Subculture of American Born Chinese within American Culture (Essay Sample)

Subculture of American Born Chinese within American culture
Name
Institution
Subculture of American Born Chinese within American culture
Introduction
Culture can be seen as a sophisticated group of accumulated knowledge that shape our beliefs, arts, morals, laws, and customs, culture and all that it entails are acquired by being part of the community,( James, Paul 2015). Culture can also be described as an aspect of society that where the emphasis is laid on practices discussions and material expression over a period. It is mostly considered as the way of life of a group of people; this is how they express their general custom and their beliefs, over a given period.
It was also important to describe culture as a series of activities and a couple of world views which is known to provide the humans with the basis of the perception of themselves as individual living within the world. This notion of world perception enables humans to raise themselves above and beyond mere physical presences in the world. It provides a notion of control over a set of societal related activities, (Greenberg at el 2013). Having given meaning to culture is also important to stress an idea about subculture providing a clear view of it and its relation to our proposed study.
A subculture as can be seen as a group of people with a culture that is entirely different from the parent culture. A subculture can be termed as a group of culture inside the central or larger culture; the subculture often have believes and interests that is at variance with the main culture, (Cante, Richard 2009). The subculture has been term negative by some group of researchers; they argued that subculture always criticized the primary culture and society standard. They pointed out that subculture brings together a group of like-minded people, who are always feel neglected by societal standards. Hence the feeling of having a suppressed identity. The purpose of the essay will be to examine the subculture of Chinese born in America haven become a part of the American culture. That the end this essay we shall be able to understand this concept and also consider the effects. Which will guide us to a sweeping conclusion to the subject of discussion.
Chinese Americans
The history of Chinese Americans dates back to the 19th century, beginning with the immigration of Chinese workers into to the United States to pick up jobs and for employment purposes. They were predominantly involved with working in the mining sector of the American economy. Chinese have faced some challenges in their quest for employment in the United state. This is despite the enactment of a law that provides for equal treatments of all Chinese immigrants. There were reports of political and labor organization holding rallies against Chinese immigrants in 1868. Chinese immigrants were regard as retarded and were also termed cheap labor.
It is important to note that over the years this status has changed, as China has become a force to be reckoned with it the international environment, Chinese immigrants have lived in the united stated for some generations, naturalized and raising their children born in the country. We shall look at the effect of these changes on the culture of American-born Chinese.
Subculture of American Born Chinese within American culture
It is important at this juncture to discuss the Chinese subculture in America. Chinese immigration to America dates back to the 18th century. Researchers have divided the scope of their immigration into five waves, first being the pioneer family from 1850 to 1919. The second being the small business family from 1920 to 1942. The third being the reunited family from1943 to 1964. The fourth being the Chinatown and dual-worker family from 1965to 1977 and lastly the fifth being the new immigrant, refugee, and astronaut family from 1978 till date (Chinn at el 1969). Irrespective of the reason behind Chinese immigration the US, the Chinese have been in the United States for a number century; we shall adequately examine the effects of the America culture on the Chinese-born on American soil. This concept will be discussed in subtopic shown below.
Demographics
Reports by the American Bureau of the Census, claims that Chinese Americans are about 1.6 million. This figure makes them the largest Asian Pacific group in America. The Chinese population is expected to increase in America due to expected influx of immigrants. The current study shows that 63% of Chinese Americans were foreign born, 23% do not speak English well. And about 53% of Chinese live in the western part of America.
Predominant location of American Chinese includes California, New York, and Hawaii. The statistic shows that an estimated 13% of Chinese Americans currently live below the poverty level. 64% of the Chinese American population are high school graduates, and 75% of the Chinese America are said to speak languages other than English at home to their family member. (Asian American Health Forum 1990). It is important they point out that a good number of Chinese Americans still maintain their Chinese identity in America.
Language
There is on one single Chinese language; there are different languages spoken by a different Chinese group. The national language in China is Mandarin. However, it is important to point out that Chinese immigrants who came to America from villages in China still maintains and speak their native village dialects in America. Chinese Americans who grew up with their single language speaking parent and grandparents can speak their languages to their parents, but they are said to speak English as their primary language. The Chinese immigrant's form of acculturation is the ability to remain bilingual, i.e. capacity to communicate in two different languages as occasion demands.
Communication Styles
The eastern communication style is a lot different from that of the west. Most times in counseling session clients from Asian descents, are said to a mostly passive, polite and quiet, avoid confrontation. They mostly have a notion of not offending others. It is believed that silence and avoiding eye contact of a form of indirect communication among the Chinese. In communication among Asians, silence and avoidance of eye contact are a signs of respect when communicating with elders. It is important to point out that this remains a dominant part of the Chinese American culture. Chinese Americans are quiet, polite and avoid eye contacts in communication.
Contemporary Chinese American Families
We shall conclude this session by looking at the contemporary Chinese American families. These family patterns tend to be modeled based on factors such as political economic and socio-cultural rather than being determined by emotional and psychological factors within the families, (Tseng & Hsu, 1991). The previous generation, the traditional Chinese family, had been through significant change due to the result and realities of economic and political forces in the United States. The family structure of Chinese American families has undergone heavy influences by the united state immigration policies, (Tseng & Hsu, 1991).
It is important to point out these changes categorically. The traditional Chinese system of the extended family is now gradually being changed into the nuclear family system. Here functional relation is predominantly upheld as opposed to the previous notion of actual household structure. The families had transformed from patriarchal into biracial, where decision making is shared between father and mother. The new Chinese American families now stress the need for more interaction between parent and children rather than just between parents alone, (Tseng & Hsu, 1991).
The new Chinese American has begun to show a slow sign of decline in the favoritism of sons, as daughters are now attaining education and involve in careers. The families have since then changed from arranged marriages to marriages based on love and child marriages have also been eradicated. The new Chinese American families now view successful child upbringing in light of a child's academic achievements and career achievements. Finally the Chinese American families earning power do not rest solely on the father, but it is now shared among adult members of the family, (Tseng & Hsu, 1991).
Diversity
The concept of diversity can be seen as the process of accepting and respecting. It is a process of understanding that individuals are unique, and also recognizing our individual difference. Diversity is exploring, these differences from a safe, and positive environment. So as to make the best of it, it looks at ways of understanding each other, looking beyond applying tolerance to embr...