Crash of racism

this week in sociology we watched the movie crash. this movie was a really great movie that put the whole racism issue out in the open. it really took the major issues into plain view. in the movie there were several different plots going on at once. but the message was very clear. and when you look at all the characters history's their motives seem almost justified. for example the store owners that wouldn't pay the man that fixed his lock because he didn't understand that the door needed to be fixed and so he refused to pay the man. but from the lock fixers point of view he did his job and never got payed. so it is understandable that both parties were not happy. and a big factor in their misunderstandings was because of the conflict in races. i can try to understand whee they are coming from in my own life. even while living in a save neighborhood were crime rates are very low i feel i am not so sheltered to not ever have encountered racism. for example when i went to the church to do community service i was wearing my Jewish star that i always wear around my neck. usually it is tucked in behind my shirt out of sight but when i arrived at the church it was unusually out in the open. the church goers were still nice to me but they seemed a bit more reserved then the first time i had gone. i felt almost out of place this time as apposed to last time when my star was hidden. i realized it was untucked and put it away but i feel like the message was already out. this wasn't the first time i had been discriminated against for wearing my Jewish star. but this was the first time people treated me differently after already knew me. i was almost appaled. i did not think that anyone was doing it on purpose but it was in their subconscious like we had learned in class. it was a very eye opening experience.

Racism

Racism is everywhere in our world, it is simply unavoidable. even in today's day and age there are still large amount of hate groups still alive today. you would think that through time people would learn that race is nothing more then a few different strands of DNA. today in class we talked about how it is not an issue of race, but of economic standing. while some people say that most black people are poor, you should actually be arguing that poor people are mostly black. while this may seem to not have much of a difference you could think of it in another way. you could argue that there are actually more white people in poverty then black people. but because of society's backwards thinking nobody thinks of White men as being poor. i also think that the problem might lie in the fact that race is such an easy factor when actually looking at a person. it is so much more easy to see an individual and see that they are black or white rather then poor or rich.

Affirmative action

the past week in political thought we have been learning about affirmative action and having an in class debate about it. affirmative action is when minorities are given special treatment to "level the playing field". while debating the topic discovered that this idea is very related to the class system here in America. as it is basically helping the lower class people have a chance of going to a collage with higher class kids. this concept of inner city kids not having the same resources as the more privileged children that go to a great school like Stevenson was difficult to understand. so i put it in a different perspective. i thought about it as upper class children going to private schools get a better education then the middle class kids going to private school as Stevenson. and when i put it that way it didn't seem so fair. but you have to realize that that is the social state that this country is in right now. while it may seem unfair or even mean to say that lower class children should not even have a chance to go to collage, it is the truth. but it is not always the case. even low class kids can have dreams of a better life. they an always have the hope of reaching that next rung on the ladder. and eventually through generation to generation they may finally become middle or even high class. while the system seems unfair this is the reality. and it works.

Monopoly

playing monopoly in class was a lot of fun for me, as i was the highest class and had the most money. it really gave me a different perspective on everything. having so much money i didnt have to wonder if i could buy a property or not. or if i had the money to buy houses on properties. while the other players in lower classes got had to think if it was within their "budget" to buy a relatively cheap property.this relates to the real world in a lot of ways. like if i want to go out with my friends on the weekend to see a movie i ca go without thinking about it to much. i can drive a car there, see the movie, buy popcorn, and go out to dinner after, then drive home. and not even think about the money side of it. while kids from poorer city's would have to take a bus to a cheap theater to see a movie. it makes me very thankful to be in the social class that i am in.

profiting off crime?

after watching and hearing the statistics about jail one has to wonder if the us government if incarcerating so many us citizens because there doing bad things or if its just good for the economy. after hearing that 1% of the populations is in jail and that that is much more then any other country in the world i was appalled. to think that the home of the free was such of a constraining society. and those people in jails are not murders rapists and thief's, but mostly of the people in jails are either drug related or psychologically insane. i feel that this is directly related to the amount of money that a large jail system brings. everyone seems to make more money the more people that are in jail. and because we all know money is what makes the world go 'round the system will continue making silly sentences on penny crimes. and until the average us citizen stands up for this injustice then nothing will change.

Family Matters

you never realize just how important family can be until you don't have any left. through class this week i learned the importance of nature and nurture. seeing all those feral children really makes someone think about what they have. i thought it was really interesting how just how powerful it is to have a strong connection to somebody early on in life is.like the experiment with those little kids in the orphanage who didn't receive any attention verses those that did. it was really depressing to see that those deprived kids over age 13 will probably never reach the mental capacity of anything higher then a 3 year old.

stop doing nothing!!

doing nothing i have found out is actually not allowed in our society. during my time of "doing nothing" i was confronted several times by employees of the Kohls nearby if i need help help. and even in a short 10 minutes i was asked if i need help finding something multiple times by the same and different people. doing nothing is very weird in our society. while watching the movie in class "Tuesdays with Morry" this theme was continued. Morry always talked about living life to the fullest. he was all about spending everyday as if it were your last. he did not mean that you have to get up and do things all the time. he really believed in the concept of less is more. when asked about his perfect day, he answered with a very simple day. consisting of a nice breakfast lunch and dinner with friends. and then dancing the night away. i dont know if my own perfect day could be so simple. i would probably want to do some crazy things.

