Public schooling creates common ground

I often think of the experiences of a young reporter who came to us fresh out of graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. She went to Berkeley because she wanted to go to college in a place rich with diversity. The classroom experiences were wonderful. But outside of class, the white students tended to hang with the white students; the blacks with the blacks; the Latinos with the Latinos; the Asians with the Asians. You get the picture.

If anything, we live in culture that enables the Balkanization of America. We have so much choice that we can live our lives in a manner so our ideas and assumptions are not challenged. From the arch-conservative to the radical liberal, there's a radio station, Web site, listserv, newspaper or cable television channel that will probably suit your point of view. No need to consider the opinions or beliefs of others when you can stay in your "safe place."

The problem is, when we stay in our "safe place," we don't grow as human beings. We don't come to understand our fellow travelers. We tend to focus solely on ourselves and others like us. For a country that's supposed to be about civil rights and justice for all, it's a dangerous trend.

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Marjorie Cortez, a product of Colorado's public school system, is a Deseret Morning News editorial writer. E-mail her at marjorie@desnews.com