American Ethnology & Cultural Studies

Ethnics Groups attend in November 2006 election because of War?

2006-12-28T23:28:00.000+03:30

As we know Ethnic Groups had an important role in November 2006 election that caused democrat wing won the election and achieved more congressional seats. I thought that Wars like Iraq War had an important role that caused Ethnics attend in election with more interest.
In April 2003, an issue published that said nearly a fifth of the fatalities among U.S. troops in the current war in Iraq were black, which was the highest cost African Americans have paid in any of America's wars.
The study also found that 14 of the dead troops (or 14.3 percent) had Hispanic surnames and may consider themselves to be Hispanic. Fewer than 8 percent of all military personnel were Hispanic, according to the Defense Department. However, military experts warned that this is a difficult statistic to prove unofficially since ethnicity is self-defined.
And now after 3 years US publish a new report that show these statistics for Iraq War, that I report it in summary:
US Troop Casualties in Iraq until 2 December 2006 are 2,828 US troops from which 98% are male.
Also I found that 90% of these casualties are non-officers, 78% active duty and 14% National Guard.
Further more 74% are Caucasian, 10% are African-American and 11% are Latino.
And also 20% killed by non-hostile causes. 53% of US casualties were under 25 years old and 68% were from the US Army.
This report is published while many of African Americans and also other Ethnics Groups are against the war. And it is a fact that many families missed their son so they found the election as the best way to flee from this war.

New Black Panthers and Their Impacts

2006-12-21T13:02:00.000+03:30

While the dominant thought through African American is that all the Euro American Corporations, insurance companies, banks, the judiciary, the government and many other institutions have an indirect link with slavery and steeped in the blood of Africans, according to Harrowitz saying so it is expectable some party like New Black Panther create for defending blacks right. The interesting point in this case is their using anti-Semitic or anti white ideas for battling by racism. In fact they use the racism instrument for this matter.
By the way the impact of these groups on Blacks communities is dramatic in USA espacialy the black panther who most of them eliminated in 1970 during incidents with the police, and many had been arrested for inciting riots and violence had impact on the rise of revolutionary spirit within post-Civil-Rights Black America, the party's impact on the New Left movement of the 60s and 70s as well as the deep impressions the Panthers made upon the social movements all over the world. Their action often was against often the violation of polices on black communities and furthermore protested against classism and the war in Vietnam.
After explanation about Black Panther and their ideas, I should add in one Friday in April in 2006 in North Philadelphia a 33-year-old man died after being shot 15 times on Sheridan Street; the was declared from a group dressed in black uniforms and berets like black panthers, he was one of headquarters of the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense. This group that has been make on original Black Panther legacy have stand of opposition on USA policy too. They render inflammatory rhetoric like Minister Divine Allah, the party’s national youth minister lecture along with Minister King Samir Shabazz, chairman of the party’s Philadelphia chapter, that He called President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld “devils” and African Americans who work with them “boot-licking Negroes.”
It is remarkable on that Friday which after Shabazz lecture to police that he said “We’re not here for warfare,” insisted. “We’re not starting any trouble with the police. We’re here to defend our people.” the police invasion erupted regardless of their positive impact on black youth and just for eliminating any resistance.

New Black Panther

2006-12-16T05:11:00.000+03:30

In 2005, 106 Hate groups found in United States and most of them are active member of Nation of Islam and New Black Panther in various city of USA.these Black separatists typically oppose integration and racial intermarriage, and they want separate institutions -- or even a separate nation -- for blacks. Most forms of black separatism are strongly anti-white and anti-Semitic, and a number of religious versions assert that blacks -- not Jews -- are the Biblical "chosen people" of God. (splcenter.org)
Actually these groups have existed for self defense against poverty an other unequal matter that impose to them. They stem from original Black panter that create by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in October 1966, the organization initially espoused a doctrine of armed resistance to societal oppression in the interest of African American justice, though its objectives and philosophy changed radically throughout the party's existenceby 1966.they have had 10 famous program that include:
1. We Want Freedom. We Want Power To Determine
2. We Want Full Employment For Our People.
3. We Want An End To The Robbery
4. We Want Decent Housing Fit For The Shelter Of Human Beings.
5. We Want Education For Our People That Exposes
6. We Want All Black Men To Be Exempt From Military Service.
7. We Want An Immediate End To Police Brutality And Murder Of Black People.
8. We Want Freedom for All Black Men
9. We Want All Black People When Brought To Trial To Be Tried In
10. We Want Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice And Peace.
Self-Defense, Revolutionary Nationalist Ideology, Mass Organizing Techniques, Practice of Women's Equality, Propaganda Techniques are the positive points of this movement. but the negative points are corruption of leaders, Rhetoric Outstripped Capabilities, Combined Above and Underground, Lumpen Tendencies, Dogmatism, Failure to Organize Economic Foundations in Community, TV Mentality.
It is important that American government see them as threat and try to omit them completely. I will try to present today’s action of them next week.

