With the rapid spread of the Corona Virus, there has been a world wide panic. People have gone shopping to stock up on cleaning products along with basic necessities like food and water. Recently in central London, a Singapore man of Chinese ethnicity was assaulted. The 23-year-old victim, Jonathan Mok, was “punched, kicked, and sustained facial injuries in the attack”(Woodyatt 2020). Jonathan Mok made a Facebook post saying “one of his assailants referenced the coronavirus outbreak during the attack”(Woodyatt 2020). As of March 5, 2020 no arrests were made. According to the article, this is not the first time Jonathan Mok experienced racial abuse in the last couple weeks, and all were referencing the coronavirus outbreak. As stated by the article, “Mok’s case is one of a number of incidents that have occurred in the UK during the global coronavirus outbreak”(Woodyatt 2020).

As defined in the Social problems textbook, racism is a “set of beliefs about the claimed superiority of one racial or ethnic group”. A hate crime is defined as a “a crime, usually violent, motivated by prejudice or intolerance toward an individual’s national origin, ethnicity, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability”(Dictionary.com 2020). Jonathan Mok, a long with many other Asians were assaulted after the coronavirus outbreak because of their ethnicity. These people were so afraid of catching a virus that broke out in China that they assaulted anyone who appeared to be of Asian decent. People have created a negative stereotype against Asians because of this outbreak. Assuming anyone who is Asian has this virus just because it broke out in China, is an example of prejudice and discrimination. These victims were racially discriminated against due to the virus.

From this article I learned how easily a hate crime can start. There are Asians and other people who are traveling being assaulted because the fear of the spread of the coronavirus. I also learned that hates crimes don’t solve anything. In my opinion, if the people who assaulted others were really afraid of catching the coronavirus, they would’ve avoided the individuals they assaulted. Assaulting the victims only did harm. Another thing I learned about is how hate crimes are rarely talked about in the media. Jonathan Mok made a post on Facebook about what happened to him that blew up, but what about the many other individuals who were assaulted? No one talked about them. So from this article, I learned how easily motivated people can be to commit a hate crime, and how rarely hate crimes are talked about.

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https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/05/uk/coronavirus-racist-attack-police-intl-scli-gbr/index.html

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/hate-crime

Climate change is defined as “a long-term change in the earths climate, especially due to an increase in atmospheric temperature”(Dictionary.com 2020). Nasa has been doing research on climate change for many years now. They observe changes in our atmosphere using the space point of view. According to the video “with NASAs carbon monitoring system you can see the amount of co2 in the atmosphere”(Discovery 00:00:21-00:00:26). The amount of co2 in the atmosphere increase during fall and winter and decrease during spring and summer. NASA has created a keeling curve chart that contains the levels of co2 in the atmosphere through out the years. The line charted has been increasing severely since the industrial revolution occurred. According to the video, the measurements of temperature difference “show a really sharp acceleration in the warming over the last four decades”(00:03:22-00:03:30). Over the years the temperature has been increasing little by little. In the last 10 years we’ve noticed the ice start to melt in places like the North Pole and Greenland. The ice melting off Greenland enters the ocean causing a sea level rise. According to one of the scientists in the video, “if we continue on the path we’re doing there’s going to be a lot of coastal communities all around the world that are going to be flooded”(00:04:20-00:04:28). The rise in temperature causes ice to melt, and the run off enters the ocean, which causes a sea level rise, which then causes communities to be flooded. It’s a chain effect.

According to the social problems book, “climate change, a larger environmental problem, has also been relatively slow in arriving but threatens the whole planet”. There are two views of climate change. One view is it’s caused by human activity, and the other view is that it’s just one of Earth’s phases. The first argument is that humans have caused irreversible damage to the Earth’s atmosphere. They believe the warming of the Earth started after the industrial revolution in the 1700-1800s and have continued to get worse. Burning things like fossils fuels and mining into the Earth releases co2 into the atmosphere. The other argument is that the Earth goes through these phases to “restart” itself. There is information to back up both arguments. However, there is more information believing that humans caused climate change.

I learned a lot about climate change from this video. I wasn’t aware there was technology out in space tracking co2 levels in the atmosphere. I also learned more about ice melting. Hearing that ice in Greenland especially melts and runs off into the ocean causing sea level rise was interesting. Lastly, learning about how hurricanes relate to climate change was interesting. I didn’t know those two had any relation until after watching the video. After watching the video, I feel like climate change should be taken more seriously. Right now there’s not much being done to help it. We continue to mine into the ground and burn fossil fuels that release co2 into the atmosphere. As a whole planet, we’re not working together to solve the issue of climate change. It’s not an issue that just affects one country, it affects everyone.

