“People Like Us” by David Brooks
Message Prompt

In his essay, David Brooks states that the United States is not as diverse as it seems. As a whole, the country is extremely varied. However, when broken up into different areas and neighborhoods, the races are actually very similar. Brooks believes that while diversity is very important to Americans, we tend to stick to people who are similar to us. For instance, I tend to spend time with people who enjoy the same activities as me. We like to say we are diverse, yet we tend to stick to people with the same ideas and qualities as us. The United States is actually broken into clusters, whether or not people are willing to admit this.

Brooks’s position is not completely clear. He believes that the world should be diverse. He believes all neighborhoods should consist of all ethnicities. However, he understands that it is human nature to want to be with people similar to each other. When I go to college next year, I am going to want to be roommates with someone who reads similar books and who likes to spend their free time as I do. I do not want to end up with someone completely unlike me. Brooks states that in order to live well, people will want to be with people like themselves. Yet Brooks feels it is also important for people to expand their minds. He believes that everyone should exit the familiar and try something new. It is best for everyone to experience different lifestyles and cultures.

Maya Angelou has a different view on diversity. She understands that every single American is different in some way. No two people in the world are exactly the same. We are only different through minor characteristics, such as our favorite film or favorite candy bar. In the grand scheme of things, however, we are more similar than not. We are similar in bigger ways than just the color of our skin.

The images from 24/7 seem to agree with Brooks’s ideas on diversity. The pictures St. Ignatius, Montanta shows a group of Amish people and Teaneck, New Jersey shows a group of Muslim girls. These are two different kinds of people, however, they are grouped together. This shows that America, as a whole, is diverse. Yet we cluster and stick to people like us.

The picture entitled Burlington County Times, however, seems to agree more with Angelou’s position. It shows several different houses that all look the same. Individually, each house is different. Each house has a different family, a different address, and a different story. Yet overall, in the picture, every house appears to be more similar than different.