Do we naturally segregate ourselves?

[Turbofolkia]

Americans’ obsession with race and ethnicity is honestly quite baffling to those of us from the outside world. Humans are a tribal bunch to be sure, but the biggest markers of “segregation”, at least in terms of friendship and at least from my experience, tend to be those relating to common interests and values as well as age and gender.

I was born to a Croat father and a Bosniak mother and my closest friend at work is a Serb. I don’t think I’ve ever gravitated to someone simply because they were white or had Croatian ethnicity. I’m more concerned with what I have in common with someone in terms of things to discuss and do together.

[Bluelight-R006]

Americans’ obsession with race and ethnicity is honestly quite baffling to those of us from the outside world. Humans are a tribal bunch to be sure, but the biggest markers of “segregation”, at least in terms of friendship and at least from my experience, tend to be those relating to common interests and values as well as age and gender.

Not that I’m an American—but race seem to be one of the more popular factors in some areas of the world. Like mine, which see sometimes notable social groups consisting of people from ‘this race’ only. Sure, you may not have seen it, but I have, and it can be quite weird from the perspective of someone who’s not in their group. You see them talking about traditions I’ve never heard of. Possibly one of the reasons why I’ve never considered joining them, because I wouldn’t relate to them at all.

[Lanoraie II]

I'm a sophomore in HS, Literally started back a few days ago. I have noticed that whenever we get to dicide how we group (Lunch, group work, set where you like, Etc.) I've noticed that the white kids sit together, Black kids sit together, tge Latino kids sit together, and the Arab kids sit together. We mix a little but for some reason we always group ourselves like this.

To qwout my lit teacher from Last year-
"I've noticed that y'all seem to segregate yourselves, I don't know if it's like a sub counciance thing or if y'all just like to be around people like you, I don't know but that's interesting to me!"
This also interests me, so NS Gen what is your thoughts on this?

If you’re asking about race, often so, but that’s probably because of lingering racist attitudes combined with the different in experiences children of different races have.

Those had to have come from somewhere. The racist attitudes, I mean. Things don't exist in a vacuum.

[Bluelight-R006]

If you’re asking about race, often so, but that’s probably because of lingering racist attitudes combined with the different in experiences children of different races have.

Those had to have come from somewhere. The racist attitudes, I mean. Things don't exist in a vacuum.

Possibly parental influence, the news, or a bad experience with themselves on a personal level.

[Forsher]

Duh. Look around at who you hang out with and who like you to spend your time with. It's most likely people similar to yourself.

This isn't just race, it is also social class, region, religion, and politics.

Cue the people chiming in how their best friend is is the exact opposite of them and checks every mark on the diversity box, but for normal people, I am correct.

I will respond to your cue. Well not in the best friend thing because I don't believe in the concept but the general sense.

So... this was a party I was at last year. The cast of characters being, all fake names:

• Samantha... who's Maori
• Joshua... well, I'm going to call him NZ European... Samantha's fiance (now married)... if I remember the wedding properly he might be Baptist
• Mahatma... who's Indian, can't remember if he was born here... one parent's Sikh, the other Hindu
• Ghandi... who's Indian and was born in India... both parents are Hindu and he's vegetarian as a consequence
• Jae-in... who's Korean and I'm not sure where he was born. Went to a Catholic primary.
• Arnold... who was born in China, not sure how old he was when came here
• Bona... who was born in Zimbabwe and I'm also not sure when she came here. Definitely wore a crucifix at school... went to a Catholic primary.
• Jim... which is the fake name I'm assigning to myself... I am NZ European but unlike "Joshua" my surname is quote/unquote foreign (read: non-English European) but I was born here and only speak English

We were all definitely at the party. It may also have been the case that:

• Sachin... again Indian, again don't know where was born, and
• Jackson... Taiwanese and proud of it... and this is terrible since I've known him much longer than anyone else on this list (myself excluded) but I can't remember where he was born

were there too. I don't remember.

Aside from Bona... and possibly myself... everyone has NZ accents. (Either my accent's NZ-fied in the last 10 years or there was something weird about my school, but I am no longer routinely mistaken for British. You judge.) I would assume everyone has NZ citizenship.

