Melting Pot Essays (Examples)

Towards the second half of the 18th century, it became more difficult for the Dutch children to obtain an education in Dutch language, and gradually conversion to the Anglican faith increased amongst all non-English groups, including the French. By placing sanctions on Dutch language schools, the English authorities successfully steered Dutch children to English schools. Once, Dutch had been the language at home and within church, but no more. The French Huguenots as well had a thriving community, with their own religious and social institutions, and religion was an equally important force as they too created their own churches early on. They had fled France to escape persecution and were eager to embrace their religious freedom at first. But around the time the Dutch began to lose their language and schools, the French also became more Anglicized and attended English, rather than French institutions of worship.

It must not be…

One example is found in the lines, "Mr. Scott the retired plumber, and his plump midwestern wife, considered moving home back home where white and black got along and stayed where they belonged." The implications of this, though not surprising for the times, are still saddening to think of. Mr. Scott thought of moving back to a place where races were separated because that is where they got along with each other. This means that whites and blacks were not getting along with each other in Queens where there was no separation. Despite the amount of negativity surrounding Queens in the 1960's, there was an uplifting aspect to it all. A sense of community is always an extremely comforting thing and it seems as if Queens had this in its possession. As part of a melting pot, everyone has to stick together in order to standup against the oppression they…

Myth of the melting pot is inherently flawed. Amalgamated in theory, the cultural and ethnic fabric of the United States was developed not by the theoretical claim of mass immigration. Unfortunately, the development of the melting pot is a euphemism to distort the truth and ostensibly shield the fact of slavery, kidnapping, and rape to which the development of the nation rings true. Therefore, is the melting pot a cover to distort the true nature of a new social working class that is destined to be an enslaved working class to the aristocracy?

Israel Zangwill's mockery of the Melting Pot was a function of the 1908 drama to which he parodies the melting pot myth using characterization and symbolism to define just how the misconception of the melting pot is a ridiculous mistruth that is designed to ostensibly bring in the most qualified workers to the country for labor exploitation.…

Slaves' newly acquired freedom, Booker T. Washington's teachings, and the Horatio Alger model, which asserted that the individual molds his own destiny, influenced this form of personalized music. According to historian Lawrence Levine, "there was a direct relationship between the national ideological emphasis upon the individual, the popularity of Booker T. Washington's teachings, and the rise of the blues. Psychologically, socially, and economically, Negroes were being acculturated in a way that would have been impossible during slavery, and it is hardly surprising that their secular music reflected this as much as their religious music did." (Levine, Lawrence W., Black Culture and Black Consciousness) as a consequence, it was the emphasis on the individual that influenced the blues personalized form of song" (McElrath). Blues music opens doors for other music to emerge from African-Americans such as rap and hip-hop. With that, the African-American culture has greatly impacted history through music. Even…

A further stereotype about Asians that cannot be ignored is that regarding the sexuality of the Asian female. "Asian Pacific women have generally been perceived by Hollywood with a mixture of fascination, fear, and contempt....If we are 'good' we are childlike, submissive, silent, and eager for sex or else we are tragic victim types. And if we are not silent, suffering doormats, we are demonized dragon ladies -- cunning, deceitful, sexual provocateurs." (Hagedorn) the pornography industry is highly populated with Asian women fulfilling the male desire for sexual stereotypes. Japanese school girls in short skirts with lollipops and repressed sexual needs are a popular fetish. The subservient Geisha wife in kimonos, pale make-up, and most importantly donning a subservient, unthreatening, submissive sexual attitude is another. Look again and one is certain to find the "dragon lady" as mentioned above: the over-sexed, wild, uninhibited Asian girl looking to please as many…

Melting Pot

The United States has not moved from the "melting pot" to the "salad bowl." Those who suggest that this is the case are entirely unaware of the nation's history, which shows that every new generation of immigrants brings its own language, culture and traditions. It is only over the passage of time that their children and grandchildren adopt the norms, language and common culture of the nation. Evidence from the past shows that this has always been the case. It is only because people see the contemporary period as somehow unique because they are experiencing it, and past starts to blur once we move past a generation or two that anyone would think of the past and present differently. This paper will show that the melting pot paradigm existed in past generations, and that the patterns of settlement and cultural assimilation are basically the same today as they…

United States of America has attracted many people from different corners of the world in search of their "American dream." People come to America in hopes of attaining freedom, earning a living and living in way that they have always wanted to. The earliest immigrants to America were 100 English Colonists who were known as the Mayflower Pilgrims. This set of persons was looking for religious freedom on when they migrated to North America. This basically set the trend of immigration and ever since then America is the destination majority of the immigrants opt for. According to statistics from migration policy, nearly one quarter of the 70.9 million children under the ages of seventeen had one immigrant parent.

Seeing how the statistics clearly show the inflow on immigrants into the country, there has been quite some debate whether America is a melting pot or a salad bowl. It is true…

Playwright Israel Zangwill

Is United States of America in the second decade of 21st century a melting pot -- the kind of melting pot that was envisaged by Israel Zangwill close to 104 years ago? The answer is an overwhelming no. Today more than ever there is no one idea of Americanness or American culture that is acceptable across the board. Most of this is attributable to the differences in the immigration patterns as they existed in 1908 and today. In 1908 most of the immigrants were of European background with a European heritage. Over a generation or two, these immigrants groups assimilated and integrated fully into American society as Americans. One notable exception was of course the African-American experience.

