Analysis Of David Brooks 's ' People Like Us '

In Nadine Gordimer’s short story “Once Upon a Time” she references points of racial prejudice in South Africa. “She sent the trusted housemaid out with bread and tea, but the housemaid said these were loafers and tsotsis… You only encourage them with your bread and tea”. Gordimer wrote the unemployed people on the streets as people of color to show that even in areas of the world where there is a larger population of colored people, there are still issues of white supremacy. They don’t trust their own neighbors and begin to ostracize themselves from society Also, in the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln says “ Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation… Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” He is saying that even though our country is only eighty-seven years old, we were fighting already, so maybe it was never meant to be. Furthermore, in Anna Quindlen mentions issues in the beginning of the United States in her essay “ A Quilt of a Country”. She mentions that this country is held together by “... the notion that all men are created equal, though everyone knows that most men consider themselves better than someone.” This compares to the ‘agree to disagree’ concept, where on the surface, humans appear to be fully capable of getting along without bickering or fighting over the simplest things, but in reality, most humans consider their opinions or themselves more important than others. Thus, it is clear that humans cannot live in harmony as ‘one human race’ because we don’t trust each other and we don’t consider ourselves

David Brook’s essay, “People Like Us, describes about the tolerance and diversity in the United States. Since the great immigration of the late 19th century, America has been cited as one of the most diverse countries in the world. The United States is home to individuals from many different races, ethnic backgrounds, religions, political views, interests, personalities, and income levels. However, according to Brook’s, instead of the population of the country uniting in its diversity and using it as a strength, individuals are trying to distance themselves from others who are not like themselves, rather, band themselves together with those who are like them. Brook’s notes that, even though most of Americans are doing the right thing by finding locations where they are most comfortable and where they believe they can succeed. Their decisions make them achieve their goals often lead towards their own ethnic or racial extractions. For instance, Brook’s himself confesses that he has in the past gravitated towards places where he believed he could be most comfortable in and where he also felt he could pursue his identity. He further states, that the majority of his friends are middle-income level Caucasians and conservative Christians. Brooks’ main argument in the essay is that many individuals in the United States often do not even bother to show that they would like to

Also, it is natural to search out or relate to that which is "like" or common to us. These ideas form or create the self definition of who an individual is. Cultural togetherness is not a bad thing. However, these ideas have negative retributions when acted upon in extreme degrees. The individuality of a group is wonderful, but not when it causes a cut off from other groups. What segregation brings or prevents is the opportunity for experience of diversity or a wide range of livelihood in general. There is more to the world then just you or just me. This type of separation causes barriers or invisible lines and walls that are rarely crossed by people in our society today. These barriers produce the loss of uniqueness among both a group of people as well as individuals. When everyone is the same or alike, people lose the capability to be special or unmatched ( Myers, 34). Differences and diversity should be celebrated as a chance or opportunity to be able to stand out as well as the chance to educate each other about the creation of man and woman.

The article It’s Not About You by David Brooks, presented the struggle in today’s society for graduating students, due to the trouble of finding passions or use of strengths. “Instead, they will confront amazingly diverse job markets, social landscapes, and lifestyle niches. Most will spend a decade wandering from job to job and clique to clique, searching for a role.” (Brooks 4). Newly graduated students have had difficulty discovering their strength and weaknesses. Instead, students should find themselves before taking on life's journey. “This year’s graduates are members of the most supervised generation in American history. Through their childhoods and teenage years, they have been monitored, tutored, coached and honed to an unprecedented

Brooks uses the diversity of neighborhoods in America to support his claim: America lacks diversity. He states that he has noticed people are “making strenuous efforts to group themselves with people who are basically like themselves” (Brooks 132). People who share common values and interests seem to attract, including in communities. Brooks points out that many neighborhoods have a general race, values, and interests. When making this argument Books neglects addressing the origin of segregated neighborhoods. When America was just developing its government and values, millions of people where coming into America from other countries and relocating themselves. They moved in by and reached out to others who shared their common values and cultural beliefs. They segregated themselves for support and structure during their new adventure, becoming an American. While understanding that it looks as though America is not diverse because of the efforts made by Americans to segregate themselves, we have to keep in

