Impacts of Immigration to the Culture of United States of America
The Problem of Immigration
The entire problem of immigration and the subsequent effects to the culture of the United States stems from the sociological constraints caused by immigrants in America. Menjivar (5-8) postulates that the redefinition of America as a multicultural society and not as a nation forms the basis for the far reaching effects that immigration has exerted on the cultural foundation of the US. As a result of this, research indicate that the widespread problem of racism, individualism as well as the concept of whiteness and otherness are the implication of immigration of Latinos, Hispanics, Mexicans and even Africans to United States (Richey, 202-204). Arguably, due to high number of immigrant, it follows that opportunities in areas such as educations, health care, jobs as well as other social amenities have been competed for by both native Americans as well as others a factor that has introduced a new speck of racial discrimination thus causing the erosion of the Americans cultural values.
In addition, as immigrants move into America, they come with their own customs and religious beliefs hence forcing certain aspects of American values to be discarded. For example, owing to the fact that some of the immigrants customs are deeply ritualistic, there emerges a situation where the question of Christianity in the public life of American is pushed aside in a bid to give equal recognition of such non western philosophies and religion (Rustebach, 57-59).
Understanding the Effects of Immigration on the US Culture
Many of these challenges are as a result of the establishment of the 1965 Immigration Act that gave rise to mass immigration to America from every corner of the world. However, it is important to point out that immigration in itself is not a big problem because, as evidenced in the recent immigrants, America has benefitted from diversified contribution of the immigrants in the light of occupational skills and talents. What is a major challenge to the social cultural dimension is the extraordinary scale of diverse immigration that stems from the Immigration Act of 1965 (Richey, 199-201).
Although there are positive impacts on this immigration, the far reaching ones are negative. Rustebach (68-70) argues that immigration have an injurious impact upon the school system, and prisons, welfare and health care system, job climate and the overall economy. With the leading inevitable plane of acculturation as a result o immigration, social scientists hold that much worry is scaled on socio-economic dimension. As this becomes strained, it trickles its effects to the implications of the culture. Therefore, the concerns of culture with regard to immigration portend the understanding of competencies skills and social behaviors that continue to change with increased immigration. In addition, the values, patterning of interpersonal relations and world view of the general present American society are so much personalized because each immigrant reflects the cultural understanding and belief of their people.
Immigration has indeed changed our culture is a host of negative ways. In social theory, the concept of multiculturalism is far much different from liberal individualism. As such, productive elements of the American culture distinctively separate the American society with the rest of the world.
According to Caseli (62-65), American culture is as a consequence the interaction between the geography of America and the cultural elements of Europeans and this has extensively been affected on the basis of the ethnic composition. Presently, American ethnicity is been defined as a compilation many immigrants ethnicity thus bringing in play diversified race and racial segregation which largely strains the plurality and unity of the American culture.
Before the influx of immigrants into America, the national identity of Americans shaped the peoples culture. In this regard, a collection of value systems and norms characterized the American people. With the immigration of Latinos and people from different cultures, a new way of life was created (Marger, 217-219). Accordingly, American society has been reduced to play the role of a pot where numerous things are introduced. A phenomenon of this nature largely affects the national identity of American leaving the cultural outlook of US more fragmented. Presently, the Hispanic, Muslims, and Latinos as well as African want to identify themselves with their traditional cultural orientation as opposed to the American culture. Therefore, the value of the Americans mid white class has been brainwashed by cultural disturbance, racism and expansionism.
The Role of Immigration in Cultural Change
The role played by immigration in the change of America culture has brought about some hostility against immigrants which, according to (Brown, 123-127), forms the historical echo that has founded social and cultural discrimination. Within the precincts of sociological paradigms, demographics present a bigger impact on the cultural dimension of America. Caseli (345-347) notes that the contemporary American society is composite of immigrant who tend to acquire the continuity of the American heritage through socialization and education. Furthermore, the population of the America in this age is far much different and less rich in value that the anglocentric image that characterized America in the past. This is fundamentally attributed to upsurge in immigration.
Moreover, the increase in demographics contributes to the environmental impacts upon the American society. Menjivar (15-17) points out that considering a typical family of eight or more member migrating to America they would possibly acquire cars which essentially lead to pollution and depletion of resources. The underlying factor in this debate revolves around the notion of changing their lifestyles which adversely affects environment. Although this sounds more like an ecological problem, it impacts greatly of the socialization and cultural aspects such that American society is forced to learn to adopt the newer patterns of adopting the patterns of pollution and consumptions the environmentally destructive culture.
Essentially, the impacts of immigration on the culture of the America categorically border the spheres of expressive as well as instrumental culture (Caseli, 68-69). The qualities of culture as a unified characteristic of the Americans has been swept under the carpet and owing to the annually immigrants into America, the sense of shared meaning, sense of belonging and the inherent understanding as an American has been compromised because it does not mirror the cultural heritage of America. With regard to this, a sense of who a person is and where they belong has been overtaken by diversified cultural outlooks as well as orientations.
