Free Press Reaction

I found the responses to Patrick Leahy letter very surprising coming from what I assume are members of or near the Burlington area. I assumed they would all be for hate crime legislation and have very liberal views on this situation. To my surprise, this wasn't the case. They were actually all views that I feel the same way about. As a country we have been fighting for equality in all aspects one can think of. Putting certain groups into a new law that protects them isn't creating equality it is separating them from the rest of the public. I personally don't agree with hate crime laws. "Hate" isn't illegal, and if it ever becomes illegal I think people will have to start rethinking about their surroundings. I personally feel that yes no one likes to be hated in any situation, but people need to become adults and stop pointing the finger at someone because they said something that offended them. Its part of life, its part of our rights, thats why we do it. As the gay conservative person says in the reading its only going to make people more pissed off and hate even more people. Hate crime laws seem to protect blacks and homosexuals, I dont see anything in there about protecting white people. If someone punches me and they were black and I try to say that it was a hate crime, people would laugh at me because for some reason I feel people don't think you are able to illegally hate a white person. You can obviously see my opinion on this situation and how I feel that it is unnecessary to increase a jail sentence because someone hated someone else. I guess what I'm trying to get at is we should give up on the idea of equality because its never going to happen, someone or group will always be treated better then the other. Thats just the way of life.

Reflection ch. 9

"Each year, more and more major corporations grant financial benefits to unmarried, same-sex domestic partners".

If I'm understanding this quote correctly its saying that big corporations are giving bigger and better financial benefits for people that are gay and not giving the same benefits for straight people. For some reason this seems to fall off of the equality for everybody issues that seem to always be coming up in homosexual vs. heterosexual arguments. I guess I just dont understand how people can fight to be equal with everyone, but then expect to have different support in other areas. It seems that this issue happens in civil rights, racial rights, anything that people say isnt the norm. Newman writes that corporations do this because it seems to increase workers satisfaction and motivates them to do better work. I'm sorry but if I worked for a company that gave more money to someone because they were gay I dont think it would make me more motivated, it would probably make me more pissed off and have a worse work ethic. For years upon years Americans have been fighting for equality in every aspect you could think of. People either need to give up on the fact that were not all equal, or actually make things equal so people cant bitch about stupid things anymore.

Reflection ch. 8

"In the interests of reducing the welfare rolls, the government enacted massive reforms in 1996. As a result, financial assistance to the poor is no longer a federal entitlement".

With welfare no longer being on the shoulders of the federal government it has put all the weight on the state government. Eligibility for welfare is now only good for two years of receiving benefits, with a five year lifetime limit. The reasoning behind this is to have mandatory work requirements for adults, so they can teach their children to have a good work ethic. When I think of people on welfare the first thing the comes to mind is lazy people that have no incentive to go out and get a job to pay for the things they need to survive in life. Although this may sound harsh and narrow minded this is what I have witnessed growing up in a town with people that are on the welfare system. I completely understand that some people just cant have a job for a certain period of time, however when that period of time starts to grow to over five years I think they are just taking advantage of the system. With people that use the system like it is their job its what puts the bad name on welfare, and is the reason why people assume they are just lazy.

Growing up for the first half of my life my mother was single and shortly fell into the single mother problem of juggling too many things at one time. We were on welfare for almost a year but my mother wouldnt just accept that she needed its services, and was ashamed that she had to use food stamps every week. She did just what the book stated, and what the government wanted to happen with the new welfare plan. She showed me a good work ethic and to never give up on life because it will get better. After we were off welfare life only got better, and still gets better every day. Although I can sit here today and say that a lot of people on welfare are using the system, I can say that there are a few people that use it properly to get them back on their feet.

Reflection ch. 7

"State and federal legislation usually reflects public opinion, and public opinion on legalizing same-sex marriage is indeed mixed a this point".