Latter half of the 20th century however saw migration from areas that were as diverse as China, Vietnam, the Indian subcontinent and the Arab world. These migrants have brought their…

Most Israelis do not desire assimilation into a common whole, given that they hold the other components of their identity equally dear as their Jewish heritage and their Israeli citizenship. A Russian Jew may have more in common with fellow Russians than an Ethiopian Jew and an Israeli may be an atheist yet a member of a religious state.

Does an Israel national identity still exist, asks Yehoshua? He does not ask this question of the Palestinian nationals, who clearly see themselves as apart from Israeli society, both legally and in terms of how they profess their own citizenship and nationhood. However, even for Jews, Israel proposes an interesting question of what constitutes a nation. Israel gives refuge and citizenship to every Jew, no matter where he or she may hail from, but the state of Israel also has civic institutions that are limited to professed nationals, some of whom…

It cannot be denied that NCLB largely tests students on standardized measures that value verbal fluency above all else (interestingly, competency in a foreign language is not required in NCLB) bilingual students are shown in a poor light, and guidance towards specific prescriptive techniques to suit the individual student's cultural needs, level of fluency, and family situation is not provided by NCLB. NCLB encourages teaching students how to pass a test rather than fosters the type of skills they need to truly 'own' their learning at worst, or at best, by excludes students from school performance results, which may result in a lack of funding for ESL programs, as opposed to programs that really 'count' towards the magic numbers required to meet district standards.

The anthology questions the fundamental assumption that cultural assimilation is a necessary marker of progress in the American school system. The one potential advantage, albeit a…

Huckleberry Finn is the closest we have to a national hero. We trust the story of a boy with no home and who is restless as the river -- The genius of America is that it permits children to leave home; it permits us to be different from our parents. But the sadness, the loneliness, of America is clear too.

What is odriguez telling us about a central feature of the American Character, and about tensions within our core values? What reasons, what causes, might contribute to this national tendency? Which authors and/or other course materials support your ideas?

There is a tension within the American character. On the one hand, we pride ourselves so our individuality. On the other, we seek to conform, fit in, be a part of the 'melting pot'; but we are forever lonely.

Individualism has been an intrinsic part of the American myth. It is…

A black woman walking up to the counter at Macy's will be a customer, not an American-American customer; a Latino buying a car at a used car lot in Memphis won't be a Mexican-American he will be a customer. That's how it should be.

THREE: Why is the focus so different between male authors and female authors? For the same reason that men see the world from a very different lens than women see the world. Naomi Wolf has a very good perspective on why there is such a dramatic difference between what men write about and what women write about, and I agree with her wholeheartedly. There were archaic yet potent attitudes toward women a century ago, Wolf explains, in which "normal female activity, especially the kind that would lead women into power, was classified as ugly and sick." In fact, there were whispers that if a woman engaged…

For instance, multiculturalism is the official policy of Australia, but New Zealand insists on a bicultural stance. This is quite backwards and must be rectified. Multiculturalism is a theory (although it is vague) about the bases and groundwork of a culture rather than a practice which subsumes cultural thought processes. Multiculturalism was redefined by Said's "Orientalism" as well.

Looked at broadly, the term is often used to describe societies (especially nations) which have many distinct cultural groups, usually as a result of immigration. This can engender anxiety about the stability of national identity, yet can also result in cultural exchanges that benefit the cultural groups. Such exchanges range from major accomplishments in literature, art and philosophy to relatively token appreciation of variations in music, dress and new foods.

On a smaller scale, the term can also be used to refer to specific districts in cities where people of different cultures…

I am a 26-year-old male community college student. I live in an Francisco, California, but was born in Korea and lived there until I was 22. I am an international student majoring in the Health ciences. I decided that moving to the United tates and pursuing my educational and career goals would offer me a chance to expand both personal knowledge and gain greater insight into a different cultural experience. Certainly, this has been the case. Not only are customs completely different in the United tates, but communication and expectations are as well. While an Francisco is a major city, and at times crowded, it is nothing like the wall-to-wall experience of people in Asia. Additionally, I know from my studies that America is considered a large "melting pot," but I was certainly never prepared for there to be so many different ethnicities and diverse people all grouped together in…

Elementary School ESL Teacher

Befitting the United States of America's unique status as a cultural melting pot, the nation's educational system has learned to adapt its traditional method of English language instruction to suit students who primarily speak another language at home. The concept of English as Second Language (ESL) learners has emerged during the last few decades to recognize the need for teachers to customize their lesson plans, becoming more inclusive in terms of accessibility to ESL students. In light of the fact that ESL students are far more likely to absorb English during their earliest years, many school districts have elected to integrate ESL instruction within the 1st and 2nd grade levels, in the hope that this proverbial head start will enable the majority of ESL students to effectively utilize English in the educational setting. Recently, I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to observe a 1st…

Undocumented tudents Equity to in-tate Tuition:

