Examples of Multicultural issues in a society

1. What event do you think has had the greatest influence on African Americans? Why?

In my opinion, the events of “Red Summer” had a great influence on the African Americans. Black soldiers who participated in World War I were systematically tortured and lynched by white American mobs fearing that dangers of armed black people. I think that these events called for a unity among the African Americans and forced them to call for equal rights under the American constitution.

2. Where did Black English (Ebonics) come from? What is another cultural group that has a comparable language situation and what are some of the similarities and differences between the two cultural groups and their bilingualism?

Ebonics or Black English is an English dialect that was adopted by the black people who were the defendants of African people who were enslaved in North America and the Caribbean. This is a dialect that is a lot different from the English that is spoken in England or America.

Cameron is a country that faces the same language situation. Half of Cameron was a British colony and hence this part developed its own dialect of English while half was French and they have their own French dialect.

3. Why are a majority of African Americans not immigrants (descendant of immigrants) to the US? Why is it offensive to suggest they are?

The majority of African American are not immigrants or descendants of immigrants because throughout history the descendant word has been used for people who are descendants of the slaves who were brought to America from Africa. There are many African American who voluntarily moved to America from Brazil, Haiti, Ethiopia and many other countries in search of a better life. Therefore, it might be offensive to call each black person a descendent of African slaves.

4. What is meant by the phrase “not a Chinaman’s chance”? In what ways do you think use of the phrase influences Chinese American interactions with the dominant culture?

This term originated in the 1800’s when Chines labor was used in dangerous situations to work. For example they were used to put dynamite in mines which has a great chance of them getting seriously injured or killed. The term mean having very thin or no chance as the Chinese labor had little chance of surviving in the conditions they were put to work.

I think that the phrase would still be as offensive now as it used to be and would definitely be a bone of contention for the Chinese American who interact with the dominant culture.

5. What are fongs? What is the role of family and kinship to business and economic concerns for Chinese Americans?

Fongs are smaller groups associations within Chinese families who have the same surname and common village origins. Fongs have the same cultural and religious norms. Chines live in close families. Families are important to Chinese people and businesses might often be run by the collective families. Different Chinese families may become relatives which may result in bigger family networks that could play vital roles in the establishment and success of Chinese American businesses.

6. What impact did the internment camp experience have on Japanese American culture? Why should or should not this event be prominent in a discussion of Japanese Americans?

During the World War II, Japanese Americans were forced to live in internment camps inside America where they were treated inhumanely. These camps may have both positive and negative implications in the Japanese American culture. The positive implications may include adding resilience to the behavior of the American Japanese while the negative implications may still exist on a psychological level in the form of fear and feeling of being discriminated.

I think that the discussion of Japanese Americans should be prominent with the events of the internment camp as all of us must learn from what history did to us and how well or bad we responded in return.

7. How does the strong caste system culture of Japanese Americans influence their acculturation into the dominant culture?

Speaking of the modern world, I do not think that the caste culture of Japanese Americans may be a great obstacle in the acculturation into the dominant culture. But in its extreme form, it could have negative impacts on the acculturation of Japanese Americans.