Ethnicity In Cultural Adaptation

Race and Ethnicity in Cultural Adaptation Race and ethnicity in the United States, unlike any other country, carry different implications and consequences because of the way our country is meant to be a place of freedom from persecution for many people who are of all races and ethnicities. To highlight and distinguish the differences between race and ethnicity, there is one important thing to note. They are not being used interchangeably because they are completely different, similar to gender and sex. Race, as defined by Dictionary.com, is commonly defined as a group of people of common ancestry distinguished from other by physical characteristics. While ethnicity is defined as belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural

Earlier on, the Anglo dominate race heavily favored for assimilation of immigrant groups, primarily those being of European descent back then (Poston & Bouvier, 2010). However, the other races were asked to “remain culturally separate” (Poston & Bouvier, 2010, p. 328). But movements during the Woodrow Wilson era pushed towards an assimilation towards “Americanization” (Adams, 1983, p. 111)” (Poston & Bouvier, 2010, p. 328). Again, heavily concentrated towards European immigrants. But others were in favor of cultural pluralism, where other identities and cultures could be preserved. Thus, creating a tension between assimilation and pluralism. The melting pot theory was then thought of as a comprise between the two (Poston & Bouvier, 2010). This created the illusion of many people coming together on the formation of American

336). There is positive and negative momentum. Positive momentum being things such as the “baby boom” era in the United States. This was a direct result from the number of women available during this time to have those children, so this making it a positive population momentum of women. In contrast, a negative population momentum would be as Poston & Bouvier describe it, “a reverse of the U.S. situation” during the baby boom era (2010). This is negative momentum because there are a few women available to have more children, sometimes due to immigration movements.

As we can conclude, immigration of different race and ethnicities presents different effects, positive and negative, to the country impacted. In discussing the United States because of the social effects of immigration and cultural adaptation processes a problem arises in keeping peace in the society by finding the right balance. To understand this dilemma, positive and negative population momentums needs to be qualified in terms of cultural adaptation