American policy towards ethnic minorities

First, the evolution and essence of American and Canadian ethnic policies

1. A typical representative of ethnic policies in western countries.

There are few single-ethnic countries in the world, and most countries are multi-ethnic countries. Western countries have adopted different policies in dealing with ethnic relations and building national identity. Among them, the "melting pot policy" of the United States and the "multicultural policy" of Canada and other countries can be said to be the most typical.

The melting pot policy of the United States is mainly to promote people from different regions with different national attributes and cultural backgrounds to integrate into Americans with "American beliefs", and to require immigrants to fully accept the Americanization of American traditions in terms of language, culture, political behavior and spirit. The experience of the formation of mixed ethnic groups in the western United States is regarded as the most important factor in shaping American system and democracy. The "melting pot" in the western frontier has mixed different immigrants into a new nation-state and promoted the Americanization of immigrants. [1](P.63) The melting pot policy "catered to the ideological trend of' Great America' at that time and the fantasy of immigrants realizing the' American Dream'", [2] coordinated the relationship between different immigrant groups to a certain extent, successfully constructed the core value identity of the United States and the identity of the American nation, formed a new American culture, and laid a solid foundation for the development of the United States into a superpower.

Multiculturalism originated from the criticism of American melting pot theory, and gradually formed with the development of ethnic policies in the United States, Canada and other western countries, which reflected the recognition of minority identity and had a great impact on the world. Multiculturalism mainly emphasizes the existence of different values; As a multi-culture in the sense of national politics, it focuses on the equality, diversity and peaceful existence of multi-ethnic national cultures; Multiculturalism with national significance mainly emphasizes the equal existence of nations. [3] Multiculturalism believes that ethnic minorities have rights, regards the lifestyle of ethnic minorities as a legal and even necessary way to participate in society, and opposes the inequality of ethnic minorities in status and treatment. [1] (p.45)1971Canada took the lead in formulating a multicultural policy, which attracted wide attention from the international community. Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Britain and other countries have followed suit, and multiculturalism has become a representative theory and policy with extensive influence in dealing with ethnic relations.

2. The historical process of American and Canadian ethnic policies.

Human society has evolved over time, and the political and legal systems of different countries and regions will have their own characteristics due to social, historical and cultural factors. This evolution process and the formation of its characteristics have their inherent laws, but also exist objectively. [4] Due to the changes of national conditions and people's feelings, the melting pot policy and multicultural policy of the United States and Canada have also experienced a long-term formation and evolution process.