I was actually not extremely suprised that white woman are the group of people who benefited from affirmative action the most. I feel that woman would have a bigger say into making sure that they were hired then colored people. I agree with your dad in saying it is not about what you know, its about who you know. That is totally true in this day and age. People still need to have some intelligence but if you but down the right stuff on your application or some good connections you are always better off. I have benefited from this and i think that almost everyone has.

part 3

It can be seen in great detail in the Oprah video and that is only one example of the inequality in our school system. The hardest part to understand is why the students from the suburban school district got to have a better school. Why do they get to have three pools and a huge gym and weight room? That question doesn’t even begin to cover the problems that this intercity school has. The student who talked about getting an A in her trig class at Haper school district and then went to this suburban school district and didn’t understand anything in the trig class, I found this to be sickening. I feel so bad for the girl. She obviously wants to do well and succeed in life but all of these things are stacked against her and it all started with where she was born.

part 2

I know there are other instances where family members of mine have benefited of this. Two of my cousins applied at a company where my uncle was the manager of one of their stories. I find it hard to believe that both of them would have been hired if it were not for my uncle. I’m not saying this because they were not qualified because they were but in this economy for two people to be hired who are related at a company is quite surprising.
I really found the Oprah video with the two different schools extremely interesting. I am an education major and I have learned that there is a huge amount of inequality in our schools. It is something that we need to fix in this country.

part 1

I thought that this lecture was very interesting about affirmative action. I thought it was really interesting about how affirmative action and nepotism are pretty much the same thing; although both, nepotism and affirmative action are looked at differently. I think that everyone has at some point in their lives have benefited from nepotism and if they think that they haven’t then they are in denial. I know that I have benefited from nepotism. I volunteered in a youth basketball program by refereeing games every Saturday morning over the winter months. The lady who ran the program was partially in charge of a summer camp. She told me that if I wanted she could get me a job at the summer camp. I had not even filled out an application or taken the drug test needed and I was already hired. I don’t know if they had other people who had applied and I was chosen over them or not. I was only hired because I knew her and another guy who used to ref with me got a job as well.

I agree with you when you said that immigration will continue to be an issue for America. I understand that America needs immigration for it to be the country that it is today. I know people from my family and friends who think that people who immigrate should drop everything and just join our culture. I don't believe that they should stop doing what they know in their own culture like their traditions and other things. I do however find it frustrating at times when they don't make an effort to learn english at all. I know if I moved to a different country I would make an effort to learn their language so I could understand the world around me.

Part 3
I know as an individual I need to understand that immigrants are not going to submerge into American culture right away and some many never submerge. I do find it frustrating at times that people do not know how to speak English and that I have to press 1 for English at ATMs but I need to understand that if I lived in a different country I would not stop speaking my native language.
Although I believe at sometimes that we should shut down immigration into the country completely because of our economic crisis, I also know that if immigration gets shut down American culture would not be the same. I struggle at times understanding why some Americans believe it is okay for illegal immigration because I feel illegal immigrants who are getting paid under the table are taking jobs away from American citizens. I think that this is hurting our economy because now American citizens are receiving higher income tax. I do believe that immigration is good for our country and I would never truly want to shut down the borders; however at times I find immigration frustrating.

Part 2
With illegal immigration at the forefront of politics, it is hard for some American’s to understand that the people who immigrate to America today are not going to dive into our culture. The immigrants come in with their own languages, traditions and culture. Just like the Europeans did hundreds of years ago. I know when my Great- Grandfather immigrated from Germany after the First World War he didn’t speak English. Also he moved into the German section of the city. He was allowed time to fully submerge into our American culture. Although he never fully forgot his German traditions and culture he became American. I still remember, 11 years after his death, the German song we used to sing together whenever I went over to his house.

Part 1
I think this lecture was really important for the understanding and moving forward of race relations. Immigration is an important topic in today’s politics and is a major issue along the US and Mexico border. Many people are too busy looking at the negative parts of immigration and are not seeing the importance of immigration to the country and what it stands for. The first people to immigrate to America are Europeans. It is important to understand that when Europeans first came to America they didn’t just start acting like Americans. Many of our traditions in America come from other cultures around the world. Immigration is an important aspect of America. This is true even in today’s culture. In truth without immigrants America would never be what it is today. The Native Americans would still have rights to all the land and technology would not be what it is today.

I have to agree with you when you said that you would actually mind living with immigrants. I feel the same way you do. I know it's probably not right but I know I would have a problem living in an area with a lot of people who didn't speak the same language I did. I would struggle with the fact that I would have no idea what they were saying. I guess I believe this because your home is supposed to be a place where you feel comfortable and I wouldn't be comfortable if I couldn't understand my neighbors. I have nothing against immigrants and I feel they have every right to be in this country however I wouldn't be comfortable living in a community with a lot of immigrants.

6/30

I found this lecture to be very interesting and eye opening. The statistics in the lecture were somewhat surprising and somewhat not surprising. At first I was extremely surprised about the statistics that were given because of political correctness, saying what you think is the right thing and not always what you truly feel. I was honestly not very surprised at the low percentage of people who want to live in a more diverse community. There shouldn’t be any reason why you wouldn’t want to live with people who are slightly different then you but only just over half of all people under the age of 65 want to live in a more diverse community.
I would be lying if I told you that I would want to live in a community with a high number of immigrants. Its not that I’m racist or think that immigrants have no right to come to our country, it more the fact that I would struggle with the language barrier, that more than likely, would be present. I would most likely be with the other 84% of conservatives who say that don’t want to live with many immigrants. I also know that it is stupid to not want to live with someone who speaks a different language than me but I can’t say I would want to live with them.
I was surprised at the number of republicans that answered that they would prefer to live in a community made up mainly of people of their same racial ancestry. I would of thought that with political correctness and saying the right thing, that the percentage would have been lower. After thinking about it a little bit, I’m actually not as surprised about that figure. The reason is not that I believe republicans are racist; however I can see in conversations with my family (who are republicans) that they prefer to live in an area that has people like them in it. I don’t find this to be right but the percentage does not surprise me.
The final statistic that I didn’t find surprising was the increase in the percentage of black, Hispanic and Asian enrollment in suburban schools. I am an education major and I have seen in volunteer hours and observations of schools that suburban schools are becoming more and more diverse. I noticed this the most in a school near my hometown. This school is on the out skirts of Reading and used to be primarily white in the 1990s. Now there are more and more Hispanic and black students that have moved into the area to get away from Reading. I think this is good for schools to become more diverse so their students can learn to live in a diverse community.