What gives us the right to stop people from pursuing better lives? Is it because we have better lives (as in more people here live in comfort) and have better technology than another country like Mexico? What drives people to uproot themselves to go to a better place to provide a better life for their family?

To the girl who stated that the illegal immigrants should come here legally... what is the meaning of the word legal? What gives the people here the right to deny other people entry on to this land? The funny part is, the people who are trying to prevent from entering this country have been living here just as long or longer in the history than the white/black/asian people who seem to dictate the policies of this country. When you make an argument that everyone here pays taxes and they should, that is valid. However, having them go through a very lengthy and expensive process that is also selective based on wealth or skill just to set foot in this country is wrong.

They are willing to work harder than most of the people here for the jobs that people here do not want. They also take less pay and help out the farmers in the south. When the price of a pear or grapes triples the next time you go shopping, then you would start to sing a different tune. There shouldn't be any restrictions on people entering this country, other than the fact that they should be required to pay taxes. If the government legalizes temporary immigration laborers from Mexico, the Californian economy will be fixed as they will be paying taxes on the money they "steal" from the jobless Americans.

It is kind of funny how I refer to the illegal immigrants as "they." The proper term would be "we," since all our ancestors came here and demolished the Native Americans and the rest came to enjoy the "barren" land that was cleared of the natives. The land we use and walk on everyday is stolen, and is colored red with the blood of the Native Americans.

When there are people willing to do the work that most here are not willing to do (because the pay is low, but the farmers wouldn't be able to make any profit otherwise) and the people who aren't as well of are willing to come in and pick up the slack so that the rest of us can enjoy the fruit of their labor, why are we trying to turn them away?

We should try to put ourselves in their shoes for once and see what you would do differently, just for a shot at a life... You have nothing in the form of wealth and not trained in anything considered of value. You are willing to work very hard at any opportunity presented so you can feed and educate your family. Chances are, 10 out of 10 times, you get turned away from immigration because you don't "qualify" to enter the country. What would you do?

I totally agree, not only are they not contributing to run the government, they put a burden on the other taxpayers. That is my biggest pet peeve with illegal immigration, which is that they just come in, earn money, possibly take advantage of the government services funded by the tax payer money here and leave again once they earn enough, or stay to continue being a burden to the society. This issue can be immediately fixed if the government would just encourage illegal immigrants to get document and not instill and penalties against them, so that they can, at the least, pay taxes.

The thing with this is that people living here pay taxes that goes to everything that is being used by the illegal immigrants in the country. They get access to the libraries, subsidized travel, and the biggest culprit of them all, access to "free" healthcare. That is, they sometimes leave hospitals bills unpaid and just leave the country, which puts a huge strain on the health care system of this country. Usually, it is the other taxpayers that foot the bill for that. If a law were to be passed that actually made employment legal for illegal immigrants, they would be contributing to this country better through paying taxes.

What gives us the right to stop people from pursuing better lives? Is it because we have better lives (as in more people here live in comfort) and have better technology than another country like Mexico? What drives people to uproot themselves to go to a better place to provide a better life for their family?

To the girl who stated that the illegal immigrants should come here legally... what is the meaning of the word legal? What gives the people here the right to deny other people entry on to this land? The funny part is, the people who are trying to prevent from entering this country have been living here just as long or longer in the history than the white/black/asian people who seem to dictate the policies of this country. When you make an argument that everyone here pays taxes and they should, that is valid. However, having them go through a very lengthy and expensive process that is also selective based on wealth or skill just to set foot in this country is wrong.

They are willing to work harder than most of the people here for the jobs that people here do not want. They also take less pay and help out the farmers in the south. When the price of a pear or grapes triples the next time you go shopping, then you would start to sing a different tune. There shouldn't be any restrictions on people entering this country, other than the fact that they should be required to pay taxes. If the government legalizes temporary immigration laborers from Mexico, the Californian economy will be fixed as they will be paying taxes on the money they "steal" from the jobless Americans.

It is kind of funny how I refer to the illegal immigrants as "they." The proper term would be "we," since all our ancestors came here and demolished the Native Americans and the rest came to enjoy the "barren" land that was cleared of the natives. The land we use and walk on everyday is stolen, and is colored red with the blood of the Native Americans.

When there are people willing to do the work that most here are not willing to do (because the pay is low, but the farmers wouldn't be able to make any profit otherwise) and the people who aren't as well of are willing to come in and pick up the slack so that the rest of us can enjoy the fruit of their labor, why are we trying to turn them away?

We should try to put ourselves in their shoes for once and see what you would do differently, just for a shot at a life... You have nothing in the form of wealth and not trained in anything considered of value. You are willing to work very hard at any opportunity presented so you can feed and educate your family. Chances are, 10 out of 10 times, you get turned away from immigration because you don't "qualify" to enter the country. What would you do?

Continuing my previous rant. When they see these missionaries as coming over to spread their religion, the people have a reason to go crazy and become even more radical. If they have plans to attacks Americans, they should just start with these missionaries and leave the innocent people alone. If you are a reason why terrorism is being born, then you deserve to get attacked first. I am not saying missionaries are bad or what they are doing is stupid, but it is where they are doing it that completely irks me. Why would you further create a mindset where you want to associate Christianity with America, and then invade a country in the name of oil, but send missionaries over so the people there see it as a crusade. That is what it is, and if we want to change, then we need to get out of there as soon as possible.

