What are the national characteristics of the American race?

The population of the United States consists of many ethnic groups from different races, nationalities and religions. Therefore, many groups eventually formed a certain cultural life and shared the same social values. We call this process "assimilation". Scholars have different opinions on the current degree of assimilation in the United States. As we mentioned in the first chapter, some people call the United States a "melting pot" and think that different races and nations have merged to form the same culture. Others tend to compare the United States to a "salad bowl" and think that different groups are relatively independent and have differences, which leads to the cultural diversity of the whole country.

The real situation may be somewhere between these two views. Since 1776, the cultures of all ethnic groups and races in the United States have undergone remarkable integration, but some groups are still not fully integrated into the overall culture. Many of them actually belong to dual culture, that is, they think they are Americans, but they are also eager to preserve their original language and even some cultural traditions.

/kloc-Before European immigrants arrived in North America in the early 0/7th century, the local residents were always Hispanic. In Florida and the southeastern United States, Spaniards and Latinos had settled here for centuries before 13 colony formed the United States of America in the late 8th century. They not only have a long history of immigration in the United States, but also more Hispanics or Latino immigrants have joined the flood of newly established countries. Based on these two points, many Latinos or Latinos are deeply proud of maintaining their own cultural traditions and Spanish usage habits.

Generally speaking, whites from different countries and different religious backgrounds gradually assimilated in these years, and finally formed the mainstream culture of the United States, with some exceptions. Jews in the United States, for example, are a nation with a strong racial concept. The main reasons are as follows: in European Christian countries, Jews have been persecuted for a long time; Jews are a vulnerable group discriminated against in the United States, and anti-Semitism still exists in the United States. The Jewish nation itself has a strong sense of racial pride. However, in addition to strong feelings for their own nation, American Jews also have deep feelings for the mainstream culture of the whole country.

Establishment of mainstream culture

1790 The results of the first census in the United States showed that at that time, the national population was 4 million, most of them were white, and more than 89% of them could be traced back to Britain, while African Americans unexpectedly accounted for 20% of the total population, which was very high at any time, including nearly 700,000 black slaves and about 60,000 "free blacks". However, only a small number of taxpayers among the Native Americans were counted in the total population of this census, but in fact, the total population of the Native Americans at that time was close to 654.38+00,000.

Because white people occupy the vast majority of population, property and political rights in this country, this group finally determines the mainstream cultural content of the United States. During the American Revolution, whites were mostly middle-class Protestants of British descent. Sometimes we call these Americans "wasps" (white Protestants whose ancestors are Anglo-Saxons). However, many people now regard this as an insulting title. The personality characteristics of these people become the criteria for judging other groups. Those who have different religious beliefs (such as Irish Catholicism) or use different languages (such as German, Dutch and Swedish) become vulnerable groups and are not valued. Unless they actively integrate into the mainstream culture of this country, the situation will change. In the late18th century, this assimilation process went very smoothly. As historians Allen Nevin and Henry Steel Commager said, "British, Irish, German, ... Dutch, Swedish-they blend in and marry each other, and there is almost no difference between them."

The mainstream culture in early America should also be English, Western European, Protestant and middle class, which led to the emergence of the traditional values described by Tocqueville in the early 1930s. Immigrants with these characteristics are very popular in the United States, partly because Americans believe that these immigrants will resolutely safeguard the basic values of mainstream American culture, such as freedom, equal opportunity and hard work, in order to get a better life.

Assimilation process between non-Protestants and non-Western Europeans

As we have seen in many cultures, the difference between the characteristics of ethnic minorities and the main ethnic groups determines the acceptance of this ethnic minority. Although immigrants with similar characteristics to the aborigines are easily accepted, those with obviously different characteristics are often regarded as a threat to the traditional American value system and lifestyle.

This phenomenon is particularly prominent among the millions of immigrants who poured into the United States at the end of 19 and the beginning of 20th century. Most of these immigrants come from poor countries in eastern and southern Europe. They don't speak English, and most of them belong to Catholics or Jews.

At that time, the United States was deeply afraid of this new wave of immigrants. They are very afraid that these immigrants have become accustomed to the poor and self-reliant life in the past, so that they cannot understand the traditional American values such as freedom, self-reliance and free competition. In addition, there are so many immigrants that Americans even worry that these immigrants will change their basic values in an unpleasant way.

Americans try to confront what they think is a threat to their own value system. They took measures to provide English instruction for these new immigrants and city residents, trying to instill the basic American beliefs in these immigrants. However, immigrants often think that their American teachers don't respect the traditions of their home countries. In addition, learning the American value system is hardly helpful to meet their most important needs, such as work, food, housing and so on.