American Culture

when you talk about Americas culture it is always in interesting topic. its always hard to answer this question because Americas culture is made up of the multi cultural society that we are a part of. can you cal our tossed salad of a country really a culture? or do we have no culture and are defined by the cultured of our immigrants. i think that the answer is both actually. while Americas culture is greatly influenced by the many different sub cultures, it all comes together in the big culture to create a unique culture that you can only find in America. one example of this is our food here, while yes you can always argue that we have hamburgers and pizza as Americas food, i think the best example is when we "Americanize" other cultures foods. when i ask an American when they think of when they think of Asian food, they will almost always say "fortune cookies". however if you bring that same fortune cookie over to china, Japan, or even Korea and they will look completely baffled. this is because they simply don't have those in their native lands. its an American food that the media has associated with Asian food.

Culture Shock

culture is a lot like accents. everyone thinks that everyone else in the world speaks funny. When in reality there all just different ways of speaking, none better then any other. every ones culture is different in the world, because you are influenced by everything around you. like when we learned in class about the Japanese toilets and how you never make contact with them was different from our American styled ones. i thought it was really interesting how something as stranded as a toilet could be influenced by culture. it makes me think about what else is common to me, but totality alien to somewhere else.

Micro Macro

this concept of micro and macro sociology is really interesting to me. my dad has always told me that individuals are smart but crowds are stupid. meaning that if you talk to someone one on one they are intelligent and can form their own ideas. While if you try confronting a crowd, you'll most likely be responded to by repetitive chants and illogical arguments. i see this kind of mentality a lot in the movie we are watching in class, a Bronx tale. in the movie the main character falls in love with a black girl. and in the 1960 this isn't the most common thing. and while when he is with his friend he has to act as if he hates all black people. this is very obvious this his father. when he asks his dad what he thinks about black people he responses that he doesn't have a problem with them. but when he asks what would happen if he dated one then it got to personal for him. and he started having issues. this is the case for me as well. not with race though, but with religion. my parents have no problem with other religions, however, if i don't marry Jewish they'll disown me. this is just one example of how things can change when they are taken out of perspective, and in perspective.

Racism

whether or not everyone believes so, we all are a little racist when it comes down to it. however, this does not make everyone a racist. thinking about racism made me think of where these crazy stereotypes come from. and i have decided that people are racist because of several different factors. one large problem i am holding accountable for racism in today's age is the media. through television shows, billboards, radio, and even the Internet, the media has a huge say in today's life style. while it may not be as blatant today as it has been in the past, the ideas hold strong today. another medium we can blame for these social stereotypes leading to racism is statistics. it is a fact that more women stay home and cook then men do. it is a fact that crime rates are higher for black people then for white. this does not give anyone the excuse to judge a person based on such silly implications. i have a friend whose father is 100% convinced that all black people are lazy, and i had a very long discussion about how it is simply ignorance to say such an absurd thing. and after a long debate with him i got him to "see the light", so to speak. so being a racist is not simply thinking these things in your head, but also acting on them and judging based on ignorant and silly implications.

Social Construction

social construction is a very interesting concept. the fact that your environment that you grow up in can change the fundamentals of your brain function. it was really cool when we had that demonstration in class with the spitting into a spoon. and how we all have saliva in our mouths an when we spit it out it changes forms into a vile substance. this relates to me because  in my own life an environment that i have grown in has changed how i live my day to day life differently from other kids even in this class. like my in family i grew up always eating dinner with my family. it is just natural to me. there are lots of customs very specific to me while others may have others.

Community Service

Community service is one of the greatest fulfilling feelings in the world. the fact that your helping out someone else or doing something genuinely good, with no gratification other then just feeling good is amazing. it makes me really question whether humanity is truly good on the inside. i remember last year when i went with some friends that were doing charity work for an Israeli organization. They were running a silent auction to help get orphaned children in Israel off the streets. it was a really amazing experience. their was one young adult who grew up in the streets of Israel their. she gave a little speech at the beginning and it was really inspirational. i also got to talk to a lot of extremely important and rich people in the Chicago area. after the event i really was more thankful for the things i have that so many people don't have.

Who Am I?

when someone asks you "who are you?" how do you answer? do you explain your physical characteristics? for me i am a dark brown haired 5"6 male. that has eyes that range from green to yellow to blue. or are you defined as what you do, or have done. for me i am a senior at high school. i played 11 years of baseball, 3 years of soccer, and 2 years of gymnastics. i am very active in my Jewish youth group. and also have a part time job at an ice cream store. Or maybe its your family and heritage that defines you. and if that's the case, I'm a half Russian half Polish Jew.