One of the most exciting scientific accomplishments of this century is Human Genome Project which is the cataloging of human genes. This will lead to great understanding of the human body and advance medical science. One of the most important findings is that while human beings differ in outward appearance, the genetic structure of all human beings is 99.9% identical. These researchers agree that there is only one race, the human race.
However we continue to struggle with the concept of appreciating diversity and discrimination and prejudice still exist in many forms. For example, you may have been descrimated against because of you ethnic group, religion, height, weight, gender, disability, or even academic skills. For this discussion, give an example of a circumstance where you have experienced or witnessed discrimination. Any ideas on how to reduce discrimination?
I will share an example of discrimination that I experienced. I started my doctoral program at USC when I was 8 months pregnant. After the first class the professor took me aside and suggested that I drop out of the program because of my family situation. I was really angry and decided to show him that I would finish. I am happy to report that I was one of the first three students to finish the program.
At Cuyamaca College, we have many Chaldean students who are Christians who have emigrated from Iraq to avoid religious persecution. Since the attacks of 9-11, this group has faced discrimination at our college. Whenever there is anything about terrorism in the news, many students who are from the Middle East suffer discrimination even though they have nothing to do with terrorism. Any comments on this?
This week you can make one post of 200 words (instead of 2 of 100 words each) if you want since the topic of appreciating diversity or describing incidents of discrimination might need more words.
One instance in which I experienced discrimination is when I was a teenager. I was seventeen and was at a street fair in my neighborhood. There was police there just for safety measures which was fine. I have never been in any trouble with the law. Never even been in any activity that could lead to jail time. But just because I was with my two best friends so in total it made three of us, a police officer came over and was cordial at first by trying to make small talk. Then turns the conversation into what's your guys first and last names, then says which gang do you belong to and he starts naming the local gangs. As we walked away he says don't walk away as if he had something on us. I laughed and walked away but one friend stayed and he was told the we better not cause any trouble he's watching. We weren't there to cause trouble in the first place and I felt that was discrimination.
ReplyDeleteYes I do have a few comments on this, I feel that there are a lot of middle eastern people who get offended when terrorist threats happen . If that was me and I was in a situation like that I probably wouldn’t know what to do. In El Cajon city there tend to be a lot of those kind of people. I remember seeing on the news that a middle eastern lady was killed in El Cajon because she was becoming more American and loosing the value and slowly going against her religion . It was said that it was a set up and everything seemed planed but it turned out to be that it was her husband who killed her and right now he’s going through the process and everything. Torse this incident I believe that it wasn’t right for him to kill her but then again I can’t judge him. Appreciating diversity, I would say that I’m very grateful that we have people from everywhere but it seems weird because in my situation that I’m in It seems like we only hangout with our own kind. We don’t do it on purpose, and we laugh everytime it happens but it seems funny to us but in reality it can cause a huge problem.
ReplyDeleteAfter 9/11, all Middle Eastern people were looked at differently. Christian or Muslim, it didn’t matter. The once place I noticed was the airport. They know how to racial profile, and they would assume everyone Middle Eastern person was a terrorist. I travel a lot for work and noticed the difference. I don’t really mind it but it gets frustrating at times. Another way I’ve witnessed this is on television. From back then until now, you see war, threats, and weapons of mass destruction. All this to get oil and risks the lives of millions. I hope this bad dream ends and we all live in a peaceful world. Reducing discrimination is hard but it can be done. Women should have a voice, other ethnicities should be welcomed, and everyone should be treated equally. I believe the way we act towards others is an influence. We all should start by treating people with love and respect. I was born here in the United States, but my parents weren’t. They know first hand what it feels like when entering a whole new county or land. It’s not easy, but with the help of myself and other people who care in the world, it can be possible.
ReplyDeletePeople discriminate against each other everyday. It seems as if it doesn't really matter who you are as an indivdual. People seem not to have respect for each other anymore. I can't stand disrespect. As long as you are doing what you have to do, not putting anyones lives in danger, not breaking the law and just trying to live a peaceful life, people should respect each other and keep out of everyone else's lives, religions, ethnicities etc... We are all free to choose as we wish. Thats what makes the world go round and makes everyone unique. If someone else doesn't like the way you look, or what religion you are etc, than whatever they don't have to; it's not like they have to live the way you are. There is just alot of ignorant, disrespectful people out there. I wish it wasn't like that and that it would change, but sadly it will never reach that point because we will always have THOSE people who think what they DO and BELIEVE is the right things and that's it. You can't go around being someone your not. As long as your respectful of everyone else I don't see the point in hating someone else for believing in something or just being different. Respect is huge and it goes along way.
