America’s largest ethnic group has assimilated so well that people barely notice it
German-Americans are America’s largest single ethnic group (if you divide Hispanics into Mexican-Americans, Cuban-Americans, etc). Yet despite their numbers, they are barely visible. During the first world war, parts of America grew hysterically anti-German. Many stopped speaking German and anglicized their names. The second world war saw less anti-German hysteria, but Hitler and the Holocaust gave German-Americans more reasons to hide their origins.
Tags: culture, migration, historical, ethnicity, USA.
In April 1994, South Africa held its first democratic elections and all races went to the polls to bury apartheid for good. But hopes of a new dawn have been tarnished by fraud and corruption at the highest levels.
South Africa went through years of apartheid many fought to end it. Nelson Mandela’s struggle to bring equality to South Africa almost looks nonexistent with the turn of the ANC. They once fought for equality and now they are as courrpt as the people they were fighting, All them years. It’s evident seeing the presidents property and how he lives and seeing how the poor people of South Africa lives.
"Of the national identity attributes included in the Pew Research Center survey, language far and away is seen as the most critical to national identity. Majorities in each of the 14 countries polled say it is very important to speak the native language to be considered a true member of the nation."
The link between language and national identity is important as shown in this article as Europeans believe it is the the number one link and most important. From an American standpoint this was interesting to read as the trend nowadays, especially in America is to be more open to multiple languages and always viewing Europe as a place where many of the people that would live their would speak multiple languages as well. How we communicate with people is very important obviously and now it has even become a political issue. If you tend to lend more left you link national identity and language less and if you lean more right you tend to link national identity and language more. This is something that will continue to play out in the United States over the next decade as the Hispanic community continues to grow in the country and language will come to the forefront. While America has always been a melting pot of people, English has always survived as its dominate language and a way to identify Americans. Twenty or Thirty years from now will that continue? Will Americans lose that as and Identity, how will that effect them? Will this become a major political battle as well, how will this play out in elections in 2020, 2024, 2028, and beyond. Some very interesting trends to look at.
For most of Europe, but especially older and more conservative Europeans, being able to speak the language of the country you live in is incredibly closely tied to national identity. Therefore, immigrants who arrive and do not speak the language are viewed as "others" and not belonging. This close tie between language and national identity serves as one of the fuels for anti-immigrant sentiments in many European nations. Although this sentiment is not confined to just Europe.
(Europe) Throughout Europe and North America, the majority of citizens believe the national language is essential to the country's identity. For immigrants to be considered a part of these countries, the majority believe proficiency is required. In the United States, age, education, and religion are all factors contributing to this view, however race has little effect on people's view of language. Like America, older and more conservative Europeans place a higher emphasis on language. National identity can be a geopolitical problem for the European Union because some countries believe the 24 official languages subvert autonomy and internal unity. Interestingly Canada, a country with two official languages, places a lessor importance on language, with only a 59% majority believing it is fundamental to identity.
"In February 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, sending 120,000 people from the US west coast into internment camps because of their ethnic background. Two-thirds of them were born in America. The treatment of Japanese-Americans during the World War Two was denounced by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 as 'a policy motivated by racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.' He signed the Civil Liberties Act to compensate more than 100,000 people of Japanese descent who were incarcerated in internment camps."
Here are just a handful of the 12 million men, women, and children who arrived at Ellis Island, New York, between 1892 and 1954 to start a new life in the USA, often dressed in their finest clothes. The portraits show immigrants wearing the national dress of their country of origin, including military uniforms from Albania, bonnets from the Netherlands, and clothing of Sámi people from the Arctic regions.
The photographs were taken between 1906 and 1914 by amateur photographer Augustus Francis Sherman, the chief registry clerk at Ellis Island, then the country’s busiest immigration station. In 1907 some of the photos were published by National Geographic.
"I agree with you, I think that the images are chilling. And they communicate so well what is otherwise a very complicated and nuanced issue to discuss—separation, segregation, history, disenfranchisement. But the images cut right to the heart of the matter, which is that these separations are not right" This is a quote in the article from the man that took the pictures (Johnny Miller). These photos show us the lines of segregation that continues even in a post Apartheid South Africa. These are amazing images and really quite unbelievable. We think of different segregation here in America, but what these photos show are unlike anything that I have personally seen. As stated in the article the author hopes to create conversations about these separations. We see planned spatial separations that we created by city planners and we must used these as lessons going forward and as jumping off points to discuss. These shocking images can help inform us as a society that we must improve our social issues and if we don't we will continue to see issues like this grow both here in South Africa and around the world. One can see while tensions would be so high as a clear divide in living standards can rightfully cause anger. Eventually this anger leads to hate and this hate leads to an up rise in the people.