Reducing The Barriers

There exist policy ambiguities and variations at federal, state, and institutional levels related to undocumented student access to and success in higher education and this has created problems for these students. This study investigated specific policies and procedures to provide the resources and capital to assist undocumented students as well as reviewed key elements of showing the correlation of these difficulties with ethnic identity in access and equity to higher education that would help eliminate student's frustration. The study also illustrated that there is no accountability system surrounding the success of undocumented student's postsecondary education divide significant structure. Three research questions guided the study; a) Without the fundamental requirements met how will undocumented students achieve their goal to attain a degree, and seek a rewarding career? b) Is it unjust to extradite an illegal alien who has been living a constructive…

What does it mean to be “American” in a country as diverse as the United States?
It has been decades since the Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson-Reed Act) was passed. The law provided for a quota system that led to the slowing down of the rate at which new migrants moved into the United States. Immigration had brought more than 23.5 million people into the United States. Some people argue that the John Reed Act disadvantages some regions of the world while giving preference to others, though not explicitly. One of the regions disadvantaged by the John Reed Act, critics argue, is Southern and Eastern Europe. Critics also argue that the Johnson-Reed Act was one of the reasons Asian migration into the United States slowed down following World War II (Kraut, 2014, p. 707).
The United States enjoys the position of being a land filled with lots of opportunities for…

In years before, America was a collection of Chinese, Germans, Italians, Scots, Croats, etc., all craving freedom. Today, even the simple concept of an English-speaking nation is fading off the continent. In the past, immigrants were taught in English in the public schools. In America today, children are taught in German, Italian, Polish, and 108 other languages and dialects. Most of these schools are funded by 139 million federal dollars. "The linguist's egalitarian attitude toward dialect has evolved into the multicultural notion that dialect as a cultural feature is part of one's identity as a member of that culture."

Due to their ethnic or cultural heterogeneity, multiethnic societies in general are more fragile and have a higher risk of conflicts. In the worst case such conflicts can cause the breakdown of these societies. Recent examples of this were the violent breakdown of Yugoslavia and the peaceful separation of Czechoslovakia. Forced…

istory from 1865 to te present day. To focus te researc, select six subtopics (specific events or developments related to te topic, separated in time); tree from before 1930 and tree from after.

Immigrants

Tere are more tan 50 million immigrants (legal and illegal) and teir U.S.-born cildren (under 18) in te United States as of August 2012. As of te last decade, most immigrants come from te following countries: Honduras (85%), India (74%), Guatemala (73%), Peru (54%), El Salvador (49%), Ecuador (48%), and Cina (43%). Approximately, 28% of tese immigrants are in te country illegally. Rougly alf of Mexican and Central American and one-tird of Sout American immigrants are ere illegally.

Te Center for Immigration Studies (Rigt Side news) finds tat immigration as dramatically increased te population of low-income individuals in te United States, altoug many immigrants, te longer tey live in te country, make significant progress. However, immigrants…

Diversity in the United States

Diversity has contributed to America's culture ever since the country was founded. In the beginning, the country consisted of various immigrant groups who brought their individual beliefs, religious practices, unique craftsmanship and inventiveness from all over the world. The United States was considered a melting pot because of its inherent diversity due to the vast immigrations from all over the world. However, even despite the vast amount of immigration and the concept of the melting pot, the country has always had to struggle to appreciate the advantages that diversity has provided for the country. Inequality and racism has been a persistent issues with the American society.

Today the country is still struggling with similar problems despite the fact that major struggles for equality have manifested. Diversity in the United States today includes many more different types of groups who are still struggling for their acceptance…

S. citizenship (Bloemraad 2002). Given the ongoing need for qualified recruits by the U.S. armed forces, it just makes sense to determine the extent of enlistment in the armed forces by immigrants to identify their personal reasons for doing so. To the extent that these reasons are directly related to their desire to obtain American citizenship rather than a sense of patriotic responsibilities is the extent to which military service may represent a viable alternative to more time-consuming, expensive and complication naturalization procedures. It is important, though, to ensure that these immigrant recruits are provided with accurate information concerning how military service will affect their naturalization status and efforts to secure ultimate citizenship.

Rationale of Study

Military recruiters typically experience increases in enlistments during periods of economic downturn because of limited employment opportunities elsewhere in the private sector. Nevertheless, recruiting adequate numbers of high-quality and motivated service members is more…

ver the past decade, 'culture' has become a common term used when thinking about and describing an organization's internal world, a way of differentiating one organization's personality from another. In fact, many researchers contend that an organization's culture socializes people (Stein, 1985) and that leadership styles are an integral part of the culture of an organization. A culture-specific perspective reflects the view that the occurrence and the effectiveness of certain leadership behaviors (as well as constructs) is likely to be unique to a given culture.

In contrast, leaders in the culture-universal position contend that certain leadership constructs are comparable across cultures and that many universal leadership behaviors do exist. nly recently, based on the review by Bass (House, 1998), has the leadership research community begun to realize that universal and culture-specific leadership behaviors and constructs are not mutually exclusive categories, but can rather coexist in a single culture at the…

Advocacy groups, whether private or government-sponsored, ease transition from home to America but being uprooted poses severe psychological and sociological problems that are not easy to fix.

The United States remains one of the only nations to openly welcome immigrants as a national policy; Canada is another. For centuries the United States has relied on immigrant labor to fuel industry and add nuance to the nation's cultural fabric. The United States is no longer viewed as a melting pot because of the increased pride among immigrants in their native cultures and languages. Balancing assimilation with preservation of culture is still the most difficult task for immigrants, many of whom hope for a more stable life in the new world while still retaining the values and lifestyles of their ancestors.

