Asian Americans and the Concepts of Democracy - Essay Example

AAS 205, F’11 End Paper Essay Asian Americans American law and legal principles are based on the concepts of democracy. The citizens of the country are treated equally and there is a way to save their freedom, liberties and remain independent within their society. There is no much attention paid to racial, sexual or religion discrimination. In other words, all people are equal in spite of their national peculiarities, preferences, beliefs and so on. Is it really true in America? There is a need to give a complex and an integrative answer to this question. On the one hand, these democratic principles may sound like an echo of communism. Everything is available for everybody and there are no limits for personal freedom. In reality, it is “communism for rich and democracy for poor” (Notes). Moreover, it should be noted that in case racial bias did not exist in American context, there would be no questions, like what role Asian Americans play in the country or what the country does for these people. Therefore, it is obvious that even in the modern context and in the process of a democratization, there are worn out stereotypes of race. Western and Eastern societies have many differences between them. Cultural, religious and social norms have different meanings in the countries of these two continents. On the one hand, Asian Americans come across numerous challenges; they have to adjust to cultural traditions and religious beliefs of Americans, but on the other hand they should preserve their own national identities. Individual freedom propagated as the main value of American society contradicts to the main value of Asian Americans, such as respect to elders, family and community and not an individual. America takes care about its immigrants, and there are communities preserving national traditions of Asian Americans. ‘A sense of community’ is highly protected in America Asian Americans have contributed much to the development of the history of the country. Asian American live in compliance with the beliefs of their previous generations: in order to reach material possessions, there is a need to work hard. That is why America gains profits from this hardworking ethnical population of the country. These people have their distinct culture and they managed not to lose it in the democratic America. This country is not a prison for them; it is a geographical location for their ethnicity. Asian Americans unite a wide variety of nationalities. These are people from the Ural Mountains, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and many other ethnic groups from the Indian subcontinent Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Japan, Korea, Thailand and many others (Asian Americans). So, there comes the question: did America manage to pay for the contributions made for their country by Asian Americans, who have diverse cultures, traditions and so on? It is evident that children from these families are good students and their parents work hard in order to earn money and support their living. These people are influenced by their centennial traditions, but they look like America, have the same views and philosophical considerations, but they have even a greater background, such as strong values, which have been important for these people for centuries. Unfortunately, in spite of putting much efforts and make the rights of Asian Americans equal to the rights of Americans, political forces are more concentrated on the citizens of America and not on the immigrants. It is a challenging picture of perverted democratic values. In reality American Constitution provides equal rights for all Americans and there is no need to differ between Asian Americans, African Americans or any other ethnic groups. An integrative democracy is the best way for making the rights of citizens equal. Nowadays the main steps forward protection the rights of immigrants are concentrated in post war legislation of family reunification of immigrants and those, who have a good educational background. Essay 2 Chinese parents A dynamic growth of Asian Americans after 1965 has led to serious and global improvements for immigrants from Asia. There is no racism, which was in America in the nineteenth century. Evident demographic shifts can be witnessed by the contemporaries. The situation with Chinese parents, who undermined democratic principles of the American policies directed on facilitation of their children’s lives at schools, cannot be considered as racism in any case. It should be only noted that racial bias in America is often discussed in the media. There are cases of racism for sure and very often racial conflicts occur, but there are also evident shifts and steps taken on the way to the democracy of the country. Therefore, we should underline that public policies and social policies targeted on Chinese population should be interpreted from a positive perspective. There is no need to look for something bad or perverted in any action made by the American government. The problem of racism disappeared. There is another kind of racism, invented in the minds of Asian American or other ethnic minorities. It is better to redirect their acute concerns of being oppressed by the American government on taking more beneficial and favorable actions in the name of their own welfare. Centennially values, strong principles of family, respect for older people and many other concepts should be interpreted in a positive manner. The American government makes a step forward creation of a unified American nation. They give immigrants an opportunity to start better lives, and then they had at home. If these people feel so bad and oppressed in America, why then they gave up their families and values at home and came to America? This sentence is not indignant in any case, it is just very objective and it appeals for the immigrants and other ethnic minorities. The only drawback in the democratic policies of America can be found in the country’s inability to develop new policies in the modern context. Immigrant policies are based on the principles of 80s, but more than 40 years have already passed and there is a need to make something new in order to advance social conditions for all Americans, whether they are immigrants or not. Works cited 1. Asian Americans. Web. Accessed December 20, 2011 from: http://history-world.org/asian_americans.htm Read More