Section II Cultural conflict - Essay Example

Section II Cultural conflict The person’s values and identity shaped by certain group is what we call culture. The Identity of culture has roots on several disparities which include: religion gender, ethnicity, race, class, geographical region, ethnicity and country of origin. Andrea Williams who is a historian argues that issues of demography and cultural attitudes in the United States are shifting as many groups resist being assimilated into Eurocentric or Anglo culture by maintaining their traditions and beliefs.

This demographic change has put government agencies on toes to ensure that they develop a healthier understanding of disparities in people’s culture and conflicts promoted by them. The difference in values and norms of people’s behaviour from different cultures is the major root of cultural conflict. Most people act according to their cultural norms and values which might be interpreted differently by people who hold different worldviews on opposite point hence creating misunderstandings and conflict (Hoffman, Cobbs, Blum, & Gjerde 56) A good example is that of the Anglo culture who believe that their believes and behaviour are superior without knowing that their culture is just one of the many cultures that exist in the United States of America.

There are three main dimensions in a cultural conflict which include the content and relational, clash of cultural values and the foundation of a conflict. These cultural differences create complex combination of expectations about one’s own and others’ behaviour. The cultural conflicts can be solved through three main stages; start with probing for the cultural dimension, then learn about other different cultures and finally alter organizational practices and procedures to make the system more sensitive.

Whether the outcome of cultural conflict is positive or negative, we have to agree that due to the transformation of demographics, cultural disparities have grown to be sensitive issues which should be introduced in education for the purpose of maintaining heath relations among the citizens, society and organizations in general. Section III The meaning of freedom changed with the activities that came by as the time moved on, for instance, when we had slavery the word “slavery” represented lack of freedom, when slavery was abolished then there was industrial age the idea of freedom changed as Americans now wanted freedom to autonomy of the economy and free market.

Later during the cold war due to suspicion on socialist idea of “freedom from want” the meaning of freedom changed to free enterprise. Eric Foner who is a historian said that a free person is that who can compete without any restriction in the economic market place for his own advancement. The recent rice of terrorism has now brought new meaning which many scholars are debating on (Hoffman, Cobbs, Blum, & Gjerde 71). During reconstruction in America, freedom became a centre of conflict, with its essence open to diverse, often contradictory interpretations.

From this rose new relations and new groups in American societies among them white Southerners and the blacks There was also a new meaning of the rights of all Americans (Hoffman 31). First, the understanding of freedom by the African-Americans was shaped by their life experiences in slavery and their observation of the free society that surrounded them. Freedom to them meant to escape the massive injustices brought by slavery, such as separation from their families, punishment by the knot, the sexual harassment of black females by the owners, denial of access to quality education, and sharing in the opportunities and rights of American citizens.

For example, Henry Adams stated, “If I cannot do like a white man, then I am not free.” He was a liberated slave in Louisiana, and these words were uttered to his former master in 1965. The second group was the families who had gained freedom. With the death of slavery, institutions that had been in existence prior to the war, such as “black family, free blacks” schools, churches and the secret slave church, got strength, freed from supervision by the whites, and expanded. Freedom for them meant stabilization of their families as they got the opportunity to search for their loved ones and devoted more time to this family life.

To the politicians, freedom meant full political participation, desire for equality and empowerment, and the right to vote. For example, Fredrick Douglas after the South’s submission in 1865, said, “Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot.” Immediately after the end of the Civil war, liberated slaves claimed a portion in the public specialty. They joined in parades, conventions, and petition drives to stipulate the right to vote, and occasionally to systematize for their own “freedom ballots” (Hoffman 56).

The civil right on the other hand argued that freedom is simply rallying cry for the dispossessed. I believe that we can have true freedom without equality for i doubt if equality exist since every individual has his or her own taste. For example, there is no day when all people will get the same salary irrespective of their career because it can fall in the hands of an individual who can at all time enjoy his freedom so long as he is a citizen of America, but equality without freedom is useless for example imagine being treated but imprisoned.

Indeed, I strongly agree that meaning of freedom has been changing and to my knowledge i can define it as a principle of organising how humans can interact without pressure and have rights to speak and develop according to want they want. For example, the American slaves lacked all this until that day America got its independence hence getting freedom. Work Cited Hoffman, Elizabeth Cobbs, Edward J. Blum, and Jon Gjerde, eds. Major Problems in American History, Volume 2: Since 1865. Vol. 2. Cengage Learning, 2012.