Why do people tend to self-segregate? For example, blacks sit with blacks at the lunch table, Asians with Asians, etc.
This is my understanding of if.
I am a tall big black male. I am about 6 feet 3 inches and appear very muscular, ” I have been told”, or maybe it is a polite way of saying I am fat. I have a loud voice and I notice that even when I am talking to some people take a step back. Some people do find me threatening. I have worked all over the UK initially as a Medical Doctor and later as an IT Consultant. I have been to interviews, and have heard that people call me “a very big black guy” when describing me to the recruitment agency. Their eyes often light up and they say that they imagined me looking differently over the phone. On public transport, the seat next to me is sometimes left empty on both sides. Usually based on comparing it with other similar sections in the carriage, these places are usually the last places to be filled, statistically based on my observations, if the seats were being filled randomly it should not be so, hence I often remain standing to avoid embarrassing myself or anyone else.
I notice that when speaking to some people, I must confess they are very few in number, they overcompensate some try to become aggressive and exert some kind of unnecessary authority. While others just totally withdraw. I often find myself cracking jokes to put people at ease and I guess because at work because I smile a lot and am generally happy and merry, that seems to put a lot of people at ease. I have found that some blacks feel comfortable with blacks. And some Asians feel more comfortable with Asians. And some whites feel more comfortable with whites initially or when they first join. During lunch, I have found that females tend to sit around one another, and males tend to crowd around one another. It is not usually based on color or race. I guess people often stick to what they are familiar with. But there is a problem, at work we may be desegregated but at our homes, churches, mosques, pubs, clubs, when we engage in any social activities, etc we do appear segregated.
It is a fact of life in our cities, London, for example, there are areas where there is a higher concentration of Somali, Jews, West Indians, Irish, etc. There is the term “sleepwalking to segregation” there is not anything sinister about it. It is not that there is a Machiavellian plot for segregation or racial element to it. People are just moving to where their friends are, hence forming ghettos. Although the population of London is increasing, the white population is moving out. There are areas where the population changes over night, the houses become cheaper and the crime rate increases. Other main areas undergo a reversal migration white people move back especially after gentrification.
Sometime, this year was the birthday of my sons, and as a treat we allowed them to go to the movies. But we said that they allowed to bring their best friends two each and as a parent, I met them at the cinema, paid waited to the end. To make sure that everything went well, the children returned home and everybody was safe. None of their friends which they brought were black. They were Oriental, Asian, Caucasian, but none of their best friends were black. I asked them and they said since we ask for only two each, they brought their best friends the rest were left in school. The number of interracial marriages have been increasing and maybe there is hope for the future.
I am a tall big black male. I am about 6 feet 3 inches and appear very muscular, ” I have been told”, or maybe it is a polite way of saying I am fat. I have a loud voice and I notice that even when I am talking to some people take a step back. Some people do find me threatening. I have worked all over the UK initially as a Medical Doctor and later as an IT Consultant. I have been to interviews, and have heard that people call me “a very big black guy” when describing me to the recruitment agency. Their eyes often light up and they say that they imagined me looking differently over the phone. On public transport, the seat next to me is sometimes left empty on both sides. Usually based on comparing it with other similar sections in the carriage, these places are usually the last places to be filled, statistically based on my observations, if the seats were being filled randomly it should not be so, hence I often remain standing to avoid embarrassing myself or anyone else.
I notice that when speaking to some people, I must confess they are very few in number, they overcompensate some try to become aggressive and exert some kind of unnecessary authority. While others just totally withdraw. I often find myself cracking jokes to put people at ease and I guess because at work because I smile a lot and am generally happy and merry, that seems to put a lot of people at ease. I have found that some blacks feel comfortable with blacks. And some Asians feel more comfortable with Asians. And some whites feel more comfortable with whites initially or when they first join. During lunch, I have found that females tend to sit around one another, and males tend to crowd around one another. It is not usually based on color or race. I guess people often stick to what they are familiar with. But there is a problem, at work we may be desegregated but at our homes, churches, mosques, pubs, clubs, when we engage in any social activities, etc we do appear segregated.
It is a fact of life in our cities, London, for example, there are areas where there is a higher concentration of Somali, Jews, West Indians, Irish, etc. There is the term “sleepwalking to segregation” there is not anything sinister about it. It is not that there is a Machiavellian plot for segregation or racial element to it. People are just moving to where their friends are, hence forming ghettos. Although the population of London is increasing, the white population is moving out. There are areas where the population changes over night, the houses become cheaper and the crime rate increases. Other main areas undergo a reversal migration white people move back especially after gentrification.
Sometime, this year was the birthday of my sons, and as a treat we allowed them to go to the movies. But we said that they allowed to bring their best friends two each and as a parent, I met them at the cinema, paid waited to the end. To make sure that everything went well, the children returned home and everybody was safe. None of their friends which they brought were black. They were Oriental, Asian, Caucasian, but none of their best friends were black. I asked them and they said since we ask for only two each, they brought their best friends the rest were left in school. The number of interracial marriages have been increasing and maybe there is hope for the future.
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