| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

KevinAnalogyDraft

Page history last edited by PBworks 18 years, 5 months ago

Diversity is an important characteristic of American culture. The United States was built on combining the diverse cultures of foreign countries. Immigrants, exiles, prisoners, rich, poor, and all other kinds of people came to America for many different reasons. The United States is often compared to a melting pot of the world’s cultures.

By definition diversity means the condition of being different or varied. The United States is a diverse culture that has been formed over hundreds of years from immigrants moving to America. Immigrants even founded this country, England in the East and Spain in the South and West. People from all over the world moved to the United States for one reason or another bringing their own cultures to America. Some came for religious freedom, others for monetary opportunities, many were even sent over as prisoners during colonial times. All of these cultures came together to form the American culture known today.

Joining all the different cultures into one country is like mixing metals in one giant melting pot. In a melting pot metals are combined to form one single metal. The United States can be compared to a melting pot because cultures all over the world have come together to form one single culture. By infusing all the different cultures of immigrants a new culture is formed, the American culture.

Immigrants who move to the United States often go through a process of adopting all of the other cultures around them. This process is called Americanization. An immigrant who goes through this process learns to adopt some of the cultures of those around them while introducing his or her own culture to those people. From this example it is easily seen how the United States is like a cultural melting pot.

As there are many reasons why the United States is like a melting pot there are also many reasons why it is not. The first and most obvious reason of why the United States is not like a melting pot is that humans are not different kinds of metals being melted down to form one stronger metal. American culture is based on the mixing of ideas and customs to learn and understand how society functions. People were not just thrown into one big place and forced to come together like molten metals being mixed together. They came here mostly on their own will and mixed their cultures through interactions with others, not because some outside power forced them together.

Another reason as to why the United States is not like a melting pot is the different cultures didn’t completely mix. In a melting pot it is expected that all the different metals be mixed completely to form one metal. American culture, however, is not completely mixed. Many immigrants still maintain their own culture and do not completely infuse all of the cultures around them. Small sections of larger cities are also separated into specific cultures. Chinatown and Little Italy are prime examples of this.

Problems arise as a result of cultural blending. Racism is a major problem when there are so many different types of people and cultures living in one place. Most people try to blend they’re cultures and mix with those people around them. Others, however, cannot seem to accept people of different race, ethnicity, or cultural background from that of their own. For the most part these people are nonviolent and rarely physically express their thoughts on the matter. From time to time, however, these people violently erupt at people they feel are different from them. This often leads to injury and sometimes death. People who are racist against others do not understand what it means to be an American. American culture was formed from the mixing of cultures from around the world and if someone cannot accept a culture different from their own then they must not truly be American.

In many ways the United States is considered the melting pot of the world’s cultures. The American culture has been formed through the mixing and interacting of all the different cultures immigrants have brought over. Diversity continues to grow throughout the United States. Although diversity has caused some problems throughout the country, it has generally made the country stronger like a melting pot mixes weaker metals to make a much stronger one.

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.