Lina Moore of Brooklyn, NY asks:

There are many communities who don't make a practice of sanctioning any activity, great or small, that might weaken the authenticity of their unique heritage and tradition. We have Korean, Jewish, Black and many other groups whose members often frown upon anyone venturing outside their own color line, ardently discouraging integration and are furthermore seem to be proponents of cultural separatism. One working assumption during the program was that "minorities" are excluded against their will, but I find that this is to some degree voluntary. What can you say about this counter-force when it comes to achieving equality in America?

Angela Oh responds:

You are right in pointing out that one of our challenges is to examine ways in which there may be a "voluntary counter-force" that keeps people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds apart.  In some measure, this phenomenon is due to fairly obvious things: language and cultural barriers.  In another respect there are deeper concerns:  a fear about forgetting one's heritage, anxiety about being rejected by the mainstream.  I think our challenge is to create a way for people to feel comfortable about the multicultural dimensions of American culture itself, especially in large urban centers.  I also think it is important for communities that are defined by race, religion, ethnicity and culture to create ways for their communities to see the value in reaching beyond their own.  The bottom line is that we need to establish mutually beneficial relationships so that the next generation of Americans can feel comfortable about the fact that we are all searching for a way to give real meaning to the fundamental principles of our democracy -- justice, equality of opportunity, respect, liberty, and more recently, inclusion.  These should be the defining qualities of our society.

Governor William Winter responds:

There is undoubtedly a continuing amount of self-segregation based on a concern about the loss of cultural and racial identity. The best way to overcome this tendency is for people to go to school together and to participate together in other community institutions and activities. It is my observation that the shared experiences of those of us of different races who have grown up together, played together, gone to school together, and worked together have enabled us to appreciate our common humanity at the same time that we take pride in and celebrate our diverse cultural heritage. This is how we make diversity our national strength rather than creating a weakened and Balkanized country of racial and ethnic enclaves living in fear and ignorance of their neighbors. [Next question]