Refugees continue to hold a unique social, economic and political status in the United States. As Tumulty notes, the Hmong assimilated…

172). Another man writes of his obvious charms to his female customers at the gift counter in a department store, and how he works the system and gets caught. There is something innocent about all these stories, even though the characters are not all innocent or even in some cases likable. However, just like the theme of the book, they show the melting pot that forms Chicano/a culture, and how so many different people and personalities make up these people. It also shows the view they have of one another, which is not always positive, and indicates again that all these writers are writing about people who are searching for their culture, their voice, and their purpose in a life that pulls them in two directions at once.

Finally, the New Departures section is the hope of the culture in the future. These beautiful works, which read more like fairy…

epublic of Fiji

Multiculturalism and Globalization in the epublic of Fiji

In an increasingly global society, multiculturalism is becoming important for businesses and individuals that want to advance. There is an increasing need to understand and relate to others, and people who are unable or unwilling to do so are finding that they are being left behind in business. They are also finding their growth stunted financially and culturally, because they do not permit themselves to be open to other people and to continue to learn what they can from people who are different from them. While that is unfortunate, how significant multiculturalism is in the life of a particular person can depend greatly on where that person lives and the culture that he or she is exposed to on a daily basis. Some people need to be more multicultural than others, just based on where they reside.

More cities…

Polybius: Historian and Politician

Louis XIV

The histories written by Polybius are considered to be essential from historiographic perspective as it gives detailed and comprehensive picture and understanding of the Hellenistic world. His work on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire are considered to be one of the most important and significant works in the field of classical history.[footnoteRef:1] The aim of this research is to investigate and study the historical settings in which Polybius had penned down his most famous work, the Histories in the lights of broad and diverse academic resources. The analysis would be beneficial in understanding the political and social constraints responsible for influencing his work and furthermore, the opinion of his contemporaries and the reception got from critics when Polybius work was completed. [1: ulloch, A.W., Gruen, E.S., Long, A.A. And Stewart, A. (eds.) (1993) Images and Ideologies: Self-Definition in the Hellenistic World,…

Terrorist Attacks on New York City

Consumer ehavior and Risk

Terrorism and Consumerism in the Melting Pot

How has September 11 Impacted Americans

Economic Impact of terrorism

Outlook for the New York Economy

Examination of the Effects on usiness

Regaining Consumer Confidence

Sampling Procedures

Survey Construction

Survey results

Recommendations for Further Studies

Survey of Consumer Patterns After The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Towers

Survey Results presented Graphically

Store Owner Interviews

The Impact of the Terrorist Attacks on New York City: One Year Later Chapter 1

The attacks on the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001 threatened the American People's sense of security in a way that had not been felt since the attack on Pearl Harbor. To say that the attacks changed the lives of many people would be an understatement. The attacks literally brought the country to a halt for nearly three days. It can…

AFROCENTRIC CURRICULUM FOR K-12 African-American STUDENTS

African-American culture has made enormous contributions to the cultures of the world. The impact is particularly significant in the American context because African-American culture is a major component of what constitutes being American (Asante & Matson, 1991, p. vi).The Recognition of Diversity: The Salad Bowl of the U.S.

Since the middle of the twentieth century, American society has undergone major social transformations, such as changing attitudes towards various ethnic groups and the strengthening of civil rights. Events related to these changes included the civil rights movement, the desegregation of schools, and the decline of the melting-pot ideology, which is the belief of relinquishing one's own cultural heritage and adopting a new American identity. Ethnocentrism, the belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group, is a phenomenon that exists across cultures and is by no means a problem limited to the United States or…

Immigration in America: The Benefits and Costs of a Polarizing Problem

Introduction

As Suarez-Orozco, Rhodes and Milburn (2009) point out, immigrants need “supportive relationships” in order to succeed in the foreign country that they move to (p. 151). However, when that foreign country is determined to address immigration issues—not only illegal immigration but also legal immigration—it can become a difficult problem for both sides of the political aisle. For a nation like the United States, that is especially true. After all, America was founded by immigrants. The early Spanish and French missionaries came in the 16th century seeking converts to Christianity. The Puritans and English followed. The Germans and Italians and Irish and Polish all came to America in the wake of Industrialization. Over time, America was host to so many different populations and groups of people that it was referred to as the melting pot in 1909 (Higgins). However,…

So alike yet distinct did these early writers create, that they are now required reading in British schools (Duquette).

In terms of religion, American culture emulated Britain less than many of the early settler were reactionary against British conservatism. Several of the original 13 Colonies were established by English, Irish, and Scottish settlers who were fleeing religious persecution. By 1787, in fact, the United States became one of the first countries to place a freedom of religion code into law, even if it was only at the Federal level (Gaustad).

Thankfully, America has a taste for more exotic foods and cuisine than the British, but if we think of many of the celebrated Holidays, they either derive from or are part of the British tradition. Thanksgiving, for instance, is now a traditional American holiday evolving from the Pilgrim's plight during the first winter of their landing. Christmas, Easter, and Lent…

Gay rights are also an issue of regular discussion. This sector of society is so marginalized that many states by law do not allow them to marry each other. Instead, they are expected to practice their courting and dating rituals in what is described as a "normal" way. Even religion is used as a basis for this type of discrimination.