Drums Along The Mohawk

2006-12-15T12:40:00.000+03:30

Introduction

When it has been supposed one nation with its artificial cultural boundaries create or birth, their making history should be lightening (President Wilson).so Hollywood helps making history when movies have taught everybody else history. For good or ill, movies have played an enormous part in giving us a sense of our history. (American Heritage Magazine)
The present paper is an effort to review the John Fords first film in Technicolor (1939) “Drums along the Mohawk” that is based on a best-seller novel by Walter D. Edmonds of the same name and a huge commercial hit, mainly because of its two stars, Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert and maybe because of Ford’s previous overlooked films like “Young Mr. Lincoln” and especially “Stagecoach”.

Cast & Genre

This film which represents the time of the American Revolutionary War stars Henry Fonda as Gilbert Martin, Claudette Colbert as Lana, Edna May Oliver as Mrs. Mcklennar, Eddie Collins as Christian Reall, John Carradine as Cladwell, Dorris Bowdon as Mary Reall, Arthur Shield as Rev. Rosenkrantz and ….

The movie fits into some genres at the same time; it has simultaneously been an instance of Western, Custom adventure and war. (imdb.com)

Plot
Newly-wed farmer Gill tries to explain bad life situation in the Mohawk Valley to his bride Lana who has been raised in much more genteel surroundings in their cabin. In a twist of fate, when Lana eventually adjusts to the work at hand and able to help her husband in the fields, warlike Indians- who were allies of the British military in order to wage war against colonies - end up burning down their home and they become refugees. At last they had to inhabit as servant and janitor in the feisty Widow Edna May Oliver as McKlennar house.
Mean time, because of raising Indian and Redcoats assault, all mature men including Gill join the army against them. And after featuring savage wars between them (the longest& the most boring sequence of movie) it finishes by a triumph ceremony and raising up the American flag (with thirteen stars) upon the church tower and accompanied by the end tunes of “Star Spangled Banner” that says, “Home of the free, Land of the brave”.

Implications

The interesting point of film is shifting from men’s power of construction towards women. In other words, not only the film represents the concerns of American frontier man about their community but also concentrates on the intrepidity and bravery of frontier women in defending their society. As we can observe in the movie, transformation of Lana from a naïve rich girl with bonnet and huge dresses to an independent frontier woman with rural farmer clothes and in the end revolutionary army coat; (Jeremiah Kipp) or in other place resistance of the crusty old widow with brutal behavior of Indians who wanted to burn her bed that was a symbol of her shared life with her husband is another instance referring to the women’s attendance and instance of presenting Indian-Americans as barbarian.

The other point in representing American frontier’s life is the attention paid to the importance of church by featuring it repeatedly during the film and the impact of Christianity in changing characteristics of an Indian who assists Gill’s group against other Indians.

Overall, there are two opinions about this movie; one is that it is Ford’s weakest effort in comparison with his other movies like “The Searcher”. The other opinion, on the other hand, is that the movie is his upper project in his work history. (Review 270, piddleville.com)

As a matter of fact, “Drums along the Mohawk” is a good film especially technical speaking regarding the previous year’s poor condition. Despite of this good aspect of movie, in my opinion the context of film has been formed by Indian American stereotype as brutal or stupid persons who can be used as instruments by the whites; the film has been an effort to include some aspects of “White Supremacy” theory and even covertly Christian supremacy. It is necessary to add this point as well that White Supremacy is a racist ideology which holds the belief that white people are superior to other races. White Supremacy often refers to anti-Black racism but it has also been used to justify prejudice and discrimination against other non-white groups, such as American Indians. (wikipedia)What is meant by White Supremacy in this case is that whites are not only superior to others, but they want to rule over inferior non-white peoples as we see the hegemony of whites upon Indian warriors.