When the controversy of same-sex marriage started to become a popular thing across the country it seemed to bring in very different opinions depending on your geological location. Here in Vermont one would think that everyone was pro same-sex marriage because of its liberal overviews however, in my corner of VT it mast mainly against the idea of same-sex marriage. I think we had more "Take back Vermont" signs in my town, and surrounding towns, then actual road signs. This is why I probably don't agree with same-sex marriage. Although I don't agree with same-sex marriage doesn't mean that I'm completly against homosexuality, because that isn't the case. Honestly, I could care less what people decide to do in their own lives, but allowing them to get married seems wrong to me, and against my catholic beliefs. While I was watching the news the other day there was a new poll that actually showed that 53% of VT residents are now opposed to same-sex marriage, a big change over the last few years.

Newman writes, "Even in Vermont, fewer couples than expected have taken advantage of the state law allowing them to register their civil unions". This last quote made me start to think about all the time, effort, and fighting homosexual couples put into trying to get legal marriages, and civil union rights, and now that they have them they don't use them. I guess I don't see the point in fighting for something that your not going to use once you gain access to it. Maybe its because they're scared to start the trend, I'm not really sure. Like I said before, it doesnt really effect me that much one way or the other, so people can choose to do what they want.

Observation # 4

This past weekend I went home to attend a wedding. The groom in the wedding grew up in my hometown and moved to North Carolina a few years ago. While in North Carolina he met a Latino women that is now his wife. They decided to have the wedding back in Canaan because most of his family still lives there, and she didn't have a very large family. The wedding party consisted of her Latino family and two African Americans. I guess to understand where I'm coming from you have to understand what Canaan is like. We have no diversity in my town, and it consists of typical up north stick people so to have people of different ethnicities partying in one of our local bars was a little stressful at times. The reception was at the Northland a local restaurant/bar that usually fills up with locals on a Saturday night, especially when there is a big game on. The DJ that night decided to play mostly Hip Hop because of the wedding party reception. As the night progressed more and more locals were coming into the bar and looking at us dancing and listening to the "unusual" music that was going on. For the most part it didn't bother the people that this was going on because they knew the local family. There was the few older people the go there every Saturday night to two step that quickly left when they heard the music that was playing. What really caught my attention was this group of guys that walked that I haven't seen before. You could tell that they were out hunting that day and came in to have some beer and watch the game. I went to the bar at one point to get a drink and I overheard one of the guys ask the bartender who the "fucking porch monkeys" were, and they should go back to the zoo. I decided to ignore the comment for a few reasons. The first one was I knew it wouldn't make a difference if I tried to explain what was going on since most people up north have there ways set and aren't going to change them. The second one was I used to think the same way as he did. I'll admit when I went home for the wedding I threw around a few racial jokes because up there it really doesn't matter. I knew that they were good people and I had a blast with them that night. I usually shake things off like racial slurs, but since this class started I've started to notice it more in areas that I didn't usually. This fits into our racial profiling part of class because they profiled them as "jigaboos" and didnt take the time to see who they really were.

Reading Reflection ch. 6

"Although the American distaste for obesity applies to both sexes, it is felt particularly strong by women, who are more likely than men to evaluate their self-worth in terms of their physical appearance" (pg. 201).

In chapter six it discusses the intersections of Race, Class, Gender, and Weight, I found the results rather surprising when I read them. My first instinct would have been that there was more obese white women then African American women in the United States. I thought this because of the population difference between African American women and white women in the United States. But in actuality 78 percent of African American women are overweight (a vast majority of them at 120 percent over the recommended weight), and 57 percent of white women are overweight.

One of my thoughts about why the difference between obese women in different races is the pressure differences put onto the different races. When you watch tv, or look in a magazine all the white models are extremely skinny (almost too skinny), so this is what the women strive to look like. All of the women fitness magazines talk about losing weight to where you used to look like in high school. In reality this probably isn't possible for most people. I compare the difference to African American women where they are told to accept themselves as they are. When watching different television shows you always see them saying its okay to be a plus size model, or being a size 6, 7, etc. it isn't a bad thing. One of the leading black models is Tyra Banks, she now has a show on tv that is based mainly for African American women. I was happening to flip through the channels the other day and I came across it, being a guy I stopped to watch because shes rather attractive. In the time span that I was watching she never once told them to lose weight, "just flaunt what your momma gave ya". I think this is probably the main difference between the two different races and the percentage of overweight women.

