The Role Of Cultural Diversity In The United States

Diversity is embedded in America’s DNA; this is best illustrated by the core message of our constitution. Though the founding fathers’ application of said document was woefully inadequate in terms of inclusion, and the United States has not always lived up to those grand ideas, we have steadily grown better at creating and inhabiting a more just and all-embracing society. Despite setbacks there is hope and progress. As diversity is the key issue of our, or any, time; we must continue seeking, promoting, and ensuring it progression. This is, in short, an imperative and enduring process.

“It is time for our parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength “Maya Angelou. Today, diversity has very much diminished. This, however, has not gone unnoticed. America is moving to a new standard in which diversity and individuality are encouraged more than uniformity and conformity as individuals have began to embrace their unique differences and accept that our differences are what gives us unity in this country.

The United States is home to many diverse ethnicities, identities, and cultures. However, some areas of the country unfortunately have an absence of diversity—most notably small towns and cities. This is a problem in today’s society due to the fact that a lack of experience and interaction with diversity might eventually lead to the growth of prejudice and bigotry. As a racial minority in a small city, this issue is especially significant to me because I have been a recipient of ignorant and stereotypical remarks. Therefore, I believe that it is imperative for a population to encourage acknowledgement and acceptance of diversity in order to solve the problem of prejudice and ignorance within a community.

Many ethnic groups reside and persist in America. Minority groups are misunderstood and undervalued in today’s society. There are many cultures, history, social relations, religious traditions, and linguistic aspects enduring in our country because of our abundant diversity. Two minority groups that are misconstrued are African Americans and Asian Americans. These two groups of people have many differences, but also have a few commonalities. African Americans and Asian Americans influence society in the United States in multiple ways, for example specifically in educational settings. Unfortunately, the dominant group, Caucasians, have difficulties

In the United States, there are varieties of people from around the world, different cultures, speak different languages, and different socioeconomic background. The workshops I have created are targeting to the community with low-income, culturally diverse, and middle-age population. Many people who live in this area are largely comprises blue-collar workers, multigenerational families, single mothers, former inmates, and immigrants. According to the data in 2010 provided by the author Steven Camarota (2012), in the United States, there are 46.2 million people living in poverty. In 2010, from the 46.2 million living in poverty, 11.9 million are immigrants (Camarota, 2012). There are legal and illegal immigrants. Legal permanent residents may be green card or working visa holders. As of January 1, 2011, about 13.1 million legal permanent residents are living in the US (Rytina, 2012). Moreover, there are many unauthorized immigrants living in the US. Large percentages of unauthorized immigrants are from Mexico, Canada, Caribbean, Central America, South America, and Asia.

The United States possesses a racially and ethnically diverse population. There are many people living within in the U.S. who all commonly share a cultural background or are of the same descent, mainly owing to the country’s immigrant population; each of these ethnic groups contribute to and play a major role in America’s cultural background. Whether it’s Hispanic Americans or Asian Americans, the United States is one of the most diverse nations in regards to culture and has a wide selection of different ethnicities. Due to the country’s broad range of races, the U.S. has continuously gained many benefits from the various cultures in society, the economy, and in so many other ways; particularly the evolution of American culture. Although,

Cultural pluralism is a term used when smaller groups within a larger society support their unique cultural identities, and their values and practices are accepted by the wider culture. I for one am in favor of cultural pluralism as long as the laws aren't tampered with I think it allows for more diversity within the United States. I think that people shouldn't change their culture just because they move to a new country because it's who you are it's always good to learn other cultures and mix it in with your own. There are many advantages of diversity one would be the more you learn from other cultures the less racial problems. A disadvantage can be that not a lot of people are willing to learn from other culture and won't accept the

Cultural diversity has its own basic standards, from eye contact to body language. The way we interact varies amongst us, In some other countries it's rude to look at them in the eye while talking, in the US it's practically normal. Culture sets our ethics for our society of what is socially acceptable. Think about how judgemental we are. We judge based on 3 things; looks, culture, and character. But we mainly judge on looks. We consider “different” as wrong. Awareness for “Cultural Diversity” needs to be elevated because of issues it causes to those who don't know about it.

According to Betancourt, Green, Carrillo & Ananeh-Firempong (2003) cultural competence refers to understanding the importance of social and cultural influences that a minority group may have as an inherent trait. The authors also affirmed that a cultural competent system acknowledges, integrates and incorporates the relevance of culture, evaluation of cross-cultural relations, , and adaptation of services to meet culturally unique needs(pg.294).

The United States is home to many multi-racial and multi-cultural populations. With the United States’ open and liberal policy concerning people from multicultural origins, it is inevitable that the country is the choice of destination for many international students. Although opportunities abound for people of multi-racial origins in the United States, it is undeniable that challenges also pose a threat to the smooth transition of international students to the American lifestyle. The increase in diversity in student population characteristics was mentioned in Andrade (2007) with the institutions of higher education in the United States admitting 580,000 international students from 2001-2002.

The world is getting smaller. It is essential for people to have cultural awareness and understand cultural diversity. Culture awareness is the foundation of communication throughout our world today. Therefore, a person is culturally aware when he or she stands back from oneself and becomes aware of the culture, beliefs, and perceptions of others. Culture is the complex whole of a society, which gains its identity by its spoken languages, beliefs, values, customs, laws, cuisine, and geography. No matter where each culture is located, it shares at least five basic characteristics, learned, shared, based on symbols, integrated, and dynamic. Each country has its own colorfully rich culture and can be conceptualized as everything that an

Languages, The most important accelerator for modern society, an effective way to comprehend and explore a new country, The most precious treasure for next generation, has the spiritual meaning for residents. However some people said that Government should force “ English only” policy in the united states. Furthermore, the act keeps the country united and enhance immigrants’ standard English skills. Others advocates for multilingualism in order to embrace diverse cultures and ideas. In my view, The last standpoint, I agreed, is more reasonable.

I think if the U.S. had a more ethnically sensitive society that no one would would follow religion or tradition anymore. Some struggles with U.S. becoming more ethically sensitive are acceptance, speech patterns, and following tradition. There are some good points about our nation being culturally diverse such as…. Being exposed to other cultures, shown different lifestyles, and meeting new people.

There are many views on culture and diversities today in society. Many of us see culture as beliefs, traditions, ideas, and behaviors in different communities that are passed on from generation to generation. However, culture diversity basically involves the changes that are taken place comparing what was deeply rooted in culture in ancient times and how it has been changing over time. Changes in the recent decades have been experienced in many fields including education, work, personal relationships and health among others.

Diversity and culture have been one of the topics that really captivate my attention in this class so far. Since my relocation to America years ago, I have been trying to see if there is any way I can relate culture to diversity. I have been trying to see if my culture can really help me to adapt to the way of leaving in this diverse country. While my culture has taught me how to respect individual differences, value human life, appreciate the existence of people in my life, believe life after death, believe in the existence of God and much more but how can I relate it to other cultures, if there is no diversity. While many people believe that culture and diversity are two different things but to me, the question is “can diversity occur without culture”?