I think that it’s difficult for people to step outside their ‘boxes’ because of fear of the unknown. I don’t think it is that people are necessarily 100% pleased with what they have, but because they are just comfortable. I think it has become a cultural norm in America to stick to what you know, despite having one of the most diverse populations of all the countries in the entire world. I would think that because of so many different cultures and peoples live in this country that we would have more experimentation with foods and customs. Part of the reason I believe we are like this is because of a lack of understanding, which is very unfortunate. My friend is from Peru and has a completely different set of cultural traditions. I have been to his house for holidays and it is very exciting to see how other people celebrate their lives. Despite how much I appreciate the opportunity to be a part of new ‘boxes’, I can understand how people are afraid to adapt to new situations. In my opinion, the media plays a large part in determining these fears. I can’t even count how many movies and television shows are focused on cultural differences and diversity. In these productions, ethnic families and friends are drastically differentiated as to show great contrast to show how people react to these situations. I think that to change, our society would have to have a massive alteration to how we feel to each other. I think the basis for this change would have to be with how we deal with other people. If you think about it, in our society, we usually focus on efficiency (not experience) in situations. I’m just as guilty as the next person in regards to the fact that I often ignore people in public areas if I’m in a hurry and need to get something done. I believe we all need an eye-opening experience to change our ways and become more diverse. Unfortunately, I do not know whether there can possibly be an event that would change the population’s views as a whole. There will always be those who prefer the ‘old’ ways. For example, it was a great societal and culturally-changing even when Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. As the first black commander-in-chief, Obama set a new precedent for who can run our country, regardless of race. I think we need to realize greatness can come from those who are different than ourselves. If we begin with accepting small things (like different cultural dishes), I believe that we can one day reach a point where our society is the most diversified collection of peoples in the world.

I think the biggest obstacle in interracial dating is the acceptance of different cultures between the two people. I believe that it has less to do with individuals actually having problems with dating a person of another race, but how others will react to it. One of my friends from high school was born in Egypt and his parents expected him to date another Muslim. He had to secretly date a white girl because his parent’s strict restrictions did allow for interracial dating. While there is constantly more leniency in race relations, there will always be discrimination in our society. People may say “I have no problem with a black and white person dating” until it actually takes effect in their lives, like a son or daughter. I also think there are differences in which races are concerned in the couple. The age-old struggle between black and white is still a very hostile subject in this country. Some older generations lived through a period where there were massive race riots and participated in the Civil Rights Period. Because of this, they have influenced younger generations that black and white should be separate. Personally, I have rarely seen successful interracial couples. I don’t know whether it is because of fear of social retaliation or whether they prefer individuals of their own race. Many of the people at Penn State were not raised in very diverse communities, which prevent them from seeing a good amount of interracial couples while they were growing up. The media doesn’t do a very good job of changing those perceptions either. In most movies and television shows, you rarely see interracial couples. Blacks and whites are also so drastically portrayed as opposites in those shoes and movies that it makes it hard to accept people of the other race as viewers. Lack of understanding and experiences with other races also makes it difficult to go out of your comfort zone and pursue romantic opportunities. I think it is a lot easier for other races to be intertwined, as opposed to black and white because there is not the same violent and controversial history. For example, I have seen tons of Hispanics date blacks and whites alike and it does not seem to be as big of a deal. It takes a lot of confidence and openness to be in an interracial difference. Parents have historically been known to be critics of having their children be in a relationship with a person of a difference skin color. I believe that our culture needs a major alteration so that these relationships are not criticized, but appreciated for their courage in dating who they want, not who society says they should.

I think the ‘gay choice’ question will be discussed as long as there is unfair treatment towards the LGBT community. Personally, I didn’t choose to like girls, I can just remember being attracted to them when I was younger. It wasn’t like I decided to go after a girl instead of a boy. I think the people that continue to think it is a choice have been brought up to believe that. Most of the cases, I think those people are very religious and don’t think God would create people to naturally be attracted to the same-sex. I think by saying its natural, it takes a swipe at the religious respectability of God in their opinions. I have heard so many stories of people committing suicide because they were treated terribly after they came out. I don’t believe that anyone would ‘choose’ to suffer that type of harassment. Imagine, choosing to be berated, abused, and made fun of. How can anyone possibly think that being gay is a choice after that? I think part of the reason people offer this argument is because they are confused about people being attracted to the same sex at birth. I don’t think that you really can understand being gay or lesbian unless you actually are attracted to the same sex as yourself. Straight people can talk to gay people and think they understand and show some compassion towards their orientation, but it is not the same. Gay and lesbian couples should just be left alone about the ‘gay choice’ question and appreciated for the people that they are.
I’ve noticed how people in our society often try to analyze EVERYTHING, and this might be a topic that just needs to be forgotten or less-emphasized. It’s in the bible that Adam and Eve were the first humans and that they were responsible for populating the world. At least for Christians, this is one of the most famous and popular parts of the bible. Because of this, it is assumed that men and women are meant to be paired together in order to continue the human species. Because of this, strict religious followers may think that gays were meant to be with a woman to have children, and see them as choosing to blaze their own path. I don’t really think that a person’s choice in a significant other has any effect on the character and morality of a person. Adolf Hitler had girlfriends and he turned out to be in charge of a regime that was responsible for millions of death during World War II. Doesn’t it seem that straight and gay people alike are all eligible to be terrible leaders or great humans?