Newman also goes into talking about dieting in elementary schools. I have an eight year old sister who is in the third grade. I couldn't imagine her being on a diet, or saying she wants to lose weight, unlike 42 percent of 1-3 graders that say they want to lose weight. I feel that most kids are going to be a little pudgy, its part of growing up. They don't need to be on diets to lose weight, maybe a little playing in the back yard instead of watching tv would take care of that problem. Dieting is fine for people that understand what they are doing, and the proper way of going about losing weight. I dont think there are many kids that are in the 1-3 grade that understand of how to properly diet, they will only end up hurting their bodies by doing the wrong thing.

Observation journal #3

This past weekend I went back home for the long weekend and noticed something that we have been talking a lot about in the past few weeks. While in class we talk about how we don't see any diversity in Burlington and how we need to get more to be a more rounded society. While at home, I really started to notice how everyone is the same in my town. We have virtually zero diversity since the one black person in my town moved away, and we all think alike. Every person on the past weekend seemed to be walking around in their work cloths and was getting ready for the winter ahead, myself included. I'm not one bit saying this is a bad thing that everyone in my town was doing the same thing but this is where my ethnocentric thoughts really started to come into play. While I'm home I automatically go back into my redneck thinking and seem to enjoy myself a lot more. I feel like I can have more fun and be free with what I say and do without having someone down my throat yelling at me or calling me racist, narrow minded, a redneck, etc.. When in classes it seems that ethnocentric thoughts and others like them are looked down upon because if you think like this you aren't seeing the world around you and aren't open to new ideas and ways. Well from observing the way my attitude changed just in the drive back to Burlington I have to disagree with some people and say that ethnocentric thoughts are good. While thinking like this it seems like its the only time I'm happy because I can be myself, an individual, which is what most people want to do. However, you cant do this when you have to worry about what your saying or who you will piss off whenever you open your mouth.

Reading Reflection #4

"Communities across the country have fought against things like contraceptive ads on television and sex education in schools"

I was first taught about sex education when I was in the sixth grade. Back then sex to me was irrelevant and I didn't care about it. I just looked at it as another lesson my teacher was giving to me that I would most likely have a test on. I was more focused on playing outside in the dirt and wrestling with my friends. Even when watching television I never used to pay attention to contraceptive commercials, they didn't seem any different then the other commercials that were on tv, they were just taking time away from the show I was watching. After sixth grade I went three years again until I took health class my freshman year of high school. My health class was more in depth with discussions and visuals then in the sixth grade. But to be honest I still didn't care that much about sex and the different diseases you can get. The best part I can remember was the demonstration of how to put a condom on a banana. One thing I do know was that I was never taught about different kinds of sexuality. Everything was male and female. I guess growing up in such a secluded place it didn't cross the teachers minds that they should teach us about different people. When teachers did mention homosexual people it seems like they always made it seem like it was a choice that they made, and it wasn't a biological ordeal. Newman writes in this chapter that, "a growing body of literature is providing some evidence that sexual orientation is not chosen but is biologically determined." Even after reading specific evidence that homosexuality is a biological makeup of different genes I still don't know if I'm completely on the bandwagon. I say this not to be a jerk, but if it is a biological makeup then how do they explain people that are bisexual. The way I understand bisexual is that you can choose to prefer men or women. The word "choose" is where I still don't understand how it can be a biological makeup and not someones choice. Although I may be by myself in wondering things such as this, Newmans discussion in chapter four about homosexuality and sex education in schools made me think back to when I was a kid that just didn't care and understand.

Observation Journal #2

The other day my friend was telling me about how at the college he is attending they were trying to recruit different people to play on the hockey team. They spotted a really big guy that they figured would be perfect for their team. He also added that he was black and they had no diversity on their team so they thought it would be perfect to get some different people to play with them. They approached the kid and started talking to him about hockey and whether he wanted to play or tryout for the team. When they started talking with him they quickly found out that he had no interest in playing hockey because it might break his nails he said (which were painted a nice shade of pink and blue my friend added) this took them by surprise. He also said that the guy was very nice and they didn't treat him any differently then any other person. I was telling this story to some of my friends here and one of the girls flipped out on me saying how I was being politically incorrect and that even if the kid was gay he could play hockey. I never once said he couldn't play hockey in my story, nor did my friend. The girl just kept on going about how I was a horrible person and I was being homophobic because I wouldn't want a gay person to be on the same team as me. I just let her keep going on and on, and when she was done I simply asked if she was finished and she got up and stomped away. The remaining people in the room just had blank stares on our faces and didn't get what she flipped out about. I never once said he couldnt play hockey, I was just saying how my friend was taken buy surprise to find out this guy was gay, which I probably would have been too.