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ReplyDeleteEven today, the world faces many different types of discrimination no matter what type of situation you are in. The most recent time that I have experienced discrimination was just recently about 2-3 months ago. Because I had pierced my nose one night, I needed to stop by Rite aid to get Bactine which is a Disinfecting spray. Me and my two aunts had walked in laughing and just being ourselves talking right around closing time. there was a security guard at the door doing his job. I noticed that he was following us around rite aid watching us carefully, and I didn't mind him. We went by the makeup section also looking for some lipsticks just being girls as usual. Then we wait in line to purchase the bactine and a couple lipsticks. When we walked out the security guard happens to stop us and check our receipts. I looked at him confused and said, "sir there is no reason for you to check you weren't checking anyone else receipts and you happen to stop us." Then one of my aunts said, " I'm sorry did we ring? we didn't hear anything what are you checking?" and he was being rude and kept reading the receipt ignoring us. This was discrimination to our gender and appearance and also personality type because he thought we were shoplifting! When we got to the car my other aunt started cursing and said, "you know what I do not like that I am not going to walk away from this." Then she threw a whole fit in rite aid and yelled at the guard and the only thing he said was, I am doing my job." Everyone in Rite aid was saying that what he did was not nice and that was discrimination. Later, my aunt had called and complained about the security guard and the manager had apologized for such disgusting behavior.
ReplyDeleteI don't think enough people are educated in diversity, whether it be in religions or ethnicity. When we're approached by someone of another ethnicity, racism and stereotypes come into play. We can make quick judgements of others just based off of the color of their skin, where they're from, and what region they practice. Without proper knowledge or respect for each other, more hate crimes and wars can start. I think kids should be taught at a young age that we are all equal no matter where we're from, what race we are, what religion we practice, or what sex we are. Growing up without those racist stereotypes will allow someone to be friends with and show respect towards anyone and everyone. People who feel are racist or are discriminative towards another race or religion will sometimes impose their beliefs onto their children; and I believe that's very wrong. Firstly that they feel that way and also that they're forcing their hate onto an impressionable child, who will most likely grow up to feel the same way. We were all born on this earth and we all are humans, so therefor we're not that different at all.
ReplyDeleteWhen dealing with discrimination I think the reality is there will always be discrimination. Its the sad truth we can talk all we want and try to save the world but the fact is it exists and is alive and well. I dont know if we can ever truly rid the world of hate groups and racism. I think it also can start young fo those that have seen American History X, it shows how he is influenced from a child at the diner table to hate blacks and colored by his father and thats how he was raised. Unfortunately kids grow up this way and sometimes dont see the error in their ways until too late. I know also on the topic of middle easterns another issue is that , we are at war. For families whose son or daughter or a kid whose father or mother gets killed its hard for them to like or trust any of them. Ive met plenty who are nice myself. But they have told me such things as "I dont give a fuck as long as my brothers out there getting shot at I dont trust em." I see this too with older war vets I talk to of Vietnam or pearl harbor , they live with horrible images and nightmares or their friends dying or being tortured. Its not an easy thing to live with. Im not saying its okay just trying to play both sides of the spectrum of where this can come from. However many have made friends with and learned to like a lot of them. I think this shows these issues can be overcome in time and under circumstance. But I dont want to play lightly to the fact that this is probably one of the biggest battles we will face in society. I have friends of every shape size and color for me its as simple as treat me with respect and be nice and ill do the same right back. Its a wast to live your life in hate.
ReplyDeleteI have seen that movie and know what you mean when you say "Unfortunately kids grow up this way and sometimes don't see the error in their ways until too late." It is hard when people are programmed from a young age to be racist or ignorant of tolerance. I like how you said, "I have friends of every shape size and color for me its as simple as treat me with respect and be nice and ill do the same right back. Its a waste to live your life in hate." I agree that it is important to have a diverse group of friends. Life is so much more exciting with a variety of people and personalities.
DeleteI totally agree with professor because I am Chaldean and the situation you talked about applies to me. I was forced to leave my home country, my dad was kidnapped and we paid big amount of money to get him back then we were told to leave or we get killed. That is why we left our house, schools, relatives, and my dad's work. We lived in Lebanon and studied in the best schools and universities because my dad appreciates education. When we came to USA my sisters went to Valhalla High School and got best scores. My sister, my brother, and I are studying in Cuyamaca. Three of us are getting straight A's we all been discriminated by our classmates. Sometimes we fell they are jealous from us and they feel like they deserve our grades more than we do because they are citizens and we are not. I have been told that I am not a citizen and I do not have same right as her when I asked my neighbor to move her car from my drive way. I really feel sorry for these people because they cannot think BIG enough.
