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American Culture and National Identity

Essay Instructions:
According to Takaki, Ronald. 'A different mirror' Little, Brown and Company. 2009 what is fueling the debate over nationality? How does language play a critical part in the process of social control?( Role of media, images, and literature) Define and give an example for the following two concepts: acculturation and assimilation. Name the policies/ laws that were factors in keeping African Americans, Asian Americans, and Mexican Americans, and Ethnic Europeans in barrios, ghettos, and urban enclaves during the 19th and early 20th century? How did the U.S. achieve its status as a world power at the turn of the 19th century?( overseas expansion and wars) Discuss the important role Mutual Aid Societies for Philippines, Chinese, and Japanese people during the 19th century. Discuss the origins of the sexual division of labor. Answer these questions by referencing and using examples from the text. Do not use internet to find the answers. Give specific details and examples for the question and have minimum of 4 key term and concepts to use within the essay and underline it. Provide the names of the individual and their contributions to any specific event.
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American Culture and National Identity
The debate according to Takaki in the book a different mirror over nationality is fuelled by the multicultural America perspectives of the minority. Takaki incorporated letters, quotes, telegrams, folk songs and photographs to indicate the intensity of minority oppression. The book goes ahead to reflect on Native Americans, Irish, Chinese, Jews, Chicanos, Mexicans and African-American post and pre slavery era (Takaki 28). The debate arose from the reflection of the minority communities in United States of America. Each chapter in the book identifies with a different ethnic group focusing on the attitudes portrayed by the public on minority, laws, public policy and the attitudes displayed by the minority in the same pretext.
The debate over nationality was fuelled by the theme in the books that continuously states on ‘us against them’ raising the nationality issue. It seems the American society is subdivided into individual ethnic groups (Takaki 34). The minority groups in America fears the multitudes considered giddy. Nationality identifies with country an individual is born and raised in. Nationality does not consider ethnicity, race, genetic makeup and heritage. Race is based on the physical characteristics like the colour of the skin; ethnicity considers representation of social groups with a common history, identity, cultural roots and geography despite the place of birth and racial differences.
Language plays a critical role in the social control. The modern language influences the social control through media, literature and images. Social control reflects the political mechanisms, societal mechanism and processes that guide people in the society. Takaki indicated that society is regulated by the group behavior and individual behavior (Takaki 103). The coexistent of the above factors leads to compliance and conformity to the set rules in the state, society and social group. There are a number of mechanisms that are in place controlling the social aspects in cross cultural environment. Takaki noted that social controls relates with external sanctions and internalization of the values and norms in the society.
Media plays a crucial part in the society today. This is considering that the societal lifestyle in influenced by the media. Media broadcasts in different languages and consists of literature and images. It is all around people. Media ranges from the television shows, music in the radio, magazines and books. Media entertains and educates the viewers, this part of informing the society alternatively controlling the social norms (Takaki 104). It is believed that culture has taken a new twist with social norms being regulated by the advertising. Commercial advertisements are all over the media encouraging consumers to purchase the products and services. American population is made up of different cultures. Takaki indicated that the multicultural America has different ethnic groups with a set of cultures in place. They were considered as the minority by the American society.
Acculturation identities with adoption of the behavior patterns of dominant culture, this is basically assimilating new ideas to the cognitive existing structure. Takaki noted that acculturation resonates with psychological changes and cultural change. The results of acculturation exist in both cultures. Acculturation in group level, interactions are evident considering customs, cultural norms and social institutions. It is observed that acculturation leads to changes in clothing, food and the language (Takaki 106). There changes evident at the individual level resonating with individual behavior, psychological changes and physical adaptation. It is worth noting that acculturation relates with second language learning while enculturation relates with first culture learning. Takaki indicated that the minority groups in America who were mainly the slaves, immigrants and the indigenous people underwent through acculturation. The American society was the dominant figure. The societies had to adapt to each other to enhance coexistence.
Assimilation reflects notion of people belonging to different backgrounds coming together and seeing themselves as part of one larger national family. It is a social process driving at absorption of one cultural group to another. The minority cultures in the America underwent assimilation by Americanization of the Native Americans. Takaki indicated that Native American cultures were transformed to European-American culture (Takaki 112). A policy was set up to undersea the process of Americanization of the Native Americans commonly referred to as the minority groups. The policy was known as the ‘civilizing’. This was done through education that planted standards practices and cultural values. The policies governing Americanization identified with indigenous and minority cultures had to learn European-American values and cultures. This was considered effective in that traditions relating to tribes would be merged with the European-American culture enabling assimilation to the majority society.
There were laws in place in America that kept African Americans, Mexican Americans and Asian Americans in ethnic barriers confined to barrios, ghettos an...
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