Cultural Diversity In America Chapter Summaries

Mawi Asgedom, an author, public speaker, and a refugee from Ethiopian origin, in his TEDXGRANTPARK talk, How Immigrants Make America Great (2016), addresses the topic of immigration in the United States of America and argues that immigrants make America “more safer and prosperous” and bring “stronger values” because they are simply living in the nation. He backs up this claim by doing the following: first, he refers to examples on how immigrants make sacrifices to make this country safe; next, he gives staggering statistics on the percentage of immigrants living in America today; last, he provides many cases of companies founded by immigrants that creates thousands of jobs for Americans. Mawi Asgedom, an immigrant himself, wishes to convey to readers the importance of how the “bedrock values” of immigrants, which are generosity and entrepreneurship, make them a “10” and how immigrants make America’s economy better overall. The author’s audience likely consists of those interested in immigration policies as is evident through his references to the immigration statistics and the response of the increased job market here in the United States due to the immigrants; he addresses readers with a tone that is very formal and serious but adds some humor to capture his audience, the viewers of TEDXGRANTPARK and other interested in the approach to immigration in the United States.

Villazor, Rose Cuison. “Race Can Preclude Acceptance for Immigrants.” New York Times. New York Times Co. 5 June 2013.Web. 21 July 2015.

As a flourishing country, the United States of America has been a recurring land of hope and prosperity for immigrants. These foreigners may have been looking for religious freedom, job opportunities, escape from economic and environmental problems, shelter from war, or simply a fresh start at life. With immigration becoming larger and larger as every years passes, with it comes reasons for more legislation and new trends that are contributed by the different array of people who come together in the crucible that is the United States. The nationality or ethnicity of the immigrants vary from the Germans, Irish, Mexicans, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese. While there are many cases of immigrants to the United States, they are not always honest, there is always the issues of illegal immigration, that is believed to threaten the American society, “Americans perceived that the large number of immigrants from ethnically, religiously, and culturally different places

Many individuals interpret diversity differently specifically in the United States because of its melting pot of distinct cultures and lifestyles. In his essay “People Like Us”, David Brooks’ argues that although the United States is a diverse nation as a whole, it is homogeneous in specific aspects like interactions between people. To some extent, his observation is true; people tend to stick to what or who they are comfortable with. There are also exceptions where the American people attempt to establish relationships with others because of their desire to expand out of their norm. For instance, Brooks excludes the

“At a time like this, the retreat to one’s own kind is seen by more and more of my peers as an advance. And hat retreat has given rise again to the notion that there are essential and irreconcilable differences among the races” (413 Liu). Liu’s elaborate use of words are what really sway the people reading his argument. He describes the sociology of how people react to immigrants and how unjustified it is. By doing this, he portrays how similar everyone is to each other or how equal they are.

Immigrating to America is a process in which many people all across the world entrust as their one way ticket to a better life. Whether they do so legally or illegally, coming to the United States ensures better opportunities, economically, politically, and so on, to people who would have otherwise been worse off in their countries of origin. Even so, the common understanding of being “better off” can be considered a misconstrued concept when it comes to living in the states. Many families that choose to immigrate to the U.S. fail to realize the cultural hardships that newcomers tend to face once on American soil. Anything from racial discrimination or bias at work, in neighborhoods, at school, etc., can all be challenges that people encounter when making a move to the U.S. Such challenges are described by Richard Rodriquez in his autobiography Hunger of Memory. In this passage, he explains how cultural differences between Mexican and American ways of life have shaped him into the person that he is today. He also chooses to highlights the problems that he faces growing up in a predominately white neighborhood, while attending a predominantly white institution. Much of his writing consists of the cultural differences and pressures he feels to assimilate to Western culture and how this process, in turn, changes him into the person that some may find to be unethical, but nonetheless, someone he is proud of.

America is greatly influenced and enhanced by the many versatile cultures which inhabit it. Cultural diversity has added to our economy in such a way that it brings innovated ideas and contact structures throughout the world. International cuisines have come to America through subcultures, have expanded the food industry, and have allowed English Americans to try new foods and flavors. Immigrants have brought with them religious values that greatly differ and vary from those at which were natural in the main stream American culture. The educational development through foreign nationals has led America, as a nation, to excel and be deemed one of the most intelligent nations in the world! Consequently, the subcultures have kept our

The United States of America is a perfect example of cultural diversity. Starting with the Mayflower landing in Massachusetts Bay in 1620, to the Great Migration from 1915 to 1930, to the continual immigration into our country today this country has seen its culture grow and reshape itself over the years. The culture of the United States is diverse but understanding and appreciating various cultures does not always exist within today’s classroom or in today’s society. Understanding or even defining cultural diversity , identifying the challenges cultural diversity brings, or how to face cultural diversity are all issues educators face in today’s classroom.