I think that rape and abortion are among some of the most controversial issues in America today. Part of the reason is because people’s various religious and societal upbringings are vastly different. Also, everyone is at a different perspective, whether they were educated in their lives to support pro-life or had an unfortunate experience when they were raped and became pregnant. I believe that no one should be able to tell a person what they should do with their own bodies. Like Sam said in class, he believes that drugs should be legal because it isn’t right for people to not be able to do whatever they please to themselves. If a woman is raped and becomes pregnant, how can you morally live with laws that restrict her from getting an abortion? More than a physical strain, the psychological repercussions on that woman would be tremendous. For nine months, she would have to live with a constant reminder of what she has been through. Once the child is born, would she give it up for adoption or choose to raise it on her own. How could a mother tell their child that there father was a criminal and they themselves should not be here today.
There are a lot of areas for discrepancies regarding abortion, making it that much more controversial. I understand that abortions are killing innocent babies, but how would you feel if your little sister was raped and became pregnant. I think it is easy to pro-life until someone close to you is affected by this type of decision. I think we need to truly ‘stand in (victim’s) other’s shoes’ before we pass judgment on abortion. I think if the mother chooses to have sex, then she should be morally obligated to have the baby if she does indeed become pregnant. However, if sex was not an option for the girl, and it was forced, I think she should be able to decide the future of her body on her own decision.
While these are just my personal beliefs, I can understand why people are so adamant in their support of pro-life. If abortions are continued, we will lose unborn babies, and who knows what their contributions to our world could have been. I’ve heard stories from friends that they know people whose parents were advised to get an abortion because of an impending likelihood that they would be born with a deficiency. Yet, they were born completely healthy and have never been treated for any serious illnesses. Situations like this make me wonder how much we should take doctor’s advice over our own personal opinions. But this debate will consistently be debated as long as there is no set law in favor of one direction or the other.

I think this video manipulated people’s view on race by adjusting a simple psychological feature, smiling. Whether the males were instructed to not smile or not remains to be seen, but I think that it should not be in the same category in a race discussion. I think the fact that not all people had the same facial expression alters opinions. With that being said, if strangers had to offer their opions of the people, I believe that the black men in the video would get more skeptical views if seen in public. The women on the other hand were both smiling and came off as kind. I believe that they would get positive responses in public with their posture and race. I think the video we watched in class about the bicycle thefts relates closely to this video. When the white man was trying to steal the bike, he got skeptical looks and some confrontation, but for the most part, was ignored while committing a crime. The black man received a lot more skepticism from the people in the park, but I think that was also based partly on the answers they gave to people. The white man seemed to subtly suggest he was stealing the bike, while the black man openly admitted to committing a crime. The white woman in the video was wearing very revealing clothing and was attractive, so was offered help from several males in the park. This can relate to the girl in the video, as she was attractive and came off in an appealing way. I guess you could say that all the characters in the video played to the stereotypes of society. While we are able to breakdown these stereotypes in class, most of the population does not have access to a forum where they can talk about all the racial profiling in the country, whether it be in job-hiring, incarceration rates, etc. I think that Sam’s wife came off as the most appealing person because she is older, which I think makes her look more responsible. Even while the white girl smiled, I think people are often discriminated against because of age. Another aspect of each individual that could possibly give off negative opinions is their hair styles. Each of the black individuals had hair that could be described as ‘urban’ or ‘traditional’ of people living in city-areas. I think a large part of how we decide about a person based off their looks is based in society’s errors and history of racial strife. Personally, I know some of my grandparents have bad opinions of Middle Easterners because they lived through the Iran Hostage and Munich Athlete Crisis, which is unfortunate because those events were both over 30 years ago.

