Alex Rapoport

Rapoport 1
Professor Sen
February 24, 2014
Intercultural Communication

Cultural Importance and Integration in

America:

Cultural integration and multiculturalism has been a force in American

society since the beginning of American history. From the progressive era in
America, to current-day gay rights and its acceptance in society, America has
thrived in accepting various cultures into their open-minded culturally
diverse population. Cultural integration is crucial to America growing as a
country and history shows it has been happening for many years. We as
Americans have been taught to accept different cultures and this has
contributed to having one of the most culturally tolerant countries in the
world today. America has been and will continue to be the most culturally
diverse country in the world.

In the early 1900s America had begun their expansion of

multiculturalism. The immigrants of the progressive era came to America to
work and build a better life for themselves. The library of congress describes
the immigration by saying The principal source of immigrants was now
southern and eastern Europe, especially Italy, Poland, and Russia, countries
quite different in culture and language from the United States. The so-called
"new immigrants" had difficulty adjusting to life here. (1.LOC Pg2) These
immigrants came to America and worked for lower wages than other people
had been receiving. This made the steel industry strive and helped the
economy at the time. These immigrants stayed in America and many had
kids who were now culturally diverse being assimilated to how the culture
was in their parents home country as well as the culture in America.

America has had their disapproval of integrating cultures as well as

accepting them. The most famous was segregation. When America was
segregated, people were separated due to their race. At those times,
Americans did not accept all cultures, races, or people in general . The
National Museum of American History, describes segregation by stating
Although some white Americans welcomed them, others used peoples
ignorance, racism, and self-interest to sustain and spread racial divisions. By
1900, new laws and old customs in the North and the South had created a

segregated society that condemned Americans of color to second-class

citizenship. (2.Smithsonian National Museum of American History) People
were not very quick to help out others of a different race or color. This
differed from the early progressive era where immigrants came to America
but were all of the same race. These people were less condemned and more
tolerated because they looked the same. As we progressed in society,
Americans changed their segregation laws with the famous court case Brown
vs Board Of Education.

In the famous court Case Brown vs the board of Education, a NAACP

representative, Thurgood Marshall, argued against a Jim Crow law that was
implemented in Kansas. He argued that segregated schools should not be
allowed because of the fourteenth amendment. United States Courts website
states Marshall personally argued the case before the Court. Although he
raised a variety of legal issues on appeal, the most common one was that
separate school systems for blacks and whites were inherently unequal, and
thus violate the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment to
the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, relying on sociological tests, such as the
one performed by social scientist Kenneth Clark, and other data, he also
argued that segregated school systems had a tendency to make black

children feel inferior to white children, and thus such a system should not be
legally permissible. (3.Uscourt.gov)
This led to a court decision in favor of Brown and thus made schools
desegregated. This was a cornerstone to furthering diversity in America and
leading to endless possibilities of cultural and racial acceptance. America
has come very far regarding culturally and racially accepting the black
community. Black people hold various positions all over the United States,
from owners of sports teams to president of the United States.

Cultures in this era in America are very comfortable. There are many
areas especially in New York City, which have a diverse population living in
different areas. There is china town, little Italy, even Manhattan itself has a
very specific culture. In Manhattan there are various cultures such as
hipsters, the gay movement as well as various others. These cultures are
widely accepted and encouraged, due to the abundant acceptance of
Americans to others. There are people from all over the world living in
America and the minority is hardly treated as such. People move to
America from all over the world because they know they will be received and
treated fairly. New Jersey itself is a diverse and accepting state. There are
various people living here and not all are the same race or of the same

culture. In the twenty first century we as people are very accepting of all
types of people and are more and more comfortable with their specific
cultures. We mainly accept this and adhere to what we choose to believe.

The LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual transgender) culture in America is

growing and being accepted more recently. The culture was mainly not
spoken of, pre 1990. More recently we are growing to accept the gay
community more and congress has implemented laws regarding
homosexuals rights. Same sex marriage is mainly the most discussed topic
when speaking about the gay culture. According to William Browning, in 1996
there were no states that allowed same sex marriage. The Defense of
Marriage Act tried to define that a marriage is a union between a man and a
woman. This lasted a short time until the year 2005 when the decision was
overruled. Marriage was still not allowed for same-sex people on a federal
level, but different states had different laws regarding it. William Browning
also wrote in his article Comparison of Gay Marriage Laws in Nine States,
that there are now 9 states that allow same-sex marriage.

One of the greatest things about American culture is its acceptance of

all religions. Religion is something that people take very seriously and there
have been many wars over it. For a country to not impose a specific religion

on all the people is a wonderful concept. It ensures that all people are free
and allowed to believe in whatever they choose. Choice is a main criteria in
multiculturalism and cultural integration. Without it, there cannot be dual
cultures accepting one anothers standards and actions. Consequently there
would be a feud over who is correct in their beliefs and a heated discussion
could arise.
America today is the most accepting country in the world regarding
various cultures, races, religions, and sexual preference. The country
persevered through a very difficult path on ensuring how accepting and
open-minded the laws and standards are. From the progressive era, through
segregation, to modern America, we have been building to ensure that
people of any background are going to be comfortable and accepted in this
country. No person is to be singled out depending on their religious beliefs or
cultural background. America is a great place to live and a promising land of
opportunity for anyone within the country, or anybody considering living
here.
Bibliography:
Administrative Office of the US . "HISTORY OF BROWN V. BOARD OF
EDUCATION." United States Courts. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb 2014.
<http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/get-involved/federal-courtactivities/brown-board-education-re-enactment/history.aspx>.

Browning, William (2 August 2011). "Comparison of Gay Marriage Laws

in Nine States". Yahoo! News. 9 February 2012
Cass R. Sunstein (May 3, 2004). "Did Brown Matter?". The New Yorker.
Retrieved January 22, 2010.
"Immigrants in the Progressive Era." The Library Of Congress. N.p.,
02/24/2014. Web. 24 Feb 2014.
<http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/
presentations/timeline/progress/immigrnt/>.
"Segregated America." Smithsonian National Museum of American
History. Zamore Design, n.d. Web. 24 Feb 2014.
<http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/1-segregated/segregatedamerica.html>.
"US CODE: Title 1,7. Definition of "marriage" and "spouse"". Cornell
University. 7 April 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010