Is being an American not good enough for you?

[Tipsy]

Round 3 of the news pissing me off.

After making these statements, Jessica Alba is being completely barraged by the Latino community about how she's forgotten her ancestry and doesn't appreciate the culture:

"My grandfather was the only Mexican at his college, the only Hispanic person at work and the only one at the all-white country club. He tried to forget his Mexican roots, because he never wanted his kids to be made to feel different in America. He and my grandmother didn't speak Spanish to their children.
Now, as a third-generation American, I feel as if I have finally cut loose."


"My father is Mexican and very dark; my mother is very fair. I used to always get breakdowns for things like Maria, the janitor's daughter who hangs around with white kids. I was born in the United States. I never thought about it until the industry made me think about being a Latin girl. It seemed like such a bizarre thing."


On growing up in L.A.: 'I never really belonged anywhere. I wasn't white. I was shunned by the Latin community for not being Latin enough. My grandfather was the only one in our family to go to college. He made a choice not to speak Spanish in the house. He didn't want his kids to be different.


Alba is my last name and I'm proud of that. But that's it. My grandparents were born in California, the same as my parents, and though I may be proud of my last name, I'm American. Throughout my whole life, I've never felt connected to one particular race or heritage, nor did I feel accepted by any. If you break it down, I'm less Latina than Cameron Diaz, whose father is Cuban. But people don't call her Latina because she's blonde.

Do people not come to American to be American? Why exactly do people these day feel the need to emphasize the country they came from over where there are now? Maybe rather than waving the your flag from whatever central/south American country you're from you should try embracing the country you came to. It's not like Jessica Alba needed another reason for me to think she's hot.

 

[TrongaMonga]

/grin

Seriously, though, you guys have a huge lack of cultural identity. There's not many things that define you as americans except for greed, fast food and fast music. And I'm serious, really. That's what people overhere think when they think of America. Although I know there are much more to it, you still need to gain that cultural identity you should have gained a century ago.

 

[Metal Gear Flash]

im hispanic/american ...and like jessica alba in that aspect...im pretty much white...other than my dark skin, and larger penis...

....who gives a crap about what other people think about americas culture!! **** them and they can go fall off the side of the earth....im hungry

 

[N[U]TS]

/grin

Seriously, though, you guys have a huge lack of cultural identity. There's not many things that define you as americans except for greed, fast food and fast music. And I'm serious, really. That's what people overhere think when they think of America. Although I know there are much more to it, you still need to gain that cultural identity you should have gained a century ago.

Thats why they are ignorant! America is pretty diverse when it comes to different cultures so It makes it hard for Americans to be well known for some thing other than power hungry and what ever else you would like to insult us with. Shove it plz.

everyone who is a citizen in the United states is an American. All this hyphenated stuff needs to be droped. Its political correctness which I despise.:rant:

 

[CelestialBadger]

Personally not a fan of cultural identity at all. It leads to too many problems in the long run, and really isn't good for a whole lot.

Of course, at the same time, I'm really into Americana. But I think it's possible to identify with traits of a particular culture without identifying with entirely with the culture itself.

 

[Wing Zero]

America is still too young to have a culture imo.
we are way too diverse and we dont really call anything our own. I mean look at what we eat

 

[TrongaMonga]

Thats why they are ignorant! America is pretty diverse when it comes to different cultures so It makes it hard for Americans to be well known for some thing other than power hungry and what ever else you would like to insult us with. Shove it plz.

everyone who is a citizen in the United states is an American. All this hyphenated stuff needs to be droped. Its political correctness which I despise.:rant:

Oy, don't take me wrong, I didn't say you were such things, only that your reputation (of americans, no ethnicity), is said thing. Then there's different reputation for different races.

 

[B)ushid(o]

/grin

Seriously, though, you guys have a huge lack of cultural identity. There's not many things that define you as americans except for greed, fast food and fast music. And I'm serious, really. That's what people overhere think when they think of America. Although I know there are much more to it, you still need to gain that cultural identity you should have gained a century ago.

I think Tronga hit on something here, in regards to American culture. Not so much fast food and fast music, but greed. I wouldn't exactly call it "greed", though.

The one pervading motif throughout American history is that those who settle here, do so because they believe that they can do better for themselves. That belief resonates throughout American history, from immigrants who come here to seek a better life, to those already in America who seek better for themselves.

