in those circumstances I probably would try to do at least the minimum thing to try and help them get across. In the end it is really hard to say yes or no. It is easy to say something but to actually do it is another thing.

I honestly did notice that the white people told the story differently than the mixed students, but now that I saw the video I think I can understand what the person in the video is trying to say. The first person to tell the story was not white; she probably was mixed race. As she was telling the story to the white person, she refused to say the “n” word even though it was included in the original story. As a consequence, part of the story was lost there. Now the white person needs to replace it with whatever he chooses. Even with this, I think that whoever told the story from the beginning would have told it differently because they would not have had enough time memorize it. Now, if a black person had begun the story telling then the outcome might have been different. The black person might have said the “n” word therefore causing the next person to might say it or refuse to say it. I do not think that I could say no to nepotism if what I was going to get was really valuable or important like a job or internship for example. In my opinion, it is extremely difficult to say no to something that you want and can get easily with no consequences what so ever. For example, if you had the chance to acquire a job with the help of a friend or family member without doing anything, would you take it? Most likely, you would. I think anyone would take. It just sounds stupid and unreasonable to not take it. There is a difference though between the people best qualified for the job and you. Nepotism benefits the less qualified if that is the case. In this sense, it might be viewed as a bad thing, but there is really nothing one can do about it. Sam is completely correct when he said, “ it is not what you know that matters, it is who you know.” I am not really sure which one either nepotism or affirmative action is the one that lowers standards the most, but if I had to say I would go with nepotism. I would say nepotism because with nepotism a person who could be the worst one qualified for a job can get it just by knowing the recruiter. With affirmative action, it is more likely that minorities get privileges before white people. Even in this case, a minority could be better qualified than a white person so in this case nepotism lowers the standards more. I guess it just depends on the situation and how badly it affects other people, then you could decide which one lowers standards the most.

The question about blaming terrorists I think is a bit too simple. We all obviously know what terrorists are capable of doing and have done in the past, but what I think makes this question vague is the reason we are blaming terrorists. What are we blaming terrorists for? I think that the question being asked is if we still blame them for what they have done after we saw the video about them. In other words, do we understand what they have been going through therefore see them differently for example. In my opinion, I believe that this is a difficult question to answer. It is hard because we as Americans or whatever race one is is accustomed seeing terrorists as bad people. People even categorize Middle Eastern people such as Arabs or Muslims as terrorists just because they look like one. Non-Middle Easterners are afraid of them and therefore visualize them as the bad guys. I do not blame the people who do portray them as evil, as I myself view them as bad people for all of which they have done, but the fact is that we do not fully understand their reasons for killing people. Religion is probably one of the biggest reasons why terrorists would do something like this. Religion, in my humble opinion, is a very powerful thing. It is even more powerful when followers follow every single rule that their religion states they should do. Terrorists are just trying to please their God, Allah; unfortunately one of the ways that this is done is by killing other innocent people and committing suicide along the way.
I think it is outrageous that American soldiers believe that it is okay to kill twenty-nine civilians in order to kill just one bad guy. Since I am quite a pacifist person, the thought of just killing one civilian is farfetched. I cannot believe that the US would agree on something of this caliber. I understand that the bad guys are very difficult to find when all they do is hide and order their minions around to do the bad work. Even so, killing is not the answer; especially murdering innocent people. Death is not even the answer, but sometimes that is the only thing left to do in order to stop criminals such as Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden who is still hiding from US troops after the nine elven attacks. We also have to understand the soldiers. They have been at war for a long time so probably saying something like 29:1 is something natural after being a way for so long. All they want to do is go back home to their families and if it means killing innocent people, then that is what they will do.

