Tiffany Aznar
UUNI 110
October 28, 2014

About 40 percent of white Americans and about 25 percent of non­white Americans are surrounded exclusively by friends of their own race. This statistic depicts how segregated
Americans are even though the era of segregation in the nation has concluded. Friendships are no longer formed by common interests, however they are formed by race and similarities which shines a negative light on friendship. Cross race friendships are personal relationships between two individuals who come from different ethnicities and cultures. This form of friendship benefits individuals by brightening their knowledge of different cultures and increasing their appreciation for cultural diversity. Another value includes the benefit social minorities obtain when they engage in cross­race relationship; these minorities depend on this to meet needs not otherwise possible by themselves. Cross race friendships are limited by "homophily"­the notion that people connect with others who are similar to themselves. Homophily is mostly seen in public schools where student mixing has a strong effect on interracial friendship patterns.
Students just being taught in one building is not sufficient to increase interracial friendships, extracurricular activities is the main foci. The small amount of