It has been said that the United States is a model for the harmonious mixing of different races and nations, but this is not really the case. The so-called «melting pot» is a conceptual scheme that does not exist in reality. In the everyday life of the nation, whites go one way, blacks go another, Asians have their own ghetto, and Latinos live separated from the rest. They’re all there, but they don’t mix, especially not sexually. Multicultural families are far from the norm. In New York City, there are the neighborhoods of Harlem, Little Italy, China Town, Little Korea and the Barrio Latino. Occasionally, they wave to one another.
The conflict in Ferguson, which began when a white police officer shot and killed a black youth, has resulted in an escalation of violence and has got citizens thinking about their level of racial integration. Recently, The New York Times conducted a survey whose answers reveal that many Americans think that racism continues to prevail in the country, although less so in their own communities. Thus, 44% of those surveyed say that race relations are bad in the country, but 78% believe that they are good in their community.
To make matters worse, 35% believe that relations between races have deteriorated since Barack Obama took up residence in the White House. On a more personal level, 49% of those surveyed feel uncomfortable talking about racial issues with a member of a different race.
And as for the conduct of the Ferguson police officer in the case of the black youth who lost his life, most African-Americans believe it was totally unjustified, while most white Americans say they don’t have enough information to hold an opinion. It is one country, but… blacks have one view of things, and whites have another.