Conclusion
According to critics especially Indians themselves John Ford who produced many racist anti-Indian films ever made in Hollywood, “The Searchers” (1956), ( Ward Churchill) some sequence of “Drums along the Mohawk” in despising the position of Indians has been expected. It can be concluded that such failure stems from the Hollywood’s role in making history, especially in early twentieth century.

References

Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031252/
Drums Along the Mohawk, http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews5/drumsalongthemohawk.htm
Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1800060028/info
Drums Along the Mohawk, Mark Deming, http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:14871
Drums Along the Mohawk, Frank S. Nugent, http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=14871
Drums Along the Mohawk, http://www.piddleville.com/DigitalMovies/Review270_DrumsAlongMohawk.htm
White supremacy, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_supremacy
Drums Along the Mohawk, http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews5/drumsalongthemohawk.htm

top stressors on Ethnical Groups in US

2006-12-08T11:07:00.000+03:30

What are top stressors for Ethnic groups in US?
How do they cope these stressors?

It is so interesting to know how ethnic group in America cope their problem which have been stressor for them.
Some factors that caused these tensions -According to the latest news from Mental Health America Organization-financial, health and employment issues are the most important and effective stressors for ethnics group in US in their whole life.
In responding to some polls, Native Americans and African Americans pointed to finances as a stressor at a significantly higher rate, 57 percent, than Asians, 42 percent, Latinos, 49 percent, and non-Hispanic Whites, 47 percent.

Also according to other articles from this organization they use TV as the most important instrument to forget their problem.
When faced with stress, a vast majority of people, 82 percent, turn on the television, listen to music or read.
Family and friends serve as a solid support for 71 percent of those polled.
Prayer or meditation is recourse for 62 percent and exercise sustains 55 percent.

As we can see above, Africans Americans, 82 percent, are far more likely than other groups to use prayer or meditation as a way to deal with stress and anxiety. So we can conclude in spite of their more problem than other ethnic groups- in my opinion- it can be predictable that Blacks are less stressed and also they can solve their problem.
Moreover Native Americans and non-Hispanic Whites are more likely to engage in unhealthy coping skills to deal with stress – 30 percent of Native Americans and 28 percent of non-Hispanic Whites respondents drink, smoke or do drugs when feeling stressed out. Asian Americans are least likely to smoke, drink or use drugs to cope. Asians also have the highest likelihood, 77 percent, of talking to a family member or friend or exercising to manage stress levels, 70 percent.

Blacks and crime in United state

2006-12-01T14:41:00.000+03:30

It is interesting to know that, “According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice, more than two million men and women are now behind bars in the United States”. Roughly most percent of prisoners are jailed because of national war on drug rather than violent crime. As census has shown nearly three quarters of new admissions to state prison were convicted of nonviolent crimes. Only 49 percent of sentenced state inmates are held for violent offenses.
Although this is meanwhile all categories of crime is increased in 2006; as CNN report Murders in the United States jumped 4.8 percent last year, and overall violent crime was up 2.5 percent for the year, Robberies nationally increased 4.5 percent, and aggravated assaults increased 1.9 percent.
But worst is to percept that how extent number of African- American prisoner rather than others or in other words why Blacks are higher amount of incarcerated in U.S.
In fact “blacks account for only 12 percent of the U.S. population, 44 percent of all prisoners in the United States are black”. Even in death row blacks have inmate more than others.

Death Row Inmate:
· Blacks 42%
· Whites 45%
· Hispanic 11%
· Other 2%

An other interesting point in race studding in the aspect of criminology, Blacks are most convicted to executed for interracial murder; between interracial murder while in fourteen case Blacks are victim and white are defendant, in two hundred and thirteen Whites were victim and blacks were defendant.

But we should not judge about this census without understanding circumstance and stem of event.
All we know, blacks had lived in discriminative situation rather than whites and even Hispanic several years. For instance, every body has perceived the role of education in earning money and crime reduction. When educational opportunity for Black’s children were not as equal as whites children , it means other aspect of their life is not standard too.(education is accounted as an parameter of standard life)
So in this circumstance we can not conceder Blacks as equal as whites in our census and clime they are more eager in criminal acting.

