What Makes A Melting Pot - 1168 Words

The concept of a ‘Melting pot† is an idea that America is known for and accustomed to for years and years to come. Unfortunately, that analogy leads people to get rid of their culture for the American culture. Leading the public to the point where they strive to prove their differences just to stand out and make a name. One demographic, African Americans, have been trying to reconnect to their native heritage after being stripped from their identity years ago. From their traditions, how they cook food, and the way they do their hair. African Americans have become more determined to be in touch with their inner self as the years go by. Because they were ripped from their homeland African Americans may never know to the full extent of†¦show more content†¦One ever feels his twoness, - an American, a Negro; two souls in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder† (Du Bois 9). The since of double-consciousness was created by the White hegemony, but kept by the non-white percent of America’s population obligated to negotiate their individualism for the â€Å"Melting Pot† America generates. Alice Walker, a protuberant African American writer from the rural South, understood all too well this idea of â€Å"double consciousness†, which she demonstrated in many of her writings. In her short story, â€Å"Everyday Use†, Walker makes the African American struggle palpable and brings it into the present by interlacing the double consciousness into characters and settings that investigate the social and personal struggles facing the African American people. In her story, she has three main characters Mama, Dee, and Maggie. Walker incorporates the struggle of being an African American as the centerpiece of her story â€Å"Everyday Use.† The author uses Mama, who is unwilling to submit to the expectations of white America and what it must offer. Mama is not in a rush to pick at herse lf to be accepted into America. The next character Maggie is also not in a rush to grow up and get in line with the rest of society and being a part of the White supremacy that her nation must offer. Finally, Dee, Mama’s oldest is returning from college and doesShow MoreRelatedMelting Pot Vs Salad Bowl Essay795 Words   |  4 Pagesof the most advanced societies known for having many cultures in it, is it a melting pot or a salad bowl? Salad bowl referring to it takes in the culture and is never changed and just mixes in, while melting pot means that it takes in the culture, â€Å"melts† it down, and has one American society. Hudson 1 I believe that American is a mix between a melting pot and a salad bowl, meaning that I believe in the part of melting pot where it â€Å"melts† down a culture and mixes it in, but some of it isn’t â€Å"melted†Read MoreThe Myth Of The Melting Pot1352 Words   |  6 PagesMyth of the Melting Pot† 13 November 2015 The Myth of the Melting Pot It is popularly believed that America is the biggest and most famous melting pot in the world. American history began with waves of immigrants bringing their own traditions, and culture to a new country. America is not the only country that is known as a melting pot, other countries like Russia are also practicing the melting pot; however, America is the only place that has such a diverse population and manages to make it work. 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Just like â€Å"The Chinese in All of Us† by Richard Rodriguez where he explains that he feels connected to a ll the cultures around America, with its â€Å"culture, a sound, an accent, a walk.† (Rodriguez 730). It does not mean and require that you mustRead MoreThe Effects Of Immigration On The United States887 Words   |  4 Pagesseparate identities, with no dominant culture) which Americans should acknowledge, because it is our own unyielding nature that deprives us of a symbiotic melting pot . Living in border states such as Texas, Arizona, or California may give the illusion or appear as though the overflow of immigrants has converted these few states into a melting pot society, and actually without a doubt, is has. 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The melting pot theory is â€Å"a metaphor that implies the melting of cultures and intermarriage for ethnicities; a cultural assimilation of immigrants into one new land† (United States Bureau of the Census 1). A good example of the melting pot theory is the country of Colombia; a melting pot of races and ethnicities. The population is derived from three different racial groups: blacks, Native AmericansRead MoreThe Melting Pot By The American Dream Essay1660 Words   |  7 Pages Since the great land of North America had been conquered by the British, it had been called as a big â€Å"melting pot† for many years. Wave after wave of immigrants with different ethnic backgrounds, birthplaces, cultures and heritages moved to this fresh, new land for an identical purpose ---- the divine â€Å"American Dream.† Generations of immigrants who have different faces and skin colors melted and reformed together in this homogenous broth. They cast of their unique cultural i dentities during theRead MorePerspectives on Diversity1400 Words   |  6 Pagesand not allowed to even return home on the weekends. The children were forced to cut their hair in Anglo styles and dress in Anglo style clothing in an effort to have them give up their heritage. Many years passed and finally the absurdity of what they were trying to do was realized that their emphasis on conformity, uniformity and individual achievement were too contrary to the intrinsic Native American values. Some immigrant groups benefited from the Anglo conformity such as the NorthernRead MoreStruggles of Immigrants Essay1158 Words   |  5 PagesDudley’s poem â€Å"The Melting Pot† (1968) tells about the immigrants problem of identity. The poem speaks about the discrimination experienced by those immigrants. Each of the stanzas consists of four lines (quatrain), except the third and the fourth, which are couplets, and they have rhymes at the end of several lines (Welcome). For the writer this rhyming sound is necessary, that is why in the first stanza he writes â€Å"girl or man,† which usually would be girl and boy, or woman and man, to make it rhyme with