AMERICAN CULTURE

A course for 3rd year – students in TMU

 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

“Culture hides much more than reveals, and strangely enough what it
hides, it hides most effectively from its own participants. Years of study
have convinced me that the real job is not to understand foreign culture
but to understand our own.”
Edward T. Hall
 Questions for discussion
1. What do you think about Americans?
2. What do you know about the ethnic diversityof the
American population? Where did they originally come
from?
3. What do you think about Americans’ opinion that they have
no culture?
4. Do you think it is possible to make generalizations about
Americans?
 Life in the United States

o Popular questions to ask about different culture:

▪ What do people believe in ?
▪ What do they value most in life?
▪ What motivates them?
▪ Why do they behave the way they do?

o 2 things to consider when answering these Qs about USA:

▪ The immense size of the United States
▪ Great ethnic diversity
 A nation of immigrants

o 1815: 8.4 million people in the US

o 1882: 40,000 Chinese immigrants
o 1900 – 1907: 30,000 Japanese immigrants
o The largest number of immigrants: from central,
eastern, and southern Europe
o First 2 decades of 20th century: 1 million
immigrants/year
o 1910: 15% of Americans born in another country
 A nation of immigrants

o 1921 – 1965: quota system established → limit

immigration (Immigration Act of 1924)
o 1965 – immigration laws changed to help family
reunifications:
→ Yearly total rise again: from 300,000/year (1960s) to over 1
million/year (1990s)
→ Large number of non – Europeans (Latin America, the
Caribbean and Asia)
 A nation of immigrants
o 21th century immigration patterns – change the color and the ethnic
mix of the American population
▪ Percentage of white Americans of European descent: smaller
▪ More than half of all new immigrants: from Latin America
→ Large concentrations of Spanish speakers around the country
(California, Florida, Texas, etc.)
▪ More than ¼ of first – generation immigrants: from Asia
▪ Minority nonwhite population – grow >< majority white grow
smaller
Cultural Pluralism in the United States

o Historically, many children of immigrants – be

“American” by nature (not speak the language of the
old country)
o However, established communities with common
language or culture: bilingualism and biculturalism
continue
Cultural Pluralism in the United States

o At the close of 20th century: rise in the consciousness of

ethnic groups and a sense of pride in what makes them
unique
▪ New names to symbolize each group’s identity
▪ People – more sensitive to the language used to describe
them
- Black Americans – prefer African – American to Black
- Spanish – prefer Latinos to Hispanics
 Cultural Pluralism in the United States

o In spite of important differences, a tie binding Americans

together
▪ The tie = a sense of national indentity – of “being an
American”
Making Generalization About American Beliefs

o Is it possible to make generalizations about what

Americans believe?
o Yes, it is, but we must be cautious about generalizations
▪ Not all Americans hold basic beliefs
▪ Not all believe these things to the same degree
▪ Way Americans practice their beliefs differ → great
variety of lifestyles.
Making Generalization About American Beliefs

o Is it possible to make generalizations about what

Americans believe?
o Yes, it is, but we must be cautious about generalizations
▪ Not all Americans hold basic beliefs
▪ Not all believe these things to the same degree
▪ Way Americans practice their beliefs differ → great
variety of lifestyles.
 AMERICAN
BELEFS AND VALUES

“We hold these truths to be self – evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with
certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty
and the pursuit of Hapiness”
The Declaration of Independence
 Questions for discussion

o Why do some people want to come and live in the

United States?

o What do you think Americans believe is the best

thing about their country?

o What is the “American Dream’?

The context of traditional American values:
racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity
o Greater diversity of racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious groups than all
other nations (from 21st century)
▪ Native Americans (North American continent)
▪ Spanish settlers (Southwest, Florida)
▪ French missionaries and fur traders (Mississippi River)
▪ Black slaves (from African countries)
▪ Dutch settlers (New York)
▪ German (Pennsylvania)
▪ The British colonists → language, foundation for political and
economic system
The context of traditional American values:
racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity
o Greater diversity of racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious groups than all
other nations (from 21st century)
▪ Native Americans (North American continent)
▪ Spanish settlers (Southwest, Florida)
▪ French missionaries and fur traders (Mississippi River)
▪ Black slaves (from African countries)
▪ Dutch settlers (New York)
▪ German (Pennsylvania)
▪ The British colonists → language, foundation for political and
economic system
The context of traditional American values:
racial, ethnic, religious, and cultural diversity
o Americans:
▪ Recognize the diversity (as a fact of life)
▪ See strength in the diversity
o American – historically viewed as “the land of opportunity”: set of
values (reasons to attract immigrants)
▪ The chance for individual freedom (→ self – reliance)
▪ Equality of opportunity (→ competition)
▪ Material wealth (→ hard work)
Individualism and Self – Reliance

o Historical background
▪ The earliest settlers coming to the North American
continent:
→ Purpose: To establish colonies free from the controls
existing in European societies (placed on by kings,
governments, priests and churches, noblemen and aristocrats)
Individualism and Self – Reliance
o Actions:
▪ Overthrow the King of England
▪ Declare: the power to govern would lie in the hands of the people
▪ 1776, British colonial settlers:
• Declare independence from England
• Establish a new nation: The United States of America
• → free from power of the King
▪ 1789: write Constitution for the new nation
• Separate church and state → No government – supported church
→ limit the power of the church
• Forbid titles of nobility → no ruling class of nobility
Individualism and Self – Reliance
o Effect on the shaping of the American character
▪ Limiting government’s power and the church
▪ Eliminating a formal aristocracy
→ Create a climate of freedom (emphasis on the individual)
→ USA – associated with the concept of individual freedom
(Freedom – desire and ability of all individuals to control their
own destiny without outside interference from the government, a
ruling noble class, the church,…)
(desire to be free of controls = basic value of the new nation)
Individualism and Self – Reliance
o Price for individual freedom: self – reliance
▪ Reason: individuals rely on themselves OR risk losing
freedom
▪ Desire: achieve financial and emotional independence from
parents as early as possible (18 or 21)
▪ Actions:
• Take care of themselves
• Solve their own problems
• “Stand on their own two feet”
 Individualism and Self – Reliance
o Americans’ belief in self – reliance (in the 18030s)
“ They owe nothing to any man, they expect nothing from any man; they
acquire the habit of always considering themselves as standing alone, and
they are apt to imagine that their whole destiny is in their own hands.”
(De Tocqueville)
o Self – reliance:
▪ Traditional basic value
▪ Most difficult character to understand
▪ Profoundly important
o → to be in the mainstream of American life (power and respect) → self -
reliant
Equality of opportunity and Competition

o Immigrants coming to the USA expecting:

▪ Free from excessive political, religious and social controls →
better chance for personal success)
o Historical effects:
▪ Titles of nobility forbidden in the Constitution → no formal
class system
→ Belief in Equality of opportunity
Equality of opportunity and Competition
o Uniformity of conditions of life in the USA (1830s) expressed by
De Tocqueville:
“The more I advanced in the study of American society, the more I
perceive that … equality of condition is the fundamental fact from
which all others seem to be derived.”
o Equality of opportunity: Each individual should have an equal
chance for success
▪ Life – a race for success
▪ Equality – equal chance to enter the race and win
▪ The race for success: fair
Equality of opportunity and Competition
o President Abraham Lincoln expressed this belief (1860s)
“We … wish to allow the humblest man an equal chance to get rich with
everybody else. When one starts poor, as most do in the race of life, free
society is such that he knows he can better his condition; he knows that
there is no fixed condition of labor in his whole life.”
o Price for equality of opportunity: competition
▪ Life – race → run the race to success → must compete with others
▪ Americans: match energy and intelligence against that of others in a
competitive contest for success:
• Like to compete, more successful → honored winners
• Not like to compete, not successful → dishonored losers
Equality of opportunity and Competition
o Pressures of competition: from childhood to retirement
▪ Competition: encouraged and taught in USA
▪ Pressure to compete:
• → Americans: energetic
• Place a constant emotional strain
▪ → retirement:
• Feel useless and unwanted
• Not have as much honor and respect as in other societies
Material wealth and hard work
o Incredibly abundant natural resources → America – “a land of plenty”
(millions could come to seek fortunes)
▪ Many were able to improve upon their former standard of living
▪ Slogan for the great American Dream: “going from rags to riches”.
o Acquiring and maintaining a large number of material possessions: great
importance to most Americans
▪ Material wealth: traditionally be a widely accepted measure of
success and social status
• Reason: reject system of hereditary aristocracy and titles of
nobility → find a substitute for judging social status
 Material wealth and hard work
o Price for material wealth: Hard work
▪ Reason: North American continent: rich in natural resources but
undeveloped
→ Hard work: convert natural resources into material possessions (→ more
comfortable standard of living)
o Hard work: necessary and rewarding for most Americans throughout history
→ Material possessions: natural reward for hard work (tangible evidence of
work and ability)
▪ Late 1700s, James Madison (father of American Constitution) stated: the
difference in material possessions reflected a difference in personal
abilities.
Material wealth and hard work
o Fact: economic decline → many workers suffer: longer
working hours but less money → no longer believe: hard
work → great material rewards
o Till, most Americans believe in value of hard work
 Idealism vs. Reality
o Values: may not necessarily describe reality of American life
▪ Equality of opportunity: ideal not always put into practice
▪ (Reality:
• Some better chance for success than others
• Those born into rich families – more opportunities than those born
into poorer families
• Inheriting money = an advantage
• …)
o However, not diminish values’ importance
▪ Many: believe in, strongly affected in everyday lives
▪ Easier to understand what Americans are thinking and feeling if
understand values and the influences
THE WORLD OF AMERICAN BUSINESS
“The business of America is business”
President Calvin Coolidge