American icons seem to support that belief. From the frontiersmen, who had gone out west to seek their fortunes, to the American gangsters and outlaws, in Wild West and the Roaring 20's, to the immigrants, whose ordeals, from Angel and Ellis Islands to the tenements are immortalized in the American conscience. In addition, all the stories of social mobility - Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a humble home, but became president.

American art also touch on this materialistic notion. Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture made use of horizontal lines, which, arguably, represents a sort of earthly stability, in contrast to the verticality of many gothic churches, which represents a desire to reach towards Heaven. The Hudson school of painting romanticizes the lush, varied landscapes of the American frontier. Andy Warhol pop art - anyone can buy some art, now.

(A distinction should be noted between the verticality of churches and that of skyscrapers, however. Gothic churches use verticality in conjunction with wide open space in the nave to achieve a sort of awe-inspiring, I'm-not-good-enough-for-God sort of feeling, while skyscrapers maintain an earthly, mechanical set-up, without the great floor-roof space.)

Also, American holidays marked with big sales give an indication of that mindset we have (Black Friday shopping, anyone?).

Materialism is at the core of American culture. It's not necessarily bad, as it is a natural outgrowth of the reason why most people in America are here: because they or their ancestors believed they would do better for themselves here. Ya know, emphasized in that poem on the Statue of Liberty "...Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free."

 

[CelestialBadger]

"Rugged individualism" is certainly one of the main aspects of Americana. Since that's the case though, I don't see why some people couldn't express that by clinging to their cultural heritage while still seeking the "American dream".

 

[Sogeking]

wouldn't individuality be considered american? Correct me if im wrong, but the US never went through nationalism now did they?(does that matter? someone educate me on nationalism )

 

[B~E]

Alright, here we go. This might answer your question, but its long and boring.

You can divide society in two categories: Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. A Gemeinschaft (German for "Community") is the part of our relations that are influenced by common cultural beliefs concerning religion, race, language, ethnicity, bloolines. The autor who coined those two concepts, Ferdinand Tönnies, summed up the Gemeinschaft as the "unity of individual wills". A family is the perfect exemple of a mini-Gemeinschaft: members of a familly act toward each others in a certain way *because* of their common ancestry. A larger exemple would be a nation, who's people relate to each other based on their perception of shared history, common racial characteristics, and many other factors, depending on the specific nation.

A Gesellschaft (German for "Association") describe the aspect of society conditioned by rules, laws, institutions, money, and individual gain. The perfect exemple of a Gesellschaft is a compagny or a corporation. You're having dinner with your boss, your teacher, a foreign diplomate or your client, its a Gesellschaft. You dine with your friends or your family, its a Gemeinschaft.

You can't look at a group and separate entierely the Gemeinschaft from the Gesellschaft. For exemple, the Army creat links between its members that are difficult to distinguish using those two concepts.

But when you ask yourself a fundamental question such as "Do people not come to American to be American? ", those two concepts can help. Immigrants comme to America with individual gains in mind. Once here, they aby by the rules, and try to play the same game as everyone else to make money and move up the social ladder. Thus, the american Gesellschaft is respected.

But nowaday, immigrants move in communities who's Gemeinschaft is different from the rest of the nation. Hispanics immigrants can move to Los Angeles, live and die there, and never speak a single word of english. Thus a foreign Gemeinschaft takes root and grow in importance. This is what we call multiculturalism.

America, since the 60s, is a country composed of a multitude of small but growing foreign Gemeinschaft. The main Gemeinschaft, english-speaking christian whites of european decent, now only compose 63% of the country, and this main group is becoming smaller every years.

This bag of Gemeinschafts that is America is holding together by a huge, sophisticated and powerfull Gesellschaft. People in this multicultural society have no choice but to respect the american Gesellschaft. But they can chose the Gemeinschaft that they wish, even if it differ from the main one. Jessica Alba is simply torn between the Gemeinschaft representing the latinos community, and the Gemeinschaft representing the white community. Why? Because she's allowed to chose. Pressured to do so, actualy.

 

[Tipsy]

It's more than people choosing whether or not to embrace being 'American', but people who choose to fit in and fit in too well being hassled, the example here being Jessica Alba.

 

[Laharl]

The american dream itself is filled with greed. That concept is to have more money than your parents. That's it.

Personally, I avoid america because I can do better.

 

[B~E]

It's more than people choosing whether or not to embrace being 'American', but people who choose to fit in and fit in too well being hassled, the example here being Jessica Alba.

