[QUOTE=pizzabrat]
What does that have to do with the question? Why are you so worried about what the black kids are up to?
[/QUOTE]
Maybe I’m being whooshed, but it’s quite relevant to the article in the OP. And I did notice that you only zeroed in on my mention of black kids, and not to the (unprotected minority) Asian ones.
The vast majority of my “friends” are white.
The area in which I live is quite conservative, folks with views as liberal as mine are truly in the minority. I would find myself quite lonely were I to limit my social interactions to folks who held views similar to mine.
And atheists are in the minority most places in the US. Tho I attend a UU church, UU members do not make up the majority of my social circle.
[QUOTE=athelas]
Maybe I’m being whooshed, but it’s quite relevant to the article in the OP.
[/QUOTE]
The question was “how diverse is your circle of friends?”. How does pointing out the existence of homogeneous black groups answer that?
Yes, and? You and I both know why, and it’s not the reason you’re trying to imply. You’re Asian, and besides it was an obvious CYA attempt (that you pathetically tried to invoke, even, after it was ignored).
Diverse compared to what? I’m sure almost anywhere else in the world you go, you’ll find less diversity than in America.
My neighborhood is a weird one. What was it Colbert said about DC? A black oreo with a white creamy center? A crude but accurate way to describe Hyde Park - the university has to be one of the whitest in America, but the surrounding neighborhood is almost all black.
As for my circle of friends… they are all very different in terms of personality, but in terms of education and politics we’re pretty homogenous. All liberal, all with a BA at least. I would say most of us are half-heartedly religious at best. Oh, and race. I swear, I always end up being the token Asian person in any group. The group of friends I made this year (in my MA program) was all white people, except for myself. I’m not sure why.
I guess our economic statuses also vary a bit. We have a friend whose father is a hotshot at a huge investment firm, but we also have friends who come from working-class backgrounds, and everything in-between.
A couple of caveats here. I’m an academic researcher, and I study issues of race. So by will and the nature of where I work and study, I have a very diverse group of friends according to race, though the majority are African-American and Latino. I have friends internationally from every continent. Lots of religious diversity as well.
The part where I lack diversity at this juncture in my life is education and SES level. Most of my friends are middle class to upper middle class. Almost all have at least a masters degree. A lot of us, myself included, come from modest SES backgrounds, but it’s clear by virtue of our educational paths that we are moving on up, as the Jeffersons would say.
Of course, back home in my old neighborhood everyone is working class and there are few college degrees… same with my family. (I’m ending my graduate days soon, and I know we tend to be insular.)
My community is something like 80 percent or higher White. Mostly Armenian or of Armenian descent. I rarely see people of color in my neighborhood.
All my friends play rugby. More than half are engineers.
The friends I saw regularly in college were much more diverse.
[QUOTE=astorian]
A survey, inspired by this passage from David Brooks:
"Maybe it’s time to admit the obvious. We don’t really care about diversity all that much in America, even though we talk about it a great deal. Maybe somewhere in this country there is a truly diverse neighborhood in which a black Pentecostal minister lives next to a white anti-globalization activist, who lives next to an Asian short-order cook, who lives next to a professional golfer, who lives next to a postmodern-literature professor and a cardiovascular surgeon. But I have never been to or heard of that neighborhood.
[/QUOTE]
You know, I get what David Brooks is on about, but honestly, he’s lived in New York City, does he not get out much? My New York neighborhood is exactly what he describes – if you replace “professional golfer” with another kind of celebrity-type person. So yes, my neighborhood is that diverse.
My immediate circle of close friends is not particularly diverse.
There are studies that show that one gets different answers to the “how diverse are your friends” question depending on how it is presented. If you ask people to list their friends (or “close friends” or however you define it), and then ask them to identify their friends’ race, friends groups appear less diverse than if you boldface ask them if their friends are a diverse group. (Qualifiers: I’ve never seen this issue address anything other than race, so I don’t know how it would play out in terms of religion or SES; also, I intended it as a comment about average responses from a group of people, not any specific person or Doper).