Questions for discussion

1. Why do you think business has high prestige in the
United States?
2. Why do people want to go into business for
themselves? Would you want to be your own boss?
3. What does it mean to “go from rags to riches”?
4. How is the workforce of the United States changing?
The characteristic of American Business

o Private and Profit

o “Business directly/ indirectly owned by private

individuals to make a profit.”
The prestige of Business

o Important truth: Business institutions have more

prestige in American society than any other kind of
organization, including the government.

o The ideal of competition

o The dream of getting rich
The prestige of Business and the Ideal of Competition

o Reasons:
1. Business: being more firmly based on the ideal of
competition than other institutions in the society
• Competition = major source of progress and
prosperity → competitive business institutions
respected
• Competition = the means by which other basic
American values (individual freedom, equality of
opportunity, hard work) protected
The prestige of Business and the Ideal of Competition

o Protect the freedom of individual: ensuring that there is

no monopoly of power

Business Government
Competitive Monopoly
More supportive of freedom ><
Leaders not elected Leaders elected by the people

o To preserve freedom → competition more important

than democracy
The prestige of Business and the Ideal of Competition

o Strengthen the ideal of equality of opportunity

▪ Business competition = a race open to all
▪ → Business – the idea of quality of opportunity than
the aristocratic idea of inherited privilege
o Encourage hard work
▪ In competition, who works harder is likely to win.
▪ Business people must continually compete against
each other → must develop the habit of hard work →
not to fail.
The prestige of Business and the Ideal of Competition

2. One aspect of the great American Dream:

To rise from poverty/ modest wealth to great wealth
(usually accomplished through successful business
careers).
→ Careers in business offer the best opportunity for the
ambitious individual to become wealthy.
The prestige of Business and the Dream of Getting rich

o Alexis de Tocqueville observed: great attractiveness of

business careers as early as 1830s
▪ Strongly preferred business to farming (business
offered the opportunity to get rich more quickly)
▪ Farmers: more interested in buying and selling land
for a profit than in farming it.
The prestige of Business and the Dream of Getting rich

o Business: benefiting the entire nation

▪ Competition → more people gain health
→ Socialistic system of production and distribution of goods:
• Inferior
• Distrusted (monopoly of power held by the government →
eliminate competition)
▪ Examples:
• Not have universal health care guaranteed and managed by the
government
• >< have a system where health care providers compete with each
other in a free market and individuals free to choose doctors and
hospitals.
Two kinds of American Business Heroes

o Business – connected to wealth and traditional values

→ Successful business people = heroes to the American
o Two business heroes:
▪ The entrepreneurs:
• Examples of traditional American values in purest
form
• Idealized by the American public
▪ The organization man/woman: less perfect example of
basic American values
Two kinds of American Business Heroes

o Entrepreneurs:
▪ Made so much out of so little,
▪ Began as common people without the aid of inherited social
title or inherited money → “self – made” millionaires
→ Perfect examples of the American idea of quality of
opportunity in action
o Strong dislike of submitting to higher authority
▪ Admire entrepreneurs (conduct business and live without
taking orders from anyone above them)
▪ Have great respect for those who can say “I am my own boss”
Two kinds of American Business Heroes
o Today, many willing to take the big financial risk necessary to start their
own small business
o Inspired by entrepreneur heroes (Steve Jobs – Apple Computers, Bill
Gates – Microsoft), risk – taking entrepreneurs still launch their business
with high hopes of “making it big”.
o The organization man/woman as Hero
(leaders run business organizations)
o Hero:
▪ Be role models of success in American society
▪ Acquire power and wealth
▪ Not as strong image as entrepreneurs (manage business started by
others)
Two kinds of American Business Heroes

o Examples:
▪ Lee Iacocca: took over Chrysler Corporation (on the verge
of bankruptcy) in 1979, turned the company around and
made it profitable.
o Less generous in view of organization man/woman:
▪ Self – made millionaires have the right to as much money as
they can get
▪ Organization man/woman: under severe attack for multi –
million – dollar – a – year salaries
American business in the Global Marketplace

o American business become a part of a much larger global

economy
o US – the single largest market in the world: as consumer society
looking for goods from all over the world
o Much attention to competing successfully in the global market of
the 21st century
▪ Moving manufacturing operations to cheap labor countries
▪ Joining other countries as trading partners to create new
opportunities and new markets
o Now understand that it must be highly sufficient if it is to compete
successfully in the global marketplace.
The changing of American Workforce

o Tradition:
▪ White males dominated American business
• Earn the highest salaries
• Achieve the greatest success
• Wield most of the power
• Be the boss
• Set the standard and the working conditions for the rest
of the working population
The changing of American Workforce

o Women
▪ Entering the workforce
• 1960s to 1980s: rose steadily
• 1990s: leveled off
▪ Some: reached middle – management positions
▪ Few (5%): chief executives of large corporations
▪ Prevented from moving to the top by “the glass ceiling”
(subtle form of discrimination)
▪ Earning: = 75% earned by men (generally earn less money
than men for doing the same work)
The changing of American Workforce

o Currently, twice as many new business in US started by women as by

men
o Some believe: easier for women to be successful as entrepreneurs
than as “organization women” in male – dominated organizations/
corporations
o Many jobs in corporate America: fast track (requiring that both men
and women put their job first and their family second)
→ A number of women are choosing to drop out of the workforce and
stay with children or to find work they can do at home
o 3 million women/year: start their own business, following the dream
of the entrepreneur
The changing of American Workforce
o Minorities: face similar discrimination (earn less than white workers
with similar jobs)
o Future:
▪ White American male: no longer have advantages over other
workers
▪ Prediction (study 1987)
• More women and members of minority groups would be
entering the workforce than white males (recent arrival of new
immigrants)
• 5/6 of the net additions to the workforce in 2000 – nonwhite,
women and immigrants
• 15%: white males
The changing of American Workforce

o Many believe: multi – cultural workforce → ultimately

help US compete in the global market (American worker
will represent a microcosm of the world)
o Institution of American business has remained the most
prestigious institution in US
o → The business of American is still business
THE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS HERITAGE

