American Culture In Today's Society

Defining what American culture is today can be somewhat difficult in today’s society. American culture is always fluctuating. The United States has traditionally been referred to as a "melting pot," welcoming people from many different countries, and hoping to find a better means of life. However, others refer it to as a “Salad”; the ingredients are there, but not everything mixes well. America is full of rich culture, but not every person living in America understands cultures besides their own. Society as a whole has trouble acknowledging others culture because they can only reference from what they know from school and the racism, discrimination, and stereotypes they see and hear from others. Most schools don’t have courses nor a curriculum …show more content…
Schools that are only at the first stage is a problem because today’s schools already limit the diversity of different cultural, its experiences, and contributions in all subject areas. Schools that are at stage 1 have all their course materials, which present information in a Eurocentric perspective. Stage 1 is likely to be in schools lacking resources to further diverse student with the knowledge of others and the prospects of the world around them. Furthermore, Gorski advises schools to aim higher than stage 1 as I will next describe Stage 2: “Hero and …show more content…
Some examples include when teachers decorate bulletin boards with pictures of Martin Luther King, Jr., or Rosa Parks, during Black History Month and teaching Black History. According to Gorski, Stage 2 of MCT is where students are learning about "other cultures" focuses on, foods, music, and other cultural items. Unlike Stage 1 there exists diversity in the curriculum by providing materials and knowledge outside the dominant culture. Nevertheless, there exist weaknesses that heavily outweigh the strengths in Stage 2. According to Gorski, by focusing celebratory attention on other cultures outside the context of the rest of the curriculum, the teacher is further defining these groups as "the other." As a result, it fails to address the real experiences of minority groups or other cultures. By focusing on only a few heroic people and their accomplishments, shows that the struggles of minorities as "extra" information to fully understand the diversity of the world. Teaching students of multicultural on during special holidays is understood to justify the lack of effort at more authentic transformative measures. However, in the stage approach trivializes the overall experiences, contributions, struggles, and voices of minority groups, consistent with a Eurocentric, curriculum. Of course,