New York City is well noted for its subway system that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It operates 21 subway lines and three permanent shuttles that operate in all five boroughs, maintains 469 stations, and has an average weekday ridership of 5.6 million people.

Specifically, I want to focus on the No. 7 Train, which has earned a reputation as being called “The International Express.” This statement has been printed on t-shirts that are sold in the gift shops of the New York City Transit Museum Gift shop, as well as the Grand Central Annex store.

For anyone who has seen and/or bought these t-shirts… let it be known that you were lied to.

Using the term “International Express” on a t-shirt is a way to make No. 7 Train riders seem that their train has some sort of significance. The only thing unique about the No. 7 Train is that it has an odd number of cars, 11 to be exact, and nothing more.

So why bring this up? Because it reflects human nature.

In human nature, we put races or cultures against each other, and for what? While this may seem a little bit Darwinian, it’s absolutely right. Human nature allows for Social Darwinism, and it has caused something far greater, self-segregation.

For a world with a great deal of freedom, more and more people every day don’t take advantage of those freedoms. Every civil rights activist has fought to allow any certain race, culture, and religious group, to not suffer under harsh scrutiny, yet this continues to happen.

In a world of fighting for freedoms; why are people self-segregating each other?

Self-Segregation is quite common because so many people are willing to believe in the stereotypes that circulate through society about a culture. Many times, this isn’t true. Sure, there are some people who are racist and have a biased view on life – look at the staff of FOX News – but that doesn’t account for every person of a certain race.

Buffalo is actually a predominately self-segregated city, though Buffalo is one of the many. Sure, certain races live in certain towns, but, is that self-segregation or just a choice in living? People of the same race may live together, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are segregated… right?

One of the major reasons that people are self-segregating each other is because of the many stereotypes that have flooded society. Some people are still being brought up to hate certain races, and other people are raised to accept all cultures, races, religious groups, etc.

The fact that people are more than willing to agree with stereotypes isn’t wrong, but it isn’t right either.

People also don’t like leaving their comfort zone. If they are around people just like them, then what’s the point in breaking free of their mutual bond? It’s a friendship, and sometimes there can be nothing to stop that.

Finally, the penultimate reason for self-segregation is that some people share opinions, and personalities. Whether or not their skin tone, religion or customs happen to be the same, that’s just a coincidence or not.

Self-Segregation. Fifteen letters that divide society further than ever, and the worst part of it is that some people don’t care. While the idea is scary, it’s how our society has developed, and may continue to develop for quite some time.

Remember this, you don’t need to diversify your group of friends to feel as though you hang out with someone of a different race, culture, creed, or religion, just make sure you hang out with good people. So long as you have good friends, that’s what matters; because without good friends, all you have is a group of people with the same opinion, style, race, religion or creed.

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