With Good Comes Bad

Multiculturalism is truly a beautiful thing.  It diversifies countries and introduces new arts, values, language initiatives, and much much more.  Welcoming myriads of people from various countries with open arms seems like the right thing to do.  However, this can also be a huge potential detriment to the security of a nation.  A country taking immigrants under its wing is very humanitarian and can be quite beneficial, but when does it all realistically go too far?  Would Illegal immigration make the cut?  What about demonstrated acts of terror?

The influx of immigrants entering or having previously entered the country can pose a threat to those citizens who are already residing here.  Immigration is extremely important, but illegal immigration is unacceptable.  It is simply not fair to allow someone to enter the country illegally without having gone through the long and grueling process that their legal counterpart has successfully completed.  People work very hard to come here, so to come to a country illegally yet still reap the benefits of a citizen should not be tolerated. 

An illegal immigrant is permitted to attend public school until being deported, but the issue is that they are not being deported and some (of course, not all) of these illegals are dangerous.  Some towns, like Rockville, Maryland have gone as far as to try and become sanctuary cities.  Only a day ago in Rockville, Maryland, a 14-year old girl was brutally raped in her own high school by two older students.  These older students were 18 and 17 years old and happened to be undocumented (illegal) immigrants.  They also happened to be placed in the 14-year old girl’s grade despite the age gap.  School is supposed to be a place where students feel safe.  This is where the real concern emerges.  Creating a safe environment for immigrants is great, but when they are illegal and when they interfere with the safety of citizens, it can no longer be acceptable.  Essentially, an innocent citizen was raped by two illegal immigrants that should not have been present in the first place.

According to a Fox News report, this tragic event was overlooked and not reported by other popular news sources (at the time of my research, this was indeed the case).  Perhaps the incident was not reported by many news sources because they felt the story would taint the idea of multiculturalism.  However, most of us already understand the benefits of and appreciate multiculturalism.  One incident does not define a group of people, but it should still make an impact and be shared with the populace.  Unfortunately, sometimes the values and ideals of people entering the country do not mesh with those we hold firm and dearly here.  America is the land of the free, indeed.  However, when anyone (citizen or not) acts in a culturally offensive or illegal manner, they need to endure the proper ramifications.    

As noted by the Daily Signal, “White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, ‘Part of the reason that the president has made illegal immigration and crackdown such a big deal is because of tragedies like this.’”     

Despite the potential dangers of illegal immigration, the sad truth is that many acts of terror are perpetrated by nationals inspired by the ideologies of extremist groups.  When values do not coincide with the overarching values of the country as a whole, major conflict can occur.  Extreme acts of violence can seriously put any population at risk, including multiculturally flourishing ones.  For example, very recently in London, England a 52-year old British man named Khalid Masood ran over and severely injured several people.  He killed three people – a British woman of Spanish descent, an American, and a British police officer (whom he stabbed).  Prime MinisterTheresa May said that “[Masood] was thought to have been inspired by Islamist ideology.”  According to CNN, “A number of tourists were among 40 people hurt in the assault, including five South Koreans and three French high school students. One Australian was hospitalized. A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said one Chinese tourist was slightly injured.”  Other victims included citizens of Romania, Germany, Poland, Ireland, Italy and Greece.

Can multiculturalism actually be a threat to multiculturalism?  Or is it only in isolated rare cases?  Should illegal immigration be overlooked for multiculturalism’s sake, or should it be properly dealt with to help reduce tragic incidents such as the recent Rockville rape?  What is more important, multiculturalism or the safety of American citizens?  All thoughts are welcome in the comments below!   

Authentic American Culture: Does it Exist?

What is American culture comprised of?  Do we even have a culture? 

Being a relatively new country, and being known as a melting pot has framed the U.S. in such a way that the U.S. may appear to have no single culture of its own.  Of course, our history of welcoming myriads of diverse people into our country has brought up the common thought:  “Well, the many cultures we welcome into the U.S. ultimately become our culture.”  But is this really true?  Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in between the lines of the melting pot and a singular culture. 

Tackling this issue of U.S. culture, and providing an answer to the big frequent question about it, is extremely important for the maintenance of American patriotism and soul.  If we have no clue what our culture is or whether or not one even exists, how can we parade around celebrating the cultures of others who come here?  It’s like the common phrase “you can’t love anyone else if you don’t love yourself.”  How can we, as a country, appreciate other cultures if we can’t identify our own?  

      

First we must define culture (though the definition may vary from person to person).   Cristina De Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate College in London, says that "Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we behave with loved ones, and a million other things.”  This multitude of components is no wonder that we have such a difficult time cracking down on one definitive answer to the American culture question.