Globalization of American Culture
Immigration has exclusively facilitated a process of globalization. This has continued to stimulate a worldwide convergence of skills and talents that can succinctly function in the present economy of America and entirely influence on the culture of America. With the need for new interpersonal relationships, intercultural marriages and the development of new communication approaches in terms of language, the culture of the American has been influenced to change in many extensive ways. However, the American society has found it hard to integrate diversified views of culture in respect to the present cultural platforms especially in light of the cosmopolitan setting that has been created by Immigration (Rustebach, 73-74).
To augment this assertion, Caseli, (65-66) contend that although acculturation has become the basis upon which immigrants are forced to acquire job skills, language skills as well as become participants in the political process, it does not comprehensively take place. However, with the little acculturation that takes place, it remains evident that acculturation is significantly behind the change of the American culture. This perspective has widely influenced the principles of assimilation thus altering the original worldviews, values and interpersonal relationships in line with the culture. Similarly, America as a nation is no longer what it originally used to be. It is characteristic to a coherent and uniform system of society has been largely changed. Immigrants have eventually gravitated to the many sectors of the American society thereby leading to a divergent treatment of social networks.
Socialization, Economics and Culture
Many of the immigrants in the United States often experience the culture of America from the vantage point of poverty because it is evident that most of them begin their lives from poor urban settings. As such, they experience hardships in line with limited economic opportunities, violence, ethnic tension crime rates and drugs. Arguably, this shapes them differently as their cultures are somehow shed off to pave way for them to adapt to new sets of beliefs which guides their outlooks (Marger, 371-373).
As a result, social theorists have maintained that this creates a structural inequality that leaves the immigrants bitter at the Americans and thus heightening a social rift between them. The resulting effect is further noted in the forms of crime rates and insecurity that overly changes the American world view (Brown, 146-148). Consequently, a concept that can succinctly be dubbed as American Apartheid is much implicated in the creation of cultural principles of despair, distrust and ambivalence to such economic forces.
In another scenario, youth immigrants facilitate the erosion of American values because, their engagement in deviant behaviors and as a result, asking them to give up their values for the cherished American worldviews and interpersonal relations amounts to disaster. But on the other hand, immigrants who came into contact with the middle class American culture equally manifest that similar story. A Recent survey into the effects of immigration on cultural ideologies indicate that many immigrants hold on the perception that many affluent middle class Americans are not welcome but instead, dismiss them on the basis that they are worthless and thus can not partake into the American dream (Richey, 207-208). In this case, it becomes problematic for these immigrants to partake into the culture that rejects them and somehow decides to pay back for this psychological price with hatred as well as shame that overly shapes the perspectives of the American culture.
The behavior of the immigrants equally represents the foundation of cultural threat. It emerges that some of the immigrants are forced to pretend that they are committed to embracing the culture of the United States. This form of mimicking would in a way become an adaptive strategy of survival especially if it is applied to the issue of color. Menjivar (15-18) outlines that this survival strategy becomes ill intended and prompts that mainstream American to protect their children by a web of social net in a bid to move away from dystopian behavior that includes sexual experimentation, drug and substance abuse. On the same note, immigration provides a mechanism upon which immigrant youths with myriad socioeconomic problems to engage in such behaviors thus affecting not only themselves but the overall image of the American culture.
In addition, the current trends immigration into the United States are chiefly composite of heterogeneous and diverse cultural background. These lay the difference in light of the surface of the skin that heightens the conception of the other. In extension, the immigrants with families shed of the belief in family ties, hard work as well as secured future due to the behavioral, economic and social problems that they face. On the other hand, immigration brings about the value of multiple cultural codes. It is imperative that immigration leads to change and as a result, as immigrants inevitable undergo transformational change. Americans in the mainstream culture also are influenced to change. For example, in the present America, we eat, and speak so different from the way our fathers did twenty years ago. It has become clear that immigration has led to a cultural requirement which builds on negotiations as well as calibrations. According to Menjivar (23-24), through confounded and objective assimilation, the American population has embraced a commitment to nurture and cultivate creative blending of other cultures with the American elements of culture. As result, immigration undoubtedly leads to the trans-cultural competencies as well as hybrid identities which will extensively yield newer energies and potentials in the social world.
The contemporary world needs a new set of cultures and habits to facilitate what can be referred to as a new way of thriving into the new centuries. Immigrants should maintain social cohesion and a sense of belonging with their roots so that their children may equally get a chance to find identity thus not risk loosing social cohesion and expressive culture. With regard to this, the arguments of maintaining indigenous cultures of immigrants come to affect our elements of culture which forms a symbolic importance and a strategic platform towards social cohesion. As evidenced from historical experiences, policies of immigration should be a reason that tears our own social and cultural fabric but rather an opportunity for making and remaking our own image and heritage by skillfully making the immigrants to contribute to the projects of America whether on the social economic or cultural fronts.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is evident that immigration has far reaching effects on the culture of the Americans. This largely strengthens the old perception that immigrants are rooted in prejudice and ignorance. However, with globalization and industrialization, there should be immigration policies to facilitate the approach to reduce the negative effects that immigration poses to the mainstream American culture. The economic consequences of immigration on the immigrants as well as Americans affect the emotional paradigms that shape the entire perspective of immigration thus influencing the mainstream American culture. However, despite these effects, many American people are happy as evidenced in the way they comfortably live anywhere with these changes. The only impossible question that needs social scientist to addresses the assimilation of language and religion as aspects of culture.
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