Essay on Assimilating into American Culture - 1214 Words

Immigration and assimilation is a divisive topic that has been heavily debated in America ever since we became a country. There are two stories that explore the assimilation issue from different viewpoints’; in Mary Pipher’s story; â€Å"The Beautiful Laughing Sisters – An Arrival Story†; provides the viewpoint of immigrants leaving a hostile home for America. Elizabeth Wong details her journey to break with her culture and become Americanized in, â€Å"The Struggle to be an all American girl.† and (McWhorter, 2010 pp522-529). At debate today is whether immigrants and their families should blend into American culture even if it means breaking with their past. Once cultures intermingle, they are forever changed. American culture was initially†¦show more content†¦In addition, half of her family lived in a dugout instead of a house that caused her to be embarrassed of her heritage. Once she married an Indian man and had children, she embraced her cultural heritage. My sister, who has a dark complexion was working at a nursing home once and was detained by immigration because they thought she was here illegally from Mexico. I wish I could report that racism is in the past and we have all evolved enough to be color-blind. Our American history and attitude towards immigration has been conflicted ever since we formed our nation. Black people were initially brought to America as slaves and were segregated for the greater part of the 20th century. I can remember when desegregation occurred in our schools in Dallas; there was panic and fear among the adults. In the mid 19th century, during the California gold rush many Chinese people came to America to work as cheap labor and provided the needed workforce to build our railroads (Ashabranner, 1993). The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was enacted to regulate immigration and excluded certain classes and races of people who were undesirable as immigrants, prior to this America had no formal immigration policy (Kennedy, 1964). This era in our history is a bit reminiscent of when the Borg encountered the Enterprise and tried to assimilate the crew in Star Trek the Next Generation series; â€Å"( . . . ) Resistance is futile. We wish to improve ourselves. WeS how MoreRelatedGogol s The Namesake Essay1620 Words   |  7 Pagesminorities from immigrant parents are driven subconsciously to conform to new culture and social norms. For foreign born parents and native born children integrating the two cultures they inhabit brings about different obstacles and experiences. In Jhumpa’s â€Å"The Namesake† the protagonist Gogol is a native born American with foreign born parents. The difference with birth location plays an important role in assimilating to a new society in a new geography. The difficulty for parents is the fact thatRead MoreThe Melting Pot Of The United States1037 Words   |  5 Pagesor fused together (Dictionary.com).On the other hand in a nation, a melting pot is a place where a variety of races, cultures, or individuals assimilate into a cohesive whole (Dictionary.com). Which in retrospect do not fall very far from each other in terms of literal definitions. Both simply mean the fusing of different things toge ther, whether that be metals, cheeses, or cultures. Immigrants who have been accepted into this â€Å"Melting Pot† society have found it very difficult to live in a new placeRead MoreCultural Assimilation Should Be Viewed As A Positive Or Negative Experience?1521 Words   |  7 Pagesabsorbed into the dominant culture of a society. The process of assimilating involves taking on the traits of the dominant culture to such a degree that the assimilating group becomes socially indistinguishable from other members of the society.† During this process, ethnic individualities, characteristics, and traits of the minority population can disappear. Unfortunately, this is the opposite of multiculturalism, which stresses the significance of promoting different cultures, ethnicities, and racesRead MoreSociology - Immigration1606 Words   |  7 Pagesorder to work for the status of a citizen while others illegally enter the country and risk being detained and deported. It is estim ated there are approximately 11.7 million illegal immigrants living in the United States today (Preston). While some Americans believe that immigrants take away jobs, hurt the economy, and don’t fit in, I believe immigrants bring more benefits to our country than what meets the eye. Immigrants help boost our country economically and culturally. It may seem that immigrantsRead MoreThe Assimilation Of Cuban Americans882 Words   |  4 PagesQuestion 6: The assimilation of Cuban Americans has come rather slowly due to the discrimination that this group has faced. Like most other immigrating groups, Cubans have seen themselves rejected and discriminated by the dominant group, making them embrace their own culture and straying away from the dominant expectations for several years. In order to maintain their culture, and as an effort to reject discrimination, Cuban Americans have opened various organizations and enclaves that help promoteRead MoreThe Issue Of Immigration Has Been On The Forefront Major Debates1684 Words   |  7 Pagesarises and whether or not immigrants are truly doing so. Since the beginning of this country, immigrants and even natives of the land have been pressured to assimilate to â€Å"American† Culture and to commit to its standards. When a group of people fail to assimilate to these standards, they encounter critics. The Native Americans, who wanted to preserve their traditions and values, had their ch ildren taken from them and sent to boarding schools with the goal to assimilate Native tribes into â€Å"mainstreamRead MoreAnalysis Of Jhumpa Lahiri s Mrs. Sen1080 Words   |  5 Pagesinto her new surroundings. When people focus on their cultural past, they can be prevented from assimilating into their new surroundings. Mrs. Sen’s memories of India and way she chops reveals that she focuses on her cultural past. Every day while babysitting Eliot, â€Å"[Mrs. Sen] chopped things, seated on newspapers on the living room floor† (114). This cooking style is rather strange and non-American. Most developed countries focus on sanitation, and they have enough resources to ensure the sanitationRead MoreTensions Between Mexican And American Cultures1156 Words   |  5 PagesBerglund ENG 245 10 January 2017 â€Å"American†¦But Hyphenated†: Tensions Between Mexican and American Cultures In Pat Mora’s two poems, â€Å"Legal Alien† and â€Å"Immigrants†, she is expressing the crisis of identity from which Mexican Americans suffer. On one hand, Americans view her (and Mexican Americans in general) as â€Å"perhaps exotic, / perhaps inferior, and definitely different† (9-10) while on the other Mexicans view Mexican-Americans as â€Å"alien† (11). Caught in between two cultures, and not being fully acceptedRead MoreIndividualism, Kiss My Ass ( Imilation )923 Words   |  4 Pages Individualism, Kiss My Ass(imilation) Overtime, the issue of assimilation in America has always been present, but overlooked. Although the thought of a country with plans to assimilate different cultures and races may seem insane, the U.S. has been the most successful. Despite the fact that we are one of the few successful assimilated countries, there are inevitable problems that may occur such as pride and judgment. Schlesinger and Serrano both discuss the topic of assimilation, but express differentRead MoreHester Street Film Analysis750 Words   |  3 Pagespractices, and ideas were juxtaposed with the â€Å"New World,† American values. Thus, Hester Street highly endorses the characters’ acceptance with assimilating to American values. Furthermore, the film also showcases the resistance and complications to assimilation as some characters try to maintain their culture. As Jewish immigrants settled in New York, some adopted American values. As a result, they assimilated into the mainstream of American culture. This is the very case of the protagonist Yekyl or as