Freedom Riders

The issue that the Freedom Riders were dealing with, I believe, was a very significant issue that had such large ramifications on our everyday life and was such a formidable obstacle. Today I think there are still many causes that warrant the attention and service of the masses but not one that may have had such a large impact on society. There are causes like human trafficking, blood diamonds, and repression worldwide that deserves our attention but none of these, in my opinion, held the same gravity as the racial issues of the mid 20th century.

Like I stated above, although none of these issues really evoke the same kind of reactions, I do believe that there are many causes that evoke passion in that locale, issues like LGBT rights, and immigration rights are big one though. For instance, the issue in Arizona where immigrants have to carry around ID to ensure that they are legal. This in my opinion is very close to the classification the Nazis did in the early stages, and demeans the immigrants. Additionally I believe that this is compensation for the fact that we do have gaps in our border patrol, but there are definitely better means of ensuring a citizen population than general classifications.

Hollywood magic can really only go so far. Although this would be an extremely interesting movie and would captivate millions, the fact that this is a documentary and the things in here are 100% fact provides such a stronger sense and doesn't compromise the interest level of the audience. 

My Opinions on Parenting

    The dynamic between parent and child is a delicate balance that is sometimes hard to strike. The dilemma being whether to be a friend or to be an authority. There are pros and cons to both of these but there are methods of going about them that can result better. I believe that although you want your child to be open with you and talk to you about things that they would tell their friends, in my opinion, it is better to be more of the parent. In this case you should talk to your child about having someone that they can tell anything when they get in trouble, whether it be a friend(adult), older sibling, teacher, adult, just someone that if something went terribly wrong and the did not feel comfortable telling their parents they can still get help.

Personally, my parents are not my friends. I don't tell them everything and but do hold a healthy relationship with them although occasionally we do butt heads, we come to a consensus the majority of the time. My parents have always brought to the table that if you disagree with the rules, and have proper justification for it, then you aren't in the wrong for doing what you believe. That being said, this only goes to a certain extent and I do believe that what a parent says goes in certain situations, to much of my dismay on several recent Saturday nights.

Which brings me to my next point on the leniency that I find with other kids and their parents. My parents being first-generation immigrants come from a very different culture with different values that have had wonderful affects on me but also get in the way of me wanting to enjoy my youth. I find that some parents actually have been in those(that of an American youth) shoes before and do understand where their kids are coming from and will let kids be kids. I do understand that mistakes will be made and that some are worse than others, but a lot of times these parents are letting their kids make these mistakes for themselves. Now I know for some of these kids, looking back, they decide that those decisions were not the best, but don't really understand the gravitas of their actions.

Overall, I do believe that parents should not be friends but uphold the level of authority with their child. Additionally, unfair "calls" will be made but it is out of their best interests for the child and the parents have a better perspective of the situation. Parents should give their kids freedom to a certain extent but ensure that they are making the right decisions. In the end, once you get to a point in your parenting, you just have to trust the job that you did and hope your kid makes the right choices.

Race-Relations Today

       Today race- relations are significantly better than that of 50 years ago, but from what I've heard, differs through some regions in America. As a whole, the American people tend to generalize and stereotype races leading to intentional or unintentional discrimination. Meaning that whatever deep-set notions we have in our mind, inadvertently causes us to act a certain way towards a race without us noticing.
       There have been studies conducted where they show a group a bunch of pictures of African Americans very quickly and then quickly show a screw driver, they then did this with pictures of Caucasians. The viewers claimed that they saw a knife in the set with the African Americans and a screw driver in the set with the Caucasians. I'm sure that some of these people thought of themselves as unprejudiced and unbiased, but the way that society has portrayed races has caused us to have this mindset. Additionally, there was a big case where an African American professor at Harvard had just returned from a vacation and while entering his house there was a malfunction of sorts with the key and gave off the image that he was breaking in. The police were called and he was arrested for breaking in, until they could verify his identity. This begs the question, would this have happened if he wasn't black?
         Our society tends to classify these people based on their race rather than their person. My personal experience with race-relations have mainly just consisted of odd looks, and the occasional moving away. For the most part, even when I travel a little upstate towards State College, I find that people are always extremely pleasant and don't seem to have any reservations about those of color. I am extremely proud that we live in a nation where almost all of society does not discriminate against specific races or ethnicities.