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https://www.dictionary.com/browse/climate-change?s=t

Medicare for all is an act to provide all Americans with health care. The plan is to provide everyone regardless of their incomes with health care and have no out of pocket expenses. As of right now, most people in America are either covered under insurance provided by their employer, have private insurance, or no insurance at all. The video stated that 27.5 million Americans have no insurance and that 43.8 million Americans are underinsured(LastWeekTonight 00:01:01-00:02:28). The video also stated that “the majority of people who file for bankruptcy cite medical expenses as a factor”(LastWeekTonight 00:02:31-00:02:35). In the video it is being argued that free healthcare would be too expensive. According to John Oliver, free healthcare would increase the federal budget and eliminate employer spending on premiums and our spending on out of pocket costs(lastWeekTonight 00:05:03-00:05:13). This is the argument being made; people think that free healthcare would be too expensive so we shouldn’t have it. However, this is something we will never know unless we do it. Bernie Sanders plan according to the video is “incredibly generous, it covers vision, dental, long-term care, and drugs”(LastWeekTonight 00:05:57-00:05:58). Bernie Sanders Medicare plan eliminates all payments and out of pocket expenses.

Health care refers to “the provision of medical services to prevent, diagnose, and treat health problems”(Social problems: Continuity and Change, 2015). Some countries in the world have free health care or provides a system that covers some or most medical costs. Canada and Great Britain have services that pay for most medical services, and Denmark’s government has free medical care. However, America does not have services like these. Like the video and the book mentioned, so many Americans don’t have insurance or are underinsured. Because of the costs, most Americans will not get care or treatment for an illness they have.

From this video I learned how many Americans have issues with the health care system. Many Americans either go in debt for their medical expenses or just never go to get treatment. The cost for medicine and treatment is so expensive and hardly anyone can afford it. In the video, John Oliver states that “one insurance provider in Utah recently started offering some of it’s participants cash if they were willing to travel a little further than their local pharmacy to fill out their prescription”(LastWeekTonight 00:07:25-00:07:34). According to the video, this is called pharmaceutical tourism. The fact that insurance providers will buy a plane ticket, and give an additional $500 to send someone to Mexico to pick up medications because it’s cheaper is crazy. Out of everything in the video, that surprised me the most. From the video I also got a better understanding of what Medicare for all is. It’s an act to help cover medical expenses for people who need it. I’m curious to know if it will ever actually become a thing in America.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z2XRg3dy9k

Public schools in Washington are not required to teach sex education. According to the article, “state laws only requires school districts to teach students about HIV and AIDS prevention every year”(Morton 2020). The article stated that “the lack of a consistent, statewide set of standards for sex education means students may fill in the gaps themselves and expose themselves to risks”(Morton 2020). Adolescents in Washington are failing to get proper sex education from school because of this non-requirement law. However, things may change soon. It was recommended to the state to “require all public schools to provide some form of sex education to every student”(Morton 2020). This proposal left the people confused. Not everyone understood why children need to learn about this topic and related topics in elementary school. Currently in Washington schools, are only required to teach about HIV and AIDS prevention. If a teacher chooses to go beyond this, they have to follow the “states Healthy Youth Act”(Morton 2020). This act is appropriate for students of all ages and is medically and scientifically accurate. According to the article, the state defines sexual health education as “an individual’s developing body, mind and social interactions… skills to build healthy and meaningful relationship, choosing healthy behaviors and understanding the influence that family, peers and the media have on sex”(Morton 2020).

This article relates to the sex education in schools section of the chapter. The power point stated “all states are somehow involved in sex education for public school children”. Not all states receive information about HIV and AIDS, some states require parental consent before teaching the lessons, and some states even allow the students to “opt-out” on the lessons. Washington is one of the states that require parental consent before teaching the lesson, and allows parents to have the student opt-out. Washington is also one of the states that is required to teach about HIV and AIDS prevention, and allows school districts to decide of they want to further the lessons into to actual sex education.

From this article I learned a lot. I wasn’t aware that all schools in Washington aren’t required to teach the same sex education. I didn’t know that it was the school districts choice of what each student learns and when they learn it. I had a sex education unit in my sophomore year of high school, and I remember I learned a lot about sex and sexual behaviors. The class was taught about the different types of sex, relationships, consent, abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases and infections, as well as birth control methods. I think it’s fair to say that my school taught all there was to know about sexual behaviors. Because of the good education I received on the topic, I never thought about the education other schools taught. Since sex education is public information, it was surprising to find out not everyone receives the same level of it.

