Culture is one thing that we human beings all have. Conversely, different ethnic communities are associated with different cultures. This is in most cases an added advantage as diversity caused by the different cultures is usually one that contributes to the fun in life. In the case that we all had the same cultures, then there would be nothing to learn. We would be waking up in the same routine day in day out and, in the long run, life would be rather boring. However, with the diversity created by the vast number of ethnical groups, it becomes fun to learn what one group does in its daily life and what values it holds dear. In a nutshell, this is the group’s culture and the way of life.
However, what happens when different ethnical communities stay together in one location is not a sight to admire. It is better when the different communities stay individually, but when they come together to stay in one locality, it becomes difficult. This is caused by the vast diversification of culture in the society. The fact that the different ethnic groups have to share the few available resources comes in as a strain to the relationship between the various communities interacting within the said locality. Judith Goode and Jo Anne Schneider in their book, Reshaping Ethnic and Racial Relations in Philadelphia: Immigrants in a Divided City set out to find out what becomes of a society when the different communities come together to live and work around the same place.
In their book, the authors explore how the different communities living in Philadelphia live together in their daily life. How the groups carry out their daily activities, is the focus of the book. This is to shed a light on the impact of people of different ethnic origins interact within a given community. The book more efficient, than other publications ever made, in the recent past on ethnography. This is because the book does not only focus on one ethnic community but rather several communities in Philadelphia. Among the communities discussed in the book include Puerto Ricans, African Americans, Koreans and Eastern Europeans. In their book, the authors’ major concern is how the several communities interact within the borders of Philadelphia is the author’s major concern.
As earlier quote, when several communities live together, conflicts often arise between the several members of the community. The reason for this is than human beings are beings have minimal tolerance for each other. The fact that a person will yield to the other person’s acts has a very low probability of occurring. This is because humans always want to dominate each other. One human being always wishes to feel superior to the other in whatever situation they are in. Goode and Schneider are keen to put across this fact. In their study, which they conducted through observation, they begin by giving the experience in a school with children of all ethnic origins. Here, as young as they are, they still pick on each other due to the differences in skin color.
Clearly, ethnicity is not only evident among the older folk in the society. Goode and Schneider are keen to bring this fact to light. The young children are also, as young as they are, not able to tolerate each other. In the book’s example of the school children, a Latina student refers to an Indian student’s skin color as yellow (Goode and Schneider 1). This does not end there but rather; the Indian tells the offender that she had a suntan. African American children saw this as fun and joined the conversation by making fun of the boy by telling him that he looked like an Indian. This is a perfect example of intolerance. The Indian boy would have made it possible to avoid the squabble if only he had swallowed the insult from the Latina student and left. However, the fact that he did not want to be seen as the lesser being, made him want to call back names at the Latina student.
Also, in the introductory part of the book, the authors speak of a murder scenario that happened in Philadelphia. This was a murder of a white boy, and allegedly some Puerto Rican natives were behind the murder of this young boy. Later on, a Puerto Rican boy was also murdered allegedly by several whites. This murder of 1989 not only made it to the news, but was also highly publicized. As a result, a Puerto Rican parents goes on to say how her son was kept away from her for long during the investigations. The book goes on to enlighten the reader further that the rounding up done involved people of Puerto Rican descent. This did not end here; the book further reveals that these young adults were not only taken in for questioning, but they also received beatings from the police questioning them.
These murders are a perfect example of what the authority in a divided community does to protect its people. In this case, its people do not necessarily mean the people living within the community but the ethnic community to which the authority feels affiliated. The authority would not approach the murder issue from all angles but rather wanted to show the Puerto Ricans who is in-charge in the society. A rational approach would have been questioning all the people involved with the murdered boy rather than bias towards victimizing the Puerto Ricans. In addition to that, the beatings received by those who were in for questioning were unprecedented.
The community in Philadelphia, according to the book, has made the programs in such a way that they take place at the school level (Goode and Schneider 63). In the schools, multicultural events are arranged to make the children appreciate each other and thereby promote tolerance. This is possible through the interaction period set for the events as the children are able to socialize and get to know each other more in the name of cultural exposure. The fact that the young people are the main area of focus in the empowerment means that, in the forthcoming years, the residents shall not be viewing each other on the basis of their ethnic origin. On the contrary, they shall just be neighbours living together in harmony, in the Philadelphian neighborhood.
Works cited
Goode Judith, Schneider Jo Anne. Reshaping Ethnic and Racial Relations in Philadelphia: Immigrants in a Divided City, 1994. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
