Multiculturalism In America

The concept of multiculturalism in relation to immigrants in America is distinctly opposed by a pressure to assimilate into American culture. This want of Americanism prevents the ideal of multiculturalism in America and disagrees with the concept of America as a “melting pot” of nationalities and cultures. Americanism is becoming an increasingly central idea of American society, and both social pressures and an increasing sense of the benefits of nationalism when examining European states and their immigration policies have led to the diminishing of multiculturalism. Multiculturalism and cultural diversity can be argued to be seen in conjunction with Americanism, but personal experiences of mine, as a member of a cultural minority group,

With examples of the negative effects and failures of multiculturalism in countries such as Germany, nationalism is being implemented globally on a much larger scale. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in response to increasing crime rates and increased poverty as an effect of looser immigration laws, commented that multiculturalism in Germany had “utterly failed,” and that it was “a sham” (Noack). In addition, the former president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, once stated “we’ve been too concerned about the identity of new arrivals and not enough about the identity of the country receiving them ” (“Subscribe to the FT to Read: Financial Times How Europe Lost Faith in Multiculturalism”). These notions of regret from leaders and former leaders of countries that implemented a multicultural idea have led to states on the global scale being reluctant to embrace multiculturalism, especially due to the influence of France and Germany on the global market. In America, nationalism is being justified by the current leadership by pointing to the failures of this multicultural European system. Thus, multiculturalism will never be effectively implemented over Americanism due to fear of that failure that is evident in so many other countries that have attempted to celebrate

Examples of the retention of multiculturalism are seemingly evident in a high school environment, where an outside observer would see close bonds of friendship being shared amongst those with cultural similarities as a general rule. However, my personal experience as an immigrant leads to an analysis that discovers a host of problems with this apparent cultural bond that shows a connection to multiculturalism. In the high school environment, I have observed that this retention of culture leads to a distinct separation in the mind of student, one in which those that share the same cultural ideals become part of private life, especially since many of these are family friends and not just associates at school, and that those other friends that do not share the same cultural similarity become associated with public life. This ease at which private and public can be separated can lead to social flaws and shortcomings, as shown by Richard Rodriguez in Aria: A Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood, when he says “it is not healthy to distinguish public words and private sounds so easily,” Rodriguez makes the case that this distinguishing can lead to smaller friend groups and an inclination to shy away from culturally different, which leads to more isolation in already isolated groups and works against the maintenance of a national