America: Changing for Better or Worse? Since the beginning of the 1900’s, America has been commonly referred to as the world’s "melting pot". The term was coined by Israel Zangwill, an immigrant who came to America from the United Kingdom. Emblazoned on a tablet at the base of the Statue of Liberty, the poem by Emma Lazarus, states, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Although in the past Americans took pride in the label of melting pot, a country of diverse masses, yet today surveys show more than half of the American population no longer supports the continual influx of immigrants. Americans are arguably disassociating from the melting pot characteristic, consequently, the identity of America is not only changing but more importantly America’s national identity is in danger of destabilization with the abandonment of the melting pot attribute. Starting as far back as the pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, the American population grew not from the native tribes, but from the many peoples of various nations who arrived by boat and ship, bringing with them their new ideas about government and freedom. As time went on, journalists from Newsweek magazine stated “the civil-rights revolution changed everything: it gradually made overt expressions of any ethnic prejudice into a cultural taboo” (Morgenthau). The phrase “melting pot” once identified America as a place where people of all races and ethnicities could enter in hopes of creating a
United States is the country of development. Also, many people in many different countries want to live in United States. I make no exception. But, my mother doesn't want to live United States. Because of this, she says some people in U.S.A do not care to another person or we will become a bad person. I really do not care about that. I lived in my country. I always want live in United States. Because United States have the best of high school, colleges and University, and a lot of the best thing in here. I am from Viet Nam and I have been here for three and half years. I have many changed between in my country and United States from the bad thing to the good thing. But I think I have changed in a good way.
In Joel L. Swerdlow’s 2001 essay, “Changing America,” he writes about the current cultural differences among kids in high school. He goes on to talk about how you can gather a large variety of kids, coming from all over the world, yet they still somehow manage to develop the same “American Teenager” attitude toward life. The essay talks about how people used to view America as a “melting pot” of nations, and how over time that view is starting to change.
American was dominated by the image of the melting pot that “melts up” all race differences and cultures to become on American culture. The ideas of multiculturalism started at the end of the nineteenth century and turned into the concept of cultural pluralism that defined the nation as a mixture of diverse ethnicities with different cultural backgrounds, all co-existing and contributing to the new nation.
In the famous poem The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus, America is deemed a land of “world wide welcome” for those who seek a new place to call home. The Statue of Liberty is established early on in the piece as a symbol of freedom and protection, a statue symbolic of the spirit of America. In the piece, Lazarus refers to immigrants as the “poor, huddled masses” to whom the United States offers a pair of open “golden doors.” However, many immigrants today feel far removed from the land of freedom referenced in The New Colossus. The promise of a blue sky with endless possibilities is far from reality for the Americans that the poem calls the huddled masses. It is clear that America’s promise of freedom and opportunity, characterized by the
Attention: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” (Emma Lazarus). This sentence can be found in the poem “The New Colossus,” written by Emma Lazarus in 1883. It can also be found inscribed on the Statue of Liberty towering over the New York Harbor, a bright beacon symbolizing the freedom and democracy we hold so esteemed in America. Immigrants founded the United States and immigrants are arguably who made our nation so great. However, when immigrants do not follow the process to acquire legal citizenship into the United States is when the problems arise.