Blacks role in 2006 congress Election

2006-12-01T14:37:00.000+03:30

This week, I try to present the role of the blacks in 2006 midterm elections as an ethnic group and compare their corporation historically.
The following is a brief review of events which happened during November 7, 2006.
*According to the committee for the study of American Electorate, overall turnout increased from 39.7 percent in 2002 to 40.4 percent in 2006.The Black share of the 2006 vote was 10 percent.
Black Overall Turnout in different Places (Percent) 2002 2006
Missouri 8.0 13.0
Virginia 23.1 43.8
Pennsylvania 6.0 8.1
Ohio 10 12.2
There were significant increase in black turnout in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Virginia that cause electing a democratic governor (Ohio) and two Democratic U.S. Senators (Michigan and Florida) and re-electing three Democratic governors (Tennessee , Pennsylvania and Michigan) and more important black voters were critical in electing four new democratic US senators in Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia which helped the democrats regain control of the US Senate.
**In 2006, There were 57 Black candidates for federal office- 54 for US House seats and Three for US Senate. This was more than in the 2002 midterm elections which attend 55 candidates. In 2006 the number of Black Democratic candidates increased by one and was a new record.(48)
Of the 48 black Democratic candidates in 2006, 39 were incumbents and nine were challengers or running for open seat.
Also according to these information there were more black women among the democratic nominees than ever before.(about 17 percent).
The Black Democrats averaged about 73 percent of all black voters.
It is important to notice that Ellison is the first black US Representative from Minnesota and the first Muslim elected in the US House.
The Black vote played a critical role in the out come of a number of closely contested elections especially for the US senates
We can conclude that the roles of African American in achievement of social roles are increasing continuously while discriminative behavior is still annoying lots of Blacks Elites in US.

Hispanic American

2006-11-03T17:36:00.000+03:30

there is a flag representing the countries of Hispanic America, its people, history and shared cultural legacy.

Following to last weeks discussions about different ethnic groups in United States, deal to Hispanic groups in this week. About this group, I should hint that, the various Latin American ethnic groups plus the Spanish are typically collectivized as "Hispanics". And "The O.M.B. defines Hispanic or Latino as 'a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race."
It is noticeable that, they are changeably labeled Latino American or Hispanic American but these are not synonymous. Some of them who are European decendency prefer to named Hispanic (from Spain and Spanish language) but people from Latin America (including Brazil, Mexico) and not Spain prefer to use the term of "Latino" over "Hispanic"
This ethnos in United States is the largest minority group that The Office of Management and Budget have categorized the American ethnicities as Latino or Hispanic or not Hispanic.
The estimated Hispanic population of the United States for July 1, 2050, is of 102.6 million people. According to this projection, Hispanics will constitute 24% of the nation’s total population on that date. (American Censuses) So we can consider that this group have and will have a great role in political affaires like Presidency Election as we see in Bush Elected.

George W. Bush has had a significant impact as a former Governor of Texas on the political leanings of Hispanic Americans. Furthermore the Catholic and more conservative social values that many Hispanic Americans share with the conservative element of the American political system impacted Hispanic leaning in his elect.
Many Hispanics, including U.S.-born second and third generation Hispanics, use the Spanish language to varying degrees. The most usual pattern is monolingual Spanish usage among new immigrants or older foreign born Hispanics, complete bilingualism among long settled immigrants and their children, and the use of Spanglish and colloquial Spanish within long established Hispanic communities by the third generation and beyond. Some researcher have proposed that Hispanics were less committed to assimilation than other immigrants. Discrimination, this adherence to the Spanish language which mentioned above and frequents trips to their native countries are other reasons that have been proposed.

Maybe it is interesting to know:
Univision and Telemundo, respectively the first and second largest Spanish-language television networks in the United States, each with affiliates in nearly every major U.S. market, including numerous affiliates internationally.
El Nuevo Herald, a Spanish-language daily newspaper serving the greater Miami, Florida market.

American-Indian

2006-10-20T12:01:00.000+03:30

My report, in this weak is about American-Indian through past to current status in American society.
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which are still enduring as political communities. They have described by various name like: American Indians, Indians, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Indigenous, Aboriginal or Original Americans

According to representation of map we perceived that indigenous people of American continent had concentrated in central and southerner America by crowded population.
But their populations were ravaged by the privations of displacement, by disease (Some historians estimate that up to 80% of some indigenous populations may have died due to European diseases), and in many cases by warfare with European groups and enslavement by them from the 15th to 19th centuries. It is notable that, the first indigenous groups encountered by Columbus were the 250,000 Arawaks of Hispaniola They were annihilated and some of them that remained were enslaved.
Not only decline diseases and wars the population of Native American but also reservation and removal policy accelerated this matter.
In the 19th century, the incessant Westward expansion of the United States caused large numbers of Native Americans to resettle further west, sometimes by force, almost always reluctantly. In 1830 Under President Andrew Jackson, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which authorized the President to conduct treaties to exchange Native American land east of the Mississippi River for lands west of the river. As many as 100,000 Native Americans eventually relocated in the West as a result of this Indian Removal policy. But meantime was created some Conflicts which generally known as "Indian Wars", broke out between U.S. forces and many different tribes. Well-known military engagements include the Native American victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, and the massacre of Native Americans at Wounded Knee in 1890.Though by defeat of Native American on January 31, 1876, the United States government ordered all remaining Native Americans to move into reservations or reserves