Most immigrants first arrived in the southeastern United States, and politicians in big cities in these areas helped these new immigrants the most. These politicians have found many practical values of these immigrants, and they are more tolerant of the different cultural traditions brought by these immigrants. The price immigrants pay for this help is that they must vote for these politicians in the election to ensure that these politicians continue to have political rights.

Many Americans attach great importance to these politicians, partly because they are usually corrupt, and they often use the government power they control to get money and use it for illegal activities. However, what disappoints Americans even more is that some practices of these politicians have actually damaged basic American values such as self-reliance and free competition.

It seems that these politicians are "teaching" these immigrants to become dependent on them rather than independent. Besides, in many big cities, politicians "buy" votes from immigrants in order to gain political power. This behavior breaks the law of free competition among government agencies, and Americans believe that equal competition in politics is as important as other aspects of American life.

Although people have a lot of criticism and dissatisfaction with these politicians, many scholars still believe that they played an important role in the development of the United States at the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century. On the condition of political support, they help new immigrants find jobs and housing, and then promote these immigrants to integrate into the mainstream American culture as soon as possible. In addition, they also help the children of these immigrants find jobs, but this second generation of immigrants already has an advantage: their language is English.

The rapid development of American economy at the turn of the century makes it possible for these new immigrants to improve their living standards in the United States with the help of politicians. With the increase of opportunities and rewards, immigrants began to gradually accept the value system of most mainstream American cultures, and they themselves were gradually accepted by most Americans. Therefore, for whites, their pride as a member of the whole country (that is, as an American) is far greater than their feelings as a member of a specific nation such as Ireland, Italy or Poland.

African-American experience

In the United States, the assimilation process of whites is much smoother than that of non-whites. As a non-white race, African Americans have great difficulties in integrating into the mainstream American culture. African-Americans did not come to the United States voluntarily. They were sold here as slaves. Except for the American Indian tribes who settled in the United States long before the arrival of whites, other ethnic groups moved here voluntarily, and most of them immigrated to improve their quality of life.

In the United States, the practice of making African Americans slaves is completely contradictory to the traditional values of "freedom" and "equal opportunity" in the United States. It divides the United States into two completely different parts: the southern part of the United States-black slaves are the foundation of the whole social and economic development; North America-People tend to think that slavery is illegal.

A few white people in the northern United States insist that slavery and freedom should not coexist in a country that advocates freedom. They advocated the abolition of slavery, even if it would lead to war with the southern United States. However, other whites in the north believe that only whites have the right to equal opportunities and freedom, and they are also worried that slavery will eventually deprive them of their economic freedom. For example, if slavery in the south is allowed to extend to the western frontier, those poor middle-class whites will no longer be able to regard the western frontier as an opportunity and an equal place for them to improve their living standards. More precisely, these white people need to compete with unpaid black labor, which they think is an insult to their work and will damage their social status.

Abraham lincoln became president of the United States because he not only catered to the idea that white idealists thought slavery was unfair treatment to African Americans, but also met the needs of most white North Americans who thought slavery was a threat to them. Lincoln's point of view is that if slavery continues to expand westward, the freedom and equal opportunity rights of white people will be violated. He also believes that basic values such as freedom and equal opportunity should be applied to all people, including blacks and whites, otherwise it cannot be called the basic values of Americans.

1860 After Lincoln won the presidential election, the southern states began to declare their secession and tried to establish a new country based on slavery, which led to the civil war (186 1- 1865). This war eventually evolved into the bloodiest and most destructive war in this country. The North finally won the war and slavery was completely ended in the United States.

Let's go back to the 1930s of 19 and see how Tocqueville described the contradiction between black and white Americans:

The two ethnic groups are closely linked to each other, but they are not integrated. They can neither be completely separated nor completely integrated. Although slavery has been abolished by law, only God can truly eliminate its traces.

Although slavery was abolished in 65438+ 1960, its influence continued, and African Americans could not easily integrate into the mainstream culture of the United States. Most blacks still stay in the south, where they have neither the right to vote nor the treatment of apartheid. For example, black children are not allowed to attend white public schools, and many people can only receive inferior education, which makes them unable to get equal opportunities in a white-dominated society. Many people who used to be slaves and their families have fallen into a cycle of poverty, and it is difficult for generations to get rid of this fate. Although blacks are in a worse situation in the south where apartheid exists, they are also victims of racial prejudice in the north.