ReplyDeleteI think their is a lot of discrimination when it comes to gender. A lot of men think that girls can not do a lot of things they do. Or girls think that guys can not do what they do. There is the example of nurses. So many men want to become nurses and i have seen many girls discriminate them thinking they are gay for wanting to be nurses because that is a girls job. I experienced discrimination when i was in middle school. I was one of the fastest girls in the whole middle school and even broke a record of someones mile time. A lot of the guys were giving me a hard time saying that there is no i could run that fast and beat them. That girls do not run faster than guys. They said i should not run in the competition because i would lose. I ran that mile and i beat all of them. I prove every single of those guys that day and told them that i could run faster. We all have our own special unique talents. We are all different in our own special way, but never under estimate someone because they are a different gender, color, race, or have a different religion.
ReplyDeleteThe United States of America is the country which everyone around the world has heard about as being the number one freed, democratic, and strong country. Before I came to America I had huge expectations about what I would find here, I expected to meet educated people who appreciate others and for most of them to be willing to respect others despite the fact of what their color, ethnicity, religion, and nationality is. I was born and raised in Iraq for 12 years upon the traditional Iraqi culture that is based on respect, and when I first got here I thought I might find more of that respect, but I was shocked. In high school I had one white friend, and on Asian friend besides my Chaldean friends. Many students in my classes were not willing to talk to me just because I'm a foreigner, chaldean, even though I was an A student in all my classes, and now I'm in college and I can see in people's eyes how they view me, but the funny part for me is that I know that they know that someday I will be in higher place than they will ever be. Now I have a better understanding of how everyone views Chaldeans, discrimination is very rare and it is not easy, but most of those people who think that Chaldeans are intruders forget that Chaldeans came here because they had no other choice.
ReplyDeleteI think that kids learn to be racist against people from there parents. I think when your children hear you saying nasty things they think that it is ok to be the same way and to repeat the things that are said. My children have been on the receiving end of being bullied because they are white and come from a higher class then most of the children around them. One child slammed my sons head into a pole and the vice principal said it was because he was jealous of the things Ryan had and that she was punishing my son because he should not have been hanging out on the playground where the other child was. When I met with her and asked her what she was doing to protect my son she had no answer. I asked her what was next would he have to bring a gun to school before she would get involved and she said that his uncles were gunned down in a drive by shooting and he needed sympothy the next week he brought a bullet to school. She then expelled him.
ReplyDeleteDang, that's true though i agree with everything you said. I hope that your son is better now that the bully is gone. i hope that everything is better now and it's good that you keepin' it a hunnid about the situation .
DeleteI am Chaldean from Iraq, married and have four children, I own a private home and business, and we were living in area was mixture between Islam and Christians but we live in peace and security until March 19, 2003 when United States invasion Iraq. In July 22, 2003 this day was the worst days in my life and everything changed for me to worst. In 5 P.M the terrorists kidnapped my oldest son and his massage was very clear to us we do not need Christians in the land of Islam and must we leave everything we have to get my son back. This was the reason to emigrate from Iraq to avoid religion persecution. Second, after we leave Iraq we live about six years in Turkish and there was law that all refuge must migrate to one of the Turkish provinces. Conservative must migrate its name was Blajak away from Istanbul five hours driving. It was in winter and the snow was falling, before a few days I was there and rent house and give deposit and rent for first month. When we got there landlord asked me from where we are, my answer to him was I am christen from Iraq, when heard that we are christen he became like animals and want to fight me and take the house’s key from and told I do not rent the house to you. And we stay two days in street until someone accept and rent house to us.
ReplyDeleteIrma Tiznado May 25,2013
DeleteEmad, I am sorry for the bad things that happened to you and your family because of discrimination. I do have a lot of Chaldeans in my classroom and they are a friendly good people. I am from Mexico, and even I do witness huge discrimination to my people, I have been experience than just one time when we went to a restaurant and they attended a white people group first even though we were first in the waiting list. I hope the best for you and your family, because sometimes things happen to make us strong.
