Bill Rice, an elder in my church sent me this article from the Wall Street Journal online that detailed a study by Harvard's Robert Putnam (of Bowling Alone fame) on the effects of diversity on community. The result? Arggh! After interviewing 30,000 people in over 40 communities around the country they concluded that diversity leads to the decline of community. The more diverse, the less community. Not exactly what a lot of us who want both community and diversity were hoping for. Here is an interview with the Wall Street Journal article editor.
And if you listen all the way to the end of the interview, you'll find a most unexpected surprise.
Do you know the one place where diversity seems to thrive within community? You'll never guess. And I'll bet that a lot of Harvard folks are shaking their heads about it.
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