Epidemics in America Since the proclamation by John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, that America should view herself as a "city upon a hill", Americans have strived to create a utopian society (Brinkley, 40). Winthrop viewed America as God's country, a place where the troubles of Europe and the rest of the world would not be repeated. This ideal is still valued by American society, yet it has prevented Americans from accepting the notion that an epidemic could strike their own country. Epidemics in the Modern World by Joann P. Krieg examines American society's reaction to the outbreak of epidemics in this country. Krieg threads the theme of American Romanticism throughout her work, as she explores the reactions of politicians, literary figures, and society in general to the outbreak of disease. Krieg also gives some biological information on the diseases that have haunted the American utopia. While this potpourri of information creates a valuable source for one studying the social effects of disease, its extensive discussion on literary topics becomes long-winded and irrelevant. Krieg explores the outbreak of five American epidemics: smallpox, cholera, yellow fever, TB, and AIDS. While reactions to each were different, Krieg shows that American Romanticism, the notion that "it couldn't happen to us", was prevalent in each of society's reactions to these epidemics. American Romanticism limited the swiftness to which the government, as well as the people, reacted to the outbreak of epidemics. Government often did not acknowledge the outbreak of an epidemic in America because it would blemish the image of the "city upon a hill". Even if they did acknowledge an epidemic, the government often quar... ... middle of paper ... ...historical perspective and analysis. Combining history, biology, and literary research, this work becomes a hodge-podge of information for many audiences. The work is able to provide a fair amount of information on each subject, and is not too heavy on any of the approaches. However, the literary information is of little to no use for our purposes in studying disease and discrimination, except to further show that society largely ignored devastating epidemics. Krieg's book studies disease and also explores the American character. Combined, these two subjects generate an interesting discussion on the causes of discrimination against the sick in America. Bibliographic Information: Krieg, Joann P. Epidemics in the Modern World. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992. Works Cited: Brinkley, Alan. American History, A Survey. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1995.
Stapp, Darby C. "An Anthropological Perspective on Magistrate Jelderks's Kennewick Man Decision." Kennewick Man Perspectives on the Ancient One (n.d.): 44-66. World Archaeological Congress. Web. 02 Apr. 2013.
The mention of the abolition of multiculturalism for a “new” post-multiculturalist approach becomes difficult to understand. It claims, “to avoid the ‘excesses’ of multiculturalism” (47), however where does this notable governmental and social switch take place? How is the term coined, and how is it understood in theory versus in practice? How is it different from its predecessor? Even the classification of history struggles to define what is considered to be modern, let alone post-modern, and yet the term suggests a positive approach to alleviating difficult assimilation projects similar to those faced elsewhere (47). This notion may developed on the grounds of “someone else’s problems” ¬– in regards to its Canadian context – as a means to label, or justify, miscellaneous aspects of multiculturalism. However, with the government-wide commitment to policies and programs, in conjunction with social understanding, it naturally becomes subject to a wide array of differing opinions. As both immigration and citizenship policies change, its public reception often shifts as well. Especially since the channels referred to within the ‘multiculturalism...
Blackbird's book, like many similar autoethnographic texts, is a combination of autobiography, history, ethnography, and polemic. He opens with a conventional reference to inaccuracy in current histories. In the course of correcting the record he relates the story, preserved by elders of his nation, of a smallpox epidemic during the height of the French and Indian War, about 1757. Blackbird's story is unique because of the unusual disease vector.
The Kennewick man was a monumental find to further our understanding of the history of the migration patterns of the people that culture sees today. The Kennewick man being a 9200 to 9600 year old skeleton made him one of the oldest nearly whole skeletons found in North or South America. The Kennewick man was found on July 28th 1996 by two college students whose names were Will Thomas and Dave Deacy while they were walking along the Columbia River near Kennewick Washington trying to get a better view into the local hydroplane races (Chatters, 23). These college students stumbled upon something that has caused a series of serious debates that have lasted for over ten years. After the students fell upon “the rock with teeth” (Powell 2005:6) they took it to the local police forces that were in the area.
Chatters, James C. "Kennewick Man." Newsletter of the American Anthropological Association. 2004: n. page. Web. 9 Nov. 2011.
There has been a lot of controversy regarding human remains and the field of archaeology for some time. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) protect the Native American’s rights over their human remains and cultural items. Proposed by the Morris Udall, former Congress Member for Arizona second District, NAGPRA was passed by the Congress in November 1990. The congress’ intention was to facilitate the repatriation of the Native Americans skeleton and cultural remains that were held in museums and federal agencies. In compliance with the Act, anthropologists returned several skeletal remains that were conserved in their study laboratories and museums to the respective Native tribes. In 1998, for example, the University of Nebraska repatriated over 1702 cultural artifacts to the affiliated Native Americans (Niesel 1). This was a significant blow to the scientific and anthropology studies as it marked the loss of necessary resources in unraveling the development of the human being.
