There are many ways that Americans of different cultures and upbringings are discriminated against, among these are “isms” such as ethnocentrism and nativism that prize so-called “American” values and culture over the values and cultures of immigrants and foreigners. In particular, ethnocentrism has existed in our country for decades upon decades and continues to strip immigrants of their culture, and even their names. Ethnocentrism is defined as “the belief in the inherent superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture” leading Americans and English speakers to think less of speakers of other languages (dictionary.com). Because America has almost always been a “melting pot” where someone may immigrate to in order to pursue their dreams thanks to the incredible opportunities of our country, there have almost always been immigrants. Unfortunately, immigrants of many groups have felt resistance to their languages and cultures in America; consequently, these immigrants have been made to assimilate into American culture. Manuel Muñoz, a Mexican-American novelist writes “The corrosive effect of assimilation is the displacement of one culture over another”(Muñoz), illustrating the pain that immigrants go through when subject to a situation in which their culture is unwelcome. The process of Assimilation is often used entirely to get rid of cultural flavors that Americans do not like, and to Americanize every immigrant, rather than to open the eyes of Americans to other
The U.S has a prolonged history of discrimination. In the late 17th century, when America declared as a free country, only the white gentility had the privileged of “freedom” and African American continue their life as slaves for many decades. As the country grows, it became a dream land, a refuge for immigrations fled from their country to seek freedom and pursuit happiness. However, the gene of discriminations stuck deeply in the mind of the early founding fathers; hence their descendents also obtained the hatred toward immigrations who look differently. In the late 1800s and the early 1900s, many immigrants such as the Jews, Chinese and Japanese immigrations came to America with the hope for
Asian Americans are a diverse group of people who are among the fastest growing minority groups in the United States. Despite their minority status, they often surpass Whites in America and do so while holding on to their cultural values regarding family, education, and success.
Americans have often resisted assimilation, especially if it meant race mixing or cultural blending. They feared how immigrants would change the culture and
We are currently living in era were diversity and inclusion is more important than ever. The start of the colonization of America from many different countries is what makes up the heritage of America. When asked about a person’s heritage, one always replies with a vast number of different races. In the past we welcomed these immigrants. Today, the people that were born and raised by immigrant parents and grandparents do not want more immigrants in America. Immigration laws have always been a controversial topic but with the recent rise in illegal immigration and a rise in unemployment, there has been a greater push for stricter immigration laws. America has always been offered as a safe haven or as a place for immigrants to find a better
In addition, discrimination has been seen throughout the centuries which has become something we still deal with. As a matter of fact, immigrants get treated differently usually because of their skin color or the language they speak. “Affiliations along with physical characteristics, accents, and other linguistic traits that society has associated with certain racial/ethnic identities serve as constant reminders of how of how individuals are perceived and thus how they see themselves” (Yarbrough). This can harm mentally because of them experiencing some type of rejection. Most can feel ashamed of where they come from and will try fit in by letting go of their culture. What I mean is that they will change by trying to be more “American” only that they have
Throughout much of its history, the United States has often presented to the world an ideal of assimilation or, colloquially known as, the melting pot. Within the melting pot, it would not matter if one was from Pakistan or the Dominican Republic. If an immigrant worked hard and obey the law of the land, he/she and all his/her descendants will be considered as American as those that have lived here for generations. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case. The problem with the supposed ideal of the melting pot is its own definition, it’s an ideal. Ideals are in essence a perfect version of a current system of values, not a reflection of reality. In reality the idea of the melting pot has been one exclusion, suppression, and forcible assimilation of entire groups of people. Native Americans were driven from their land and confined to reservations. African Americans were held under slavery and later Jim Crow. For Mexicans and Latinos, the situation was quite different. With the primary exception of immigration, there have been very few overt policies that have specifically targeted Latinos. These attacks have instead been more on the sublet, localized variety. To be more precise, it has not been by the basis of any racial identity but attacks of culture. These methods could be categorized into four specific groups.
Americans have always held a close connection and fascination with the American Founding Fathers who se the foundation for American values. Their work is idealized for being the beginning of what is considered “American”. These founding principles of American culture, ideology, and society have become glorified in modern American culture. A rise in political scandal and a shift in cultural values that is affection legislation has called into question whether America is still following her founding principles. The fault of this question stems from the value each citizen places in American ideals and the manipulation of how American history is preserved.