I am Chaldean and I can’t really think of a time when I felt discriminated for being Chaldean. I have noticed other Chaldeans being discriminated though. In my opinion, I don’t think its right to judge someone based on the country they are from. Discriminating on Chaldeans as a group is one thing that I don’t agree with, but also discriminating on a whole group of “Iraqi’s” or “middle easterns” or “Muslims” is also something I don’t agree with. Just because one person from a specific group does something doesn’t mean the entire group is bad. It’s the same thing when there’s a group of friends and one person does something wrong and the group gets judged as a whole. Although I am Chaldean, I was born in America and most of my family was also born here so I have a pretty Americanized family. That’s probably part of the reason why I haven’t felt the discrimination but it still is bothering just knowing that people would really be discriminating on a group of people like that. I believe that each person has a mind of their own and a “terrorist” can be anyone, not just a “Muslim” or whatever; but everyone thinks differently and no one can really change that.
ReplyDeleteI have not experienced or personally witnessed (to the best of my memory) discrimination that was any worse then a crude joke. One ongoing event that has been full of discrimination is the debate over same sex marriage. Regardless to one opinion on the mater, it is undeniable that there have been a great deal of discrimination toward same sex couples. People made claims such as: They are bad parents, they are perverts, they are predators. I find this to be quite ridicules because this could apply to anyone, yet some people seem to attribute these things to a group of people. I don't know how people can make such "sure" claims about a group of people, when they know claims about their social group(s) do not all apply to them. I have seen this mind frame in children (The inability to put ones self in another's shoes) yet many adults share this mind frame.
ReplyDeletehow could we reduce discrimination? It is evident, that discrimination is seeded in the very nature of humanity, because we can look back into history and see all the atrocities people have committed. Not all people are share this quality, just as not everyone shares greedy behaviors or aggressiveness. Discrimination is the product of ignorance, because of this there is only one cure. The cure is an education. Only by improving our critical thinking skills, learning how biology shows our similarities, learning how history shows our mistakes, learning how we communicate. An education is the only cure to discrimination, just as an education is the only cure for ignorance.
I am Chaldean and I grew up here and I can truthfully say that I have never felt like someone has discriminated me. But i do notice that there are people that because of a certain look they can be looked at differently. My family are all educated and work in their fields so we don't own any of the typical small business that Chaldeans do which i guess separates us in a way. But i have noticed that whenever someone says terrorists, everybody immediately thinks that they should be a middle eastern or muslim. I noticed when the Boston attacks took place last month everyone believed that the terrorists had to be from middle east. I mean regardless of what they are and where they are from they shouldn't be discriminated. I see it upsetting a lot of regular people going about their day and i just think its wrong. We should all be accepting to one another and regardless of where we come from we should all be accepting of one another.
ReplyDeleteI agree that sometimes people can be ignorant, but I really liked how you said, "We should all be accepting to one another and regardless of where we come from." It is hard to grow up in a community especially as it develops more of a particular culture. The world we live in is diverse and getting more tolerant as the years go by. I have hope that someday our children will not see a difference based on race or ethnicity. Great post!
DeleteI've lived in the same house for 13 years and have ridden bikes my whole life. I always used to ride in the parking lot of a church that was right down the street from my house. I knew the priest at the church and he didn't care if we rode there at all but the church was sold a few years later to chaldeans. There are always chaldean kids playing and riding bikes in the parking lot of the church and the new pastor would let them and even come play with them sometimes. The next time I was riding my bike at the church the priest said I couldn't ride there and I had to leave and he was calling the police. I asked why its a problem and pointed out that he lets chaldean kids ride bikes there and that we wouldn't cause any trouble but he still made us leave and called the cops to file a report and make sure we wouldn't come back. I never did anything to disrespect him or caused damage to the property and I had been riding my bike there probably before he even knew the church existed. He only kicked out my friends and I because we were white.
ReplyDeleteDiscrimination is a major issue that occurs rarely nowadays. My country was on fire and life gradually started to become harder for me and my family to live a normal life, so we had to immigrate. I left home when I was a teenager and I went to many schools, and universities in many different countries. I met many different people and I got introduced to many cultures, and some of the countries I’ve been too have strict traditions, yet the people were very respectful and understanding. When I came to the U.S I met really weird people especially at my job and in college too, most of Americans that I see care only about food, and beer as life’s major concerns. I expected Americans to be more open-minded, but they don’t really respect other cultures. I haven’t been discriminated before because I know how to impose myself in a solid way. I’m not saying that it is people’s fault if they discriminated, but in my case I don’t give people the chance to do it, I’m always at the top and no matter how people view I still have that confident in myself.
