American Is a Salad Bowl

America is a Salad bowl
The identity of America has changed from when the Indians came from Europe to America in 18th century. Where you live has a major affect on your identity from the north to the south. America has defined themselves not by race, religious, and ethnic identity but by common values and individual freedom. America is a salad bowl because there are all different kinds of races, religions, and people from different countries. An individual’s identity is created by where they came from. Everyone comes from different backgrounds. From state to state, everything is different. America is mixed with all different cultures and races. Your identity is created by where you grew up, gender, and your education. Countries try to manage their multilanguage like the Indian constitution recognizes nineteen languages and English being one of them. In “Should English be the Law?” By Robert King stated, “We like to believe that to pass a law is to change behavior, but passing laws about language, in a free society, almost never changer attitude or behavior”(King 442). People come to America to have freedom, not to be told what to speak. If people have to be told what to speak or do, our country wouldn’t be free. We live in a free society and laws will not change what we speak. In the “Good Immigrant Student’, Bich Nugygen’s spoke two languages English and Vietnamese. Her step-mother, Rosa puts her and her sister Anh in a bilingual school. They knew more English then Vietnamese. Her race had contributed to her identity. The teacher’s treated her badly because of her race. The Teacher stated “a foreigner winning our spelling bee!”(Nguyen 461). Her teachers were very rude to her and she doesn’t want to speak Vietnamese at all. People are treated badly because they don’t speak English or Spanish. The teachers should teach the kids how to speak Spanish when they are little. They learn langue better when they are little. Race has been a major issue since the beginning of formation. In the past, race has been segregated and isolated from one another. Americans have interracial relationships and some fear that America will be one single ethnic group. In the 1960’s the school system made blacks feel not welcome and made them go to a different school. In “Should English be the law? By Robert King, King stated “And: we must have but one flag. We must also have but one language”(king 435). If we all spoke one language, our identity and culture would be crushed. A person’s identity makes up who they are. We have one flag, and that flag represents freedom. To some, America represents home and to others it stands for freedom, refuge or the land of opportunities. America is a salad bowl full of races and cultures from around the world. One of the main reasons for migrations is because we all want freedom, but America does not have a single identity to call its own. We speak just about every language there is in America. In schools, we speak English but in our homes and just about everywhere else we speak our native language. In middle and high school, they are teaching kids how to speak Spanish, French, and Italian. King stated, “Doctors in state hospital must speak to patients in Solvak, even if another language would aid diagnosis and treatment”(king 440). In America, in the hospitals doctors speak English and they have a interpreter there to translate. You shouldn’t have to give up your identity because you don’t know English. Your identity is who you are. You get your identity by where you grow up and you peer groups. America consists of many different cultures, but none are agreed upon. One of the main reasons America has no cultural identity is because it has no ethnic origin. King stated “The official language of Yugoslavia was Serbo-Croatian, which was never so much a language as a political accommodation”(king 440). In America, English is not the official language, but politics want it to be. It’s not hurting us, so why make it such a big deal of what people speak. Bich stated that “Today, bilingual education is supposed to have become both a method of assimilation and a method of preservation, an effort to prove that kids can have it both ways”(nguyen 440). Kids should know two languages. They will have better opportunities in life if they know two. They can get better jobs and can pass it on to their children. The children who are bilingual have a better culture outlook. America is a salad bowl. We are all mixed into one country with all different types of race and religion. Even in America, the north and the south are total different. The atmosphere and the way people are. You just don’t make up their identity; it’s from where you live. The people you surround yourself with contribute a factor to your identity. America is still evolving into a nation that welcomes all races.

Works Cited
King, Robert “Should English Be The Law?” The Presence of Others Voices and Images That Call for Response 5th edition, Andrea A. Lunsford John J. Ruszkiewicz, Boston: Bedford, St.Martin, 2008 434-444 Nguyen,Bich “The Good Immigrant Student” The Presence of Others Voices and Images That Call for Response 5th edition, Andrea A. Lunsford John J. Ruszkiewicz, Boston: Bedford, St.Martin, 2008 458-465