Obviously the way I've assigned people ethnicities is deeply problematic. And it's also extremely dubious the way I've done the fake names but they broadly reflect practices. Bona, for example, is Robert Mugabe's mother's name. And I don't go by a full version of my name.

Anyway, the only reason why I mention this story is because "Joshua" specifically pointed out at the party (or maybe the wedding, but I think the party) that we were a very diverse group of friends.

Actually the diversity point can be overstated. Joshua's about a month older than me, a whole bunch of us are born in July and then the rest no later than March of the next year (Iirc). Similarly we all went to the same school, most to the same university and, in fact, most of us were in the same class at said school. As implied Jackson and I actually went to the same primary too (and this is the case for several other subgroups as well). This also speaks to geographic clustering within a geographically restrained area.Also most of us are "male". As far as I know... I'm not what you'd call the most social or socially aware person... there's also no LGBT representation.

I know a decent whack of us are what you'd call left leaning... but Ghandi was entertaining voting for NZ First at one point so it's not completely homogeneous there.

With religion... I tried to indicate variance there. I'm an atheist and was raised anti-religion, but for the most part you don't talk about religious beliefs so I don't know. I similarly hesitate on the question of social class. I know Arnold's mum rented at least at one point, Jackson's parents own property and my grandfather helped us buy but I couldn't go further than that at all.

Regardless, I agree self-segregation is the standard reality. I mean, my brother's friend group looks very different to this. Even my soccer playing friends (a lot of overlap) add in some more "white" people so in that sense is less diverse.

However, with politics I would say it's the other way around... you become politically similar to people you know because you know them (and hence because of the other similarities). With adult (including university) formed friendships this probably differs a bit, but there you go...

[Forsher]

Some do deliberately, some so subconsciously.
but don't forget that some segregation is self perpetuating. Like at school who do you sit with the first day? Probably the kids you know, the ones who live nearby, probably in a neighbored that's not as diverse as your school.

Well, at college...

So I turn up on the first day and there's a whole bunch of people milling around in the carpark by the hall. Some older pupil bumps into (probably not literally) me and then finds my name on a list and says, "Right, Forsher, you're in Yellow".

So, I am not sure how exactly we went into the hall. Possibly they grabbed a megaphone and got us to line up by house, e.g. Yellow, Red, Green (but we didn't call them these names, obviously). Maybe they just had signs inside with Yellow, Green and so forth. Regardless we sat in house groupings. Then we got sorted into vertical form classes (so about 4-8 people in our year and we'd meet the older pupils the next day).

Then I blank a bit but the next thing I remember is meeting our class for the core subjects (i.e. English, maths, science and social studies). I can't remember who we sat next to. It might have been in height order. I definitely know that one of the two who'd gone to the same primary as me sat opposite in one of our "meet the class" activities.

We spent a lot of time in year nine sitting in alphabetical orders as well.

At primary I was given a buddy or something. We were very close all through primary.

Obviously all these processes can serve to increase diversity of friend groups and association. As can be inferred from my other post, that was the general outcome of the above. And that's within the context of a school that streamed based on (among other things) an entrance test.

[Rojava Free State]

In my school you had several clicks and then the general population (like prison lmao). You had the prepsters who were planning on going to U of M or grand valley and they all were always studying on the weekend and in like all advanced classes. Most of em were upper middle class white kids, along with a few Asians and some token Arab kids.

Then you had our equivalent of like "the cool kids," which i called the inner circle, which was this weird mix of a bunch of mainly Hispanics, Sicilians, Albanians, Chaldeans, Lebanese, and Macedonians with some token white kids and a few black guys. Most of them were broke but a couple of the white kids in the group and these two Arab guys were rich as hell, so every one swarmed them like flies around a light at night. The group could be further divided in subcategories that sometimes overlapped, such as the Albanians who were almost like a click within a click.

Then of course you had the nerds

And there was the Christian kids, although they got their static club shut down when they tore down the Gay club posters

And the Gay kids were their own group too

And then you had the Warren-Detroit group, which was made up of a bunch of kids from around 8 mile and Van Dyke. They numbered about 6 strong and were all female, and while most of them were black, one of them was Hispanic and one was white. you would've thought they would just mesh in with the inner circle but for some reason they just stayed to themselves

I mainly associated with the inner circle but I moved around between groups a lot more than most folks and I'm proud of that fact. I myself was always at best on the outskirts of that group and my popularity waxed and wained like the moon. Overall I can't tell if I loved high school or hated it, so it was whatever

[Greed and Death]

Yes especially as teenager.