I thought that Sam really hammered home the idea of the cruelty the Native Americans have experienced with the loss of their land. By having an actual Native American come to class and talk to us about his family’s history made me feel terrible for the way the United States government and white settlers ripped land away from their people. While my ancestors were not in the country until the early 1900’s, I still feel somewhat obligated to make it up to the Native Americans since it was my government that took action against them. The video we watched about Native Americans and the history of their removal from their land was powerful and provided me with background information, but I didn’t exactly make me want to do anything for them. After learning about it in person, it gave me a totally different perspective. I have lived in Northern Virginia my entire life and it has drastically affected my life and shaped my future. Going around my neighborhood, there are countless places that I have had great memories and stories and could not imagine never visiting them again. For example, my friend and I in high school both asked our girlfriends to senior prom at the lake near my house. I will always appreciate that memory. If someone was to come to Northern Virginia and tell me and my family, friends, and schoolmates that we could never come back, I would honestly have no idea what to say. Whether it be visiting the local bagel bakery on Saturday mornings or seeing a new movie at the George Mason University Theater, so many places near my house have sentimental value to me. If I was forced to move to, say Utah, I would have to live in unfamiliar cold climate and would not be able to do the same activities that I grew up doing. Another often forgotten segment of Native American relocation was the amount of lives that were lost during the journeys to their new homes. The infamous “Trail of Tears” is considered one of the deadliest massacres in American history, and it did not even consist of combat or battles. Relocation strained the Native Americans and changed their livelihood and decreased their chance of survival. In today’s society, people are consistently trying to advocate change in healthcare and the legalization of marijuana, but are those as important as kicking someone out of the place they have been for centuries, possibly longer? I think we choose to fight for things that most positively affect ourselves, which is a huge problem. Sam tries to get us to look at social problems from a different view, and I think the speaker in class really helped us with that. As a society, if we all saw social problems from the life of those most affected, do you think we could solve more problems?

I was absolutely shocked to hear Sam tell the class that for every one American soldier killed in action, 27 commit suicide. After September 11th, the general view of our military was based on the Middle East and Afghanistan, which in my opinion was where we began to ignore the domestic problems facing our troops. Americans were focused on winning the war on terrorism and as long as they saw results, they didn’t care about the means to an end. Once the job overseas was done, soldiers’ well-being is somewhat ignored. I think to fully show support, we need to put some money in programs and centers designed to rehabilitate soldiers that are suffering from any forms of depression or request aid. Soldiers are trained to be tough and undergo harsh situations throughout their service. The military does not want their soldiers to have reputations of mental health problems, because it essential weakens their overall image. Soldiers can go from being potentially killed every day in action to having to go home and readjust to society. The differences between the two are drastic to say the least. To be honest, I think that most people say ‘support the troops’ without really planning on doing anything more than giving a standing ovation at a football game, etc. To be fair, there is not really enough coverage or information regarding the suicide rate of the troops in the media. I believe that there need to be more groups dedicated educating the public about post-traumatic stress disorder experienced by the soldiers. People are often horrified by witnessing accidents or severe injuries to people. Imagine walking around a city in a foreign land and seeing dead bodies on the ground. Imagine pulling the trigger and killing a person. Even worse, what if you killed a fellow American in friendly fire? I think people hope that soldiers get the proper care, but most don’t do anything about it. A large percent of the public were against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but still, the notion of ‘supporting the troops’ lived on. I think this is because Americans realize the sacrifice the troops are making and want to support them, not necessarily the actual war. A large portion of the troops are living in poverty as well. After risking their lives defending our freedom and country, soldiers deserve much more than to live in depression and/or with financial difficulties. Once a soldier, always a soldier. I believe that we need to help our troops with special funds and stipends so they can come back after their service and start off their new lives with a firm economic standing. I think we can do a lot better in treating the defenders of America.

I was not surprised at all by the statistics regarding home incomes for the different racial groups. Whites have been the dominant racial group in this country for centuries, so it shouldn’t be shocking to people to see them making the most money. Asian Americans have begun coming to America is waves recently. Someone in class or my recitation brought up the point that most Asians that are financially successful here were wealthy and established in their native countries and then decided to move here to sustain and expand their success. Many Black families have been established in America due to the Atlantic Slave Trade that happened until its abolishment in 1865. Yet, blacks were still treated as second-citizens, with some Southern States even enacting Jim Crow Laws which restricted public protocol and rights. Until the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s, blacks were unable to receive the same financial and social opportunities to make their families financial sound. In class, Sam brought up two girls, one white and one black, and gave us an actual comparison of two scenarios and how race played a crucial role in determining their economic status. We did a poll on whether we thought access to resources (race basically) or hard-work were a more determining factor in economic status. While I do believe that it is important to work-hard, I believe that race is essential. We always hear in television shows, documentaries, or movies that people have a rags-to-riches story and say to ourselves: “It can be done if you put in enough effort”. But think about all the people that try hard and fail to gain that financial success. Hypothetical situation – If a black man who is born into a family that lives in poverty, he can be very smart but when it comes time to go to a job interview, he may not have a suit to wear or even access to transportation to the interview. Access to resources is an invaluable aspect of acquiring financial success. Native Americans are with blacks at the bottom of the economic pyramid due in large part to white settlers coming into their lands and forcibly removing them. In the process, whites killed a significant part of Native American culture and livelihood, buffalo. In those videos for the first quiz, I was very moved by the clip discussing Native American poverty and other problems facing the race. I was shocked to hear how many suffer from alcoholism and other drugs, and I understand how they are so financially crippled. It’s sad that a race lived in this country for centuries and now have little to none financial success. I hope we continue discussing race and finances because I think it’s at the root of our current economic situation.

