Cultural Diversity in the U.S.

The United States boasts the greatest cultural diversity of any nation in the world. Among these cultures are African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian Pacifics, and European immigrants. The common ground these groups share is their belief in the American Dream.

Diversity is found even within ethnic groups. Native-born blacks as well as recent immigrants from the Caribbean and Africa are classified as African-American. The term "Hispanic" refers to a wide range of groups including Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and immigrants from South and Central America. (Mexican-Americans represent the largest group among the Hispanic population.) Native Americans are identified according to their tribal affiliation, which includes Sioux, Cherokee, Chippewa, and Navaho. European immigrants hail from countries as diverse as Ireland, England, France, and Germany. (Among Europeans, the Irish have emigrated to America in the greatest numbers in recent years.) An Asian-American could have Japanese, Chinese, Korean, or Southeast Asian ancestry. The United States truly represents a salad bowl of humanity: "America does not belong to one race or one group . . . Americans have been constantly redefining their national identity from the moment of first contact on the Virginia shore" (Takaki, 1993, p. 17).

America was once considered a country where different nationalities blended into a melting pot. This assimilation implied that successive generatio

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tions and the scandal of Asian fundraising in the White House have created concerns: "Most non-Asians in America adhere to the widely-held misconception that Asians in the United States are 'accountable' for the doings of their ancestral lands. This fact creates an uneasy and difficult situation for these Asians" (Ishi, 1991, p. 130). Economic success has created a divided world for African-Americans. On one hand, millions of blacks have experienced upward mobility. A significant percentage of blacks attend college and enjoy ample employment opportunities: "African Americans came to be accepted as supervisors and managers in the nation's largest businesses. Their children began graduating from the nation's finest colleges, and for some the future looked bright" (Hoobler, 1995b, p. 101). But outside the world of the employed is the grim world of inner-city ghettoes in which residents are trapped in a cycle of crime, poverty, and unwed pregnancy. Mexican-Americans also face both economic prosperity and uncertainty. As with immigrants of the past, most Mexican-Americans come to the United States to seek a better life. Mexico's chronic poverty has motivated significant numbers of Mexicans to cross the American border, som

Category: History - C