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macmeal's posts are usually trenchant. Diversity of races and incomes has worked very well over many decades in my neighborhood in East Dallas. We have commonalities in our schools. Fortunately the 'upper-classes' have supported the public schools and seen the diversity as an asset for their children. I have seen those who have chosen/been forced into private schools over the years don't always get the intended advantages and they ultimately feel left out as the years go by.
That quote is idiotic. If people don't trust others when they are in a diverse community, it is because they are subconsciously racist to the diverse members of the community. Rather than putting them in a diverse community to help overcome racism, let's pretend diversity is bad. It's like saying in the 1960s, "Whites tend to not trust blacks when we try to desegregate them, so trying to end segregation is bad." A lack of trust is a sign of racism which can only be overcome by forced diversity, and the racism is the problem, not diversity.
.... While in Sweden to receive a $50,000 academic prize as political science professor of the year, Harvard’s Robert D. Putnam, a former Carter administration official who made his reputation writing about the decline of social trust in America in his bestseller Bowling Alone, confessed to Financial Times columnist John Lloyd that his latest research discovery—that ethnic diversity decreases trust and co-operation in communities—was so explosive that for the last half decade he hadn’t dared announce it “until he could develop proposals to compensate for the negative effects of diversity, saying it ‘would have been irresponsible to publish without that.’”
So, what do you feel about the implications of this study and would you agree with its findings?
I am a researcher, and have reviewed numerous manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals - as well as written quite a few manuscripts myself. When you ask what we think about the implications of the findings, I am left with a blank. This is mainly because you have not given us anything to work with. Would you tell us what peer-reviewed journal Professor Putnam's study appears in? Better yet, would you provide a link to this article?
Once I see that this study has been published in a peer-reviewed journal, and once I've had a chance to critically review it, then I will comment on the implications of the findings. Right now, I have nothing to work with
People throughout history have always wanted to be around others who are like-minded. That setiment is never going to go away. Having said that, I don't think diversity is the issue so much as the current western world's concept of it. For one, there is definetly a "evil whitey" setiment to it, as you can see almost all the convos are slanted towards whites vs everyone else. As was explored on Great Debates "Why isn't okay to be White?", there is a feeling that white people are blasted more for their sins than other cultures are for theirs.
The flipside is that "Diversity" today is what "Intergration" was in the 1960s: A code word for the not-so-tolerant to pass their desire to remain segregated off to the world in a socially/PC acceptable fashion. Part of the problem is that we've largley made a mockery of the claim of racism, so that this underground coded hate is allowed to flourish.
"Diversity," frankly, is liberal rubbish. It's the forced promotion and celebration of the collapse of borders between groups of people for the benefit of soothing white liberal racial guilt. It leads to bandaid programs like Affirmative Action for college entrance, which satisfy racial quotas so that everything "looks" equitable. But of course, the inequities remain: the foundational problem of impoverished elementary and secondary schools is never rectified so that Affirmative Action is not needed. Furthermore, those racial quotas are often filled by foreign students, who then go on to remain and work in the U.S. so that non-white Americans once again get pushed aside, both in terms of education and work opportunity.
Anthropologically speaking, it's perfectly natural for people to mistrust the unknown "other." In this way, people are no different than animals: they have a difficult time accepting outsiders into their already formed groupings. So it's stupid to call people "racist" because they are mistrustful of other races. It's normal. And it's normal because, until recently, most people became socialized almost exclusively within their own race. Identity politics, which began to appear in the 1960s and has grown to a fevered pitch, is also known as "tribalism." And tribalism is becoming a serious problem in America, fracturing the nation into groups of people who vote according to their tribal affiliations: Hispanics who fight for amnesty for illegal immigrants primarily because the largest number of illegal immigrants are Hispanic, and for whom the good of America comes second (at best). Or blacks who vote for a black candidate primarily because he's black. Or whites who vote for a white candidate primarily because he's not black. Regardless of the person's character and/or suitability. Etc.
"Diversity," in my view, is very bad because it entrenches identity politics and thus intensifies frictions between groups that make up the larger community. It focuses on how people are different, rather than on what they have in common. In order to overcome our natural inclination to congregate only with "our own," we need to have the opportunity to live together and work together, as a community, towards a common goal. I don't see that happening any time soon. If ever. Because, on an important level, we're working against Nature. Doesn't mean we shouldn't try, though. We do need to get rid of idiotic language like "diversity," however, which celebrates what separates us from what unites us.
According to a recent study by a well-respected Harvard professor, the findings appear to show that ethnic diversity has a negative impact upon communities, not only between different races, but between same raced individuals. A quote:
"In the presence of [ethnic] diversity, we hunker down. We act like turtles. The effect of diversity is worse than had been imagined. And it’s not just that we don’t trust people who are not like us. In diverse communities, we don’t trust people who do look like us. "
—Harvard professor Robert D. Putnam
.... While in Sweden to receive a $50,000 academic prize as political science professor of the year, Harvard’s Robert D. Putnam, a former Carter administration official who made his reputation writing about the decline of social trust in America in his bestseller Bowling Alone, confessed to Financial Times columnist John Lloyd that his latest research discovery—that ethnic diversity decreases trust and co-operation in communities—was so explosive that for the last half decade he hadn’t dared announce it “until he could develop proposals to compensate for the negative effects of diversity, saying it ‘would have been irresponsible to publish without that.’”
Professor Putnam found that trust was lowest in Los Angeles, "the most diverse human habitation in human history". While no more than 12 percent of L.A.’s whites said they trusted other races “only a little or not at all,” 37 percent of L.A.’s Latinos distrusted whites. And whites were the most reliable in Hispanic eyes. Forty percent of Latinos doubted Asians, 43 percent distrusted other Hispanics, and 54 percent were anxious about blacks. But his findings also held for rural South Dakota, where "diversity means inviting Swedes to a Norwegians' picnic".
When the data were adjusted for class, income and other factors, they showed that the more people of different races lived in the same community, the greater the loss of trust.
So, what do you feel about the implications of this study and would you agree with its findings?
Well, what the article means is they did not truely do their homework. I live in a very diverse community, there is no segment of our society that is not represented. I have lived here twice for a total of 17 years, guess what this is one of the best communities I have ever lived in, very low crime rate and friendly people wherever I go. Sounds more like some make statements based on what they want to prove, not on the proof itself. FYI, professors are human, just like the rest of us and bring their own failings to the table, a higher education does not automatically mean higher thinking.
Casper
That quote is idiotic. If people don't trust others when they are in a diverse community, it is because they are subconsciously racist to the diverse members of the community. Rather than putting them in a diverse community to help overcome racism, let's pretend diversity is bad. It's like saying in the 1960s, "Whites tend to not trust blacks when we try to desegregate them, so trying to end segregation is bad." A lack of trust is a sign of racism which can only be overcome by forced diversity, and the racism is the problem, not diversity.
There goes the brainless tossing around of that word "racist". If I don't trust someone because they're different, maybe its because of prior experiences. Face it, not everyone wants to be mixed in with other races. Doesn't make them a racist, it just means they're comfortable around their own people. Get off your high horse, chum.
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