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https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/washington-may-mandate-comprehensive-sex-education-for-all-public-schools-what-does-that-mean-and-other-faqs/

Around 11pm on a Monday night in September 2019, a 14-year-old boy called 911 to report sounds of gunfire upstairs in his home. It was stated that the boy gave very little information during his call. He was later taken in for questioning. He was confronted about things in his story that didn’t add up. Then he confessed to shooting five of his family members. The article stated that the victims are “the boy’s father; his stepmother,… his 6-year-old stepbrother; his 5-year-old stepsister; and his 6-month-old stepbrother”(McLaughlin 2019). The 14-year-old was “charged with five counts of murder”(McLaughlin 2019). The teen failed to mention any motives behind his actions. After the teen confessed to shooting his family members, he helped the police find the handgun he had used. He had tossed the gun on the side of the road nearby after the shootings occurred. The boy was being held in a juvenile facility but there were no updates on where he is now. Elkmont, Alabama is a small town where the incident occurred. Therefore this incident affected the whole community.

This is a very sad article. This article relates to the fifth media myth from the powerpoint. Which is “Media tends to highlight crimes committed by youths”. This crime was committed by a 14-year-old boy. This story was not only covered by CNN but CBS, New York times, USA Today, LA Times, as well as many more news websites. Many media sources wrote an article on this event. Since this crime was committed by a 14-year-old, many media sources highlighted it. This event probably wouldn’t have been covered by as many sources if the boy was older.

From this article I learned that media does actually highlight crimes committed by youths. Most of the other media myths were somewhat self explanatory. When reading the other myths I could think of examples of each. But for the fifth one about youths I couldn’t, which is why I wanted to find one on it. I found this article on the CNN website first, then I wanted to know how many other news and media sources also did this story. I just wanted to get an idea of how the media highlights crimes committed by youths. From finding that more than five other big media sources also did this story, I learned that this media myth is in fact true.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/03/us/alabama-residence-shooting/index.html

In 2019, three employees from an assisted living facility in North Carolina were accused of elderly abuse. They were accused of “allowing elderly residents to fight one another, encouraging them to fight, and in one case, assaulting a resident”(Holcombe 2019). According to the police, one of the employees “physically shoved a resident”(Holcombe 2019). The employees involved were immediately fired. These three employees were arrested and charged for the incident. Two of the employees were charged for “assault on an individual with a disability”(Holcombe 2019) and the other employee was charged for “two counts of the same charge”(Holcombe 2019). Luckily there were no injuries reported. The Danby House, where the incident took place has a “‘zero-tolerance policy for mistreatment'”(Holcombe 2019) for those in their care.

This article relates to the elderly abuse section in chapter 6. Elderly abuse can be physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, neglection, or financial exploitation. According to the powerpoint, “at least 10 percent of older Americans have suffered at least one form of abuse, amounting to hundreds of thousands of cases annually”. Because of their ages and the stereotypes put around them, the elderly are often taken advantage of. The elderly have received many negative stereotypes over the years. They are seen as old, weak, disabled, blind, deaf, and the list continues. Because of these many stereotypes, the elderly population is seen as easy to be take advantage of. Whether it be abuse or financial situations. The elderly have received negative stereotypes. The elderly people involved in this situation were not named, but sadly they became victims of elderly abuse. Care takers allowed and encouraged physical violence. Luckily in this situation there were no reported injuries, but it could’ve been worse.

From this article, and this weeks material, I learned the elderly can be taken advantage of in many different types of situations. In this case, it just happened to be physical elderly abuse. The term ‘fight club’ was used by someone to describe this incident. Personally, I find it very sad that people take advantage of the elderly. Elderly people often go to assisted living facilities to get help, to feel safe, and to be cared for and they can be taken advantage of like this, it’s sad to think about. If you hear about places that abuse the elderly, you wouldn’t want anyone you know to go there. Finding an assisted living space for someone you know can be difficult for reasons like this.

