Race and Ethnicity in America!

By Truong Pham:


America has always been viewed as the country of diversity; the home of many ethnic backgrounds.  Multiculturalism is very important in our United States. It helps us look at other cultures respectably and freely.  Without it, we would be forced to be informed about only the mainstream culture in our society.

          Many people confuse race and Ethnicity.  Race is a group of people united or classified together on the basis of common history, nationality, or geographic distribution, or in other words a general description. Ethnicity is an ethnic quality or affiliation resulting from racial or cultural ties, or more exactly, what country or countries you and your ancestors originate from.  Multiculturalism has found its way to become a popular term because race truly does not define any real differences between people. How people are raised and their beliefs are what make them different.

What makes the US the melting pot of the world is that it is a place that is full of different cultures.  There are many benefits of multiculturalism. With the mix of different cultures in the United States we have new ideas and worthwhile benefits. Since all these new ideas are around, the United States benefits from this.  For example, food; There are many different things out there for us to choose such as tacos, sushi, and Chinese food. We also got different sports, which people have brought over from different countries. We have hockey from Canada, soccer from Europe, and golf from Scotland. If we did not have these different blends of cultures we would not have been able to experience these sports or foods.  With all the different ideas and beliefs coming from the different cultures we develop respect for their views. We learn from them like with the Native Americans. They had a lot of respect for the land and the earth. They taught us to respect the land and ourselves. Having multiculturalism in America lets us blend our different cultures together and learn from each other.  

Since mixed culture children are booming in the United States, will this change the way we look at each other? Hopefully, because I feel that there is no need to be racist. All people are the same, no matter what shape, color, or size. Being in America has allowed us to view other cultures and religions we would not have known about if there was no immigration. Because of this we have holidays that appeal to all cultures.  We are becoming more and more multicultural country, so I hope there will be no more racism and we could all sit and laugh at each others identities peacefully.