Many individuals interpret diversity differently specifically in the United States because of its melting pot of distinct cultures and lifestyles. In his essay “People Like Us”, David Brooks’ argues that although the United States is a diverse nation as a whole, it is homogeneous in specific aspects like interactions between people. To some extent, his observation is true; people tend to stick to what or who they are comfortable with. There are also exceptions where the American people attempt to establish relationships with others because of their desire to expand out of their norm. For instance, Brooks excludes the

So, why do we need diversity? As America grows, the differences in cultures among individuals become colossal. People are becoming closed-minded about others who are disparate from themselves,

In society today there are still forms of segregation prevalent to the eye. Whether it’s in workplaces, schools, etc. it is still seen today. Of course, sometimes no one means to self- segregate himself or herself, sometimes it may even be subconscious. It is not intended to be mean spirited or subjective to anyone, it simply just happens. Even though people may not realize it within themselves, people still hold on to racist beliefs.

Our country is a good example of what diversity means. Globalization has increased rapidly, making our society a more diverse place. Where individuals from foreign places with different cultures, race, and languages all unite to become one. As one of my favorite novelist, F. Scott Fitzgerald, once said, “The rich are different from you and me.” (Walter Benn Michaels 725) The problem here is that Fitzgerald failed to realize that the “rich” were the same as everyone else, except with more money. A diverse society represents a country with various people of color, socioeconomics, national origin, etc. Although we are all different yet, the same, and come from different places, race, color, gender, and socioeconomics, nobody is looked down upon nor superior to the other.

In David Brooks’ “People Like Us” passage on the issue of diversity, Brooks takes a personally emotional perspective of the way in which Americans don’t appreciate how diverse our nation is while “relatively homogeneous” (Brooks 136). His argument is weakened, however, through a bias and hypocrisy that his diction conveys. He claims that grouping ourselves with those who we are most alike is in our nature to, and in doing so, we separate ourselves from those who are different. Using certain statistics as evidence, Brooks points out that the social segmentation created by society will always exist.

are a “melting pot” of differences that should work together to create a better future for us all

The United States is one of, if not the most, diverse nations in the world. It is often described as a

The rudimentary components of racial isolation are principals that have transcended over time. The guiding principle, mandated through Jim Crow, of “separate but equal” was only personified through the New Deal not abolished. Racial segregation in the U.S. has transcended through the history of a nation that has used race/ color as a means of distinguishing right from wrong, good from bad, holy from evil, and it’s in this association the mammoth race issues we battle today enfolds itself. Most view racial division in the U.S. as a social canon that’s always held a dark presence in U.S. culture from the beginning of American history. Conversely, racial tension in America was introduced then further woven into American fabric through methodical structure as a means of standardization. Racism was institutionalized with systems that were originally perceived as being set in place to leverage African American’s with economic stability, but had an inverse effect that continues to rip through Detroit today.

We humans are programmed to hate and sort out people into different classes based on their race or economic classes sometimes automatically. Races are even on some nations passports such as Rwanda (Document H) Ultimately, if you do make everyone come together, then there’s the problem of superiority and someone is going to feel the need to lead everyone, and we would cycle back to the same problem.

Multiculturalism is also known as ethnic diversity relating to communities containing multiple cultures. The term is used in two different broad ways, descriptively and normatively. By using the descriptive term, we usually refer to the simple fact of cultural diversity. This can be applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place and sometimes at the organizational level such as schools, neighborhoods or nations. The normative term is often referred to ideologies or politics that promote this diversity or its institutionalization. The United States have been a magnet for people all over the globe, searching for a better life and bringing their own culture and traditions to a new vast country. No