These appear to be what divides us.
But sociologists point out that most Americans are pretty close to the center in politics and social issues, with a relatively small number at the vocal fringes.
And a smaller percentage of the U.S. population was born elsewhere, than in many other counties or even in previous periods of our own history.
According to Claude Fischer what really divides us gets relatively attention. Social class, he says, is the major fault line running through American.
"Many people are aware of the widening gap among Americans by income," Fischer says. "But the split between the college-educated and others is perhaps the most profound division of all."
Obviously, the better educated get better jobs, earn more, and accumulate more wealth than the less educated. But Fischer cautions that the division runs even deeper:
"Increasingly, college graduates live in different urban areas and neighborhoods than the less educated do. Increasingly, college-educated (and post-graduate) Americans marry one another."
In fact, the better educated are more likely to get married and less likely to divorce. Along with financial resources, they give their children certain cultural advantages like exposure to the arts and foreign travel.
"In these various ways," Fischer says, "the material and social divisions by levels of education are growing wider."
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