Indeed, despite many efforts to the contrary, discrimination is still very much a part of life for those who do not assimilate into mainstream society. This is Baraka's focus of rebellion. According to the author, black authors and artists are to unite against such discrimination by offering the world a culture that is unmarred by other influences. Anything else is the beginning of assimilation and ultimate cultural death, as symbolized by Clay. Indeed, his point is not difficult to understand. Certainly, the assimilation of a gay person into mainstream heterosexual…

S. And formed a country overflowing with thoughts, ways of life and backgrounds. The people arrived and continue to do so for many reasons, but, for all time, to realize one thing -- an improved life for their families. And, they have changed our nation, mostly for the better.

When we ask are we in favor of immigration, how can any one of us say no. For, except the Native Indians, we have all immigrated to this country either directly or via our ancestors who have given up their former lives to come here and proclaim themselves Americans.

Immigration gained more support in 1965 when President Johnson signed into law the Immigration Act of 1965. It changed and enhanced the methods used to allow immigrants to be admitted to the U.S. And it allowed more individuals from third world countries to come to America. This included Asian populations, which had…

This represented a sharp turn in public beliefs, and it represented a new type of America that no longer welcomed immigrants with open arms, and that has continued unchecked to the present day.

This shift in public thought and government legislation resulted in the first immigration law to exclude immigrants because of their race and class, and laws continued to tighten until after World War II ended in 1945. Potential immigrants were screened for health problems, but they were also interviewed, tracked, and monitored, something new to immigrants in the country. They began being treated as if they were second-class citizens, and they started settling in specific areas of a city or town, and keeping to themselves, attempting to hold on to their culture and way of life for as long as possible (Lee). This regulation resulted in many more laws governing who could immigrate and why, and led to…

Both Tayo and Crowe begin their journeys wandering between two worlds. Both are aware of their wandering and are constantly searching for an identity that will allow them to find the world and identity in which they are most suitable for inclusion. Similarly, both Crowe and Tayo experience a traumatic event that leaves them haunted not only by their pasts, but also guilty about their own actions in the past and sure that these actions have caused others pain. Additionally, these hauntings result in both Tayo and Crowe pushing away the ones they love. For Crowe it is his wife and for Tayo, his family. The similarities between the characters of Tayo and Crowe, therefore, suggest the truth of Saez and insbro's claims. Ethnic writers Shyamalan and Silko certainly employ a common theme of exclusion and inclusion, a theme that is encompassed by the larger theme of the presence of…

First, an individual must have a secure, local identity, and only then he or she can move out into the wider community and make a contribution. This is the importance of local affiliation -- it gives am emotional security to individuals, and enables them to feel recognized for who they 'truly' are as people.

This is also why it is critical that local and nationalist organization are not be shunned or feared, despite the rhetoric of 'American values,' and that we are all 'the same.' We cannot do away with community, and the common, human, personal need for local, regional, and national ties. Rather these local organizations should be appreciated for the gifts they give to their participants, and to the larger world. The danger of a false cosmopolitanism is that it can become another word for the melting pot, or the shaking off of any sense of heritage or…

176) it is also interesting that the legitimate first response to the dissolution of prohibition was to officially tax it and therefore gain legitimate revenue from a vice. It would not surprise any historian if the idea to tax vice's such as alcohol, which even today the government makes a great deal of money doing, was not born of the substantial success the early mafia made of making money from its illegal production, sale and distribution.

The Irish Mafia:

The Irish Mafia, though usually not thought of as the quintessential mafia "family" were no less influential in some areas that the Italian mafia, one reason for this had to do with the sheer numbers of Irish immigrants to the country following the Potato Famine 1847-1849, and the essential disenfranchisement they felt when they arrived. Having just lived through one of the most grueling of all events, likely to have lost…

They needed to pass a medical exam, a test on their language skill and many others. Among the people who were turned away without exception were those deemed mentally deficient, admitted or suspected revolutionaries, and those who did not pay for their own passage (Anderson 28-29). In short, many immigrants felt that they were being inspected, manhandled, mistreated, and dealt with in a manner more befitting of animals than human beings.

The quota system that made this sort of treatment possible was eventually overturned in 1965. "Following the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965, which ended the National Origins System, a new wave of immigration began. Since 1970, more than three-quarters of legal immigrants have come from developing nations in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia." (Torr 71). This has often been regarded as the third wave of United States Immigration. This act sought to base whether or not…

Sociology

Cultural Assimilation and Differentiation in the Experience of Alfred Cruz, Filipino immigrant

American society is best known for its unique characteristic of being a "melting pot" of various cultures in the world, be these cultures Eastern or Western in their orientation. Its role as an economic and political superpower throughout history, especially in the 20th century, wherein immigrants during the First and Second World Wars have been "adopted" by the United States and given a chance to live the American life, popularly termed as the "American dream."

Apart from the world wars, the seemingly prosperous image of American society to countries all over the world that are experiencing either socio-political or economic strife is an enticement for people to aspire to live in the U.S., and be able to realize their dreams as individuals. That is why immigrating in the U.S. has become a common occurrence, and at present,…

(Davis, 2001) That number is sure to have risen dramatically since Davis did her research.

