"This is Alabama, we speak English..."

So here we are in the second week of 4250, and I'm posting for the first time. I apologize for not posting last week, I was a bit unclear as to whether or not we needed to blog after the first class, or simply set up our blog. I obviously accomplished the latter...

Anyway, last's nights class proved to me that this will be an interesting and fun class as many opinions will be shared, and thus lead to great discussions. First, let's talk about the video shown at the beginning of class, with the politician who seemed to legitimately believed that everyone in Alabama must speak English, therefore driver's tests should only be offered in English. As hilarious as this video was to all of us, I can see members of my fathers side of the family agreeing with this goober, as sad as that is. My fathers side of my family has always lived in the same, VERY rural parts of central Texas and haven't experienced much else, so needless to say, they are rather close-minded when it comes to things they aren't exposed to, or that aren't like them. My father, my grandfather, and many other members of my family are all intelligent human beings, however they haven't been educated beyond a typical high school education, so I suppose I see where they're close mindedness comes from. But, there is still no excuse for it..

Now, on to the rape news story out of Alabama. Of course this video makes me laugh, who wouldn't laugh at it? I think I would have laughed just the same regardless of the race or characteristics of the main character if they would have acted that way. Even though the rape story was a serious one, it made me think of this one...



As far as our group discussions went after watching the documentary, the question we discussed most was whether or not minorities are more likely to interview another minority source, or if women are more likely to interview other women, and so on. As many people mentioned, it is always comforting to talk to someone who appears to be like you, and I agree with this to a point. I feel MUCH more comfortable interviewing other women, and would be more comfortable walking up to a woman in an effort to ask a question. However, this doesn't have anything to do with any pre-conceived notions I may have of men, it's just a confidence issue for me. I don't have the confidence when it comes to approaching men. I never have...and I'm not entirely sure if I ever will. I immediately feel like the awkward girl, etc. etc. When it comes to approaching women for an interview or something of this nature, I really don't care what they think of me, so I ask my question and move on. Also, I wanted to make the point that race or ethnicity doesn't play into this at all for me. It doesn't matter what color the person is: a person is a person.

Until next week...