Diversity and Pluralistic Approach in American History

Diversity in America

History has never been one of my favorite subjects; however this class has sparked a new interest in me in regards to my culture and how that culture came to be. This Cultural Diversity course has made me pay more attention to the people around me. I think this awareness has helped me relate to and also understand people in a way that I never have before. The one thing that totally surprised me was finding out that white privilege was something real. I thought that this was an ill feeling and belief that mostly Black people had in regards to the White race.

White people, in my mind, had it all; they had certain advantages simply because they were White. The White Privilege section in Chapter 13 of Racial Ethnic Groups states a few of those advantages. I knew that being considered financially reliable, having the ability of articulation, and seeing people of the same race being represented in popular media were common advantages of the White race. Consequently, I thought they saw themselves as privileged and were proud about it. The information from this course that will be the most memorable is that, in general, the people from the White race do not see themselves as have any ethnicity.

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They feel as though they have been separated from their European roots; they are simply Caucasian. They are also victims of reverse discrimination; I almost laughed the first time I read this in the text. Now, I know that this is a laughing matter. I have seen evidence of this in my life. I asked 50 of my neighbors a yes or no question. This question was: “Do you believe that most Black people would label a random White person they see on the street as a racist? ” Out of the 50 people, of evenly varied ethnicities, 41 of them replied with a yes.

These results are a relevant example of how much diversity affects the person, currently and throughout history. Something New With my mother being Black and my father being Puerto Rican, I have always been curious about my cultural roots; however, they both passed away when I was very young, so I never had the chance to inquire about my Hipic side. One of things that I learned from this course was that there are about 4. 4 million Puerto Ricans here in the United States; I never could have imagined that number being so great in value.

Another surprising fact I learned was that between the years of 1990 and 2009, the population of Puerto Ricans in New York fell by more than 100,000. U. S. Population in Year 2050 Let’s take a break on the present and think about the future of the United States. With all of the immigrants relocating here daily, along with the increasing amounts of interracial marriage, it should come to no surprise that by the year 2050 the Whites will no longer be the majority race. The Black, Hipic, Asian, and Native American portion of the population is estimated to rise from 36 percent to 54 percent.

This nation is comparable to a super-magnet; America attracts people from all over the world. The population is expected to rise 100 million by the year 2050, but this number all depends on the amount of immigration. Estimates of the United States population around the year 2050 vary from the U. N. ’s 404 million to the U. S. Census Bureau’s 422 to 458 million. U. S. + Diversity = Challenges The challenges that the United States have faced and overcome are a small reflection of the future challenges that America will have in the future.

There will be challenges based around race, equality/inequality, and energy in the future. My great-grandmother said, “There is nothing new under the sun. Some days are just a shade darker or brighter in some people’s eyes. ” I also believe that illegal immigration will become more of a problem in the future because of the direct relation that it has to the American population. The more people who come illegally, has a direct relation to certain increases in crime for most major cities.

This is because they are not able to work in America legally; they have to get their money somehow, and illegal crimes is the most common choice of immigrants who come here illegally. Benefits of a Diverse Society Benefits of a diverse society help in every aspect of our individual lives and in our lives as a whole. People of different cultures offer different views in many areas. These benefits enrich our lives and the acceptance of those benefits is enriching to the immigrants’ lives. The different seasonings at your local supermarket are a very small example of this country’s diversity.

People bring their cultures with them; those cultures, beliefs, and ways of living are new to us and many have been adapted and frequently used by the American people in their everyday lives. For example, acupuncture originally was used solely by the Chinese/Oriental people, but there are currently hundreds of thousands of people in America that either use, or practice acupuncture. Climate of Acceptance and Cultural Pluralism The question was posed, “How can we foster a climate of acceptance and cultural pluralism in the U. S. My very simple answer is by treating others the way that you would want to be treated by others. Compared to when my mother was a teenager, the level of “rudeness” is more than topped the charts. It seems like the everyday, normal “Joe” and “Jane” are always in a rut or exhibiting anger in some form. I believe this is a reaction what goes on their lives, like the people they interact with. So if the current reaction is different from past reactions, in a way it could be tied to their understanding of the people around them.

Diversity is very scary for some; those people feel this way because of some personal fear or cultural fear that has been passed down to them. The way to overcome this fear, is to prove this fear wrong. If I fear white people because I think they will look down on me, then I should be around them more to find out if that is true for every person of that race. Since that is not likely, it will prove that not every person of every race is that specific way. This is how we become more pluralistic. Meet more people of different races and ethnicities and your life will become more enriched.

A Change for Pluralism Pluralism is the term used for when people of all racial and ethnic groups have equal overall standings in their social lives; furthermore, the different identity groups coexist, but they also maintain their own distinctive cultures. As of yet, the United States has not achieved social pluralism, but if we all put forth our best efforts to change some of our behaviors, we could more than possibly achieve this incredible goal. Personally, the first behavioral change that I would make would be to avoid telling, listening, and participating in ethnic-based jokes.

I believe that people sometimes do not realize how hurtful those “LOL’s” can be. Reading books/magazines and watching plays and movies about various groups not of your own can better acquaint and prepare you for face to face interactions. The most exciting change that I will make is learning about the various cultures, along with their beliefs, and traditions. Embracing and experiencing at least some part of another group’s ways, helps to close the gap between cultures and brings our society a little closer to being pluralistic.

This world is ours to make wonderful. Diversity is something that will enrich our lives, but has hindered our progress as a whole in the past. Pluralism is the next step in progression for the human race. Embrace your neighbor and all of their differences.

References

1. American Multicultural Publications, 2007-2012, Cultural diversity, www. diversity-books. com
2. Wikipedia, September 2012, cultural pluralism, http://wikipedia. org Wendy Baldwin, November 2012, Population Reference Bureau, www. prb. org
3. John J. Macionis, 2011-2012, Social Problems, Pearson

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