Cultural Pluralism in America

Sociology
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Introduction
America is one of the countries in the world that has a large number of immigrants. Part of the large number is attributed to the slavery period when people from Africa and Asian continents would be forcefully undergo migration to America. They were providing cheap or free labor as slaves. The large number of immigrants is also attributed to the dynamic economic growth in America thereby providing economic opportunities. People for other parts of the world as especially third world countries migrate to America in such of the opportunities. As result, there is a wide array of cultures and groupings in America. All of these groups seek to retain their identity even as they integrate and become part of the larger American community. Cultural pluralism therefore becomes an issue of importance in America owing to the high number of groupings in the country.
Cultural Pluralism in 2014 America
When discussing cultural pluralism, it is crucial to appreciate what the concept is about. Cultural pluralism refers the right of various groupings of ethnic nature to have an own identity in the midst of a large culture. This concept advocates for autonomy of these groups regardless of how minor they may be (Franklin, 2008). The groupings are allowed to retain their culture and heritage without the pressure to be assimilated by the large culture. Cultural pluralism in America has been an issue of debate and discussion for a number of years. In the spirit of having one large united country, there have been suggestions that all different cultures of the world should be assimilated and melted down to be part of the large American culture. The concept of ‘Melting pot' advances the argument that there ought to exist one large culture known as the American culture. By accepting assimilation, this ideally means that all other cultures should be given up in favour of the large culture. The American culture is believed to have a trait of all the other cultures and such assimilation is not seen as total abandonment of one's culture.
Part of the reason why discussions have been growing in recent years is due to the persistence of xenophobic behavior such as racism. Many years after, white Americans still view themselves as superior to all other races. (Sanes, 2009). As such racial stratification still remains very much alive in this country. The argument then becomes that the only way to dilute such traits is to ensure that all people are at the same level. Xenophobic attacks are very common in pluralistic cultures such as America and especially where there are races that have a higher population than others. Why is it that black Americans and Hispanics in America still face a certain level of stratification and stereotyping many years after emancipation? Looking at it from this angle, cultural pluralism becomes necessary.
There are those who have argued against the proposal noting that there is need to retain and maintain the various cultural aspects to avoid dilution of cultures. Scholars note that forcing one culture on others will result to even more division and not the unity hoped for. They note that cultural imperialism works best as each culture is ...