The debates surrounding both the efficacy and the morality of racial profiling have created a lot of disagreement from many communities of color. Kabzuag Vaj is an organizer with the Asian Freedom Project in Madison, Wisconsin. The Asian Freedom Project has garnered hundreds of accounts of racial profiling of Southeast Asian youth over the past year. (Davis, 2001)

"Talking to the mainstream about racial profiling is hard," says Vaj. "The excuse people give us is extreme times demand extreme measures, whatever is necessary to catch the terrorists." (Davis, 2001) Organizers at People United for a etter Oakland (PUELO) also face similar concerns. They understand that although they are on all levels a multiracial organization, their campaign against racial profiling and police misconduct is simply inadequate to address the current political and sociological situation. "The fact…

Surviving Immigration: The Role of Agencies

In establishing themselves in America, immigrants were subject to conditions to which they were forced to adjust without any control, such as places of habitation and adapting to American laws. However, immigrants also had some degree of agency that allowed them to take control of their lives. This paper describes three examples of individual or communal agency that were important for the immigrants in building their lives in America.

From 1892 to 1954, more than 12 million immigrants came to the United States (rown Foundation, 2000). The early 1900s was the period that brought in the most immigrants. Hospital buildings, dormitories, disease wards and kitchens were all quickly built between 1900 and 1915 in a constant struggle to meet this enormous influx of people.

During the early 1900s, Americans, who were predominately white, selected only those whom they believed fit to live in this…

Angels in America

ony Kushner's Angels in America won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for sensitively handling of some serious issues concerning America today. In this paper, we shall only be focusing on the first play Millennium Approaches where the author talks about Reagan era and hostility towards gay movement shown by Reagan administration when AIDS epidemic engulfed the country.

Ronald Reagan administration has been criticized for its hostile attitude towards gay movement and cause. he administration was highly conservative and close-minded and is held largely responsible for generating homophobia in the country. he President himself refused to discuss the issue until 1987 when 20,000 people died in the U.S. due to AIDS epidemic. In such a society, everyone who appeared different was ridiculed, attacked, harassed and hated. Jews, homosexuals, AIDS-infected patients, almost everyone who was not part of the mainstream culture and society is considered non-human. hey are given an…

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem. Specifically it will discuss the novel's setting, inhabitants, and neighborhoods, and how they portray a truly "motherless" community. In "Motherless Brooklyn," author Lethem creates an atmosphere that any reader can quickly discover. The flavor and very essence of Brooklyn are captured in a way that makes the reader more sympathetic to the people and places of the community, and how Brooklyn has evolved over the years from neighborhood to one of the most important New York boroughs. Brooklyn will always be different, and no mother will ever claim the community for her own.

Lethem creates a seemingly new world in his novel, especially if the reader is not familiar with Brooklyn. He calls it "motherless" for quite a number of reasons. Some readers may feel that title refers to the four "Minna Men" detectives who are all orphans who grew up in the St. Vincent's…

It also makes note of the fact that the census of 2000 marked the first time that it was possible for a respondent to choose more than one race. This article is particularly interesting as it speculates on a future when it is no longer possible to separate people into minorities on the basis of race, simply because of cross culturalism.

an Juan, E. "Asian-American melting pot" Asia Times. June 14, 2005. This short article states there is an automatic prejudice against Asians within the United tates, laughing at the idea of any kind of homogeneity of the Asian-Americans and referring to both near and far history in which Asians have been discriminated against in the United tates. The author deals with the stereotype of Asians as the "model minority" and decries the change of something once considered to be exotic into a "plain American pie" the author is strong…

Margaret Mead and Coming of Age in Samoa

Different aspects of culture define people over a period of time. It is only human nature that we see differences in culture and ourselves when thrown into a melting pot, a mix of multi-cultures in which we live today. One can only imagine what it must have been like for Margaret Mead as she traveled half way around the world in search of understanding aspects of other cultures, very foreign from our own. In this respect, she was a trail blazer, breaking with convention and expectation of her own role in society by becoming an anthropologist. It is the quest of the anthropologist to observe, discover culture and document aspects of that culture that are unique. ith this mind, it is important for one to have a working definition of culture, in order for one to explore rituals embedded within society that…

The increased proximity and corresponding increased racial tension between the two groups are intensified because of the dynamics of globalization that operates American society and economy. Globalization induces economic growth through increased businesses in the U.S., and the American economy responds to this increase in businesses by employing more manpower to accomplish daily business tasks and operations. Because of the reality that human labor costs among ethnic minorities are relatively lower than the wages of the privileged white Americans, more and more members of the ethnic minorities are employed. Thus, white Americans and the minorities are "joined together" by economic forces: the white Americans because of their economic privileges, and the ethnic minorities because of their economic need to survive and live the American dream of becoming economically prosperous in the country.