South Africa is one of the few countries that has a similar history in regards to racial segregation as America. What makes their case unique is that the African population was there first and the English came in and created a system in which they were superior. Although they have been officially desegregated for almost 20 years, these photos show that there are still underlying issues that exist. These photos reveal that on one side of a particular area, the homes look like a typical suburban area where right across from that there are areas that resemble slums. The areas that are more developed and wealthy have a majority white population and the poorer, less developed areas have large black populations. The affects of segregation are long lasting and not solved overnight. Just because government policies say that discrimination on a racial basis is illegal, doesn’t mean that society will neatly reorganize itself. I think that the craziest part of this for me was that even the landscaping is vastly different despite the closeness of the two areas. The wealthier part has lush green and the poorer parts have dirt and sand. This an example of physical geography providing evidence for a societal separation.
Just because a formal social construct - an idea in the human mind - changes, does not mean that change, or desire to alter course, is reflected in the real world. While the idea of apartheid in South Africa came to an end, the real world in the form of urban geography has yet to catch up. The urban planning under apartheid still carries the legacy of color codes and demarcated boundaries between "races" in order to cement socioeconomic inequity. This situation in South Africa is similar to the United States after the Civil Rights movement ended the era of Jim Crow. Even though laws were passed, the geography remained largely untouched. Black neighborhoods remained socially and economically segregated - the only difference being that the law did not mandate this. The law never stipulated geographic changes or economic prescriptions like wealth redistribution. It turns out that human geography and philosophical principles can be at odds with each other, as demonstrated by the aerial photographs of South African cities.
The number of people displaced from their homes due to conflict and persecution last year exceeded 60 million for the first time in United Nations history, a tally greater than the population of the United Kingdom, or of Canada, Australia and New Zealand combined, says a new report released on World Refugee Day today.
We have more displaced people today than we did after World War II (well, we do have about twice as many people on earth). This is huge news, and there seems to be no real end to the problem, only the looming uncertainty as to how the world will handle and respond to the growing numbers of those without homes. Out of every 113 people on earth, one of them is a refugee. The issue of how to handle migration issues today is the very heart of the difference between how liberals and conservatives feel is the best way to make the world a better place.
"African countries are also quite diverse from an ethnic standpoint. As the Washington Post's Max Fisher noted back in 2013, the world's 20 most ethnically diverse countries are all African, partially because European colonial powers divvied up sections of the continent with little regard for how the residents would have organized the land themselves. This map above shows Africa's ethnographic regions as identified by George Murdock in his 1959 ethnography of the continent."
Africa is a very diverse and complicated continent due o mistakes made in the Berlin Conference. The strange boundaries drawn restrict these African nations to be one with their own people not with their enemies.
We have seen the repercussions of ethnic tensions play out in the Balkans, the Middle East, and even in the United States, and Africa is no exception. Arbitrarily drawn national borders- the remnants of European colonialism- means that there is often significant ethnic diversity within many African nations. Although this creates interesting blends of language and culture, it has often bred violence in many countries, perhaps most notably in South Africa and Rwanda. Although many members of the West like to lump the entire continent into a single category, this could not be further from the truth. The second largest continent with extreme biodiversity, it has bred thousands of languages and hundreds of different cultural backgrounds, sometimes within a single country. It is important for the West to understand the complex make-up of the African continent in order to avoid the Eurocentric assumptions many Westerners make when discussing the continent. There isn't a single "Africa"- there isn't even a single "Nigeria," but rather a multitude of different peoples and cultures, equally as complex as those found in other regions of the world. This map does a very good job at illustrating the complexity and richness of the continent.
People often underestimate how diverse Africa really is. We often have the tendency to lump all Africans together in one large ethnic group. The actual number of different ethnic groups in Africa is rather staggering. This map can also be used as a partial explanation for the amount of ethnic conflict in Africa. Often times, these ethnic groups are squashed together in states with poorly drawn borders. Under that situation, ethnic conflict becomes inevitable.
