“The White Man will never be alone” (Chief Seattle 120). Chief Seattle is correct when he says that the White man will never be alone because there will always be other cultures in America. Throughout the ages, America has gone through a lot as a country, events which have torn the nation apart, yet in its own way sown unity within our hearts. The struggles started even as early as the colonization of the Americas, and still continue until this day. Although, there are events in time which helped shaped our country and our people. Over the course of American history, people have tried to craft imagery or symbols to try to embody the nation and shape its meaning and character (Higham, 2001).
Through the diversities in culture, race, heritage and beliefs is there really one united image or idea for America? From the middle of the 19th century, when the white people of the North and South were in feud for their beliefs in politics, economics, society and especially African American slavery, known as the Civil War (“History of the United States, 2010”). It was the War between the States, and had literally torn the nation up for a good four years. It posed as one of the earliest industrial wars in history. From then on, until now, many immigrants have entered the land. This has been both a boon and a bane for the American people. Unfortunately, not everyone has been tolerant of those who have come to America looking for better opportunities. The United States labor market has changed throughout time and demands for labor have change. The number of immigrants entering the United States has increased the competition for low-skilled jobs and manufacturing employment has declined, low-paying service occupations expanded. Many will agree that our immigration system is in need of changing. This involves the exploitation of labor workers and unfair competitions with employers who increase profits by hiring cheap and vulnerable labor. The problem in the labor market in terms of immigration lies in the United State’s immigration policies. In order to balance out the equilibrium in the labor market, there needs to be a change within the immigration in terms of illegal aliens.
Culture is the presentation of the values from generation to generation, which reflects the history of a country’s mode of life, heritage, and tradition. People find it difficult to understand and accept cultures other than their own.
“Silence” Maxine Hong Kingston “There we changed together, voices rising and failing, loud and soft, some boys shouting, everybody reading together, reciting together and not alone with one voice” (Kingston 206). This speaks about diversity and unity. This poem shows how the people within the group moved together. Kingston talks about how everything seen was done together.
“We played capture-the-flag in the auditorium, where Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Ka-shek’s pictures hung” (Kingston 206).
“We climbed the teak ceremonial chairs” (Kingston 206).
“There we changed together, voices rising and failing, loud and soft, some boys shouting, everybody reading together, reciting together and not alone with one voice” (Kingston 206). They did everything as a group and did not identify anyone as different, this coincides with Martin Luther King’s work mentioned below:
“I Have a Dream” Martin Luther King, Jr. “We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating ‘For Whites Only’” (King 200).
“Speech on the Signing of the Treaty of Port Elliott, 1855” Chief Seattle. “I will not dwell on, nor mourn over, our untimely decay, nor reproach our paleface brothers with hastening it, as we may have been somewhat to blame” (Chief Seattle 117).
“To us the ashes of our ancestors are sacred and their resting place is hallowed ground. You wander far from the graves of your ancestors and seemingly without regret” (Chief Seattle 118).
“Day and night cannot dwell together. The Red Man has ever fled the approach of the White Man” (Chief Seattle 119).
“From the School Days of an Indian Girl” Zitkala-Sa “Our mothers had taught us that only unskilled warriors who were captured had their hair shingled by the enemy. Among our people, short hair was worn by mourners, and shingled by cowards!” (Zitkala-Sa 158).
“Indian Boarding School: The Runaways” Louise Erdrich “The rails, old lacerations that we love, shoot parallel across the face and break just under Turtle Mountains” (Erdrich 212).
“Riding scars you can’t get lost. Home is the place they cross” (Erdrich 212).
People must adapt to other cultures and environments.
Environment describes the surroundings or conditions in which a person lives. People from varied environments judge others based on a lack of understanding.
“The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl” Elizabeth Wong “We all sat in little chairs in an empty auditorium. The room smelled like Chinese medicine, an imported faraway mustiness. Like ancient mothballs or dirty closets” (Wong 115).
“The Place Where I Was Born” Alice Walker “I sit here on a swing on the deck of my house in northern California admiring how the fog has turned the valley below into a lake” (Walker 111).
“For hours nothing will be visible below me except this large expanse of vapor; then slowly, as the sun rises and gains in intensity, the fog will start to curl up and begin its slow rolling drift toward the ocean” (Walker 111).
“The Monkey Garden” Sandra Cisneros “There were sunflowers big as flowers on Mars and thick cockscombs bleeding the deep red fringe of theater curtains” (Cisneros 286).
“There were dizzy bees and bow-tied fruit flies turning somersaults and humming in the air. Sweet sweet peach trees. Thorn roses and thistle and pears” (Cisneros 286).
“From on Seeing England for the First Time” Jamaica Kincaid “Felt was not the proper material from which a hat that was expected to provide shade from the hot sun should be made” (Kincaid 195).
