Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Importance of promoting cultural diversity
Advantages and disadvantages of cultural and ethnic diversity
Discrimination in healthcare past and present
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Importance of promoting cultural diversity
Living in the United States can be hard. People need to deal with racism, sexism, and any other kinds of abuse. Even today, racism, prejudice, and stereotyping still happen. There is no way of stopping it. Immigrants have the hardest time moving to a different country because they need to know the language and the culture the country has to offer. However, the language barrier concerns most immigrants and frightens people. In the movie Crash by Paul Haggis, it displays the clash of different ethnicity and their challenge in the world. People were stereotyped, sexually abused, and judged. In the book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman describes a Hmong family struggling to help with her medical problem, but the language barrier between the family and the hospital causes conflicts. America offers a great challenge to its people because of the vast diversity of ethnicities. With the huge ethnicity difference in America, people are trying to overpower others. People do whatever he/she can to get whatever he/she wants. People hang around 2 or more people so they can be seen intimidating to others. In Crash, two African Americans named Peter and Anthony strolls through the streets of LA and Anthony exams his surroundings and notices how people act towards them. One of the people he spots is Jean, who supposedly “tucked in” when she saw them. Anthony believes the only reason she did that is because she’s afraid that black people steal things and might steal her stuff. Turns out, Peter and Anthony did hijack the SUV. Notice how Jean didn’t fight back because they seem intimidating especially with a gun. She could have called the cops on them, but she didn’t. Another reason might be that because of the stereotypes of ... ... middle of paper ... ... struggle to live in, but it is capable to those who are strong willed. However, even the people in America and live there all their lives struggle. Immigrants just have it harder. America can be portray as everyone’s main country to live in because it’s one of the richest countries today. America has its ups and downs depending on the person’s point of view. No one can decide if one should live in America or not. Once the decision is made it could be hard to get out of America with everything one had in their past. Even worst, there might not be a way one can turn back. Remember, “Looks can be deceiving.” Works Cited Anne, Fadiman. The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, And The Collision Of Two Cultures. New York: Noonday Press, 1994. Print. Crash. Dir. Paul Haggis. Prod. Mark R. Harris et al. Yari Film Group, 2004. Film.
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down tells the story of a young Hmong girl stricken with epilepsy, her family, her doctors, and how misunderstandings between cultures can lead to tragedy. The title comes from the Hmong term for epilepsy, which translated, is “the spirit catches you and you fall down”. Anne Fadiman alternates between chapters on Hmong history or culture and chapters on the Lees, and specifically Lia. The condensed history of the Hmong portrayed here starts at their beginning, and traces their heritage, their movements, and why they do what they do as they flee from enemies to country to country. This record allows the reader to better understand the Lees and their situation without bogging him down with details that may
In their pursuit of assimilating and calling the US home, they had forged a new identity of Hmong Americans. (Yang, 203) Being Hmong American meant striving to move up the economic ladder and determining one’s own future. They understood that for them to realize their American dream and their “possibilities”, it could only be done so through “school”. (Yang, 139) Yang realized her dream by attaining a Master’s of Fine Arts from Columbia University and publishing books about the Hmong story.
In Hmong’s, they have their own traditional beliefs in which they hardly ever alter due to a different atmosphere. Some of the Hmong beliefs are they prefer traditional medicine, are culturally active, host ritual ceremonies, and are spirituality influenced. In the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, refers to the Hmong culture and their beliefs on medicine while their baby Lia Lee, is suffering from epilepsy in which they have a hard decision. Traditional Hmong’s have their own medicinal beliefs which they obey prior to obtaining Western medicine. The gulf between Western medicine and Hmong health beliefs is an impossible abyss. Also, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down describes the life of Hmong refugees assimilating to the American culture which brings challenge to Hmong traditions.
America is a land filled with immigrants coming from different corners of the worlds, all in hopes of finding a better life in the country. However, No one had an easy transition from his or her home country to this foreign land. Not every race thrived the same way—some were luckier than others, while some have faced enormous obstacles in settling down and being part of the American society. Many people have suffered
Fadiman, A. 1997. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
This book addresses one of the common characteristics, and challenges, of health care today: the need to achieve a working knowledge of as many cultures as possible in health care. The Hmong population of Merced, California addresses the collision between Western medicine and holistic healing traditions of the Hmong immigrants, which plays out a common dilemma in western medical centers: the need to integrate modern western medicinal remedies with aspects of cultural that are good for the well-being of the patient, and the belief of the patient’s ability to recuperate. What we see is a clash, or lack of integration in the example of the story thereof. Lia, a Hmong child with a rare form of epilepsy, must enter the western hospital instead of the Laotian forest. In the forest she would seek out herbs to remedy the problems that beset her, but in the west she is forced to enter the western medical hospital without access to those remedies, which provided not only physical but spiritual comfort to those members of the Hmong culture. The herbs that are supposed to fix her spirit in the forest are not available in the western hospital. The Merced County hospital system clashes with Hmong animist traditions.