[Rojava Free State]

Americans’ obsession with race and ethnicity is honestly quite baffling to those of us from the outside world. Humans are a tribal bunch to be sure, but the biggest markers of “segregation”, at least in terms of friendship and at least from my experience, tend to be those relating to common interests and values as well as age and gender.

I was born to a Croat father and a Bosniak mother and my closest friend at work is a Serb. I don’t think I’ve ever gravitated to someone simply because they were white or had Croatian ethnicity. I’m more concerned with what I have in common with someone in terms of things to discuss and do together.

I think it's genuinely sad that you have a bosniak mom and Croatian father and a Serbian friend and you're over there in the balkans, but here in America we have Albanians and Serbs still kicking each other's skulls in over a war that ended 20 or more years ago and most of them werent even alive during. The tribalism is strong here and my city in general seems to be stuck in 1994, with the car models, peoples musical tastes and the angry Albanian guys beating some Romanian dude up because they mistook him for a serb. How unfortunate

[The New California Republic]

In school kids do segregate, but part of it is to do with ostracisation when someone doesn't match a certain ideal to be in a certain clique.

[Esheaun Stroakuss]

Yeah, probably. I don't do it consciously but most of it is down to the vibe someone gives off, instead of other factors.

[Aclion]

Some do deliberately, some so subconsciously.
but don't forget that some segregation is self perpetuating. Like at school who do you sit with the first day? Probably the kids you know, the ones who live nearby, probably in a neighbored that's not as diverse as your school.

Well, at college...

So I turn up on the first day and there's a whole bunch of people milling around in the carpark by the hall. Some older pupil bumps into (probably not literally) me and then finds my name on a list and says, "Right, Forsher, you're in Yellow".

So, I am not sure how exactly we went into the hall. Possibly they grabbed a megaphone and got us to line up by house, e.g. Yellow, Red, Green (but we didn't call them these names, obviously). Maybe they just had signs inside with Yellow, Green and so forth. Regardless we sat in house groupings. Then we got sorted into vertical form classes (so about 4-8 people in our year and we'd meet the older pupils the next day).

Then I blank a bit but the next thing I remember is meeting our class for the core subjects (i.e. English, maths, science and social studies). I can't remember who we sat next to. It might have been in height order. I definitely know that one of the two who'd gone to the same primary as me sat opposite in one of our "meet the class" activities.

We spent a lot of time in year nine sitting in alphabetical orders as well.

At primary I was given a buddy or something. We were very close all through primary.

Obviously all these processes can serve to increase diversity of friend groups and association. As can be inferred from my other post, that was the general outcome of the above. And that's within the context of a school that streamed based on (among other things) an entrance test.

Well that's much better then my school. There we just sat where the hat told us.

[Ethel mermania]

And it’s not that we don’t like to sit with people we’re not familiar with. It’s just that we have a tendency where we prefer to associate with people who we know are like us, and not different so as to accidentally cause a ‘debate’ in whatever they’re talking.

When left to their own devices, people naturally gravitate towards people similar to themselves. Oftentimes, this has a racial component, but this is not always the case. Other major categorizations include social class, religion, and regions.

^ this

[Christian Confederation]

Im siting in home room. I just looked around and like usual we have segregated ourselves.

All the white and Latino girls are on one side of the room, the white guys are in the middle, the black guys are in the back corner and the black girls are by the window.

The weaboos are in the back, and everyone else is on the phone, but the girls are taking about God knows.

[Neko-koku]

Im siting in home room. I just looked around and like usual we have segregated ourselves.

All the white and Latino girls are on one side of the room, the white guys are in the middle, the black guys are in the back corner and the black girls are by the window.

The weaboos are in the back, and everyone else is on the phone, but the girls are taking about God knows.

What about Arabs?

[Christian Confederation]

Im siting in home room. I just looked around and like usual we have segregated ourselves.

All the white and Latino girls are on one side of the room, the white guys are in the middle, the black guys are in the back corner and the black girls are by the window.

The weaboos are in the back, and everyone else is on the phone, but the girls are taking about God knows.