Czar Alexander II may have freed the serfs, but his war against the stateless people of the Caucasus cannot be ignored
The czar’s approval of this rapid expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Circassians to the Ottoman Empire resulted in an ethnic cleansing through disease and drowning as overcrowded ferries crossed the Black Sea. The Ottomans were unprepared for the influx of refugees, and the absence of adequate shelter caused even more deaths from exposure. Those Circassians who attempted to remain in the Russian Empire and fight for their land were massacred. Sochi’s “Red Hill,” where the skiing and snowboarding events will take place during these Olympic Games, was the site of the Circassian last stand, where the Imperial Russian armies celebrated their “victory” over the local defenders.
This is basically like a mini Holocaust. When do people think its okay to do something like this? It boggles my mind how things like this can actually go on in the world still with todays technologies and armed forces.
This article shows the great deal of overlap between Geography and History. Today, when people think of Sochi, they will remember the Olympic games, and the epic hockey battle between the USA and the Russian Federation. Yet, as this article discusses, Sochi was once the sight of a military battle, and a massacre. The Russian Empire under Alexander II wanted to expand its borders to be well defined and would wage war against the Circassians who lived in the region. When they would not go to the Ottoman Empire, and fought the Russians, the army and the Czar were prepared to fight them. As a result, on Red Hill, the native people had a last stand against the Russian Army and were massacred. Yet, the southern region of Russia near the middleast, to this day, is not secure. The history of this region has guaranteed that the people living in these regions of the country would come to loathe Russia. In fact, this area in the form of Chechnya, has exported the hatred and Islamic fervor of the region, to the United States in the Boston Marathon Bombings of 2013. History and Geography are not neat boxes that are separate from each other, they are always influencing one another in all actuality.
This is the story of how Sudan became two nations, and of an ongoing conflict in the Nuba Mountains that has changed the lives of millions of people. In parts 2–5 of our VR series, We Who Remain, follow the lives of four people living through the war: http://ajplus.co/nuba360. Produced in partnership with Nuba Reports and Emblematic Group.
The first video in this 5-part video is a bit slow, but provides the historical and geographic context needed to understand the developmental, ethnic, and political issues that remain so difficult to resolve. The Subsequent four videos provide a more human, personal glimpse into facets of the conflict.
From this video one can see how crucial borders can be to neighboring ethnic groups, especially in Sudan. North Sudan is made up of mostly Arabs and Muslims, while mainly Christians live in South Sudan. Also, the majority of North Sudan is black while the majority of South Sudan is white. Due to these two ethnic groups being so different and previously being grouped into one country, much fighting and a devastating civil war has broken out over the past few decades. Recently within the last decade Sudan was officially divided up into two nations because of the ongoing fighting and cultural differences which seems to be a step in the right direction to reduce the amount of fighting between the two countries.
As the U.S. entered World War I, German culture was erased as the government promoted the unpopular war through anti-German propaganda. This backlash culminated in the lynching of a German immigrant.
"Of the national identity attributes included in the Pew Research Center survey, language far and away is seen as the most critical to national identity. Majorities in each of the 14 countries polled say it is very important to speak the native language to be considered a true member of the nation."
The link between language and national identity is important as shown in this article as Europeans believe it is the the number one link and most important. From an American standpoint this was interesting to read as the trend nowadays, especially in America is to be more open to multiple languages and always viewing Europe as a place where many of the people that would live their would speak multiple languages as well. How we communicate with people is very important obviously and now it has even become a political issue. If you tend to lend more left you link national identity and language less and if you lean more right you tend to link national identity and language more. This is something that will continue to play out in the United States over the next decade as the Hispanic community continues to grow in the country and language will come to the forefront. While America has always been a melting pot of people, English has always survived as its dominate language and a way to identify Americans. Twenty or Thirty years from now will that continue? Will Americans lose that as and Identity, how will that effect them? Will this become a major political battle as well, how will this play out in elections in 2020, 2024, 2028, and beyond. Some very interesting trends to look at.
For most of Europe, but especially older and more conservative Europeans, being able to speak the language of the country you live in is incredibly closely tied to national identity. Therefore, immigrants who arrive and do not speak the language are viewed as "others" and not belonging. This close tie between language and national identity serves as one of the fuels for anti-immigrant sentiments in many European nations. Although this sentiment is not confined to just Europe.
