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Many people are most comfortable with those who have the same interests, same ideals and the same experiences as they do. We hang around with people we have things in common with. So, what is the problem of having a club with people who have the same culture in common? A club based on race doesn’t have to put another race down in order to have pride in its own.

We shouldn’t be afraid of exploring a part of ourself and our culture with people we understand the most. We can best explore what we don’t know if there is a commonality: We can learn from what other people know while communicating what we know.

Clubs based on culture or ethnicity benefit those who join. Participants can socialize with people who are from the same country or share the same religion. They can also discuss and debate subjects that their other friends might not understand. Perhaps more importantly, they can feel comfortable with people they understand the most, people like themselves.

As in all things, there is the possibility of misusing or diluting the original intent, causing the clubs to turn into something that is harmful. Clubs whose sole intent is to degrade other clubs are a painful reality. Anti-race clubs are always destructive and usually affect all people--directly or indirectly--in a community. Ignorance is the root behind this evil, yet it doesn’t have to be this way. There is more capacity for good than for bad.

Unfortunately, some cultural clubs have a limiting factor. They limit the people who can join because they are different--in a sense, voluntary segregation. Critics who disagree with these clubs will argue that participants are separating themselves from the main culture. They further argue that we should all be one with the mainstream way of thinking.

But what would our culture be without the ideas and beliefs that each culture has brought?

We cannot forget our identities. We cannot throw away the very roots that make us what we are. If we choose not to explore them and understand them, we lose a part of ourselves. Will we all conform to the mainstream and forget what has brought us all together in this nation?