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Sample Student final answers 2013 (2013 final exam assignment) #1: Essays: dominant culture overview |
LITR 4333
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Marissa Turner
December 9, 2013
Defining America
After spending time studying immigrant and minority
narratives and histories it is important to look at the dominant culture and its
relations with the immigrant or minority cultures. While the history behind the
dominant culture may seem a little more difficult to grasp, as so many
stereotypes are already established in our selves, like every culture, it is
important to examine. People do not seem to be aware that there is a depth
behind the dominant culture because the most common aspects they assume is that
they are simply “well-off, selfish, white people,” and they do not feel the urge
or see the mysteriousness behind them to look past that. The dominant culture
must learn to live within the same land as other cultures, just as everyone else
must. Only some cultures, especially the dominant, is more resistant to change
their ways compared to others.
What society fails to remember or consider is that the
dominant culture is also descendants of immigrants. Even before their arrival in
America, pilgrims were resistant to assimilating to the catholic religion;
therefore, they decided to change location and migrate to Holland in hopes of
finding a promise land where they could be free regarding their beliefs. For a
time they were similar to other immigrants to America in that they worked hard
to make a living and settle in with the new culture. However, soon after, they
became threatened by their next generations following the footsteps of the Dutch
and noticed that they were beginning to possess their ways and beliefs, so they
“thought it was best to remove, before they were any way engaged the same” (Of
Plymouth Plantation, 3.1b). The pilgrims are not like other immigrant
cultures because they completely refuse to conform to other religions, while
others may be resistant at first and it does not make them flee to another
country and eventually, through generations, they too, assimilate to pieces of
other religions. They wanted to escape Holland because they “thought that if a
better and easier place of living could be had, it would draw many and take away
these discouragements,” so their idea was to go to a place where there would be
no influence on their ideas (Of Plymouth
Plantation, 4.2). The pilgrims decided to immigrate to North America where
they could be the “chosen people,” even though there were already native people
here. They are comparable to the Exodus story because they came to a land which
was already inhibited and according to objective one in the syllabus, they do
“not assimilate to pre-existing cultures but conquer and displace earlier
traditions.” Amanda Pruett explained it well when she says that since “they
traveled as a whole and were larger in number, the Jews took over the new land
while expecting others to assimilate to the new dominant culture” which is
exactly the way that the pilgrims view their status.
They had an idea that they could still be in control and “dominant” over
the “others” and since they held the status for themselves as “God’s chosen
people,” the natives carried a heavy price. Here, they refused all assimilation
characteristics even though they were in fact the immigrants in the natives’
land.
Two of the major signs of assimilation are the
dating/marriage between different cultures and becoming fluent in the language,
and this was something that the pilgrims did not do, in fact, it was just the
opposite, as even today we still speak English because of the Pilgrims. Unlike
immigrants outside of the dominant culture, who come here willing to accept
change at least in small proportions, the Pilgrims had no intentions of doing
so. They built and established their own communities and from that point on, any
new comers were expected to conform to their ways. Their ways were that of
plainness. Their food was bland and lacked in colorfulness and spices, just as
it still is today; for example, plain potatoes and bread. Their clothes when
they first arrived were simply basic and put together exactly the way they saw
fit. These clothes of the dominant culture are still present today; as Dr. White
describes as khaki pants, collared shirts, all ironed nice and neat to look
professional and most of all “good shoes” as his wife puts it. This look is the
standard by which people are judged, and if immigrants do not paint themselves
with this image, they will have a difficult time being treated as equal in
society. There is also a standard to achieve what the dominant culture defines
as a proper education, a decent, respectable career, and well maintained
hygiene. Which other immigrant cultures may describe as not so lovely, as in
Anzia Yezierska’s Soap and Water,
when the narrator comes to the college and describes it as having a “solid wall
of the well-fed, well-dressed world- the frigid whitewashed wall of
cleanliness.” As these things may sound good on the outside, they make other
cultures feel like outsiders, like they are not good enough for the dominant
society.
I believe that there should not be a “dominant” culture and
if there absolutely has to be one, it should have been the Native American as
they were here first. I believe that no culture is greater than the other, at
least not in America. Who gets to make this decision? America was formed by
immigrants, not just the dominant culture immigrants, as America would not be
what it is if there were never waves of immigrants from other countries coming
in. Why, just because they are defiant, and chose not to assimilate, should
others then have to assimilate to them? One could say because they created the
government systems and laws and started the whole thing. However, one could also
argue that such things were created by immigrants; therefore, others have just
as much right to influence them. Overall, the difference between the dominant
culture and other immigrants is that the dominant culture came here with no
intensions of changing anything about themselves except for their location.
