Examples Of Multiculturalism In The United States

According to former president William McKinley, "The mission of the United Sates is one of benevolent assimilation." It has been widely known that people who don’t fit in (culturally or physically), well, won’t fit in until they are "normal," or assimilated into Western culture. There are examples of this in everyday life, such as if a person with an Asian accent is introduced to a group with an English accent, he or she will most likely be regarded as different, and will be excluded from interaction with the rest of the group. But, if the person slowly changes their accent to become part of the norm, then the person will become

Due to such belittling forms of harm, the LGBT+ people are compelled to remain closeted to avoid receiving ridicule from society. This

We live in a society that has prospered generously over the years. America has opened its doors for so many different people by establishing itself as a free country. Not only have we progressed in technology and economically but we have created our own identity by becoming a free nation in which every individual has the same rights and eligibility as the other. This is the core of our countries success; we are not a nation unified distinctly by a specific race, religion or culture but by the compulsive efforts of our nation’s laws to uphold freedom in every aspect of a civilian’s life. People are not only allowed but encouraged to practice the religion of their choice, eat the food they desire, speak the language they prefer. There is even freedom in the most minute of things such as being able to listen to the music of your choice, these are the laws that promote diversity and strengthen our nation today. Our nation’s identity and prosperity is built upon multiculturalism and ethnic tolerance. However, this was not always the case it has taken many long and brutal years become the stable and versatile country that we are today. Specifically dating back to when this land was first founded and thereafter we see our nation has struggled with conflicts against politics, discrimination, and public affairs up till this very day.

It is a significant struggle for many first or second generation of Asian-American who need to fit in two different culture and expectations sets, especially for who born from early 1980s to late 1990s. On one side, we have to get into the American culture. On other side, we are encouraged to preserve our traditional personality and keep our Asian ethnicities alive. Fail to keep either side of expectations can lead to rejection or culture crisis.

In the essay “Growing up Asian in America” by Kesaya E. Noda, being who you are, or accepting yourself is portrayed through her own life story. “Being Japanese means being a danger to the country during the war and knowing how to use chopsticks. I wear this history on my face” (Noda 34). Living in America can be said to be great, from those who are already the average American, because they don’t deal with the everyday life of being racialized. They also don’t have the label of having another ethnicity besides being American. “Clean, quiet, motivated, and determined to match the American way; this is us, and that is the story of our time here” (Noda 35). Kesaya struggled to learn about herself and her history, due to the fact that she didn’t know much about her Japanese race. When finding out that her family had been apart of the Japanese camps, Kesaya found it easier to just go along with the American way instead of being herself because she was ashamed of herself. “I come from a people with long memory and a distinctive grace. We live our thanks. And we are Americans. Japanese- Americans” (Noda 36). Kesaya had then accepted herself as a Japanese- American because she was proud of all that her family, and all Japanese, went through. Being American isn’t just about living in America, or being a citizen, but about knowing that you belong because America is your home. Along with being American, if it officially says it on paper or not,

Growing up as an Asian American, I often struggle to identify my own cultural identity. Being the first generation of both my mother and father’s side of the family, I more than often get confused between American and Asian culture when applying them to society or at home. While being raised at home, I am largely influenced by culture and traditions from Asian parents and relatives. However, when I go to school or someplace else, I am heavily judged for practicing part of my Asian culture because it is entirely different than western or American. With that being noted, I began to learn and adapt to the western culture in hopes of fitting with society as well of trying to keep my Asian culture intact. As can be seen, this situation I dealt with is the same problem the whole Asian American community faces. Mainly focusing on younger generations like me for example, the Asian American community struggles to adapt to the western culture because they were raised with an Asian influence. Wishing to fit in society and be part of the social norms, the Asian Americans community faces issues that identify their cultural identity.

