This paper entails a review of ethnic diversity with a special interest in the Anglo-European Americans. It shows the influence that this group has made in the American society. The origin and existence of this group, in the US, is well explained in the paper.
In addition, the paper reviews the challenges, which the group faced, and advancement that it contributed to the US during the 21st century in assimilation, economic, political, religion, arts, language, values, recreation, and education, especially in relation to the cultural conflicts, as well as events that bring substantial impacts in the learning of a student.
According to a census that was done in the United States, about 67.8% of the people in the US are whites, but the figures entail a diverse group of the citizens in terms of the social values, religion wealth, political perspective, level of education, and ideologies to ethnicity just as characterized by the society (Cox, 1994, p. 36).
The diversity in America’s ethnicity evolved through the relations they had with other larger society and ethnic groups. The first group of Europeans to settle in the northern part of the US was the Welsh and English (Bennett, 2007, p.119).
This group later evolved to form the Anglo European Americans. Many scholars argue that, this group of people has significantly influenced the culture of the US politically, economically, and socially. According to them, the unique form of democracy that the Americans enjoy today was acquired from the British people, another group of Europeans.
This aspect is traced back in the end of the 20th century from the English and French enlightenment and political thinkers. An example is the political system called the federal system and democracy, which allowed women to take part in the politics of the country (Kitayama, & Cohen, 2010, p. 144). Statistically, records show that, 82% of immigrants in the US came from Europe in the 20th century.
Most of these immigrants, from Europe, only settled in the areas they could best apply their knowledge and skills. They formed ethnic groups of which most were named after the Europeans schools, towns, churches, as well as newspapers.
All the three million European immigrants, to the United States, assimilated fast. They got jobs easily and especially those that were skilled in the manufacturing and textile industry. These were replaced by other groups of immigrants and inventions of new machines; nevertheless, their replacement meant a promotion in the rank they held in the industries (Cox, 1994, p.100).
Most European immigrants experienced serious discrimination with the exception of immigrants from Britain, in terms of verbal abuse, violence attacks, intentional discrimination, and stereotyping. The resistance to the Irish immigrants was evident from the cartoons, literature, and theatre.
These Irish Europeans were stereotyped as lazy, immoral, mentally inferior, and violent (Kitayama, & Cohen, 2010, p. 206). Some of the most influential journals dehumanized these groups of people like the “Harpers’ Weekly”.
Most of the Italians were stereotyped, as being dangerous criminals, whereby even the issue of their criminology was emphasized during the prime time hours in the television and most of the films produced. Most of the schools were then agents of assimilation for all the children of most European immigrants in the United States (Bennett, 2007, p. 125).
The melting pot theory advocates used the example of the white ethnic groups, like the Irish, as a way to support their position of “assimilationists”. The Italian group represents an example of the Anglo European American that overcame initial discrimination prejudice and violence and moved higher, both politically and economically in the US (Cox, 1994, p. 177).
Cultural assimilation is best described by the experience of the immigrants who came from Northern Europe and British Isle. Religion and social class, particularly the isolation in the rural areas, made the difference in the success of schools (Bennett, 2007, p. 133).
However, the example of a man called Miller Jimmy shows the experience of most schoolchildren on Anglo- European who grew up in isolated places of the country (Bennett, 2007, p. 128).
The Anglo European Americans faced a formidable challenge in launching their skills in art, but they managed to bring a considerable influence in the US, in the art industry. They are behind the American root music. During the 20th century, folk music was a term used to describe the music that was done by the Americans of the European origin (Pagedas, 2000, p. 50).
As time advanced, the term expanded because it involved other musical styles like the blues. Through folk songs, which were part of art, they were able to show their culture, which was eventually embraced by the Americans. Today, most of the blue songs, played worldwide, originate from the US.
The term root music not only includes the folk music, but widely involves the gospel, traditional country, and blues among other (Kitayama, & Cohen, 2010, p. 97). Through the root music, the American experience for the Anglo- European American is well explained to the world, especially in the 21st century. Above all, the people also get to understand the culture of the American as compared to the cultural activities of the Europeans.
The Anglo-Europeans American faced many challenges in their effort to influence the US through music, because they were trying to bring their culture into the US, which was initially rejected, but later accepted by the people hence the reason they embraced the terminology root music to involve all genre of music (Bennett, 2007, p. 142).
Most of the Anglo-Europeans who migrated to the US aimed at achieving stability in their economic and social standing. They were influenced by the availability of abundant land, which was cheap in the western part of the US. They are behind the famous agricultural revolution the 21st century. They walked through the wilderness in the western and northern part of the US and on the process they faced so many challenged on their way.
The process of encountering these hardships and challenges, transformed these Europeans immigrants into an entirely new national form. According to researchers, much of the transformation, which occurred during the period the Anglo-Europeans Americans, in the US, was due to the Americans emulating the values, which were brought by the Europeans immigrants (Pagedas, 2000, p. 113).
They converted it to the national an indomitable spirit nationally. The emulation of the Western Values led to the great development of the US as well as influenced the development of the modern Europe.
It gave rise to so many political and social institutions in the western part of the US, which up to date influences the whole of the US. This did not come easily because there was political and legal battles that rose up. The cause of the conflict was because of the finite resources in the western part of the US.
During the process of migration, the Anglo-American brought along their values to the US. Some of these values are as follows; the Christians are more superior to the heathens, while the Indians are mere savages in need of a religion.
They are the people who brought about Christianity in the US, especially the Catholic faith (Kitayama, & Cohen, 2010, p. 100), because most of the Catholic Europeans, who migrated to the US, came from German, whereby most of the religious following is Catholic.
With time, the protestant Christians too came to the US and the religion spread all over. In the 21st century, the protestant religion is most dominant in the US as compared to any other form of religion (Pagedas, 2000, p. 188).
According to their beliefs, the hierarchy of order of life is as follows God, then the angels, human beings, the animals, followed by plants, and finally the rocks. Their social life was well organized in terms of religion, culture, as well as racial hierarchies and they were the determinants of the people in the society (Cox, 1994, p.199).
They also brought the aspect of hierarchies justifying inequalities and racism, whereby the white were more superior to the Indians and blacks, the Protestants more superior to the Jewish, Muslims and Catholics (Bennett, 2007, p. 183). They believed that their culture, religion, and all of their economic aspects were superior to the Americans’.
Further, they believed that they are the people who are destined to remake order and civilize the entire earth. The Anglo European Americans brought to the US their strong support for quality education and especially the immigrants from Germany (Cox, 1994, p.70).
They worked extremely hard to cultivate their language in the US through classes, newspapers high schools, and elementary schools. Many German language-teaching schools were started, in the US, to train them. The European system of education gains momentum in most of the schools in Europe.
References
Bennett, C. (2007). Comprehensive Multicultural Education: Theory and Practice. Indianapolis, IN: Pearson Education, Inc.
Cox, T. (1994). Cultural Diversity in Organizations: Theory, Research, and Practice. New York, NY: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Kitayama, S., & Cohen, D. (2010). Handbook of Cultural Psychology. Canada: Guilford Press.
Pagedas, C. (2000). Anglo-American Strategic Relations and the French Problem, 1960-1963: A Troubled Partnership. London: Routledge.