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Melting pot theory in united states
Social integration theory
Essays on assimilation
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Immigrants and Assimilation into American Society
Several years ago, America was taught to be a 'melting pot,' a place where immigrants of different cultures or races form an integrated society, but now America is more of a 'salad bowl' where instead of forming an incorporated entity the people who make up the bowl are unwilling to unite as one. America started as an immigrant nation and has continued to be so. People all over the world come to America for several reasons. Most people come to America voluntarily, but very few come unwillingly. For whatever reasons they may have for coming they all have to face exposure to American society. When exposed to this 'new' society they choose whether to assimilate or not. Assimilation in any society is complex. Since assimilation is not simple, people will have negative experiences when assimilating into American society.
In American society, learning to speak English properly is a crucial factor in assimilation. People who have decided to come to America have found it rather difficult to assimilate into American society for several reasons. One reason being that learning a new language is or can be considerably difficult depending on your age. This is so because the act of learning a new language such as English, is much more difficult for an elderly person than for one who has not reached adolescence. According to Grognet, for elderly people there are several factors that affect their willingness to learn. Among those factors are, physical health, mental health, cultural expectations, attitude, motivation and finally the ability to acquire the correct diction, and to suitable articulation (Grognet 296-297). For a person who has not reached the prepubescent age, it is...
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...accomplished the assimilation into one race, it consists of people sharing a similar identity. In the words of Richard Rodriguez, ?We are gathered together-but as individuals?we stand together, alone,? thus people will assimilate but as individual ?Americans?.
Bibliography:
1. Grognet, Allene. ?Elderly Refugees and Language Learning.? Hillard, Piro, and
Warner. 295-300.
2. Houston, Jeanne. ?Arrival at Manzanar.? Hillard, Piro, and Warner. 307-314.
3. Lopez, Cynthia. ?Cranderismo: A Healing Art.? Hillard, Piro, and Warner. 334-336.
4. Rodriguez, Richard. ?Does America Still Exist?? Hillard, Piro, and Warner. 183-186.
5. Tan, Amy. ?My Mother?s English.? Hillard, Piro, and Warner. 42-46.
6. Hillard, Judith, Vincent, Piro, and J. Sterling Warner, Eds. Visions Across The Americas. Orlando, Fl: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998.
Mignolo, W. D. (2005). The Idea of Latin America (pp. 1-94). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Assimilation: I feel that through cultural assimilation, I have lost some aspects to the Vietnamese traditional culture. By adapting to the Canadian culture, I have noticed myself and other people replacing most Vietnamese words for English. I tend to speak half and half in a sentence, and this has affected my identity as it makes me question how I will be able to preserve the Vietnamese culture in the future. I have adopted more to the Canadian language that as I grow up, I have become rusty and lost the ability to communicate in Vietnamese. One of the most known sauces to the Asian culture is fish sauce, or in Vietnamese it’s known as nước mắm. I believe that today, one of the controversial issues is how to find a fine line between whether to meet society’s needs or individual’s needs. Social acceptance is a dilemma and I think that because of cultural assimilation it has affected my identity. As a kid, I was very cautious of what food I bring to school because every
States. Everyone had to prove that they were independent, capable, and willing to integrate into the cultural melting pot with its own identity of hard work, grit, and determination, which established and fostered success in American society. However, not everyone who chooses to take the adventure and risk associated with becoming American wishes to share in this identity. Many feel it necessary to shun the American identity and observe it with a level of disdain, disregarding the reasons themselves or previous generations may have immigrated to America for.
Davidson, James W., and Michael B. Stoff. The American Nation. Eaglewood Cliffs: Paramount Communications, 1995.
The 1920s were characterized by some by the term disillusionment. High cultural expectations failed to be met at the end of World War I, which gave rise to what Gertrude Stein referred to as the “lost generation.” Within the 1920s, America was home to conflicting thoughts and ideals. Dissension emerged in the decade following the Great War; differing ideas manifested in cultural conflicts surrounding immigration and Prohibition as Americans attempting to impose their personal beliefs in the mainstream cultural through legal means.
Cultural assimilation is the process by which a person or a group's language and/or culture come to resemble those of another group. The term is used to refer to both individuals and groups, and in the latter case it can refer to either immigrant diasporas or native residents that come to be culturally dominated by another society (Wikipedia). However, this process will be difficult to implement in today’s time in America because many of the citizen are from different cultures and races. Assimilation is a practice that does not encourage cooperation or unity between cultures, assimilation encourages dominance of one culture over another; We cannot progress as a nation by suppressing minority practices and their beliefs but the only way we can achieve world peace is by attempting to understand people differences.