Questions for discussion

1. What do you know about the religion in the US?

2. Do many Americans believe in God?
3. What religion is most popular in the US?
4. Do Americans have a national religion?
5. How has religion shaped American values?
 Freedom of religion in the US
o What influence the practice of American religion?
▪ The fundamental American beliefs in individual freedom
▪ The right of individuals
o Religions ever existed: religious pluralism produced by great
diversity of ethnic backgrounds
▪ Believe in God: 93%
▪ Christian: 87%, including 59% protestants, 27% Catholic, 1%
Easten Othordox, the overwhelming majority to make important
contribution to American culture
▪ Jewish: 2%
▪ Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu: 4%
 Religion in the US

o Asian immigrants: brought with Taoism, Confucianism,

Shintoism & Buddhism
o Native American religions still practiced & studied
today: living in harmony with nature
 The development of Protestantism
o Protestant branch (of Christian faith): broke away from the Roman
Catholic church in Europe in the 16th century because of important
differences in religious belief
▪ The Eastern Orthodox branch separated from the Roman
Catholic church in 1054
o Protestants insisted: all individuals must stand alone before God
▪ If sinned seek for forgiveness directly
▪ Substituted “priesthood of all believers”: every individual was
solely responsible for his or her own relationship with God
o Due to disagreement among themselves about many things:
formed separate churches called denominations
 The development of Protestantism
o 1600s: Catholic church not recognized the rights of such protestant
churches. Protestant denominations experienced religious
persecution, many protestants left home countries to seek freedom
to practice their particular religious beliefs, among the first settlers
to America (seeking religious freedom)
o A large number of protestant denominations established in America
o According to 1789 Constitution:
▪ Forbid government to establish a national church
▪ Church remains separate
Variety of different protestant denominations developed & strengthened
 Protestantism in the US
o Various Protestant denominations have completely separate church
organizations, with similarities & differences in religious teachings
& beliefs
▪ Ex: Some forbid dancing, playing cards, drinkign alcohol
o Reasons: Protestants’ belief: the individual, not the organized church
should be the center of religious life
o American religious tradition: encourage the development of
numerous denominations + tolerance & acceptance of all faiths,
expressing the religious preferences of different individuals a
favorable climate to strengthen the development of cultural
pluralism in the US
 The Protestant Heritage: Self - Improvement
o Despite many Protestant denominations, all share a common
heritage: a powerful force in shaping the values and beliefs of
Americans
o The most important value: self – improvement:
▪ If sinned: not go to priest for forgiveness of sins but let alone
before god to improve themselves or suffer eternal punishment
by God → encourage a strong & restless desire fir self –
improvement
▪ Countless books called self – help books explain how people
can be happier & more successful in life by improving
everything
 The Protestant Heritage: Self - Improvement
o One of the most popular: the power of Positive Thinking: self –
confidence is the key to self – improvement & success
o God helps those who help themselves
o Reading the Bible like doing regular daily exercises to help
improve one’s self – confidence & success
▪ Buy hundreds of millions of self – help books a year
▪ Attend thousands of self – help seminars, support group
meetings to help them stop smoking, drinking, lose weigh, be
better parents, have happier relationships, develop self -
confidence
 Volunteerism & Humanitarianism

o The Protestant idea:

▪ Achieving material gain through hard work & self –
discipline
▪ Helping others by contributing some of their time, money to
charitable, educational or religious causes designed to help
others
o Motive: be acceptable in the eyes of God & other Americans also
▪ Many businesses encourage employees to do volunteer work
▪ Individual get tax credits for money given to charity
Born – Again Christians and the Religious right

o The idea of born – again: when being hopelessly lost in

sinfulness, people open their hearts to God & to his son,
Jessus Christ → their lives completely change
o 16% born – again Christians: belong to Protestant churches
with political conservative idea, acting in conservative
political movements to oppose legalized abortion and ban
on prayer in public schools
 A National Religion
o Americans developed a number of informal practices combined by
between national patriotism & religion, referred as ”the National
Religion” by scholars
o Main function: provide support for the dominant values
o Patriotism mixed with religious ideas in songs & ceremonies that
proclaim God’s blessing on America, its basic values & its actions as
a nation
▪ Can be seen in many occasions: national holidays, political
conventions, especially sport events (national anthem, prayer,…)
 A National Religion
o Some observers of America regard the national religion with harmful
effects
▪ Create climate of disagreement or excessive conformity
o However, the national religion
▪ Helps to answer the need of feeling continuing to succeed,
maintaining their national self – confidence in a rapidly change world
▪ Help to unite different religious groups without requiring any to
abandon their faiths
▪ Create a context of tolerance that further strengthens the American
reality of many different religions living peacefully within a single
nation
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
IN THE UNITED STATES

“A wise and frugal Government shall restrain men from

injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to
regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvements”
Thomas Jefferson
 Questions for discussion

1. What do you think is the most important role of a

government?
2. In the United States, what is the relationship between the
president and Congress? Who has more power?
3. What are the two major political parties in the United
States? What is the main difference in their beliefs?
 Americans’ view in their government

A suspicion of strong government

o Traditionally:
▪ G is the natural enemy of freedom
▪ The bigger and stronger the G becomes, the more
dangerous most Americans believe it is to their
individual freedom
o “Government even in its best state is but a necessary evil;
in its worst state, an intolerance one” – Thomas Paine
The organization of the American Government
o The national government is divided into 3 branches:
1. The Congress: make laws (consists of 2 Houses: the
Senate & the House of Representatives)
2. The President: take responsibility to carry our the laws
3. The Supreme Court: make up the judicial branch, settle
disputes about the exact meaning of the law through court
cases.
o Balance of power among these 3 branches are remained
through a system of checks & balances, stipulated by
provisions in the Constitution
 The Congress & the President

o Have almost complete political independence as

▪ Chosen from separate elections, e.g.:
• The President: a Democrat
• The Congress: Republicans
▪ Seem to speak conflicting voices
 The Ideal of the Free Individual

o 1700s – 1860s:
▪ People’s belief: Gov was to create the conditions most
favorable to the development of the free individual
• Before the Civil War: the American ideal of the free
individual was the frontier settler & the small farmer
who relied on no – one but themselves
▪ Favored a small, weak form of gov to encourage the
development of a nation free, self – reliant farmer
citizens
 The Ideal of the Free Individual
o 1870s – 1930s: from the end of the Civil war to the Great
Depression of the 1930s: successful business replaced the
farmer & frontier settlers
▪ Gov should not interfere in the activities of business, not
threaten the development of free individuals as their
competitive spirit, self – reliance & hard work were to
develop the US into land of greater and greater material
prosperity.
▪ Gov remained small & inactive; some Gov regulations
were born but had small impact on business practice
 The Ideal of the Free Individual
o 1870s – 1930s: business organizations dominated gov &
politics
▪ Democratic Party:
• used Gov to regulate business
• protect consumers
• solve social problems
▪ Republic Party:
• was more powerful than their rivals
• provided means to maintain the dominance of
business organizations
 The development of big government:
The Welfare State
o The Great Depression:
▪ Weakened the business people’s position
▪ Saw widespread unemployment and economic hardship
▪ Created need for emergency gov action to help the needy
as individuals could not rely only on themselves
o Led to a large and active role for the national gov in helping
individuals meet their daily needs
 The Ideal of the Free Individual
o After the Depression & World War II (1941 – 1945):
▪ See the growth of gov’ role in helping to provide
economic security for individuals
• Especially expanded during the presidency of a
Democrat Lyndon Johnson (1960s)
▪ New ideal: “welfare state”: to pay for retired persons,
support dependent children, healthcare for the poor &
elderly, benefits for the needy.
▪ However, warfare state has never been fully accepted by
many Americans with their old belief
 The role of Special Interest Groups –
new form of American individualism
o Reasons to establish Special Interest Groups: to take advantage of, or
to protect Americans from the actions of gov
o Special Interest Groups (or lobbying groups): Americans with similar
interest to more effectively influence the actions of Gov
o Examples: The national Rifle Association (NRA), Labor Unions,
African – Americans, Native Americans, Mexican – Americans,
Jewish American (ethnic groups)
o Also Interest Groups wanting gov support: for rights for women, a
clean environment, greater protection for consumers
o Generally, the size of both Interest Groups & Gov increase
The new Individualism vs. the old Individualism

o The new Individualism:

▪ Claim success obtained not by their own but partly by a tool
of forming interest groups to influence the Gov
▪ However, individuals still have their own rights, interests &
ambitions
▪ Many experts believe that interest group government is
harmful to the US as it emphasizes on people’s ability to
influence Gov rather than their ability to produce goods &
services to enrich the country
The new Individualism vs. the old Individualism

o Under the new Individualism:

▪ Democratic Party: more supported by the poor, women’s
right group, the less privileged like Blacks & nonwhite
minorities
▪ Become more racially & ethnically diverse than its rival
▪ Example: 1992: Democrat Bill Clinton was elected
president & his cabinet had a diversity of America with 6
women, 4 blacks & 2 Hispanics
The new Individualism vs. the old Individualism

o The Republican party:

▪ Continued to stress anti – gov and pro – business ideas
▪ Their best hope: reduce the number of things gov does & to
give more freedom to American business from gov taxes,
rules & requirements.
▪ Observers: questioned whether both parties
• Serve truly the needs of the country
• Meet the common problems facing the Americans at the
dawn of the 21st century.
 Questions for discussion

1. Why is there such a division in the American national

government?
2. How are operations of national gov branches run smoothly?
3. Why do people often get confused in understanding American
political system?
4. How have views about the gov’s role changed over the
years?
5. What is considered the major cause to the biggest change in
the view of Americans on gov’s development?
6. If you were an American, which party would you stand for?
The ethnic & racial
assimilation in the US
“So in this continent, the energy of Irish, Germans,
Swedes, Poles and all the European tribes, of the Africans,
and of the Polynesians – will construct a new race, a new
religion, a new state.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Questions for discussion