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https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/15/us/elder-abuse-assisted-living-encouraging-fighting/index.html

Nikkie de Jagger is a famous influencer on social media. She has created beauty and make-up related videos for her YouTube channel for about 11 years. Over the years she has become increasingly popular in the beauty community having a little over 13 million subscribers. In January 2020, she uploaded a video of her coming out. In this video she explains “her decision was forced by someone attempting to ‘blackmail’ and publicly out her”(NikkieTutorials 2020). Her coming out video was 17 minutes long. She mentions in her video that she always planned on coming out, but on her own terms. In her video she “reveals she was born male but had always identified as female growing up”(NikkieTutorials2020). After her emotional video, she received a lot of support from not only her fanbase, but others as well. A few individuals were angered at the fact that she wasn’t ready to come out. There were tweets created that it is a persons own choice to decide when to come out if they ever want too, and sad that she was forced to do it. Tweets also mentioned that she was brave for creating a video considering the circumstances.

This article explained the coming out story of Nikkie de Jagger. Nikkie came out as a transgender in her 17 minute long video. To be transgender means that an individual does not identify or express as the sex they were born with. For example, Nikkie de Jagger was born male, but identified as female since she was six-years old. Nikkie de Jagger had her right of coming out on her own terms taken away from her. She created her video so her fans could hear her story from her, and not from the person blackmailing her. She states in her video “‘If you feel like you’re trapped and there’s no way out, know that it gets better.'”(NikkieTutorials 2020). She comforted her fans as well as others watching her video. For anyone in the LGBT community, it is a hard decision to make about if they want to come out and when.

From this article I learned that it is a hard process to come out. I’m not apart of the LGBT community therefore I don’t know what it feels like to have to come out to anyone. From watching her video, and reading this article, I feel empathy towards Nikkie de Jagger. She didn’t get to come out on her own terms, she was blackmailed into doing it. Anyone in the LGBT community should have the right to come out on their own terms if they ever want too with out being blackmailed or feeling like they will be discriminated against.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51104236

In America, the rates of homelessness for transgender people have increased. Transgender people have always received discrimination in terms of society, school, work, and as well as at home. Now, they are being discriminated against in terms of housing and shelter. The article states “according to the 2017 U.S Trans Survey, a survey of more than 27,000 transgender people across the U.S… 30% have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives. Twelve percent report at least one episode of homelessness in the last year”(Dechants 2020). The discrimination against them makes them not want to seek help because of fear. Due to this, the HUD has made it a requirement to treat all clients equal and respect everyone’s gender identity. While this can be seen as good news, it has it’s cons. For example, “some shelters are run and founded by private, and often religious, organizations, and therefore do not have to follow this rule”(Dechants 2020). Another disadvantage is most people aren’t aware that if they aren’t meeting basic needs they can submit a complaint comment.

A lot of people don’t understand the difference between gender and sex. Sex is biological, it’s what you are labeled as when you are born. Whereas gender is the behavioral, physical, and personality traits. Gender identity, is what the person chooses to identify themselves as. The term transgender is used when the sex you are born with is different from your gender identity. Meaning someone can be born as a male and identify as a female and vice versa. This article is an example of gender inequality because the transgender community is receiving unequal treatment. They are being discriminated against in society. This has lead a lot of the transgender community members to the streets. While in the streets they still receive unequal treatment. Not all of them can receive shelter or housing. The situation got so bad that the HUD had to create a rule called the Gender Identity Rule that required all HUD funding recipients to treat all clients equal regardless of their gender identity and to place them in homes that match their gender and not their sex. While this is a step forward for the trans community, a lot of people aren’t aware of this change. So most of them still suffer from homelessness. This is one if the biggest forms of gender inequality. People are not treating trans people as people.

From this article I learned about the transgender homelessness issue. Before reading this article I wasn’t aware that so much of the trans community was suffering from homelessness. I was also unaware of how bad shelters treat trans people. I had never thought about it until I read the article. Now knowing this information I hope something is done to solve it. Trans people should not be treated any different just because they don’t identify with their sex.

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https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/articles/2020-01-01/transgender-homeless-americans-find-few-protections-in-the-law

Monosodium glutamate(MSG) is a common food additive. The unhealthy processed food additive is used to enhance flavors and preserve canned foods. This ingredient is found in many foods. However, the Merriam-Webster dictionary has created a term known as “Chinese restaurant syndrome”. It is defined as “a type of condition that allegedly affects people eating ‘Chinese food heavily seasoned with monosodium glutamate,’ with symptoms like dizziness and palpitations”(Yeung 2020). Many people have created campaigns to change the term or take it out because its racist and ignorant. Activists believe its a “misinformation on the American public’s perception of Asian cuisine. MSG is found in almost all foods. The article mentions “a 1969 scientific paper identified MSG as ‘the cause of the Chinese restaurant syndrome’, and warned that it caused ‘burning sensations, facial pressure, and chest pain'”(Yeung 2020). Although at the time it wasn’t scientifically proven, the news about Chinese restaurants spread quickly. Chinese cuisine had a negative stigma around them. Chinese restaurants began adding “no MSG” to the top of their menus and created signs for their doors so people wouldn’t be afraid to eat there.