When I first saw the posters, I was surprised that it was focused on jihad and Israel. Jihad is the religious war versus those who are against the mission of Muhammad. Every time I hear about a struggle between Israel and a Muslim nation, it is focused on the governments of those nations, not ‘religious fighters’, as the posters suggest. Palestine and Israel have been in conflict over the West Bank and other land claims, but I do not see any reasoning why a poster in a subway stop in New York City would do anything to win support for the latter.
If blogger Pamela Gellar truly wanted to make a difference in the conflict, I think she should have done something that could have reached a wider audience. I believe that her poster, while constitutionally protected by the Bill of Rights, is complete disregard for Muslims that could potentially walk by the messages.
I was happy to see Muneer Awad, a member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, react to the whole incident in a professional way. He said the council recognizes Gellar’s rights to say whatever she wants, but also presents the challenge to New Yorkers to stand against the posters and their demeaning and controversial message.
I’m currently in a communications law class and we’re learning about freedom of speech. We’ve been discussing what allows for certain derogatory statements to be published and others banned. I figured the only reason that the posters were allowed to be hung because Gellar didn’t specifically name a group or country. Jihadists are religious warriors that have been demonized by several western organizations and groups.
If there is anything positive to be taken away from this controversy, it is that Americans are having less and less tolerance for racist and hate messages. Gellar had to go through a legal process just to get a poster put up in a subway stop. I’ve seen my fair share of crazy messages in D.C. Metro stops and I can assure you it doesn’t take very much credibility to put up an ad.
The fact that Gellar put “Support Israel” on the posters creates another controversy in itself. I don’t believe that all Israelis or Jewish-Americans support this message, so Gellar’s ad is really just a proclamation of her own opinion. If a poll was taken in the New York Times or another notable newspaper, I would be interested to see what percent of the population would agree with her posters.
I believe that the posters will only strengthen the resolve of some Americans to work for peaceful solutions in the Middle East. This type of media attention could rally supporters of peace and actually hurt Gellar’s movement in the long–run.

I thought it was awesome that Sam was able to have our 700 person class skype Pedrum last week. After reading the quote from Karl Rove on the screen, I was shocked that a person so close to the leader of our country would say something so extreme. From an outsider’s perspective, I would understand why there are some people in the world that have negative feelings towards America after quotes like that.
In speaking with Pedrum, it was clear he was similar to us and seemed like a good guy. I wish we could have talked to him longer so he could extend on his comments about Iran. I personally do not know anyone from Iran and was extremely shocked to hear that Iranians like Americans and would treat them kindly. In the news, Iranian leadership has criticized the U.S. and its policies and this gave me the impression that’s how the country as a whole felt. With that being said, I would like to know what the people of Iran think of U.S. involvement in the Middle East and Afghanistan. I wonder how he would feel if he read the quote from Rove.
After hearing Omar Offendum rap in class, I would like to talk to Pedrum about his opinion of hip-hop and other genres of music that discuss the current status of Muslim-Christian relations. America has a culture of music discussing and promoting world peace, but I have never heard of Iranian music or how American music is accepted there.
I would like to talk to Pedrum about how he became so knowledgeable about the U.S. and if the public in Iran know a lot. With all the news about Israel-Iran, I would like to know if the people of Iran feel as strongly about the hatred for the aforementioned.
Pedrum mentioned he watches American television like the Simpsons and Modern Family. I would like to talk to him and ask if these show changed his perception of Americans, as opposed to seeing political news. I wonder if the stereotypes of Americans in these shows alter Iranian perceptions. With regards to that, I would ask Pedrum if conservatives in Iran (mostly older people I would assume) feel negatively about the “Americanization” of their culture. Pedrum said a lot of people know English which I assume is relatively new to the country.
I would really like to ask Pedrum about education in Iran and how it’s valued in their society. Sam said in class that Iranians are smart people, but I have never heard of their educational system. I think it would also be interesting to hear about some basic history of Iran, and their economic strengths and weaknesses.