Cultural Lenses In America

Cultural lenses Hamza lalami - doesn’t really sound like an “american” name now does it? Which is probably why I get asked where I’m from quite often when I introduce myself as myself. So let me formally introduce myself. I am Hamza lalami, which doesn’t really sound the way you just read it, but for simplicities sake lets keep it as such. I was born in New Jersey and raised by my Moroccan born parents here for the majority of my life. And yes. I have been to Morocco dozens of time, I actually even spent my 6th grade there (best year as of yet). However, the culture in Morocco is completely different than the culture of the United States in almost every way; from the religion, the family, the education, the economy, and even the polity. So …show more content…
Sociology professor John Macionis stated that beliefs are “specific thoughts or ideas that people hold to be true”. Now the education system in Morocco vs the education system in America are completely different, nonetheless the beliefs are generally the same - “get out of my house and make something of yourself”. However in Morocco, the belief towards education is that you must go to school and become either a doctor or an engineer. This basically meant the following; the job you are studying for must be better than the job your father or mother is currently working. This is their saying of I want only what’s best of you. Yet not all do make it that far mostly due to some internal or external factor that unexpectedly swept them off their feet which inevitably leads them to a lower class than what they had hoped. That is the general belief for both the high and popular culture in Morocco, to be that doctor or that engineer. On the contrary, the American belief on education is that to go out there and be what it is you want to be and most importantly to like that “American dream”. It doesn’t matter what you become, as long as you 're happy - unlike Morocco where your happiness is an after thought. Although in recent years, America 's belief of the “American dream” has been slowly integrating into other cultures which is an …show more content…
Which we’ll use to describe and compare Americas and Morocco 's Polities. As reported by Ashley Crossman in a website called sociology.about.com, a custom is a cultural idea that describes a regular, patterned way of appearing or behaving that is considered characteristic of life in a social system. In order to understand the polity system of each we must first get a grasp of the type of government each one assumes. Morocco has a constitutional monarchy that is ruled by Mohammed VI, while the US has a federal republic that is lead by Barack Obama. So I’m sure you can already imagine the considerable difference in customs already. In Morocco, when the king goes to visit a particular area within the country (usually by a private jet) the entire city gets cleaned up and decorated to look presentable. However, whenever the king steps of the plan, the line of high ranking military men in uniform on both sides salute and once the king gets roughly halfway past the walkway the military general steps forward and unsheathes his sword to present it at is side then he kneels and kisses the king 's hand (and the king 's son if he is with him). Once that is over he bows and steps aside. This custom may seem over the top in the United states, but for Morocco it is a sign of the utmost respect to the king and a privilege/honor to have kissed the hand of the kind, or to at least have seen him to chant “long live the king!” On the