Diversity Project Reflections Blog Post

Switzerland is landlocked alpine country of roughly 8069376 million people (2014) in Western Europe with an area of 41285 km square. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states, called cantons. Bern is the capital city of Switzerland. Switzerland is a country which is also consider as the richest country in the world. Switzerland has four national languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. Chocolate and delicious Cheese draws your attention towards Switzerland because it is famous for chocolate and cheese, also the city known as “land of chocolate and cheese”. Therefore the milk and cream used in chocolate and cheese in Switzerland are fresh and creamy and make a textural, sensory difference. Christianity is the Switzerland predominant religion. Switzerland is a country in which 23 % of the population is tourist population, because the tourist attractions: nature, museums, paintings, attracts the tourists towards their beauty. But, if we talk about the Swiss people then these things comes to in our mind are: private, formal, and reserved people. I have learned one thing from this culture like they separate their social life from business life, which is a good thing because if you mixed both things then you will never be succeed in your life. When we compare the United States to the Switzerland, then we can see a lot of similarities in both cultures. Both belong to the Individualistic society in which these countries people’s self image is defined in terms of “I” and “We”. Also, like Switzerland, Americans have a masculinity society.  Swiss people like to follow the rules; on the other side, Americans people do not require a lot of rules. So, if we compare both cultures then we can see a lot of similarities. 

Chapter 3 Blog Post

1. What happened to the academic performance of the kids in the oppressed group?

When teacher gave the task to the students , the first day teacher announced the blue eyes people are superior than brown eyes, and under the pressure of having brown eyes the students academic performance was low they took five and half minute to complete their task, but blue eyes kids perform better than brown eyes and they took only 3 minutes. The next day when the teacher announced, actually brown eyes people are better than blue eyes, the kids were looked to each other because now the things go opposite, and now brown eyes kids became superior. Now, the teacher applied the same experiment and what we saw a tremendous change in the academic performance of the kids, now the brown eyes kids completed their task in 2 and and half minutes, and the blue eyes kids completed their task in 4 minutes and 18 seconds. We can see how the superiority gave them psychologically support and they were performed very well; on the other side, which  group had blue collars they felt themselves down and their academic performance was low.

2. How did the kids feel when they got rid of their collars?

The kids, while they were wear the collars they were feeling inferior and psychologically stressed. They feel themselves as they were not smart as compare to opposite group, also racism factor came into in their mind and they realize the pain of other races kids. When Jane Elliott taught the real meaning of discrimination and racism to the kids, then they felt  the real pain of other kids, who were not American.Jane said, '' Let's take these collars off " These five words brought a happiness on the innocent faces, who were struggling by themselves as a low category. She asked what you like to do with them and the kids spoke in the loud noise through in the trash. After, got rid off their collars they were feeling all they were equal, nobody was superior than other . They did not trashed only the collars, also they trashed their racism behavior, I think they learned lifelong lesson toward racism .  

3.Were you surprised at how the kids with blue eyes treated the kids with brown eyes? Why or why not?

Yes, I surprised because in this video I saw the quick reactions of the kids, how they treated with the brown eyes people when her teacher explained the blue eyes people are better than brown eyes. Because, before this discussion they all were sitting together and they talked  about other races like black people, Indians and call them dump people, on that time they were all together and feel good because they are Americans. But, within minutes we saw how they treated with brown eyes kids, when they know they are smart then brown eyes. Also, in break the blue eyes kids fight with brown eye kid and tease him by calling brown eyes. So, the blue eyes kids treat with brown eyes same as they before treat with other races kids because of  their skin color. Here I saw, how we can motivate the kids minds towards good and bad things quickly. I think if all the teachers will follow the Jane Elliott's great thinking then nobody will be learn the lesson of racism. Her words," let's take these collars off"  taught a lifelong lesson to the kids, and also they take off their bad thinking about other races. 

4. What scene or scenes  do you think you'll still remember a month from now and why those scenes?

After watch this video, the scenes which left a great memory on my mind are, how within minutes kids behavior change towards their classmates. When teacher said, the blue eyes people are better than brown eyes, then the blue eyes  kids feel they are superior than brown eyes kids. I was shocked to see  how a blue eye student who wore the glasses, and the next day he doesn't wear his glasses and when teacher asked him why he did not wear his glasses then he said he forgot to wear his glasses today, and teacher questioned him why the other student who has brown eyes forgot her glasses, why only you? the kid gives a sweet smile every one knows why he did not wear his glasses because he has blue eyes, so here we can see how a cooperative and intelligent kid turned into very rude and mean behavior.Also, when teacher says take these collars off and all the kids felt relief and when teacher asked what they want to do with these collars then everyone says trashed these collars, so when the kids were trashing their collars on that time we can see the inside reliefs of their minds which gave them psychologically support, and they learnt  the lesson of racism with their personal experience.