One of the main topics of both stories involves racial tension within a community, focusing specifically on the tension between white and black Americans. Many of the people that Anna Smith interviewed had something to say about the race of Rodney King or how the white cops controlled the power of the city. With racial tensions boiling in the ghettos of Los Angeles between the white policemen and the black communities, violence became all too common in the community. By the 2000’s, the time setting for Crash, violence from the police became less prominent, but still evident.
The Hmong people, an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam and Laos, greatly value their culture and traditions. The film “The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America” documents the seventeen year journey of the Hmong Shaman, Paja Thao and his family from the mountains of Laos to the heartland of America. This film shows the struggle of Paja Thao to maintain their 5000 year-old shamanic traditions as his children embrace the American culture. Moreover, the film shows that one of the major problems refugees like Paja Thao and his family face upon their arrival to the United States is conflict with the American medical system. Despite the dominant biomedical model of health, the film “The Split Horn” shows that
Crash is a movie based over a day and a half in Los Angeles. It is an overview of a group desperate people 's lives overlapping as the deal with tense situations such as race and privilege that accompanies city life. One of the main characters is the white district attorney who uses his political prowess to step on other races; his wife who was recently carjacked
Throughout reading of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman one cannot help but notice the different themes that plays an integral role in understanding the book. This book is an intriguing read and Fadiman wrote in a cultural appropriation context and it was clear from the background give about the Hmong culture that I was an investigative research method type of book. Fadiman gave readers a clear insight about lives of the Hmong and how culture plays a vital role in how one perceives health (sickness) etc. Fadiman also highlighted both perspective of the patient and doctors concerning health issues.
After reading The Book of the Unknown Americans, I realized how difficult immigrating to the United States can be. I am an immigrant also, so just reading the story makes me relate to many problems immigrants experience relocating to a different country. Immigrants often face many issues and difficulties, but for some it is all worth it, but for others there comes a point in time where they have to go back to their hometown. Alma and Arturo Rivera came to the United States to better their life, but also so that Maribel could attend a special education school. While Arturo had a job things had gone well for the family, but once Arturo lost the job and passed away the two of them had to go back because they felt that that was the best option for them. Reading this book made me realize how strong an individual has to be to leave their own country and relocate somewhere else not knowing if this will better your life or cause one to suffer.
The movie Crash was directed by Paul Haggis is a powerful film that displays how race is still a sociological problem that affects one 's life. It also focuses on how we should not stereotype people based on their color because one may come out wrong in the end. Stereotyping is a major issue that is still happening in today 's society and seems to only be getting worse. This movie is a great way to see the daily life and struggle of other races and see how racism can happen to anyone, not just African Americans which seems to only be seen in the news and such.
Tension between the African Americans and Caucasians have been present in America since slavery. In the movie Crash (2004), race and culture are major themes that can be seen in the lives of the characters in the film. One character in particular, Cameron, a prestigious color vision director, displays the friction between two cultures. He belongs to the educated, upper class of the Los Angeles area. He is also an African American, yet he seems to have no ties with that class. He has a light-skinned wife, attends award shows, and it appears that his acquaintances are predominately white. When he and his wife, Christine, get pulled over by a racist cop, he experiences emotions of powerlessness and helplessness that he never knew he would experience due to his upbringing and place in society. Cameron goes through a radical transformation where he comes to grips with his background and how he fits into these two clashing cultures.
One of the biggest issues depicted in the film is the struggle of minority groups and their experience concerning racial prejudice and stereotyping in America. Examples of racism and prejudice are present from the very beginning of the movie when Officer Ryan pulls over black couple, Cameron and Christine for no apparent reason other than the color of their skin. Officer Ryan forces the couple to get out of the car
Americanah teaches the reader that the journey to a different country is notisn’t always easy even though the immigrant is seeking a better life. Also, Americanah teaches the reader that the motivations of immigrants may overpower the reality of the situations at a new country. Immigrants may face the challenges of language barriers and employment, and have the motivations of pursuit of happiness and the American dream. Although you may go through tough situations, being motivated to do what you want to do can conquer