America is largely made up of immigrants, and thus it is referred to by many as an immigrant’s nation. The rise in immigrants of the first generation and those of second or third generation is changing the demographics of the United States each day. Duncan and Stephen observe that about “a quarter of U.S. residents are either first-generation immigrants or the second-generation children of immigrants” (109). Most of these immigrants move to the country with the aim of achieving the American dream through career success. We would like to believe that the nation follows through with its American ideology that immigrants are welcomed with open arms, and they will have economic opportunities. However, the process of integration and assimilation of these immigrants has for long been a common debate question. The immigration waves into the United States have occurred in several waves over the past years. In the earlier years, most of the immigrants were from Europe and their assimilation was rather smooth. But, the recent wave of immigrants groups prevalently from Asia and Latin America do not face similar acceptance and open arms as their predecessors.

Throughout the world social problems such as illiterate, elderly, handicapped, minority groups, and poverty have been the biggest part in our society for many years. Some of our social problems had died off, meanwhile, they’re still many problem that we are still facing as a society. One of the major social problem we face is people being illiterate. Being illiterate is meaning a person can not read nor write, and it can also mean that a person is grammatically incorrect. There is as much as 23% of the adult population that are ignorant to basic skills of the 4th grade level. In the U.S. the ethnic group that is most affected by not being able to read or write is

Marchevsky, Alejandra, and Theoharis, Jeanne. (2008). Dropped from the rolls: Mexican immigrants, race, and rights in the era of welfare reform. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 35(3), 71-96. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/61683436?accountid=15182 In Marchevsky’s article, she draws on many struggles that Mexican migrants face as they move to the United States to find work to support their family.

Throughout the history, immigration and the United States are inextricably linked. The United States has promulgated many immigration legislations in the past either to restrict or support the immigration. Immigration is still going on and it is a debatable issue even today. In the interview, Chang-rae Lee says, “I’m interested in people who find themselves in places, either of their choosing or not, and who are forced to decide how best to live there. That feeling of both citizenship and exile, of always being an expatriate-with all the attendant problems and complications and delight”(Garner 2). Chang-rae Lee exposes the inner and outer conflicts the immigrants go through in the United States with

"As a Texan, I have known many immigrant's families, mainly from Mexico, and I've seen what they add to our country. They bring to America the values of faith in God, love of family, hard work, and self-reliance; the values that made us a great nation to begin with (Ortiz)". One of our great president, George W. Bush, said these enhancing words and it now concerns me in this day of time. That now the world wants to imprison the Hispanic culture all for varies stereotypes. With President Trump theory of the wall this will cause many more issues not only with Hispanic immigrates but within America itself. Without the construction of the wall, America wouldn’t be wasting money, it will keep generating diversity and wall wouldn’t go against our founding father's rules and regulations.

In IMA BE ME, Wanda Sykes said, “ Why are they called illegal immigrants? They 're undocumented workers. If someone broke into my house, and vacuumed? You know, I might be a little confused. But I ain’t calling the cops”. This is one of the funniest line from the show and at the same time, it captures audience’s heart. I believe, the United States is trying to change a lot now as a country where have been accepting various immigrants continuously since the foundation of the nation. In 2008, Barack Obama won the presidential election by gaining the popularity support from many minorities, and he became the first black President. He was returned for the second term in 2012, and he was supported not only by black people, but also many immigrants from South America and Asia. In the same year, Obama administration announced Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to grant a temporary right for over 1 million young undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S. without the fear of being deported. However, the dispute over acceptance of immigration of the Latinos has still been continued. And now, an immigration problem is regarded as the important problem of political power, and country is trying to tackle immigration law reform. In this paper, I would like to discuss about the trend of immigration issue first, and then look into how undocumented workers identify themselves and build their own self. In order to obtain deeper insight, I will use the real story about

Along with its economic classes, American is known for its freedom, its liberty, and the melting pot of ethnicity. This ethnic diversity comes form the immigrant population in the country. However this perfect country is a major falsehood. These untrue ideals of harmony, freedom, success, and equality are deceptive and do not show the struggles that immigrants face when coming to this class dominated country. The immigrants of today do not come from just Europe, but overwhelmingly from Asia and Latin America. “They are driving a demographic shift so rapid that within the lifetimes of today 's teenagers, no one ethnic group – including whites of European descent – will comprise a majority of the nation 's population’ (Colombo, Cullen, Lisle). These immigrants challenge the social myth that everyone has an equal chance in life. They