Essay on U.S. Population & Cultural Diversity: An Overview of America's 325M+ People.

Introduction

According to the U.S Census Bureau, the United States has a population of more than 325 million, making it the third-largest country globally. Besides the Native Americans, a significant population is built on immigration, making it one of the most culturally diverse countries. American culture encompasses the traditions and the custom of the U.S such as food, religion, language, what people wear, and music, among other aspects. Due to the diversity of the American culture, almost all the world regions have had an impact on it, including the English, Asians, Africans, Latin Americans, and Native Americans. Thus, American has been considered as a “melting pot” with many diverse cultures interacting with each other to bring new things to the Native Culture (Marsden, 2006). This has made the American culture become distinctive flavor considering the contribution of various cultures, as well as its, enhance influence towards the world. The essay is about the American culture, its cultural differences, and the situations to learn from the culture.

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What defines American culture?

The American culture is defined by the traditions and the custom of the U.S such as food, religion, language, what people wear, and music, among other aspects. According to the government of the U.S, its culture does not define an official language for the country. The lack of official language is attributed to the fact that almost every global language is used in the U.S and the most common non-speaking languages include Chinese, German, French, and Spanish. However, at least 90 percent of the population in the United States understands and is able to speak English while conducting official businesses in English and managing them (Stewart & Bennett, 2011). Estimation reveals that over 300 languages are common in the U.S which are then divided into multiple groups based on the prevalence in the country.

An Important area of American culture is religion. On religion, the U.S is a country known to have the world religion in its borders. The culture is defined by nearly every religion of the world based on the rights each citizen has to choose any religion they would like to belong without limitations. Thus, the culture expresses the freedom of religion, though, according to the Pew Research Center, the largest percentage, 80% of the population is Christians (Kammen, 2011). A significant percentage of 10% claim to having no adherence to any religious inclination. Judaism is, however, the second-largest identified religious group in the American culture of about 2% of the entire religious population. It only about less than 1% of the population that is identified with the Islamic religion, meaning that it is not common as it is in other countries (Stewart & Bennett, 2011). However, going forwards, there is a sharp decrease in the number of those who could not identify themselves with any religious groups. There is a likelihood that this trend may continue for the better part of the future with an approximation of dropping at the rate of going blow 6% by 2060.

The American style of clothing depends on the various aspects of the person. These important aspects include but not limited to the social status of a person, climatic conditions, occupation of a person, and the religion one has joined. The most common pieces of clothing associated with the American style include the boots, cowboy hats, baseball caps, and sneakers. Some of the worldly known brands associated with the American culture as the country of origin include Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, Victoria Secret, and Ralph Laureen. The fashion of the United States has, for a long time, been influenced by the media and celebrities and the sales in the fashion industry go up to $200 billion in a single year (Stewart & Bennett, 2011). The significant number of Americans by electronics, fashion, and other clothing items through online platforms with the U.S retail e-commerce hitting about 150 billion within the first quarter of every year.

The aspect of the sport is significant in the American culture, considering that the U.S is a sport-minded or sport-conscious country. The country’s regions have multiple numbers of fans up to millions who follow hockey, basketball, baseball, and football, among others. Inherently, baseball is a kind of game that is American-born as it was developed in colonial America, becoming an organized sport during the 19th century. It became one of the favorite for America by then (Marsden, 2006). However, with the coming of football and its fast growth, baseball has continued to become less popular in the sports though its popularity in America will hardly ever go away that easily.

Art is significantly important in the U.S with the culture going beyond the shows on television and movies. The entire of the American country is a known place for distinctive theatrical history with New York becoming a home to Broadway. The U.S Department of Commerce identified that America has about a third of the entertainment industry. There so many hand-made items which reveal the folk art of Americans. The American music encompasses multiple genres and styles such as country music, Jazz, and rock ‘n’ roll and blues.

What is American food culture?