What about Arabs?

Don't have any in ny homeroom

[Cydalia]

I’m waiting for the ethnonationalist to show up.

I've been summoned.

[Cydalia]

Im siting in home room. I just looked around and like usual we have segregated ourselves.

All the white and Latino girls are on one side of the room, the white guys are in the middle, the black guys are in the back corner and the black girls are by the window.

The weaboos are in the back, and everyone else is on the phone, but the girls are taking about God knows.

It's what naturally happens, and it's like what some other people in the thread already have said. People naturally self-segregate based on what makes us who we are. A lot of the time it's over similarities, with the two most important ones from what I see being sex and race. After that, religion, and then after that, age and similar interests. Sometimes, yes, there are exceptions, but the overwhelming rule to all these things is the fact that people do have a tendency to naturally self segregate. It doesn't matter if its a group of students, or a group of people in a neighborhood or a region of a nation.

Nurture is a factor, yes, but our innate human nature has a tendency to do this.

except the weeaboos, they're where they are because nobody likes them


losers

[Republican Trump of The USA]

I'm a sophomore in HS, Literally started back a few days ago. I have noticed that whenever we get to dicide how we group (Lunch, group work, set where you like, Etc.) I've noticed that the white kids sit together, Black kids sit together, tge Latino kids sit together, and the Arab kids sit together. We mix a little but for some reason we always group ourselves like this.

To qwout my lit teacher from Last year-
"I've noticed that y'all seem to segregate yourselves, I don't know if it's like a sub counciance thing or if y'all just like to be around people like you, I don't know but that's interesting to me!"
This also interests me, so NS Gen what is your thoughts on this?

It is human nature, I am a native Cuban and American citizen, but at work I used to sit with the Americans, one day a Mexican coworker asked me why do you sit with the Americans and not us the Hispanics, I said, because I want to improve my English, if I make a mistake they will point it out to me and I will learn from it.

[Republican Trump of The USA]

Im siting in home room. I just looked around and like usual we have segregated ourselves.

All the white and Latino girls are on one side of the room, the white guys are in the middle, the black guys are in the back corner and the black girls are by the window.

The weaboos are in the back, and everyone else is on the phone, but the girls are taking about God knows.

It's what naturally happens, and it's like what some other people in the thread already have said. People naturally self-segregate based on what makes us who we are. A lot of the time it's over similarities, with the two most important ones from what I see being sex and race. After that, religion, and then after that, age and similar interests. Sometimes, yes, there are exceptions, but the overwhelming rule to all these things is the fact that people do have a tendency to naturally self segregate. It doesn't matter if its a group of students, or a group of people in a neighborhood or a region of a nation.

Nurture is a factor, yes, but our innate human nature has a tendency to do this.

except the weeaboos, they're where they are because nobody likes them


losers

Good Post Cydalia, I am a proud Cuban American Conservative Republican Nationalist and supporter of President Trump.

[Cydalia]

It's what naturally happens, and it's like what some other people in the thread already have said. People naturally self-segregate based on what makes us who we are. A lot of the time it's over similarities, with the two most important ones from what I see being sex and race. After that, religion, and then after that, age and similar interests. Sometimes, yes, there are exceptions, but the overwhelming rule to all these things is the fact that people do have a tendency to naturally self segregate. It doesn't matter if its a group of students, or a group of people in a neighborhood or a region of a nation.

Nurture is a factor, yes, but our innate human nature has a tendency to do this.

except the weeaboos, they're where they are because nobody likes them


losers

Good Post Cydalia, I am a proud Cuban American Conservative Republican Nationalist and supporter of President Trump.

thank you proud cuban american conservative republican nationalist and supporter of president trump republican trump of the usa i am an ethnonationalist

[Neko-koku]

What about cats?

Cats often self-segregate from dogs.

[Republican Trump of The USA]

What about cats?

Cats often self-segregate from dogs.

True but not all the time, I have seen a few Cats and Dogs get along and play together, as you said often.

[Neko-koku]

What about cats?

Cats often self-segregate from dogs.

True but not all the time, I have seen a few Cats and Dogs get along, as you said often.

Right.

[Republican Trump of The USA]

True but not all the time, I have seen a few Cats and Dogs get along and play together, added, as you said often.

Right.