Strangers to these Shores - Essay Example

This book feature topics pertaining to a plethora of current issues, including Afrocentrism, multiculturalism, political correctness, the glass ceiling, ethnoviolence, immigration, illegal aliens, and bilingual education apart from serving as a popular and versatile guide and informant to general educators and historians alike in the field of racial and ethnic relations. The book unfolds in the form of a story of a society determined to rise out of the dredges of the disadvantages of diversity.

The basic aim that this society seems to have in mind revolves around the achievement of unity through an amalgamation of all its varied sections as it strives to retain its right to be different. Unity in Diversity seems to be the underlying message of this book. The content builds up on the all important premise that without a clear understanding of different lifestyles and ways of living, the population in general will not get the scope to enjoy a broader perspective in their own lives. This thought can be called a summation of all the ideas in this book.

Strangers to these Shores goes on to give an insight into various communities and so called minorities who have the potential to transport us to unknown lands and their unknown cultures. In this book, as the title implies, the author has dealt with the migrant and his experiences in terms of arriving upon the great land called America as a stranger. The stranger here is one who has come from far away and more importantly, it implies to that person who has ventured out of his home and accepted way of life for the first time in search of greener pastures.

This stranger can change his status only when he lives here and has his future generations growing up to be essentially American. But what about those religious sentiments and one basic culture that is so strongly embedded into the migrant's identity and basic attitude towards life and work Does that simply vanish This book seek to find out the facts and present these findings in a clear and precise manner.As demonstrated by the author in all his chapters, the great American mosaic is one that consists of a plethora of races and ethnicities functioning under the salad bowl syndrome.

While the ethnic background of a person, irrespective of the country he is residing in, is an important feature that forms the basic make up of his identity and renders him a strong identity, we also have to acknowledge the fact that religion has a large role to play in this regard. While not necessarily staunch or conservative, the American population in general is one that takes things easy on the religious front - barring a few catholic sections. This attitude is reflected in their religious structures and way of living, which lack the excessive ornamentations that one will constantly find in Europe.

A important premise on which one can conduct studies regarding such religious minorities is that in any country that boasts of rich diversity where its population is concerned, there are various factors that support its argument for the state of political and cultural affairs. While race and ethnicity are important factors, religion holds its own when it comes to identities and conflicts that erupt in the face of group interactions.In the twelfth chapter titled, Religious Minorities, the author has dealt with those groups that follow a specific religion and are a minority.

These groups exist in various nooks and