“Welcome to Saint Paul’s” Lorene Cary “Like other St. Paul’s buildings, the Hawleys’ house had alcoves, staircases, and a courtyard, that presented to me a façade of impenetrable, almost European, privacy” (Cary 248).
“Graduation” Maya Angelou “Unlike the white high schools, Lafayette County Training School distinguished itself by having neither lawn nor hedges” (Angelou 48).
“Champion of the World” Maya Angelou “It wouldn’t do for a black man and his family to be caught on a lonely country road on a night when Joe Louis had proved that we were the strongest people in the world” Angelou 68).
“I ain’t worried ‘bout this fight. Joe’s gonna whip that cracker like it’s open season” (Angelou 66).
In order for people to understand each other’s environment, they must be open-minded and understanding, not quick to judge others. Misunderstanding environmental differences can lead to stereotyping.
Stereotyping reveals a widely held fixed pattern that categorizes an oversimplified picture of a person or group. Stereotyping is ignorantly labeling people.
“Finishing School” Maya Angelou “While white girls learned to waltz and sit gracefully with a tea cup balanced on their knees” (Angelou 60).
“Graduation” Maya Angelou “He went on to say how he had bragged that ‘one of the best basketball players at Fisk sank his first ball right here at Lafayette County Training School’” (Angelou 55).
“We were maids and farmers, handymen and washerwomen, and anything higher that we aspired to was farcical and presumptuous” (Angelou 55).
“Champion of the World” Maya Angelou “True that we were stupid and ugly and lazy and dirty and; unlucky and worst of all, that God Himself hated us and ordained us to be hewers of wood and drawers of water, forever and ever, world without end” (Angelou 67).
“Autobiographical Notes” James Baldwin
“Scheme of Color” Mary Mebane “Because of the stigma attached to having dark skin, a black black woman had to do many things to find a place for herself” (Mebane 171).
“What’s Wrong with Black English?” Rachel L. Jones “’You know, I was surprised when I first saw you. You sounded white over the phone’” (Jones 283).
Labeling is unfair and should be avoided. Labeling limits people from living to their full potential because of being stereotyped. Stereotyping people devalues a sense of identity and forces people to prove and discover themselves.
Identity is self-discovery.
“Graduation” Maya Angelou “I was a proud member of the wonderful, beautiful Negro race (Angelou 58).
“Finishing School” Maya Angelou “Imagine letting some white woman rename you for her convenience (Angelou 63).
“Indian Boarding School: The Runaways” Louise Erdrich
“Monkey Garden” Sandra Cisneros “I looked at my feet in their white socks and ugly round shoes. They seemed far away. They didn’t seem to be my feet anymore. And the garden that had been such a good place to play didn’t seem mine either (Cisneros 288).
“The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl” Elizabeth Wong “At last, I was one of you; I wasn’t one of the. Sadly, I Still am.
“From: On Seeing England for the First Time” Jamaica Kincaid “I did not know very much of anything then—certainly not what a blessing it was that I was unable to draw a map of England correctly” (Kincaid 197).
“The Place Where I Was Born” Alice Walker “I am content; and yet, I wonder what my life would have been like if I had been able to stay home (Walker 113).
“The Scheme of Color” Mary Mebane “When I was a freshman in high school, it became clear that a light skinned sophomore girl named rose was going to get the ‘best girl scholar’ prize for the next three year, and there was nothing I could do about it, even though I knew I was the better” (Mebane 170).
“What’s Wrong with Black English” Rachel L. Jones “My goal is not so much to acquire full control of both standard and black English, but to one day see more black people dependent on a dialect that excludes them from full participation in the world we live in . I don’t think I talk white, I think I talk right (Jones 284).
“Welcome to St. Paul’s” Lorene Cary “I was not afraid that the white boys were going to catch me alone in the woods one night and beat me up (Cary 247).
Acceptance of others leads to discovery and acceptance of oneself.
Conclusion:
People need to be tolerant of various cultures and avoid stereotyping individuals from other environments. Stereotyping promotes labeling others and leads to a loss of identity. Dissention in society leads to intolerance and ignorance of others. America is a country of immigrants with varied cultures. As Chief Seattle says, the white man will always be surrounded by other cultures; therefore, Americans should learn from each other and accept cultural differences. It is the existing cultural differences between people from different races or ethnic groups. Examples of this are languages, how people dress and their traditions. Different cultures also have different ways of organizing themselves and interacting with the environment. The dimensions of diversity come in layers; the inner layer covers the following: age, ethnicity, gender, national, regional or other geographical areas of origin, physical and mental ability, race and sexual orientation. This primary phase or layer of diversity is powerful in society because in brings a big impact on our socialization, experiences, values as well as assumptions. The second layer includes the following: Education, military experience, income, family status, social class and spiritual practice. This secondary dimension of diversity is important because it contains elements which are more specific, and can lead to prejudice assumptions and discrimination when negative attitudes are not adverse.
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