Accommodation of Muslim women's modesty spurs debate in US

One Nation under God

Religion has had a big role in American society ever since discovery of the continent by Columbus in 1492. Although early immigrants and settlers (Columbus included) mostly used (or abused) spreading Christianity as a pretext to loot gold and other riches out of this New World, religion has been actually influential in shaping American civilization and culture. Indeed, it was the surge of immigrants fleeing 17th century Europe's religious and political persecution that laid the foundations of what we know today as the United States of America.

The irony is the very people who had sought refuge in the New World to build a city on the hill, soon found themselves committed to enforce their own (sometimes narrow-minded) interpretation of pure Christianity and repressing others who would choose to think differently. Such incidents in America and precedents in old Europe led the Founding Fathers to consider freedom of religion in the Ammendments of Constitution. Still, religious values are intertwined in American life and culture (and even legislations) and despite waxing and waning over the history of the US, religion will continue to be a cornerstone of American society.

In a poll conducted by The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in 2002, nearly six-in-ten Americans (58%) think the strength of American society is based on the religious faith of its people. Just over a third (36%) take the opposing view. Americans are relatively positive about people of other faiths, but they tend to look more negatively at those without faith. Atheists, in particular, are viewed unfavorably by a 54% majority.

In a recent survey in 2006, the forum shows that many Americans are uneasy with mix of religion and politics. Still, the same survey denotes that Americans overwhelmingly consider the U.S. a Christian nation: Two-in-three (67%) characterize the country this way. A decade ago, Americans were somewhat less likely to tie the nation's identity to Christianity. In 1996, 60% considered the U.S. a Christian nation. Despite all concerns about separation of Church and State, many Americans prefer to descibe themselves the way mentioned in American Pledge of Allegiance: One Nation under God.

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The complete report on Public Opinion on Religion and Public Life (PDF file), could be downloaded here.

The report on Americans views on Religion and Politics could be viewed here. The complete report (PDF file) could be downloaded here.

The Changing Face of America

Once, diversity in American society used to be expressed in terms of black and white. That was the case even until 1970s. However, after national quotas on immigration were repealed by Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, this trend began to change. This caused immigrants from other parts of the world like Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean to move more freely to America. As a result, multiracial immigrants began to play a bigger role in American society.

By studying statistics acquired from the U.S. Bureau of Census, we could observe drastic increase in population and percentage of ethnic and racial groups other than black and white as represented in American society over past three decades, taking into account the factors that affected these demographic changes. U.S. Census data show the Hispanic population in the United States now numbers more than 41 million, or one-seventh of the U.S. total population of more than 296 million.

Apart from the changes in methodology employed by the U.S. Bureau of Census (in determining census respondents' race and ethnicity), high birth rate among these newly arrived ethnic groups has greatly contributed to these changes. By July 1, 2050 the Bureau estimates Hispanic Americans will make up 24 percent of the U.S. population.

Furthermore, inter-group marriage has resulted in the increase of multiracial people; again, altering the old black and white pattern of diversity in American society.

Based on these factors and statistics, we may concludes that this trend will continue for decades to come and the percentage of Hispanic and Asian ethnic groups representation will further increase. This could have important results, especially when considering Hispanic representation.

Hispanics now fill top positions in the U.S. government, with Mexican-American Alberto Gonzales serving as U.S. attorney general and Cuban-born Carlos Gutierrez as secretary of commerce. In 2004, Florida voters elected another Cuban native, Mel Martinez, formerly secretary of housing and urban development, to the U.S. Senate.

Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States are growing three times faster than the national average for all firms. According to the bureau's Survey of Business Owners: Hispanic-Owned Firms: 2002 the number of Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States grew 31 percent between 1997 and 2002 to nearly 1.6 million. Those firms generated about $222 billion in revenue in 2002 - the most recent year for which data are available. The emergence of Hispanic-owned business mirrors the growth of the Hispanic population in the United States.

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The original title could be visited here.

The full text of the Census Bureau report (PDF, 631 pages) is available on their Web site here.

Furthermore, these articles show the increasing trend in Hispanic population and the role they would play in the future of America:

Hispanic-Owned Business Booming in the United States

Hispanic Americans Contributing to the American Mosaic

Cultural Studies & Ethnology of America - What's it all about?

Culture has several definitions. I consider culture as a way of living encompassing history, traditions, customs, beliefs, laws, thoughts, literature, art, architecture, music and anything that would give meaning to people's life. In that sense, culture is a combination of several aspects, all of which should be considered together to get an understanding of how people live.

What makes American culture unique is the way it's evolved as a conglomeration of several ethnic cultures over past centuries. Now, we may think again about the words of George Washington (in my previous post on my American Studies blog) speaking of diversity and how it builds one people out of many. Well, traces of American Exceptionalism could be observed at that early time; there is a certain (American) way of life and other people coming to the US have to be assimilated to that certain culture.

Nevertheless, studying American culture wouldn't make sense unless we know about various ethnic groups who've lived or settled there over the course of American history, before discovery of the continent by Europeans and after that.