1954, the supreme court of the United States declared that the practice of racial segregation in public schools could not provide equal educational opportunities for African-Americans and ruled that it was illegal. Only then did this practice of apartheid finally change. Black leaders in the United States are deeply encouraged by this decision. They decided to try to expel apartheid from all areas of American life; The most famous of these black leaders is Protestant Martin Luther King, who is a black priest and has great talent in inspiring people. During the assassination of 1968 by white people from 1950s, thousands of people held many non-violent demonstrations against apartheid and other forms of racial discrimination. King's goal is to better integrate blacks into mainstream American culture. Many of his views come from the basic values of the United States. He hopes that his people can get more equal opportunities and freedom. He doesn't want his people to be excluded from American society, but hopes that they can occupy a more important position in this society.

Some black leaders, such as malcolm x, advocate abandoning the basic values of the United States and think that blacks should be completely isolated from white culture. Malcolm X firmly believes that the American value system is only "white people's values", which is specially used to suppress the status of black people. Blacks must be completely separated from whites, and then build their own opportunities according to their own values, and even use force to achieve their goals if necessary. Because Malcolm regarded Christianity as a "white religion", he turned to a religion based on Islam and became the leader of a "black Muslim" religion (founded in 1930). However, most African-Americans still follow Martin Luther King's Protestant beliefs and believe that his goal is "assimilation" rather than "isolation". Most African-Americans still regard Kim as their leader.

In 1960s, the United States passed two major civil rights bills, mainly due to Martin Luther King, which caused great changes in the southern states of the United States. One bill prohibits racial segregation in public places, while the other prohibits depriving blacks of the right to vote.

These two civil rights bills passed in the 1960s made a big step for blacks to integrate into the mainstream American culture. Most importantly, these bills finally effectively reduced the discrimination against blacks by a considerable number of people in the country. A federal program called "Affirmative Action" requires all employers to actively recruit black workers and universities to recruit black students. Due to the Civil Rights Act and affirmative action, in the late 1960s and 1970s, the total number of African-Americans who entered universities and colleges nationwide, had the right to vote and received more salaries increased dramatically. 1984 and 1988 Jesse Jackson, a black leader who worked with King in the 1960s, became the first African-American to run for president in the United States. Although he failed to win the election, he attracted the attention of the whole American people and greatly influenced the policies of the Democratic Party.

Now, African-Americans have served as mayors and congressmen in some big cities; They hold positions in government departments at all levels (local, state and national). 199 1 year, clarence thomas became the second African-American to serve as the Supreme Court Justice. President George W. Bush appointed condoleezza rice and Colin Powell as National Security Adviser and Secretary of State respectively. These two positions are very powerful and eye-catching. Nowadays, African-Americans have become the protagonists of various sports and entertainment projects, and many people have become university professors, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and journalists. At present, the number of black middle class is already large and increasing, and there are already many rich people among African Americans. Nowadays, many white people say that they don't mind choosing a black president, such as Colin Powell.

Internal conflicts in the United States

The civil rights movement did not benefit African Americans, but all ethnic minorities in the United States, such as American Indians, Hispanics and Asians. The bill eliminated racial discrimination in recruitment and housing. The Bill of Rights also guarantees women's rights, and at the same time, these bills also strengthen the ideal of equal opportunities for all Americans.

However, contradictions still exist. Although every census shows that the trend of population diversity in the United States has been increasing, the results of the 2000 census show that racial and ethnic segregation still exists and is deeper than many Americans realize. On the other hand, many young Americans say that they don't mind making friends or even getting married with people from other ethnic and racial backgrounds. Opinion polls show that most Americans firmly believe that apartheid should not exist. But in fact, different races and nationalities still tend to live in different areas, which has become a trend in cities, and this trend continues, because ethnic minorities gradually migrate to the suburbs of cities. Ethnic diversity communities do exist, and many Americans are willing to live in such communities, but such communities are still an isolated phenomenon in the United States.

John logan, a sociology professor, studied this phenomenon and reported that the results of the 2000 census showed that the United States was still an apartheid country as before. Logan found that "most white Americans still live in communities isolated from blacks, Latinos and Asians." In fact, the color segregation that has ruled the city for many years has now entered our fast-growing suburbs, and colored people tend to gather in areas and housing development areas where there are no whites. "In addition, Logan also foresaw that this trend will continue to affect the future days:

We must realize that apartheid will not disappear automatically, nor will it be solved with the increase of the number of black middle class, the softening of white people's attitude towards race or the promulgation of the bill prohibiting racial discrimination in housing. All these factors should have a positive impact on solving the problem of apartheid. For a long time, we always thought that they would play a role, but now we must realize that they have not played any role so far.

