American Culture Essay Example

American Culture Essay Introduction

People in their own culture tend to share their beliefs, common values, and traditions. This exchange creates the culture and society itself. Nevertheless, unfortunate events may exist when a group of people needs to move to a different country due to financial, ethnic, or political issues. This paper discusses whether black Americans have been assimilated into the mainstream of US society. Also, explanations of assimilation and mainstream have been stated. Accordingly, although one may claim the past age of racial discrimination and following compulsory assimilation, black people indeed contributed a lot to forming mainstream American society as the country itself is a land of immigrants.

Body Paragraphs

In sociology, “assimilation describes the process of social, cultural, and political integration of a minority into a dominant culture and society” (“Introduction to Sociology,” 2019, para. 1). In other words, assimilation refers to the cultural transformation of the immigrant group in a specific country. In this sense, one may recognize immigrant assimilation as one of the most constant patterns. Social specialists count on 4 principal benchmarks to evaluate assimilation; geographic distribution, socioeconomic state, secondary language fulfillment, and intermarriage. In this sense, one may claim a sense of assimilation after observing the above benchmarks in the society between different races.

According to Doran & Littrel, having high motivational value priorities for universalism, self-direction, and benevolence, with the lowest priorities for achievement and power, are among the mainstream US cultural values (2012). On the other hand, Wiktionary defines mainstream America as a “part of American society which is normal, is not deviant because of ethnicity, religion, lack of religion, culture or values” (“Definitions,” 2019, n.p.). Subsequently, one may readily infer that these terms can be interpreted individually as there is no precise definition of mainstream America.

The mass migration of Europeans and the great migration of African Americans contributed a lot to creating the modern American ethnic and racial landscape. Arguably, one may suggest that native whites more readily accepted European immigrants. However, when later African Americans arrived in the US-North during the first Great Migration (1915—1930), native people were not as welcoming as they were against white Europeans (Fouka, Mazumder, & Tabellini, 2018). In this sense, Fouka, Mazumder, & Tabellini argue that “black inflows led to establishing a binary black-white racial classification and facilitated the incorporation of – previously racially ambiguous – European immigrants into the white majority” (2018, p. 2). In other words, black immigrants increased the effort exerted by immigrants to assimilate and their eventual Americanization (Lewis & Ford-Robertson, 2010). Subsequently, one may readily interpret that black people have drastically contributed to mainstream American society (based on the values above) rather than assimilated.

American Culture Essay Conclusion

In conclusion, the paper presents insights into a probable assimilation hypothesis of Black Americans in US society. Also, clear definitions of assimilation and mainstream America have been stated. Assimilation refers to the cultural, political, and social assimilation of a minority into a prevailing society and culture. Also, mainstream America is defined as a part of American society which is normal, is not deviant because of ethnicity, religion, lack of religion, culture, or values. Arguably, black immigrants increased the effort exerted by other immigrants to assimilate and their eventual Americanization, which eventually created the American society and culture. Although one may claim compulsory assimilation, black people indeed contributed a lot to forming mainstream American society instead of being assimilated.

References

Definitions for ‘mainstream’ America. (2019). Accessed on January 23, 2020.

Doran, C. J., & Littrell, R. F. (2012). Measuring Mainstream US Cultural Values. Journal of Business Ethics, 117(2), 261–280. doi: 10.1007/s10551-012-1515-z

Fouka, V., Mazumder, S., & Tabellini, M. (2018). From Immigrants to Americans: Race and Assimilation During the Great Migration. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi: 10.2139/ssrn.3242111

Introduction to Sociology. (2019). Accessed on January 23, 2020, from courses.lumenlearning.com/cochise-sociology-os/chapter/assimilation/

Lewis, R., & Ford-Robertson, J. (2010). Understanding the Occurrence of Interracial Marriage in the United States Through Differential Assimilation. Journal of Black Studies, 41(2), 405–420. doi: 10.1177/0021934709355120