Merry Christmas!

It is early but I wanted to say it before i forgot (I forget alot) MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Surprised and Amazed

First I am surprised that this is the first post since Nov. 25th. I am also amazed that so many people make statements about having lost respect for America and its government. I do not understand how you could lose respect for these things. America is the most free country in the world, you have more rights here than anywhere else, in other countries you would be laughed at if you tried to talk about how something is your right. I am also amazed at how many of you were so ignorant about our countries history.

Other than the blog, whats was your favorite part about the class? What have you learned that you didn't know before? What will you take away? Will your actions change around other races?

Racism

Before being out of this class for good, i would like to acknowledge the fact Jocelyn being so quick to judge everyone else on being racist. I think you need to look at yourself aswell. What about the begining of class when were having the discussion about the "N" word. You attack me for saying the word when repeating what boys said in my neighborhood. It's not like i was personally attacking you...I was agreeing with you, you just chose to take everything personal. Then a couple classes later Raj yells the"N" word 3-4 times, so loud people could hearit dow the hall.... were you offended by that? No you wern't you sat their and had a discussion with him. Now the way i see that story is that you are racist yourself. I have many friend of color that i talked to about this and they all agree it was wrong. All i'm saying is look in the mirror before quick jumping on someone else for being racist. Everyone in our class says we treat foreigners so unfair and they can't get ahead... well has anyone tried to do something to help them????

Native American Relations in the U.S.

The way Native Americans were treated by whites was obviously wrong. From the early settlers through the times of Andrew Jackson, there rights were violated, as we can read about in Ronald Takaki’s book. But how could some of the situations have been handled differently, was there a better way? If yes, what could have been done, and would it have had a equal economic outcome? And if no, why not? Also with Thanksgiving coming up, do we have a right to celebrate a holiday like it? Given the history should we stop celebrating Thanksgiving?

WHat I read about Obama wanting to change the anthem and flag, I could not find the exact article I read, but this one is almost exactly the same.

Senator Obama Live on Sunday states, ‘As I’ve said about the flag pin, I don’t want to be perceived as taking sides, Obama said. ‘There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song ‘I’d Like To Teach the World To Sing.’ If that were our anthem, then I might salute it.’We should consider to reinvent our National Anthem as well as to redesign our Flag to better offer our enemies hope and love. It’s my intention, if elected, to disarm America to the levelof acceptance to our Middle East Brethren. If we as a Nation of warring people, should conduct ourselves as the nations of Islam, whereas peace prevails. Perhaps a state or period of mutual concord between our governments. When I become President, I will seek a pact or agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity, and a freedom from disquieting oppressive thoughts. We as a Nation have placedupon the nations of Islam an unfair injustice. My wife disrespects the Flag for many personal reasons. Together she and I have attended several flag burning ceremonies in the past, many years ago. She has her views and I have mine’. Of course now, I have found myself about to become the President ofthe United States and I have put aside my hatred. I will use my power to bring CHANGE to this Nation, and offer the people a new path of hope. My wife and I look forward to becoming our Country’s First Family. Indeed, CHANGE is about to overw helm the United States of America .

He is not proud

I recently read on Obamas website that he plans to try to change the National Anthem, and also change the American flag. He does not even put his hand over his heart during the singing of the Anthem.He said he does not think America was something to be proud of, he said he will make it something to be proud of. If it was not for this America he would not be president, he would have never gotten even remotely close to where he is today. What are your thoughts on what I just stated about the Anthem and flag?

What now?

So, Obama is president. What do you think will happen? Will he be assissinated? Will the country split apart? Will this bring around the 2nd rise of the confederacy? What are your thoughts? The votes show that YES, we are ready for a black president and we are ready to change but what about the people that were against Obama for the simple reason that he was Black? Will people be immigrating away from the U.S.? Will other countries view us differently(good or bad) ?

Racial Profiling

Last class we talked about racial profiling, I would like to hear from all of you what you think about it. Is it good or bad? Has it ever affected your life or someone you know?

hmmmmmmmmm..............

I am wondering why people jump all over what I say? This is a blog to express our views and opinions, and they are largely mine and not based solely on Christianity because I am human and I make the mistake of relying to much on me and feelings (which are the devils playground). I am growing tired of people telling me I am closed minded and ignorant when they are the ones who jump on what I say and critisize me for giving my opinion. The people who do this are the ones who are closed minded and ignorant. I am not angry as a right this, I do not mean this to be hateful in any way, just the truth. Ian

Politcal Campaign

Is John McCain's political campaign advertising strategies becoming racially divisive?

columbus day

today in class we debated the two sides of columbus day weather we should keep it as a national holiday or not have it as a national holiday any more after knowing both sides of history the multicultural history view and the traditional history view more people were towards not having it as a national holiday what do you think?

