The United States has always been the “melting pot” of various racial and ethnic groups. In spite of the sides of our history where each group experienced prejudice and discrimination on different levels past and present, our nation is still rich with cultural diversity. From this I have learned a lot over the last nine weeks about my culture, other cultures, and the possible future if all of us come together to become a more pluralistic society. I began to understand the classification of subordinate groups (or minority groups) and how it ties into labeling. In spite of the generalization of minority groups there are other sub-groups within a minority group. For example, although there are Columbians, Puerto Ricans, Argentinians, Mexicans, and more, the designated majority group classifies these different groups as Hispanic or Latinos. In a way this type of classification denies their different cultures. Granted, there a lot of Hispanics that speak Spanish, but there are several different dialects within, just like with American English. Having a few friends who has Spanish as their primary language, I found that there are more than one way to ask one's name. There is the traditional way that is taught in classrooms across the country – Como se llama – and there are informal ways of asking one's name based on one's cultural background – an associate of mine asks "Cual es tu nombre" whereas asks "Tu Nombre?". In addition to learning this, I also learned about identifying the reason(s) for labeling people. Subconsciously we have a tendency to classify and label people based on their appearance as well as from stereotypes. Whether it is based on one's environment or due to influence from the media, it's almost like a reflex to do so. Once I realized that I was doing that, I began to reflect on the things that led me to having that mindset and slowly began the process of de-programming myself from labeling. Even now I am continuing this process and, at the same time, teaching my children to avoid making the same mistake, for everyone should identify every aspect of each person. If an individual is Egyptian, we ought to acknowledge that instead of classifying them as African or Middle Eastern; acknowledge that they are Egyptian. Another aspect of understanding cultural diversity is to learn about your own cultural history. From this course I began to learn more about my African American history beyond what was taught to me all of my young life in school – the general contributions that African Americans made throughout history. Presently I have started to take steps in finding out more about my personal family history to further understand a part of my heritage. Without knowing who we are, we can not further understand others and will continue to repeat the bad habits within our cultural group. Unless we are Native Americans, many of our ancestors immigrated to the United States. Immigration shaped what the United States began and continue to be – a diverse environment. Just imagine what the population in the United States will be like in the year 2050. With health issues, the aging groups, the economy and immigration, I think that the United States will continue to increase in population at a slightly slower rate. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, our population will begin to grow slowly and our aged population will grow larger:
"The Census Bureau's latest population projections illustrate the future size and composition of the United States, by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin, under three assumptions about fertility, life expectancy, and net immigration:
Fertility in the middle series was assumed to remain almost constant, near the current fertility level of about 2.1 births per woman. For the low and high assumptions, levels of 1.9 and 2.6 births per woman were used, respectively.

Life expectancy is projected in the middle series to increase from 76.0 years in 1993 to 82.6 years in 2050. In 2050, life expectancy in the low assumption would be 75.3 years and in the high assumption would be 87.5 years.

Net immigration for the middle series remains constant at 880,000 per year. A wide range between the high (1,370,000) and low (350,000) net immigration figures reflects uncertainty concerning the future flow of immigrants” (see http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/natproj.html).

What are the benefits from being in a diverse society? I thought about this a lot and came to the conclusion that from the foods we cook at home to the clothing that we wear to the way we conduct ourselves are influenced by other cultures. For example, my daughters love to wear these blouses that look as if they came from Mexico due to the patterns and bright, happy colors. It also helped that a friend of mine from Mexico told me that their blouses have the previous description. Whatever we do, wear, eat, etc., is influenced by different cultures in our country. It goes back to how we in the United States are looked at as the “melting pot” of the world.

Although there are advantages of having diversity in the United States, there are some drawbacks. One of the biggest drawbacks has been one that has existed in our country for generations; a lack of understanding of one another leading to prejudice and discrimination. From slavery to the stereotyping on religious groups, ethnocentrism developed and enforced the creation of the classification of minority groups. What are the reasons for this? From a previous survey I took two weeks ago (consisting of ten people of various backgrounds), the majority – six people – believe it is fear of a minority group being better and the need to “bully” those who are different. Two participants believe that it is because of arrogance of the majority. The remaining two participants were unsure. I believe that it is the unknown factor and the fear of being dominated (in addition to the previously mentioned reasons from the survey participants) that fuels the need to dominate over other minority groups.

The influence of the media also perpetuates a lot of how we interpret. Some who do not know about, let's say, Arab Americans would probably get their idea of what that group of people are like on television or in movies. In a post-9/11 society, their interpretation would be discriminatory. It is the responsibility of the media to make sure that what is presented is not biased and neutral. Unfortunately, we will never know if that will always happen. If we as Americans can educate ourselves about one another and really get to know one another, we might not have so many issues with prejudice and discrimination. We should also educate the younger generations so that they will be more tolerant and less prejudiced (if not prejudiced at all). It goes back to looking at yourself if the mirror and making changes that is needed. I know that I'm in the process of doing that. Why don't we all make that adjustment and become tolerant and willing to get along?
References
Schafer, Richard T. Racial and Ethnic Groups Thirteenth Edition. Merrill Prentice Hall; 2012, pp. 8-9.
Cheeseman Day, Jennifer. Population Profile of the United States: National Population Projections. From the United States Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/population/www/pop-profile/natproj.html.