The Multiracial Divide Without Easy Answers

The past couple of posts here have highlighted issues regarding race and diversity.
America is the land of…increasing diversity. It’s not slowing down anytime soon.
However, do “we” really celebrate diversity in this country? Should we? Why can’t we all just get along? Afterall, afloat or sinking, American or not, we’re all in the same boat together.

An LA Times article on a recent provocative Robert Putnam study suggests,

there is a strong positive relationship between interracial trust and ethnic homogeneity. In other words, the less diverse your community, the more likely you are to trust the people in it who are different from you. The flip side is also true: The more ethnically diverse the people you live around, the less you trust them.

The article also highlights this issue of identity and its categorizations, how we may construct our social identities for some sense of solidarity yet simultaneously separate ourselves from others but over time even these constructions may fall apart.

We can even “mash-up” our identities according to our preference (nuyorican, blasian…ask Tiger Woods).

Just existing together won’t erase mistrust; instead, we should work toward creating an identity that includes everyone.

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