Race And Ethnicity Within America - Essay Example

Race And Ethnicity Within America One of the most interesting aspects of the current and past American society is the degree and extent to which the shareholders of the society define and create identifications of what being an American actually means. Although there are a host of factors that can be viewed as determinate with regards to such a definition, this brief analysis will seek to draw a specific layer of analysis towards race and ethnicity. Whereas the other identifiers, religion, language, and a litany of other factors impacts greatly upon the degree extent to which an individual is identified as an American, the issue of race and/or ethnicity is unique due to the fact that it is oftentimes one of the most visible. This visible nature allows individuals within the American society to judge, define, and accept/reject these people based upon a societal wide understanding of how this group can and should impact upon the American society. As a function of this particular level of analysis, the author will analyze to specific essays that were included within the course readings. As such, both Erin Kaplan’s “Black Like I Thought I Was” and Oscar Cesare’s “Crossing the Border Without Losing Your Past” will both be analyzed. One of the catchphrases that is become so common and popular within the American experience is the concept and idea that the United States represent something of a melting pot of cultures. According to the people who put forward this belief, those that comes the United States slowly begin to shed their ethnic and cultural compositions and begin to melt into the American dynamic of society. Such a “melting” necessarily entails that a certain degree of personality and appreciation for the original nation of origin and/or ethnicity race, must necessarily be lost. Scholars continue to argue with regards to the overall level that the United States culture represents a melting pot. However, as can be seen from second and third generation immigrants, the overall level and extent to which the children of these individuals identify with, appreciate, and represent the cultures and/or races that they derive is noticeably lessened as compared to the level of pride that the first generation immigrant most likely represented. Naturally, this strikes at the very definition of what is American and what is not, what is assimilated and what is native, what is the majority and what is the minority. Such a level of assimilation and Americanization is of course noted within Oscar Cesares piece entitled, “Crossing the Border without Losing Your Past”. Says Oscar of the process of assimilation: “like many Americans whose families came to this country from somewhere else, many children of Mexican immigrant struggle with their identity, as our push to fully assimilate is met with even greater pull to remain anchored to our family’s country of origin” (Cesare 116). This back-and-forth dynamic is been a defining aspect of the American experience for far longer than history has begun to track it. Whereas only recently cultural whiplash, socialization, assimilation, and the negative aspects of Americanization of cultures has come to the forefront, it has scarred and defined the experiences that countless immigrant families have had with regards to how they should incorporate themselves into a new society which is, on the whole, hostile to their very presence. This hostility can of course be realized as a function of race, religion, ethnicity, or a host of other factors. Whether or not person wishes to believe that race and/or racism do not have a bearing with regards to the way in which an individual is viewed within American society, the fact of the matter is that fully 50 years since the civil rights movement, both of these factors continue to dominate the means by which an individual is viewed and integrates within society. Oftentimes, the understanding of race is viewed by the individual as something determinate upon their own personal Outlook. Although this nonetheless has an important bearing, the more important aspect of race and racism is with regards to how society in general integrates an understanding, perspective, and level of appreciation for whatever ethnicity or race might be represented within the individual. Sadly, this latter aspect is one in which the individual can impact upon but a little bit. Ultimately, the level of bias and prejudice within society is the key deciding factor with regards to how the issue of race and/or racism continues to define our present society. Similarly, with regards to what it actually means to be an American, this question cannot and should not be answered within a simple one or two sentence definition. The true understanding of what it means to be an American is nebulous. It meet something different to each and every group. It means something different to each and every person. It can even means something completely different with regards to racial origin, cultural interpretation, religious affiliation, or a litany of other factors. Ultimately, as can be seen from the contagious back-and-forth of the political spectrum, what it means to be an American is defined, redefined, and continually changing. In effect, there is no definition of what it means to be an American nor likely will there ever be one. Due to the fact that immigrants from different parts of the world have continued to define the experience and means of growth by which the United States developed, this nebulous definition of what it means to be an American has been forced to change with the realities of the new entrance into the system. Finally, with regards to race, and the degree to which race defines an individual, it can and should be understood that racial definition works from two perspectives. The first of these perspectives is with with regards to the level in which the individual to find themselves by their own race and the second is with regards to the level to which the individual is defined by others based upon the race. Of course these two interlink and define one another upon various levels. Evidence of this can of course be seen within the piece entitled “Black Like I Thought I Was”, by Erin Aubry Kaplan. Within this particular piece, the author notes that race and racial definition can be so troubling that finding out a truism regarding one’s own cultural and/or racial past can ultimately thrust wanted to something of an identity crisis. Says the author of Joseph’s mother’s response to hearing the results of the DNA test, “I’m too old and too tired to be anything else” (Kaplan 112). Although the matter of fact this is refreshing, it is indicative of the level and extent to which means individuals identify with who they are and how they should integrate themselves with society based upon such an interpretation. Ultimately, the issue of race and ethnicity, as is been described within this paper, continues to play a powerful with regards to how society sees the individual and how the individual integrates with society. The socially constructed understandings of race and ethnicity of course impact and further these perceptions to preceding generations. Regardless of the morality of the situation, an understanding of what it means to be an American as well as an appreciation for multiculturalism and the degree to which it suffers at the hands of assimilation/ideas of the melting pot, are key considerations that must also be integrated with if the individual is going to gain a greater degree of appreciation and understanding of how similarity is appreciated within the American system. Read More