Preview

Ethnic Groups and Discrimination

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1046 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ethnic Groups and Discrimination
Ethnic Groups and Discrimination

Ethnic Groups and Discrimination
I am a true American; most people would call me Heinz 57, belonging to ethnic groups. My family structure is one composed of many groups, but I have two that stand out the most, Norwegian and Dutch; the rest of me a mixture of English, Irish, Scottish, and probably a few others European groups as well. My grandfather was Norwegian born and immigrated to the United Sates in the 1920’s, while my great-grandmother was born in the United States but 100% Dutch. I want to discuss the Norwegian’s plight to America with you, as it is the culture that I have studied most, and have personal family acquaintances. Modern technology and the Internet are a great resource, I have spoken with family that I did not know existed because of the social site Facebook.
The history of Norwegian Americans is quite interesting and educational; most Americans do not know that Norwegians are known for belonging to the first Europeans to discover North America. Almost five centuries before Columbus discovered America, a Norwegian/Icelander Leiv Eiriksson landed in North America by way of Norse settlements in Greenland. It is believed that the Norwegians from Greenland established the community of Vinland in the area now known as Nova Scotia. It is unknown how far south these settlers explored in North America which has caused a topic of major discussion over the past hundred years among nationalists and historians. Some evidence shows that Norwegians had formed many settlements much farther into the North American mainland than was believed before.
The Norwegian immigration to America after the era of Columbus began in 1825, when a small group of Norwegians sailed from Stavanger, Norway headed for America on the sloop Restauration, which is frequently called the “Norwegian Mayflower.” The emigrants were Lutherans and Quakers fleeing Norway to avoid religious persecution, but it is also believed that some were



Bibliography: Lovoll, O. S. (2000). Norwegian Americans. In Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America (2nd ed., Vol. 2). Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None Norwegian-Americans. (n.d.). Norway - the Official Site in the United States. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://www.norway.org/News_and_events/Norway-in-the-US/Norwegian-American-Organizations/Norwegian_Americans/

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Horwitz, Tony. A Voyage Long and Strange: On the Trail of Vikings, Conquistadors, Lost Colonists, and Other Adventurers in Early America. New York: Picador USA, 2009. Print.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the year 986 a Viking explorer named Bjarni was actually the first person to discover America (Canada), but decided not to get off his boat and…

    • 490 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Vikings were extraordinary mariners from modern-day northern Germany who traveled and settled in areas throughout Europe, Asia, and the north Atlantic islands from the late 800s to the early 1100s A.D. Because of their amazing ability to travel by sea, archaeologists have wondered if the Vikings ever reached North America. The Vinland Sagas are two Icelandic documents that contain information regarding the travels of Viking explorers in the Americas. These two documents are called: The Saga of the Greenlanders and The Saga of Erik the Red. It converses about a Norse explorer who had led the exploration into the Americas and what they call, “Vinland.” And because of numerous…

    • 1942 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    People from Scotland first came to the new world in the 1600s. There is some evidence of Scots coming to what is now considered America with the Vikings as slaves. This would be one of the first occurrences of mistreatment they endured (Gormley, 2000). Like other ethnic groups who migrated to the United States looking for a better life they were burdened with stereotypes and misconceptions about what kind of people they were. Over the course of their history people of Scottish decent have been a major force in the building of our country. They were instrumental in the creation and establishment of our current way of accounting, not just our country.…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    DISCRIMINATION AT LARGE

    • 567 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jennifer A. Coleman is a discrimination and civil rights lawyer and a constitutional law teacher. Her essay “Discrimination At Large”, printed in 1993 in Newsweek, is about stereotyping overweight people, “that makes heavy people the objects of ridicule and contempt”. She says, that “fat people are lampooned without remorse or apology on television, by newspaper columnists, in cartoons”.…

    • 567 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    EM and RM’s family is American born and their ancestors have been here for many generations. Their ethnicities are mainly comprised of Norwegian and German descent, but they don’t acknowledge this in their daily lives.…

    • 1312 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Institutional discrimination is the negative treatment of minority groups, that is built into society's institutions, such as banks, and schools. Whereas, Individual discrimination is the negative treatment by one person on the basis of that person's perceived character. (Henslin, 2013).…

    • 140 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Why They Came to America

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Irish, Germans and Scandinavians came to the United States for many reasons, freedom, comfort, independence and a chance of a better life. Each one of these groups of people had similar reasons for taking the long hard journey across the Atlantic Ocean, some came by choice and others like the Irish didn’t have a choice. Some were hailed as heroes and others as foolish daredevils. Some carved their place into this country with ease and others faced poverty and disease. Needless to say they all found their way into America and changed the face of American culture.…