While other immigrants knew and were prepared at least minimally to change
something about their culture in order to succeed in grow in America, otherwise,
they would not come at all. The dominant culture that will not assimilate to
other cultures is hypocritical in a way, being that they still expect everyone
else to assimilate to them. Another way to look at it is that the dominant
culture holds on to their original beliefs and culture, while along the way of
trying to fit in with them, other immigrants lose part of whom they are and
where they came from. For example, in Sam Hamod’s
After the Funeral of Assam Hamady,
the narrator “doesn’t know how to pray” due to his assimilation into dominant
culture, and towards the end he is wishing for the things that he gave up. This
idea of losing one’s self is common amongst immigrants, even the second and
third generations. I believe this may be one of the causes of why the dominant
culture is looked at in a negative light, as if they take away the individual
identity of others.
There is more than one type of dominant culture that often
becomes misunderstood. Rather than the original pilgrims, who are the ones
referred to as “rich white men” or White Anglo Saxton Protestants (WASP) who are
often rich and educated; there is another culture who takes on the same
appearance physically. This culture is known as the Scots-Irish. When people are
in the presence of this culture they automatically assume the same things as
they do with the other conservative side of dominant culture. In reality, these
individuals are just the opposite; they are what we think of when we imagine a
“real American” according to Dr. White.
They are tough, feisty, soldiers, and warriors. I like to think of them
as the everyday side of the dominant culture or “the people.” The Scots-Irish
place less of an importance on education, and focus more on strength and
survival. They arrived here through a complicated history that is not easily
explained; however, to sum it up in the words of Dr. White, they “may be
regarded as a third wave of immigration from the British Isles.” They decided to
head to America due to famines and political conflicts. Once they arrived in
America they settled in rural areas, farms and villages and later they slowly
began to migrate west to settle at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
They are also they ones we typically see as “rednecks” or “hillbillies.” Rather
than the other side of dominant who are “privileged” and were the typical slave
owners who do not like people messing with their money or property, the
Scots-Irish were the ones who were most likely working for slave owners. They
like the southern style of North America; however, they really don’t fit into
either category. Both sides of the dominant culture together is what describes
what we think of as the dominant culture as a whole, and together they possess
all of the “good” qualities.
Prior to taking this course, I had the same impressions of
the dominant culture as most other Americans. I saw them as “the man,” or the
ones who are well off and do not have to work as hard to rise in social and
economic status. I never considered the Scots-Irish side or histories, and
frankly, I never had an urge to learn about it. Now that I think about it,
people in America have a bad habit of looking at someone with light hair, skin,
and eyes and jump to the assumption that they are white. The majorities of
people look at me for instance and call me white; while I am only Italian,
Native American, and Hispanic. Not enough people are educated on the fact that
appearance does not define who we are, they see a fair person that may be
Spanish and label them white, just as fast as they see a dark Dominican and
label them as black. Previously in the semester I have found the information and
narratives on other cultures very interesting, I suppose because it is something
outside of what we see every day in the educational world. Therefore, when the
time came to study the dominant culture, I had it already implanted in my mind
that it was not going to be as intriguing. However, now, I believe it is
interesting to take a look at the dominant culture in a different light and to
see how different they are from other groups, while at the same time having some
similarities. I do agree with the idea that studying the cultures of the
dominant will assist in the natural urge to reject this type of information. For
example, maybe if individuals can see that they are too immigrants, just like
everyone else, that there might be more sympathy. I have always believed that
origins or cultures should not define how important we are in society, rather we
as individuals should decide what to do with our lives to create our own
importance and status. Most of all, I do not think people today should hold
grudges against cultures according
to something their culture did many many years ago. Generations have passed, and
the people of today did not do those things or hold those opinions against
others, so one should not be miss treated based off what their ancestors that
they may not have never met did. Being American, is not defined as being
“white,” “black,” “red” or “yellow,” it is defined by who we all are together.
America is a colorful multicultural country and while standards may exist, no
color should dominate over another. We are all American, because we all live
amongst each other.
