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
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
The United States was and is widely known as a “melting pot”. Common belief holds that America welcomed hopeful immigrants from overseas, and provided them with opportunities that would give them better lives for themselves and their families. While such a statement is technically true in general, the issues in regards to prejudice and racism, is where the metaphor weakens for America as a beacon of hope for immigrants. Many people today believe that Americans have always embraced and encouraged the melting pot concept. However, WASP stereotypes of immigrants were the driving force behind the quality of treatment received by immigrant groups. It was the group they hated, which made it difficult for immigrants to be seen as individuals, let
The United States has been a host to a wide diaspora of people. Immigrants have had to transition from their familiar land to a new-fashioned foreign land that they must consider home. They bring with them the essence of their initial homeland such as customs, traditions and beliefs that inadvertently change the dynamics of culture within the United States. As a result the United States is an extremely culturally diverse nation. The continual changes or accretions that Americans encounter have always been a controversial topic depending on the experiences of individuals and communities that have immigrant populations. This essay will critically explore
The culture of every ethnic group is beautiful in its own way and worth cherishing. Today, America is known as the great melting pot not for the number of immigrants it has but rather because of the wonderful cultures and traditions the immigrants brought with them. Immigrants do not need to forgo their mother tongue, significant celebrations or customs to become American. However to be socially accepted, they will need to learn English, take part in celebrating national holidays and fulfill their patriotic duties Americans like every other U.S citizens.
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 traditionally a country of immigrants. Very few people today have relatives who were Native Americans, many of them because of religious persecution, and others because of they were just looking to start a new life on the exciting untouched frontier. For instance, in Florida, the first arrivals were European, beginning with the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon who explored the land in 1513, following French and Spanish settlement during the 16th century. From the past, America was seen as a country of opportunities. People from all over the world have moved here looking for better opportunities. There are a lot of reasons why immigrants should live in this country, but I would like to mention three of them.
Growing up as an African-American girl my parents always told me to be mindful of the “White Folks”. My parents always said that they will try to control and put down the African-American race. A part of my up bringing, has always been taught to me by my parents, that the “White Folks” were malicious and they thought they were superior than “Black People”. I was taught to never let anyone think they were smarter than me, including the “White Folks”. I was always confused to some extent, because my god-father is White. However, since he is my god-father, he was an exception. He was the “nice guy”, that’s what my mother said. Prejudice and Stereotypes plays a role of social work. The presumptions that the African-Americans have towards the White-Americans are often dealt with in Social Work will later be discussed.
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
Most Americans place their pride in being apart of a country where a man can start at the bottom and work his way to the top. We also stress the fact that we are “all created equal” with “certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.” (Jefferson 45) During the early 1900s white Americans picked and chose who they saw fit to live in America and become an American. “Those that separate the desirable from the undesirable citizen or neighbor are individual rather than race.”
The United States is called a melting pot because in this one country, cultures and people from all over the world have converged to unify under one flag. Author Samuel Huntington writes in his article "The Hispanic Challenge," that unlike other populations who have changed their identity when immigrating to the United States, many of the Mexican and other Latinos who have come to the country are not assimilating or modifying in order to fit in with the majority culture. Further, he believes that the refusal to do so is more than just a population which is determined to maintain a unique identity, but rather a danger to the foundation of community on which the nation is based.
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.
Many Americans assume that the concept of actually forming the melting pot ideology in America would be easy to obtain, that combining various cultures wouldn’t be that much of a challenge. However, an attempt to completely bring this ideology into society can cause problems among the population. With the rising tension between races in America with recent events such as the riots in Ferguson, Missouri, trying to combine cultures could cause an explosion of hate crimes and racism due to the differences between them. The American Melting Pot ideal, in terms of assimilating different cultures into one culture, would be difficult to achieve.
The United States of America has been celebrated as the great “Melting Pot” among the nations, and rightfully so. The influx of immigrants from multiple countries, cultures, and ethnic backgrounds have furthered diversified the beliefs, traditions, and expectations represented within our country. The influence that this diversity had upon our nation has shaped our country’s ideals and behaviors, which are still present today. The original intention behind the founding of our nation was to provide a way in which all people could be free to pursue their individual religious beliefs and way of living without having to fear persecution and discrimination, yet still be unified with their fellow countrymen. After all, we are the United
Many countries have distinctive cultures, which are homogeneously grouped, primarily composed of one type of race, ethnicity, or nationality. This can be seen in Germany, France, Russia, China, Japan, Mexico and many others. The United States of America differs greatly from these countries in that it is a "melting pot.” The term "melting pot" has been associated with the United States (US) because there are many cultures within the country which "blend" together to form a whole (cite book merino, noel). The United States ' "melting pot" theory could be argued as the very quality that makes it the greatest superpower of the world. The US has also been called a nation of immigrants because almost every citizen of the country has immigrant ancestry, with the exception of the Native Americans. One may question why the immigrant history of this country is one of the qualities that makes it so unique. Still, large numbers of individuals from other countries come to the US every year to seek benefits and to fulfill their "American dream."