1. How did people from so many different countries create the

“American culture” in the US?
2. What group had the strongest influence on shaping the dominant
American culture?
3. Why do you think some groups might assimilate to the American
culture more than others?
4. What do you know about the history of African Americans in the
US?
5. What is cultural assimilation?
Assimilation

“The process by which these many groups have

been made a part of a common cultural life with
commonly shared values is called assimilation”
Melting pot or Salad bowl

o The US is described by scholars as

▪ A melting pot: various racial & ethnic groups have been
combined into one culture
▪ A salad bowl: various groups have remained somewhat
distinct & different from one another, creating a richly
diverse country
o The truth: lies somewhere bet these 2 views
Melting pot or Salad bowl

Since 1776:
o An enormous amount of racial & ethnic assimilation has taken place
(whites from different national & religious backgrounds have gradually
been assimilated into the larger American culture)
o Some continue to feel a strong sense of separateness from the culture as a
whole (Hispanic & Latinos have taken a special pride in maintaining
their cultural traditions & the use of Spanish)
o Many are bicultural: consider themselves Americans, but wish to retain
the language & cultural traditions of their original culture (Jews have
strong feeling of ethnic pride, along with strong sense of being apart of
the larger American culture)
The establishment of the Dominant culture

o The white population: largely English in origin, Western

European, Protestant & middle class
▪ Had the greater numbers, money & political power, thus
shaped the dominant culture, defined the traditional values:
freedom, equality of opportunity & desire to work hard
▪ Their characteristics became the standard for judging other
groups
o Those of different religions: Germans, Dutch, Swedes were in the
minority & would be disadvantaged if didn’t become asssimilated
o Late 1700s: this assimilation occurred without any difficulties
The assimilation of Non – Protestant &
Non – Western Europeans

o Late 19th & early 20th century: The US received millions of immigrants
▪ Mainly from poverty – stricken countries of southern & eastern
Europe
▪ Speak other languages
▪ Were Catholics or Jews in large number
o Americans at this time: fearful of this new flood of immigrants as they
▪ Were used to lives of poverty & dependence
▪ Not understand such traditional American values
▪ Even might change the basic values in undesirable ways
The assimilation of Non – Protestant &
Non – Western Europeans
o Americans tried
▪ To offer English instruction for the new immigrants & citizenship classes to
teach them basic American beliefs
o However, the immigrants felt
▪ American teachers disapproved of the traditions of their homeland
▪ This learning gave them little help in meeting their most important needs like
employment, food & place to live
o Political bosses of the Northeastern US:
▪ Saw practical needs of the immigrants & accepted their different homeland
traditions
▪ To return thanks: immigrants helped to keep these bosses in power by voting for
them in elections
The assimilation of Non – Protestant &
Non – Western Europeans
o Many Americans strongly disapproved of this fact as these bosses
▪ Were frequently corrupt
▪ Destroying basic American values such as delf – reliance &
competition
▪ Teaching immigrants to be dependent on them, not on themselves
▪ Buying power in big cities, destroying completion for political
office
o Scholars
▪ Bosses played an important function in helping to assimilate
immigrants into larger American culture (finding them houses, jobs)
The assimilation of Non – Protestant &
Non – Western Europeans

o Fact
▪ Immigrants came to accept most of the values of the larger
American culture, and in turn accepted by the great
majority of Americans
o White ethnic groups
▪ Have stronger feeling of being a part of the larger culture
than of a separate ethnic groups
The African – American Experience

o Americans of African descent have had the greates difficulty in

becoming assimilated into the larger culture as
▪ African – Americans were brought to the US against their will, sold
as slaves, while others came to it voluntarily for better life
▪ The enslavement of African – American was a contradiction of
traditional basic American values (freedom, equality of
opportunity)
o The US: divided into 2 sections
▪ The Southern States: black Slavery became the basis of the
economy
▪ The Northern States: chose to make slavery against the law
The African – American Experience

o White’s view in the North:

▪ A minority:
• Slavery & freedom could not exist together in a free country
• Demand that slavery be abolished even this meant war with the
South
▪ A much larger number:
• Freedom & equality of opportunity needed to be protected for
white only
• Afraid that black slavery would eventually take away their
economic freedom
The African – American Experience

o Present Abraham Lincoln:

▪ Believed that basic ideals such as freedom & equality of
opportunity had to apply to all people, black & white, or they
would not last as basis American values
o 1860:
▪ Abraham Lincoln won presidency
▪ A Civil War (the bloodiest & most destructive of all) happened
when the southern states left the Union & tried to form a new
nation of their own based on slavery
o The North won & black slavery ended in the US
The African – American Experience
o However, African – Americans were not readily assimilate into the larger
American culture:
▪ Most remained in the South & not allowed to vote & legally segregated
from whites
▪ Black children:
• Note allowed to attend white public schools
• Many received inferior education
• Not given equal opportunity to compete in the white - dominated society
▪ Many former slaves & their families: became caught in a cycle of poverty
for generations
▪ Blacks continued to be the victims of strong racial prejudice in both the
North & South
 The Civil Rights Movement of the
1950s & 1960s
o 1954: the US Supreme Court declared: racially segregated public schools did not
provide equal educational opportunities for black Americans illegal
o Black leaders: greatly encouraged → try to end racial segregation in all areas of
American life
o Martin Luther King, Jr: a black Protestant minister, the most important leader:
▪ Led thousands of African – Americans in nonviolent marches & demonstrations
against segregation & other forms of racial discrimination
▪ His goal: bring about greater assimilation of black people into the larger
American culture
▪ Wanted greater equality of opportunity & freedom for his people (support basic
values)
▪ 1968: assassinated by a white gunman
 The Civil Rights Movement of the
1950s & 1960s
o Malcolm X with some other black leaders:
▪ Urged a rejection of basic American values & complete separation of
blacks from the white culture
▪ His belief:
• American values: nothing more than “white man’s values” used to
keep blacks in a inferior position.
• Blacks must
→ separate themselves from whites, by force if necessary
→ build their own society based on their own values
→ turned to a faith based on Islam because Christianity was a “white”
religion
The Civil Rights Movement of the
1950s & 1960s

o 1960s: passed 2 major civil rights laws

▪ Removed racial segregation from public facilities in the
South
▪ Removed the barriers preventing blacks from voting in
that region
▪ Reduced the amount of white prejudice toward black
people
Race Relation after the Civil Rights Movement

o Since the civil rights laws of the 1960s: saw a dramatic increase in the number
of African – Americans:
▪ Attending the nation’s college & universities
▪ Holding elective public office
▪ Earning higher incomes
o Examples:
▪ 1988: Jesse Jackson, a black leader became 1st African – American to run
for president of the US
▪ African – Americans are now mayors of major cities & members of
Congress
▪ They are sports & entertainment heroes, professors, medical, doctors,
lawyers, entrepreneurs,…
Race Relation after the Civil Rights Movement

o However: still exists a gulf between the races as

▪ African - Americans (13% of the population)
• Underrepresented in Congress
• Had 23% lower income than white man (a married man
working full time)
o Residential patterns: create largely segregated neighborhood
schools in many urban areas
▪ Half the whites live in the US, but only a fourth of the blacks
Race Relation after the Civil Rights Movement

