Essay On Becoming An American Culture

• American culture moves in cycles described as turnings. Discuss the four turnings with their, the generations that shaped each turning, and the role that Generation Xers and the Millennials will play as America continues into the twenty-first century.

Following WW1, Europe was left in a bad state. Empires were destroyed and states were being formed. The Minority question that arose following the war, albeit important, was not as much of a destabilizing force in this time as people like to think. It was only the byproduct of events that took place. These events include the publishing of the fourteen points, the settlements made during the Paris Peace conference, and the creation of state constitutions. The minority question was, in essence, the straw that broke the camel’s back, breaking the already damaged infrastructure of post war Europe.

Immigration and assimilation is a divisive topic that has been heavily debated in America ever since we became a country. There are two stories that explore the assimilation issue from different viewpoints’; in Mary Pipher’s story; “The Beautiful Laughing Sisters – An Arrival Story”; provides the viewpoint of immigrants leaving a hostile home for America. Elizabeth Wong details her journey to break with her culture and become Americanized in, “The Struggle to be an all American girl.” and (McWhorter, 2010 pp522-529). At debate today is whether immigrants and their families should blend into American culture even if it means breaking with their past. Once cultures intermingle, they are forever changed.

Growing up as an American, you’re probably use to dinner being the biggest meal of the day. Fast food and restaurants being the main source of meals for you and your family.

Defining what really is to be an American does not sound as easy as it seem. It will always be complex process. As immigration continues to fuel the growth of the population of our nation, racial and ethnic gap increase and evolve along with it. Racial and ethnic identities become more and more convoluted and difficult to understand. Race and ethnicity continue to intermingle and push a cultural shift in the US– a shift that plays a significant role in redefining America in a day-to-day basis.

Is it true that immigrant’s native roots never leave them? Do cultures keep the best interest in mind for immigrants? I live in the great state of Texas where according to the US Census for 2016, Hispanics account for 37% of the population. My church in Buda, Texas has 3500 families and is about 70% Hispanic in membership, moreover; half of our family friends are Hispanic and most of these friends are living the US culture. Some of our employees though maintain Spanish as their primary language. Immigrants have an unbreaking bond entwined with native culture.

In my opinion, being an American means so much more than just living in the United States. Being an American means that you are free, able to create opportunities, able to vote for what you believe in, able to bring about change to benefit your community, etcetera. Being an American gives you the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but it also creates opportunities for injustices. While this country is not perfect, I believe that being an American is a privilege that many other people are not able to enjoy. Often times people take this for granted and unfortunately, this causes disrespect to others and to our nation. Above all, I believe that being an American is about respect.

Americans have not only defined themselves by their religious, ethnic and racial identity, but also by their individual freedom and common values. America has become a nation where its people can fight for what they believe in. Our founding fathers have formed America to be “the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Being apart of the American culture and living on the land founded by our leaders specifies the meaning of the American Identity.

American identity has been created by many events throughout the course of history. This country was founded on the clashing and mixing of many different cultures and lifestyles. One of the most important periods of time for this country was during the period of conflict between Americans and Native Americans over land rights. Americans had an idea of manifest destiny and that this land was theirs for the taking. The Americans were going to walk through anyone who opposed them in this quest for land. The treatment of the Indians during this time period was harsh, cruel, and violent to say the least. It is in this treatment that Americans came to view the Indians as a ?racialized other? and

This was a bit interesting, because I am from another country and I have been in America for about eight years now. I still do identify with my Ukrainian culture and those roots very much, but I have been in America for long enough to adapt this new culture as well. This assignment really had me thinking about where I identify more, I really never thought about it much before. In my mind I am Ukrainian and I live in America and I am a citizen of U.S., but I feel like I am an American as well. As I think about it more this is how I identify with each culture. I think of myself as a Ukrainian and my roots are from where I was born and lived till I was fourteen. My mind was molded by my Ukrainian family, the way I act, the way I am as an individual is because of how and where I was raised. I still notice myself doing things that I did when I was in Ukraine, or thinking a certain way, as I did when I was in Ukraine. Things that my parents taught me, are still things I do sometimes, my thought process is still centered around those teachings. Mentally I identify with my Ukrainian roots, but the way I live my life now is much Americanized. I do also identify with American culture and I would not change one thing about it. But as a teacher in the future, I know that I will have to explore my American culture and use it in the class more, because a lot of my students will identify with the American culture. I think it is very important to really think about the culture you are in

I’ve spent the majority of my life living in contradictions; I was constantly hoping to be seen as an adequate Nigerian while simultaneously hoping that I was not excessively American while hoping to be seen as an adequate American but not excessively Nigerian. Like other first generation immigrants, I walk the fine line between two cultures. I never truly felt at home in either place, but I found myself continuously striving to be accepted in both worlds. Publicly, I hoped that I was American enough in public to assimilate with my classmates- so much so that for years, I used my middle name when at school.

When American culture is taken into context, comparatively it appears to be an all-inclusive and liberal culture with respect to cultures in other parts of the world. However, American culture has had its fair share of struggles with ethics and morality. Evidence suggests that the American culture somewhat favors the members who are well placed within it and ignores those, the lower class. The problem of segregating people in according to their status looks like a global phenomenon and seems normal. It somehow appears like society is naturally kinder to the “haves” than the “have-nots”. American culture shows that the more stake a person has in this culture the less he or she cares about ethics and morality. And the policies they make dictate the path of the society.

During the early 1900’s, The United States government was ruled by white men that have captivated the American patriotism. The patriotism of the American society was greatly enchanted by the white superiors wanting to establish a strong American values and culture. The era of the time gave little hopes and dreams of living in a land that its purpose was to give the opportunities to all newcomers. However it was a different scenario among the Mexican American community. The Mexican communities within the United States are force to adapt to a new tradition due to the defeat of Mexican-American War. The Mexican government efforts to persuade its people to leave the United States were no effect because of their disloyalties to its government. From here on the Mexican-American community in the United States will decide its own self recognition of identity.

Europe is facing a difficult period for its struggle between traditional populations and the new inhabitants, emigrated from abroad. The most hit countries are those whose wealth is due to the Golden Age of colonialism and now are the representative countries of a long tradition of tolerance and stability: United Kingdom and France.

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