Social Segregation

It is in the prisons, in the streets, and in neighborhoods.The difference is that it is not governmentally imposed but voluntarily enforced. There are eight “traditional” prison gangs-each related with a different ethnicity. I looked up how many street gangs there were and there are way too many to count much less to write down. But for each state there are at least fifteen, mostly associated by certain ethnicities i.e.  Black Gangster Disciples and Asian Pride.

However the problem of segregation by color reaches more than just gangs,it reaches society. Even younger audiences are separating themselves. At my high school there were two lunchrooms-one was the “preppy” cafeteria where mostly Caucasians ate and then the “ghetto” cafeteria where mostly Hispanic and African American students ate.It goes much further than this with high school cliques. Children are also dividing themselves by their parent’s income and by appearance.

Many statistics have shown that neighborhoods in fact are divided by ethnicity throughout the states. My city is not immune we have neighborhoods that are predominantly Hispanic, African American and white.

It is not only color that is segregating society but also income. This obviously affects housing and occupational situations. But it also affects social groups. Perhaps it is because higher income and lower income people are thrown (separately) together in their neighborhoods and work which causes them to befriend people of the same financial status. But the truth is that when the two “classes” are mixed, a noticeable awkwardness and entitlement is plainly seen.

If it is not one separation it is another. Perhaps it is ethnocentrism, religious division, social, or financial however, this really defeats what many worked for and what many societies or religions are to mean.

But how did we get this way? I doubt that all of those involved in the Civil Rights Movement all those years ago envisioned equality so that we could turn around and again separate ourselves just all with the same opportunities. Since when does coexisting mean different ethnicities etc. coexisting in their own sections rather than people coexisting together?