Taking this definition into account, we can then argue that America’s official culture is that of the Native Americans, because they inhabited this land first.  However, pbs.org states that “In the 21st century, almost two-thirds of Native Americans live in urban areas, losing contact with their reservations and other members of their tribe. This makes it harder for these urban Indians to express and reinforce their cultures. Sometimes the closest they come is at the big city pow wows where dances and costumes are reduced to pan-Indian stereotypes.”  Also, culture on reservations is suffering as well, since their cultural events have gained publicity and they are struggling to defend their privacy.  Sadly, the Native American culture doesn’t seem to hold much prevalence anymore.

Our authentic culture may also be British, as they arrived in around the 1600s to establish their colonies.  With colonization probably came cultural establishment as well.  However, what about current day?  America’s authentic culture may have been English, or Native American, or both, but America’s modern culture (that is most prominent and visible today) is arguably different.  Modern American culture is most likely influenced by Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and African Americans, as opposed to Native Americans and Englishmen.

Hispanic Americans have a huge and growing influence on American culture.  One in every six Americans is Hispanic.  Both Hispanics and non-Hispanics agree that food, music, and sports are the greatest areas of Hispanic cultural influence.  Unlike Native American culture, which is dying out, Hispanic culture and the influences of other immigrants is rising.

Another definition of culture is “a set of beliefs and behavior patterns that are generally shared by the members of a group.”  According to this definition, the authentic American culture could conceivably be just based off the unique values our country holds.  American culture is freedom – freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press.  American culture is rights – women’s rights, minority rights, rights to own property, rights to bear arms, etc.  I personally believe that this is what makes our country’s culture.  Yes, many countries have deep-rooted, historical, and colorful cultures that were based on the indigenous peoples, traditions, and foods.  However, America’s culture is based on values and ideas that set us apart from the rest of the world and give us a strong advantage.  

Perhaps American culture is something found in the private homes of each and every one of us, in our families, or in our country’s values.  Perhaps that is why we are able to appreciate the integration of outside cultures in our land – because many of us have a story to tell about how our parents or grandparents or great-grandparents came to this nation of freedom.  If at the end of the day, American culture is something personal and non-communal, what does American culture mean to you?  Do you think we have one single culture, or is our culture truly and solely made up of the many cultures immigrants bring along with them?  

Please comment your thoughts!

Should Affirmative Action Continue?

For more than three centuries, the New World, eventually to be known as the United States of America, has been multicultural.  We are a nation of natives, immigrants and slaves.  Except for the Native Americans, our citizens come from every corner of the planet.  However, despite the fact that our Declaration of Independence contains Thomas Jefferson’s quote that “all men are created equal,” not all Americans have always been treated as such by our government, policies, culture and citizenry.

The concept of Affirmative Action – “…programs meant to break down barriers, both visible and invisible, to level the playing field, and to make sure everyone is given an equal break. They are not meant to guarantee equal results -- but instead proceed on the common-sense notion that if equality of opportunity were a reality, African Americans, women, people with disabilities and other groups facing discrimination would be fairly represented in the nation's work force and educational institutions” began to materialize as early as the end of the Civil War and in 1941 under President Franklin Roosevelt.  Affirmative Action continued to be honed and reached a climax, of sorts, in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson.

Centuries of banishment/internment, slavery, segregation, discrimination and denial of opportunity of and to these abovementioned, et al. citizens – to eventually be labeled “protected class groups,” and to include some military veterans in 1972 - was the impetus and rationale behind this equal opportunity programming in and federal funding for public employment and education.

Fast forward to 1991 when, while African American Clarence Thomas was enduring his Senate Confirmation Hearings for Supreme Court Justice, he made it clear that, although he had taken full advantage of Affirmative Action to gain access to Yale Law School, Affirmative Action’s utility had passed.  His tenure as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court has seen many examples of him dissenting against Affirmative Action cases.  He has cited Missouri v. Jenkins (1995) which states “at the heart of this {guarantee} lies the principle that the government must treat citizens as individuals, and not as members of racial, ethnic, or religious groups.”  To the dismay of many, Justice Thomas opposes Affirmative Action now because he feels that it violates the U. S. Constitution.

Fast forward again to 2008 when Barack Obama was elected President of the United States - a truly profound historical milestone for a nation who once bought, sold and enslaved African Americans like cattle.

In a few short (for some, anyway) centuries, we have come full circle.  Protected class groups have the same opportunities under the law as the majority regarding participation in the political process, choice, education, employment, even election to the highest office in the land.  Thus, is Affirmative Action now obsolete?  Is it a policy without a cause, an anachronism such as the Pennsylvania law a person is not eligible to become Governor if he/she has participated in a duel?!

