hser 509 cultural fusion
The New Normal
“Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional, what makes us American is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (President Obama 2013).
In a nation whose past and recent history is intertwined with some of its citizens fighting to gain equal footing promised by its forefathers to each American, the 2008 election and 2012 reelection of President Barack Obama was a direct indication of the cultural shift in direction America has made as well as the direction it is now moving toward. The current president is an excellent example of society’s new cultural fusion. Though his physical appearance identify him as an African-American man, his name and his family history paint the true picture of several different cultures, black and white, Christian and Muslim, African and American, fused together to create one man. More and more societal fabric is being woven to follow this new cultural pattern then that of its predecessors, where separation was valued and the dilution of the culture shunned.
As society transforms and manifest into the evolved version of itself, multicultural counselors who wish to continue to reach and help clients throughout this journey must be willing to learn and/or readjust some aspects of what they know about culture that includes all components of this new cultural fusion. The first step in building a bridge of understanding is to look at both sides of gap. By looking into the side of our past it can show some
“Each time we gather to inaugurate a President we bear witness to the enduring strength of our Constitution. We affirm the promise of our democracy. We recall that what binds this nation together is not the colors of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names. What makes us exceptional, what makes us American is our allegiance to an idea articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (President Obama 2013).
In a nation whose past and recent history is intertwined with some of its citizens fighting to gain equal footing promised by its forefathers to each American, the 2008 election and 2012 reelection of President Barack Obama was a direct indication of the cultural shift in direction America has made as well as the direction it is now moving toward. The current president is an excellent example of society’s new cultural fusion. Though his physical appearance identify him as an African-American man, his name and his family history paint the true picture of several different cultures, black and white, Christian and Muslim, African and American, fused together to create one man. More and more societal fabric is being woven to follow this new cultural pattern then that of its predecessors, where separation was valued and the dilution of the culture shunned.
As society transforms and manifest into the evolved version of itself, multicultural counselors who wish to continue to reach and help clients throughout this journey must be willing to learn and/or readjust some aspects of what they know about culture that includes all components of this new cultural fusion. The first step in building a bridge of understanding is to look at both sides of gap. By looking into the side of our past it can show some