Chitlin's Influence On American Culture

At my understanding, the term Hispanic is wrongly used when referring to a race. Being Hispanic is, of course, to belong to an ethnic group, but it is much more than that. It is not about the color of your skin or your hair, but about culture, tradition, and manners. All started with the Spanish and Portuguese colonization of South and Central America. From Europe came the adventurous men, full of ambitions and courage. These attributes blended with the strength and energy of African slaves and the Native Americans, and this mixture led to the born of this new culture that we called Hispanic.

The influence of Latin culture is prominent in the American world today. Everything from the Latin language to the Roman law is visible in the culture that shapes the way we live our lives in the United States. You can see it by watching the Super Bowl game or even fulfilling your citizen duty of serving on a jury.

American culture is heavily influenced by the Hispanic culture because when Hispanic people move to America they bring their culture with them. Their culture has influenced our religion, cuisine, social media, etc. Hispanic people make up 15.8% of the population in America so it is no surprise that they are the leading minority group to have influence on American culture.

As I begin this essay comparing two separate cultures I feel it is necessary to first describe what exactly culture is. Culture has been called "the way of life for an entire society." It includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, norms of behavior such as law and morality, and systems of belief.

It can be argued that Mexican and Peruvian heritage have been influenced by African traditions and genealogy. During the 17th and 18th century, slaves were transported to Latin America. Within Latin America, slaves were expensive and viewed as a luxury, rather than a commodity. As a result of the high price of slaves; slaves would be treated with slight dignity within Mexican culture.

An immigrant's culture and beliefs take a shift, sometimes going extinct, or they evolve to include elements from both countries; where they grew up, and where they’ll grow old. Transculturation is key in order to fit into a new society, those who do it well have a smoother time transitioning. For example the Hmong and Mexicans both had to flee their country, but the Mexicans found it easier to transition to the American culture than the Hmongs.The Hmongs never thought they would leave their home in Laos, they were happy and thriving on their lands. Unfortunately war struck and the Hmong agreed to help the US fight back, due to their involvement in the war, they were seen as traders, therefore they were persecuted by the Vietnamese. Due to this the Hmong people suffered in

Immigrants have shaped American culture and identity by bringing their own home culture from other parts of the world. Furthermore, another kind of immigrants brought a different kind of beliefs in America. The way immigrants shaped Americans identity in America is by changing the way how people think of others because of their culture, race, and beliefs. The way it shaped America with cultures is because the variety of cultures that are a mix in America.

Imagine someone is lost, standing in a checkout line at a corner drugstore. They need directions to get back on the road. The couple in front of them is having a very engaging conversation, fluently, in Spanish. Most would not even give an effort to talk or ask where to go, but why not? Too often the assumption is made that people who speak Spanish are immigrants, and do not speak English well. Hispanics are, persons of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American descent, other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race. Too often the assumption is made that Spanish-speakers are unamerican, lazy, receive low income, or are uneducated in any way. Hispanics are also demonized in the media as people who are stealing American jobs. That is the belief that some Americans associate with Hispanics.

Although Mexican Americans have struggled with various segregation acts and racial discrimination while adapting to the American lifestyle, many achieved the American Dream by countless job opportunities provided by America 's industrial and agricultural sectors.

In Louise A.N. Kerr’s Historical Research and Narrative, Louise discusses the cultural history of Mexican-Americans immigrating and living throughout Chicago. In the beginning of the article, Kerr discusses the large number of Mexicans who began arriving in Chicago after World War I. Originally, according to the article, before the turn of the twentieth century, the first few Mexican Americans came to Chicago primarily as entertainers. Of these people, according to Louise, only a few of them settled in Chicago. In the article Louise states that “The first large group of Latino immigrants to Chicago and the Midwest were Mexicans who arrived as contract workers to replace soldiers and European ethnic workers during World War I”. According to

Essentially, every culture has a specific basis, native language, religion and custom that reflects its history, values and beliefs. These conceptual constructs represents the total reality of life within the community of which is commonly known as “Culture”. Culture is not only a race, but is a way of life. In the United States, there are many different races that integrate with the American race and culture. However, these individuals often times may have difficulties adjusting, adapting or maintaining their heritage. How well they acculturate and adapt to the process can have an impact on how well the individual is able to integrate or engage to one or another culture.

In the antebellum South of the 1840s, there were three very popular genres of music: stage music, parlor music, and sacred music. Elements of all three of these genres are still emphasized in today’s music curriculum. Although these genres as Dusenbery knew them are no longer popular, they’ve slowly evolved into today’s music. Music theatre has replaced stage music, pop music has replaced parlor music, and sacred music has evolved into modern worship music. Although the average WVU students no longer dance to a fiddle on Friday nights, they do however flock to clubs where different music warrants similar social experiences. Perhaps the only true difference between music then and now is the prominence of religion. As more defining lines were drawn between church and state, the popularity of religious and sacred music greatly diminished. During Dusenbery’s time, religious music like Sacred Harp were incredibly popular in the south. It’s very likely that many students participated in Sacred Harp sings throughout their years at UNC. No religious music holds this level of importance in today’s music

The Inca Indians were the first people to cultivate potatoes in Peru between 8,000 and 5,000 B.C. The Inca people considered the potato sacred; they worshipped them and even buried them with the dead. They always kept a backup supply incase of war or famine. It wasn’t until the year 1536 that the crop began to spread beyond Peru. The Spanish Conquistadors took over Peru around this time; they originally were in search of gold but found something almost more valuable, the potato. They ended up taking the potatoes and transporting them to Europe. According to researchers it’s believed that the introduction of the potato helped put an end to the famine in Northern Europe that was going on at the time. The potato’s were brought to Spain in 1570 but were mostly used to feed livestock. Once the potatoes were

Eddie S. Meadows is the author of published books include Jazz Scholarship and Pedagogy: A Research and Information Guide and Bebop to Cool: Context, Ideology, and Musical Identity. He is specialized in ethnomusicology and he teaches at San Diego State University and also a visiting professor at USC, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Michigan State University, and University of Ghana.

Milton Babbitt’s and Evan Ziporyn’s articles share a key similarity and a key difference. Comparing the two articles, one can see they both carry a discussion about the concern with the direction of contemporary music. Where the two articles differ is in the approach they take to combat the demise of musical progression. Babbitt felt that populism threatened his expansion of progressive/contemporary music, and that the last beacon of hope was in the solitude of his “musical lab” at the university (it is doubtful that this would hold true today due to a lack of tenure in most states). In contrast, Ziporyn believes that to ensure contemporary music’s longevity, that it would be necessary to reach out to other cultures, their music, their artist,