Ashley Webb

A Dominant Culture Defined By Exception

            It’s all around us; it is displayed in every nook and cranny of America. The dominant culture stares back at us on the toy shelf with twelve shiny blue eyes and six pale rosy faces for every one brown eyed, dark skinned doll; or at the department store with its ten racks of starched khakis and crisp, neutral button-down shirts disrupted by a single rack of bright red, greens and yellows. If the dominant culture is the majority, with only a few interruptions, then why do Americans have such a hard time describing it? Other cultures stand out because they are an exception to the rule, a contrast to the expected. The dominant culture is accepted and familiar, and not thought about. Those who belong to it naturally fit in with the “code,” without much consideration to what it entails. Throughout this semester, I’ve noticed that in most cases, the dominant culture is described only by those who are on the outside looking in. It is the minorities, either analyzing it to fit in, or scrutinizing it to reject it.

             The most often used description of the dominant culture is “plain.” In Bread Givers, Sara remarks on “the neat finished quietness of their tailored suits.” For her these suits are a costume that she must wear to play the part of the dominant culture, to become equal with them. In Gussuk, Lucy only notices the mark of the dominant culture, when her “khaki skirt and tasseled loafers” with the “brightly colored scarves” of the minority culture she enters. Clothes are a sign, appearance-wise, of the dominant culture, but power, wealth and comfort are also associated with the dominant culture.

            In The American Society, an immigrant family from Asia earns themselves a comfortable salary and use it to try to assimilate into the dominant culture. As soon as there is spare cash, the mother buys a car of luxury that even comes with air condition, while the father buys a recliner. Being the boss of his own restaurant, he feels like he finally has a grasp on the power of the whites. He “distributes paychecks”, controls how much he works and how many people he hires, and is finally in control. When invited to a party, the entire family dresses wealthy in order to fit in with the members of the country club. They soon find out despite rich clothes, money and power, their race keeps them from enjoying all of the privileges of the dominant culture. They are treated like servants as the daughter is forced to serve food and the father is mistaken for a servant. Immigrants and minorities can fight for equal opportunities but can never fit into the WASP definition—White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.

            The concept of a dominant culture seems unfair and unconstitutional, so why does one exist? The dominant culture begins with the founders of the present day America. Although they were not the first to inhabit the United States, the pilgrims are the first seeds of the dominant culture. The concept of WASP is directly based on their own color, nationality, and religion. Much of the plainness of the dominant culture today comes from the pilgrims based on their interpretation of the bible and personal preferences for simplicity and a strong work ethic.

Since the pilgrims were not the first people in America, it seems odd that they would become the dominant culture, rather than the Native Americans. An explanation of this is that the pilgrims followed “national migration.” According to Dr. White’s definition and explanation:

“Unlike the normal immigration pattern of individuals or families immigrating with intentions or expectations that they will assimilate to their new home, some groups immigrate as communities with the intention of not assimilating. These groups are often identified by religion, but religion may be interwoven with all aspects of community, including economics and ethnic relations. Under special circumstances, such groups may become the dominant culture of a nation or area.”

The pilgrims immigrated as a whole, not by families or individually. Since they traveled as a group, they had power in numbers and could overcome hostility. Their determination to keep their identities also ensures that they are the dominant culture. By not intermarrying with other cultures, they maintain all of their customs and ideals, without having to assimilate to fit in with others.

            Another group to follow “national migration” is the Jews. Much of their story in Exodus fits in with the pilgrim story. According to Mary T’s 2006 final, “In the case of the Ancient Jews and the Pilgrims, settlement in a new country included the displacement of native peoples, which established these invading groups as the forerunners of what would one day become the dominant culture.” Both cultures left their homelands to pursue religious freedom that they felt was promised to them by God because they were his “chosen people.” Neither group considered assimilating with the previous dominant culture, with the intention of displacing them. In Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford even compares himself with Moses, the Jewish leader: “The leader of a people in a wilderness had need be a Moses…” Both groups meet trials and adversities as they find themselves lost and doubtful at times and question whether they are better off now or before. Ultimately the Jews and Puritans succeed in setting up the world with their dominant cultures.

            Objective 4 of our class focused on the dominant culture we found so elusive at the beginning of the semester. I think it takes identifying the minority and immigrant cultures first, in order to identify what they assimilate into. Through their struggles and accomplishments we see what the characters of our stories attempted to mold themselves into in order to be equals in society. Their stories identify, not always positively, the attitudes and attributes of the dominant culture. By studying the dominant culture, we learn the history of our country and the identity that we often forget is associated with America. Before this class, I thought America had become almost totally “multi-cultural friendly.” There are an increasing number of opportunities for people of any race or status. Yet it is because I am a part of the dominant culture that I don’t notice it for what it really is. It takes reading books from others’ perspectives to realize America is not all that it advertises itself to be, but that it is an evolving country. Looking back over history we can see that rights have changed, and that gradually equality will become more than just an ideal, but a reality. And this is why we must study the dominant culture as well as immigrant and minority cultures. We must discover how the pieces fit together now and how they can become one solid piece “The American Dream” in the future.