▪ Many blacks: now trapped in cycles of poverty, unemployment,

violence & despair in the inner city → seen as the cause of many
social problems
• Violence: the most frequent victims of crimes
→ 1 in 5 young males now have criminal record
→ Over 40% of all black children live in poverty
→ 70% are born to unmarried women, & many have only one parent
o Some African – Americans: give up on ever having equal treatment
within a society dominated by whites
o A renewed interest in Malcolm X
Race Relation after the Civil Rights Movement

o According to de Tocqueville:
“These two races are fastened to each other without intermingling; and they are
unable to separate entirely or to combine. Although the law may abolish slavery,
God alone can obliterate the traces of its existence”
o Nathan Glazer’s view (an expert on assimilation):
▪ Blacks in the US have had more difficulty being accepted by the white
majority than other racial and ethnic groups such as Hispanics, Native
American Indians, and Asians
▪ Therefore, racial and cultural separatism is a stronger force with them than
with other minority groups
o However, people both black & white with good faith, are working together to
achieve harmony & equality b/w the races
A Universal Nation

o 1920s: the US decided to close the borders to mass

immigration to reduce the number of new immigrants to a
trickle
o The fact:
▪ The new immigrants did assimilate to life in the US
▪ They enriched the cultural diversity of the nation
▪ They did not cause major changes to its system of
government, its free enterprise system, or its traditional
values
 A Universal Nation

o 1965s: the US allowed many more immigrants to come, entirely

eliminating the order law’ bias in favor of white European
immigrants
o Results:
▪ Now confronted with a new challenge
• taking in large number of new non – white & non – European
immigrants
→ about 90% from Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean
▪ For 1st time the US has significant number of illegal immigrants
 A Universal Nation
o Worries:
▪ What will impact the American society?
▪ Can American economy expand enough to offer these new immigrants the
same opportunities that others have had?
▪ What will be the effect on the traditional value system that had defined the
US for over 200 years?
o Ben Wattenberg’s view (expert on American culture):
▪ See “new immigration” as great help
▪ The US: becoming the first universal nation with large numbers of people
from every region on earth living in freedom under one government.
▪ This diversity: give great influence and appeal to the rest of the world
during the 21st century
A Universal Nation

o Perhaps, the US will be described as a “mosaic” – a picture

made up of many tiny pieces of different colors:
▪ At close look: the individuals of different colors & ethnic
groups: distinct & recognizable
▪ Together: they create a picture that is uniquely American
 EDUCATION
IN THE UNITED STATES

“Americans regard education as the means by which the

inequalities among individuals are to be erased and by
which every desirable end is to be achieved”
George S. Counts
 Questions for discussion
1. What do you know about the system of education in the
United States? How many years do students go to school
before entering college?
2. What are the differences between public and private schools
in the United States?
3. What do American universities look for when admitting
students? What qualities do they want the students to have?
4. What role do you think individual freedom, self – reliance,
and equality of opportunity play in the educational system of
the United States?
The establishment of public schools in America:
De Tocqueville’s observations
o Educational institutions – reflect the nation’s basic values, especially the
ideal of equality of opportunity
▪ Americans’ belief: everyone deserves an equal opportunity to get a
good education
o From the beginning, when basic system of public schools established
(1825), principle of equality reaffirmed by:
▪ Making schools open to all classes of Americans
▪ Financing the schools with tax money collected from all citizens
→ Reduce social class distinctions (educating children of all social classes
in the same “common schools”)
 The establishment of public schools in America:
De Tocqueville’s observations
o When Alexis de Toqueville arrived (1831), a great deal of enthusiasm about
the new and growing public elementary schools found.
▪ At first, fear – universal education would be a danger rather than a
national blessing
▪ Eventually, decide – tendency of public education to encourage people to
seek a higher status in life was in harmony with the customs of American
society
▪ Note – public education had a strong practical content (including
vocational skills and duties of citizenships)
• Give Americans the desire to better themselves
• Give them the practical tools to do so
The educational ladder

o During the next century and a half, public schools expanded to include
▪ Secondary or high schools (grades 9 – 12)
▪ Colleges
▪ Universities (both undergraduate and graduate studies)
o American public school system viewed as an educational ladder
▪ Elemental school
▪ High school
▪ College undergraduate
▪ Graduate programs
The educational ladder

Age Grades Schools

3 or 4 Pre – school programs

5 Kindergarten

6 – 11 1st to 6th Elementary school

Middle school (junior high school)

12 – 13 7th to 8th
Some include grades 6th to 8th

14 – 18 9th to 12th High school (senior high school)

The educational ladder

o Further education
▪ Undergraduate studies (colleges) → bachelor’s degree
(college diploma)
▪ Professional studies → law/ medicine degrees
▪ Graduate studies → master’s/ doctoral degrees
The educational ladder

o Educational ladder = perfect reflection of the American idea of individual

success based on equality of opportunity and on “working your way to the
top”
▪ No separate educational systems with a higher level of education for the
wealthy and a lower level of education for the masses
▪ One system open to all
→ Individuals may climb as high on the ladder as they can
→ Abilities of individuals determine how high each person will go
The educational ladder
o Private schools
▪ Private religious schools (associated with particular churches and
receive financial support from them)
• Purpose: to give religious instruction to children
▪ Elite private schools: serve upper – class children with high tuition cost
• Purpose: to associate with other upper – class children and maintain
the upper – class position held by their children, and get a good
education
• Conflict with the ideal of equality of opportunity
→ Give extra educational and social advantage
The educational ladder
o Inequality in the education system
▪ The way to fund schools: more than 90% from local level
(cities and countries) primarily from property taxes
▪ → wealthier districts have more beautiful schools with
better facilities
▪ → qualities of education vary greatly
Attending an American University
o All Ss must pay tuition expenses in the US (lower at public
universities than at private ones)
o There are financial aid programs in the form of loans and
scholarships available at both public and private schools
o However, expenses of buying books and living away from
home make it increasingly difficult for many Ss to attend
universities
Attending an American University
o Middle – class families suffer the most from rising tuition cost
▪ Family income too high to qualify for financial aid
▪ Not enough for tuition needed for a private college
education
o 80% of Ss attend public universities
o Many must work to meet the cost
o A number of Ss who cannot afford to go away attend
community college programs for 2 years in hometowns
 Attending an American University
o Despite its cost, the percentage of Americans seeking a college education continues
to grow
▪ In 1900, less than 10% of college – age Americans entered college
▪ Today, over 60% of Americans ages 25 to 39 have taken some college courses
▪ Over 20% of all Americans have attended 4 years or more
▪ 15 million sts attending college now
▪ Roughly 3000 universities and colleges to choose from
▪ …
o Harvard – one of the most prestigious private universities – a good example
▪ Before World War II, majority of sts from elite private preparatory
schools/admitted 90% of those who applied
▪ Now, majority from public high schools/admit only 16 – 17% of applicants
 The money value of education
o Americans value education for its monetary value
o Widespread belief: the more schooling people have, the more money they will earn
when they leave school
▪ Desirability of an undergraduate university degree/ a professional degree (law/
medicine) following the undergraduate degree
▪ Money value of graduate degrees in non professional fields (art, history,
philosophy) not as great
o A change in the job market recently
▪ In the past, possible to get a high – paying factory job without a college
education
▪ The advent of new technologies → more and more education required to do the
work
▪ Many jobs require a college education even a graduate degree
 Educating the individual
o American schools tend to put more emphasis on developing critical thinking
skills than they do on acquiring quantities of facts
▪ Ss encouraged to express their own opinions and think for themselves =
reflection of the American values of individual freedom and self – reliance
▪ Goal of American education system: to teach children how to learn and
how to help them reach their maximum potential
o Develop both social and interpersonal skills as well as intellectual skills
▪ Schools add a large number of extracurricular activities to daily life at
schools
▪ → Ss demonstrate their special talents, level of maturity and responsibility,
leadership qualities, ability to get along with others
 Educating the individual
o Extracurricular activities:
▪ Athletics (competitive sports) – the most important of all extracurricular
activities
• To learn how to compete successfully
▪ Team sports (football, basket ball, baseball) – important
• To teach sts the “winning spirit”
▪ Student government
• To develop competitive, political, and social skills
▪ Clubs and activities for sts interest – art, music, drama, debate, foreign
language, photography, volunteer work
• To help sts more successful in later life
 Racial equality and education
o The most significant departure from the ideal of equality of
opportunity in education: the education of African - Americans
▪ After the Civil War (1860s): southern states developed a social
and legal system segregating the former black slaves from the
white in all public facilities, including schools
• Black people in the southern states: prohibited from
attending schools with the white
• Have separate inferior schools to the white’s
 Racial equality and education
o In a test case in 1896, the Supreme Court stated: racial segregation in public
schools and other public facilities in the southern states did not violate the
Constitution
▪ The S.C. pretended that the separate black schools and other facilities were
equal to those of whites
▪ The S.C. in vented the separate but equal doctrine to justify racial
segregation in public schools and other public facilities in the southern
states
▪ Justice John Marshall Harlan strongly disagreed and believed that the
decision violated the nation’s highest law and its basic values
• “Our Constitution is color – blind, and neither knows nor tolorates
classes among its citizens.”
 Racial equality and education
o 50 years later, a more modern S.C. agreed with the Justice Harlan
▪ 1954 it held laws that forced black sts to go to racially segregated
schools violated in the US Constitution because schools could
never be equal
o Late 1960s and 1970s, a series of court decisions forced the nation to
take measures to integrate all of its schools
▪ However, the neighborhood schools reflected the makeup of races
who lived in the neighborhood → the residential patterns = a
source of problem (particularly in urban areas)
 Racial equality and education
o Next 20 years, Americans tried various methods to achieve
racial balance in the public schools
▪ Most controversial method used: the busing of school
children from their home neighborhood to achieve a greater
mixture of black and white children in all schools
▪ → most children and parents did not like it
 Racial equality and education
o Late 1700s, new question dealing with racial and ethnic equality in education
brought to the S.C.:
“The admissions policies of professional schools, such as medical and law
schools”
▪ Some schools do more than treat equally:
• Set aside a certain number of places specially for applicants from these
groups, taking affirmative actions
• Set quotas for minimum numbers of minority sts that must be admitted
to their programs
= special treatment rather than equal of opportunity
However, many believed that because of discrimination in the past,
equality now demands some extra advantage
 The increasing responsibilities of public schools
o Americans place the weight of many of their ideals, hopes, and problems on the nation’s
public school system
▪ Solving problems from the weakening of family ties:
• Rising divorced rates → increasing number of children raised by one parent → more
likely to have problems at schools
▪ Education of new immigrant children provides the public school system with some of its
greatest challenges
• Not have strong educational preparation, academic skills below grade level
• Must learn English → learn new concept at the same time of struggling to learn a
new language
• Not common for a teacher to have children speaking 5 or 6 different native languages
in one classroom
▪ The nation finds itself with new limits on its material abundance → reduce the amount of
money available to the public schools
 The standards movement
o International comparisons of education:
In general, American sts do not perform well in math, science, and other subjects as
sts from many other developed countries
o Possible reason: American standards for education not high enough
o Traditionally, local community school districts – responsible for determining school
curricula and selecting books
o In 1990s, both the states and the federal government more involved in determining
school standards
▪ The federal government – set national goals (standards for early childhood,
elementary, secondary and adult education)
▪ Major educational associations (national associations of teachers of science,
math or language arts) – evaluate the current curricula and criteria for
certification and develop new standards
The standards movement

