Americanization
The importance of defining Americanization lies in the need to have a group of citizens who are loyal to the spirit of America. The Americans have the responsibility to differentiate their identity from the Europeans. Although the Americans have origins from Europe, the culture of Americans is distinct from that in Europe. The outside population that has decided to stay in America needs to be Americanized in a bid to create in them a feeling of responsibility of fighting for America. The Americans should be ready to speak in one language to promote unity irrespective of the goals that the individuals are planning to achieve.
The speech in document 2 is made to attempt and change the definition of Americanization. America is said to have had enough of the foreign population, and that Americanization should be left for what is already in America. Initially, Americanization was aimed at orienting the immigrants into the culture of America and creating a population that is loyal and does not hold a divided loyalty between America and their countries of origin. The arguments of President Roosevelt and Senator Smith appear different in terms of what the two leaders believe Americanization should entail. President Roosevelt believes that Americans should forget their racial identities and treat each other with the utmost respect.
On the other hand, Smith believes that America should stop being welcoming to outsiders and should consider allowing the Americanization through naturalization alone. Both leaders present substantial evidence to support their claims. Wood Guthrie has a better response to the claims by both leaders. America belongs to everyone in America, and no one can take away the right to own America.
Documents 4 and 6 give a different definition of an American. First, Americans are defined by Christianity and are always expected to be against the atheistic communism. The dream of Americanization is always to be involved in the desire to do well. However, the Americans are pleaded not to let evil hide behind the desire to do good. The events of the World Wars appear to have changed the perception of Americans towards communism. Leo Charn believes that the nature of communists is that of selfishness and thus every decision made by a communist is based on the belief of putting Russia before anything (Arsenault, Raymond and Freedman, 15). America is said to have allowed the existence of communists within in its bit to Americanize people without considering their nationalities and loyalty: “The communist American is not like the other Americans…,” Leo. Leo believes that communism is based on secrecy unlike the nature of Americans who believe in transparency and supporting people of goodwill. The Americans are urged to urge war against communist by knowing the tips on how to spot communists among them.
The desire of Americans to engage in goodwill is seen as the advantage that communists use to earn the support of the Americans. Leo and McCarthy give the Americans the ability to identify communists and to avoid helping groups that are alienated to communists. Americans are asked to do enough research before involving themselves with groups because most groups could be loyal to communism. The political cartoon by Herbert Block criticizes the anti-communism war that was being waged by various leaders. Americans are criticized for believing in their leaders without having sufficient information to support their arguments. However, McCarthy’s era has continued to influence the perception of loyal Americans on communism. Americans have continued to view communism as an enemy to liberalization and progress.
America has grown to be respected as the wealthiest and the most powerful country in the world. Americans have been brought up to believe that they belong to a different world and that other people in the world view them as role models. However, the events of the World Wars changed the belief that had existed among the Americans. Americans have been brought to fear, and this fear has become a significant problem. The use of the atomic bomb by America might have served a different purpose from what was supposed to be the case. Americans did not take the presence of a bomb as an assurance of their safety but as a threat to their lives since the bomb could as well be used against them. Since then, the Americans have lived in fear, and another problem of racism has come up due to lack of trust among the different races.
The issue of racism has come up strongly with the victims deciding to remain silent any more. The campaigns that were started by pioneers such as Martin Luther King had remained silent, but several groups have come up violently to fight for their rights. The problem of racism has been caused by the unequal treatment of Americans with favoritism being observed on racial lines. Documents 7, 8 and 9 present the Americans with the roles that each should play in a bid to overcome the problems affecting them. Document 8 recommends that Americans should treat each other with respect. Document 9 gives a challenge to leaders who do not support the move to fight for equality of all the Americans.
The continued increase in cases of racism led to a rise in the number of groups fighting to earn the respect of all Americans. The blacks have individually been the victims of racism, and thus most groups have been for the point that blacks should be treated better than they are being treated. The blacks have been criticizing the whites for treating the blacks as industrial assets which are not treated as humans. The documented proposed by Alice Paul and Crystal Eastman gave a new picture on the fight of equality. The fight of equality was bringing in more parties with the female gender joining the campaign. The American culture and legal system were being criticized for favoring the males at the expense of the females. The document proposed that the right of equality should be applied to everyone and denial should not at any point be allowed under the basis of sex. Title IX was also another document that presented a different perception of Americans towards discrimination based on gender (Hoffman et al. 216). The ability of people from all genders to get an education was a wake-up call for the female gender to raise and compete equally with the males. The Americans have created physical and social barriers according to President Bush. American history has been built by people who valued the equality of every American, but the social structure has been the main challenge faced by the disabled people in enjoying their rights.
The hyphenated Americans is a title that has been given to Americans who have come to America from other continents. The name before the hyphen is used as the identity of the places where the Americans are believed to have come from before becoming Americans. However, Maya Angelou believes that the places of origin do not matter to the progress of America. The basic definition of every American lies in a story that says that all Americans are immigrants. The history of America says that Americans came to free land and that most of them come from Europe. Maya, therefore, believes that all Americans are equal and no one should be discriminated against because of their places of origin. However, the belief that most Americans are of European origin has made the white race more dominant in America. Racial discrimination has been evident with the black inhabitants being the victims on most occasions.
The election of President Barack Obama was, however, a major win for the black community. America had not been under the leadership of a black president, and Obama proved the point of equality between the two main races in America (Finlayson, p. 166). The belief that had existed that the blacks were inferior suddenly changed with the election of Obama. The victory speech by Barack Obama was a surprise to the white race who thought that the black race would be revengeful upon ascending to power. Barack Obama was a supporter of equality of everyone irrespective of their race, gender, ability, religion, or even sexual orientation. Barack Obama was a fulfillment of the campaigns that had been preached by several leaders before him who had believed that equality and respect for humanity were essential for a great America.
Works Cited
Arsenault, Raymond, and Russell Freedman. “Angelou, Maya Writer.” The Cambridge Guide to African American History (2016): 15.
Finlayson, Alan. “Obama’s Rhetoric.” Juncture 23.3 (2016): 165-169.
Hoffman, Jennifer Lee, Jacqueline McDowell, and Valyncia C. Raphael. “Gender Discrimination and Retaliation Under Title IX at Fresno State.” Scandals in College Sports (2017): 216.