I was shocked when I listened to this blog video that the two gentlemen made because I honestly do not think this is the case with our generation presently. I have a bunch of opposite sex friends that are of different races and I do not have any problems talking with them or fostering friendships with them. I think that this would have been a problem with previous generations but I do not think that it is necessarily with our generation. In addition, I know this week in class we discussed the Chi Omega Sorority that posted the offensive picture and I think that that discussion can be applied to this topic as well. I think that it is often people’s ignorance such as exhibited by the girls in this photo that causes people to shy away from interracial dating because of stereotypes that they associate a specific race with. Specifically, I know this blog mentioned just blacks and whites and how both groups are “afraid to talk to each other or have sex.” I think that this stems from previous times in history where relations between blacks and whites were not positive. However, I think that times have changed and will continue to change where interracial relationships will become more prevalent in society as a whole. I personally applaud interracial dating because it proves how times have changed and that people are willing to not let some views held by people in society interfere with their lives.

I honestly have no issue with interracial relationships and I think that our society is moving forward into accepting people that are involved in interracial relationships. However, I know this is not the case for everyone and it has not always been this way. For example, my grandmother is very firm in her beliefs and extremely conservative in her ways of thinking. For example, she told my sisters and I that if we were to marry a boy of a different race than what we are that she would disown us from being her granddaughters. I think that this is incredibly naïve and I do not agree with my grandmother on her viewpoint. I have friends that are involved in interracial relationships and some of my friends’ parents are different races and they are very happy. I am a firm believer that everyone should have the decision to marry whomever they like because we cannot control who we are attracted to and with whom we fall in love with. I honestly do not know why people like my grandmother have such an issue with interracial dating or marriage because everyone should have the freedom and choice to fall in love with whomever they like.

I honestly could not imagine killing someone else. However, if the circumstances as Sam described existed where myself or people that I care about were in immediate danger, I do not think I would have a choice and would most likely act instinctively. I think that taking someone else’s life is an awful thing. Thus far in my life I have not been present in a situation that has required me to make this decision; however, if it were to occur I would most likely make a decision based upon the situation. I would only kill another person as a last resort. Sitting here writing this I am visualizing what it would be like to actually kill someone and take their life, and it sends chills down my spine. Constantly in the news, I hear about people killing other people for reasons that are not justified and the pain and suffering that the victim’s family and friends have to endure afterwards is truly heart-breaking. So often innocent bystanders are killed and I believe that violence is not the answer to our problems in this world. I do not understand how people think it to be a plausible solution except in extreme circumstances. I have learned about the Holocaust throughout my schooling and the example that Sam brought up in class discussion about Nazi times and Adolf Hitler really caused me to think about what it would be like if I were ordered to kill other people. I do not think that I would comply but instead stand up, even if it meant that my own life would be taken in the process. I do not think I could live with myself for being responsible for the killing of such innocent people. I believe that life is a gift and taking away someone else’s chance at life is entirely unacceptable. I have many family members in the military and have heard stories where they have had to kill in order to protect themselves. I understand the justification; however, I do not think that I could perform such acts. The guilt that ensues from taking someone else’s life is something that I do not think I would be able to live with. Everyone has their own beliefs and come from different countries with different sets of beliefs; however, I do not think that because someone’s beliefs are different than your own beliefs is justification to kill people. However, if they pose a direct threat to you personally than I can see the justification based on the situation. Therefore, I do not think that I can say that I would never kill someone because if the situation arose where people that I loved and cared about or myself were in immediate danger I would act in ways to protect.

The topic of immigration has always been and will always be controversial just like many other issues debated in present day society. I believe that it is very hard to come up with a “solution” to the problem right now with immigration because it is a very vast topic and so many people are either completely for it or strongly against it. What I do believe though as far as a proposed solution to the issue of immigration would be for natural born Americans and those currently residing in America to be open to immigrants and to not view them so negatively. Immigrants come to the United States of America for a better life and often work very hard here to send money back home to their loved ones. Therefore, they think strongly enough that their life in America would be better than anything they could have back at home. We should feel honored as Americans that people think so highly of the country we are so lucky enough to be born in to go to great measures just to live here. People must start accepting the fact that this is going to happen and begin to tolerate it because immigration is only going to increase with the future. I thought Erik’s story in class of how he crossed the border to come over to the United States was extremely eye opening and I honestly did not know the extreme danger that many people endure to make the journey. It is not very often that you get to hear a first-hand story of someone that illegally immigrated so I definitely really benefited from his story. I think as Americans we need to start putting ourselves and our families in the shoes of immigrants and think what it would be like to want a better life for ourselves and our family. Naturally, I think that certain standards should be set as far as citizenship and taxes, but I do think that immigrants should be allowed to come to the United States of America if they are willing to work hard and contribute positively to society. I feel as though people blame immigration for not being able to find a job themselves in America and therefore they think that the borders should be closed to America. However, I do not think that stopping immigration altogether would benefit or boost our economy and create more jobs, but rather the opposite would occur. Therefore, I think that the only respectable solution to the issue of immigration would be to provide services that better aide immigrants in becoming a part of society through integration methods and helping them to adjust to living in the United States.

