Reference no: EM133707746

Assignment:

After engaging the chapter and media, do you have a better understanding of the history of ethnicity in America? To what can we attribute the development of distinct ethnicities in America? How does this contribute to the construction of culture?

As we explore the history of ethnicity in America, we discover the unique dynamics behind colonialism and the ways that its impact shapes culture. Understanding this within the context of whiteness illuminates how ethnic culture was constructed in the United States for Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. It is important to understand that this normalization "produces and reproduces many cultural political, economic, and social" dynamics of privilege and/or disadvantage depending on your cultural and ethnic identity and lens.

Thus, in gaining a more holistic view of the historical interactions between white and non-white people in the United States, we begin to see how ethnicity was shaped and the ways that culture was formed within systems constructed by White European settlers in the Americas. Further, understanding of the historical underpinnings of these systems illuminates the ways in which Indigenous Americans, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans were able to forge culture, community, and identity. For example, to unearth the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the origins of Mexican American culture through the annexation of land. We can also connect this concept of annexation Pasifika peoples when think about Hawaii through a similar lens.

After engaging the chapter and media, do you have a better understanding of the history of ethnicity in America? To what can we attribute the development of distinct ethnicities in America? How does this contribute to the construction of culture? In this discussion, I'd like you to address the readings and the media in framing your open- ended questions and your responses to colleagues regarding history and the development of ethnic identity in American.