In line with Maharidge's arguments, Andrew Barlow also explicated on the increased racism and tension that white Americans…

Brazilian Culture

Brazil's culture is a fascinating blend of European, African and Amerindian influences. Portuguese settlers brought with them strong influences in religion, later Europeans such as Italians and Germans arrived bringing 20th century ideas about government, Africans brought drums and dance, and Amerindian influences can be found in a number of spheres. Over the course of the past five hundred years, these influences have been shaped by the vast and varied landscape, the climate and political events. Even though different parts of the country developed almost in isolation from one another due to geographic distance, some elements of culture bind all Brazilians. Carnival is one of those. The combination in dance, music, costume and religion into a single event is one of the defining elements of Brazilian culture. At once, it takes deep roots and social significance, while maintaining a lighter popular side that pays only superficial homage to…

American Ethnic Literature

Analyzing the Nature of American Ethnic Literature

America has a distinct history: like ancient ome, its inhabitants have come from all over and few of them can truly say to be natives of the place. This fact alone makes American Literature a compelling label: what makes American Literature American? This paper will attempt to answer the question by showing how many ethnicities have converged in one nation allowing various writers with different ethnic, social, political, economical, and social perspectives to define and/or illustrate a time and place.

As Morris Dickstein states, "When America was merely a remote province of world culture, its educated elites were Anglophile, Francophile, or broadly cosmopolitan. Education was grounded in classical learning, a respect for the ancients over the moderns, and a deeply ingrained respect for old Europe's artistic heritage" (p. 155). This type of background made American letters similar to European. What…

Diana Eck's new book about religion, entitled, "A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Now ecome the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation" talks about the growing diversity in religious affiliations in America especially among its immigrants and native people. Eck provides her readers a new issue that is controversial politically, sociologically, and personally among America's citizens. The book was released before the September 11, 2001 bombings at the World Trade Center in New York City, USA, but its release became even more important, since Eck discusses the important issue that played in the said terrorist attacks, that is, the issue of religious and cultural diversity. This paper will discuss and analyze whether "religious pluralism," a term used by Diana Eck in her book so many times, a term used to describe America's 'melting pot' of various Western and Eastern religions, serves as a unifying factor to the Americans…

Joe and Harper in Tony Kushner's 'gay fantasia' of a play entitled "Angels in America" can be seen as parallel to the relationship of Lewis and Prior, despite both relationships' apparent dissimilarities. In both relationships, the two main characters exist in an unbalanced partnership, riddled with inequities. Only by suffering the traumas of a closeted gay relationship and the horror of AIDS does the nature of these essentially unequal and unfulfilling relationships become 'outed' within the structure of the play.

The relationship between Joe and Harper is perhaps the most obviously unbalanced relationship of the two. Joe is a Mormon lawyer, in the service of the homophobic, closeted gay McCarthy witch hunter Roy Cohn. Joe has moved to New York City because of his career, taking his wife Harper with him. However, Joe does not really love Harper. As he tells her towards the play's end when he leaves her,…

German immigration to the United States prior to 1877. Specifically, it will discuss to what extent and how did they influence life in the U.S.A. German immigrants to the United States influenced thought and culture in a variety of ways, but they have nearly always managed to hold on to their own culture while adapting to their surroundings.

While America has always been a melting pot of different cultures blending to form a whole, Germans have always managed to blend into society while nevertheless retaining their own special culture and society. The Germans are one of the few races to hang on to their culture so powerfully, while still successfully merging with U.S. culture. One of the most important ways they held on to their culture was by continuing to speak German, especially in the homes, and raising their children to also speak the native language. They also tended to…

Immigration and Immigrants

Applied Problem/Social Issue:

This paper discusses identity theory as a concept in sociological theory as related to immigration and immigrants. Should the United States continue to allow Immigrants to enter the U.S. seeking refuge and citizenship, when our nations states are already overly populated? Should Immigrants be allowed to enter the U.S. And work when there are hundreds of citizens and native-born Americans already unemployed and desperately searching for work? These are but a couple of questions that add to the conflicting messages immigrants and their children face in modern day society. They add to the increasingly complex problem of finding identity in a torn nation.

The United States is world known for its ethnic diversity, due in part to the immigration allowed over several years. Many people however, fail to find a means to foster inter-racial and ethnic identities, thus causing much conflict and a lack…

Kelly, N, and M. Trebilcock. The Making of the Mosaic: A History of Canadian mmigration Policy. University of Toronto Press, 1998.

One of the greatest initial strengths of the work by N. Kelly and M. Trebilcock called The Making of the Mosaic: A History of Canadian mmigration Policy, is the title of the book itself. Although this may sound like an attempt to damn a work with faint praise, in actuality the strength of the work is reflected in both author's choice of its title. The title stresses how a metaphorical attitude of a nation in shaping its immigration policy can formulate the way regional and ethnic diversity in the nation is viewed by the nation's population and political apparatus over historical time.

The most familiar metaphor for a multi-ethnic and a diverse country founded upon positive principles of immigration is the metaphor of the melting pot. This is the…

Illegal and often even legal immigrants are all too often looked upon in the these days as parasites with dark skin, too many children and no desire to learn English, as people who will come and take away jobs from "real" Americans. Such stereotypes about immigrants have been responsible for anti-immigration passed recently, such as the passage in California of Proposition 187, which was based on the assumption that illegal immigrants are an overall drawn on the economy, not only taking away jobs from U.S. citizens gut drawing from the public coffers more in social services than they return in the form of taxes paid. However, this has been found not to be the case (Scheer, 2000, p. B5). However, even if immigrants did cost the country a substantial amount in terms of social services, which they do not, they would still make immeasurable contributions to our culture, giving a…

History of the Pacific Northwest [...] how representative the lives of Mary Arkwright Hutton, Annie Pike Greenwood, and Teiko Tomita were considering the racial and class tensions of the twentieth century. ace and class have been important influences throughout the Pacific Northwest's long history. In fact, some of the most racist laws in America were in effect in the Pacific Northwest at the beginning of the twentieth century. ace and class created dissent in the population, but ultimately forged a stronger sense of area and belonging to the diverse cultural minorities that make up the area today.

