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            In “The Religious Boundaries of an Inbetween People” by Robert Osri, Osri explains that when Italians first came to the United States, they were viewed upon by the whites, as both white and black. Not only were the Italians segregated from both blacks and whites, they were segregated from each other. Many people viewed the light skinned Italians as better than the dark skinned Italians who were considered “lazy”, and even “criminal.”

            This idea of “inbetweeness” can be applied to describing current day Asian Americans. In this day and age, Asian Americans are considered neither black nor white but some are slowly becoming “white.” Many Asian Americans are successfully climbing the social ladder but some are not able to. This is very similar to the Italians Osri writes about. Some Italians were viewed upon as better than others, and because of that they have no trouble advancing in American society.

            In the second reading about communities, the author discusses about how many people with the same background tend to stay together even though New York City is a very diverse place. The author talks about how many people took comfort in staying together with there own kind. This idea still persists today, and many of the things mentioned in this reading, such as living with, being friends with and dating with ones own kind, is very prominent in my own life. When I was little my only friends were Chinese children and even as I grew older my parents expected me to only have Chinese friends. I remember during junior year of high school my parents had a talk with me about how they want me to date only Chinese girls. I find it amusing that even though New York City is diverse many people still find that being away from their own kind is outside of their comfort zone.

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