Essay On Cultural Diversity In America

Statistics show that over 11.5 million immigrants migrate to The United States in search of a better life for themselves and their children. Yet, throughout the course of the years, a negative stigma has been associated with the arrival of immigrants in The United States. They have been discriminated against and have been labeled with abasing words. However, the majority of people fail to realize that the individuals who risked their lives coming here, the ones who left their family and friends behind are the most hard-working and persistent people I have come to know because these individuals are my parents. My parents left El Salvador and immigrated to a new country in hopes of a better academic future for me.

America is a country with a history founded on people looking for a new start and emigrating from the old world to fulfill their dreams. Immigration is not always happiness, rags to riches, and the American dream. Major immigration periods happened from 1607, 1820-1870 and again in the early 1900’s. Immigrant numbers were growing so exponentially that the National origins Act of 1921 and 1924 was enacted to put a quota limit that blatantly discriminated against immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Immigrants that made it in faced many hardships such as learning new languages, abandoning family, and accepting the American values.

As a quote from the poem “The New Colossus” states “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” We should remember the grounds in which our forefathers created the basis of this great land in which we live. This great land, the United States of America, has also been referred to as “The Great American Melting Pot”, a land where anyone from any ethnic background can come and share their cultures and dreams and practice their freedoms as one.

The United States of America was built from the ground up through the labor of immigrants and slaves, yet has a history of discrimination against both. Moreover, resentment towards the latter escalated during the Industrial Revolution because citizens felt that their jobs were being robbed by immigrants. To restrict them, they first created the Chinese Exclusion Act which banned Chinese immigration for ten years, stemming from “economic and cultural tensions, as well as ethnic discrimination” (History State). Many of these foreigners fled their countries due to religious persecution, poverty, and political persecution. Therefore, citizens and foreigners had the same goals: freedom and the ability to support their families.

All humans, each and every person, have their own unique opinion. As immigrants migrate to America, they face many challenges: financial, social, and political. In Funny in Farsi, author Firoozeh Dumas tells a memoir about her coming to America from Iran, and enduring many trials while trying to acquire acceptance of the fellow Americans around her. Someone is no longer considered an immigrant when they are legally documented and contribute to the society. When immigrants are treated like an outcast, it does not give them a positive outlook on their success of achievement.

Immigrants, fleeing their homeland to escape oppression for religion or to find better opportunities for employment, were drawn to the booming American land of industrialization and urbanization. Old immigrants from Western Europe entered the country prominently in the 1880’s. But from the 1890’s to the outbreak of World War I, New Immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe flooded the country. These immigrants, bringing with them lesser-practiced customs and religions that could shape the culture of America, mainly congregated with people of similar nationalities in ethnic neighborhoods in the growing cities, thus limiting their assimilation into American society. Another factor limiting the influence of immigration on America was the resistance of the “native” Americans to the New Immigrants.

Quindlen and Kennedy expressed musings that were somewhat similar. “... there is a grudging fairness among the citizens of the United States that eventually leads most to admit that…the new immigrants are not so different from our own parents or grandparents.” Here Quindlen states that though reluctantly for some, most

This population shared common interests and challenges along their journey. They were all interested in seeking freedom, economic opportunity, religious tolerance and a better quality of life for their children. They all faced the challenges of poverty, over-crowded communities, and discrimination. It seems just as much as America redefined them, the new immigrants reshaped the nation by bringing their customs, traditions, cuisine, religion, languages, and to share with the American people helping to make the United States of America the “great melting pot” it is

Introduction Informative, contemplative, and different are three words to describe “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” by Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco and Carola Suárez-Orozco from Rereading America. “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” talks about unauthorized immigration. More specifically, this source talks about the other side of the issue of unauthorized immigrants; the human face of it all. “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” depicts the monster from one of Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s thesis in the article, “Monster Culture (7 Theses).” The monster seen in the source “How Immigrants Become ‘Other’” is the one that Cohen talks about in his fourth thesis, “The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference.”

Since its inception America has been coined the “melting pot,” a term that’s intended to encase pride over the vast amount of diversity contained within our country. That pride, however, is nothing more than an idealization of the truth. America is a country of great diversity, but its pride and acceptance of that diversity relies on a contingent tolerance. Diversity is a wide term that can refer to a number of different groups and in this context it is referring to groups of minorities in America, particularly the LGBT community. Perhaps, the best illustration of this harmful treatment can be found in the media, specifically in the form of television. The LGBT community has been subjected to discrimination, tokenism, stereotypes, and fatal

“The Immigrant contribution” and “The Quilt of a Country” are two essays that share a similar focus, however, they cover two drastically different sides of the topic. Both of them share the main idea that America is a country made up almost entirely of immigrants. Kennedy’s essay, “The immigrant Contribution”, focuses on how immigrants have affected our country, whereas Quindlen’s essay discusses how people of many different cultures coexist and work together. The essays both concentrate on immigration in America and how immigration has shaped and molded our culture. The two authors describe the many different aspects of immigration in immensely different ways.

Many tend to migrate towards those of the same affiliations. This can lead to some people feeling left out or unwanted by certain groups. The world is changing and we are learning new information about people and cultures. Things continue to change and our “knowledge about new immigrants will challenge our public schools (Allen-Meares, 2013).”

A major gap has thus developed between portions of our elite and the bulk of our populace over what America is and should be” (Para. #10). Immigrants are tearing Americans apart. Creed, identity, and culture are affecting Americans. The reason is

As a result of their emigration, America was now viewed as “multiethnic and multiracial” and “defined in terms of culture and creed” (Huntington 1). On the contrary, when people traveled across the border from Mexico, their culture was not so widely accepted. Mexican traditions and values were seen as a “serious challenge to America’s traditional identity” (Huntington 2). The “original settlers” of America were incredibly open to people travelling from Europe, but when people came from Latin America, they were

So as you have read, immigrants have had an impact on America for a long time. Some have proved that you don’t have to be from America to be an American. “They proved that being an American is not just for some people. They expanded what it means to be an American, including Japanese-Americans who were feared and suspected and hated.