This event was significant to me because the longer I am in this social work class it seems like the more I notice people reacting to different things I choose to say. Before I started this class I would have most likely kept going on and fighting with this girl but I chose to ignore it because its her views and I will never be able to change her attitude towards it. While I was witnessing her freaking out on me and calling me names that if you ask me were more offensive then being taken by surprised about the hockey guy, I didn't interupt her I just let her vent and say what she wanted to say. I would have typically interrupted her and let a few of my thoughts in there but I just didn't feel like dealing with it. This even didnt change my opinion towards anything because I dont think there was anything wrong with the story. My friend was being racist, discriminating, or any other word you can think of that would be negative towards a person. When I told the story I wasn't being mean either, I was just saying how it would have caught me off guard as well. I guess some people just are really sensitive towards subjects that to me dont bother me because I have more important things to get worked up about then listening to someones story.

Reading Reflection #3

"The words are so silly, so juvenile, so utterly pathetic that they hardly qualify as racial slurs at all, let alone slurs on a par with those that have been historically deployed against people of color."

I can't say that I have ever personally been called a "honky" or "cracker" however if I was I know I wouldn't take it seriously. I believe you can have reverse racism in different areas but to have reverse racism at a name calling level is almost impossible. Its like the saying that you used when you were a kid, "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me". Racial slurs are thrown around so much in our everyday lives that it doest even phase me when I hear a white person say the word "nigger". Even on television racial slurs are used and not bleeped out. The first one that comes to my mind is a Dave Chapelle skit with a white family with the last name of Nigger. This reading wont change my belief that you cant have reverse racism because I believe it can happen in areas other then name calling, for example an educational scholarships that are for a certain race only. You can look at this as racist, prejudice, discrimination, whatever you want in the end the words may be different but the impact is all the same. In reality one would like to see peace between all races and not have a problem with it anymore, but it's almost impossible to ever accomplish this task. Granted racial slurs have come down many notches it will never reach equality for everyone. There will always be one person out there that will complain about something just to stir the mix back up.

Chapter 2: Identities and Inequalities

"How do you know if a person is male or female?" (Newman pg. 52)

Throughout our lifetimes I can assure that you have asked either yourself or your friends if a person you see is male or female. I actually did it the other day. You have to admit, sometimes with the different styles in todays society it is hard to tell the difference. I grew up with being taught basically all the things that Newman stated in the opening paragraph: males are supposed to have shorter hair, facial hair, and a penis. Females are supposed to have long hair, wear dresses, and have a vagina. I fall right in the stereotype that didn't know the difference between gender and sex, I always thought they were the same thing just different names. After reading the chapter it now makes more sense to me what the difference is.

I feel that people never really can fully change their natural sex, and their gender is the same thing as their sex. If a person is born a male then their gender is male. They can just choose to be more feminine then masculine, and act as the opposite gender and sex but in my eyes they can't change. I'll use my sister fore example to state my point. My sister is into trucks, athletics, batman, etc. every stereotypical male aspect you can think of. However, she is still a girl, she wears dresses, and has long hair. All because she likes the things that boys are into doesnt mean she views herself as a boy. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I disagree with Newmans point of view that people can change their gender throughout life. Your born either male or female, and your gender goes hand in hand with your sex.

