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Assad Gupta

Ms.Flynn

English Composition

16 October 2019

The Struggle of Diversity in America

The idea of diversity seems like a simple concept. People assume that it is an easy thing

to do that requires almost no work. In reality, however, it is a practice that is long and laborious

to achieve and that people seem to resist. This is clearly seen throughout the United States.

People from all over the world immigrate to America looking for opportunities, civil liberties,

and new starts. This makes America one of the most diverse countries in the world. The United

States likes to gives the impression that it prides itself on its diversity. However, in real life,

America struggles to uphold its image of true diversity. Dannah Boyds in Why America is Self

Segregating writes how the privatization of certain branches of the U.S. Military and social

media halt diversity. Gabriel Moros argues in Minority Student Clubs that student ethnicity clubs

subliminally causes students to stay with people they are familiar with. Robert Leonards explains

in Why Rural America Voted for Trump that the philosophical differences of rural America create

a rift between them and others. Chelsea Handler's documentary Hello privilege it's me chelsea

talks about the double standard in colored and caucaisan Americans. All four of these sources of

media agree on one thing that America is self segregating. I believe that it is difficult for the

extensive population of the United States to accept each other because of cultural, systemic, and

political differences that they see in each other.

To begin with, it is difficult for Americans to desegregate themselves due to their cultural

differences. This is discussed in Gabriel Moros’ article, (2019)Minority Students Clubs, “Several
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studies and student opinions suggest that minority student clubs amplify students' inadvertent

inclination to self-segregate. Students become comfortable with their minority peers. These

students may no longer desire or feel the need to branch out of their comfort zone”(pg#n/a). The

article insists that incoming students to universities tend to only spend time with people that are

familiar to them. This is further encouraged through ethnic student clubs. People, or more

specifically students in this article, are revealed to be self-segregating due to their culture.

Individuals that come from different cultures will not have the same opportunity to interact with

one another. Americans usually do not interact with people from other cultures because they are

not familiar with them, or in more severe cases, fear/hate the places that they come from.The

sense of comfort that they have with people they are familiar with is not experienced when they

encounter someone different from them. There is a tremendous number of different cultures in

the United States. People who come from different countries may have a difficult time digesting

the fact that they now live in a country where there is more than one way of life. Some peoples

customs sometimes even raise them to have a sense of misplaced anger towards a similar but

opposite culture which further complicates their relationships with people different from

them.Americans also need to learn to accept the people around them.Although it is done

unknowingly students are drawn into their comfort zones by ethnic clubs ,that appeals to their

culture, in universities which lowers their chances to interact with students from different areas

of life causing self segregation.

Secondly, Dannah Boyds article why America is self-segregating dives deeper into this

issue by presenting and discussing the systemic challenges that disrupt true diversity in the

United States. One of the main Ideas of this article discusses how, because of the privatization

seen in certain parts of the U.S military, diversity is put aside in order for companies to focus on
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profit. Dannah boyd (2017) wrote “ Private vendors are not engaged in the same social

engineering project as the military...Like many companies they have little incentive to invest in

helping diverse teams learn to work as effectively as possible” (pg223). The privatized sections

of the military deliberately maintain a “culture fit” in order to make conflict free teams.

Companies tend to neglect the idea of diversity to secure an immediate profit. Boyd also wrote

how technology and social media play a huge role in halting diversity through the use of profile

personalisation. Social media ,or to be more specific, Facebook, uses a “filter bubble” to match

people who share the same preferences, political views, and culture. Although the categorization

of people in social media is online, it is eventually materialized in the real world. I feel that it is

even more difficult for Americans to practice true diversity if certain sections of privatized

government branches, and the technology around them, make sure that they never interact in

order to make money

Political stances also contribute to the disparity of people in America. Political

parties/candidates often use an expression like this: “there are only two types of people in this

world, the ones who agree with them and the ones who agree with us”. Statements and political

ideologies like this largely contribute to people rejecting others who disagree with their ideas of

politics. Interestingly enough political parties attract supporters through their culture and family

values insisting that the things they love most are disappearing because of political party 2 or

ethnic group B insisting that they are entitled to their old way of life. This demonization of

competitors causes political followers to view their fellow Americans with a sense of animosity

and suspicion. This is explored in Robert Leonards article (2017) why rural america voted for

trump “They are part of a growing movement in rural America that immerses young people in a

culture — not just conservative news outlets but also home and church environments — that
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emphasizes contemporary conservative values. It views liberals as loathsome, misinformed and

weak, even dangerous” (pg#n/a). This quote further elaborates on just how effective political

parties are at dividing the population causing them to think that people who live, act, or believe

in different things are a threat to their life. Leonards article explores why and how rural america

bought Trump to power. Revealing that this certain part of America was drawn to Mr.Trump

when they noticed that he was supporting the same values they have. Politics create a huge rift in

america and holds the most blame for the self segregation in America.

Chelsea handler's documentary Hello privilege it's me Chelsea discusses the double

standard seen in colored people and white Americans. Handler uses a personal experience, to

give its audience a full grasp on the weight of this issue, about when she was younger and had an

African American boyfriend. The story goes that the couple was pulled over chelsea ,being white

and from a good family was let go while her boyfriend ,who was caught with drugs, was sent to

jail for over 5 years on drug charges. How are Americans supposed to accept each other when

they face double standards that don't make them feel truly equal to one another? It's like a history

professor says here at sjcc ̈ Everyone is equal under the law but not under reality ̈

In conclusion America still lingers in exercising its diversity. Its citizens have trouble

accepting one another because of the ways they have been raised and the tactics that the

government uses to make sure they don't interact. Although America is not a perfect nation, its

population is aware of this and constantly striving towards equality. maybe one day we will

finally achieve true diversity

Works Cited

Boyd, Dannah Why America is self segregating (points 2017)

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Moros, Gabriel Minority Student Clubs (fresh writing 2019)

Leonard, Robert Why Rural America Voted for Trump (New York times 2017)

Handler, Chelsea Hello privilege it's me Chelsea (Netflix 2019)