Cultural Diversity and the Impossibility of a True Melting Pot

Changez exclaimed that the patriotic symbols plastered everywhere “seemed to proclaim: We are America—not New York, which, in my opinion, means something quite different—the mightiest civilization the world has ever known; you have slighted us; beware our wrath” (Hamid 79). This acknowledgment of patriotism shows that Changez felt his culture was overwhelmed and belittled by America 's response to the attacks. Changez’s feelings of lack of identity in American culture was not just felt by him, in a qualitative study called “Understanding the experiences of discrimination in Muslim Americans post- 9/11”, Dr. Zaman questioned other Middle Eastern Americans about how their identity changed by living in America after 9/11. One lady responded by saying “’I just don’t feel that Americans accept me as an American. They look at me, or people with a similar background, that we’re some outsiders intruding their country’” (Zaman 82). By using the quote, Dr. Zaman shows how other people of the Middle Eastern minorities felt detached in American society after 9/11. This patriotic response made it hard for individuals just like Changez to have a sense of belonging in the American mainstream culture of post 9/11.

Since its foundation, America has been illustrated by its elaborate composition of diverse cultures, ethnicities, and nationalities. This “melting pot” analogy attempts to illustrate the equal representation of all cultures within the nation’s boundaries. In the “Rights of Man”, however, Thomas Paine argues the “cordial unison” of all citizens in America contributes to a single culture. As it was the Founding Fathers’ intention, and Paine’s expression alike, despite the diversity of its demographic, America performs in harmony by “constructing government on the principles of society and the rights of man”. Instead of expressing individuality, Paine believed all uniformities brought about the single American identity. In cooking with garlic,

Modern America is considered to be a melting pot, in which a variety of races, cultures, or individuals gather into a unified whole. The ideas of being a new American for people who have migrated from their homeland to America are to leave behind all their past cultures and practices and embrace their new American ways. Is that what really happens? If it was, would there be still racism in America? The number of people immigrating to America has risen over the years, but so has the number of active hate groups. The idea of unity in the melting pot of America is a myth because of racism, stereotypes, prejudice, and cultural segregation of its people.

What defines a multicultural society and what category does the United States fall within. The idea and topic behind the concept of the “Melting Pot” and also “Gorgeous Mosaic.” Among other things, this essay will also discuss the similarities and differences within the author’s of “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” “ The Joy of reading and writing.” how did this two author from different ethics group suffer in many aspects the same dilemma because of our so call “multicultural” society and fought against the assimilation of who they really are.

An individual’s Americanness often greatly contributes to their experience in America. How American someone is or chooses to be largely boils down to outer appearances and how much he or she chooses to conform to American norms, as our society cannot help but fall back onto the preconceived notions associated with our differences instead of our similarities. Often, many hold these differences under great scrutiny while ignoring that most, if not all Americans and those who choose to reside in our land, want the same things that our country has to offer. However, different Americans have different takes on what it means to be American. Some say it solely depends on how closely one’s views line up with the constitution; some (implicitly)

Is diversity in the United States of America an issue to be solved, or a strength to be nurtured and utilized? This question is central to many aspects of America’s culture. The answer to this question shapes America’s policies in many ways. It affects our public education, foreign affairs, and, most notably, immigration. Not only that, but the answer to that question determines the method of socialization America uses to adjust immigrants to American life. Socialization is the process through which a person becomes accustomed to a culture’s mores and internalizes them. Some common vectors of socialization in America are the family, church, media, and public education system. Early in the United States’ history, the answer to the question of diversity was an idea called “Americanization.” As the name suggests, citizens were expected to become a “real” American if they wanted to be a citizen. The dominant cultural forces in America set a standard and immigrants were expected to match that standard. When Americanization failed to produce the expected results, a small group of people began to advocate for “pluralism” (Cushner 40-1). Conversely, pluralists wanted immigrants to maintain a part of their cultural identities as they adjusted to life in America. The end goal is that immigrants would be able to live productive lives in America while enriching the country with their own values and knowledge. So, in the arena of immigration, the original question

Various ethnicities are gradually taking over the Hawaiian islands. In the article, “Hawaii is Diverse, But Far From a Racial Paradise” they claim that, “Hawaii has the highest racial minority population of any state in the union — 75 percent, according to U.S. census figures” (Garcia, Para 2). This aloha state has become diverse ever since the “plantation days”. Numerous ethnic groups left their homeland and immigrated to Hawaii in order to work in the sugarcane plantations. Today, the variation of race in Hawaii is a factor that makes it a unique country where one would describe it as a “melting pot”. Although cultural diversity builds an extraordinary reputation for Hawaii, there are some drawbacks that cause problems

