Being an active member in a community is vital to the success of the world. Who we associate with on a daily basis says a lot about the person that we are. For example, if we only associate with people that are exactly like us, we will have a limited view on the world. Every society or community is made up of different beliefs, values, and cultures. The community matrix is made up of three categories: race, religion, and sexual orientation. All three of these categories define who we are and what our community is like. While we all live in different communities, some of us reached the same conclusions.
Sarah and I had similar findings about the communities in which we live. Sarah lives in Plymouth, which is mainly made up of European Americans. Almost all of her answers to the community matrix were white, Christian, and heterosexual. She came to the conclusion that her matrix shows that she does not experience much diversity in her daily life even though our country and world is diverse. In fact, many of her beliefs have been influenced by the people she associates with. The values of the people she associates with rub off on her even if she wants to claim her beliefs as entirely her own doing. She associates with a lot of the same people in her daily life. They are just like her in terms of race, religion, and sexual orientation. The people within her community play a vital role in shaping who she is. However, she believes that the people in her community do not influence her as much now because she is an adult and there is more diversity in Dearborn.
Muhammed believes that the matrix shows that he works and lives with people that have similar core beliefs. He lives in Dearborn Heights, which is a community that is heavily populated by Arab Americans. He believes that he associates with Muslims, Arab Americans, and heterosexuals because that is what he has always been exposed to. The people that he interacts with on a daily basis would have exactly the same matrix entry as he does.
