Bob "Bowling Alone" Putnam wonders whether "diversity" helps or hurts the strength of communities.
It's an interesting debate, in an era where it's de rigeur to celebrate the heritage of particular ethnic groups by naming districts after them (Little Armenia, Historic Filipinotown, et al), while at the same time these districts are more ethnically diverse than ever before, making these distinctions largely arbitrary and exclusionary. What good is the name "Koreatown" when so many of the neighborhood's residents are Mexican, Central American, and -- increasingly -- white? What happens when the moniker becomes obsolete as the neighborhood character changes? Is it still important for the Chinese of Los Angeles to have a Chinatown to raise their social capital and offer guidance and support to new immigrants? Or is the bigger question whether all of us as Angelenos need Chinatown as a monument to our local history? Does diversity imply assimilation into the American mainstream, and does ghettoization make it more possible for groups to hold on to (and be collective advocates for) their homeland traditions?
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