Overview
United States of America is a diverse and multi-cultural country as result of mass scale immigration from so many countries throughout its history. Its chief early influence was British culture, due to colonial ties with the British that spread the English language, legal system and other cultural inheritances. Other important influences came from other parts of Europe, especially countries from which large numbers immigrated such as Ireland, Germany, Poland, and Italy. It also includes migrations from Latin America, Asia; the Native Americans; Africa, especially the western part, from which came the ancestors of most African Americans; and young groups of immigrants.
The United States has traditionally been known as a melting pot, but recent developments tend towards cultural diversity, pluralism and the image of a salad bowl rather than a melting pot. Due to the extent of American culture there are many integrated but unique subcultures within the United States. The cultural affiliations an individual in the United States may have commonly depend on social class, political orientation and a multitude of demographic characteristics such as ancestral traditions, sex and sexual orientation.
Social class and social behavior
There is considerable controversy regarding social class in the United States, and it remains a concept with many competing definitions. Many Americans believe in a simple three-class model that includes the "rich", the "middle class", and the "poor". Though most Americans today identify themselves as middle class, American society and its culture are considerably more fragmented. More complex models that have been proposed describe as many as a dozen class levels; others deny that "social class" exists in American society. Most definitions of class structure group people according to wealth, income, education, type of occupation, and membership in a specific subculture or social network. And social class is genderally described as a combination of them, more frequent of educational attainment, income and occupational prestige
Many authors have proposed class systems with six distinct social classes. These class models feature an upper or capitalist class consisting of the rich and powerful, an upper middle class consisting of highly educated and well-paid professionals, a lower middle class consisting of college-educated professional sales and office assistants, a working class constituted by clerical and blue collar workers whose work is highly routinized, and a lower class divided between the working poor and underclass.
Distinct lifestyles, consumption patterns and values are associated with different classes. Early sociologist-economist Thorstein Veblen, for example, noted that those at the very top of the social ladder engage in conspicuous leisure as well as conspicuous consumption.
Upper middle class persons commonly identify education and being cultured as prime values. Persons in this particular social class tend to speak in a more direct manner that projects authority, knowledge and thus credibility. They often tend to engage in the consumption of so-called mass luxuries, such as designer label clothing. A strong preference for natural materials and organic foods as well as a strong health consciousness tend to be prominent features of the upper middle class.
Middle class individuals in general value expanding one's horizon, partially because they are more educated and can afford greater leisure and travels. Working class individuals take great pride in doing what they consider to be "real work," and keep very close-knit kin networks that serve as a safeguard against frequent economic instability. Working class Americans as well as many of those in the middle class may also face occupation alienation.
The working poor and the underclass are those living in high economic insecurity due to very low incomes, poor working conditions and unemployment. The underclass are persistently poor, unemployed, dependent on welfare and are commonly experiencing homlessness, and are sometimes engaged in crime.
Demographics
The United States is an urbanized nation, with 80.8% of its population of 305,186,613 residing in cities and suburbs as of mid-year 2005. The mean population center of the United States has consistently shifted westward and southward, with California and Texas currently the most populous states. U.S. population growth is among the highest in developed countries. The total fertility rate in the United States estimated for 2008 is 2.1, which is roughly the replacement level for industrialized countries. However, the U.S. Census bureau states that the population is projected to reach 439 million in 2050, which is a 44% increase from 2008 compared to the UN projection of a world population increase of 37% for the same period. Children (people under age 18) made up a quarter of the U.S. population (24.6%), and people over age 65 one-eighth (12.7%) in 2006.
The U.S. population more than tripled during the 20th century — a growth rate of about 1.3% a year — from about 76 million in 1900 to 281 million in 2000. Population growth is fastest among minorities, and according to the United States Census Bureau's estimation for 2005, 45% of American children under the age of 5 are minorities
Race and ethnicity
Race in the United States is based on physical characteristics and skin color and has played an essential part in shaping American society even before the nation's conception. Until the civil rights movement of the 1960s racial minorities in the United States faced discrimination and social as well as economic marginalization. Today the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of the Census recognized four races: Native American or American Indian; Black or African American; Asian and White (European American). Hispanic Americans do not technically according to the US Government, constitute a race but rather an ethnic group (of many races).
Until the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on December 6th 1865 the United States was a slave society. While the northern states had outlawed slavery in their territory in the late 18th and early 19th century their industrial economies relied on the raw materials produced by slave labor. Following the Reconstruction period in the 1870s, Southern states initialized an apartheid regulated by Jim Crow laws that provided for legal segregation. Lynching occurred throughout the US until the 1930s, continuing well into the civil rights movement in the South. Asian Americans were also marginalized during much of US history. Between 1882 and 1943 the United States government instituted the Chinese Exclusion Act which prohibited Chinese immigrants from entering the nation. During the second world war roughly 120,000 Japanese Americans, 62% of whom were US citizens, were imprisoned in Japanese internment camps. Hispanic American also faced segregation and other types of discrimination. Despite being considered White in many states such as California, Hispanics were regularly subject to second class citizen status.