Is it a bad thing if people choose to live in the same community with people of the same race or ethnic background? Don't people have the right to choose their place of residence and neighbors freely? Communities with ethnic characteristics can provide newspapers in their own languages, restaurants and grocery stores with ethnic characteristics for community residents, which is of great help to new immigrants. Many Americans, especially those who live in and near cities, are keen on international cuisine, and many people will attend cultural and art festivals around the world. They think this diversity enriches their lives.

But this situation also has its negative side. The bad news is that there is still a generation gap between different races and countries. Although African-Americans account for 12% of the American population, they still cannot occupy a seat in Congress, and the situation of Hispanics is similar. The average full-time salary of married blacks or Hispanics is still significantly lower than that of married whites. Although apartheid and racial discrimination are against the law, today's lifestyle has led to the emergence of a large number of community schools with the characteristics of apartheid, especially in many urban areas. Compared with blacks and Hispanics, whites tend to live in suburbs, because suburban communities and schools usually have better conditions and can provide a better educational environment. Many blacks and other ethnic minorities living in the city center are trapped in poverty, unemployment, violence and despair. Black people are the easiest victims of violent crimes. Generally speaking, at least one in five black men has a criminal record. Compared with white children, black and Hispanic children are poorer and more likely to grow up in single-parent families.

On the other hand, Americans still adhere to the ideal of equal opportunities for all and have been looking for ways to give everyone equal opportunities for success. The "American Dream" still has great attraction to immigrants and inspires people of different races and nationalities. The reality is that some immigrants are indeed more successful than others. Throughout history, it is not difficult to find that, as people imagine, those with economic strength, good educational background and necessary work skills are more likely to do better. For example, the socio-economic level of immigrants from the Middle East is higher than that of ordinary white Americans. As a group, so do Asians. Those who have no financial resources and poor academic qualifications usually have fewer chances of success. Different immigrants from the same country may have completely different experiences in the United States. For example, those Vietnamese who came to the United States in the mid-1970s had a good education, which was much better than those Vietnamese farmers and fishermen who came later. Cubans who immigrated here in the early 1960s had more wealth and educational opportunities than those poor Cubans later. Besides, people with good education are more likely to succeed than those with poor educational background.

Nowadays, immigrants with various backgrounds and skills have found a way to enter the United States. Some people with higher education can find jobs in the fields of science and technology, medicine and science. Others may come from poor rural areas or cities and have little education. Many of them are young people who are engaged in agriculture or construction without any documents. Others will be janitors, maids and nannies. Usually, their wages are lower than those of certified workers, but the dollars they earn and the money they send back to the motherland are enough to support many family members in their hometown. Many of them don't want to be American citizens. Their only wish is to work here. The United States is trying to find ways to resettle these workers, of course, provided that the interests of American citizens are guaranteed first.

A cosmopolitan country

At first, white Protestants in western Europe founded the mainstream culture and its value system in the United States. 19 At the end of the 20th century, thousands of immigrants came here from Eastern and Southern Europe, bringing with them cultural traditions completely different from the mainstream culture in the United States. In the 1920s, Americans decided to close their doors and prevent a large number of immigrants from entering, which led to a rapid decline in the number of new immigrants. However, unlike people's imagination, these new immigrants not only did not threaten the mainstream culture of the United States, but also quickly integrated into American life in summer. They not only greatly enriched the culture of this country, but also did not greatly change the government institutions, free trade or traditional value system of this country.

From 65438 to 0965, the United States made major adjustments to the immigration law, began to allow more immigrants to enter the country, and finally abolished the old immigration law which was obviously biased towards white immigrants in Europe. The new immigration law makes the United States now have a large number of non-white and non-European new immigrants. Most immigrants come from Asia, Latin America and Cuba. In addition to a large number of legal immigrants, a large number of illegal immigrants appeared in the United States for the first time. Many people worry that this will have an impact on American society. Will the American economy provide such new immigrants with the same opportunities as legal immigrants? Will this phenomenon affect the traditional value system that has supported the United States for more than 200 years?

Many Americans believe that this phenomenon is of great benefit to their country. Ben Wharton Berg, a famous American cultural expert, firmly believes that the arrival of these new immigrants is very helpful to the development of the country. Wartenberg believes that some very important changes have taken place in the United States: it has become the first world country in history. Waldenberg firmly believes that the United States will be the first country to allow people of all religions in the world to live freely under the leadership of the same government. He said that this diversity will have a great impact on this country and will affect other countries in the world in the 2 1 century.