In the year 2013 there are slightly over 7 billion people throughout the world. This means that we have a wide variety of cultures, heritages, ethnic backgrounds, views and opinions. Thousands of people are immigrating to the United States for a number of reasons such as bettering their education and careers, as well as, getting a fresh start. Primarily, immigrants are moving here to take advantage of the many opportunities our country can make available. People are bringing their cultures and differences to the United States thus resulting in what is called a melting pot; however, I would argue that America should no longer be called a melting pot. The term melting pot suggests that immigrants should assimilate into American culture. …show more content…
Many people do not have the chance to travel and experience new parts of the world, so the immigrants that are coming into the United States are able to expose what they know to the native born Americans. America is unlike any other country and for that prime reason we have such a high level of immigration which happens to be “the second highest in our nation’s history” (Chavez). Up until 1882, “the US government practiced an open door policy;” (“Melting Pot America”) however, soon after that the policy began to try to control immigration by excluding Chinese, alcoholics, and criminals from coming into the country. This salad bowl society is very important to the American culture and continually needs to be reevaluated. With the diverse amounts of people, it is almost required that we venture outside of our own boundaries in order to understand and appreciate one another. Whether it be in the work place, school or simply everyday life we are going to be with people that are unlike ourselves and need to be prepared to deal with those situations. As immigrants are coming into the country they are faced with a new world. Assimilation into America is no longer what is used to be fifty or sixty years ago because many different things have changed. Immigrants are essentially leaving behind everything that they have known and are exposing themselves to different language, culture, behavior, etc. This whole experience can be very
America was founded on change. Past revolutions were fought to make new ways in which to live life in this country. Our families all came to America, at one point, to feed into this definition of being an American. The term melting pot in my mind means structure, meaning what we, as
Several years ago, America was taught to be a 'melting pot,' a place where immigrants of different cultures or races form an integrated society, but now America is more of a 'salad bowl' where instead of forming an incorporated entity the people who make up the bowl are unwilling to unite as one. America started as an immigrant nation and has continued to be so. People all over the world come to America for several reasons. Most people come to America voluntarily, but very few come unwillingly. For whatever reasons they may have for coming they all have to face exposure to American society. When exposed to this 'new' society they choose whether to assimilate or not. Assimilation
In conclusion, in place of the "melting pot", American culture satisfies the term "mosaic". If true assimilation were to occur, immigrants would have to abandon all their cultural practices and act in accordance to one set American ways. But, immigrants do not completely give up their traditions and practices. Their identity remains unique because of their distinct
An immigrant that is coming to the United States has the emotion and perception that draws to a country of opportunities; that will live in a country that will be friendly. However, most of the time, immigrant do not know that they are coming to live in a different culture, and because of that, they need to experience and adjustment in many ways, and an adjustment that will help them to do many things with confidence.
The United States has been the land of opportunity for immigrants. It is a place where immigrants from all over the world come to build a better dream and future for their families and leave from poverty, they come with nothing but determination. One thing that every immigrant brings with them is their culture. A person's culture is strongly tied to the country where they grew up. It is tied to their relationship with their family. Many people come to America from so many different places all over the world. For this reason, people call America a melting pot of cultures immigrants are striving for a better future even though when they migrate to the USA they don’t know the consequences they will face and struggle to be successful living in the United States.
Many researchers have studied the immigrant assimilation in the recent years. America’s ethnic groups have been expected to come together as one and into the mainstream of american society for decades. Immigrant assimilation is a complex process in which immigrants should not only fully integrate themselves to a new country but also lose aspects perhaps all their heritage too if necessary. Social scientists rely on a primary benchmark to assess immigrant assimilation which is socioeconomic status. A melting pot can be described as a metaphor which indicates a society where many different types of people blend in as one.
The United States of America used to be known as the world’s largest melting pot. Meaning many different ethnicities and backgrounds coming and living with one another, and sharing each other’s culture. This can also be defined as assimilation. The United States of America has slowly drifted away from assimilation to isolating those who are different and diverse.
