Assignment # 1

Quote: "Our cities are filled with these half-breeds who retain their foreign names but have lost the foreign savor. This does not mean that they have actually been changed into New Englanders or Middle Westerners. It does not mean that they have been really Americanized. It means that, letting slip from them whatever native culture they had, they have substituted for it only the most rudimentary American..."

     In this quote I think the author is trying to explain to readers that the United States of America is comprised of immigrants from many different cultures and parts of the world. After coming to America immigrants lose the true sense of who they are and where they came from. Their culture and identity changes as they become more American. However, the American that they become is not the American that America could and should be comprised. Immigrants are becoming "assimilated Americanized" as stated in the passage. The problem with assimilated Americanization is that America has always been a country comprised of immigrants from different indigenous backgrounds giving it variety and making it diverse. It does not do America any justice to try to absorb and integrate into one homogeneous culture when the very basis and foundation of America stems from the variety and diversity of immigrants who came here from all over the world.

     The overall meaning of this passage is that America has failed at achieving assimilation. This is due to the fact that America is trying to create one homogeneous culture when the very foundation of our country is variety and diversity. Assimilated Americanization does not represent what and who America is. Our true identity is the composition of all the diverse cultures into our national identity, also referred to as "transnational." I chose this specific quote because when I think about America today I feel that there are more dominate cultures than others. The quote is a reminder that we all immigrated here to America. American culture and identity is not defined by one set of individuals. It is defined by all of our cultures. This passage is directly related to our class because as we continue to learn about and discuss the American Political system understanding the national identity of our country will be critical in the learning and understanding of the overall history of the United States of America.