People Like Us By David Brooks

During the Vietnam War, Mexican American soldiers fought bravely to defend the United States. However mainstream historical chronicles are almost silent concerning the contributions of these soldiers in this war. Most literature omits the accomplishments and experiences of Mexican American soldiers. One example is the bestselling book Everything We Had by Al Santoli, which chronicles the oral history of soldiers in the Vietnam War. However not one Mexican American soldier is interviewed . When they are mentioned they are usually described in a stereotypical way for example Gary Hook who describes these soldiers as “ Mexicans” who speak “Mexican” in his book One Day in Vietnam. The brave participation of Mexican American soldiers in the Vietnam War did not improve the marginalized status of their community within the United States. It also failed to advance their civil rights battles and their war against poverty. Even though they fought bravely Mexican Americans faced prejudice before and during the war and received minimum recognition and rewards for their efforts in the War .

In the book Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin the reader can experience life on the other side of the color line through his words. John Howard Griffin was an author, more specifically was a journalist and a specialist on race issues. His desire was to know if Southern whites were racist against the Negro population of the Deep South, or if they really judged people based on the individual 's personality as they said. Because of this he felt that they had encouraged him to cross the color line and write Black Like Me. He became another person so he could tell the story of being a black man in the 1950s south. After his experience Griffin became a leading advocate in the Civil Rights Movement. He did a lot to promote awareness of the racial situations.

Over fifty years ago, a Texan named John Howard Griffin decided to start a revolutionary experiment--to change the color of his skin and experience racism in the South firsthand. While considered extremely controversial at the time, the arguments and teachings of Griffin in his book, “Black Like Me,” are still scrutinized and discussed today. The book has continued to enlighten readers to the oppressive, violent racism in America, and aided them in realizing that racism, while it may be hidden, is still prevalent today. It has encouraged a new generation to work towards equality, while warning about the dangers of supremacy, to progressively improve society for all. Readers are exposed to the fact that many deny the existence of racism by

“Your blanks have been filled in far differently from those of a child grown up in the filth and poverty” (Griffin 46). In Black Like Me, author John Howard Griffin travels to the South to dye his skin brown to live as a black man, throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. During the height of the 1950’s Civil Rights Movement, Griffin came up with the idea of medically dying his skin brown so he could travel the South and experience the racism blacks were fighting so hard against. He was surprised by the everyday things he could not do anymore in fear of being arrested or even worse. The idea of being a second class citizen had hit him as his rights to even use the bathroom were taken away. In the end, he could finally grasp the concept of what racism was like and was disgusted by the ignorance of the white people who ignored or proactively participated in the act. The racism faced during the 1950’s was during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement. Almost 90 years later after being freed the uphill battle on equality had come farther than ever when leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, W.E.B Du Bois, Rosa Parks, and others had had enough. People of color were second class citizens as many still are today. The government, who emancipated and gave these minorities their rights, no longer focuses on the topic of racial equality, because it

In his seminal book, Blues People, Leroi Jones (AKA Amiri Baraka) indicated that at any given time in history you can tell exactly what’s going on in the African American community by listening to their music. This observation was written back 1963 when Black music was still subject to the musicians who drew their much of their inspiration from their life experiences, creating soul-stirring music that connected their listeners on various levels. On a visceral level, music served as a form of primal therapy that allowed the African American community (particularly the poor and working class element of the community) a much needed chance to relieve the stress of living in a world hostile to their existence. On a cerebral level, Black music was a form of communication connecting various groups of people to one another and re-affirming their life-experiences by telling their story through notes, vocal intonations that produce a catharsis. In a sense, the music becomes the audience’s ultimate witness I and lyrics that bared witness to our plight in the emotional court of human drama.

