Thread by @Noahpinion

1/All week long I've been writing threads about immigration, diversity, and social trust. With lots of evidence. Facts, charts, academic papers.

Now it's time for some pictures.

Now it's time to show the reality of American diversity.

2/I'm from Texas. A conservative state, but a diverse state. A state that is only 45% non-Hispanic white.

Houston, Texas' largest city, rivals NYC in terms of diversity. latimes.com/nation/la-na-h…

3/Recently, Houston was hit by Hurricane Harvey, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Much of the city was flooded.

How did Houstonians respond?

Here is the reality of American diversity.

4/A natural disaster is where the rubber meets the road in terms of social trust.

There is no situation in which trust is more important.

Here is the reality of American diversity.

5/You can quote me Robert Putnam all day long. We can scrutinize the methodology of every academic paper, asking whether diversity and trust are negatively or positively correlated.

Here, though, is the reality of American diversity.

6/When an earthquake leveled Tokyo in 1923, there were race riots in the city. Korean and Chinese immigrants were massacred. cross-currents.berkeley.edu/e-journal/issu…

7/But here is the reality of American diversity.

8/Here is the reality of American diversity.

9/Restrictionists love to tell me about Syrian refugees in Germany, crime in Sweden.

Here, though, is the reality of American diversity.

10/Conservatives sometimes argue that "flyover country" isn't like California. That white people in the heartland will never accept nonwhites.

But Texas is a red state through and through.

And here is the reality of American diversity.

11/Here is the reality of American diversity.

12/Here is the reality of American diversity.

13/Houston responded to Harvey with an incredible outpouring of neighborly assistance, cooperation,

This is the reality of American diversity.

14/Hurricane Katrina showed how weak America's institutions had become under Bush.

Hurricane Harvey showed how strong America's social bonds are, in spite of Trump.

15/Here is the reality of American diversity.

16/All the racial engineers who cheer Stephen Miller on the television and quote theories all day long about the horrors of diversity need to take a trip to Houston or New York or Los Angeles and see the reality.

17/If you want logic or facts or evidence about how immigration is good for America, or about how diversity isn't as scary as people make it out to be, I can give you plenty of those.

But sometimes it's good to see the pictures.

18/I can tell you how super-diverse cities like Houston, Los Angeles, New York and D.C. have seen incredible drops in crime. Or how intermarriage has skyrocketed.

But here is the reality of American diversity.

19/Houston's diverse society came through when it matters most.

And I believe America's diverse society will do the same.

20/Remember that if you denounce diversity, you're messing with Texas.

And I wouldn't advise that.

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