She's being pressured to chose between an identity or another because she's perceived to be a member of the hispanic community, and those who are member of this hispanic community are expecting to be represented by her. But she deny them, so thats the problem.

Bla bla bla Gemeinschaft HURR HURR HURR Gesellschaft!!!

Man, that made no sense.

 

[TrongaMonga]

I think Tronga hit on something here, in regards to American culture. Not so much fast food and fast music, but greed. I wouldn't exactly call it "greed", though.

The one pervading motif throughout American history is that those who settle here, do so because they believe that they can do better for themselves. That belief resonates throughout American history, from immigrants who come here to seek a better life, to those already in America who seek better for themselves.

Yeah, it's probably more ambition than greed, but you still are some greedy bastardes I dare say!1

Still, nice post you had there.

It's more than people choosing whether or not to embrace being 'American', but people who choose to fit in and fit in too well being hassled, the example here being Jessica Alba.

I'm afraid that's happening everywhere. Minorities had have their rights revoked for so long that, since they have it now, the second and third generations demand compensation for something that happened to their ancestors. Well, since it's rather obvious that just won't happen, they still want to pay some tribute to them and not let what they were die. Which is rather silly tbh, but hey, they've got a point.

 

[Гражданин СССР]

Round 3 of the news pissing me off.

After making these statements, Jessica Alba is being completely barraged by the Latino community about how she's forgotten her ancestry and doesn't appreciate the culture:



Do people not come to American to be American? Why exactly do people these day feel the need to emphasize the country they came from over where there are now? Maybe rather than waving the your flag from whatever central/south American country you're from you should try embracing the country you came to. It's not like Jessica Alba needed another reason for me to think she's hot.

Why you ask? It gets me laid man! If not for my manly Russian accent I'd loose 50% of my badassness.

On a more serious note, I don't want to be American cause I didn't wanna come here in the first place. Thats just to clear things up in the remote case any one cares.

Now on topic, well I mean is it really a surprise that Latino population of the US that tries to stick together as the government is trying to kick em out; is it a surprise that they would consider her traitorous? A public figure in this situation? Im not taking sides Im just trying to ask the right questions.

 

[Tipsy]

She's being pressured to chose between an identity or another because she's perceived to be a member of the hispanic community, and those who are member of this hispanic community are expecting to be represented by her. But she deny them, so thats the problem.

+

On a more serious note, I don't want to be American cause I didn't wanna come here in the first place. Thats just to clear things up in the remote case any one cares.

Now on topic, well I mean is it really a surprise that Latino population of the US that tries to stick together as the government is trying to kick em out; is it a surprise that they would consider her traitorous? A public figure in this situation? Im not taking sides Im just trying to ask the right questions.

It's one thing to stick together, it's another thing to demand conformity amongst everyone of the same race. She can act white, black, hispanic, or something not even stereotyped into a race and none of it will effect her view of immigration reform (I don't actually know what it is and I don't think it was brought up in the article).

The american dream itself is filled with greed. That concept is to have more money than your parents. That's it.

Personally, I avoid america because I can do better.

It's a lot more than that; it's the idea of freedom of opporunity, whether it be economic, religious, or any other aspect of your life that would allow you to pursue whatever would give you a fuller life. Granted, it's been dying everyday since the nation came to be, but beyond the bickering and partisanship people still cling to the idea.

 

[Гражданин СССР]

+

It's one thing to stick together, it's another thing to demand conformity amongst everyone of the same race. She can act white, black, hispanic, or something not even stereotyped into a race and none of it will effect her view of immigration reform (I don't actually know what it is and I don't think it was brought up in the article).

Its just people speaking their minds, freedom of speech remember? I mean I know no one except Bush and Cheney know what is in the Constitution anymore but thats what was there just a couple of years ago now however Im not sure I know the right to privacy has been flushed down the toilet by the Democratic Congress, which simply doesn't make sense, they talk about how they don't like Bush and Cheney and then they do what Bush and Cheney want them to do. Seriously next thing you know Cheney will be using the original parchment of US constitution as toilet paper, Bush will laugh in the corner and the Congress will watch in approval.

It's a lot more than that; it's the idea of freedom of opporunity, whether it be economic, religious, or any other aspect of your life that would allow you to pursue whatever would give you a fuller life. Granted, it's been dying everyday since the nation came to be, but beyond the bickering and partisanship people still cling to the idea.