First Blog

1.  What does it mean to be an American?  Does the reigning Ms. America represent an American?

It is very easy to answer the “Question”  what does it mean to be an American? Because, when I saw this question suddenly these things come in our mind which are; freedom, hard work, confidence, equal rights, enjoy weekend, single parent, pay bills, divorce, freedom fighters, Democratic or republican, these characteristics describe an American. Also, when you think about an American it doesn't describe only those people who are born in the United States, because America is a country in which different cultures are moved from different countries. So, the question is arise do they people have the same freedom and rights? The answer,  by law is yes, but does the society accept them as an American? The answer is no, because if we talk about Miss America who is an Indian when her win was announced twitter exploded with hateful tweets, so people were shocked that an Indian American would win because “this is America”. You can imagine those people, who are belongs to different cultures and suffering through cultural encapsulation and also they are facing the hate of American people. On the other hand, if we talk about miss America does she represent an American than the answer is  yes, she has all the qualities which represent her American; she is smart, intelligent, and educated. 

2.What did you learn from visiting this website?

This website is a good source for analyzing two cities if you want any type of data you just enter the zip code and all the information will display in single click. It shows all the data for example, the population of the cities, education achievements from high school to college level, marital status, poverty, household income, median income, age sex display through different type of graphs. When I compare 21237 with my zip code 21030 then I analyze the population is less as compare to 21237. Also the education level is good in all categories in four year degree 28.3% while the 21237 has only 12.1%. 4 yr+ 51.2% and 21237 has only 17.2%. The median income is also greater than 21237 city. It also shows the different races data in these two cities for example whites (79.1%) in 21030 and in 21237 the white population is (76.7%). In short, after compare two my zip code (21030) to zip code (21237) I saw many good things in my city which I was unknown before like   education achievement is good , median income is also good, less population, less poverty so all these things tells me we did the right selection for choosing a good city.  

3. What will the US demographics look like in 2050?  What does this mean for you?

What will the US demographics look like in 2050 is really a very interesting  question because when we think about it, then we imagine only few things in which we have interest , but if we go in more detail and research on it then we can see those things which we never think before. People are the backbone of this question because the whole things are turnaround of the people who are the builders of the society, and who effect on the economy, also they invent new technologies, so the people make the base of the society.   Pew and census data give us a lot of detail about the future of the US even more than 2050 year. The census says the US population will jump 439 million in 2050. Immigrants will be coming into the US with increasing rate and the overall number of immigrants will have more than doubled by 2050, to 81 million. If we talk about race and ethnicity in 2050 then according to pew research center 2008, data tells us the surge in Asian 9% and Hispanic 29%, but a huge drop off for white 47%. Really, yes because according to Joel Kotkin, “There's going to be a very diverse minority population with large amounts of interracial marriage. What we'll see is that the Anglo-Saxon population will no longer be the majority. I believe the mixed-race population will grow the fastest because compared to the past, interracial relationships are increasingly tolerated and considered OK by a large percent of the younger generations. It's no longer strange to see a black and white couple at a restaurant together today. Yet someone visiting from the 1960s would be shocked.”  (CNN.com) After saw this data I can Imagine a picture what will be the America look like in 2050, but I think in 2050 the racism factor will be decreases because if the new generation will be raised in different cultures or like Joel Kotkin talk about the “interracial marriage” it will change the American people thinking towards other races, because if a child grows in the family in which one parent is American and other is Chinese then he/she will be grow in two different cultures. So, when he/she grow up, he doesn't care about race. All in all, 2050 will be the time when nobody will feel embarrass because of their race  may be the race Colum in all forms should be deleted.

  Cedric, R. (n.d.). What Does it Mean to be an American?. Teen Ink. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.teenink.com/opinion/current_events_politics/article/304155/What-Does-it-Mean-to-be-an-American/.

What does it mean to be an American?. (n.d.). Scholastic Publishes Literacy Resources and Children's Books for Kids of All Ages. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=5235

Wile, R. (2012, October 19). AMERICA 2050: Here's How The Country Will Look Three Decades From Now. Business Insider. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.businessinsider.com/demographics-in-america-in-2050-2012-10?op=1#ixzz35O78SaG5

Membis, L. (2010, July 2). What will America look like in 2050. CNN. Retrieved June 22, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/07/02/joel.kotkin.census/