I thought that the topic of Tuesday’s class was really interesting and it really caused me to think about this topic much more than I have ever thought about it before. Many people in the world think that being gay is a choice as Sam mentioned; however, I entirely disagree with this view. I think that people find comfort in their belief that people who are gay choose to be gay because they can feel better about their own belief system. However, speaking from personal experience (I have an uncle who is gay and many gay friends and after listening to what they say), I have learned that being gay is not a choice, it is something that you are born with. Our view as a society that gay people choose to be gay needs to change and I think that with time it will. I remember when Sam said in class that the term gay will not be as big of an issue for our kids’ generation as it is for us. I think that this is entirely accurate but in order for this to occur we must start altering our current perceptions. For instance, I have a friend that believes that being gay is wrong because it goes against the teachings of the Bible and therefore it is morally wrong and a sin. However, this same friend participates in other activities, which the Bible also describes as a sin such as drinking. Therefore, I cannot see how my friend’s beliefs are justified. I strongly feel that as a society we need to start being more accepting to one another and especially toward people that are gay. I have observed my uncle and heard his stories. His life has been far from easy trying to gain acceptance by society and those he loves for being gay. He would not have chosen to endure what he had to go through by choice, but rather it was just how he was born. I do not think that we can judge other people for how they live their life and I believe that no one should have a say in how someone else lives their life especially when it does not affect that person. You do not choose to be attracted to a certain person or gender and therefore that argument that one chooses to be gay is entirely invalidated. Discriminating against someone being of their sexuality aggravates me, as does discrimination against someone because of their race. Everyone is unique and different and that is what I believe makes our world so unique and incredible. Just because someone is different than us and not what we consider the “norm,” they should not be discriminated upon, but rather celebrated!

I am really glad that Sam brought up the issue of abortion with the election approaching so quickly and the fact that this is a very controversial topic. I thought that how Sam approached this issue was very unique and something that I had never heard before. When he asked us how we would feel in the situation if our little sister or mother got raped really made the issue seem more personal. I think all too often people think very black and white with this very controversial issue and do not really consider all the possibilities. Personally I am pro-choice and believe that it is the decision of the impregnated women to decide what to do and that the government should have no say in the matter. I think that a women’s body is her own and no one should dictate what you can and cannot do. In cases of rape especially I think that having the ability to decide for yourself what you can handle and your decision is a must. Imagine having to first endure such a horrible thing as rape and then become impregnated and raise a child that brings back such awful memories. When considering this extremely controversial issue as Sam mentioned you have to make the issue personal and think how would you feel if one of your loved ones, such as a sister, mother, or wife were raped and how that would change your opinion on abortions. I understand that people believe in pro-life for various reasons including religious beliefs, but I feel as though someone else (especially the government) cannot make a decision for you that is so personal and has such profound effects. I feel as though this issue is especially important in this coming election and I know I am definitely taking into consideration how the two candidates view this issue in making my decision of who to support. I think that the role of empathy is extremely important to take into consideration when approaching any controversial topic, especially abortion. As Sam mentioned in class, I think that in order to bring the aspect of empathy into this controversy, one must make this issue personal and relatable. Sure anyone can have a view about a topic looking from the outside, but when something affects you and the people that you love that’s when your views change and empathy plays a role in your decision-making. I believe that our society needs to start using empathy when considering such issues as abortion and people need to start putting themselves in the shoes of a rape victim for instance and think what would they do if they were put in such a situation. All in all, I think that abortion (especially in cases of rape) should be left up to the decision of the woman who is impregnated and no one else.

