Latino Assimilation to American Culture - 1291 Words

Latino Culture: The Struggle with the American ‘Melting Pot’ The year is 1776. In an act of defiance of the oppressive rule of the powerful nation of Great Britain, the political leaders of the British-American colonies sign into existence the United States of America. Even before this inception of the United States, North America had been seen as a place where one could move to start a new life and reap the full rewards for one’s work. These opportunities combined with the new United States government founded on the ideals of freedom and equity have attracted countless families from all over the world, making the United States truly a country of immigrants. Immigrants from European nations coming to America both assimilated and helped†¦show more content†¦He even went so far as to name her brother Malcolm X to increase his family’s likeness to African Americans. Unfortunately, trying to adopt American culture changed the social status of Latinos very little because they were judged by their ethnicity not the quality of their English or how well they could keep up with modern fashion. No amount of cultural assimilation would give them the American dream they sought, but who can blame them for hoping? The human brain is designed to gain meaning from the world in patterns, and the pattern that stood out most clearly to them was; ‘Those who don’t stand out from American society get what they want out of life.’ Economic gain was a strong motivation for many Latinos to integrate, but others had more socially driven incentives. Latin Americans who have spent their whole lives stateside inevitably learn how to act ‘American’ in order to fit in at school and in public. A good example is Cherrà ­e Moraga. Moraga is a Chicana, who grew up in California as the daughter of her two fairly well off Hispanic parents. She was considered a Gà ¼era, or fair skinned Hispanic, meaning that she could pass as a person of white ethnicity. In some ways Moraga had all of the opportunities that came with being in the ethnic majority, but having these opportunities required that she hide her Hispanic cultural roots. In herShow MoreRelatedThe Issue Of Immigration Has Been On The Forefront Major Debates1684 Words   |  7 Pagesstimulating topics of discussion. Often when discussing immigration the question of assimilation also arises and whether or not immigrants are truly doing so. Since the beginning of this country, immigrants and even natives of the land have been pressured to assimilate to â€Å"American† Culture and to commit to its standards. When a group of people fail to assimilate to these standards, they encounter critics. The Native Americans, who wanted to preserve their traditions and values, had their children takenRead MoreFear Of The Latino Invasion Essay1668 Words   |  7 PagesGutierrez from Latinos for Trump exclaimed that: â€Å"My culture is a very dominant culture, and it’s imposing and it’s causing problems†¦ if yo u don’t do something about it, you’re going to have taco trucks on every corner.† The hashtag ‘#tacotrucksoneverycorner’ blew up on Twitter and Facebook as many people fantasized about a utopia in which you could have nearly unlimited access to tacos al pastor. However, Gutierrez’s comment also cast a light on a very serious cause of anxiety for many Americans. SpecificallyRead MoreCultural Assimilation Of Hispanic Immigrants996 Words   |  4 PagesCultural Assimilation of Latino Immigrants in the United States Latino immigrants have always had many obstacles when coming into the United States, the difference between the American and the Latin cultures is what has caused a huge hurdle that immigrants have found hard to overpass. This obstacle has caused many generations to go through cultural assimilation. Mize et al. (2012) explain that cultural assimilation is the adaptation of immigrants to unfamiliar cultural patterns, which includeRead MoreImmigration And The American Culture1238 Words   |  5 Pagesintegrated themselves into the American Society based on what they believed the American culture and customs were. Sometimes they chose not to practice them because they were against their own personal beliefs (Zunz, Bodnar, and Thernstrom, p.53.). In recent arguments, some people believe that assimilation is achieved by adopting the American norms and language. While others believe immigrants should integrate their own customs and language into the American culture. These speculations have placedRead MoreAssimilating to Fukuyamas Immigrants and Falmily Values Essay882 Words   |  4 Pagesnot a threat for American family values, but rather American culture can become a threat for â€Å"newcomers†. On the other hand, Fukuyama expressed that as long as first generation immigrants want to keep their culture and language intact in school that will keep them from really assimilating the new culture. Before explaining why immigrants are not a threat for United States family values, Fukuyama introduced the opposing attitudes about immigrants being a threat for traditional American family valuesRead MorePast, Present, Future: American Indians and Latino Americans1480 Words   |  6 Pagespeople of different backgrounds. American Indians are a group that will has an interesting set of challenges because they are a minority in the United States that did not emigrate from another country, but were essentially victims of American Manifest Destiny. American Indians have gone through a lot of hardship in this country and continue to struggle with modern day America as they try to uphold their proud traditions. On the other hand Latinos deal with assimilation and mass in group segregationRead MoreAmerican Culture And Its Impact On American Society1599 Words   |  7 Pagesenter American Society and how have they assimilated or integrated to become part of it? Hispanics are a minority gr oup who have overcome many struggles and stereotypes throughout history. It is important to know how it all started and how they managed to become such a huge part of todays society.  Hispanics Americans constitute more than 15% of the U.S population, and the number is still growing. It is the country’s largest ethnic minority group. When Hispanics enter into the American mainstreamRead MoreEthnic Assimilation From The United States1097 Words   |  5 Pagescultural assimilation; the different theories of assimilation will be explored. The idea of Assimilation came about in the early 20th century. (Golash-Boza, 2006) Assimilation is surrounded by two theories, the first that all immigrants will assimilate sooner or later and that the generational status of the individual is one of the main factors in determining the persons level of assimilation into the particular society. (Golash-Boza, 2006) Within Assimilation there is segmented assimilation whichRead MoreModule 2 : Thinking Like A Historian1419 Words   |  6 Pagesselections to support your answers. 1.) What issues that surround Latino immigration to America does each author address? Dr. Jason Richwine discusses the Latino’s absorption and integration into the American culture. He compares the Latino nation with other countries’ immigrants that has rose out of poverty, while the Hispanics have not been rising up out of the lower class after several generations have passed. Richwine mentions that American prejudice might be influencing the Hispanic immigrants notRead MoreEssay on cultrual cultural deprivation the hispanic challenge699 Words   |  3 Pageslike African Americans and Latinos possess more concrete thinking. Current manifestations of this can be seen from Samuel Huntington’s article â€Å"The Hispanic Challenge.† nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Huntington believes that the Latino culture is deprived because Latino’s have not assimilated into American culture, and thus, can’t succeed within its boundaries. According to Huntington, unlike previous immigrants, Hispanics wish to retain a dual culture. This presents them with the culture clash of two