Food is a fundamental aspect that defines and differentiates various cultures and the way of lives of people. When it comes to food, concerns are raised among the Native Americans, Europeans and, other countries considering that the food in America is known mostly for the qualities that are unhealthy and is based on the genetic modification (Stewart & Bennett, 2011). Among the American food examples that are traditionally known, including hot dogs, potato chips, meatloaf, and hamburgers. Another popularly known meal is the Apple pie which is common with Americans as an authentic part of the cuisine in the country. Regions also form the basis for the variation of food types with the American comfort good being the cooking manner that is known for Sothern America (Kammen, 2011). The common foods served in this part of the country include the greens, black-eyed peas, cornbread, and fried chicken. The food in Texas has been influenced by the styles used in Mexico and Spain for cooking ranging from shredded cheese and chilli to burritos. Americans are also known for eating snacks, including dried meat, jerky, and others.

What are the characteristics of American culture?

The American culture is different from the rest of the world in many aspects that make it easier for the easy acceptance of this culture. Some of the common characteristics of American culture include equality, achievement, independence, privacy, informality, directness, timeliness, and future orientation. On equality, the Americans believe that each person has the entitlement to equal rights without discrimination of whichever nature. No, any American person or group should enjoy the rights not extended to others (Stewart & Bennett, 2011). On the achievement, the culture of the United States make people believe in hard work and playing hard since there is an acceptance that if a person works hard, they are able to enjoy free tome and valued success.

The American culture is also characterized by the independence in which achievement of individuals has more value than that of the group. In many ways, people are encouraged not to rely on others, not themselves. The aspect of privacy also dominates the American culture, where Americans are welcoming to others (Kammen, 2011). They tend to value their privacy when it comes to personal information. For instance, it is not common for Americans to share information on the salary of one another. The aspect of timeliness is a common thing among the Americans since they insist on being on time, and they discourage lateness because to them, time is money. Informality is crucial in American culture as Americans prefer to be casual rather than formal with the minimal usage of formal titles including sir and madam (Marsden, 2006). The same informality in America extends to the way they conduct business, greet, or cloth. Americans go direct to the point without being hesitant. This means that they prefer to be outspoken and address conflicts rather than going around them.

What are the values in American culture?

The value system of the American culture allows the country to assimilate different people from diverse cultures across the world for a unique and enduring American society and identity. The values of the American culture have three pairs which include individual freedom and self-reliance, equality of opportunity and competition, and the American dream and hard work (Stewart & Bennett, 2011). Individual freedom in American means that people need to have the desire and the rights to control their destiny without the interference from outside either the government, church, or any ruling class. It is out of the freedom that people learn to rely on themselves if they want to maintain the freedom they have. This makes them take responsibility for themselves and their actions.

Americans believe inequality of opportunity and competition. With the equal opportunity, they mean that every individual should be given an equal chance to allow them to success like the rest of the Americans without being limited. The opportunity to enter the race and win should be equal to everyone. The competition, according to the American concept, is the price paid for giving equal opportunity to everyone. For instance, if life is a race, then everyone should be given an opportunity to compete in the race for them to succeed. The third pair involves the American dream, which provides Americans with the opportunity to have a better life and live highly. Hard work in American culture is the traditional price for the American dream.

How has American culture played a role in cultural change around the world?

American has remained dominant as the leader in cultural influence. The country was seen as a cultural backwater up and until World War I when it started to export its homegrown culture to other countries (Kammen, 2011). This was through music and films, and later, the American lifestyle and consumer economy gave it a known impact globally. Through the stream TV shows, songs, websites, computer games, and films, the use of American English and the culture has enabled the provision of the common mode of communication for people across the world. Today, over 2 billion people speak and use American English to communicate. The same influence has been experienced in the media, considering that American has a huge market with the domestic market of over 300 million people (Marsden, 2006). This has also been seen through its innovativeness by the use of the technology. In music, the popular music of America conquered the world in the 20th century with genres like Jazz, blues, hip-hop & rap, country music, big band, and rock & roll.

References

Kammen, M. (2011). Mystic chords of memory: The transformation of tradition in American culture. Vintage.

Marsden, G. M. (2006). Fundamentalism and American culture. Oxford University Press.

Stewart, E. C., & Bennett, M. J. (2011). American cultural patterns: A cross-cultural perspective. Hachette UK.