While there are many things that could be better about how and where and among whom we dwell please don’t expect these things to happen. People put their own sense of safety and comfort first, not that of others. Race remains a divide based not only on experience, bad ones, but on gut feelings and of course on prejudice. Prejudice, unfortunately, is also based on deep feelings based on some experience and many fears. Solutions for racism expect things which people will not readily accept, no matter the propaganda from the media, the television ads, and all the rest. It would be better if sociologists concentrated on accepting people as they are and trying to mitigate their gut feelings rather than eliminating them entirely. In other words, ideology doesn’t work, reality might. Perhaps nothing in the end will.
In Response to: Understanding the Dynamics of Urban Life