One of the core themes that seems to be present through out the entire novel deals with communities rebuilding after an overriding separation. It is interesting to note the similarities and differences in how the communities in Pittsburgh, Newark, and Roanoke reacted to urbanization. One of major points, that some of my classmates pointed out as well, is that there seems to be a loss of community between the members of the former community. This seems like a very odd point because it is pointed out that some members of the communities experience a healing process through a “re-enactment” of their former living space. It would seem logical that people would try to be even closer to each other in order to hold on to whatever remnant they may have of their former community Throughout history, we have seen diasporas of many ethnical groups such as Jewish diasporas and Latino diasporas. Now, these can serve as a sort of analogy to root shock because in essence a large wave of people was displaced from their homeland via an outside force. However, many ethnic groups in our present society still form a tightly knit community and have a strong sense of relationship amongst each other. It seems that members of these groups can relate to each other and form a sort of intangible bond.
Why do members of diasporas seem to have a strong sense of community yet, according to Fullilove, members of uprooted communities seem to have a “weak” sense of community?
I feel like people in diasporas are more culturally based and will have a tendency to move together again. However, with rootshock, communities could be placed in different areas. Or the people who were rootshocked could integrate with the community that they go into.
i think it also comes back to how displacement comes about. jewish diaspora communities have been repeatedly displaced, but also have a common culture that is NOT place-based (prior to Zionism). Identity and culture have been made mobile rather than geographically rooted. Latino diasporas, and other immigrant diasporas, have an element of choice in them, albeit constrained choice. African American experience of displacement has been largely involuntary, starting with the slave trade. forced displacement is a very different experience than the constrained choices of immigration, especially when not anchored by a culture of diaspora.