Feeling uncomfortable around other people that are speaking another language depends on the place you are. I believe this is true because just by walking around campus one can hear many different languages being spoken. I bet everyone has encountered this situation walking to class or something. When this happens, I think that it is no big deal, and it really should not be. It should not make one uncomfortable because when you spot a group of people speaking in a foreign language it is of no concern to you. You just happened to walk by and you noticed some kids talking to each other in a language that you did not understand. This of course changes when one is actually in a room or somewhere and there are people talking in another language. I would feel a bit uncomfortable if this happened and I am pretty sure that it has happened, but I do not recall a specific time and place where it did. I think that feeling uncomfortable is a natural thing in a situation like this one. There is just something about having two people around you speaking in their own language. You never know what they might be talking about. For all one knows they can be talking about a topic totally irrelevant to you, or they could be thrashing the way you are dressed or how bad your hair looks. This is what might make a person a bit apprehensive because no one likes being talked badly about.
This past class about the needy penis might have made me somewhat uncomfortable. There is just something about a grown up talking about the penis and how it is needy that can make anyone uncomfortable. In this case, it was a professor and his wife who were talking about the needy penis. They were even talking about their sex life and the times that they wanted to have sex which made it even more uncomfortable and awkward. I am just really not used to having grownups talk about the male reproductive organ and sex outside of health class. Even in health class the topic was uncomfortable. Maybe it is just in this stage of one’s life that these topics become awkward. Adults are for sure more comfortable about talking about those topics. This is probably true because they are more experienced in this field and can relate to it better.

I personally think that the factors about dating outside one’s race are the same if not similar in every race. What makes it difficult I believe is just that thought of dating someone is different from you. Some people might be scared to approach someone from another country. This sense of fright can be caused by a number of reasons. One reason, for example, can be lack of knowledge from the other person’s race. I believe that there is a fear of not knowing how to react to the person’s actions or being able to tolerate them if they happen to be out of the ordinary to you. Another reason could be acceptance; acceptance from friends and family members to be specific. Having your loved ones accept who you are and who you date is very important in this situation. Of course, it does not matter what other people say or think about you, but in some cases having your partner accepted can make the relationship better and stronger. Parents are usually the ones who do not like their children dating outside their own race. I believe this is true because of the way they were raised. Our parents are from a totally different generation than us, so it is natural that they have different beliefs and views. We as their children have to respect that, but we cannot be limited by it. Parents also need to understand that this is a new time period and that many things have changed. Back then, it might have been wrong or unusual to date outside your race, but now it is not uncommon. One other reason that people might not date out of their race is because they do not feel comfortable doing it. People tend to be more comfortable and easy going when surrounded by people that are like them. This not only applies to dating, but in other things too. Usually, you will see people of the same race doing stuff together being playing a sport or doing a school project. This is just natural because the mind recognizes that the people surrounding you are similar to you.
When it comes to interracial relationships, I do not see anything bad about them. Everyone is free to do whatever they want, and if people want to date someone from a country that is different from theirs, then so be it. I feel like there are no boundaries when it comes to dating and finding the right person for you. I think that it is part of life to experiment and try new things. The person of your dreams might as well be from another race. If it is, then there is nothing wrong with it, it’s what’s inside that matters.

The video about the white and black dolls was somewhat offensive in my point of view. During the video there were few small children who were given two dolls which were white and black and then they were asked questions regarding them. Some questions were: which doll is the nice doll? Which doll is the bad doll? And which doll do you look like? The group of children consisted of black and white kids which made the situation much more interesting. When asked which doll is the nice doll, all the kids said that the white doll was the nice doll. When the children were asked as to which one was the black doll, all the kids agreed that the black doll was the bad doll. Then, the black children were asked: which doll do you look like? Now this is where I find that the video is a bit offensive. Many people might disagree with me, but I feel that asking that question to the kids was wrong in a way. The black kids of course picked the black doll, but did it with a hesitant look. I think that after they answered that question, a thought came to their minds regarding themselves and who they were. Since they had answered that the black doll was the bad doll, I feel as if the idea of “I am black too, so am I bad?” ran through their heads. This is what I consider to be offensive because they are just kids, but then again I could just be me and the way I see things.
Before I decided to come to Penn State, I had never thought about the diversity here. Yeah I saw the diversity chart in the pamphlets and all but I never did think about the diversity. All of that changed when I arrived here at University Park. When I got here I noticed that the campus was huge and then I occasionally ran into people who spoke Spanish. This was a great way to interact with other Latinos since I myself am one. Then after that I began to wonder how many Latinos or African American or any minority races are there here at the university. Since it is a very big campus, the probability of seeing them or just running into people of non-white background is difficult. Also, there are some people who might not look Hispanics or Latinos so you could have walked by someone and not even noticed they were Latino. Even with this, I still think that the university is not very diverse as other institutions around the country, but then again there are other factors that contribute to this. One big one is the location. Pennsylvania is farther from Mexico for example so international students will choose to study in Texas or California instead.