In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and
Surprisingly, the melting pot is a unclear piece of the American Identity. The melting pot is an idea about how people (immigrants) all over the world come in one place and share their different cultures. America is one example of a melting pot since immigrants all over the world visit, live and share thoughts and ideas to create one big unique culture. While most Americans are proud of the United States to be a country of big culture, some Americans do not like the notion of immigrants coming from other countries to live in America. Although many writers demonstrate that the melting pot exists, some authors show that there are Americans who don’t want the United States to become a melting pot. To examine
America was widely known as a “melting pot” of sorts for many generations. The country earned its title by accepting immigrants of various cultures and molding, or melting, them into the American lifestyle. However, the “melting pot” idea of America is starting to dissipate. According to a Newsweek Poll on the public, “only 20 percent still think America is a melting pot” (Morganthau and Wolfberg, par.4). As more Americans push away immigrants and create stereotypes against said immigrants, America continues to lose its title as a “melting pot.” There is ethnic friction in America and people have begun to have a hard time assimilating (Morganthau and Wolfberg, par.18). .America is beginning to place a negative outlook on its
Along with its economic classes, American is known for its freedom, its liberty, and the melting pot of ethnicity. This ethnic diversity comes form the immigrant population in the country. However this perfect country is a major falsehood. These untrue ideals of harmony, freedom, success, and equality are deceptive and do not show the struggles that immigrants face when coming to this class dominated country. The immigrants of today do not come from just Europe, but overwhelmingly from Asia and Latin America. “They are driving a demographic shift so rapid that within the lifetimes of today 's teenagers, no one ethnic group – including whites of European descent – will comprise a majority of the nation 's population’ (Colombo, Cullen, Lisle). These immigrants challenge the social myth that everyone has an equal chance in life. They
America is a prime example of liberty that laid the foundation for multiculturalism. Ever since the discovery of the new world, America has always been a melting pot as immigrants from all parts of the world come to America. They come to seek a better life while inadvertently cultivating the area around them. For an example, in the diary, “Of Plymouth Plantation,” by William Bradford, a group of puritans who journey to the Americas struggle to survive during the cold and harsh winter. Luckily, they meet an indian called Squanto, who readily teaches them survival skills and make peace with hostile indians. Most immigrants don’t immediately make a positive impact and are shunned upon for their poor communication and lack of social norm. However, assimilation will always eventually happen and is tenacious to America and will perpetuate as different cultures intertwine into what we know of today as an “American”.
In 1492 Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue. Everyone knows the story of Christopher Columbus; they are taught it in grade school if not before then. When he landed in America by accident, he had no idea that he would be creating the world's largest Melting Pot. This "melting pot" provided means for a new country, made from a mixture of many cultures and beliefs, thus creating a new country with a new and ever-changing culture. One complication with a Melting Pot is that you cannot put people of different race and ethnicity together without conflict.
The United States of America was founded on July 4, 1776. Seeking a life free of the British Government, a host of immigrants founded a new nation. Because the United States was created by the migration of people from various parts of the world, it is sometimes described as a “melting pot.” Along with their personal possessions, these immigrants brought their respective cultures and traditions as they meshed together into a new society. Despite being categorized together as citizens of the same country, the independent traditions and lifestyles of humankind have created challenges throughout history. It is important for Americans to share a sense of pride, patriotism and loyalty. Equally important, however, is the need for respect regarding differences and individualism. Ethnocentrism is a barrier between understanding culture and diversity.
The United States is often called a melting pot because of the vast array of cultures that all live in the country. People have come from every corner of the world to settle in the United States. In recent years, the influx of immigration has become a contentious issue. Some people believe that the US is overpopulated and that further immigration poses a danger to the country while others contend that the US was built on immigration and that it is un-American to prohibit people from living here if they so wish. The articles "5 Myths About Immigration" and "The Challenge of Diversity" detail the different issues which are related to the immigration issue, both discuss the amount of immigration that occurs, the fear of immigrants taking jobs from American citizens, and the idea that immigrants are reluctant to assimilate into the American culture.
On the subject of immigration, one student at J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church, Virginia commented, “we make America more interesting” (Swerdlow 61). As true as these words are, the question of how much more interest should be allowed to cross our borders each year, and what exactly defines an American these days puzzle the already 281 million residents who find comfort in the freedoms of America. America is a land of immigrants, also referred to as the “melting pot of the world.” However, the possibility that America’s kettle is over-flowing concerns its citizens and some politicians.
Diversity is a common word used continuously. With the United States being the most diverse nation of all nations, human beings have been constantly moving throughout the United States for centuries in search for a variety of things such as food, shelter, freedom, and security. Refugees have been fleeing from their homelands for various reasons, ranging from having traumatic experiences to being forced to flee due to fear of persecution. The United States is described as the great melting pot, as Hector St. John de Crévecoeur stated in Letters from an American Farmer "Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world.”, yet people are afraid or intimidated by others that are considered “different” from the dominant race group. Nonetheless, when refugees arrive in the United States, they may experience obstacles to assimilation such as inequality, prejudice, invalid legal status, poor housing conditions, and lack of access to education, and opportunities for employment.