I think that people do want to help, they just don't know what they can do. But really, what can they do? all you can do is donate money, and according the man who came and spoke to us on 4/20, that was actually hurting the Haitian economy. People feel as though one person can't make a difference, and i feel as though most people are too lazy to do anything because no matter what, their life doesn't change from the earthquake in Haiti. People still buy clothes from Nike when they know that Asian children are being worked for pennies an hour in some sweatshop, to make those clothes. I'm shocked after the presentation on the Ivory Coast and how people there pick coco, that some people still eat chocolate. Those people aren't cruel, they just feel as though nothing they do will make a difference, because "one person cant make a difference"

There is a very thin line between between being a convicted murderer who is going to spend the rest of his or her life in person, and the average person that passes us on campus. The only difference is that convicted murderer made a mistake one night, sometimes it isn't even their fault and they are put in prison because evidence points towards them. I don't judge people before i know them, so it didn't shock me when he said that people in jail show compassion. Of course they show compassion, that's a human trait. It isn't like they are animals that have no sense anymore, they are people just like us that made one wrong decision. Some of them didn't even make a wrong decision, they were just wrongly accused. Now they are going to spend the rest of their lives in prison, and i'm sure that must take a heavy toll on any human, no matter how mentally strong they are

This is a very true statement. There is a very thin line between thinking that you are better than someone because you have a better chance of effecting the world, and being a person that is a racist. Of course being an American, it is easy to believe that you are a privileged group of people that are far more qualified then those that live in developing countries. The only problem with that thought, is that you are part of a PRIVILEGED group. You haven't necessarily done anything to belong there and it is by pure luck that you ended up in the position you are now. If you were born in a third world country such as Haiti, Somalia, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam etc... you wouldn't be such a priveleged person anymore. Because you don't have the opportunities that the average American has, you obviously won't be able to effect the world like the average american can. It has nothing to do with you, it is much more about the position you were born in.
Sam has stated a couple times in class that the bottom 10% of Americans, live in better conditions than two-thirds (or 4 billion) people throughout the world. We as Americans have to realize that we know almost nothing about real poverty. We see ghettos in New York, Washington DC, and Baltimore, but do we really understand what it means to be poor? for the most part i would think that we are pretty naive to the things that go on outside the United States.
So we have to realize that a person born into a third world country. No matter the race, he could be white, black, latino, asian, it doesnt matter. That person has a much smaller chance of being sucessful when compared to someone born in the United States. Not because he is any less of a human being, but more because he was born into conditions that really restricted the things that he could accomplish in his life. It just so happens that white people reached "the top of the mountain" first, and they have made it so other white people can prosper easier. So every third world country is made of people that look like minorities to the average American. When Americans see these people living in third world countries and they know that they will almost certainly end up more sucesful then them, it is pretty hard not to be racist. But that American has to realize that if he/she was born in those same conditions their chances of being sucessful would be much less than they are as an American. If there was a majority white country that was considered a third world country, i think Americans would realize that anyone can be born into poverty, and it isn't that they are any less of a human than we are, it is just chance that they were born there and we were born here

Men do have to conform to a certain image, just like women do. Not to the extent that woman have too, but almost. Men see athletes, actors, bodybuilders etc... and want to look like them. If they dont look like those select few groups of people, they don't get depressed as much as a woman does when she doesn't look like the way she wants. In other words, looks are important to a man but it isn't as important as it is to females. It is a mans world and sadly women are viewed as objects for men. Men are more valued for their knowledge, reputation, skills, and other things they have to offer besides their physical features. It's because women aren't only interested in looks when looking for a man, when you flip the script, men are very interested in looks and put other things aside when looking for women.

Being a woman is obviously more than just how you look. But women want men to be interested in them and men are interested in very good looking women. Men run the world and it is their standards that women feel as though they have to reach. They see women on television who are incredibly attractive and feel as though they have to look like those women to attract other men. So whatever it takes, losing weight, getting bigger breasts, bigger butt, better hair, they will try to look a certain way. Women feel as though they have to look a certain way, although there are many different types of attractive women to men. The truth is that hollywood only portrays a small percentage of woman that are attractive to men. It shows very thin women who have perfect features, and tend to be white. It doesn't show too many attractive asians, blacks, or hispanics.