All people are diverse and come from many backgrounds. Most people settled here in America as an immigrant to start a better life for their future generations and for opportunities. Most people came here with nothing but bringing along their cultures, knowledge, beliefs and behaviors which they can be shared amongst others in groups and society. In society, starting with the earlier generation there was always shared culture of classes, although everyone portrays immigrants as the lowest status. They are always disliked particularly for coming here as an immigrant, even though most of their backgrounds or their parent’s background statuses were very much similar whether they want to admit it or not. It’s how they hold themselves in society. People are divided into different classes and treated differently. Most immigrants have to settle in, adapting to the American lifestyle, whether they like it or not, they’ll have to blend in and start off with low paying jobs and making new friends. Adapting to lifestyle, the choice of food and to how they communicate. It is always harder for immigrants to unite with everyone since people are so strict against immigrants; they judge them as outcasts by what they eat, what they wear and especially how one communicates. High culture/elites think they are higher ranking so therefore there is always miscommunication. They think they are way better and wouldn’t want except one another because of status or flaws.
American values are seen in different ways by different people and cultures. Some people view American values as religion, culture, and customs. There are some American values that have changed to make things better and there are some that will never change no matter the situation. A value that has changed is freedom and the right of equality. There are two documents that can support this statement and one of them is known as “Common Sense “which was written by Thomas Paine. Thomas Paine was a pro-American writer and author of some of the most persuasive documents of the American Revolution. One document that he was famous for was “Common Sense.” This document argued for American independence from Great Britain and for a republican form of government as superior to hereditary monarchy. This was one very persuasive document that was written and had an extraordinary impact on colonies. (“Thomas Paine.”, edited by Paul Lauter, The Heath Anthology of American Literature, 2006, PP 1046.).
American students hold a special set of ideals and values that sometimes stem from early American culture. Although some cultural core values have been lost in time, some still remain present in the lives of students: respect, perseverance, and commitment. Any young American student is equipped with these 3 important values. Within the stories: Coyote and the Buffalo, Equiano, and Sinners in the hands of an Angry God, all demonstrate these core ideals in American culture. Through respecting each other, persevering in the hard times, and committing to reaching their goals, American students express values of American culture without knowing so.
Picture this: A fair sized home including running water and electricity with a somewhat recent model car in the driveway. At least a high school diploma under your belt, and if you really wanted to, you could open up your own business with the right idea and a loan from the bank; even if you were born into an impoverished family. Does this scenario sound familiar? It should, because it is the summarized and generalized version of the American lifestyle. We tend to take for granted everything we have, especially if we are born into certain societies where these things mentioned above are considered a given. However, not all countries share the same luxuries as Americans, for these possessions are indeed luxuries for those who were born and
American ethnical values are built upon the respect for the dignity of every human life, the hunger for discovery, the ability to maintain harmony with others and nature, establishing a government built for the people, and ran by the people. These ethnical values have been the basis for American culture since the beginning and they continue to make an impact and grow in today’s society. The Iroquois Indians had a very open and accepting democratic society that involved everyone, including the women which wasn’t very prevalent in culture at this time. Compared to the Puritan society which didn’t have strong leadership or a healthy working government, Puritan society also looked down upon women. The Puritans saw other people as an inconvenience,
We are a country built by immigrants. The original settlers of this nation came from countries all across Europe, and America later became a beacon of hope for millions of immigrants throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. That being said, the discrimination against immigrants today might be could be seen as ironic because of how many immigrants were welcomed with open arms in the past. However, it has become clear recently that the discrimination is a little bit more complicated, as mainstream examples of prejudice all involve people of color, like Trump’s muslim ban for example. White immigrants from places in Europe as usually seen as exotic in a positive light, and their accented non-perfect english is endearing and even attractive to some. On the other hand,
American culture refers to the traditions and practices of the people of the United States. Culture comprises of the nature of buildings, religion, music language and marriage. The population of the United States is more than 320 million people making it the most culturally diverse country in the globe. Books such as Crabgrass Frontier, Manifest Destination and Muscular Christianity are important sources of information about American culture. This paper is a reflection on the methods that these books use in providing information about the evolution of the US culture. The paper examines the relationship between these three sources and ways they challenge or inform an understanding of the American society during the late 19th and early 20th century. There is an analysis of the efficiency of the issues tackled by these books in influencing the contemporary discourse surrounding American culture. The major argument of this paper is that Crabgrass Frontier, Manifest Destination and Muscular Christianity provide reliable information about the evolution of the US culture and they supplement each other through the use of relevant examples.
The United States of America being the third largest country in the world with more than 315 million inhabitants, consists of multicultural societies with ethnically diverse population. Since there are a lot of foreigners, the US culture has evolved in such a way accepting and tolerating other foreign cultures. US is very much influenced by protestant work ethics according to which people believe in themselves and their efforts to attain the goal of self-actualization and success. The rich diversity in the culture brought by foreigners, prevailing values of protestant ethics, hard work etc. have helped US to emerge as a superpower in the past years. Nearly every religion had its impact on US culture in one way or the other. The