During today's discussion in class, Mr. Bolos brought up the topic of real estate workers and promoting segregation through house selection, whether overtly or not. The idea is that people want to make sure that certain areas include people of a certain race, religion, or ethnicity. For instance, Mr. O'Connor touched on how he grew up in an Irish-American part of Chicago where most Irish Americans lived because that is where the great majority of them resided. This made me remember a very similar story that occurred two summers ago in Charlevoix, Michigan.
After four days of relaxing at the beach playing soccer and swimming, eating delicious meals on the picnic table on the sand, and going out for nice dinners, my Grandma was so in love with Charlevoix that she decided she wanted to look in to buying a house there. The very next day, my mom and her went on a tour with a real estate agent of multiple properties. My Grandma fell in love with one.
You should know that my family is Jewish. What I didn't know, and what my parents didn't think was important, was that Charlevoix is a very Christian town. After a long discussion with the real estate agent, my Grandma asked if there were any temples around. The real estate agent was in shock. She then proceeded to talk my Grandma and mom out of the possibility of buying that house, or any other house. My whole family was shocked.
Why should it matter that my Grandma was Jewish while the rest of the people were not? Why did the real estate agent prevent my Grandma from providing her with business because of her religious faith? These were both questions nobody could answer.
Do instances like that show anything about Americans? Do we still have inner segregation? Do examples like that promote what America stands for - liberty and justice for all?
AJ, the question you bring up is very interesting. I do believe that people may still have an inner segregation. For some, it may not be that they necessarily have anything against people from other races or religions, there is something deep down that causes them to feel more comfortable surrounded by people who are more similar to them. These people may not be affected if someone very different than them decides to move in around the corner, but other people, like the real estate agent in your story, take it to an extreme. I do not understand why people care so much about a person's religion that they would dissuade them from potentially buying a new house. Whether the town that someone wants to move into has a majority of people from their religion or not, they should be able to make the decision based on their desires, not the town's.
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