Why would we need to integrate into a society that copies us? WE are the society. We are the barometer.
“We” (not people like me who don’t care) need to stop seeking acceptance or caring what people think. That’s the problem with most of us. Be yourself and stop caring about what others think about you. It’s that simple.
The solution to the issues some us have is not complicated at all.
Do y’all think European/white people, Asians, middle eastern, etc care about what we think of them, as well as amongst each other? They don’t care. They’re secure and champion their cultures…. “We” (again not me) are the only ones who are caught up in walking on egg shells or caring about others.
to some extent the question of being ‘truly integrated’ (what does that mean? and is that even an desired outcome??) is irrelevant. inevitably by our nature of being social animals, in proximity, people naturally acculturate, a process that to the extent different peoples interact with each other requires some seeking of acceptance, caring what the other thinks of you, and how they view you…which is, in a sense, ‘integrated’ by definition
these things, caring about the perception(s), would not seem to be fundamental problems (is it really the case that other groups don’t care about their perception?), provided people have sufficient agency/power (be it cultural, communal, and/or economic) such that the perception(s) are/do not prove to be major limitations to how they are able to exercise that agency/power to navigate in a society…
when speaking about black folk in comparison to other minority ethnic groups, in terms of things here in the states, the popular refrain of ‘black people are not a monolithic’ regardless of the actuality of that in the context it is said, this seemingly is not something that other groups tend to say or make a point of regardless of whether their concerns are homogenous/the same across their group…
ultimately, i think that black folks have ‘integrated’ into the american ethos of individualism such that ‘for us by us’ is a little more than a marketing phrase now, that maybe doesn’t extend beyond a close circle…to the point folk brag about ‘no new friends’ as an axiom or not trusting folks that aren’t in their circle…obviously there are other systemic things at play as well