[QUOTE=Hippy Hollow]
The part where I lack diversity at this juncture in my life is education and SES level. Most of my friends are middle class to upper middle class. Almost all have at least a masters degree. A lot of us, myself included, come from modest SES backgrounds, but it’s clear by virtue of our educational paths that we are moving on up, as the Jeffersons would say.
[/QUOTE]
I’m sure I’ll :smack: myself when you tell me, but what’s SES?
[QUOTE=delphica]
You know, I get what David Brooks is on about, but honestly, he’s lived in New York City, does he not get out much? My New York neighborhood is exactly what he describes – if you replace “professional golfer” with another kind of celebrity-type person. So yes, my neighborhood is that diverse.
My immediate circle of close friends is not particularly diverse.
There are studies that show that one gets different answers to the “how diverse are your friends” question depending on how it is presented. If you ask people to list their friends (or “close friends” or however you define it), and then ask them to identify their friends’ race, friends groups appear less diverse than if you boldface ask them if their friends are a diverse group. (Qualifiers: I’ve never seen this issue address anything other than race, so I don’t know how it would play out in terms of religion or SES; also, I intended it as a comment about average responses from a group of people, not any specific person or Doper).
[/QUOTE]
Edit – ah, I neglected to specify that the friends groups of white people show a marked difference depending how the question is framed, which is probably showing some of my own bias. My understanding is that friends groups of people who are not white do not have a significant difference.
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
I’m sure I’ll :smack: myself when you tell me, but what’s SES?
[/QUOTE]
Oy. Allow me. It’s “Socioeconomic status” isn’t it? Never mind.
:smack: :smack: :smack:
I live in a community of 20 residential lots. Only one family is black. We’re a tight-knit community and I count nearly all of the other residents as friends to a more or less degree. I’m particularly friendly with the black neighbor and play tennis with him at his house regularly.
I work in a diverse office with a mixture of races, income levels, experiences, educational achievments, political beliefs, religious practices, and sexual preferences. While I’m not close friends with all, I’m at least on friendly terms with all and can’t think of anyone I’d go out of my way to avoid interacting with. All in all - a diverse group.
The most undiverse place I frequent with any regularlity is church. There’s not a non-white family or individual that attends. I recall hearing someone say the most segregated places in America are churches, and I suspect that may be the case.
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
Oy. Allow me. It’s “Socioeconomic status” isn’t it? Never mind.
:smack: :smack: :smack:
[/QUOTE]
Hey, it saved me from having to ask, consider it your good deed of the day. 
[QUOTE=astorian]
So, I ask, in terms of ethnicity, religion, politics and socio-economic class, how diverse are the people in your circle of friends? Do you have many (any?) close friends who don’t share any of your core beliefs?
[/QUOTE]
First off, I think we might want define “friends” to include only people who have stayed at your place, or vice-versa. Otherwise, people are going to be claiming “friends” who are really only friendly acquaintances.
Using that narrow definition, and bragging a bit, my circle is very diverse, across all lines of division. Many of my friends I’ve known since grade school. I’m pretty liberal and a loyal Democrat, but most of my closest friends vote Republican (poor misguided souls) or proclaim their libertarianism. (There are a few Democrats in my social circle.) Ethnically, the group includes white, black, Hispanic (of various flavors), Vietnamese. Most of my friends are atheists or agnostics, but there are some who are devoutly religious (some Catholic, some protestant). Most of us are culturally Southern (US) but one or two outlanders have snuck into the group. (The mostly-Southern culture is spiced with Mexican, Cuban and Vietnamese flavors.) We’re all middle class, but some of us grew up poor. None of us is wealthy (unless they’re really quiet about it).
My neighborhood is a mostly-liberal intown Atlanta community. Plenty of white and black residents, far fewer of other ethnicities. Though my circle of friends tends to be conservative, I would admit that I am more comfortable living in a liberal community than I would be in a conservative community.
