My Cultural Values

American novelist Tom Robbins once said “Our similarities bring us to a common ground; our differences allow us to be fascinated by each other.” Everyone has a different story, whether it’s something big like immigration or something small like family tradition. These differences don’t pull us apart, but show us how unique we are and that being the same isn’t always the best. While the typical Greek immigrant left due to economic failure, prospered in America, and brought their rich culture with them, the same cannot be said for my family. While there were some similarities between the immigration of the typical Greek and my family, there are also many differences.

The United States has been a host to a wide diaspora of people. Immigrants have had to transition from their familiar land to a new-fashioned foreign land that they must consider home. They bring with them the essence of their initial homeland such as customs, traditions and beliefs that inadvertently change the dynamics of culture within the United States. As a result the United States is an extremely culturally diverse nation. The continual changes or accretions that Americans encounter have always been a controversial topic depending on the experiences of individuals and communities that have immigrant populations. This essay will critically explore

Humanity is ever so much more complicated than one could have ever imagined. Humans can thrive on change, but ultimately look for something to declare as home. In search of this home people travel long distances and risk everything they have. When an American contemplates the word immigrant, one imagines the countless people from Mexico crossing into our country or the refugees that hope to make this country their home. What eludes most of us, however, is the reality that most people were, at one point, immigrants to this country and that our forefathers came here exactly the same as refugees come today. What is brought to mind when I hear the word immigrant is hope and perseverance. I remember the countless people who have traveled here

The United States has been the land of opportunity for immigrants. It is a place where immigrants from all over the world come to build a better dream and future for their families and leave from poverty, they come with nothing but determination. One thing that every immigrant brings with them is their culture. A person's culture is strongly tied to the country where they grew up. It is tied to their relationship with their family. Many people come to America from so many different places all over the world. For this reason, people call America a melting pot of cultures immigrants are striving for a better future even though when they migrate to the USA they don’t know the consequences they will face and struggle to be successful living in the United States.

Immigrating to America is a process in which many people all across the world entrust as their one way ticket to a better life. Whether they do so legally or illegally, coming to the United States ensures better opportunities, economically, politically, and so on, to people who would have otherwise been worse off in their countries of origin. Even so, the common understanding of being “better off” can be considered a misconstrued concept when it comes to living in the states. Many families that choose to immigrate to the U.S. fail to realize the cultural hardships that newcomers tend to face once on American soil. Anything from racial discrimination or bias at work, in neighborhoods, at school, etc., can all be challenges that people encounter when making a move to the U.S. Such challenges are described by Richard Rodriquez in his autobiography Hunger of Memory. In this passage, he explains how cultural differences between Mexican and American ways of life have shaped him into the person that he is today. He also chooses to highlights the problems that he faces growing up in a predominately white neighborhood, while attending a predominantly white institution. Much of his writing consists of the cultural differences and pressures he feels to assimilate to Western culture and how this process, in turn, changes him into the person that some may find to be unethical, but nonetheless, someone he is proud of.

Immigrant groups take refuge in America in hope of starting a better life for themselves and their ongoing generations. They take on the belief that upon coming to America, they will be presented by the riches and freedom granted by the “American Dream”. However, these opportunities are not easily achieved. Many immigrant families are challenged with the initial obstacles of having to adapt to the new languages and the customs of their environment. For example, without the basic knowledge of the standard English language, immigrants will not be able to apply for a majority of the jobs available. This puts immigrant parents at disadvantages because then they will not be able to provide the sufficient funds needed for allowing their children

In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and

The United States of America was a country founded by immigrants on the values of equality and freedom and the idea of a fresh start. Only American Indians are truly native to this country and the rest of us have some history of immigration in our ancestry. So what about today’s immigrants? Most people immigrate to the United States searching for simply searching for a better life. Immigration seems like it should be a simple and organized process, but many people who try to immigrate to the United States find that the process is not so simple. To better understand the immigration process, I have interviewed a friend who immigrated to the United States as a small child and now faces the

    Many immigrant and minority narratives concentrate their efforts on the positive side of the American dream. These particular stories narrate a person's struggle and rise through the ranks of the Am6rican hierarchy focusing on the opportunities that seem to abound in this country. While these stories are well and good. they do seem to soft peddle the flip side of this country's attitude toward the immigrant and minority. America is a land of milk and honey and opportunity, but unfortunately most new officiates or unwilling participants in the American culture face an American nightmare that leaves its effects on the individuals, families and cultures

The changing environments throughout the ages have caused the movement of thousands of families out of their homelands. Whether forced to make such decisions or doing so by their own desires, all immigrants have had to survive the physical and psychological challenges encountered along the way. To speak about the experiences of all these different people using the same ideas and examples would be quite inaccurate. They all, however, had to live through similar situations and deal with similar problems. Many of them succeeded and found the better future they were looking for. Many others found only hardship and experienced the destruction of their hopes and dreams. All of them were transformed.

There are millions of different countries in this world. Some are privileged, others are not. Some flee war-ridden countries in hopes of finding a better place to live and a fresh start. These people that move from one country to another are immigrants. America is full of immigrants, in fact our country was built on immigrants. But, a majority of these people are ostracized and shunned for their beliefs, race, and plenty of other things. The excerpts from the stories A Quilt of A Country and The Immigration Contribution, which both compare and contrast each other, discuss how America’s background was formed and the different people that helped construct America. We are all different, and that is what makes us great.

When most people think about immigration to the United States, they think of the U.S. as being the “land of opportunity,” where they will be able to make all of their dreams come true. For some people, immigration made their lives richer and more fulfilled. This however, was not always the case. A place that is supposed to be a “Golden Land” (Marcus 116) did not always welcome people with open arms. Even after people became legal citizens of the United States, often times the natural born Americans did not treat the immigrants as equals but rather as outsiders who were beneath them in some way. In some situations, people’s lives were made worse by coming to the “land of opportunity.” Often times people were living no better than they

Throughout our lifetime, us as people decide to admire different objects, ideas, and people due to what pleases their thoughts and actions. The infinite examples of things we could’ve valued could’ve been toys, friends, book, etc.. But then we began to mature and begin to come out of our little shells to discover new products, views of the world, and new ways to advance in our technology and therefore influencing what we value today. And as I matured in my lifetime, I established a novel value to my parents the greatest.

America, land of the free and home of the brave. That’s what I have always known growing up. America is the land of opportunity and living so close to the Mexican border I truly believe America is. America is one big melting pot where so many different cultures can come together and live freely. Throughout my essay I will use “Home at Last” by Dinaw Mengestu, “Why Americans Hate This ‘Immigration’ Debate” by Herbert E. Meyer, and Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood by Richard Rodriguez to provide quality information of why most immigrates are forced to change their culture upon arrival and could this reason lead to the lack of divers culture?

Everyone has a family history and I want to explain mine, my family is comprised of immigrants since my great grandparents emigrated from Spain to Cuba and from Cuba to the U.S. These immigrations have taught me lessons such as perseverance, self-reliance, and education. They emigrated in search of a better life for themselves and their future children. My family stayed and did well for themselves; until, the Cuban Revolution. My family didn’t agree with the communist ideals and were politically persecuted for speaking out against the new government in power. Then later my grandparents and my parents moved from Cuba to the U.S. to follow the sixth goal of the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution: "Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves, and our Posterity" (United States Constitution). My family has been one to seek improvement for ourselves regardless of the lengths that we must go to achieve it. We’re a tight knit family because of this mutual necessity to constantly advance ourselves.