What makes an American, ‘American’? The answer to this question will vary greatly depending on the respondent’s beliefs and cultural background. As the United States continues to grow and evolve in areas such as race, ethnicity and culture, the image of America changes as well. In an article entitled ‘Nation or Notion’ by Patrick J. Buchanan, he argues that Americans need a common identity based upon ancestry and culture to survive as a country. On the other hand, an article entitled ‘What Does It Mean to Be an “American”?’ by Michael Walzer argues that America does not need a common identity.…
Immigration has always been a part of American culture, in fact, it is the basis of how our country was formed. Immigration, both legal and illegal, has become a key focal point in today’s society- especially with presidential elections looming in the near future. In a collection of essays titled “Reinventing the Melting Pot: The New Immigrant and What It Means to Be American,” Jamar Jacoby has a piece titled “The New Immigrants and the Issue of Assimilation” published in 2004. In her piece she creates an argument that although beneficial to our country, immigration has a pessimistic aura. She argues that immigrants from developing countries are entering the United States where many will be forced to spend their lives at the bottom of the economy, and where their assimilation feels forced.…
Growing Tensions: Assimilation Within Modernity Much of American history glosses over the Indian experience; the European notion that indigenous peoples were inferior and “savage” reinforced their justification for years of conquest, killing, and destruction. The stories of two native boys reflect the pain of their ceaseless struggle and highlight the repressed suffering felt as they tried to progress in society, simultaneously inching further from their history. In his short story, and then I went to school, author Joe Suina is able to pinpoint the tension native millennials feel when they must give up parts of their culture to grow up. This pressure, to adopt more “whiteness,” was increasingly felt by Suina through his formative years as he attended traditional schools and was exposed to Western ideology. Comparatively, in Sherman Alexie’s, I Hated Tonto--Still Do, the native experience is better understood as it relates to the usage of stereotypes and generalizations in the media.…
Assimilation is inevitable and has been taking place since the 18th century. Native Americans were forcefully assimilated into American culture and society. Today, many foreign groups of individuals are integrated into American society. Many individuals label America as a “melting pot;” however, the nation cannot be given this “nickname” because when people assimilate into American culture, they must abandon their own cultural customs and conform entirely to their “new” society rather than cherishing them. An extremely controversial idea is whether this Americanization is destructive or beneficial.…
Speculating about causes can be interesting assignments to complete. This type of essay demands a structured format and thinking process. The essay I choose to write about, “Hispanic Pride vs. American Assimilation” by Stephanie Cox talks about an issue that is growing among Hispanic immigrants to choose not to learn English. Cox wants to learn and know more about the subject before she judges the decision. Why are they not making an effort to learn to speak English like all other immigrants do?…
Richard Rodriquez describes assimilation as a process by which a person apart of one culture adopts and familiarizes to the customs of another culture. His position on the subject of assimilation is more or less neutral. Rodriquez acknowledges assimilation to a degree but does not prefer the labeling that results with assimilation. “I am in favor of assimilation. I am not in favor of assimilation.…
Assimilation Viewed Differently In the article “‘Blackicans’ and Other Reinvented Americans” Richard Rodriguez defines assimilation as something that happens when a person comes into a group, and becomes more like that group. Rodriguez is for and against assimilation he states “i am in favor of assimilation. i am not in favor of assimilation. i recognize assimilation”, he sees it as something that is inevitable(91).…
Following their first contact with Europeans, Native Americans have enduringly opposed area infringement and constrained cultural assimilation. As the nineteenth and twentieth hundreds of years advanced, Native Americans started to request only treatment by the U.S. government and appreciation for the rights and land ensured to them by…
Assimilation and Retroculturation When people talk about assimilation, they think about a cultural issue and identity problems. Identities and culture are easily changed and replaced. However, as the society develops, more immigrants not only fit into another cultural assimilation but also have interest in retroculturation. Because of economics and social factors, people may lose their identities to have a better future. The essay “Leave Your Name at the Border” written by Manuel Munoz, talks about the anglicization of Latino names in American culture.…
This is just one example of using the ‘melting pot’ theory. In America, there are interracial marriages and children in which situations such as my own are created through. Mixed races and the ‘melting pot’ concept are just other examples of what makes a person an American. Finally, a person is truly an American through their ability to decide for themselves and the allowance of choosing of opposing mindsets. In America, the freedom of opinion, and the freedom of speech are some of many rights in which citizens enjoy.…
Everybody has something they identify by, and to many people this is what defines one 's culture. A person culture is all the little things that they do and believe in, often without thinking about it. Cultural development can occur at a young age, where values are taught and instilled by a child 's parents or other authoritative figures. This learned behavior can lead to a life of firm belief in what they were taught. While diversity can be a great thing for a society, it can also be a hinderance.…
Assimilation means multiple groups become mixed by obtaining each other’s social and psychological characteristics, such as how waves of immigrants have been assimilated into the American culture. Richard Rodriguez, the writer of “Blaxican’s and Other Reinvented Americans” is telling the readers about mixing race in America and belongings of immigration. Cultural assimilation in Rodriguez’s view is the processes by groups of cultures that comes from different countries and speak different languages. Rodriguez points out that assimilation happened naturally over time.…
As the American industries continued to grow, many of the Native Americans were living on the Federal reservations. Native Americans continue to have hopes to retain their traditional ways of life. However, Congress considered educating this society into what was called assimilation. The goal was to advance Christianity, educate their children and change the entire Native culture into the more dominant society which was the Europeans.…
America is a free country and allows us all to be able to express our character traits in any way we wish. In addition to all of the previous examples, if we are all made “equal” and “the same” then the world…
The United States has so many different cultures and to coexist with each other there has to be an understanding of the variation of people. Another important example is how in other countries they must know more than one language to graduate high school, however, in the United States immigrants have to learn English to function within our society. Immigrants will mostly populate the United States in the future, so why does our school systems not require a second language? This problem is occurring because we haven 't had progress with really understanding how diverse America is. A lot of the places in the south still have the same beliefs they did for years because of the ideals their families grew up with for generations.…