Americanization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Americanization - Essay Example Ellis further contributed to this definition by arguing that, despite Thomas Jefferson advocating for the end of slavery, he has many contradictions, which prove he indeed was for slavery and not its abolition. According to Joseph Ellis, Jefferson owned approximately 600 slaves, and his tobacco plantation relied entirely on slave workers. To add on to Jefferson’s definition, Ellis argues that, according to Jefferson, superiority came with skin color. The light skinned slaves had a more superior position than other slaves. Frederickson’s models of American Ethnic relations further compound on the need for one America without racial differences. He says: â€Å"group separatism emanates from cultural ethnocentric concerns about the standing and fate of a certain group† (Ellis, 457). Despite the difference, in skin color and physical appearance, the color of the blood is the same, the brain the same when expose to the same conditions like infrastructure and technolog y. Can Americanization be achieved with color still a factor? Racism vs. Americanization: Americanization, which is the dream of every American, with freedom and equality based on racial differences is not what is quite being experienced. This is shown by Thomas Jefferson in his notes on the state of Virginia. ... According to Sherman Alexie’s work, assimilation shows how one tries to adopt other people’s culture and the way of life in general in order to fit in a society. This is made hard by the external features that one possesses like color, texture of the hair and height depending on one's race. Marriage between people of different races is highlighted here and prejudice is very apparent despite one's efforts to assimilate into the other person’s culture. Despite how much one tries to fit into a foreign way of life especially where the difference is based on race, one still stands out because some external features are so obvious, and one cannot hide them. Sherman Alexie’s view on Americanization is that people are expected to assimilate the American culture despite their different externalities, hence robbing the immigrants of their originality. Therefore, Americanization is American based and for the Americans only. Looking at Americanization by Studs Terkelà ¢â‚¬â„¢s eyes, we find that even in the job sector racism is very much evident. Stephen Cruz’s story by Studs Terkel in Rereading America state that the American dream is not governed by hard work, opportunity and education, but by fear and power (365). How much a person can achieve, being racially different, will always be a setback which, as Cruz says, should be overcome for Americanization to take root. Americanization which comes with the American dream should pave the way for everyone living in America to have liberty and freedom from any form of discrimination wherever one is, be it at home, in politics, education or the job sector. Other people from the natives