(Europe) Throughout Europe and North America, the majority of citizens believe the national language is essential to the country's identity. For immigrants to be considered a part of these countries, the majority believe proficiency is required. In the United States, age, education, and religion are all factors contributing to this view, however race has little effect on people's view of language. Like America, older and more conservative Europeans place a higher emphasis on language. National identity can be a geopolitical problem for the European Union because some countries believe the 24 official languages subvert autonomy and internal unity. Interestingly Canada, a country with two official languages, places a lessor importance on language, with only a 59% majority believing it is fundamental to identity.
The plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya people could be set to worsen after President Thein Sein signed into law a new family planning measure which activists fear could target vulnerable minorities.
"In a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council, commission chief Yasmin Sooka reported murder and rape on an 'epic' scale. 'We are running out of adjectives to describe the horror,' she said."
Atrocities have been happening in this region since the 60s when the Western powers left the continent. Following the "ethic" cleansing of Rwanda, many other countries have started to face the same thing. One of those countries is South Sudan, over political issues. Much like Rwanda the country is split between two tribes that hold a good amount of power over the country. To make matters worst some countries like Australia have excluded people fleeing the country from their programs. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/anger-as-south-sudan-iran-somalia-excluded-from-an-australian-refugee-program The west has historically helped those in need when the people face danger, the West needs to find a way either economically or diplomatically to intervene.
"A generation ago, this Atlanta suburb was 95 percent white and rural with one little African-American neighborhood that was known as 'colored town.’ But after a wave of Hispanic and Asian immigrants who were attracted to Norcross by cheap housing and proximity to a booming job market, white people now make up less than 20 percent of the population in Norcross and surrounding neighborhoods. It’s a shift so rapid that many of the longtime residents feel utterly disconnected from the place where they raised their children."
In light of the IS effort to wipe out Yazidis, this video does a good job at defining genocide, and points to several examples. Also, includes a link to another short video about the Armenian Genocide.
Islamic State is committing genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy the religious community of 400,000 people through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes, United Nations investigators said on Thursday.
Geography is everywhere, and for better or worse, it is a forum for understanding human relations across space. So many question here- why is the global community letting this happen? How could something like this happen in 2016? Why are Yazidis being targeted? How might this change the current stance on the situation in Syria?
"From 1936 to 1966, the 'Green Book' was a travel guide that provided black motorists with peace of mind while they drove through a country where racial segregation was the norm and sundown towns — where African-Americans had to leave after dark — were not uncommon."
"China is in the midst of a crackdown on what it describes as 'terrorism driven by religious extremism'. The campaign is focused on the western province of Xinjiang, home to China's Uighur ethnic minority who are predominantly Muslim."
This art seems like a logical extension of the government’s use of power although I personally don’t agree with their abuse of power. In China the government will uses its authority to monitor the personal activities of its citizens as demonstrated by the pictures dictating what people should and shouldn’t wear. When the citizens don’t follow through with China’s rule, violence typically happens. In fact, a fair deal of the paintings showed violence (i.e. the tank running people over). I actually find those depictions more offensive and disturbing than any of the other pictures because the end result is clearly that of dath rather than disapproval. Now, I understand that some places need to be ruled with an iron fist (i.e. Iraq), however I don’t really see how threatening people with more violence solves the issue of extremism. If anything, doesn’t this just give the extremist more of a reason to dislike the government? As such, is the government just creating more resentment that will lead to demonstrations in the future? I say this because eventually when a local population is subject to such horrible treatment, there isn't much else to lose and very little reason no to fight back.
This article has great insight on the way government influences popular belief. We have seen these many times in American society also when government was afraid of communism during the cold war for instance. Often we have prejudgements or beliefs and we are not sure where they even stem from. Pushed Propaganda can be very influential over the mass population, in instilling certain beliefs.
The point the Chinese are trying to make is that the Muslim people are bad, they do unacceptable things and it needs to be taken care of. They are making it hard for a couple to get married and if they do it is with special permission. They even banned anyone under the age of 18 to enter a mosque. Praying in Xinjiang is highly regulated and comes with strict rules and consequences. In all their propaganda you can see how they represent getting rid of the muslims because they are wearing black. If you ask me, it seems like the government is doing this because they are afraid of being taken over and losing the area, just like we used to use propaganda in the wars.
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