Do We Really Want Diversity? Do humans truly have a desire for diversity? We as individuals’ have different needs, wants, and lifestyles, which causes diverse neighborhoods to become impossible to acquire. Human’s natural desire to be surrounded by others just like them is what keeps America segregated. In “People Like Us”, David Brooks uses statistics and personal experiences to make it clear that even though we say we want diversity our human nature holds us back from making the steps to accomplish this. Throughout this article Brooks includes different evidence providing economic patterns and how they show segregation is still present today. One study included was done by a precision marketing firm, Claritas, which found that the “suburban
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A personal experience Brooks includes is when the late writer James Chapin told him, “every place becomes more like itself [….] Once they find a town in which people share their values, they flock there” (Brooks 63). From this Brooks realizes humans find places they are comfortable and gives them the ability to pursue their wants and needs, then once the word gets around these people are here others like them follow. While people do this to find happiness and live the way they want, we do not realize the big impact this has on destroying the dream of diversity. Our humanly desires of finding others like ourselves puts diversity out of the question for the future. Brooks explains that as neighborhoods age certain stereotypes develop and gain certain reputations that then allows segmentation to occur. The established neighborhoods are known as where the Asians live or where the Hispanics live, which is what will happen to the new suburbs (63). We begin to put labels on these places that make it okay for only one type of group to live there and leave out the rest. Due to the history America has had conclusions that these areas are to become less and less diverse are logical to make. These choices our human nature makes us take part in is what prevents the want of diversity to be accomplished. Starting new communities with the intentions of bringing all together actually does the exact opposite. Brooks also relates the dream of diversity to the dream of equality, while both are ideal future goals humans undermine them every day (65). For generations Americans have fought for equality and still have not reached true equality and never will because it is unrealistic to our economy, the same has been happening for diversity but it seems we have went back in time and have become more distanced from one another then
A personal experience Brooks includes is when the late writer James Chapin told him, “every place becomes more like itself [….] Once they find a town in which people share their values, they flock there” (Brooks 63). From this Brooks realizes humans find places they are comfortable and gives them the ability to pursue their wants and needs, then once the word gets around these people are here others like them follow. While people do this to find happiness and live the way they want, we do not realize the big impact this has on destroying the dream of diversity. Our humanly desires of finding others like ourselves puts diversity out of the question for the future. Brooks explains that as neighborhoods age certain stereotypes develop and gain certain reputations that then allows segmentation to occur. The established neighborhoods are known as where the Asians live or where the Hispanics live, which is what will happen to the new suburbs (63). We begin to put labels on these places that make it okay for only one type of group to live there and leave out the rest. Due to the history America has had conclusions that these areas are to become less and less diverse are logical to make. These choices our human nature makes us take part in is what prevents the want of diversity to be accomplished. Starting new communities with the intentions of bringing all together actually does the exact opposite. Brooks also relates the dream of diversity to the dream of equality, while both are ideal future goals humans undermine them every day (65). For generations Americans have fought for equality and still have not reached true equality and never will because it is unrealistic to our economy, the same has been happening for diversity but it seems we have went back in time and have become more distanced from one another then