This incident relates to stereotyping. Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations about groups of people that can be based on race, ethnicity, age, gender, sex, and any other social category. The Merriam-Webster dictionary generalized all Chinese restaurants as unsafe. “A joint study by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization ‘failed to confirm an involvement of MSG in ‘Chinese Restaurant Syndrome’, and noted that the syndrome itself was based on ‘anecdotal’ evidence rather than any scientific fact”(Yeung 2020). Due to there being no actual evidence, many activists have called the term racist against Asians and their foods. Some people believe there was never an issue with Chinese foods, and that the term was created out of racism. People believe this because MSG is used in almost all foods in all cultures. If there was really an issue with MSG, it would be with all restaurants or all food, not just Chinese. The negative stereotypes created a stigma which were seen as racist.

Before reading this article, I had never heard of the Chinese restaurant syndrome. From reading this article I learned a new term, and about MSGs. Before reading this article I knew that MSGs were a food additive used to enhance flavors and preserve foods. However, I didn’t know they had such a big impact on health. For example, the article states that too much consumption caused “dizziness and palpitations”(Yeung 2020). I’m sure I’ve consumed a lot of MSG over the years without knowing what it can do. I also learned the extent stereotypes can get too. These stereotypes made people not want to eat at any Chinese restaurant because they believed it was unsafe. Another thing I learned is how false stereotypes can be. For example, the term Chinese restaurant syndrome was created based off the fact that they used a lot of MSGs in their foods. But the people who created this term failed to consider all the other foods that contain a lot of MSGs. In other words, the term should’ve been based of MSGs in general and not just the way its used in Chinese cuisine.

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https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/18/asia/chinese-restaurant-syndrome-msg-intl-hnk-scli/index.html

Homelessness rates around the country keep rising as the price to live increases. Surprisingly, the homelessness rates in Washington have decreased for the first time since 2010. According to the Seattle Times, “It’s the first time in nine years homelessness has dropped in the state”(Greenstone 2020). As of 2019, homelessness rates across the United States have risen. Washington, Iowa, and Connecticut are the only states that have had a decrease in overall homeless population. While conducting these surveys, they only included certain groups of people. The surveys only included these groups of people: “unsheltered homeless people… in cars, in camps, or in abandoned buildings”(Greenstone 2020). The survey did not include homeless people who live in shelters, or the people who “couch surf”. The article mentioned that they knew if they included those groups in the survey the numbers would be large(Greenstone 2020). In terms of solving or fixing the homelessness problem, the “HUD secretary Ben Carson saying the issue must be addressed ‘by local and state leaders with crisis-like urgency'”(Greenstone 2020).

Poverty is a state of being extremely poor. It’s when someone lacks the financial resources, and the basic personal needs. When someone can’t afford shelter, food, clothes, and hygiene products, and more, they are considered to be in poverty. Homelessness is one of the main consequences of poverty. As the prices to own or rent a home increase, it gets harder for people to be able to afford to live. A lot of people who live in Washington live pay-check to pay-check and those who don’t are upper middle class, the lower class or the homeless. The increasing prices are kicking people and their families out of their homes because they just can’t make enough. This is the case especially in Washington. The prices to live in places like Seattle and Tacoma keep rising.

While learning about poverty in class, I kept thinking about the homelessness in Seattle that’s always mentioned on the news. On King5 news, they often talk about the homeless situation in Seattle. I remember once they talked about how it was so bad they had to ask people to leave or move all of them into one place since they refused shelters. They talked about how it was making Seattle look bad because there was homeless people just everywhere. They were trying to get rid of them but they had no where to go. To think that most of these people are homeless and it’s not necessarily their fault is sad. It’s well known everywhere in Washington how expensive it is to live in Seattle. Some of these homeless people could have been kicked out because they didn’t make enough income. Reading this article and taking notes on lecture in class, I learned poverty is a very serious situation. Whether someone’s poverty situation gets to the extent of homelessness or not, its still a situation that needs to be taken seriously. It also showed me that I am grateful for what I have because not everyone has it.

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https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/homelessness-is-rising-around-the-country-but-went-down-in-washington-state-according-to-hud/