I was most definitely surprised after hearing the statistics about different races and especially about incarceration and drug selling and possession of drugs, in addition to the statistics about child abduction. I feel as though people in present day society, myself included feel that our society is free from racism and that we like to think that we are all treated equally when applying to jobs; however, this is definitely not the case after hearing different statistics in class. I think it is completely wrong that a white male with a criminal record would be hired over a black male without a criminal record. I feel as though people and thus potential employers subconsciously discriminate against certain racial groups and also against minorities. As Sam talked about in class, there is also latent prejudice especially when interviewing potential employees or being the interviewer. The reasoning behind why this is the case in our present society is very difficult to pinpoint and describe, but I think that different types of prejudices are still evident in our society, although they are not always very apparent.
Another set of statistics that completely surprised me were the statistic about drugs. I was not surprised at all that black people are more likely to be caught and sent to jail for the possession of drugs because of what I hear on the news and most of the time it is a black person. However, what did surprise me was that it is white people that are more likely to be the ones that actually sell the drugs. I am glad that Sam brought up this statistic because I had a preconceived belief before that the majority of people involved in drug related activities are black people. However, what I thought was a generalized stereotype. I feel that our society in particular and many potential employers are too concerned with society’s perception of their company. Therefore they hire people that are all similar to one another in order to create such an image to the rest of society.
Another thing that Sam talked about that surprised me was that employers often select applicants based upon their names and therefore often do not hire applicants with very ethnic sounding names. This angers me a lot because a person’s name has nothing at all to do with their ability to perform work or their intelligence level.
In terms of the amount of children abducted each year by people other than their family members being 100 children, I was completely surprised. I hear so many stories on the news about children being kidnapped so I thought the number would definitely be much higher. However, what I did not take into account was that more often than we know children are abducted by their own family members.

To be honest, I never even thought about possibly one day being in the same position as Native Americans are today. I was always aware of the struggles that Native Americans have to go through on a daily basis because they were thrown off their land as learned in my History classes growing up. However, I never knew the extent to which the Native Americans were oppressed and just how awful and inhumanely they were treated. It is not a surprise that they exhibit aspects of hatred toward their oppressors. I think taking their land and going back on promised treaties was an awful thing to do and I think that the Native Americans deserve to be compensated for this and perhaps even get their land back. I never even considered the same happening to the people, the ones that way back when kicked Native Americans off their land. No one knows what the future holds and this could perhaps become a reality. If this were to happen, I would feel extreme anger and resentment toward the people that kicked us off our land naturally. However, I would also feel an extreme sense of pride for my people and stand by them no matter what, as exhibited by many Native Americans. Land has been fought over in so many wars and it is often the source of conflict, and only time will tell what will happen as the population continues to increase.
I really benefited from listening to Ahman Bailey talk about his life on a Native American reservation and what his feelings are toward his oppressors. I have never heard first hand what it is like for Native Americans living on reservations on a daily basis. When listening to him talk, what shocked me the most was the high suicide rate. When he told the story of his younger cousin who could not handle the deaths of her relatives and committed suicide, I became aware of just how much Native Americans value their culture and family. My sympathy and apathy goes out to the Native Americans and I cannot even begin to imagine the daily struggles which they face. I strongly believe that our generation must work together with the Native Americans to help improve their living conditions and work hard at improving our relationship with them. Even though we wrongly took land away from the Native Americans, we must strive to correct the past, in order to prevent it from repeating itself in the future. We never know what could happen in the future and history has a way of repeating itself. Perhaps our land could be taken away wrongly similar to how the Native Americans were oppressed and I am sure we would not appreciate that.

I believe that personal choices that you make and what happens to you in life are a result of a combination of free will and determinism. The fact that I am presently at Penn State University is the direct result of a combination of free will and determinism. I come from a middle-class family and my parents and most of my grandparents attended universities. Therefore, it was never a question whether the financial means would be available to send me to college or not. Ever since I was little, my parents always talked about my siblings and I going to college. It was never a discussion of whether we were going to college or not, it was only a matter of which university we would attend. Therefore, that component of the fact that I am presently at Penn State University is purely determinism based on the fact that it was not an option for me to attend college or not. Leading up to applying to colleges, the grades that I earned in classes, the extracurricular activities that I participated in, and my SAT/ACT scores that qualified me to be accepted to Penn State University were a combination of both free will and determinism. The amount that I chose to study for my classes, the different extracurricular activities I chose to become involved with, and the time and effort I put into studying for the SAT/ACT were based upon my free will and choice. However, the grades I got in the classes and the scores that I got on the standardized tests and how they compared to Penn State University’s standards included aspects of determinism. On the contrary, the choice that I made to come to Penn State University was based upon free will. I began my collegiate career at a small liberal arts University in Ohio and soon realized that I wanted to attend a much larger University. I chose to submit a transfer application to Penn State University and once accepted, I made the decision myself to transfer from Ohio Wesleyan University to Penn State University. Therefore, the leading factors that contributed to me being at Penn State University presently encompass aspects of both free will and determinism. I honestly never really thought about how much determinism plays a role in our lives. I was always under the impression that everything is based upon free will and the choices which you make on a daily basis will ultimately determine your future. However, after listening to Sam talk, watching the video about Tammy and her family, and hearing my classmates’ beliefs, my ideas about free will vs. determinism have changed. On the first clicker question in class about these subjects I thought that our futures are depended solely on free will; however, my view soon changed to be encompass a belief that our lives are a combination of free will and determinism.

