I think that the fact that there is still such a widespread ignorance to sexuality being some sort choice. To me it is mindboggling that someone can think that sexuality is black and white, and you either choose one or the other. Human sexuality is a spectrum full of every possible sexual preference possible, not one of them being a choice. At no moment can a person think back to their youth and definitively say they made the conscious choice to be either homosexual or heterosexual. No matter how many gay people come out and say that it is not a choice, there is an equal or greater amount of people who say it is a choice and have no evidence or fact to support it other than it being their steadfast opinion. And if for some reason a person’s reasoning to oppose homosexuality is a religious one, nowhere in the bible does it explicitly state that homosexuality is a choice and that it is a sin that will lead to your death. So how can we base our reasoning or modern morals on a few people preaching a paraphrased version of a book written over 2000 years? Even if homosexuality was a choice, why would it matter, the choice is that individual’s and that individual’s alone, unless its direct consequence negatively impacts someone else then it should not matter to anyone.
I think the main reason people refuse to accept fact, is that admitting that there is no choice involved in sexuality means contradicting their entire belief systems. Most who think that it is a choice think this for religious reasons, and for them to admit being wrong about this one thing means being wrong about everything that religion stands for ( which obviously is not actually the case) they continue down the path of ignorance and less resistance. In the song ‘Same Love’ by Macklemore, there is a line that really puts it into an awesome perspective; “When everyone else Is more comfortable,Remaining voiceless, Rather than fighting for humans, That have had their rights stolen, I might not be the same, But that's not important, No freedom 'til we're equal, Damn right I support it. “ In the song he speaks about how it is because our culture has become so rooted in hate that we forget to practice anything we preach. That we all want equality yet disagree what equality really is, and that somehow some people still should not be put on the same level as others. We choose to allow this inequality to take place, because everyone knows it is happening but is choosing to do nothing about it, to allow this to continue is to allow your own freedom be taken away. Because once we let people in power control something so deeply intertwined with what makes us human, there really is no turning back.

My views on determinism versus free will has not changed very much due to the discussions we have had in class. For me it comes down to the arguably impossible task of determining which plays more of a role in a decision, this is because the two are intertwined so much so that they become indiscernible in a sense. But if I had to come to some sort of stance on the topic then I would say that from a strictly objective sense determinism reins supreme however when examined from a subjective point of view I think it is free will that is paramount. Because when an individual assesses their own specific situation and acknowledges all the factors that play a role in his decision ( both those seen and unseen) then that individual has reached a point where the external factors influencing him in a decision become negligible. If someone is ignorant to these factors then the case will be the opposite and the individual will potentially be more susceptible to these external factors and invisible strings. Now to be clear I do not mean that the external factors and invisible string cease to exist and stop playing any point, I mean that they do not hold the same gravity in the decision being made. In class Sam said that it was essentially impossible to pull the two sides apart and that separating determining factors and an individual’s free will, I already agreed with this, but then he went on to provide fact based evidence that supports the idea that these factors are more important. And from a statistical standpoint it seems that these factors have almost a complete control of our lives, but I refuse to believe that its that simple. I feel that this is such a complex topic that these trends are not able to summarize someone’s potentially predetermined fate. I think that these statistics are more correlation as opposed to a causation, I think that they no more than mirror certain societal constants and paradigms. I think the evidence is not able to thoroughly portray the true social forces and factors at play in our world. These factors only have as much influence as we let them, if we start addressing the possibility of invisible strings making a certain demographic have a higher propensity to commit suicide, then those trends can be trained. There are also an innumerable amount of factors that can skew these statistics in a way that may lead us to believe there are external factors playing a role when they do not play a role at all. So there has not been anything that we have discussed in class that has led me to a revelation about this topic, but it has led to me having a more well-rounded point of view on the subject.