o To ensure standards met:

▪ Before graduating from school, sts required to pass
examinations in subjects (reading, writing, mathematics,
civics)
o Some discussion of national examinations though difficult to
achieve
Multicultural education

o Changing populations of sts → changes in what is taught in the

schools:
▪ Text books focusing too much on the literature and
historical events of Anglo – Europeans or white males
▪ Ignoring the contributions of African – Americans, Latinos,
and Native Americans
Multicultural education
o During 1990s, curricula examined seriously, more varied cultural
information and perspectives incorporated into education:
▪ Purpose: to provide multicultural education
▪ How:
• Add information and literature to the current textbooks and curricula
• Transform the basic curriculum into more reflective one of the
diversity of the sts who will study it
→ Celebrate African – American History Month/ Hispanic Heritage
month
→ International festivals including dancing, singing, foods from the
nations from which sts come
Multicultural education
→ Adopt history for social studies textbooks including more
information about African – Americans, Hispanic –
Americans and other minorities
→ Adopt American literature texts including poetry and fiction
written by Americans of all ethnic backgrounds
→ Traditional set of Western great books (the canon) replaced
by a much broader set of literary text, reflecting the
experiences and backgrounds of the students who will be
reading them
Multicultural education
o Some fear:
▪ Replacing the Western civilization and literary tradition with a
much broader historical and literary discussion →
fragmentation of American society
▪ So many competing views of history and sets of values in
schools → difficult for the country to remain “American”
o A serious question:
Can a country as diverse as the United States have schools that
reflect diversity and still retain a core national identity and culture?
THE AMERICAN FAMILY

The American has fashioned anew the features of

his family institutions as he does everything else
about him.
Max Lerner
 Questions for discussion

1. Who lives in a typical American household?

2. What changes have occurred in the American family
since the 1950s?
3. How have the traditional American values affected
family relationships?
4. What are “family values”?
 Family structures

o “Immediate family”: husband or wife and their

children
o Separate units (living in separate household): father,
mother, sisters or brothers
o “Extended family”: aunts, uncles, cousins,
grandparents
 Family structures
o Structure of American family – undergone enormous changes since 1950s
▪ Traditionally, A. family – nuclear family (husband, wife and their children
living in a house or apartment)
▪ 1950s, 70% of A. households = ”classic” A. family (husband, wife and 2
children)
• Father (= breadwinner); mother (= homemaker); 2 children (under 18)
▪ 1990s
• 8% - a working father, a stay – at – home mother + 2 children under 18
• 18% - 2 working father + one or more children under 18 living at
home
• 30% - married couples without children
• 8% - single parent + children
• 11% - unmarried couples
• 25% - living alone
 Family structures

o Reasons – demographic factors

▪ 1950s, men thought in World War II returned home,
married and raised families
→ Substantial increase in birth rate → the “baby boomers”
▪ Today, young people – marrying and having children
later in life/ some couple not having children
▪ People living longer after children grown and end up
alone
▪ High rate of divorce
 The emphasis on individual freedom

o Family – a group whose primary purpose is to advance the

happiness of individual members
→ The needs of each individual – take priority in the life of
the family
o Primary responsibility of A. family member
▪ Not to advance the family as a group, either socially or
economically
▪ Nor to bring honor to the family name
▪ Reason: partly, US not an aristocracy society
 The emphasis on individual freedom
o A basic A. value: equality of opportunity regardless of birth → family
name and honor less important than in aristocratic societies
o A. family rarely self – supporting → less emphasis on the family as an
economic unit
o Desire for freedom from outside control
▪ → Americans do not like to have controls placed on them by other
family members
▪ → they want to make independent decisions and not be told what to
do by grandparents or uncles or aunts
▪ Young American – encourage to make independent career decisions
o What best for the family – not considered as important as what best for
the individual
 Marriage and divorce
o Marriage not “arranged” in US
▪ Young people expected to find husband/wife on their own
▪ Parents frequently not told of marriage plan until the couple has
decided to marry
→ Parents – little control over whom their children marry
▪ Young people should fall in love and marry someone they can live
happily with
• = evidence of the importance of an individual’s happiness
• Shape the views of courtship and marriage among young Americans
o Value placed on marriage determined largely by how happy the husband and
wife make each other
o Happiness based primarily on companionship
(considered as the most important part by majority of A. women)
 Marriage and divorce
o Divorce – easy to obtain in most parts of the US
o “No – fault” divorce:
▪ No longer live happily together
▪ Have “irreconcilable differences”
▪ Neither partner’s fault
o Divorce rate
▪ 1950s – rose rapidly
▪ 1990s – leveled off
▪ Now – one out of two marriages ends in divorce
• So common → no longer socially unacceptable; children
not embarrassed to say that their parents are divorced
 Marriage and divorce

o American belief today

▪ Unhappy couples should not stay married just because
they have children at home
▪ Most do not believe in sacrificing individual happiness
for the sake of the children
▪ Children actually may be better off living with one
parent than with two who are constantly arguing
 The role of child