Immigration has a great impact on first generation immigrants. Studies show that acculturation and assimilation have wide-ranging effects on the groups involved, but mostly on the immigrants' lives. There are positive and negative attributes. Attributes that are due to the issues associated with integrating cultures, and broadly related to the greater issue of immigration. The issues and discrimination towards first generation immigrants cause them to have limitations throughout their lifetime, in the country that they have moved to. Furthermore, the Hispanic and Latino community have lived through this problem for so long. They are always the group to be affected by it because they lose a sense
The United States is known as the melting pot because of the many different cultures that live here. Hispanics make up 35.3 million according to the 2000 census. Many people don’t realize that within the Hispanic culture there are many different groups. The different groups have different linguistic, political, social, economic, religion, and statues. Most Hispanics see themselves in terms of their individual ethnic identity, as Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc. instead of members of the larger, more ambiguous term Hispanic or Latino (U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany, 2009).
In American society, there are multiple cultures and races exist. Since immigrants bring the various cultures to America, Americans face a highly controversial problem. Some of the Americans believe all of the ethnic groups assimilate into a common culture can help Americans distinctly identify themselves. Others argue that ethnic groups should not abandon their cultural heritages background. As a result, merging different cultures into one new culture will cause America lose its cultural diversity which is one significant charm of this country. On the contrary, if every ethnic group only focuses on building their own community and resists communicate with others, it will aggravate the separation of a nation. Although people often argue about these two ways which one is more appropriate to Americans, I think Richard Rodriguez's idea is more realistic in nowadays American society. Rodriguez resists the idea of the melting pot, and believes that assimilation is inevitable and reciprocal. In the essay Does America Still Exist?, Rodriguez explains his thought to us through his experiences.
Immigrants come to America in search of freedom and acceptance of their cultures. According to America’s title as a “melting pot”, immigrants should be able to come to America and find exactly what they looking for. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Richard Rodriguez covers this in his essay “The Fear of Losing a Culture” when he says, “Hispanics want to belong to America without betraying the past. Yet we fear losing ground in any negotiation with America. Our fear, most of all, is losing our culture” (Rodriguez 94). If there are people from cultures who are scared to belong to America for fear of losing their culture, how can America be a “melting pot”? Rodriguez shapes the American culture in a very detrimental way. He speaks of how America believed its national strength came from diversity, but Latin America is really the bed of so many races and cultures (Rodriguez 94-95). America has turned a blind eye to Latin America, refusing to believe that Latin America is so diverse. Latin Americans have much to offer from their passion and dedication to hard work. Regardless of what America wants, Latin Americans will change America as it forces them to change (Rodriguez 95).
The issue in this essay is whether the United States is know as a salad bowl or a melting pot. Over all the people of the United States come together as a salad bowl. The reasoning of this point is there are many heritages that are brought into this country which gives the different spices needed in a salad bowl. If America was known as a melting pot there would not be an disagreements for the people would be blended evenly. Every heritage has their own different cultures, religions, and beliefs on the way the country should run. The United States is united as a country, as a salad bowl for we do not blend evenly entirely but make a safe country to live in. The salad bowl theory is more elaborate in reasoning to comparing to America. With all true reasoning, America
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 increasing accommodations directed toward immigrant culture worries many Americans. Americans fear the special treatment granted to immigrants will affect the unifying force of the country. Today, the trend is toward multiculturalism, diversity and adapting the newcomer, rather than on the newcomer adapting himself or herself to a diverse society (61).
Multiculturalism is also known as ethnic diversity relating to communities containing multiple cultures. The term is used in two different broad ways, descriptively and normatively. By using the descriptive term, we usually refer to the simple fact of cultural diversity. This can be applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place and sometimes at the organizational level such as schools, neighborhoods or nations. The normative term is often referred to ideologies or politics that promote this diversity or its institutionalization. The United States have been a magnet for people all over the globe, searching for a better life and bringing their own culture and traditions to a new vast country. No