What Do Our Social Circles Say About Us?

From time to time when I go out in my city or cities that I have traveled to, I often find myself looking around the room in an effort to notice if there are any multicultural groups there. I do this at restaurants, lounges, sporting events, concerts and plays. In fact, I probably have had this habit for nearly 2 decades, since I first took an interest in diversity programs and helping others create a society that values differences. It has often been said that we may interact and socialize across cultures in the workplace, but after the workday ends, we return to our own self-segregated corners of the universe. Why is that? Do we socialize cross-culturally in the workplace out of necessity and choose not to when we have a choice during our own time? Are we just more comfortable with others that look like us? Most of my life, I've had friends that represent every segment of the population that you can imagine. I can remember one instance in college when a group of long time friends and I were out for dinner and drinks in Memphis. The backgrounds represented at our table were African American, White, Korean, Indian, and Thai, and we noticed all kinds of stares from others around the room- not hostile stares but more curious stares. It was almost like we were on display in some science museum, where patrons can view experiments that they normally do not see. The same thing happens from time to time when I go out for lunch with my volunteer group. We even have made the joke that we can often find each other in a large room of people because 99% of the time, we will be the only multiracial group in the room!

When my wife and I got married last year, our guest list was the most multicultural one that I have ever seen at a wedding. Neither of us did this by design. It just happened that way based on the people that we care about and desired to have with us on our special day. I remember two guests commenting to me about this, describing how unique it was to them to see so many cultures represented in one place. It was the norm for me, but for others, it was very different.

In my opinion, people generally have dinner, socialize, and attend various events with people that they have chosen to invest the time in developing a relationship with. Do we tend to only invest that time with people from our own race? If so, why is that? Would we welcome the opportunity to broaden our social circles?

Longest Journey Begins with One Step

For a little over a decade, a big part of my life has been committed to facilitating diversity and tolerance programs for high school and college students. During this time, I also served as a board member for the Georgia office of the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) - one of the nation's premiere social justice organizations. Suffice it to say, these are issues that I have a great deal of passion around. Over the years, I have discovered that there are very few forums where adults can openly discuss topics around diversity and tolerance. Are we afraid that we will be judged? Are we concerned that our opinions may be antiquated? Are these conversations too uncomfortable?

For a little over a year, I have pondered creating a gathering place committed to fostering open and honest dialogue, and as the old saying goes "there is no time like the present". Our nation has become more multicultural, and the evolution that experts are predicting between now and 2050 will be quite dramatic. The ability for us all to co-exist together will become even more important. I plan to share my viewpoint on many of the current issues of the day around diversity and invite subject matter experts to guest-blog from time to time. We may not always agree, but I do welcome your comments.

I hope that you will join me on this new journey. We have a lot to learn from each other.

- Gregory