o American emphasis on individual → affect children in a

contradictory way
▪ Have more attention and more power than they should
▪ Not get enough attention from their parent
• → parents feel guilty for not having enough time
with children (due to working habits)
• → give them more material things to compensate
for the lack of attention
 The role of child
o A. families place more emphasis on the needs and desires of the child and less on
the child’s social and family responsibilities
o Since World War II, much stress placed on the psychological needs of children
▪ Numbers of experts increased enormously
▪ Books on how to raise children → best seller
o Some Americans believe – emphasis on the psychological needs of the individual
child – be carried too far by parents and experts
▪ Dr. Benjamin Spock’s (most famous of the child – rearing experts)
conclusion: “what is making the parent’s job most difficult is today’s child –
centered viewpoint.”
o Basic belief: the major purpose of the family is the development and welfare of
each of its member as individuals
▪ Numbers of experts increased enormously
▪ Books on how to raise children → best seller
 Equality of the family
o Belief in equality – strong effect on the family
o Alexis de Tocqueville’s observation
▪ In aristocratic societies
• Father – the ruler and master
• Children’s relationship with father: formal, love combined with
fear
▪ In the United States
• Less formal respect for, and fear of, the father
• More affection towards him
• “The master and constituted ruler have vanished, the father
remains”
 Equality of the family
o Today, much more social equality bet. Parents and children than in most
aristocratic societies or societies ruled by centuries of tradition.
▪ Since 1960s, significant decline in parental authority and children’s
respect for their parents
▪ Little or no control over the behavior of teenage children (particularly
after they turn 16 and get their driver’s licenses)
o Give young people a lot of freedom
▪ → teach children to be independent and self - reliant
• “leave the nest” at about age 18 (after graduating from high school)
• Go on to college or get a job to support themselves
• By mid - 20s, still living with their parents → something wrong
• “boomerang kids”: have left the nest once but now back again
(unable to find jobs to support life)
 Four stages of marriage relationships
o According to Letha and John Scanzoni (A. sociologists), 4 stages of
development of the institution of marriage in the US (increase in the
degree of equality and power of wife to husband)
▪ Stage 1: Wife as Servant to Husband
▪ Stage 2: Husband – head, Wife – helper
▪ Stage 3: Husband – senior partner, Wife – junior partner
▪ Stage 4: Husband – Wife equal partners
o Stage 1: Wife as Servant to Husband
▪ During 19th century, A. wives completely obedient to their husbands
▪ 1850, wife beating – legal in almost all states
▪ Wife’s possessions – belong to husband
▪ Not allowed to vote
 Four stages of marriage relationships
o Stage 2: Husband – head, Wife – helper
▪ Late 19th century and early 20th century, opportunities for women to
work outside – increase
▪ → increase wife’s power in the marriage
• Husband no longer make family decision alone
• Wife freer to disagree with husband and to insist that her view be
taken into account in family decisions
▪ Though, husband remained head of the family
• Wife = full – time helper by taking care of his house and raising his
children
▪ → increase status for women in the society at large and lead to
women’s gaining the right to vote in early 20 th century
 Four stages of marriage relationships
o Stage 3: Husband – senior partner, Wife – junior partner
▪ During 20th century, more wives taken jobs outside the homes
• 1940, 14% of married women held jobs outside
• 1990s, more than 60% did
• → wife’s power relative to that of husband increase further
→ Wife’s income – important in maintaining the family’s living
standard
→ Wife’s power to affect the outcome of family decisions greater
▪ Though, wife not an equal partner with her husband
• Husband’s job provide more of the family income
• → husband = the senior partner; wife – the junior partner
 Four stages of marriage relationships
o Stage 4: Husband – Wife equal partner
▪ Since late 1960s, growing number of women expressing a strong
dissatisfaction with any marriage arrangement where the husband and his
career be the primary considerations in the marriage
• End of 1970s, 38% of the women still believed that they should put
husband and children ahead of their career
• 1990s, most women believe that they should be equal partners in their
marriage and that their husbands should have equal responsibility for
child care and household chores
▪ In an equal – partnership marriage
• Wife persues a full – time job of equal importance to her husband
• Husband no longer remains provider of family income
• Power over family shared equally
 Four stages of marriage relationships

o Reality nowadays
▪ Women generally earn less than men for the same work
▪ Women spend more time taking care of children,
cooking and cleaning house
▪ Many women still resentful: feel like have two full –
time jobs (one at work and one at home)
▪ Some find that lifestyle exhausting and unrewarding
 The role of the family in society

o So much importance placed on achieving individual

freedom and equality within family
▪ → gain a number of benefits for Americans (needs and
desires of each member are given a great deal of
attention and importance)
▪ → a price is paid
• Families less stable and lasting
• High rate of divorce
 The role of the family in society
o American attitude toward the family: many contradictions
▪ Tolerate instability in family → protect such values as freedom and
equality
▪ Strongly attached to the idea of the family as the best of all
lifestyles
o What is family life?
▪ 26% - “typical” American family (a father, mother and children)
▪ Many – “step families” or “blended families”
▪ A number of single parents raising children alone
▪ In recent years, gay and lesbian couples crated family units
→ Definition of “family” much broader in the 90s: “people who live
together and love each other”
 The role of the family in society
o Sociologist and psychologists: the family is the best place for
children to learn moral values and a sense of responsibility
▪ Since 1990s, voice concern over what was happening to
many children in America
▪ Today, the state of the American family frequently
discussed
• Majority of Americans believe: the institution of the
family and “family values” – in deep trouble and ask
the schools to provide more moral education than in
the past
 Family values
o 11 points that a majority of Americans agree are “family values”

Six classified (by Yankelovich) as Five as “a blend of traditional and

“clearly traditional” newer, more expensive values”

o Respecting one’s parents o Giving emotional support to other

o Being responsible for one’s actions members of the family
o Having faith in God o Respecting people for themselves
o Respecting authority o Developing greater skill in
o Married to the same person for life communicating one’s feeling
o Leaving the world in better shape o Respecting one’s children
o Living up to one’s potential as an
individual
LEISURE TIME:
ORGANIZED SPORTS,
RECREATION, AND
TELEVISON
 American values
The Value of Sport - A National Asset
We know that sport, at its best, can build character and promote the virtues of honesty,
respect, selfless teamwork, dedication, and commitment to a greater cause. Sport
lessons (good and bad) transcend the playing field, spilling over into the classroom, the
business world, and the community, and contribute to shaping the character and culture
of America’s citizens.

o Amateur athletics, associated with schools and colleges, are valued for
teaching young peole traditional American values. Professional sports, in
addition to their profit and entertainment purposes, are seen as providing an
example to inspire the young to take part in organized sports.
 Equality of opportunity
o Organized sports (football, basketball, and baseball) are seen by Americans as
an inspiring example of equality of opportunity in action. In sports, people of
different races and economic backgrounds get an equal chance to excel.

Hard – work
o It would seem that Americans carry over their belief in hard work into their
world of play and recreation
o What began in the 1970s as the “physical fitness craze” has become a way of
life for many. A number of people regularly work out at sports clubs – lifting
weights, swimming, playing squash or racquetball, participating in aerobic
exercise classes, or using exercise bikes, treadmills, rowing machines, or stair –
steppers. Long – distance marathon races are so popular that the organizers
often haved to limit the number of people who can participate
 Competition
o The idea of competition is at the very heart of organized sports in the United
States. Many Americans believe that learning how to win in sports helps develop
the habits necessary to compete successfully in later life. This training, in turn,
strengthens American society as a whole
o When the idea of winning in sports is carried to excess, however, honorable
competition can turn into disorder and violence
o Another criticism of professional sports is that the players and the team owners
get to much money, while fans have to pay more and more for tickets to the
games
o Meanwhile, there is, however, also a tradition of honorable defeat in American
sports. Other things, such as fair play, following the rules of the game, and
behaving with dignity when one is defeated, are also important.
 Leisure activities
Self - improvement
o The self – improvement motive, however, can also be seen in many other
popular forms of recreation that involve little or no physical activity
o The recreational interests of Americans also show a continuing respect for
self – reliance, and sometimes the adventure and danger, of frontier life
o Many others are choosing to go white water rafting, mountain climbing, sky
diving, helicopter skiing, and bungee jumping, U.S park officials complain
about the number of people who take life – threatening risks in national
parks and have to be rescued. “It is as if they are looking for hardship”, one
park official stated, “They seem to enjoy the danger and the physical
challenge”
Television and its impact
Television and its impact
 Facts and figures
Individuals age 75 and over spent more of their leisure time watching TV,
reading, and relaxing and thinking than individuals ages 15 to 19. The younger
age group spent more of its leisure time engaging in sports and exercise and
playing games and using the computer for leisure. They spent the same amount
of time socializing and communicating. (Data are from the 2015 survey)

Sports and recreation in the US and Vietnam

o Role of the sports
o Individual sports
o Team sports
 Questions for discussion

1. What are cultural values reinforced in sports and leisure

activities of American people?
2. What are other values most realized in American sports?
3. What are Vietnamese values in sports and entertainment?
4. What are people’s attitudes towards sports professions in
both countries?
 AMERICAN VALUES AT THE
CROSSROADS: THE UNITED STATES
IN THE 21ST CENTURY
 Factors that affect American history

• The US has always had a racially and ethnically diverse population

1

• Have a strong distrust of their government and strong faith in its

2 design

• The right of free speech and the existence of a free press

3

• A long traditional of isolationism

4

• The US goes through different political and economic phases

5
The US has always had a racially and ethnically
diverse population

o Sometimes, these people get along well together and sometimes

they do not
o Great suspition and even hatred between people of different races
and national orgins
o In the darkest time, there have always been individuals who help
up the ideas stated in the Declaration of Independence
Have a strong distrust of their government and a
strong faith in its design

o Over a period of more than 200 years, they have amended the
United States Constitution only 26 times
o The framework of political systems was designed to protect
freedom and individual rights of citizens
o Americans believe that this system has successfully carried the
nation from the 18th century through the 20th, and it will still
protect the in the 21st century.
A long traditional of isolationism

o It is true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any

portion of the foreign world
o Americans are very reluctant to see the US become involved in
international military actions
o Americans are also skeptical about international economic
alliances
o Americans are more interested in what happening close to home
than the rest of the world
The US goes through different political and
economic phases

o Economy is in good shape, people are more optimistic about the

states of their country and life
o As the mood swings backs and forth from optimistic to
pessimistic, or from liberal to conservative, the traditional values
have so far remained
o There is no statistically significant difference in the attitudes and
values of young people, the middle – aged, or the older
generation
Comparison

