Self in a MulticulturalSociety
Name
While growing up, it was my dream to come to America. From thestories I heard to the movies watched and the books I used to read,it was in my imagination that America was the best place to live in.The movies show a technologically advanced nation that anyone wouldever imagine of living in. My greatest childhood experience aboutAmerica was from the American movies. I was a great admirer of theAmerican lifestyle. The various scenes from the movies made me thinkthat America was the best and the most perfect place to live in. From the advanced technologies, the thick bushes in the movies andthe less populated streets in the movies. The combination of thisincreased my desire to one go to America and live in the best placein planet earth. Another experience in my childhood is that all theAmerican people eat hamburgers. This experience came from the moviesthat I used to watch. The movies showed many people enjoying thehamburgers and that stuck in my mind that all the American people atehamburgers. In my country, it is not easy not only to afford but alsoto find shops that sell hamburgers and there this is among the thingsthat made me have a burning desire to visit America at one particulartime.
While interacting inclass, I realized that I shared different cultures with the people ofAmerica. My mention of our family size made some students marvel.They could not understand that a single family can have about tenmembers. Even though this is very normal in my culture, to theAmericans this is very surprising and they cannot imagine of a familythat have such kind of family size. The teacher played a clip duringa class lesson where people were asked what they think about America.During this video, the international students were asked what theything about the American people. It was surprising that most of themsaid that they think that the American people eat hamburgers. Eventhough I laughed to the reasoning of the international students inthe interview, I realized that this was among of the experiences thatI held as a toddler before coming to America. This is among otherexperiences held by majority of the people who have never had anopportunity to go to America.
From the class readings, I learnt that Americans are racistpeople. From the book, Color-Blind Racism, I realized that the whiteAmericans discriminate any other individuals from other minoritygroups including the blacks, Red Indians among other minority groups.The Americans believe that the people from these ethical groups lagbehind the whites in almost all the social indicators. For thisreason, the people from the minority groups have greatly suffered inthe hands of the white people in different ways. The superioritycomplex has led to exploitation and discrimination in almost all thesocial and economic activities. For example, the white people believethat the black people are supposed to earn less, and are supposed tobe poorer than the white people by default. The black people alsoreceive poor education compared to the whites even when they attendintegrated settings. As far as housing is concerned, the black peoplepay for more for the same units because they do not get access to thefull housing market. From the same reading, I also realized that theblack people received discriminatory and impolite welcome in stores,hotels among other social facilities that were considered whitedominant regions.
In the book,Constructing Race, Creating White Privilege, I also realized that thewhite people had created a white privilege. The white privilege,basically means that they were treated differently compared to otherminority groups. The whites received the best treatment whileopposite happened to the minority groups in all aspects even insocial aspects like in hotels, schools among other places.
In the book by EduardoPorter, Americans are labelled as mean people who do not care aboutthe other people going through various problems. For example, therich people are too mean to share their riches with the poor. Thesociety is based on the individualist culture unlike my communitythat is based on the collectionivist that provides that all peopleshould be mindful of the welfare of the other people. Theindividualist mentality led to growth in capitalism in America whichconsequently widens the gap between the poor and the rich. From thisbook, I realized that the individualist behavior of the Americans iswhat has led to the increasing levels of income gender inequality inAmerica because the society is based on a culture where no one caresfor other people. In such a society, even the rich people do notprovide material and financial support to their poor counterparts.This has led to increasing gap between the rich and the poor peoplein America.