On Paradise Drive - Response

While many people might disagree with what author David Brooks had stated in his book "On Paradise Drive," I myself stand along with his thoughts.

The country that we live in today is a giant pot of mixed ethnicities. While some of us tries to be open-minded and not judgmental when trying to socialize, the rest are still struggling to find others that share similarities with themselves. Many people go by common interests, but there is a minority of people who prefers to be together with his or her own race. The population of African-Americans is rising, yet racial segregation still seems to be found. And unfortunately, other stereotypes also began to emerge within the past few centuries. When it comes to living and mingling, we often choose to separate ourselves from certain others and find people of our own ethnicities. While sometimes, those separations are not meant to be malicious, others times we enjoy the absences of some people. Perhaps we are all equal under God's eyes, however as we look at the world from our point of views, we just seem to be unable to put history behind us and be color-blind. Like Brooks had pointed out, there is often racial segregation by neighborhoods. Throughout the U.S., there are countless of towns that have the tendency to include more of one kind than of another. Not only that, the media today also seems to promote shows without any racial differences. Examples are everywhere around us, and even if we put forth great efforts to prevent such segmentations, it will always be in our nature to try to fit in with the group that makes us the most comfortable.

While racism and such as still problematic in our country today, it must be denoted that we are also segmented politically. Propagandas are inevitable, and the inclination to advertise candidates because they are from our town or state seems to be growing day by day. Perhaps that is why President Bush won among rural and exurban votes by nearly