American policy toward Native Americans has been an evolving process. In the late nineteenth century, reformers, in efforts to "civilize" or otherwise assimilate Indians (as opposed to relegating them to reservations), adapted the practice of educating native children in Indian Boarding Schools. These schools, which were primarily run by Christian missionaries ( What Were Boarding Schools Like for Indian Youth?. authorsden.com. Retrieved on February 08, 2006.) , often proved traumatic to Native American children, who were forbidden to speak their native languages, taught Christianity instead of their native religions and in numerous other ways forced to abandon their various Native American identities(Long-suffering urban Indians find roots in ancient rituals. California's Lost Tribes. Retrieved on February 08, 2006) and adopt European-American culture. The Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 gave United States citizenship to Native Americans, in part because of an interest by many to see them merged with the American mainstream, and also because of the heroic service of many Native American veterans in World War 1.(Developmental and learning disabilities. PRSP Disabilities. Retrieved on February 08, 2006. &Soul Wound: The Legacy of Native American Schools. Amnesty International USA Retrieved on February 08, 2006 )
It is interesting that Native American still have preserved tribal shape of life.There are 563 Federally recognized tribal governments in the United States. The United States recognizes the right of these tribes to self-government and supports their tribal sovereignty and self-determination. These tribes possess the right to form their own government, to enforce laws (both civil and criminal), to tax, to establish membership, to license and regulate activities, to zone and to exclude persons from tribal territories. But Native Americans who make up 2% of the population, with more than 6 million people identifying themselves as such, just 1.8 million are registered tribal members

At last, I should hint they because of Military defeat, cultural pressure, confinement on reservations, forced cultural assimilation, outlawing of native languages and culture, termination policies of the 1950s and 1960s and earlier, as well as slavery have encountered to deleterious effects on their mental and physical health. Contemporary health problems include poverty, alcoholism, heart disease, diabetes, and New World Syndrome.

Black Americans

2006-10-13T11:41:00.000+03:30

As all know, America is multiethnic country that people with different race immigrate to there. Following to last weak report, I want to discuss the situation of all ethnical groups that recognized in last weak in the Unite States, in my every weak report.

"The term Black or African American refers to people having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa." It includes people who indicate their race as "Black, African Am., or Negro," or provide written entries such as African American, Afro American, Kenyan, Nigerian, or Haitian. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Census of Population, Public Law 94-171 Redistricting Data File. Race Retrieved September 18, 2006)
So definitively, African American means an American of black African descent & in general, the cultural assumption is that if a person is black, native English-speaking and living in the United States, he or she is African American.
Any way, African-Americans are members of an ethnic group in the United States who are the descendants of enslaved Africans transported via the Middle Passage from West and Central Africa to North America and the Caribbean from 1609 through 1807 during the trans-Atlantic slave trade or some of them have arrived in the United States through more recent immigration from the Caribbean, South and Central America and Africa.
Most Blacks in America were slaves until the events of the American Civil War (1861–1865) and, in particular, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1865) resulted in the end of slavery in the United States. In this case, hint to discrimination and segregation of Black American during slavery times, and again during the Jim Crow era, seems to be important. However the African-American Civil Rights Movement scored a series of victories from the 1940s into the early 1970s that put an end to some of discrimination but nonetheless, even today African Americans as a group fall well below the country's average in income, wealth, business ownership, and levels of formal education.
In this case it is remarkable that governmental statistic about progress & contribution of African American people in US is completely different conclusion from the African American themselves statistic conclusion.
While governmental reports had displayed the high progress of Black people in specifically educational ground, black people themselves reported limited achievement in comparatively approach relative to whites.
In this case these sites conduct you to obvious conclusion:

http://www2.edtrust.org/NR/rdonlyres/9AB4AC88-7301-43FF-81A3-EB94807B917F/0/AfAmer_Achivement.pdf#search=%22african%20american%20progress%20in%20US%22 (as an blacks approach)

http://brookings.nap.edu/books/0815728808/htm/30.html#pagetop (as an govrnmental approach)

http://www.ed.gov/nclb/accountability/achieve/report-card-aa.html

http://www.jbhe.com/features/52_degree-attainments.html

2006-10-05T13:19:00.000+03:30

America,The Blend Of Ethnical Groups

"What then is the American, this new man? He is either a European, or the descendant of a European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. I could point out to you a family whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different nations. . . Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world."
-- Michel St. John De Crevecoeur (1782)