Meanwhile, multiculturalism in the United States has been part of their history, considering the fact that almost all its populations, including its founders are immigrants coming from different cultural backgrounds (Citrin, 2001). Due to globalization, there is no reason why other immigrants and new ethnic groups could have difficulty assimilating themselves into American life.
“Multiculturalism” entered public speech in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Canada that focused on unique cultural diversity, nationalities, and ethnicity across the nation. Multiculturalism and Immigration are important factors in the development of Canada to attain a strong multicultural example of economic stability, social and political growth which leads to the emergence of Canada’s identity and culture.
Brandt, Allan. No Magic Bullet: a social history of venereal disease in the United States since
Multiculturalism" is the existence of a culturally diversified society where people from different backgrounds and races come and live together. However an insight of this integrated society reveals that everyone seems to have a different opinion on the issue of how this diverse community should operate. One of the countries of North America called "the mosaic" is Canada. It has earned this distinct name because of the mix of races, cultures and ethnicities residing in it. Canada's geographical features and its harsh climate became a disadvantage to its population growth many years ago. Compared to its size, the population of Canada was not sufficient a few decades ago. However, when immigrants wandered about searching for a better lifestyle, Canada's population naturally increased and became more diverse when large groups of people from different parts of the world began to settle in the region. Since than the great debate of multiculturism has been going on. Some of the vital issues are states’ political policies, attitudes of canadian’s towards these policies, immigration, global ...
The Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act was signed into law on November 1990 by President George Bush. This legislation is the result of decades of effort by American Indians to protect the burial sites of their ancestors against grave desecration and to recover the remains of ancestors and sacred cultural objects in the possession or under the control of federal agencies and museums. In November 1993, museums holding certain Native American artifacts were required to prepare written summaries of their collections for distribution to culturally affiliated tribes. In November 1995, museums were required to prepare detailed inventories of their Native American collection. This act is historically significant because it represents a fundamental change in social attitudes toward Native people by museum curators, the scientific community, and Congress. Congress attempted to strike a balance between the interest in scientific examination of skeletal remains and the recognition that Native Americans have a religious and spiritual reverence for the remains of their ancestors (4).
Multiculturalism has become a controversial topic in the US and Canada as a result of increasing the number of immigrants from various backgrounds. Multiculturalism is a government policy such as the Canadian Multiculturalism Act. This policy has been established to manage cultural diversity which helps people to have deeper understanding of different cultures, races and religions in order to generate better interaction among different races in Canada and the US. This essay will discuss the advantages of North-American multiculturalism in terms of general tolerance and integration and economic development. Moreover, it will explore the disadvantages including socioeconomic discrimination and inequality, and less social and commercial engagement among different races.
This diversity is already assumed as a constant of Canadian culture, and it is considered as a core of the practice. In fact, the Canadian population has increased since immigration growth, and globalization also has played a significant role for immigration levels (Razack and Badwall, 2010). In other words, the Canadian government nurtures the term diversity, and the conception of multiculturalism is truly adopted. Indeed, Canada has been identified as the longest international "peaceful border" (Razack and Badwall, 2010, p.53), receiving refugees and migrants from around the world, without exceptions. Even though the population of Canada has been expanded and multiculturalism is an official policy, Canada is "white settler society" founded on the elimination of aboriginal people (Razack and Badwall, 2010, p.56). This eradication of aboriginals is due to the fact that these people are distinct, and then they are not accepted and assimilated into the Canadian cultural system. Likewise, with immigrants, they must adopt the dominant culture to subsist, and must follow the Canadian culture to be
Multiculturalism policy ensures people from different ethnic, racial, religious, and linguistic backgrounds coexist together. Ng, Eddy and Isabel affirmed that the strategic tolerance fostered through the policy enhance the development of a national identity centered around multiculturalism with much ado about citizenship and naturalization process (254). In the long-term, the policy reduces hostilities between the natives and immigrants. Durante Chris explained that, “As both a political philosophy and public policy, multiculturalism has become one of the leading approaches for coping with problems that arise when attempting to accommodate the needs of ethnic, cultural, and religious communities in a liberal democracy,” (323). In the long-term, the policy reduces hostilities between the natives and immigrants, thereby creating a society where cultural identity and ethnic diversity enjoys mutual respect and tolerance – suitable ingredients for social cohesion. Peace and harmony within a society prevails if each group feel respected and allowed to associate with their identity without prejudice. However, issues have risen in Canada where the natives feel immigrants are overburdening their them and introducing new cultures. If such situation is the case, multiculturalism could impact negatively on social
Today in Canada it is not uncommon to see people of various races, ethnic backgrounds or cultural groups living within a mutual society; commonly known as multiculturalism. Multiculturalism refers to the presence of, or support for the presence of several distinct cultural or ethnic groups within a society. As the topic becomes more more popular due to news events and social media debates, multiculturalism gets twisted and misunderstood. In essence, multiculturalism is not about dwelling on about our differences, it is about emphasizing our commonality. Diversity of the human race has the power to unify society and make it stronger. Firstly, innovation