I do not think any of Sam Richard’s lectures have had any effect on where I sit in class. Normally I will sit in the same seat every class day which is in the middle section right about in the middle of the section. I choose this place because I feel like being right at the center of the classroom I can concentrate more on Sam’s lecture. Until about a week ago, my friends and I decided to change where we sat. I am Hispanic and both of my friends are Hispanic too, but our choice of seating has nothing to do with who is around us. We just decided to sit on the left side just to see the classroom in a different perspective; only to switch things up a bit. What I have noticed is that most people sit in the same seats every day. I believe this is something that we do naturally. I think that the brain remembers where one sat so the first reaction is to sit in the same place again. I have also noticed that a lot of the African American people and other non-white people sit towards the bottom of the classroom. Normally, people of a race will sit close to people of the same race so maybe that is why they choose to sit together even though they might not know each other, but since blacks and other non-whites are a minority they must feel more comfortable sitting close to one another.
Personally, I feel the same towards all people who are poor no matter what race they are. In the end, we are all human and we all feel the same way so why feel different towards one race than towards another? Now I understand that maybe some races who are poor might be better off than others, but I still feel that being poor is being poor. For example, people might feel more compassionate for a poor black family or a poor Latino family than a poor white family simply because they are not white. White people, in society, are mostly seen as middle to upper class so maybe some think that poor whites are poor because they choose to be poor. Anyway poverty is poverty and we are all human beings and I believe that everyone deserves a chance to live no matter what race you are.
I do not think that it is selfish for people in poverty to have more kids because of their lower income. The way I see it, poor people have more kids to help each other out. The children are usually years apart so having more than a few kids will be beneficial in taking care of one another when the parents cannot. As I am writing this though, I ask myself why just two or three kids this way it is less work?

I do not think that a person should use the ignorance card much or just not use it at all. This is obviously directed to educated people who live in countries where obtaining information is very easy. It can be a developing country as well, and of course I think that there are some exceptions. There are people all over the world that do not have the means necessary to get in touch with the outside world. They do not have television, phones, internet, etc; so therefore are unable to see what is going on outside their own country. In this situation I think it is only fair that people use the ignorance card because it is not their fault that they do not have the technology to know what is happening around the world. For others, college students or anyone else with some education that lives comfortably the ignorance card should not be used. In this world, with the television, Google, smart phones, and other items ignorance is not an excuse. It is not an excuse if you are someone who is attending college and getting an education. Of course college comes with a ton of work but there is always time for other stuff. I don’t think that spending ten minutes surfing the internet for world news is going to hurt anyone.
Personally, I think that Americans have little or no idea of how lucky they are to be living in a country like the United States. For starters, it is the United States of America. It is the country thought as the most powerful country in the world for a long time now. People here have absolutely everything they could possibly want. Other countries though, are very poor. Poor enough that the residents must go out each day and try and survive. Haiti for example is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. If one compares Haiti to the United States, the differences are many. Like Sam Richards said, even the poorest of the poorest here in the states lives better than other people in other countries. That just shows how rich the United States is no matter how much in debt they are their wealth is astounding. Even in a country like Mexico for example, people there live better than others in poorer countries. I have a feeling about this because I myself am Mexican, so I know how people there live and I can say that where I come from people live pretty well. There are a few that are poorer, but I still feel that they live even better than people from the poorest countries. It all just goes back to sociology and where and how each person is born and raised.

