American Culture: A Melting Pot or Aggregated Independent Cultures?

MAY 2023

by Kim Harris, M.Ed.

Distinctive Voice Consulting 

 

America is polarized. I strongly believe dialogue is key to healing divide and polarization. One source of division in America is race. Race is social construct that was created in the United States to control wealth. European Americans, as the dominant culture in the United States wanted to keep wealth, power, and control so they created race to divide African-Americans and poor whites from unifying against wealthy whites during the 17^th Century (research Bacon’s Rebellion for more information.)

One downside of the construct of race, among many, is its ability to disassociate people from their ancestry. I see examples of this disassociation in my workshops where I find that some of my European American participants express that they feel no sense of culture as Americans and that they do not have a sense of identity outside of their whiteness. These confessions sadden me because I think about where their ancestors came from and possibly what their ancestors fled from to come to America for a better life. After all, with the exception of Native Americans, all Americans are immigrants from different parts of the globe with customs and traditions associated with those countries of origin. Perhaps unlike myself, everyone does not feel a connection to the culture of their ancestors.

Then I had a cultural appropriation epiphany about this notion that some of my European American workshop participants feel no sense of culture outside of their whiteness: could the lack of connection to ancestry of origin be why some European Americans do not feel like they are appropriating the culture of another? Additionally, could America, the giant melting pot, be a contributing factor to this? Since America is a melting pot, could some feel everything they see from different cultures here belongs to everyone? After all, if one feels no sense of individual culture, but sees a mix of culture from people of diverse ancestry around them, what is the problem with appropriating dress or music for example, from a fellow American?

 

This conversation spurned my inquisitive mind and birthed the idea for my next workshop, which aims to help people grow and give them the language to hold these types of conversations. In order to unpack this topic, we first need to define what culture is, what race is, and what ethnicity is to establish common understanding. Then we can progress to discuss what culture means to each individual based on their ancestry and family traditions. It is my hope that individuals leave this workshop with a greater understanding of themselves, their community, and America as a whole.

 

With so much division and polarization in our country, it is my desire that this discussion will be a unifying one, helping participants have greater respect for themselves, their neighbor and ultimately create a sense of unity and belonging.

I hope that you can join me for this conversation. To register, click here.

For more information on equity, diversity and inclusion training and consulting visit: www.DistinctiveVoiceConsulting.com