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 explanation of diversity integration in the United States, where instead focuses on racial integration as the definition of diversity in America. He also makes assumptions that people purposefully intend to segregate themselves and underestimates their capability of living together because of their location, political values and personal appeal.…
"A Quilt of a Country" by Anna Quindlen is an article that is about America. Quindlen's purpose for writing this article was to argue the importance of unity in the United States. The people she wanted to get this message out to were mostly adults and the leaders in America because they were the ones that can make change happen. She explains that people are united only in times of tragedy, in the article's case September 11, 2001, but when there is no tragedy, there is no unity. Quindlen believes that this must change and it starts with adults because they have the power to teach their…
“We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for…
The melting pot, a concept evolved from Israel Zangwill’s play in 1908 whereby people from different ethnic origins are fused into one nation, presents the struggle for the American Government to assimilate the huge number of immigrants travelling to America, each coming from an array of different countries speaking various languages and owning a variety of different cultures. From 1865 to 1970, assimilation was forced upon the Native Americans yet was extremely hard for the American Government to achieve as the Native Americans demonstrated large efforts to resist any attempt at integration and continued to claim their right to be separate from other migrants in the ‘melting pot’.…
Often when racial inequality and discrimination is being discussed, we get to think of terms such as “white privilege” and American history with the Civil Rights Act in 1964. But we think of it, mainly as history. And that, according to Tim Wise, an anti-racism activist and American writer, is the biggest self-deception of the modern American world. Throughout an article posted on his own webpage, concerning school shootings, Tim Wise discusses the general American attitude towards this relatively new phenomenon in American society. With the use of especially pathos Wise argues that the most concerning thing about these events is how society is handling them afterwards. The problem is, according to Wise, that white people tell themselves ‘white lies’, and therefore never think that such actions could be taking place in their communities. He claims that there’s a reason why this happens in the outwardly ordinary societies. It’s because the people, trying to maintain at certain surface of innocence, refuse to see the signs of trouble, even when it’s going on before their very eyes.…
The question that is being asked is, Can individuals live together as one human race? With fiction stories from several different authors, there is evidence from each story to properly choose an answer of yes or no. The three stories are called, “A Quilt of a Country”, “Once Upon a Time”, and “Making the Future Better, Together”.…
Therefore, with confidence, I can say that America is neither a “melting pot” nor a “mosaic.” Though many different cultures have flocked to America, America’s intolerance for diversity is obvious; someone who is culturally different will never be able to walk down an American street without stares. More appalling, however, is the fact that those who are culturally different will face job discrimination if they choose to express their identity instead of cover it. Even on my own campus, diversity is seen as unimportant, as our diversity funding is stripped from underneath us. America will never be a melting pot nor a mosaic until it can learn to accept its own diversity, allowing it to flourish instead of killing it off on its arrival. In today’s political climate, it would make me incredibly happy to see America open its arms to other cultures instead of attempting to shut them out completely. Again, it seems as if history is repeating itself as we travel down a path of a non-inclusive America, disregarding the plight of cultural minorities for the majority’s “gain,” forgetting the importance of multiculturalism and marching towards…
The late great Maya Angelou once stated that “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends”. While her words indicate that our attitudes, cultures and values can define our differences she also suggest that we all embody a shared sense of humanity that we might come to understand through our interactions and acknowledgments of others around us. In the 21st century we have experienced an ever -increasing diverse population, the re-election of America’s first Black President, polarizing religion wars, and a more encompassing civil rights agenda that includes women’s and LGBTQ communities. So what if we asked ourselves “what does it mean to be diverse?” What are our investments in our diversity? What are our feelings and logical reasonings about diversity? More broadly, what does diversity mean for 21st century American culture? What role does contemporary social movements like Occupy Wall Street, #Blacklivesmatter and other protest movements play as we consider the meaning of diversity and difference? What is the role of the university in defining our discussions about diversity? Through critical reading, writing and thinking we will explore these questions in depth while engaging how diversity and difference shapes our attitudes about the economy, racial and ethnic difference, sexuality,…
For our nation to thrive Buchannan note that unity in diversity can’t exist. National identity must supersede state identity for America to survive (68). America experienced a dramatic increase in immigration in the last few years. Soon European-Americans will be a minority in the nation. Buchanan asks, “And when that day comes, what then will united us as a people (68)?” Racial and religious diversity…
While reading Anna Quindlen’s “Homeless” we are faced with the difficult question: Is a home everything? Quindlen has come to the conclusion, that yes your home is everything, and I cannot help but to agree with her. There is an understanding that there is a difference between a house and home. Whereas the building you are living in is referred to your house, your home is the compassion and comfort you feel in that house with your family and friends. Quindlen states that in your home you have, “certainty, stability, predictability, privacy” (Quindlen par. 4). Although there are downsides to owning a house, there is comfort and familiarity in one’s home because of the ability to have somewhere private to withdraw and family that helps raise…
I’m an African-American woman, I grew up in the rural South, the characters of Mama, Dee, and Maggie remind me of my mother, my sisters, and I. The three of us look alike, share some DNA, and have spent most of our lives together, but other than that, we have nothing in common. While it would be expected for three closely related women to have much in common, Mama, Dee, and Maggie each have a very different life story, perspective on life, and concept of history. Walker informs mothers and daughters that bonding between family members is important by her endearing tone, the symbol of the quilt and the relationship between mothers and daughters.…
As the diversity is changing daily, anxieties about where our country is headed combined with the coming demographic change may generate more division. We have all seen this done before many times as wave upon wave of new immigrants arrive. We will face brutal discrimination and hardship because the stakes are even higher than they were before. A clear vision of where we want our country to be in a few years is urgently needed.…
The thesis of this book is the matter of bigotry engrained in a society that turns into mass hysteria directed toward the subjects of such bigotry.…
In One Nation, Slightly Divisible, David Brooks breaks down the country into two groups. Blue America, or the city, and Red America, the rural area. Brooks discusses the vast differences between each group as well as the stereotypes of each. For example, in his article he says, "We sail; they powerboat. We cross-country ski; they snowmobile. We hike; they drive ATV 's. We have vineyard tours; they have tractor pulls. When it comes to yard work, they have rider mowers; we have illegal aliens" (Brooks 53) where Brooks refers to himself as a Blue American. The divisions in our country are very visible, but the hostility and jealousy toward other groups is underneath the fact that we are Americans together. It is like a cafeteria nation.…
"I am an American," says over 308,745,538 people in the United States this year ("2010 Census Data.") These people originate from everywhere; America is a "melting pot" of culture, and that can unfortunately cause social inequalities to arise through the Matrix of Domination, a theory that mirrors the intersectionality of race, class, and gender, as coauthor of Race, Class, & Gender, an Anthology Patricia Hill Collins claims (Andersen, and Collins xi-xiii.) These two terms give label to the commonplace phenomena of race, class, and gender work within a system of social relationships. The understanding of people from other cultures has grown in many ways over the history of the United States. America is starting to realize that the ethnocentric, or judging of others culture through the values of their own, is no longer an acceptable way to approach others. There is still a long way to go to more firmly develop a country with a general appreciation of diversity and inclusive thought. Knowledge is the power that will keep populations in peaceful, cultural awareness and harmonious equality.…