It is my observation that white Caucasian men in Portland, Oregon, have the lowest degree of male camaraderie in terms of the need for communication with each other..
Other male minorities have an advantage in this regard.
For example, they may have a 2nd language that they speak and which provides personal identification amongst each of them.
Also, the color of their skin, in my opinion, is more meaningful to them than the color of my skin is for me. In a sea of white, for one to see their own skin pigment maybe reassuring and even bring a sense of security. I've seen minorities who are perfect strangers of each other, on the train, immediately start communicating with each over immediately initiating communication with someone of a different skin color and ethnicity..
Having said this, I have been observing and making conclusions on the social behavior of Muslim men and women at a Starbucks in downtown Portland.. It is my observational conclusion that:
Muslim men and women, age 20-35, have a significantly higher degree of social cohesion than the white caucasian population of age 20-35. And it's my observation that an element in the Muslim culture that appears to discourage Muslim men from freely communicating with Muslim women, actually is contributing to Muslim men turning more eagerly to other Muslim men for socializing, because we all have a need to communicate and socialize with someone!..
Add to this, a 2nd language, skin color, possible middle-east geographic origins(yes, probably many of them were born and raised here in the U.S. BUT they have relatives that have stressed the significance of their Muslim middle-east origins..), and a possible religious affiliation (Islam) with each other, and all these things are, in themselves, strong incentives for a close-net community.. that puts to shame any kind of "community" I might have in my life..
At least, I attend church, lol.. and have a wonderful woman in my life who believes in me, nurtures me, and who wants to know who I am personally, as a person... And now, as of Sunday October 20th, we are going to church together. I am blessed to have all these opportunities to be with her and socialize with those those who she truly feels to be her community and even extended family, in some respects.
But a certain percentage of our population does not even have these social opportunities!! And thus, we should be rightly concerned about the social moral standards around us. We should be rightly concern about the prevalent social apathy and lack of concern for one another that is so wide spread in this country..
So I think the majority of Americans underestimate the social impact that community has in their lives. This brings up another aspect of the concept of community and its evolution in American society: that the concept now includes, groups of 5-10 people, for example, as being someone's complete community. No longer are we JUST talking about groups of 50 people and up. An online tool that has greatly contributed to this phenomenon in small group communities is www.meetup.com This website helps you find the group in your area that has one of your interests, you all get together "meetup" based on that interest, and you do that at some public place. And many people eventually treat these meetups like their very own, personalized community. There are numerous people today who have several meetups that they go to, bird watching, wine tasting, hiking, philosophy, etc. and so this challenges the conventional view of what a community is..
So these things, and more, will be something that I will definitely focus on as I move, over the years, into the research aspect of Social Psychology in addition to moving towards a career in Clinical Psychology..
