Cross-Cultural Understanding

ETHNIC AND RACIAL DIVERSITY IN THE UNITED STATES

Melting Pot or Salad Bowl

As the material that was discussed, American has many cultures which are brought by the immigrant. The process by which theme values is called assimilation. Some of people describe that United States is a melting pot. However, others are claim that United Stated as salad bowl, where the various groups have remained somewhat distinct and different from another, creating a richly diverse country. Since 1776, racial and ethnic assimilation has taken place in the United States. Many groups are really bicultural. In Florida and southwest, Spanish and Latin American settlements were established centuries before the thirteen colonies joined together to form the united states in the late 1700s. Therefore, many Hispanic, or Latinos, have taken a special pride in maintaining their cultural traditions and the use of the Spanish language. Generally speaking, over the years whites from different national and religions have been assimilated into the larger American culture with some exceptions.

The Establishment of the Dominant Culture

In 1790 the first census of the new nation was conducted. The result of the first census is there are 4 million people ad most of them are whites. It was the white population that had the greater numbers, the money, and the political power in the new nation. At the time of the American Revolution, Americans are sometimes referred to as “WASPs” (white Anglo-Saxon Protestants). Their characteristic became the standard for judging other groups. The dominant American culture that grew out of the nation’s early history, then, was English-speaking, western European, protestant, and middle-class in character.it was this dominant culture that established what became the traditional culture that established what became the traditional values described by Tocqueville in the early 1830s.

The Assimilation of Non-Protestant and Non-Western European

As the case in many culture, the dominant majority determined the extended of the group’s accepted, those with significantly different characteristics tended to be viewed as a threat to traditional American values and way of life. This was particularly true of the immigrants who arrived by the million during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Most of them came from poverty-stricken nations of southern and eastern Europe. They spoke languages other than English, and large numbers of them were Catholics or Jews. Americans were afraid that the immigrants were so accustomed to lives of poverty and dependence that they would not understand the American values.

The African-American Experience

The process of assimilation in the United States has been much more successful for white ethnic groups then nonwhite ethnic groups. The nonwhite ethnic group have had difficulty in becoming assimilated into the larger culture. The enslavement of African in the United States was a complete contradiction of such traditional basic American values as freedom and equality of opportunity. Abraham Lincoln was able to become president of the United States by appealing to both the white idealist who saw slavery as an injustice to African Americans and to the larger numbers of northern whites who saw slavery as a threat to themselves. Lincoln believed that basic ideals such as freedom and equality of opportunity had to apply to all people, black and white. Or they would not last as basic American values.

The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s And 1960s

In 1954 public school did not provide equal educational opportunities for black Americans and were therefore illegal. Therefore, the black decided to try to end racial segregation in all areas of American life. Martin Luther King led thousands people in nonviolent marches and demonstration against segregation and other forms of racial discrimination. The goal of the King was to bring about greater assimilation of black people into the larger American culture.

An American Paradox

The civil right movement gave the benefits not only African American, but all minorities in the United States—American Indian, Hispanic, and Asians. At that time, racial discrimination was for bidden by law. The civil rights also advanced the rights of women, and these laws have reinforced the ideal of equality of opportunity for all Americans. However, there is a paradox in the United States’ diversity.  Most young Americans say they would have no problem being friends with or even marrying someone from a different race or ethnic background. On the other hand, races and ethnic groups still tend to live in segregated communities.

A Universal Nation

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, millions of immigrants came from eastern and southern Europe, bringing cultural traditions perceived by the dominant culture as quite different. By the 1920s, Americans had decided that it was time to close the borders to mass immigration. In 1965, the United States made important change in its immigration laws. As the result, the United States now takes in large numbers of new immigrants who are nonwhite and non-European. Perhaps the United States will be described not as a “melting pot” or “salad bowl,” but as a “mosaic”. E pluribus unum— the motto of the United States from its beginning-- means “one composed of many.” Out of many one.