I think that Dr. Jones is one hundred percent right. I feel that in any situation there is a conflict or some sort of disagreement, the root cause is generally inefficient communication or no communication at all. Most problems in the world stem from that very root, and his example in class where he had students retell the story over and over to a new person, was an excellent tool to illustrate that. People from different places are going to have a different background and therefore a different perspective on life and the individual situations and stories they experience. So when people are telling a story in general but more specifically one involving race, they tend to use words that are much more volatile. I say this because these words can have a completely harmless connotation to one person but a very different and more harsh of a meaning to another. These stories being told from person to person are going to be skewed each time, and the amount that the story becomes skewed is directly proportional to the difference between to the two people involved. So when we carried out the activity in class, the group he picked was fairly diverse and therefore more likely to have a bigger change to the story then if it were people from the same background telling it to each other. The story became shorter and shorter, details were left out, and somehow some nonsensical details were added, creating an altogether different story then when we began the exercise.
People are always going to hold contrary beliefs but the important thing is that we begin to learn to better communicate these beliefs to each other, and the reasons behind the beliefs. With that goal in mind, enabling us to communicate with anyone and everyone in an efficient manner is incredibly vital in the conversation at the race table. That is why effective use of vocabulary is important as well, developing a larger and broader vocabulary allows anyone to become an effective communicator. Word choice is a big part of this problem and ultimately plays back into the original topic that certain words hold a “sting” that others do not. So, when at the race table choosing the right words and avoiding the wrongs ones is paramount and yet it is still the biggest problem facing the discussions at the race table. To fix this, people should be able to take courses or seminars explaining the appropriate vocabulary in these situations, because if people know these things then people from very different backgrounds are much more likely to be able to communicate with each other in a civilized and effective manner. I feel very strongly that the biggest reason there are still large race problems facing us today is due to lack of communication and inefficient communication.

I think that the photos were thought provoking and graphic, the pictures were more effective in making the point that these drone strikes are inhumane and not that effective. The strikes are becoming more and more commonplace in operations that are carried out in the Middle East, they are imprecise and borderline barbaric. The drones are flown over villages where there is some level of insurgent presence, then if there are either enough enemy soldiers or a high enough profile target then the strike is authorized and carried out. The payload that these drones can deliver is more than enough to take out a small city and yet it is used on targets that significantly smaller and civilians suffer because of it. These missiles are effective in eliminating their intended targets but they kill huge amounts of civilians. In war there has always been civilian casualty, but this has come to a whole new level where they can sit at a computer and control these drones, killing hundreds of these bystanders. These people have to live their lives in a constant fear, the idea of missiles being able to just drop from the sky without any warning at all and at any time is horrifying. To live like that is unimaginable, living with the fear that you could be blown up at any moment is a pretty horrific reality. Its easy for people to say that these drone attacks are justifiable because they are very effective at their intended purpose, but they are even more effective at killing the innocent and leveling entire communities. As for the graphic nature of the photos, I do not see anything wrong with Sam showing them in class, he told people not to look because of just how revealing they were. But the pictures needed to be shown and needed to be that graphic, otherwise they would not have carried the same weight. People need to be made aware of these facts, that our tax money is going directly to these incredibly inhumane weapons. So at that point who is the terrorist? Is it not America in this case? These people have to fear these drones every second of their lives, the US has effectively weaponized fear and is dropping it throughout these Middle eastern countries. The US has become too reliant on these strikes, it makes America the bully. We can sit back without putting a single human on the ground in these countries and still cause mayhem. The civilians have no chance of being able to defend themselves or even get away from the violence. Not only are we taking advantage of these impoverished countries, but we leave them worse off than before we became involved.

I agree with Sam’s statement that black, brown, and other people of color have “thicker skin” in general. I do not however, think that this is a direct result of the color of their skin. I am a white male who went to a very urban high school in Allentown, PA where I was the minority and experienced a great deal of diversity. I speak from experience when I say that it is how you as a person handle adversity and the diversity you face throughout life that gives you “thicker skin”. So it is more because of the adversity that most people of color have faced in their lives that allows them to shed the insults and slurs that they encounter. Now because of the high school I went to I witnessed countless fights, a few stabbings, and even a shooting, and I can definitively say the way you handle race is directly dependent upon where you grow up and the diversity you experience. It is this that allows a person to either more readily see another’s point of view or completely discredit others’ opinions without giving them a chance.
So, because people of color are much more likely to encounter these diversities and adversities they are also more likely to be able to handle similar situations down the road. The reason white people on average are less likely to have “thicker skin” is that they are much less like to encountered prejudice or discrimination based on their race. It’s not that white people in America have not experience either of those, but rather that the wounds because of it are not nearly as fresh. People of color are the demographics that were most recently oppressed and discriminated against. It was also the most severe and most extensive discrimination. People of color encompasses so many races and ethnicities so it is clear that all of those subcategories have each individually experienced adversity in America and therefor as a whole become more “thick skinned”.
In my opinion our society as a whole needs to become more “thick skinned” because it’s the hypersensitivities and fear of being politically-incorrect , that acts as a roadblock for the race-relations dialogue. In my opinion there are some issues that should be taken head-on and others that require a little bit more delicacy. Developing the mentality that there should be discussion about these topics and acknowledging the fact that there will always be people who are closed minded are both necessary steps in getting a “thicker skin”. Its as simple as putting yourself in an unfamiliar environment or immersing yourself in another culture, its not that difficult to develop an open mind to race and in turn a “thicker skin”.