When foreigners envision the United States, commonly known as America, they often visualize economic opportunities, but more importantly: liberty and equality. The birth of America could only happen with the hard and persevered works of its founding fathers; this includes the writing of the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration is a symbol that represents the entire nation and is considered to be a patrimony among many Americans. Yet, this document does not provide liberty and equality that many had expected. This is intensively explored in the study of American history. As residents of the Thirteen Colonies, the founding fathers were considered to be inferior to the British crown – King George III. Consequently, they decided to secede and make themselves the superior instead in a newly established country. As a result, the Declaration of Independence is not a document of liberty and equality for all, but rather a document for white men that also transcribes the founding fathers’ desire for superiority and the coding of white privilege.

The U.S. has been described through various labels throughout history; from the melting pot to the Land of freedom. The common definition of the American identity is that it is established not in place, but in the acceptance of a similar set of ideals, not considering religion or ethnicity. E pluribus unum is a Latin phrase meaning, “out of many, one”. The traditional meaning of the phrase is that out of many states, more specifically 13 colonies, a cohesive, single nation surfaces. In recent years, however, the definition suggests that out of the many races, religions, languages, a single country is formed. This illustrates the concept of the melting pot. The journey to obtain a whole nation has come at a cost. Differences in politics and

American history began with waves of immigrants, bringing their own cultures and traditions to a blossoming new country. America has become known as the “Melting Pot”, this metaphor though is giving way to new emerging names such as, “Salad Bowl”, and “Mosaic”. Different cultures mixed together, similar to those of ingredients, each having individual characteristics. Ethnic diversity is rampant throughout today’s society, involving diverse individuals who share a common and distinctive culture, religion, and language. Many may not notice how these various ethnic groups impact todays society. By narrowing our perspective, we can see how society is influenced by ethnic diversity by the foods we eat, the way we dance, and the way we communicate with one another.

America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. Just like how everything takes time and effort, America too had to wait a while before it could get that title. It is a land that is grounded and rooted on immigrants, and thus it is a melting pot for cultures. Since the immigrants came from all over the world, they brought with them their cultures as well as their religions. Considering those terms there is liberty and equality in the country, but the time to get to that point and also at time to this day there exists some inequality and discrimination. Therefore, the struggle to reach the present day’s situation is what harbored and generated a blend of liberty (equality) and discrimination (inequality).

More times than not when immigrants come to a new country they will look for places and spaces where their friends and family live. These places known as ethnic enclaves are “areas of cities where immigrants of the same ethnic background congregate to create social and economic opportunities for themselves” (Chen 221). In other words when people from the same culture live in the same area of a city they tend to stick together and work with each other; they also tend to have their own enclave economy as immigrants hire each other and create jobs for themselves. A perfect example of an ethnic enclave is Little Havana in Miami, Florida. Cuban immigrant settled in Miami and instead of wasting time in the secondary labor market, they created their own firms and hired new fellow immigrants creating their own labor market.

Different countries have different cultures, traditions and values. They represent the image of the nation, people’s mentality, how they think and behave, and what they strive for and struggle for. With the help of them we judge of what is important in life of a person, of a nation, of a country. America is not an exception. Despite the great number of various ethnic groups that inhabit United States, there are things that unite all the people. Among them are such values like freedom and independence that entirely characterize America. The American founding fathers felt that this concept was of utmost importance when they were deciding what the United States Of America would be and how it would function. In the second

American being the melting pot that it is, is made up of many different types of people that have different political priorities. During an election year, these priorities are discussed even more often and more heatedly. Newscasters light this debate fire daily, as do politicians. Some of these issues are absolutely essential to the American political life and should be discussed and evaluated in order to make America great. Even when parties are on opposite sides of an issue, they can agree that priorities need to be established and evaluated (Gallup, 2016). In evaluating today’s society both economic and social issues top the list of priorities.

In today's society, this generation is separated into different categories or groups based on race, civilization, religious belief, appearance or personality. Race is viewed and treated in today’s society based on societal perceptions which leads to perceived and actual stereotypes about a specific subspecies. An individual's personal opinion about one person in a certain race dictates their reflection of that entire ethnicity and race and their reflection about their own experience or ideas about certain races create expectations for processing and viewing others a certain way.