While watching NBC's, Rock Center, I became interested in an interview Brian Williams did with a fellow named Charles Murray who just wrote a book, Coming Apart: The State of White America 1960-2010. After reading Hill's article of "white space," this struck me as something interesting and relevant. Murray states that the cultural divide within the US is growing more and more. After hearing this first excerpt, my ears perked up and I began to engage myself in what he was saying.
First, when I hear anything to do with culture, I immediately think of all different kinds of cultures, ethnic backgrounds, race, etc. Well, it turns out, Murray dedicated his research to "white America" which does not include recent immigrants, those who have endured slavery, etc. Immediately, I felt that his book was dedicated to an arena within Hill's, "White Space." Although Murray dedicated his research to all different social classes within white America, it immediately segregates many of those who are rightly American. Anyway, being that he disassociates his research from such a vast cultural population of the US, he goes on to say that more and more people within a higher social strata are interacting less and less with those of the lower social strata. If this is the case within one race, it makes me think of just how separated and divided we are if he were to include additional races in his research.
If you are interested, you can take his online quiz to rate your "exposure" to america, which focuses on just how big your bubble is. Ha. I took it and I rated between a 9 and 12.
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=how-thick-is-your-bubble
If you are interested in seeing his interview with Brian Williams, feel free:
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rock-center/46490567/#46490567
Interesting. I scored between a 13-16. It said "You don't even have a bubble." Funny because I have felt quite the opposite.
ResponderBorrarI didn't grow up in white america. It is weird being in a university setting sometimes because I do feel really disconnected from "real life." To think that 10 years ago the only direction I could see my life going was getting a job at a factory. Unfortunately I couldn't even get a job at the factory because I wasn't a man with a family. So I worked the night shift, all by myself, at a grocery store. In fact, in my first 3 jobs I was put out of work because the companies went out of business and I found out a few days beforehand. And we think teaching is volatile... I have real white people problems now.
I guess what I am trying to say is there really ARE two different worlds. This might be a weird statement... but I am NOW living in white America at UNM, not breaking my back, driving around a reliable car and shopping at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. This is more white America than my pasty, blue collar family. So when that test says "you don't even have a bubble" I feel constantly like I am getting further away from the world I grew up in. It makes me feel at times like a traitor and sometimes a little incapable to relate in either world. What can I say... la vida es compleja. :)
Dang, I scored between 5-8. A la máquina...
ResponderBorrar