When Sam first put up the graph depicting the different average salaries among various racial groups, I was honestly not surprised by the outcome. However, what I was surprised by was the large discrepancy in the average salary income levels between Whites/Asians and Blacks/Hispanics/Native Americans. There is also a direct parallel between the poverty rates and the annual average salary income levels in the United States between these groups. I think that in order to attempt to grasp the reasoning behind why this is so, we must go way back in history to times of severe prejudice and racial discrimination. Even though our society has come so far from those times in history, there will always be some lasting effects. At a time when slavery was present in America, Whites were regarded as being superior and thus benefited through a head start in financial gain and establishment. Throughout time to present day, Whites continued to climb the financial latter as did Blacks; however, Whites had already had a head start. In terms of the discrepancy between Whites/Asians and Hispanics/Native Americans, I would conclude that the difference results largely from the large amounts of poverty and drug/alcohol usage present in Hispanics/Native Americans. While Asians fall toward the top of the average salary income because more often than not, when Asians come to America they are financially established beforehand in order to come over. Many Asians come to the United States seeking a higher level of education or a job.
I think that success in terms of annual salary income has a lot to do with the amount of education that you have received, which then falls in direct correlation with your financial background growing up and your motivation and determination to succeed. Since the rates of poverty are much greater in Blacks/Hispanics/Native Americans, the chance to get a level of higher education is not always provided or attainable. However, I believe that while coming from a family that is financially stable helps you, a person that works hard has the potential to succeed. I find it very difficult to find a rationale explanation as to why certain races have high salary rates because each situation and person is different from one another; however, based on certain generalizations one can conclude this is due to certain underlying factors.
I found the comment that Sam said in class to be exceptionally interesting because most people (sometimes myself included) do not look at the world this way. He said that most often we look at what people above us possess in financial status, as a means to compare ourselves to. However, instead we should be looking below us and as a result be grateful for what we have. I think that this is a really important outlook to have on life because many humans fall into this trap.

After watching this video produced by CNN, I was completely appalled and disturbed by what Nasim Mohammed recounted of his stay at Bagram prison and the torture that he was forced to endure. As the reporter cited, many of these people from Afghanistan were simply in the “wrong place at the wrong time.” I feel that the gruesome torture that Nasim Mohammed was given because he was accused of being involved with the Taliban and then years later when he was released was not even given compensation or a written apology is entirely inexcusable. I strongly believe that if this exact scenario would happen to American citizens, it would become a big issue and brought to the attention of the entire nation. It is too often repeated over and over again throughout history that innocent people are forced to suffer the consequences because of actions people in their country performed. I cannot even begin to imagine the uproar and reaction in America if two-hundred citizens were taken from their homes to prisons where they were tortured through electric shock, hung from the ceiling for seven days, and after many years finally released and only given a simple, “I’m sorry.” I feel that this is entirely inexcusable and should not be tolerated to torture fellow human beings to such extreme measures, especially when they are being condemned for something they never were involved in. What aggravates me the most is that humans are repeating history over and over again and are not learning from our mistakes in the past. Just take a moment to put yourself in Nasim Mohammed’s shoes. Imagine you were born in Afghanistan and were taken from your home and away from your family and life for years because you were wrongly accused of being involved with the Taliban. How would you view Americans? I know that I would exhibit extreme hatred and perhaps because of their treatment by Americans would now engage in such anti-American actions because of what happened. This is a vicious cycle that must be ended. I understand that we have to protect our country, but I strongly believe that the measures taken against people such as Nasim Mohammed are taking protecting our country to a whole new level. If we had prisoners in Afghanistan we would not want them to be treated so incredibly inhumanely. While I sympathize with Nasim Mohammed’s sufferings, I do not agree with his remark that all international forces should be removed from Afghanistan. The media and news does not portray all the good that international forces and America are doing in countries in the Middle East, such as Afghanistan. But rather, all the bad is highlighted. Overall, I feel that America is trying to help countries such as Afghanistan; however, I believe that the extreme torture of prisoners such as Nasim Mohammed is inexcusable and should not be tolerated.