[QUOTE=Anaamika]
Being atheist and non-white I often tend to end up being one of the factors of diversity where I live - for other people!
[/QUOTE]
Same here. The neighborhood I live in is all white except for me (but this is a rural area, so it’s not like there are that many families here). Based on internet stats, the town itself is about 70% white, 15% black, 10% hispanic and 5% other. My circle of friends is mainly white with a couple of blacks, a couple of hispanics and one Asian. Most are liberal or moderate. There is a good mix of religious beliefs but only a couple of people are devout.
Huh. Close friends are almost all white. Wait, they are all white, except for me. I’m half Japanese. I’m a college-educated lowish income mixed race religious conservative living with my white husband in a predominantly white high-income liberal area.
Most of our friends have post-secondary education. About half of them are religiously although not politically conservative (Catholic, Anglican, Mennonite), and the other half are mild agnostic through ranting atheist (he rants really well).
Hm.
Those are the ones we see or talk to at least once a week.
Thinking about the question a bit more I should add that the one thing virtually all of my friends have in common is that they are smart. (I guess I am elitist that way.) Pretty much all other lines of division are crossed.
[QUOTE=E. Thorp]
My neighborhood (Capitol Hill in Seattle) may not literally be one “in which a black Pentecostal minister lives next to a white anti-globalization activist, who lives next to an Asian short-order cook, who lives next to a professional golfer, who lives next to a postmodern-literature professor and a cardiovascular surgeon,” but I wouldn’t be surpised if it was (though the short-order cook would probably need roommates to afford the rent).
[/QUOTE]
I live in the same neighborhood though - and while they may be diverse in age, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and race (to the extent that Seattle gets racially diverse), not a single one of those people voted Republican.
Among my circles of friends - not very diverse, especially economically.
Well, if we’re talking my circle of people that I actually call friends, it is not very diverse – I only call a handful (less than 5) of people “friends.” If we are talking about people with whom I occasionally hang out, who call me a friend – it is extremely diverse.
Me = white, married w/kids, a-religious (not athiest, I simply have no belief structure whatsoever), politically moderate with some (very) liberal leanings and some (very) conservative leanings
In my group of people I call friend, there is:
[ol]
[li]Aleta: white, xtian, straight, with kids, politically moderate, same socio-economic group[/li][li]Tim – white, pagan, politically liberal, same socio-economic group, married to me ('nuff said?)[/li][li]Sterling – white, non-religious, same socio-economic group, my daughter ('nuff said)[/li][li]John – white, xtian, with kids, higher socio-economic group, politically conservative[/li][li]Ken – white, xtian, with kids, higher socio-economic group, politically moderate[/li][/ol]
Interestingly enough – out of this group, the only one who is very much like me as far as “core beliefs” (or more clearly, the lack thereof) is is my daughter. She is still seeking her own path and therefore has no clearly defined belief system. I share very few traits with any of my friends, in fact sometimes I get a bit morose if I think about it – I am the black sheep of every group in which I am found. Meh.
In my list of people who call me friend, the list is quite diverse – including many different religions, ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds. As for my “neighborhood” – well, such that it is (we live in a very rural area), is quite diverse except where ethnicity is concerned. I can think of one person on the entire road that is not white – this is a very rural area in TN.
My circle of friends is very homogeneous. They are almost all white, irreligious, college educated, socially liberal alcohol drinkers from middle class nominally christian backgrounds. I am an anomaly in that I’m of Japanese descent. I have one Thai friend and one from Bolivia who never talks to me once he moved to Bermuda, the bastard.
It is worth noting that my cousins who live in the Bay Area have almost exclusively Japanese American friends and SO’s. I find this odd, being a “sansei”.
My neighborhood is even whiter than my circle of friends. I’m the only non-white on my block. It’s socioeconomically and racially segregrated even though our town is over 50% Latino. There are almost no blacks in town although both Jamaal Wilkes and Randall Cunningham are from here.