I would like to comment on the many things that I found very interesting yesterday in class. First of all, I didn't really know what to expect walking into the lecture other than the fact that there was a question up on the board regarding terrorists. I would just like to go ahead and say that our class hosts many immature people, and if you were able to see the names next to their messages, it would completely turn around the maturity level of the class. There are many moments in class where I laugh and then also shake my head at the insensitivity of the people texting their replies to the board, but there are equal moments where I would just punch an idiot for messing up a good class experience.

Back to the topic of the lesson. I was a little wary and kind of knew what was coming as soon as Sam ventured into this topic. It is safe to say that he gets a little predictable with his approach. The photos contrasting the life in Baghdad pre and post war really blew my mind! When we destroy a city that badly and expect the people there to treat us as saviors, we have another thing coming. After looking at those pictures, I realize now that how much the way of life there changed. We are the terrorists and they are the victims of our ruthless tactics at controlling the oil supply in the world. Does it really justify spending trillions of dollars on the war over there, where more people just keep getting killed. It just fosters more hatred and mutual terrorism where we keep killing each other. If the other country had the military power that we have right now, there would not be a single soul left in the world after the aftermath of that destruction. For what we did to them, it would completely justify them using nuclear weapons against. Hey, I mean we did it to Japan for a lot less than that. It is just not right how much money we spend on military and not on our education instead. Our future generations will suffer terribly and all the current presidents that lead us down this path of death, destruction, and lavish military spending will be not be remembered in a kind light. They are just destroying this country's future, making the world hate us and putting us in further debt.

As for religion being a part of the issue. I don't buy the fact that we are trying to force Christianity on them. However, I can totally understand why they see it that way. It is all these idiot missionaries that go over there thinking they are doing everybody a favor trying to spread their religion. They see that in a worse light then they do our soldiers probably as they view these missionaries as the voice of America.

I agree, especially the video about the soldiers destroying a guy's livelihood by totaling his car. What were they looting? Some wood? Did the soldiers need to really do that? After that video, I went online on youtube and looked up many such videos which showed some brutal actions towards the civilians. If you just look into their eyes during these actions, then you would realize why terrorism exists. It is us spending billions of dollars trying to occupy other people's lands and take their resources when we have no right being there. We also use the excuse of terrorism, when we help create it in the first place.

As to the L.L. Bean thing in class on Tuesday, I found it very funny. In a way, a part of me agreed with Sam on this issue, while the other part of me felt the same way as the girl in the video. Some of it is definitely true though. I have never seen a black man wear dress shorts or a lot of black people doing water sports/ hanging out near water. It feels unnatural since I guess it isn't done all the time, but I don't think that it shouldn't be taken as it should not be done.

The point of this class is to make you think. People will just sit down and sleep if Sam just tells you what you already know. I love the way Sam teaches and I wish more of my profs would do the same. He challenges your thinking and brings out your thoughts from inside of you. Sometimes you are outraged and sometimes you just agree with everything and laugh along. But you always think and are stimulated in this class. That is the point of this class. It is to make you think about race and all his outrageous claims and talks are the only way to make you do that.

Welcome to the black and brown team my friend. If you are half and half, you can't be considered white, and if you are not white, then you are a part of the black and brown team.

The one thing I don't understand is how some oriental people are considered "brown." A lot of the people I have seen have a lighter colored skin than most black people I know. It does not really make any sense when people call them brown. But then, I thought about it or a while. If you are not completely white, then you are either black or brown.

Nowadays however, I don't really think it matters. It is the way you behave and your culture that should define your "identity," not your race. I feel like "white" is its own culture by so many stereotypes associated with it. A black or brown person can be considered "white" where as a white kid can be considered "black" (I know one), not through his or her skin color, but by the way he or she acts. That might be racist, but culture should have more of an importance on one's identity than someone's skin color. There was an albino that went to my high school, but I have never met anybody more black than him, but his skin was pure white.

Now the person on this video might feel conflicted about what side he should take during the class. I hope I just helped make that decision a little bit easier for him. It is the culture that he should consider that he should be a part of and treat it as if it was a race. A person has no control over their skin color when they are born (que in the "except Michael Jackson" jokes here), but when they are raised, they can choose to be or not to be a part of their culture. Many people of same skin color or race tend to stick together. When I often see groups walking by, they are always either completely one race, or have one or two people of another race mixed in (I know I am using the term race as having multiple meaning if you are following what I am writing, but deal with me here). These groups tend to have a culture associated with them, and that culture is passed on to the race. This is where the race gets its own culture. A person can adopt this race as their own if they adopt the culture.

When you go to a new place, people can usually tell what culture you came from and would probably associate you with that rather than a race. When I first met the poster (he lived on my floor freshman year), I knew he was Hispanic just from a few seconds of being around him.

Some people might think I am wrong, but I don't care. That is how I see it.