Assimilating can be both negative and positive. A positive aspect of assimilation is that you are trying to fit in and become a part of American culture. You become accustomed to new traditions, values, and morals. However, there is a part of you that does not let go of where you came from. Regardless of what culture you come from you will also hold on to those traditions and incorporate it as part of your new traditions. Assimilation can also be negative in the sense that you may be looked down upon taking part in new American traditions. Your family or culture might view you as “too American”. They might look down upon you for forgetting were you came from and not embracing your culture. Depending on the situation and who you are talking
I believe it is not important at all for America to encourage assimilation to immigrants. I have always learned that America is seen as a mixing pot of culture, at least living in the bay area. That is very important, however I can concede that some things should be encourages such as learning english. I only believe that learning english should be encouraged because it was make communicating between all people in America, However I in no way believe that someone should have to forget their native tongue to learn english. This may be a form of anglo conformity, but I see no logical way for everyone to communicate without having several national languages or separating people into sections based on language.
“America has always welcomed anyone willing to assimilate to its national character.” For those who gracefully fall into american society and globalization this quote by author Nancy Pearcey may seem unassuming and seemingly unambiguous. A true statement in fact for those looking to fully integrate into american society, cut ties with their own cultural delineations, and adopt western ideas. With that said for those looking to hold on to their cultures while in American society or simply live in their society and embrace their own culture it has not always been so easy nor has America been as welcoming. This struggle is both witnessed and described in the novel's Power Politics by internationally acclaimed author Arundhati Roy and The Joy Luck Club by the illustrious author Amy Tan. Although analyzing the topic from different directions and perspective a common theme can be seen being highlighted in both books. That being that American integration and assimilation is not always easy, wanted, or welcomed.
One of the most critical issues confronted by immigrant families and their adolescent children is the acculturation processes that arise when they make the decision to transition to a new country. Therefore, acculturation is a process in which different ethnic groups learn to adapt to other group’s beliefs, language, and behavior patterns. The purpose for this assignment is to examine various evidence-based and model programs designed to change the stress of acculturation for adolescents.
Migrants have faced a significant problem settling or rather adapting to their host countries. Nonetheless, there are different ways they can use to adjust to the host society, for instance, ethnic pluralism, assimilation, and transnationalism. According to the lecture presented by Dr. Tsuda, assimilation is whereby two distinct groups of people from different culture merger to share a common culture, and identity assimilation happens when migrants move to new countries hey have to assimilate with the natives by learning their culture and social life. On the other hand, there is pluralism, which is according to the readings is the opposite of assimilation, whereby a group of people come together and decides to maintain their identity
Since the founding of our nation, the United States has been a melting pot for a growing mass of individuals. Along with the mass growth of the population comes an astonishing sense of diversity and cultural value. Immigrants who come to America are accompanied by their traditional customs, language, values, and beliefs, thus resulting in many individuals who live in a multicultural world. As a result, we see a variety of cultures everywhere, whether it be on the bus, in the super market, or in our schools. However, as more and more immigrants integrate into American society, original cultures and traditions are lost. This process is called acculturation and lends the question of why. Why is culture lost? Why is it difficult to incorporate
The arrival and integration of immigrants in the United States of America was a difficult and punctuated by obstacles. Not all immigrants were welcome; there was a rejection of certain immigrants’ institutes in law by the congress like the Chinese exclusion act of 1882. The integration of the immigrants in the American population was marked by xenophobia and violence such as the Zoot Suite Riots and discrimination and racist legal processes eventually struck down in the Hernandez vs. Texas trial.
In the Middle East, the refugee crisis has sent hundreds of thousands of immigrants all around the world. Immigrants from the refugee crisis, and around the world have turned to Europe as a new place to live. More specifically, they turned to the European Union, or the EU. The EU is comprised of 28 member countries, soon to be 27. This caused many problems. This transition was difficult for Europeans and it caused tensions among them. It has sparked nervousness among EU citizens because of things like possible terrorism. There has also been a lot of racism and hate toward immigrants and overall it has been hard for immigrants and EU citizens to adapt to the change. The EU has done a terrible job handling this crisis and has proven to be the
Burns, Bradford E. Latin America: A Concise Interpretive History. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, 2002.