The United States of America is a very diverse country. It is filled with people with different races such as African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, India, England, and so much more cultures as well. Although the country may be diverse as the nation as a whole, it is not diverse within the country. David Brooks argues that the country is diverse in terms of social and personal lives. He also stated that “the United States might be a diverse nation when considered as a whole, but block by block and institution it is a relatively homogeneous nation” in which he may state that this is true he argues that “we are finding places where we are comfortable and where we feel we can flourish. But the choices we make toward that end lead to the very opposite of

Being diverse, or for better terms, upholding diversity is a fundamental aspect of what makes America the preeminent country it is today. In most instances, when you walk into a crowded room, the first thing your eyes are drawn to is something that stands out, is divergent, and is discreetly different from its surroundings. However, America has stretched to immeasurable lengths to try and controvert the eradication of diversity in society. In aWorld and Ionline article explains "Each culture provides its own special and irreplaceable contribution to our understanding of America today" and later states that "America thrives on diversity." The article validates that it is far from just cultural differences, but every demonstration of individualism. In corroboration, the support of diversity is the bondage of individualism, and strengthens the American

The darkness of the South American’s history is belong to the period that their were against the Africans Americans. The writer of black like me is John Howard Griffin. The author of the novel black like me was born in Texas, and he was a journalist as well. The famous of his writings was about racial equality. One his journal begins when he went to the south to recognized their life style. However, he wants to learn more about their religion and how can they pray for their god, and how the community was dealing with them. He had that reality experience because he was having question mark on his mind. Moreover, he want in that moment to live the African American people life, to feel their feeling when something racism happen and to be one

I agree with many of your statements, that you expressed throughout your paper. It’s crazy to think that as Americans, we don’t care about diversity. But, I also can see why individuals prefer to be around others that are similar to themselves. As, Americans if we are surrounded by others similar to ourselves, we are able to express our emotions to one another. Living in the 21st century, Americans should not be afraid to become more diverse. For instance, an African American family should not be afraid to move into a neighborhood with the majority being a Caucasian population. But, as time goes on I hope as a country we can all evolve and accept the fact that everyone is different.

David Brooks’ essay “People Like Us” set out to put down the belief that America truly cares for diversity and is doing all it can to support it. His primary focus lies in the fact that people tend to “self-segregate” in the places that they live. Goshgarian labeled this piece as a “process analysis” which is an explanation of how something operates and Brooks essay does just that. The way that he presents his

However, Parisi, Lichter and Taquino (2011) discovered the least diverse community within minorities is between Blacks. Neighborhoods which are considered “Black” are proven to be two-thirds less diverse than the United States population overall. America’s changing color line is explained as shifting patterns of neighborhoods racial segregation. Neighborhood segregation processes account for less than half of Blacks segregation from Whites, Hispanics and Asians. The amount of neighborhood segregation in the suburbs is not declining, and that is where most studies focus. For that reason, Parisi, Lichter and Taquino extended the levels of geography that go beyond the traditional neighborhood segregation in big cities.

Often times in America, land of the free, diversity is celebrated in order to create peace between cultures and establish a safe area where people will be judged for who they are rather than by the color of their skin. This idea of a picture-perfect world may never exist however, based on the fact that diversity seems to create conflict a lot more often than resolve. All cultural conflicts spark from the shared roots of oppression and varying beliefs.

The United States for years has been a country full of opportunities. Because of the freedoms, the United States is a country full of many different types of people with their own cultures and different views of life. A reason for this is that, the United States is promoted as an interwoven country. The United States is the land of opportunities, but it can also be big in diversity and exclude others because of their culture or just because of the fact that people are not the same skin color. The color of one’s skin can also predict what opportunities people have in life. The United States may have a pluralistic society, but it can also be the most diverse country. Everyone in the United States no matter which race wants to achieve the American

The article written by Cheryl Cohen asked several important questions about teaching ethnic diversity through Social Studies/Social Science Education. “Immigrants and ethnic diversity have posed a paradox to American educators in the social studies, which is connoted in the national motto, E Pluribus Unum.” (Cohen, 1986) This inconsistency was because the United States has more immigrants, from more areas worldwide than any other country. Within the United States it has become necessary for educators to include a wider range of adaptable characteristics from each of the different ethnic groups.

Often in his essay, Brooks makes references to how individuals separate and divide themselves. We often think when we divide ourselves up it is intentional; that we do it because we are avoiding controversy. Brooks mentions that there are sometimes we as humans separate ourselves unintentionally, like buying homes in new developments (1). We often don't know what the neighborhood will be like, so we rely heavily on the characteristics that the few people living there share. Age of adults, age of kids if there is any, and what does the community believe in; this is called housing discrimination. It begs the question, why does it matter if people try and form to a certain community. It is our natural tendency to try and align ourselves with a community that we share a common passion or belief with. We can’t just assume that everyone will be happier if we never created any clique type communities. People are attracted to