Mary Arkwright Hutton was a union supporter and organizer early in the history of the area. She worked in the mining towns of Idaho, and became an avid union supporter and organizer of the men who labored in the mines. Many politicians and mine owners found her abrasive and difficult, but the men…

industrialization Civil War influenced U.S. society

Industrialization after the Civil War paved the way for modernizing the United States and giving it the status that it enjoyed for the majority of the 21st century -- that of a global superpower. It did so through the development of a robust economy built on manufacturing, which gave it both political and social clout throughout the world.

Three Major Aspects of Industrialization during 1865-1920

The continued development and completion of the railroad.

The emergence of the factory system and manufacturing industries (particularly steel).

Five Specific Groups Affected by Industrialization

Chinese Immigrants

These workers were brought on to assist with the completion of the railroad.

Their perceived debauchery led to the Exclusion Act of 1882 (Harvard, 2014).

B. African-Americans

These peoples migrated from the South to the North due to the manufacturing industries.

They were frequently used as strike breakers in labor disputes.

C.…

AMERICA: Frederick Turner vs. Oscar Handlin

America through the lens of Turner was essentially a world that grew out of the frontier. Its ideals, hopes, dreams, and government were fashioned by the frontier -- by the "Wild West" so to speak. Turner's vision of America was one in which the country's character grew up organically out of the pioneer spirit. It had nothing to do with England or Puritanism or the Magna Carta or the Enlightenment. It had everything to do with the rough and ready adventurism of men like Daniel Boone and Lewis and Clark. This lens has shaped the way Americans think of themselves, too. They view themselves as expansionists, always pushing the borders to acquire new territory. True, the anti-Imperialists have voiced their objections throughout the years, by Manifest Destiny and New Expansionism are purely Tunerian ideas just taken beyond the frontier. The whole world becomes open…

John Burdick in “The Lost Constituency of Brazil’s Black Movements” questions the narrative that race mixing, or mestizaje, is a solution to the problem of race in Brazil. Burdick states that “in Brazil the social perception of race exists along a continuum that encourages passing toward whiteness, making it difficult to forge a unified nonwhite identity” (139). What Burdick implies is that many Brazilians lack a distinct racial identity because of race mixing. The Black Identity in particular is negligibly felt socially in Brazil, and Burdick’s research indicates as much, with thirty participants claiming “to have used, for most of their lives, one or more of the ‘middle-range’ color terms,” such as moreno, marrom, mulato, mestico or pardo (140). Another 42 participants identified in varying degrees of blackness, using terms like black, very black, or dark. In short, race as an identifier was relatively lacking in Brazil. What this shows…

In this regard, when wage levels fell in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the standard of living for laborers and cottagers in England declined precipitously and they were compelled to use the majority of their cash, garden crops, and milk just to buy bread and clothing (Kulikoff 2000:19). Not surprisingly, many of these workers found it almost impossible in some cases to even survive, even with the entire family - including young children - working as hard as possible (Kulikoff 19).

In some cases, laborers (but not their families) were paid in food and drink as part of their wages and some likely kept fowl or a pig, and cottagers, of course, produced much of their own food; nevertheless, poor landless families ate bread and porridge, on occasion supplemented by milk, ale, cheese, eggs, or cheap meat, a diet that was far removed from the same level enjoyed…

Therefore, today's society in the United States is diverse, which is something a social worker needs to understand and know how to deal with each diverse group. Furthermore, through research, it has been discovered most ethnic groups that live in the United States consist of young people, which means by staying in this country, they grow accustom to their surroundings. Once they have grown accustom to living here, they feel like this is their home to start a life with their own families. This continues the growing number of ethnic groups in this country.

Due to the educational accommodations that schools and college campuses make for students that have ethnic backgrounds, there is not enough prejudice of one group to let a Holocaust to occur in the United Stated. Furthermore, this country believes in freedom of speech to allow one ethnic to be isolated from the rest and condone any…

He stated that, "I mean printed works produced ostensibly to give children spontaneous pleasure and not primarily to teach them, nor solely to make them good, nor to keep them profitably quiet." (Darton 1932/1982:1) So here the quest is for the capture and promotion of children's imagination through stories and fables that please as well as enlighten. There is always the fallout that once a child learns to love to read he or she will read many more things with greater enthusiasm than before.

The children's literature genres developed in Mesopotamia and in Egypt over a roughly 1,500-year period - proverbs, fables, animal stories, debates, myths, instructions (wisdom literature), adventure and magic tales, school stories, hymns and poems - pass down to the Hebrews and the Greeks. The Old Testament owes much to both Mesopotamian and Egyptian literature (Adams 2004:230)

One can see that, as stated previously, children's literature is…