When I first began reading the articles, I realized that it had never occurred to me that there is technically no ethnic group called “American”. This fact struck me as very odd, because for all of my life, I have just accepted the idea that I am an American. And I say this with a deeper meaning than that of just the country of my birth. For me, the idea of an “American” has taken on a much larger meaning. It defines who I was, who I am, and who I will always be.
I agree with Ashley in her disregard for Park’s assumption that all immigrants come to America only to leave behind their ethnic past and culture, assimilating entirely to the American lifestyle. Many – dare I say ‘most’ – immigrants are coming to America to make a better life for themselves and their families, becoming Americans yet never losing the part of them “on the left side of the hyphen.” I think that immigrants of long ago felt more pressure to assimilate quickly due to the sheer fact that racism and discrimination was a very popular thing among so called “native-born” Americans. In more recent times, however, I feel that immigrants do not feel the same need to fit in. American society is embracing the many different cultures coming to this country, and as was stated in the Kasinitz article, the ethnic groups and cultures are meshing very well with one another, creating an entirely new group altogether.
As Ashley and William said, I feel that America can now be seen as more of a “salad bowl” rather than a “melting pot”, which to me, is a very cool thing. I mean, how boring would life in America be if everyone just melted into society, shedding their unique cultural backgrounds to become exactly like everyone else?
