European/Russian New Cultural Mixing (NW) (Essay Sample)

Name:
Tutor:
Course:
Date:
European/Russian New Cultural Mixing (NW)
The high level of immigration into European countries has greatly influenced cultural mixing in most of the region’s major cities. The presence of individuals from different ethnic backgrounds such as Africans and Asians as well as multiple religions that include Islam and Christianity has affected most indigenous cultures in Europe and the ongoing trend threatens to steer a new way of life that would negatively shake the region’s social heritage (Rydgren, 737). While the high immigration into European largest cities has had some benefits that include the provision of low-wage labor and skills, it has also brought about numerous problems that need to be addressed if people are to live in harmony and uphold Europe’s major cultures that have made it unique.
One of the European cities that are increasingly becoming multicultural is Marseille. The city is found in Provence, South Eastern France and is the second largest after Paris. Its location along the Mediterranean Sea makes it strategic for visitors from all regions of the world and this is among the reasons for its vast cultural mixing which has made it different compared to the country’s other cities. According to Dickey (Para, 1), Marseille’s immigrants are often forced to seek refuge in the city by issues such as national instability, poverty, diseases and the fear of persecution especially for some of the individuals who appear to oppose the manner in which their countries are governed. The country’s far-right politicians who are mainly concerned with the welfare of its mainstream citizens have raised concerns over the high influx of Muslim immigrants and believe that the failure to control the extent of influence posed by new cultures may eventually have all women in Marseille forced to wear Burkas. However, this is not likely to happen. The reason is that Muslims still constitute the fewest people in Marseille compared to the regions native people plus immigrants from other regions of the world.
Marseille has immigrants who come from various regions across the globe with the majority being those from African and Arabic descent. It means that those individuals from African countries mostly adopt the mainstream cultures given that it is people from France’s former colonies who move to the country. It is apparent that nations that were colonized by France such as DRC Congo, Senegal and Cameroon are normally attached to the country in a number of ways and aspects such as language, religion and cultural practices are often similar. As a result, it is only Muslim women especially those from the Arab world who continue to uphold the Islamic principles that include wearing Burkas and obliged with domestic duties. Dickey (Para, 2) makes it clear that despite the fact that most of the men and women an individual is likely to encounter in Marseille are either African or Arabic, young women appear to be wearing bikinis other than burkas which is a clear indication that Islam is unlikely to dominate. The fact that the number of contraband individuals in the region seems to be on the increase means that the Islamic culture will continue to be inferior since Islam as a region can never be associated with acts such drinking and other illegal activities that have become the norm in Marseille.
The issue of racism is also evident in Marseille and is influenced by the prospect of people from different ethnic groups tending to bias against one another or be suspicious towards each other. A good example is the situation whereby people who are not Muslims are normally insulted or prejudiced by being looked at in a suspicious manner whenever they go around neighborhoods that are dominated by Arabs (Dickey, Para. 6). However, people tend to be mutually respectful while in public places such as beaches where individuals hardly identify themselves with their ethnic backgrounds, but as Marseille residents. It is evident that racism is present in the rest of Europe. To begin with, Europe has been greatly associated with colonialism than any other continent in the globe (Zick et al, 234). Germany is one of the European countries whereby inter-group relations have never been smooth. It is quite appalling how immigrants hardly receive citizenship simply due to their different racial or ethnic background and never mind whether a progeny is born and brought up within the country.
According to Zick et al, European media and scientific researches continue to report about extreme cases of prejudice and racial discrimination with immigrants being the highly targeted. Foreign workers in Europe have for long been blamed for the region’s escalating social and economic problems, something that shows the lack of appreciation from Europeans towards immigrants notwithstanding some of the benefits they offer. It is true that the mayor of Marseille, Jean-Claude Gaudin does not know how many of his people are of Arab or African descent. This is because the city is mainly comprised of people who come into the country through immigration and the fact that those who come from African countries such as Algeria or the Arab world may resemble one another makes it difficult to know their respective backgrounds.
Gaudin is also not aware of the religion, race or ethnicity of the city’s region because it is usually illegal for any official or census taker to record such details during tallying processes (Dickey, Para.13). However, this is not common throughout Europe since as Rydgren (740) puts it, most countries use the exact i...