Culture As A Melting Pot

America is the "great Melting Pot". From an early age every "American" is taught that America contains a mixture of the world 's cultures in a perfectly blended mixture. We honor and respect all cultures and invite them to bring their customs here to the United States. But do we really? Take for instance, the Hmong refugees who involuntarily moved to America. Cultural Assimilation seemed to be forced down the refugees throats. Keeping their native customs was looked on with horror and disgust.

Since the inception of human civilization there have been countless cultures and societies which have helped shape the current world today as we know it. The modern human race dates back more than 200,000 years and in that time frame many cultures have risen to great virtue and success only to deteriorate or cease to exist altogether. First before examining one of these cultures we must know what culture truly means. The Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) Culture Center defines culture as a “dynamic social system,” containing the beliefs, behaviors, values and norms of a “specific organization, group, society or other collectivity” learned, shared, internalized, and changeable by all members of the society (Watson, 2010). In

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.

The concept of a ‘Melting pot” is an idea that America is known for and accustomed to for years and years to come. Unfortunately, that analogy leads people to get rid of their culture for the American culture. Leading the public to the point where they strive to prove their differences just to stand out and make a name. One demographic, African Americans, have been trying to reconnect to their native heritage after being stripped from their identity years ago. From their traditions, how they cook food, and the way they do their hair. African Americans have become more determined to be in touch with their inner self as the years go by. Because they were ripped from their homeland African Americans may never know to the full extent of

So many times the phrase "melting pot" is used to describe the United States of America. It is a country built on ideals such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and other basic human rights. These  ideals, though they may have originated from European men labeled as liberals, eventually captured followers from all over the world. Soon, America was a mixture of peoples with different ethnic backgrounds, religions, and cultures all working together for the "American Dream."

The Department of the Army (2014) defines culture as a “Web of meaning shared by members of a particular society or group within a society” (p. 3-1). In a previous version of Field Manual (FM) 3-24 the Department of the Army (2006) defines culture as “A system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another” (p. 3-6). Culture can mean many different things to many different people and societies. To put one definition on it will not work. Over the next couple of pages an attempt will be made to explain culture further as well as consider the culture of Mexico by looking at the Mexican physical geography, military conflict history and their impact on the

In Forging a New Vision of America 's Melting Pot by Gregory Rodriguez the author expresses support for a heavy Mexican influence in the United States and integration of races. The author made some points about how legislatures have tried to stop Mexicans from entering the country and have repeatedly tried to keep them down as second class citizens. It seems that he wants Mexicans to have more influence in mainstream media, but I feel as if he 's pushing it too strong. I 'm all for equality, but it seems that he wants Hispanics to take a very large piece of the pie. I prefer an equal amount of the pie for all. It seems that the issue the author is stating about discrimination and legislative action against Hispanics comes from issues stemming from the old days. He mentions the Nineteen-twenties Texas representative John C. Box and his controversial views on immigration of Mexicans, but then he states a strong support in the Nineteen-nineties and their “Latino issues are American issues” mantra. I see why some people may be worried that Mexicans are taking over, because they may lose a little of their culture. Although change isn 't always bad, we cannot just barge in and force a change. America is a diverse country and we have a piece of the whole world here, so for one social group to complain and want their influence to be on a grand scale is just preposterous. We all need to share this melting pot of stew.

The United States is an immense country, with many residents and citizens descending from immigrants who have influenced many customs, traditions, behaviors and ways of life. Unlike many old world nations, the United States does not have a homogenous population or a traditional homeland. However, American culture can be interpreted as being largely based in Western Europe with influences from the Native Indians, Africans, Asians, and elsewhere.

America the great melting pot. Some have argued that the melting pot analogy is inaccurate. Instead America is like a tossed salad. A person can see all the individual ingredients that make up the salad. People will argue of what can go into a salad and what cannot go into just as people will argue about the place of certain groups with America. Some find disgust in certain groups of people and praise other. The situation is dynamic. The way people interact with groups are constantly changing and morphing due to different influences. Antisemitism is one of the ways people interact with the tossed salad that is America. Antisemitism in United States is on a decline because other groups are being used as scapegoats instead, Jews are not seen to pose a threat, a strong Holocaust remembrance, and the hatred of African Americans continues to be the predominate form of hate in the American context.

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.

Culture is the most direct, obvious and visible way in which people experience interconnections between societies in their daily lives (Held 44). It is very likely that rapid population growth would stimulate a great diversity of art (Foster and Blau 344) The United States is and always has been a banquet of cultures.

Is America Really a Melting Pot? For a long time, the United states of America has attracted people who share common goal so called, ‘American dream’ from all around the world. Since the history of America also started with the immigration of pilgrims who were looking for freedom from the religious suppression, the US has been considered to pose capability to assimilate various kinds of people including various race and diverse cultural backgrounds. This is why America is called melting pot, which means that various cultures and races have forgotten their own identity under a great identity as a ‘American’. However, America cannot considered as a melting pot, but salad bowl in terms of the segregation and discrimination against different race, religious and characteristic of separating and keeping different cultures.

America, the land that people often refer to as the big melting pot. People from all over the world come here that have different cultures, different appearances, and different religions. However, this poses a huge question on how this came to be. How did diversity first come about? Why do people believe or act differently than others? Once diversity began appear, how did people come up with classifications to group certain people together? Some answers are easier than others. For example, according to the power point people came from Africa. As they moved to other areas of the world, they began to adapt and significant differences between people came to form. Noses are good examples of this adaptation. Depending if a nose is narrower or wider, the nose either warms or cools the air. This is important for which climate setting the person lives in. These differences began the classifying because people have a hard time of letting people just be people. Although, people do enjoy knowing what ethnicity they have in their genetics. With all these differences though, it makes classifying people into arduous processes that holds many errors and is problematic when people add a hierarchy to the classifications.

The United States is commonly know as a melting pot of nations, in which people from around the world have emigrated to form a homogeneous yet varied culture. Although we come from different ethnic groups, we are usually bound together through our common English language. This becomes an issue, however, when immigrants are not familiar with English and American culture, and instead attempt to keep their own heritage alive. They are often torn between identities through language, the one they speak at home which they are familiar with, and the one they must adhere to in public. This often leads to struggle and conflict on both sides, dealing with different cultures and how people react when assimilation occurs. Because of this, living in the United States often requires us to completely accept only one identity, even though hints of the other may spill over at times.

The concept of culture is something that defines many aspects of one’s life. From physical objects to different ways of thinking, culture adds significance to human life and makes groups of people distinct from one another. Culture is essentially a group of people who come together with similar interests and points of view. According to the Center for Advanced Language Acquisition of the University of Minnesota, “culture is defined as the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization.” From a more sociological perspective, culture is a way in which people come together in order to fulfill their needs. These shared patterns and ideas identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group.” Culture is one of the things that sets the United States apart from the rest of the world. Not that the rest of the world is not cultural, but the circumstance here is different. Many people of different cultural backroads come to this country in search of a better life. As a consequence, the United States has become a place where many cultures merge together like a colossal pot soup.