What I got from the Viera paper, last week’s discussion, and my personal experiences is that it is so hard for immigrants to come to this country and maintain their background successfully. The South Hills Azorean community talked about how the immigrants had a very hard time balancing their language skills in their native tongue and English.
I had a very similar experience but it also impacted my cultural roots. My brother and I have grown very distant because it feels like America has such a strong sense of its culture that it overpowers immigrants. Not only that, but many parts of America have a hard time embracing all cultural traditions and being open to all experiences. For example, growing up Kwanzaa was always mentioned as somewhat of a joke and “not a real holiday” as opposed to Christmas. We celebrated Christmas Break, not Hannukah or Kwanzaa or even a Holiday Break. There are certain “American Traditions” that are valued over the others and that makes it hard for an immigrant to blend in their culture into what they thought was the “Melting Pot of America”.
So how do we create an environment that fosters for healthy bilingual and multicultural growth?
I believe the solution to the dilemma you are rightfully pointing out is one that can only really come about via means of a cultural transformation. Despite being in a country that has long been described as “the world’s melting pot”, we no longer seem to value the benefits of multiculturalism, or even take pride in it as we once did.
History can only teach us so much, however, as the globalized world we live in ,where long-lasting concepts such as English as a natural language or cultures existing in pure isolation are falling apart, is one strictly unique to us. In this sense, it is not just America but the world itself which has become a melting pot. Since we readily acknowledge that such a world is here to stay, then it would seem most rational to embrace the benefits that come from such a state.
Yet not everyone feels this way, and as such the situation you have described still remains. Hence the cultural solution. Policy can encourage attitudes and short-term fixes but it rarely creates LONG-term solutions when it comes to matters of social perception. By encouraging things such as linguist and cultural exposure in our institutions we can come close, but such a world won’t readily exist until the people that comprise it catch up to speed to the point where it becomes a norm.
One general problem I find with America’s culturalism is the overarching idea of the “melting pot”. A melting pot implies that once entered, it become apart of a singular broth. This notion in general removes the entire idea of becoming an individual and upholding previous cultures. I have heard a few other terms for this, one of my favorites being “a tossed salad”. While there are clear separate pieces, together, delicious. And who is stopping you from creating a pizza salad! Yet, with sincerity, I do find America’s goal of making everyone like “us” counteracting the original intentions of our constitution. This concept is not only applied to those in our country, but those in others as well. Our government strives to improve the lives of those in other countries if we find it unjust, many times without consent from their citizens. It is disheartening to learn about people coming to America and losing their culture because I genuinely believe it is something which makes our country stronger.
Above it seems like “lgend” stole the comment I was going to make about the idea of the “melting pot” insinuating a loss of individuality and difference. Almost verbatim to the comment above I planned to point out the concept that our country should instead be seen as a “salad” (where everything is in the same bowl but each ingredient can stand out independently) because I think that is the only way will be able to “create an environment that fosters healthy bilingual and multicultural growth.” Growing up as a first generation American here I have had a unique opportunity to see first hand what life is like for immigrants in the US and I have witnessed the aforementioned “overpower[ing]” pressure that American culture can force on newcomers. As a kid I wanted my family to assimilate as much as possible I didn’t want to stand out; as a child I wanted to ‘melt-in’ with the rest of the melting pot. However now as a young adult I realize the importance of embracing multiple cultures and I hope to only add to the colorful salad we are in the states.