During class, Dr. Richards gave an example where he asked six people to go up to the front of the classroom. He asked for people of different backgrounds. There was a white person, a Hispanic person a Jewish one, and some others. He then revealed that they were going to play King of the Mountain. This is a game that basically can be described as the person who ever gets somewhere first wins. There are many forms of the game, but in this game Sam asked the students to gather around the table he has in front of the class and told them that when he gave orders for them to try and stand on top of the table. Whoever stood on top first would win. After walking around the table for some time, Sam suddenly got on top of the table using a chair and declared himself the winner. He then said he had all the power and started to order people around. I think that this demonstration is just a way of showing how people with advantages can get way further in life than people that do not have any. In class, he had a chair to his advantage therefore got on top first and in real life the people with advantages will get far in life than a person with limited resources even if the limited person is smarter. Sam also talked about a friend of his in Haiti whom is trying to go to college, but does not have the money. He explained how this person has a lot more ambition to attend college than the whole class, but unfortunately he cannot at the moment. He also mentioned how the people in Haiti are very smart ingenious people who are capable of making money every day in the streets.
As far as I know, I think that I am neither liberal nor conservative, but rather in the middle. I think this because I feel like I agree with both ends of the spectrum, however, I feel a bit more attracted to the liberal side. For example, with the United States’ government, I think that they should be way more liberal if they really want the country to succeed even more. The last four presidents have all made plans and promises and they had nothing to show for it. I think that it was because they were too conservative and were afraid of breaking the stereotype and going liberal. Sam though, said he was a conservative which caught many off guard. I believed he would be a liberal person since he has travelled around the globe and experienced many different cultures and ideas, but I guess he was not impacted as much. Either way, I still think that he’s got some liberal in him because of the way he speaks his mind and how he is not afraid to show it.

Even though many people might want race to stop being an issue, I believe that it will still be an issue for many years to come. I predict that race will still be an issue because it always has been that way. Ever since humans were around, colored people would be looked down on and thought of as inferior to white people. Even into recent times, the sixties’ for example, black people were still discriminated against. It was just not African-American people but Hispanics and even Europeans when they first arrived to the United States. To illustrate, this was the case with Irish immigrants. They were heavily discriminated against and to the point where they were shunned by society. They were separated and were not offered jobs anywhere. This of course happened a long time ago and since then race has stopped being an issue. For example, now a day it is illegal to discriminate against someone just because of their race. Another big example is Barack Obama. As we all know, Obama is the president of the United States, but he is just not an ordinary president. He is the first black president that the United States has had. Yes, a black man is the president of a country that once had black people as slaves for a long period of time. This shows the progress of society towards race and it might help bring other examples like the president.

The video about humans being monkeys really made me think about the idea more. I had already heard the idea, but I had not put much thought into it. Now that I am taking Sociology 119 with Sam Richards, it is a whole different story. I do not really know what to say, but I can try and answer it in a few ways. The first way is through a religious point of view. As a Catholic, I believe that God has a purpose for us. God created this world capable of sustaining life so he also created human beings so they can inhabit the planet and take advantage of it. He chose us, humans, to make this happen. Why did he pick humans and not gorillas or dogs or elephants? I don’t know, and most likely no one knows, it just is what it is. In another perspective, I think that we do not act and live like monkeys because we do not have too. During the course of evolution, humans evolved enough to be able to think critically. They acquired a larger brain which enabled them to live life in an easier way through inventions such as automobiles and medicine to name a few. So, basically humans do not live like monkeys because we have the resources not to.