    • 1034 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    The year is 1776. In an act of defiance of the oppressive rule of the powerful nation of Great Britain, the political leaders of the British-American colonies sign into existence the United States of America. Even before this inception of the United States, North America had been seen as a place where one could move to start a new life and reap the full rewards for one’s work. These opportunities combined with the new United States government founded on the ideals of freedom and equity have attracted countless families from all over the world, making the United States truly a country of immigrants. Immigrants from European nations coming to America both assimilated and helped to shape the culture of the nation. Others, either immigrants or those forced to come to the United States, were marked with distinguishable differences from the European majority. The Africans and Asians are examples of some of these minorities, but, in my belief, one of the groups that has had the most unique struggle to become part of the ‘great melting pot’ of America is the Latino culture. For many different reasons Latin Americans have struggled to assimilate with the American culture for hundreds of years.…

    • 1291 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Eth 125 Cultural Diversity

    • 1443 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In addition to learning about diversity in my community and the United States I also have learned some new interesting facts about my own race, ethnicity and cultural history. The first thing I learned was that three generations ago when my great-great-grandfather came to the United States from Norway he married a Karankawa Indian and they settled on the banks of the Brazos river in southern Texas. This is where the dark hair and dark skin comes from in my father’s side of the family. The land where they settled is still in my family today and is currently due to be handed down to myself and my sister when our father sees fit to do so. Another cultural activity that was passed down to me on my father’s side was bow fishing in the surf of the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico. Fishing was the chief food source for my people and that skill and knowledge of the art of bow fishing was a welcomed addition to my family’s rich history and culture.…

    • 1443 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Poland’s unique past is littered with oppression, servitude, and foreign rule over and over again. The land was fought over by many countries during the 1800’s and subsequently was annexed and divided. The primary conquerors included Russia, Austria, Prussia, and later Germany. (Buffalo Department of Education,). There were many smaller country’s nationals who descended upon Poland and mixed with the nationals, seizing land and jobs. This included The Ukraine, Lithuania, Belorussia, Latvia, not to mention Jews, Tartars, and small groups of gypsies. At the end of the 18th century Poland basically no longer existed as the rival surrounding countries split this land and claimed it as a part of their domain. Finally in 1918 Poland achieved independence and re-emerged as a country under Communist rule (Jones, n.d.). These events led the Eastern Europeans to view the Poles as low-class, bohemian, even non-whites, who were beneath them in education, social status, and economics. It is understandable that this sentiment stigmatized the immigrating Poles as they arrived on America’s shores, seeking political democracy, good jobs, and a piece a land. Expecting a better life they often faced prejudice and problems in America.…

    • 1133 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the passage Thomas Paine states that American government is fair-minded. However, there are an overwhelmingly large amount of examples that prove that corruption does indeed exist in America’s political system. One relatively recent example of corruption was the bribery involved Rand Paul’s presidential campaign in 2012. In this event Jesse Benton, Paul’s political director campaign manager admitted to paying senators in exchange for their endorsement towards their campaign (Ballhaus). This example of corruption disproves Paine’s claim that the government in the United Stated is unbiased and fair. In his book, Paine also claimed that, “There the poor are not oppressed, the rich are not privileged…. Their taxes are few, because their government…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I was surprised at how similar Norway and the U.S. are. Now, don’t get me wrong they are complete different nations with different governing styles and beliefs, but that’s what surprised me about the similarities. Both countries struggle with teens being on the phone a lot, and Norway is very patriotic just like the U.S. Norway’s teenagers are just like us which was apparent with the person I interviewed who was a teen from Norway but had also spent two years in the U.S. He said his favorite food was (homemade) pizza rolls, which I’m sure many teenagers in the U.S. would love as well.…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Having conducted our research, we can attempt to draw some conclusions. The first question that we asked was “is Norway’s immigration policy successful”? Grete Brochmann, a Norwegian sociologist and Professor at the University of Oslo, in several of hew works, highlights that the two main goals of the Norwegian immigration policy have been and are 1) to control the number of immigrants arriving to Norway, and 2) ensure their integration into society. Both of these definitely are part of a larger purpose, i.e. to maintain Norway’s position as a country with one of the best standards of living, to facilitate the growth and development of Norway’s society and the country as a whole.…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bergen is Norway’s seconds largest city, but the atmosphere, the architecture and the passionate patriotic inhabitants gives the city a true authentic feeling of intimacy. Since its foundation in 1070 by king Olav Kyrre, the city has attracted travelers from all quarters of the world. Merchants traveled abroad in ships and returned with commodities and learned new production methods, and Bergen became a melting-pot of different cultures, and is today one of Norway’s most international cities.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays