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UNIT 1. IMMIGRATION & DIVERSITY

1) Melting Pot/ Salad Bowl:

_ Melting Pot: various cultures / people combined into one

_Salad Bowl: various cultures/ people mix but still remain specific culture

_ Many are bicultural: consider themselves Americans but also wish to retain their original language/
culture.

2) The Establishment of the Dominant Culture:

_ The white population: greater numbers/ money/ political power

_The white population: largely English in origin, Protestant & middle class => Dominant culture. Their
chareacteristics became the standard for judging other groups. Those speaking a different language:
would be disadvantaged unless they became assimilated

Such Americans referred to WASPs.

_WASPs ( White Anglo-Saxon Protestants)

_ Immigrants with these characteristics would be welcome => give strong support to the values of the
dominant culture.

5) The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s & 1960s:

_ The US Supreme Court declared: racially segregated public school did not provide equal educational
opportunities for black Americans => illegal.

_ Black leaders were encouraged by this decision. They decided to try to end racial segragation

_ The most important leader: Martin Luther King.

_ His goals: bring about greater assimilation of black people into the larger American culture. His ideals
were largely developed from basic American values.

_ Howerver, some black leaders ( Malcolm X) urged a rejection of basic American values and complete
seperation of blacks from the white culture.

_ He believed that blacks must separate from whites, build their own society.

6) Race Relations after the Civil Rights Movement:

_ Jesse Jackson: the first African-American to run for president of the United States
_African-Americans are now mayors of major cities & members of Congress

_ More than 80% of whites say they would vote for a black for President.

_ The bad news: there is still a gulf between the races.

_Half the whites live in the suburbs, only a fourth of the blacks.

_Many blacks are trapped in cycles of poverty, unemployment, violence, despair

_44% of blacks said the problems are due to white discrimination against them.

7) A Universal Nation:

_ The dominant culture & its value system: has roots in white, Protestant , western Europe.

_ 1920s: Americans decided it was time to close the border to mass immigration.

_ 1965: the U.S made changes: allow more immigrants to come & eliminate older laws.

_ About 90% are from Asia, Latin America & the Caribean.