Berger describes the role of Distmas Park, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, within the context of metropolitan melting pot of cultures. Distmas Park seems to be the perfect model of multicultural community, as people from completely different backgrounds live right next to each other. What’s so peculiar about this place is the relationships and close ties generated through the years among these neighbors: individuals of very distant nationalities and background overcame their differences and co-existed through the years, sometimes even becoming friends.

One of the explanations of how this could be possible, which I thought was really interesting as it reminded me of Joe Salvo’s talk, is one of the local residents’ theory that there is a majority of many, there isn’t a majority of one. Basically, because the percentages of people from different backgrounds are pretty well balanced, and there isn’t necessarily a dominant group, people are willing to co-exist peacefully.

Another point that Berger brings up, though, it’s also that not all of these people love each other or appreciate each other; they –indeed–simply accept and tolerate each other. This could be applied to New York City in general, to why it is such a precious place in the world, model to multi-ethnical societies, since for example people in the subway are so culturally different and thrown in the same few-squared-feet train car space yet they learned how to accept and tolerate each other.

Questions: Is tolerating each other enough to be considered peaceful co-existing? Isn’t it almost like pretending you like someone?
What if what we are looking at right now in Distmas Park is simply too much of a momentaneous analysis, which could turn into something completely different in a few years? in other terms, could this be a timed-bomb or is it something that could actually last as a society?

Sara Camnasio