My American Culture Research Paper

The country that I chose to conduct a culture analysis on is Jamaica. Jamaica is a third world country located in North America and the 3rd largest island in the Caribbean Sea. There is a 2.5 million population, which equally divided between urban and rural areas. The country runs approximately 146 miles long and varies between 21- 52 miles wide. The climate is tropical and its main tourist attraction is their beautiful beaches. The capital of Jamaica is Kingston, which has a population of more than 645,000. Kingston is the chief port of Jamaica and is along the southeastern coast of the island. It is covered by the “Blue Mountains”, which is thickly covered which tree ferns. The Blue Mountains experiences an average of 200 inches of rain annually, resulting in topsoil erosion and an abundance of streams. Peasants nurture coffee, usually grown on large plantations, in the valleys of the mountains. It is amongst the most expensive coffees in the world and is exported mainly to Japan.

In an article written in the Jamaica Observer, Haughton (2017) describes the state of Jamaica as an under-developed child who continues to depend on its parents for approval. “For many years colonialism milked Jamaica and other Caribbean countries by imposing a false identity on our people, diminishing resources that affected growth and development (Haughton, 2017).

American culture has been referred to as a “melting pot.” Different cultures have added their own distinct aspects to society, making America a diverse country. Despite the plethora of cultures, certain norms, mores, and folkways are evident in American society. These ideas are vital to the function and stability of America. They provide guidelines for what is acceptable and not. In virtually every society, there are people who engage in deviant behavior and do not abide by the values that the rest of society follows. Theorists have debated if people are socialized into acting this way and if it is a social or personal problem. The sociological study of culture focuses on norms, mores, and folkways.

The people who live in Jamaica also vary from the people of the United States greatly. Jamaica is approximately 90.9 percent African, while, on the other hand, in the United States Africans are considered a minority only making up roughly 12 percent of all people in the United States. Even though, the official language of Jamaica, and the language taught in their schools, is English, matching the language of the United States, the vast majority of Jamaicans speak Patois in their everyday life. “Patois is an English-based Creole language with West African influences. The pronunciation and vocabulary of Jamaican Patois are significantly different from English, despite heavy use of English words or derivatives. Jamaican Patois displays similarities to the Pidgin and Creole languages of West Africa, due to their common descent from the blending of African substrate languages with European languages” (Jamaican Patois). Patois is as well the language used in nearly all popular local music in Jamaica. Additionally our tour

The music industry in Jamaica is one of the most influential in the world. Popular music genres such as reggae and dancehall was both originated in Jamaica. Likewise, rap and hip hop was stated by a Jamaican, called Kool Herc. Bob Marley is also a famous music artist from Jamaica. His music played an important role in many movements in Jamaica and all over the world. The most famous one is the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Dancing is also important in Jamaica. A famous proverb in Jamaica, is that “those who can’t dance, blame it on the music”. In all african countries, music and dancing is really normal and it’s like this in Jamaica too. It is normal to dance on the streets in public and have fun, while listening to music. By all means music and dancing is undoubtedly important for Jamaica and the culture is mostly based around

My diversity experience began on November 12, 2016 in Wilmington, North Carolina at the Jamaica’s Comfort Zone restaurant. I chose this experience because I feel I need to learn more about Jamaica, Jamaicans and their culture. Also, because there appears to be a large number of Jamaicans residing in various parts of the United States, particularly in New York, Florida, and Georgia (Atlanta). Prior to searching for an authentic Jamaican restaurant, I decided that I needed to do some research regarding the culture of Jamaica; and, as a result of my research, I discovered that the culture of Jamaica is quite interesting to learn about. In fact, Jamaica is a mountainous Caribbean island just south of Cuba (see Figure 1) with a population of approximately

Family life is central to most Jamaicans, although formal marriages are less prevalent there than in most other countries. It is common for three generations to share a home. Many women earn wages, particularly in households where men are absent, and grandmothers normally take charge of preschool children. Wealthier Jamaican families usually employ at least one domestic helper.

One of the most challenging things that Jamaicans have had to cope with is the physical and psychological isolation. On the island, the country is so small that it is easy to visit extended family members on a daily basis. Here, in the United States, however,

Culture can be defined as the way of the life of a people, with regards to both the material and non-material aspects. However, as a result of a developing and maturing society, in addition to the birth of various generations and external influences, these “ways of life” can be inadvertently retained, renewed and even discarded. Our own Caribbean society, specifically Barbados is not exempt from such occurrences.

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

Jamaican Creole (known to its speakers as Patois) is a language of ethnic identification for roughly two and a half million people in the island of Jamaica, and overseas for many thousands of native speakers. The origins of the Jamaican Creole postdate 1660, in the interaction of British colonists and African slaves. Jamaican language and its place in society reflects the brutal history of Jamaica as a British sugar colony until Independence in 1962. Creolization in the broadest sense led to emergence of new cultural and social institutions, including language, but the subordination of Jamaican Creole to English (the native

In Jamaica we have our own fleet of monuments and statues, a proud representation of our own history, culture and achievements. Historically, Jamaicans are a proud, strong-willed people known to the world as freedom fighters, revolutionaries even trend setters. Going all the way back to 18 century Jamaica and you will see the Maroons led by Nanny and her brothers fighting and standing up to Europeans powers. In the second Maroon war of 1795, 300 Maroons stood their ground against 1500

My boyfriend and I are planning a vacation for my birthday. While we were looking for a place to visit, my boyfriend reconnected with his mother who lives in Jamaica. He lost contact with her after Hurricane Allen, which caused over five thousand people to lose their homes. My boyfriend and his family were one of them. With the excitement of hearing from his mother, we immediately planned our trip to Jamaica. Being that I knew nothing about Jamaica, I began to research more about the country. My boyfriend told me that I should treat Jamaica as if it were my home. He stated that like African Americans, Jamaicans have been through a lot as well. The problems that the Jamaicans went through, forced them to want to reclaim their identity as well as their love for their country. My boyfriend then began to show me that although Jamaica has been oppressed through colonization, they regained their independence and synthesize the ideas of colonization and their culture to form their dual identity. The dual identity allows Jamaica to not only hold on to their African past but also function with the new changes made by Europe to be a successful country.

The importance of the use of Creole in the Jamaican society is a topic that is highly debatable, and relates and is affected by ones cultural upbringing. The perception of the languages Creole and Standard English varies and dates back to the times of slavery when Jamaicans had Standard English presented as a superior language and the indigenous language was denigrated to an inferior status. More than 90% of the 2.5 million people in Jamaica are descendants of

It was the year of nineteen ninety-eight and I was 40 years old. I had never been to Jamaica, although most of my nieces and nephews were half Jamaican and half American, and I was very familiar with the Jamaican culture. I enjoyed their food, I danced to their music and by the time my trip came around I was more than anxious to visit the country to experience some of the authentic expressions of the country. I was to be there on vacation for three weeks, giving enough time to explore the Island.