Eh...well, depends on what you mean by people. Politicians only believe what they have to to appease the public and in such a way they cling to anything thats popular sometimes its the myth of American dream, the promise of equal opportunity to achieve anything. But the thing is the politicians do not represent the American people, the American people for the most part are either confused about why their American dream never fulfilled itself or have forgotten about the idea a long time ago somewhere in their early after High School years then the world crushes down upon them. Its not just dying everyday, its been dead for a long time now, there are only a few examples of a person going from poor to rich through achievement the majority of the public just hangs on lives their life the way the circumstances dictate and pretty much wait till they die in complete dullness. One thing good about Russia, its never dull, you may live a short life but its gonna be a lot more exciting.

 

[N[U]TS]

Its just people speaking their minds, freedom of speech remember? I mean I know no one except Bush and Cheney know what is in the Constitution anymore but thats what was there just a couple of years ago now however Im not sure I know the right to privacy has been flushed down the toilet by the Democratic Congress, which simply doesn't make sense, they talk about how they don't like Bush and Cheney and then they do what Bush and Cheney want them to do. Seriously next thing you know Cheney will be using the original parchment of US constitution as toilet paper, Bush will laugh in the corner and the Congress will watch in approval.




Eh...well, depends on what you mean by people. Politicians only believe what they have to to appease the public and in such a way they cling to anything thats popular sometimes its the myth of American dream, the promise of equal opportunity to achieve anything. But the thing is the politicians do not represent the American people, the American people for the most part are either confused about why their American dream never fulfilled itself or have forgotten about the idea a long time ago somewhere in their early after High School years then the world crushes down upon them. Its not just dying everyday, its been dead for a long time now, there are only a few examples of a person going from poor to rich through achievement the majority of the public just hangs on lives their life the way the circumstances dictate and pretty much wait till they die in complete dullness. One thing good about Russia, its never dull, you may live a short life but its gonna be a lot more exciting.

Congress only has a slight democratic majority. So that really didnt help them out at all. Two, they elected a majority leader who cant get her head out of her ass.

Realize life is what you make of it. People choose to live the way they want. I met a girl who is pretty smart and does not wish to persue a college degree. She is simply content with her job and her life style. In America you have a chance of higher education and its so easy to get it. Dont give me the line "some people cant afford it". Well for one they could take out loans to start things off and have a part time job if they can handle it. Its rough -- I know from personal exp. Its the only way I can get my degree though. I forgot to mention that Millions of scholarships and grants are given away each year. This should motivate younger generations to excell so they could get a scholarship and or federal grants.

 

[Гражданин СССР]

Congress only has a slight democratic majority. So that really didnt help them out at all. Two, they elected a majority leader who cant get her head out of her ass.

Three even a lot of the democrats voted for the Bill that allows Gonzales (you know the Bush puppet) to monitor emails not only of suspect terrorists but of every person in the US without a warrant. And you know what their excuse is? They wanted to have a careless one month vacation so say if something does happen while they're away they can all relax and blame it on the White House and the DoJ cause they gave them the tools "to spot" terrorists. The Bill Expires in 6 months, so for next 6 months any attempt to remove it will be stopped by the President through veto power, lets hope that after that time passes Congress won't repeat the mistake it made by extending it. Seriously how can you claim that your nation is based on your constitution and its values while your government is discarding personal privacy of the citizens of US?

Realize life is what you make of it. People choose to live the way they want. I met a girl who is pretty smart and does not wish to persue a college degree. She is simply content with her job and her life style. In America you have a chance of higher education and its so easy to get it. Dont give me the line "some people cant afford it". Well for one they could take out loans to start things off and have a part time job if they can handle it. Its rough -- I know from personal exp. Its the only way I can get my degree though. I forgot to mention that Millions of scholarships and grants are given away each year. This should motivate younger generations to excell so they could get a scholarship and or federal grants.

Riiiight, you see if everyone was getting into college then they would have to build twice as many colleges as there are now, in addition the statistic goes that half of people who get in, never graduate. Life is dictated by circumstance, say your father died and now you have to get a full time job to feed the family, say you got your girl friend pregnant, say a friend of yours died in Iraq and you have to go there for revenge, there is an infinite number of possibilities, life is not what you make of it, but rather what you make of it with the circumstances that were given to you.