ReplyDeleteA time when I was discriminated against was when I was happy to learn and answer a lot of the teachers questions in a middle school class. I was made fun of for being a teachers pet and told that I was dumb. That wasn't a fun thing because it made not that happy to go to that class everyday. I just wish they would've have seen how they were treating me was bad and how they shouldn't do that unless they want others to treat them the same way. I think a way to reduce discrimination would be to have classes dedicated to it and counseling those who have discriminated and have been discriminated against. I hope that people won't have to go through the pain of being discriminated against just because of who they are. I feel bad for the students who are being discriminated against for terrorism when they have nothing to do with it and aren't even in the same religion. It's sad that people are automatically judged on who they are just based on their looks. Like Martin Luther King said that he hopes that one day people will judge others not by the color of their skin but the character inside of them.
ReplyDeleteI find it very interesting how I have been discriminated against, because it has become popular to do so in these recent times sadly. A few examples were in high school, the first major example that comes to mind was during President Obamas first election i had made the comment to some people i know that i do not wish he would become president, and before i could even finish my statement my peer called me a racist conservative and did not bother to ask why, and if he did he would have found out i had done my research and had a range of facts ond opinions why i did not want him as president. This is not to say all liberals and democrats are like that, one of my best friends back than was a liberal athiest, and i was a conservative christian, and we had amazing civil debates. that shows that we do accept diversity and that certain people on all sides of the issue choose to not accept diversity.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I would hope, but won’t happen anytime soon, that everyone could be more open minded about people who are different from what they perceive as the superior race. If more people accepted people who were different they could learn and experience ideas and lifestyles they would have never have even thought of. An instance I can remember being discriminated was when I was younger I was with my dad and we went to a diner. The hostess greeted us kindly and sat us down. Once she heard my dads accent (keep in mind this was 10 years ago his accent is better now) she asked us where we were from and if we were from Russia. My dad of coarse replied and said “No, Bulgaria” and for some reason this didn’t sit well with her. She then proceeded to take our order and was rude to us from that point on. She then even went to the extent of “accidently” spilling food on my dad. Once that happened we just got up and left and when I looked back I saw her flipping us off. I never understood what ticked off that girl so much about us being Bulgarian, but if she was open minded she would have just treated us like any other customer.
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ReplyDeleteIrma Tiznado May 25, 2013
ReplyDeleteDiscrimination has been around the world and for centuries. People has been fighting for equal treatment and they have been succeeded in some areas, unfortunately we still have a lot of discrimination. I think we can keep fighting discrimination with education at home where the parents has to set an example of equality, at school by treating each other with respect and by trying to know more of the people's backgrounds about their culture, costumes,and religious views. We can reduce discrimination by putting our-self in their shoes, and to try to understand that we come from different parts of the world, but each person is unique and we are the equals as a humans.
I would hate to be the white kid that complains about racism and discrimination, but I have received it; Not necessarily discrimination but stereotyping. People that get discriminated against are just people that take offense to racial profiling. This, however, happens to me very often, I just don't take offense to it because I have a sense of pride. I have had black friends call me the white boy of the group and it doesn't bother me any. When I wore V-neck shirts, people called me gay; I'm not gay, but it did make me feel good about myself because in my mind I can see how ignorant these people are. When I say some, I mean like my whole high school my sophomore year. Once people got to know me and appreciate my attitude towards thing like this they all started wearing V-necks too. By the end of my senior year, it had gone from me and three other kids wearing them, to half my graduating class wearing them in our big senior picture. Stereotyping does not bug me at all and will only become discrimination if I let it. There are many more examples I experience; however, once foul play comes into the mix, physical that is, this is where I draw the line. But everyone has their own opinions they can voice, people must know that everyone else doesn't always know what they're talking about.
ReplyDelete"When I wore V-neck shirts, people called me gay; I'm not gay, but it did make me feel good about myself because in my mind I can see how ignorant these people are."
Deleteyour funny like how people wear chucks and snap backs like tattoos and bud sacks. your right about sterotypes. but what can you do its just trends peop0le should dwell on who started what first history repeats it self and before you know it theres gonna be new up and coming "Tomagachi" craze if you remember.
an instance when i have experienced discrimination is when people always use the work "nigga" im Filipino and im not racist or nothing but a lot of people that i know just have the audacity to say it like its cool or something. i have seen random people say it around the black part of society and if people hear it it still snaps their neck and just attracts their attention to the point where its almost scary. i know people play around but i can imagine that it is really not acceptable to be using that term loosely like saying "i love you" to everyone you have sex with. i guess people say things just to be categorized into a group because of their own personal attractions.
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