Does Our Race/Ethnic Background Effect Who We Are Friends With? daewe aung

As an international school, ISB is incredibly diverse. In fact, of 17 different students of grade levels varying from 4th to 12th grade, all interviewees had agreed that ISB had a wide range of global ethnicities and cultural backgrounds shown in our students. Friendships or alliances are an important part of anyone’s life. It allows us as humans to organize ourselves within society, and how we may act with one another depending on whom we are surrounded by. Having friends and companionship allows us to enhance our social connection and network and promotes good psycho-social behavior [Muscato, The Study] It is often seen that people form bonds and connect with those who are more similar to them. This could be through shared experiences, and often times through community. Although ISB is a diverse school filled with students of all kinds of different cultural backgrounds, we are not exempt from how most people naturally form bonds. So, does our race or ethnicity affect who we form friendships with?

Ben Soderborg is a junior here at ISB, and he expressed that yes, our race or ethnicity can factor into the relationships we make, whether platonic or romantic. As a biracial Laotian American, Soderborg stated that he “just felt way more connected with [his] Asian side of the family,” the majority of his friends are Asian, and in the states, he tended to make more friends with people of Asian background as well. He believed that this was because people of a similar race grouped together. "We tend to gravitate towards people who have more similar experiences to us. And I think that experience is a part of the communities and cultures that we associate our identity with,” he says. How we are raised, and relatable sentiments are what allow us to further connect with each other. These shared experiences give a sense of unity.

Many people shared the same opinion as Soderborg. 9th grader, Nice Sangsittiphan, says that her entire friend group is Thai, mainly because it is a lot easier to be able to speak to one another in both Thai and English. “We have the same culture, most of us have the same background, it’s just easier to communicate with one another, and I think many other groups might feel the same way. If a non-Thai speaking person were to join our group for a day, they may find it difficult to keep up in our conversation.” Her main sentiment is that she personally feels that it is much easier to have something in common with someone from the same nationality, it’s the instant connection in finding someone with similarity to your own identity.

This, however, is coming from a teenage perspective. What about a teacher? Ken Hansberry, a high school teacher at ISB, expressed that while it may not necessarily be our race or ethnicity that affects the bonds we form in our lifetime, it may just be as vaguely put as our community. He validates his point through an example of elementary schoolers. “In elementary school, your community is your classroom. And the school has the ability to make it racially diverse.” It’s not common for one to be thinking of another’s national background when making friends in elementary school, and thus the environment we are in allows us to create a community with one another blind to the national background.

There are few places around the world that actively encourage social interaction between different people of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. In a 2004 study instigated by the prestigious Brown University led by Tyson Brown, a sociology professor, said that a majority of research on interracial relationships relied on an educational context, as not many social arenas actively promote this sentiment. Would this not go to show that without active effort, not many would prefer to talk to someone they believe is not relatable to them?

Through these marginalized surroundings, there is a term that arises called self-segregation. This is the separation of a religious, ethnic, or racial group from other groups in a community by the group itself naturally. This usually results in decreased social interactions between different ethnic, racial, or religious groups and can be classed as a form of social exclusion.

Perhaps through these groups identified by our race, ethnicity, or nationality, we find a community and sense of individualism in which we rely on one another to feel like we are even more understood by those around us. In Soderborg, he reflected that he often hung out more with Asians, mostly because he felt more connected to the Laotian side of his family, therefore adapting more towards cultures similar to Laos. Sangsittiphan expressed that she felt more understood and would be easier to be understood through the fact that she and her friends share a language. In truth, it is those who we find most similar to us where we seek solitude.

sources:

Muscato, Christopher "Influences on Communication Amongst Friends: Culture, Gender & Technology." Study.com, 7 November 2015, study.com/academy/lesson/influences-on-communication-amongst-friends-culture-gender-technology.html

“Race/Ethnicity and Friendship - Sociology of Race .” Sociology, 17 June 2018, http://sociology.iresearchnet.com/sociology-of-race/race-ethnicity-and-friendship/.

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