The core American culture that took shape in the first two centuries was a blend of English, Scottish, and Welsh ethnicity and at its heart stood the English language, English common law, and Protestantism. But it is remarkable American core of culture has not shown just British presence, other European is effective too, like German, Hispanic or Greeks. The German presence is extents that close to become their language, official American language.
Moreover the Native Americans who lived in America continent are still inhabitant of America. Blacks or African American that had taken as slaves in primary century of American existence are other intensive ethnical group of America.
Meantime, the render of American ethnical group statistics seem interesting.

African American / Black :751
Asian / Pacific Islander :847
Hispanic :959
Native American :65
White :10,278
Other :239
Not Specified :195

So as we see, America is built by a hundred different ethnic groups; American history is the history of its ethnicities who immigrated to America. But meanwhile, the important point is, perception of these ethnical group thought and values; if these ethnical thought have melted to the core American culture or in other hand as Israel Zangwill said become part of “melting pot” or a salad bowl (mixed but not melted)?!
Whether we should still believe Israel theme that mentioned “all immigrants can be transformed into Americans, a new alloy forged in a crucible of democracy, freedom and civic responsibility”. Or we should consider the new waves in American culture which challenge with new immigrants?
Today, the United States is experiencing its second great wave of immigration, a movement of people that has profound implications for a society that by tradition pays homage to its immigrant roots at the same time it confronts complex and deeply ingrained ethnic and racial divisions.
The immigrants of today come not from Europe but overwhelmingly from the still developing world of Asia and Latin America. The are driving a demographic shift so rapid that within the lifetimes of today's teenagers, no one ethnic group – including whites of European descent – will comprise a majority of the nation's population.
This shift, according to social historians, demographers and others studying the trends, will severely test the premise of the fabled melting pot, the idea, so central to national identity, that this country can transform people of every color and background into "one America."

Hear, maybe hint to James J. Zogby`s research, America — still an ethnic mosaic is remarkable.
He chose for his study the groups collectively make up 40 per cent of American society. African Americans and Hispanics each represent more than 12 per cent of the country. Italian Americans are another 10 per cent. And Asian, Jewish and Arab Americans combine for six percent of the US population.
“Knowing how members of these distinct ethnic groups think is important. Not only is the United States not a homogeneous society, but in many parts of the country, one or more of these groups form a significant percentage of the population and with America becoming more, and not less, diverse, understanding how different groups define themselves, and knowing what they value and how they feel about important issues becomes increasingly vital for policy-makers.”
He found in his study that ethnicity remains an important factor in shaping people's self-definition. More than 85 per cent of all of the individuals in his study express pride in their ethnic heritage; this includes those who are second and third generation Americans. And this heritage, and the shared sense of history, culture and concerns that it represents, does, in fact, have a measurable impact on attitudes.
When more than four in five say that they are proud of their heritage, and when one-third to two-thirds of all of the respondents say that this heritage is very important to their self-definition, then ethnic pride and identification are strongest among immigrants, and only somewhat less strong among college-educated and wealthier native-born Americans, the pull of this force remains quite strong.
More than 50 per cent of all of our respondents retain a “strong emotional tie” to the land of their “heritage”, and almost 20 per cent of those surveyed send money to family in the countries of their background. Instead of a “melting-pot”, America can best be described, as Jesse Jackson would say, as “a mosaic” or a carpet woven of many colours and patterns. While there is an American culture and there are shared American values, this study shows that these coexist with strong distinct ethnic identities that remain a vital factor in shaping values.

2006-10-01T23:09:00.000+03:30

This weblog trace back to one course (Cultural Studies and Ethnology of America) in MA period in Institute for North American Studies at Tehran University which is rendered by Professor Said Reza Ameli.
This course will cover first series of discussion on conceps and main theories of cultural studies and will be about variety of ethnic groups in the USA.
Therefore in this weblog I will peform weekly report about the current issues related to the class course discussion.