Society picks out and ridicules anyone who attempts to be different. Even if someone so much as embraces their unique qualities instead of hiding

As human beings, we are called to love one another and respect another as well as opinions and lifestyle and yet it is often difficult to do such a thing. There are many reasons why it is difficult to accept a person because of who they are. The most common reason is as said before, one is taught the various prejudices about a group. This happens for many reasons. Often times the ignorance is bliss mantra wins out in philosophy and becomes the normal thought. One is ignorant because one is afraid to challenge the status quo due to retribution. The community is however not the only ones at fault. Usually it also the stereotypes told by outside sources that cause such fear and lack of knowledge. Such is the case for homosexuals in America and other parts of the world. In the 1980’s it was rumored that the AIDS epidemic was started with homosexual

The side in opposition to multiculturalism firmly believes that it weakens America by keeping immigrants from adequately assimilating to the core values of America’s Anglo Protestant identity. This side believes that multiculturalism weakens the “social bond” of the United States by denying that immigrants need to assimilate to the language and values of the country’s dominant culture. The rise of non-English speaking communities is seen as a detrimental factor in the goal of achieving unity in American culture. Opponents state that immigrants coming to the United States must always lose their previous culture from their country of origin, to be able to completely assimilate to and fully embrace

Ask any American how they feel about multiculturalism you are likely to get one of two responses: either a cringe or a smile. Those that cringe will say something along the line of “Multiculturalism is the wrong way to look at things. It separates us by saying that everyone is different instead of saying that we are the same and unifying us.” Those that smile will talk about how great multiculturalism is because they get to see aspects of all different cultures on television and on the radio and they are free to explore all the different things that various cultures have to offer. In actuality, one cannot help but wonder if either of these responses reflects the true meaning of multiculturalism? What do

What does Diversity and Multiculturalism mean to me? I believe that diversity has become so much more than just the basic qualities of race or gender. It now includes all qualities that make everyone unique, as individuals or as part of a larger group. It is also the acceptance, respect, and understanding of these unique qualities that makes diversity work in a given society. Multiculturalism is the system that is centered around the respect for and the promotion of ethnic and or gender diversity in the society. Multiculturalism is the status of several different ethnic, racial, religious or cultural groups co-existing in the same society. Today, in the U.S. we already

Multiculturalism is the occurrence of multiple cultures within one society, fundamentally due to the influx of immigrant societies, or the approval and encouragement of this occurrence. Many people have different views of multiculturalism. The people who have a negative view towards multiculturalism tend to argue against the uniting of a wide range of different cultures, races and faiths, in their points of view multiculturalism would be seen as a “mosaic” form, which tends to occur more likely in the US than in Europe, as it would fundamentally mean that they are putting races, religions and cultures into different groups, however they are not uniting as one society, another word for that would be integration. Whereas, the people that agree

There are individuals that live in fear of showing their true identity to the world because they simply fear that society won’t accept them for having a different sexual orientation. Society advocates that individuals should be able to be proud of who they are, but yet they judge homosexuals for being different. People are taught not to judge others based on their race or religion, so why do they still discriminate against homosexuals? The homosexual subculture is not accepted by society, looked down upon, and misjudged; however, they are human beings and deserve to be treated equally.

Wherever and whenever there are various cultures or ethnic groups living together in the same piece of land, an intercultural situation takes place. The ultimate stage of evolution of this circumstance is best known as Multiculturalism, and involves cultures or ethnic groups living together. In the beginning, the relationships that some cultures held were very different from what, nowadays, we understand as Multiculturalism. Going over its antecedents, some of the most well-known cases date back to Greeks and Romans. These powerful empires were made up of a mixture of cultures with their distinctive features. This implies that the members of the same culture interact among them, but they avoid any deep interaction with members

Unfortunately, this style of life had difficulty becoming accepted in a society that is so set in their usual and safe ways. Throughout history gays and lesbians were prosecuted for their beliefs. This was not many centuries ago, but actually less than one hundred years ago, and still today some people are having problems accepting homosexuality. In England, having any homosexual relationship could mean the end of your life, or career. Alfred Bishop from the group called "Human Sexuality's in the United States" recalls, "At one point in time I was afraid to be gay and I'm only thirty two years old" (Bishop 2). Bishop goes on to further explain his fears, "I was interested in reading many different view points of homosexuality, but when I found that homosexuals were prosecuted for their beliefs I was terrified" (Bishop 3). This is the reaction that many of today's American's would have, but in the past this would not be as common.