My Friends vs. Me

When thinking about this assignment I first thought it would be rather easy to pick up on a conversation amongst my friends that had some racial slur, or derogative comment thrown around within the bulk of a mainly pointless discussion. However, I didn't expect I would be the person I would be writing about. I've never really had a problem with people calling each other a fag, queer, etc. mainly because I would partake in the commenting. The other day I was at my girlfriends apartment sitting there with her roommates on the couch watching a television show. I'm not sure exactly what the show was but I do know that it had two guys who in my opinion sounded more feminine then most guys normally sound. Without thinking about what I was going to do I stood up and went to the bathroom, but on the way I made the comment somewhere along the lines of, "that guy is such a fag listen to the way he talks." Now it normally would have ended there or continued with a comment along the same lines from another one of my friends, but this wasn't the case this time around. Later that evening when I returned to my apartment Melissa called me up saying how her friend was really upset that I made a comment like that. Now to me I couldn't understand why she would be upset when I've heard her friend say the word gay, and not in the context about how happy she was.
To stop beating around the bush I guess my point is I never really thought about how my comments could offend someone that I didn't know from a personal standpoint. I still argue the fact that when used in the same context fag vs. gay is the same thing. There both three letters long, and have different meanings so to me there alike. And to be frank I'm probably not going to stop acting the way I am around my friends, but I'll try to fix my language around others that I don't know closely.

Exploring the Depths of Racist Socialization

I first off have to say that I completely agree with the article that Tim Wise constructed. The thoughts that were running through my head when reading it were saying that I finally read an article that sounds like something I would say. You may take this in a negative way just like he said but I completely agree that every single individual sometime in their life has said a racial slur, had a negative thought about someone that was different then you, and generalized a group of people that isn't like them. And, I will be the first to admit that I have done all three of these things, probably within the last month. I'm not saying that its something I'm proud about, but theres no sense in denying something you know you are guilty for. Being a conservative and disagreeing with many of the viewpoints that people have within the state of Vermont makes it rather difficult for me to state what I feel. This article pretty much summed up a lot of the thoughts that I have always wanted to say when discussing something controversial. I feel that the article hits a really good point about how every person is guilty from something that they deny they would never think about doing. Coming from a very secluded part of the state as far north-east as you can get I have a viewpoint that most people in Burlington "claim" they don't have. Although it may not be as serious as calling a black person a nigger, I've had liberal teachers who are pro same sex marriage, green everything, save the trees, everyone is equal, call me a redneck from the NEK. Now as far as I can see thats a generalization and putting someone that is different then yourself in a group that you don't agree with, or you could even say that its a form of racism.
Comparing the first chapter of our book and this article by Tim Wise I would have to say that Wise was able to hit most of the points that Newman hit, without having such a strong bias. Wise included the fact that he didn't agree with racial slurs, but at the same time was able to say that people need to stop acting like their so innocent. The read was also much more interesting because I was able to relate it to myself, at the same time understand what people were thinking on the side that I don't always agree with.
After reading this article my attitude and opinion didn't change. If anything I feel that I have a stronger opinion towards the issues that were discussed. I'm just glad that I was able to finally read an article that related with the views that I have thought about for a while, but wasn't completely bias towards one side or the other.

Chapter One

"The conflict perspective addresses this deficiency by viewing the structure of society as a source of inequality, which always benefits some groups at the expense of other groups" (pg. 23)

When reading through chapter one I felt that David Newman was focusing on only one side of the situations that he was discussing. Throughout the chapter he hits the points that our society as a whole has a negative view towards things that one may find out of the circle of normality. For example, he continually brings up the fact that homosexual differences are basically not getting the recognition and respect that they deserve. I personally feel that homosexuality is getting a vast amount of recognition throughout our society, both pro and con. Growing up in Canaan, VT (the most north-easterly part of the state) I have a very different opinion then Newman towards topics such as homosexuality, race, and gender. Throughout the chapter I feel that Newman didn't express the views of people against same sex marriage, racism, etc. leaning towards a bias that if your not for what a certain group is for then your in the wrong, making a certain group of people benefit from another group of people giving them the upper hand.
I feel that Newman should have added the point of view from people that were against topics such as same sex marriage allowing those thoughts to open up into other peoples minds and maybe allowing people to better understand where they are coming from. In many discussions that I've had with people about controversial topics I feel that it always comes down to the same thing, people have their own beliefs and opinions. If another person doesn't agree with something you said they are going to automatically consider you a narrow minded person that isn't cultured. When in reality they have no clue if they are cultured or not.