Cross - Culture Assignment

8/9/2019 Cross - Culture Assignment

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society and economy ta!es more than one generation. "he children of immigrants,

regardless of their racial group, tend to outperform their parents in educational attainment,

occupational status, wealth, and home ownership, narrowing the gap with whites. In facts,

the discrimination still e2isted across the country and African American is still shunned by

the public humanity but that is a major achievement in fighting against discrimination in

America. 5owadays, many African Americans have achieved important position in the

United States society6 many laws were passed to give blac!s equal rights. African

American colleges and universities became popular. "he African American has accessed

higher education system and wor!force recruitment. "hey can go to public places and be

served fairly, no matter what color they are.

Instead of coming into America with a national identity, slaves were deprived ofany African culture, including their name, which destroyed the meaning and relevance of

the traditional African identity. Instead of cultural assimilation, slaves underwent )forced

acculturation* without the same social and economic equality that other minorities had in

their assimilation process. As time went on, the traditional culture declined and became

more influenced and intermingled with American values, but the African American are not

assimilated into American. "hey do not abandon their own culture in order to be a real

American. "hey are aware that racism has seriously affected and left a scar on many blac!

people. "he ways they modify their accent, behavior, dress, tal!, wal!, and act differently,

the prejudices of the /hites will melt away, but in many colored people opinion, that is a

lie, that is not who they truly are. At the same time as the African American is adapting

new way of life, the American also adopts the new culture. African stories and fol!lore

such as +rer Rabbit, +rer 1o2, etc. were absorbed into America7 culture and laid a

foundation for American nursery culture. 8i!e all other immigrant groups, they discarded

some aspects of their culture, modified others, and created new forms. 0uring slavery, the

blac! began their own culture building process, now they are going from being to

becoming American as well as creating their own identity.

9istorically, African Americans have been disadvantaged. African Americans are

largely descended from peoples native to Africa. Unli!e other ethnic groups they did not

choose to immigrate to the USA6 most were ta!en there forcibly as slaves, however, they


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did not remain silent during the years of slavery. "hey did not relinquish their identities as

unique individuals or as Africans and did not give up their hopes for freedom, rather, till

now they have been still fighting for it and creating their lifestyle and culture.


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2. According to the Independence Declaration of the .!.A" #everyone is born

e$ual% which is believed to have been translated into the #can&do% spirit of

Americans or American dreams. Do you think that everyone has the opportunity

for such dreams in the .!.A? 'ive e(amples to illustrate your point.

American has been become a popular destination for immigrants for nothing but for

its belief in American dream. :eople who come to the United Stated all loo! for liberty and

the pursuit of happiness or prosperity, and they believe that their dream will come true in

this place.

"he definition of the American dream evolved over the years and still has various

meanings among the people. 5evertheless, with America actually being seen as the land of

assurance, the American dream is usually associated with the freedom and opportunity of

gaining prosperity, recognition, power, triumph, and contentment. "he 0eclaration of

Independence proclaimed to the world that American stands on a belief in which )all men

are created equal*. It goes on to guarantee all people equal protection of the law, equal pay

for equal wor!, equal access to education, equal access to public service, equal rights as to

marriage, and an equal right to vote, among other protections. "rue opportunity requires

that human all has equal access to the benefits, burdens, responsibilities and the potential toachieve great things no matter who they are, how they loo! li!e or where they come from.

"hat would be considered as a dream of equality, especially to the African American.

;f all the disenfranchised groups in American, African Americans are an

e2ceptional group because of their long history. Unli!e other groups, African Americans

were forced to migrate to the United States6 they were forced to become slaves6 and, they

were forced into dehumani


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li!e a testimony of truth, rather than a speech. At the time of his speech African Americans

were not free, while the 0eclaration of Independence states that )all men are created

equal*. 0r. =ing7s movement established the way for the idea that there is an American

dream. 5owadays, artin 8uther =ing 'r7s dream has come true6 people are no longer

judged by the color of their s!in, they are judged by whom they are inside. /omen, men,

African Americans and other color people are allowed to run and vote for major offices

such as the :resident and ?ice :resident, +arac! ;bama :resident is an e2ample.

+esides the political aspects, the educational status of African Americans had

advanced greatly. "heir education attainment has improved as reflected by test scores,

grades, urban high school graduation rates, rates of disciplinary action, and rates of

conferral of undergraduate degrees. 5evertheless, the economy status of African Americanhas benefited from the advances made during the (ivil Rights era. As the results, the racial

disparity in poverty rates has narrowed and the blac! middle class has grown substantially.

