Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race

I think this is a misunderstanding of how and why self-segregation happens. Consider this book as a good starting off point. Melting pot is also not a term that's really great, it's one from a time in America where American national identity was still supposed to supercede cultural, local or heritage identities and I don't care for it. I think Canadians (in response to the American focus on "melting together") created the term "cultural mosaic" to honor both the differences but the togetherness of different ethnic groups in one area and I think nyc is exemplary of that. I don't see the issue with our cultural mosaic--I honestly kind of love it. At the same time I (a South Asian American) who grew up here do have a lot of friends who are Black, East Asian, etc. and I often grew up here spending time with different groups where I was the only South Asian person (and I wasn't surrounded by white people) and I didn't really see an issue with it. To be totally honest (I don't think you'll necessarily read that book so I want to make this clear:) The ability for groups of people to hang out with their own ethnic group is less racist. What that means is that most people walk around here and see a group of Black kids hanging out and don't see that as a problem. In a lot of areas spaces are racist in that they see a group of minorities hang out and see that as some sort of threat or some sort of exclusionary reaction to themselves (like white people who get scared when there's a group of Black kids hanging out--they're just doing teen things though, there's nothing scary about them at all). When people come here and feel threatened by groupings of the other it speaks to greater internal bias than not.

It is very interesting and something I loved learning. Kenzie befriending Jen because she looks like her is called Status Homophily. It does not necessarily mean she is racist, but it can definitely reinforce racism that is already there. This happens with every gender, race, ethnicity, age, sex, etc. This is a very excellent book that touches on it.