Although suspicion, distrust, hate and discrimination will always exist in the hearts of some people, it is illegal to act on these against American citizens.  There are laws, there is precedent and…there is social media…and video, and live mics.  We live in a world that is so utterly transparent it is nearly impossible to “get away” with anything without someone posting the incident to Facebook and filing a lawsuit.

Seriously, we have an entire federal commission – the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC (which Clarence Thomas once chaired) tasked with enforcing the seven federal laws, titles and acts prohibiting job discrimination.  They also provide oversight and coordination of all federal equal employment opportunity regulations, practices and policies. It has offices throughout the country and a toll free number (i.e., they are accessible to all).  There are also state and local laws which protect against discrimination and harassment in education and the work place.

Do we need to set aside slots for protected class groups in public employment and education in this day and age, after all the barriers we’ve broken and given all the laws we have on the books?  If an LGBTQA citizen or disabled veteran feels he/she has been discriminated against, between Title I, Title VII and Facebook, recourse and justice await her/him.

A Melting Pot or a Salad Bowl

Immigration is an integral part of America’s cultural identity and identity as a whole.  There exist two metaphors that describe multiculturalism in the US and attempt to paint the picture of precisely what happens to immigrants when they arrive on American soil.  

America is a Melting Pot. 

I’m positive everyone’s heard this traditional metaphor that dates all the way back to the eighteenth century.  The Melting Pot is all about unifying and becoming one (or essentially more homogeneous).  According to Politico Magazine, “the melting pot stands for amalgamation, the voluntary blending of previously distinct groups into a new community.”  But there’s a newer metaphor that seems to slowly be taking its place as we continue to modernize, accommodate, and progress. 

America is a Salad Bowl (or Mixed/Tossed Salad).

The Salad Bowl is about retaining the individuality of immigrants and merely tossing everyone together (or essentially becoming more heterogeneous) “bound together only by the ‘dressing’ of law and the market” in the bowl that represents our country.

These metaphors can be interpreted in numerous different ways and carry multiple positive and negative connotations.

Countless immigrants are genuinely concerned about losing the unique cultural backgrounds that they brought with them.  The Melting Pot metaphor almost implies that their cultures will melt away in the big pot that is America, leaving them lost and forced to adapt to an unknown land and its people. 

Although immigrants may feel lost and as if the culture that they hold so dear and close is slipping from their grip, they will be found again, but as Americans.  J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur was an immigrant from France who (when he spoke of America) stated that “individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world.”  There is a sense of great patriotic beauty in this, but also a sense of loss – Loss of origin, loss of cultural identity, and loss of tradition.

Racial profiling has been a huge problem in the US.  Many Americans feel generalized by being forced to check off boxes on Census forms and other government documents.  Many peoples’ races/ethnicities are not even listed as options to check off.  People didn’t want to be defined or confined by this type of racial profiling.  The sense of loss people feel may have resulted in why many people of rich cultural backgrounds wish to be called Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Chinese-Americans, African-Americans etc., proudly letting their identities show through. 

The preference of hyphenated labels is growing in popularity as people move away from the cut-and-dry racial and ethnic identity check boxes on government documents.  This is where the Salad Bowl idea comes in as a protector of these identities and customs.  The Salad Bowl advocates for Americans to cherish their heritage, where the Melting Pot advocates for the unification of the country by letting go of some customs and ideals that do not match American ones.   

Furthermore, Americans are actually maintaining the Melting Pot metaphor through interracial marriages. According to the Pew Research Center, in 2010 37.5 percent of newlywednative-born Asian-Americans and 36.2 percent of newlywed native-born Hispanicsmarried outside of their race/ethnicity.  Marrying outside of race/ethnicity is the Melting Pot at work.  This displays physical mixing, possible sharing of cultures, and blending of values, as opposed to strictly marrying within a specific ethnic group and preserving the same customs together. 

I personally believe that the materialism of the salad bowl metaphor could potentially divide immigrants into fixed groups and eventually promote ghettos.  Assimilation (or more specifically, amalgamation), as suggested by the melting pot metaphor, however, could possibly help immigrants integrate more into American culture.  When they do so, their culture becomes our culture and we can all join together as Americans on common ground.  Embracing individual culture and background is extremely important in keeping the multiculturalism and diversity in America alive.  However, blending (not merely mixing) and truly sharing the culture, I believe, is of utmost importance.

So what is modern-day America – A Melting Pot or a Salad Bowl?  Or maybe a little bit of both? – Like a hardy stew (blended but with some chunks remaining)?  What do you think it should be?