The US Vietnam
The US has always had a racially and The population of VN has considerable
ethnically diverse polpulation diversity with 54 ethnical nationalities
such as: Kinh, Khmer, Hmong,…
Americans have traditional had a strong Vienamese have a strong trust of their
distrust of their government but they government with a single – party
have had a strong faith in its design
The right of free speech and the The Vietnam constitution stated that citizens
existence of a free press are allowed have right freedom of speech and
publication in accordance with law
There is a long traditional of Vienamese uphold the spirit of solidarity,
isolationism mutual assistance
The US goes through different political Vietnam was colonized by many different
and economic phrase that have a strong forces throughout its history, it influences
effect on the mood of people strongly on the national politic and economy
 Challenges to American Values in 20th century
The 20th centrury was a time of enormous changed in American life

In the early decades of the 20th century the American people

benefited from industrial growth
o Cheap labor and assembly – line manufacturing made mass production possible
o Railroad networks carried the mass – produced goods, many of them the result
of new technologies, around the country more retailers expanded their
operations and the laid the foundation for the consumer – driven society
o The US’s industry grew promptly after World War I and The United States
enjoyed the economic prosperity during the “Roaring Twenties”
o The stock market crash of 1929 ushered in the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Until World War II that the economy turned around and created new factory jobs
due to the need for weapons
 Challenges to American Values in 20th century
In the first decades, America experienced a large wave of
immigration to its shores in the years following the American Civil
War and Reconstruction

In the years between 1881 and 1920 more than 23 million new immigrants
arrived in the United States. This wave of immigrants came from all part of
the world, but more came from southern and eastern European countries
than any other regions
 A large wave of immigration
By ther late 19th century, transoceanic transportation had become significantly
cheaper and less difficult, making it easier for poor Europeans to immigrate to the
United States

➢ The first decade of this period saw most of the immigrants coming from northern
and western Europe
➢ After 1890, the majority came from southern and eastern Europe

❖ Major push factor for immigrants of this period were European population growth
and subsequent overcrowding, scarcity of land, unemployment and food shortages
❖ The immigrants thought the US’s industry was growing and the country has many
jobs and they had opportunity to live in a free and democratic society. But a third
of them not find the better life when they were seeking and even they left the
United States and went back home
 A large wave of immigration
o Immigrants moved into the poorer sections of the major cities – New York’s Lower
East Side, for example – and often into neighborhoods abandoned by upwardly mobile
immigrant groups
o These neighborhoods, which helped ease the transition from greenhorn (as newcomers
were often called) to citizen, were terribly overcrowded, with upward of 4,000 people
housed on a single block. Such overcrowding contributed to poverty, crime, and
disease
➢ Native – born Americans were troubled by the influx of foreigners, who seemed very
different from earlier immigrants
➢ New immigrants were often portrayed as dangerous radicals, ready to undermine the
American political system or as threats to the jobs of American workers because of
their willingness to settle for lower wages. Given these attitudes toward foreigners, it
is not surprising that calls for restrictions on immigration began to sound
 A large wave of immigration
On the 1950s, it was considered as an age of economic properity and
national stability

o Historians use the word “boom” to describe a lot of things about the
1950s: the booming economy, the booming suburbs and most of all the so
– called “baby boom”
o There was another side to the 50s, the Cold War with Soviet Union was in
full swing, leading to fears of a nuclear holocaust and the communist
takeover the world
o There were two problems in the 1950s that had to be dealt with in 1960s:
poverty and segregation
 Poverty

o The onslaught of America’s war is occurring at the height of a global

economic depression marked by the downfall of State institutions,
mounting unemployment
o Financial markets have plummeted national economies have collapsed
and had put millions of people into abysmal poverty
o In the 1960s, President Johnson pushed through a plan called “The Great
Society” to war on poverty and the next to decades the percentage of poor
people dip drop
o However, these programs began to create an expectation that the
government, not the individual, should solve social problems
 Segregation
The second problems was the continued legal segregation in the South
o Black Americans were regarded by many as second – class and the blacks were
separated from whites by law and by private action in transportation, public
accommodations, recreational facilities, prisons,…
o Although the Supreme Court ruled in 1954, the segregation in public schools
was unconstitutional
o It was not until the abolition of slavery in the United States, the nonviolent
amendments and civil rights acts of the 1960s that segregation ended. These
Civil Rights led to the eventual passage of laws to protect the rights and
equality of opportunity of black Americans
o In 1940, only 11% of blacks between 25 and 29 had completed high school,
compared to 39% of whites. Today the percentage is about the same for both
races.
The 1960s are most often remembers as a
decade of violence and unrest

Violence and Many leaders There were riots in

unrest were assassinated the number of
big cities
 The war in Vietnam and Watergate scandal

The war in Vietnam

o War in Vietnam (1959 – 1963) led to a major
US escalation of its involvement
o After Kennedy’s death, President Johnson
vastly increased the number of American
troops Vietnam
o By 1966, the struggle in Vietnam become a
major American war
o In November 1965, the US engaged in its first
major battle with the North Vietnamese Army
 The war in Vietnam and Watergate scandal
The war in Vietnam
o By 1967, these operations had generated
large – scale internal refugees
o Nearly 2,1 million in South Vietnam,
with 125,000 people evacuated and
rendered homeless during Operation
Masher alone
o By 1975, North VN conquered South
VN
o Most Americans had been brought up
believing that the United States had
never lost a war
 The war in Vietnam and Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal
o The Watergate scandal began in mid – 1972
following a break – in at the Watergate Hotel
Complex on June 17 of five burglars
o The risk of being deposed parliament, August 9,
1974, President Nixon announced his resignation
o South VN lost its guarantor of the Paris Peace
Accords. Nixon’s resignation was such a serious
blow for South VN government
o Apparently, the Watergate Scandal had indirectly
contributed heavily to the rapid collapse of South
VN in early 1975 and the eventual fall of the
country on April 30
AMERICA IN THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY
o It became clear in the 1970s that there was no longer an abundance of
cheap energy and that shortages of other essential resources such as
water were becoming more serious
o Conservation has never been a strong American value
o 66% of Americans agreed with the statement: “I’m not that unhappy
about the possibility of shortages because I know it will encourage me
to use everything efficiently and not wastefully”
o It can become stronger only as Americans see the need for it more and
more clearly
o Conservation may well be a new value which needs to be added to the
old basic values in order to help the US deal with its future problems
AMERICA IN THE EARLY 21ST CENTURY
o The American idea of the national good has never been based on
national cooperation but rather on the freedom of the individual.
Americans, therefore, tend to think of the national good in terms of
maintaining those conditions that provide the greatest freedom for the
individual
o The American value of competition also hinders the development of a
spirit of national cooperation
o Americans have always viewed cooperation as important in small
groups such as the family, the neighborhood, or the church
o Americans tend to associate the greatness of their nation far more with
such values as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, hard work,
and competition than with national cooperation
 Comparison
o Americans should learn use less and o Vietnamese should learn use less and
waste less waste less too
o The need to protect the environment o The need to protect the environment
o Americans may need to place a (especially air pollution: Hanoi is at
stronger value on a national scale to risk of entering the world’s most air
achieve important national objectives polluted cities, on par with Beijing)
o Need more proactive, confident o Need promote export to have a close
sharing one’s own idea and dare to relationship with others countries
act and sustainable economic
o Learning and applying knowledge o Need reduce achievement obsession
sustainable development and in education, be aware of one’s own
environmental protection abilities
 The United States: The 1st Universal Nation?
America is a nation of immigrants
o In the 21st century, the United States may have reached the saturation
point due to a large number of immigrants

New immigrants bring new life and energy into the United States
o The diversity of ideas and cultures in the nation may be one of its
greatest source of strength as it moves into the 21st century

“People all over the world, listen to our music, read our books, watch our tapes…
American culture – for all its ills and all its glory – has become the only broad –
based global culture”
Ben J. Watternberg