Columbus Day ?

Should we or should we not celebrate Columbus day and what are the days functions and dysfunctions?

What are your thoughts about rap music?

What are the criticisms against some rap music and music videos?

The Human Race

I am interested to know how you all define the human race, define Homo Sapien. Should we have so many races? Does it just create more issues?

Are they still a question?

Why are/were so many people against the Jews? Where is all this hatred coming from? The Greeks and Romans disliked them for their religion, in the 9th century muslims ordered the destruction of synagogues in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Yeman. In the 18th century Prussia limited the number of Jews allowed to live in Breslau to only ten so-called "protected" Jewish families. Then obiviously there was the Holocaust led by Adolf Hitler. Even today there is are neo-nazi groups and the Ku Klux Klan that are against the Jews. In "A Different Mirror" Ronald said that the Irish were finally accepted because they looked like all the other whites. Why is this not the same for Jews, they are white, they have jobs and make money. So, why do you think people are still discriminating against the Jews? What hasn't changed from the hate centuries ago to today? What are your thoughts in general.

The contradiction between Jefferson,s idea regarding slaves

We know that President Jefferson wrote our constitution and said " all man are created equal", also Jefferson,s ideology was that blacks and whites could never coexist in America because of "the real distinctions" which "nature" had made between the two races. He also believed that blacks are inferior than whites and blacks have low IQ. He also owned slaves and treated them cruelty. Knowing all this, wasn,t his ideas contradict each other? Was he really meant all man created equal to all races or he was only refering equality to white man?

freedom of worship

Hey gang--please read this article (http://www.startribune.com/local/17406054.html) and comment on it; consider the following questions:
As we become more diverse and pluralistic in both ideology and religious practices, how do we continue to accommodate for all voices without compromising some or all of peoples' inalienable rights?
Is there a limit to how diverse we can become?
Should we reexamine the constitution because the society has fundamentally changed?
Is the constitution a frozen document?
As the population grows and our belief systems multiply, can we continue to cherish diversity?

Other countries opinions...

In one of the other conversations, someone brought up how the thought that other countries hate America is a myth. While i agree that most other countries don't "hate" us exactly, i know they have some ill conceived opinions about us. One of my best friends came over to America from Norway for a year. When she first arrived she thought that we all worshiped Bush, that we were all super excited about the war, and that we were all going to be fat and lazy. When we explained to her our real ideas, she was amazed. So where do you think they got these opinions? Why do you think they feel this way? and what do you really want other countries to be saying about us?

The bad word

Today in class (in north mankato) we had an arguement/discussion about the "N" word. Some say it is a term of endearment and others say its ok to say because of rappers, and others think its ok so say because they grow up hearing it all the time so they no longer see it as a "curse" word. What do you all think? Is it offensive or a way to great a friend jokingly? Is it still one of those bad words we were taught never to say? Or is it something just that race can say to one another?

Learning the Language

I would like to find out what everyone thinks about immigrants coming into America who do not speak English. The reason is that a couple weeks ago here in Faribault there was a Hispanic man running around his apartment building screaming in Spanish, he was holding a newborn baby, no one was able to help him because he could only speak Spanish and could not tell them what was wrong, the baby died while they were trying to figure out what the man was trying to tell them, the baby had choked to death on its own spit-up, if the man spoke English someone probably would have been able to help him help the baby. So do you think all immigrants need to learn English? and how well should they learn it?

Who is at fault?

Whats holding us back from changing our views about other races? Is it the stubborn who are unreceptive to new ideas, close-minded, sexist, cynical, and negative people that are over opinionated and stuck in their ways? Or is it simply that some people are still learning racism from others?

I am interested to know why people are voting for Obama. Is it because of his credentials? Or because they think it would be good to have a black president? Do they think that having a black president somehow makes us more diverse? I would like to discus this so please post. Ian

Race relations have changed a lot in the past 50 years

In the past race was a huge issue. Now in the present we have learned to live together in harmony however the issue of race still exists. People still judge a stranger of a different race differently than they would someone of their own race. This is just part of being human. We make judgements about anyone and everything. So even though we have come very far the issue of race relations in the US is still there and will be for a long time because the sterotypes still exist and are influential in the way people are treated throughout the United States.