Its kind of weird to look at this issue from the other point of view. Now i understand why people from America dislike Americans so much. They have a right too hate American Christians, especially with some of the horrible acts that are committed in their country by American Christians. Although i can see why the Arab Muslims in Iraq would have negative opinions against American Christians, they have to realize that the major plan of the American Christians isn't to harm them. All the American Christians want is to get the oil and catch Osama Bin Laden. To accomplish those goals it is necessary to go to war. During war, horrible and unjust acts are bound to happen.
During class i couldn't help but get the feeling that the message was that, the people of Iraq dislike American Christians for good reason, but they shouldn't dislike American Christians. When we were told to believe that we were Arab Muslims i couldn't help but dislike American Christians. They did come to my country and kill my people for oil. They kill 29 of my people for every radical person. If i were an Arab Muslim it would seem that American Christians were horrible people that were just trying to kill my people for oil, something that seems very selfish. My people are poor people that don't want to harm Americans. It's only a few radicals that make my people seem so evil to the American Christians.
The things i don't realize are what might change my opinion. American soldiers aren't all horrible people, but when a small group commit horrible acts, then all American soldiers are going to be viewed as cruel. Its wrong to stereotype against a group of people like that, but you have to in order to look at the big picture. Muslims did fly planes into the World Trade Centers in September 11, 2001. My people do bomb countries throughout the world, causing massive chaos and hurting thousands of people. My land is very prosperous when it comes to oil, and America does need that. But is it really necessary for them to kill so many innocent people? is it even necessary for them to kill people for oil?
From the Christians point of view. The Arab Muslims do want to convert everyone into their religion. They do tend to be radical and very religiously violent when compared to other religons. They are a group of people that scare Americans and most of the world. To make our people feel safer we need to suppress the Muslims, and of course, them having oil makes it a much easier choice. Our world trade centers were destroyed by Muslim suicide bombers, and thousands of our people were killed. That's a tough pill to swallow, and although obviously not every Muslim is a radical (actually a very small percentage are) we have to take some action towards this criminal acts.

The things Sam says don't necessarily change my mind, as much as open my mind to the things i have no idea about. You have opinions about most things without even knowing what they are, and then Sam will inform us about it. Our opinion may change or it may not, but were more informed and we have a more valid opinion, that we can defend in an arguement. I had always known that there were slaves around the world, and obviously i am against slavery, but i didn't feel as strong about it as i do now. He doesn't speak to us to change our opinions. He does it to get us thinking so we can get opinions that we have actually thought about. Most people are ignorant to the things that go around them. People just eat chocolate, but now that you realize its produced in part through slavery in the ivory coast, it should change the way you look at chocolate. If not then you just don't care and your mind was set before you heard the story.

I don't approve of the game or any of the messages it conveys. However, the guy from England in the video said it best when he claimed "the idea of banning it or telling people what they can or cant play because of the off-chance that some boy might get involved with it (get involved with rape outside of the game, because of the game) is ridiculous". I think when people see women's rights groups speaking about a certain issue, they always feel as though they have to agree with the women. Just because women rights groups feel a certain way about this game doesn't mean that people should sympathize with them and feel as though women are always oppressed and whatnot. For this case i believe that the woman's explanation for the ban of the rape games were pretty weak. There are shooting games, where people get murdered very graphically. Wouldn't that be conveying a worse message than a rape game? If these rape games are going to be considered too graphic and wrong, you would have to stop all shooting games before even considering rape games.

The day that white people are the minority will change America. I almost feel as though it will be more racist. the whole "white guilt" issue will end when they feel as though they are a minority. They don't feel as though they have "to be nice to minorities" anymore, because they themselves are minorities. I think every race will be feel a stronger connection to their people. There will be less schools that are 80% white an 20% minorities. Instead schools will be more likely to be very diverse. When a child looks for friends they tend to go after people that look like them. This will lead to people only hanging out with others from their race. This only brings racism because then they are pro-white, pro- black, pro-latino, pro-asian etc... and they will look at other groups as different. The way white people see black people will be the way each race sees the others, except they wont have the "white guilt".

A lot of Latino people look like they're white. They're commonly mistaken for white but it isn't a big deal. You are the one who knows your heritage and race, so being mistaken shouldn't be a problem. I think you should identify as Hispanic, that is what you actually are. There are black people who are lighter than some white people, but they still identify as black. In your case you were raised by you Hispanic mother, so i think you have experience many things that other Hispanic males have. Because of those experiences you have more in common with Hispanics than with whites. It is your choice because you are 50% white and 50% Hispanic, but i think you would feel more comfortable identifying as a Hispanic. In my opinion it doesn't matter how a mixed person actually looks, when coming to race identity. If you are 50% of something other than white, you are a minority and when people now that they will treat you like they treat any other minority.