#enerally, a person should not be constrained or denied from doing so for reasons

such as race, gender or being handicapped. "his means that all people who are capable of

doing a tas! should have the chance to do so. "his idea is still relevant now in America.

Americans pursue their dream everyday by having the opportunity to attend college, and

wor!. "his is the basis of equal opportunity, which is a principle that see!s to eliminate

discrimination and to promote fairness.

"he recognition of the African American has been a vivid illustration of the

American dream. +esides, with the gradual change in government policies and various

success of famous people whose origin are not from the United States have proved that

everybody has equal opportunity to attain their dream by their own hard wor!.


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). What are some main differences between *nglish and American society? 'ive

more e(planations and e(amples to show these differences. What are some

implications of these differences?

"he two nations @ the United =ingdom and the United are bound together by

shared history, an overlap in religion and a common language and legal system, so the

comparison between them is always the subjects of a wide range of empirical researches

and their society is one of subject matters, which receives great concern.Although 4nglish

and American societies have share similarities in citi


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upper class has about D&&& members who are mainly aristocracy and landowners. "he

middle class consists of managers, civil servants businessmen, owners of small businesses

and office wor!ers. "his group is the most e2panding one in +ritain and has a lot of

influence in politic, administration and civil service. 1inally, the wor!ing class and the

poor, for instance, factory wor!ers, waiters, shop assistants, cleaners, uns!illed labor, the

unemployed, etc., are considered to be the lower class and they normally separate

themselves from the other groups. America is also structured into three main classes> upper

class, middle class and wor!ing class, however, there are no clear lines between them. "he

reason for this is that the structure is measured by wealth, income, educational attainment,

occupation and social networ! so if people want to land in a higher class, they can follow

higher education, earn more income or finding a more prestigious occupation.

;bviously, the American is not as conscious of class as the 4nglish because they

can move up by wor!ing hard when it is not in United =ingdom. 4nglish is soon decided

to be in which class at birth. In the U=, the position of a person is decided through his or

her accent, clothes, interests, the way that person educates children, or even the type of

food he or she eats. "o illustrate, the accent plays a big role in the social class system, it is

considered to be the mirror of social status and education. 1or e2ample, Received

:ronunciation FR:G is the standard accent of 4nglish as spo!en in the south of 4ngland,

which is perceived by the middle and upper classes in the South 4ast, the wealthiest part of

4ngland. ++( 4nglish was once well !nown as R:, so if anyone wanted to wor! there in

the fields of acting or broadcasting, they needed to learn R: for certain. Although the

government tries to ma!e a change, people still believe that there is social inequality in

4ngland and the gap between the rich and the poor is getting big. (ompared to the upper

class, the lower classes received lower income, poor infrastructure and services, and their

chance to follow higher education is lower because of tight financial situation. "he reason

why people in America are not so aware of class is because from the early age, they havealready been taught )All men are created equal*. Along with that )immortal declaration*,

the American dream ma!es everybody believe that they will have equal opportunities to

achieve prosperity through their hard wor!.


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In conclusion, the immigrant groups and social races are quite different in the two

countries and the definition and the influence of class structure ma!e another distinction

between 4nglish society and American society.


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References

/aters, .(., H u!erman, . 4. F&&%, 5ovemberG. Comparing Immigrant

IntegrationinBritain and the US.Retrieved on April ndfrom

http>JJwww.portmir.org.u!JassetsJpdfsJcomparing3immigrant3intergration3in3britain3

and3the3us.pdf

(ultural differences between the US and the U=. F&&E, 'uneG. +ritishe2pats. Retrieved on

April ndfrom

http>JJbritishe2pats.comJwi!iJ(ulturalKdifferencesKbetweenKtheKUSKandK4ngland

Riel, +. Fn.d.G. U= (ulture Shoc!> A (omparison of American and +ritish styles. Retrieved

on April Dthfrom http>JJwww.bobriel.comJpdfB&filesJwor!forceB&maga


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"homas, . F&& , 'anuaryG. African Americans in the "wentieth (entury."H.#et

"ncyclopedia.Retrieved on April nd from http>JJeh.netJencyclopediaJafrican3

americans3in3the3twentieth3centuryJ

9olloway, '. 4. Fn.d.G. African contributions to American culture. The Sla$e %e&ellion.

Retrieved on April $stfrom http>JJslaverebellion.orgJinde2.phpMpageNafrican3

contribution3to3american3culture

(ulp, '. '.. F$CG. +lac! :eople in /hite 1 ace> Assimilation, (ulture, and the +rown

(ase. 'illiam and (ary La) %e$ie). Retrieved on April rdfrom

http>JJscholarship .law .wm. eduJwmlrJvol-JissJ%

'imOne

Cross - Culture Assignment

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