Largely as a result of being de jure or de facto excluded and marginalized from so-called mainstream society, racial minorities in the United States developed their own unique sub-cultures. During the 1920s for example, Harlem, New York became home to the Harlem Renaissance. Music styles such as Jazz, Blues and Rap as well as numerous folk-songs originated within the realms of African American culture. Chinatowns can be found in many cities across the nation and Asian cuisine has become a common staple in America. The Hispanic community has also had a dramatic impact on American culture. Today, Catholics are the largest religious denomination in the United States and out-number Protestants in the South-west and California.[16] Mariachi music and Mexican cuisine are commonly found throughout the Southwest, with some Latin dishes such burritos and tacos found anywhere in the nation. Economic discrepancies and de-facto segregation, however, continue and is a prominent feature of mundane life in the United States. While Asian Americans have prospered and have a median household income and educational attainment far exceeding that of Whites, the same cannot be said for the other racial minorities. African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans have considerably lower income and education than do White Americans. In 2005 the median household income of Whites was 62.5% higher than that of African American, nearly one-quarter of whom live below the poverty line. Furthermore 46.9% of homicide victims in the United States are African American indicating the many severe socio-economic problems African Americans and minorities in general continue to face in the twenty-first century.
Some aspects of American culture codify racism. For example, the prevailing idea in American culture, perpetuated by the media, has been that that black features are less attractive or desirable than white features. The idea that blackness was ugly was highly damaging to the psyche of African Americans, manifesting itself as internalized racism. Cultural movements such as Black is beautiful sought to dispel this notion.
Religion
Among developed nations, the US is one of the most religious in terms of its demographics. The United States is unique amongst other post-industrial countries in that it has a relatively low percentage of people claiming to have no religious beliefs, although the percentage of atheists and agnostics increased according to the last censuses. In the same time the fluidity of religion in the country is high, with studies showing around half of American adults leave the faith tradition of their upbringing to either switch allegiances or abandon religious affiliation altogether. There are also stark regional differences within the United States with respect to a belief in God. Only 59% of Americans living in Western states confess a belief in God, yet in the South (the "Bible Belt") the figure is as high as 86%.
Many U.S. adult citizens identify themselves as Christians (78.5%). Christianity was introduced during the period of European colonization and Protestantism constituted an important source of the American social, political, economic and cultural values. The following is the order of religious preferences in the United States: Christian: (78.5%) (Protestant (51.3%) , Roman Catholic (23.9%) , Mormon (1.7%) , other Christian (1.6%); Jewish (1.7%); Buddhist (0.7%); Muslim (0.6%); other (2.5%); unaffiliated or none (16.1%)
Group affiliations
As the United States is a very diverse nation, it is home to numerous organization and social groups and individuals may derive their group affiliated identity from a variety of sources. Today, Americans derive a great deal of their identity through their work and professional affiliation, especially among individuals higher on the economic ladder. Recently professional identification has led to many clerical and low-level employees giving their occupations new, more respectable titles, such as "Sanitation service engineer" instead of "Janitor." Additionally many Americans belong to non-profit organizations and religious establishments and may volunteer their services to such organizations. The Rotary Club, the Knights of Columbus or even the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals are examples of such non-profit and mostly volunteer run organizations. Ethnicity plays another important role in providing Americans with group identity, especially among those who recently immigrated. Many American cities are home to ethnic enclaves such as a Chinatown and Little Italies remain in some cities. Local patriotism may be also provide group identity. For example, a person may be particularly proud to be from California or New York City, and may display clothing from local sports team. Political lobbies such as the American Association of Retired Persons not only provide individuals with a sentiment of intra-group allegiance but also increase their political representation in the nation's political system. Combined, profession, ethnicity, religious, and other group affiliations have provided Americans with a multitude of options from which to derive their group based identity. Activism, such as religious, feminist or ecologist, contributes as well to both group affiliations and group based identities.
Education
Education in the United States is provided mainly by government, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. School attendance is mandatory and nearly universal at the elementary and high school levels (often known outside the United States as the primary and secondary levels).
Students have the options of having their education held in public schools, private schools, or home school. In most public and private schools, education is divided into three levels: elementary school, junior high school (also often called middle school), and high school. In almost all schools at these levels, children are divided by age groups into grades. Post-secondary education, better known as "college" or "university" in the United States, is generally governed separately from the elementary and high school system.
In the year 2000, there were 76.6 million students enrolled in schools from kindergarten through graduate schools. Of those enrolled in compulsory education, 5.2 million (10.4 percent) were attending private schools. Among the country's adult population, over 85 percent have completed high school and 27 percent have received a bachelor's degree or higher.
Housing
Immediately after World War II, Americans began living in increasing numbers in the suburbs, belts around major cities with higher density than rural areas, but much lower than urban areas. This move has been attributed to many factors such as the automobile, the availability of large tracts of land, the convenience of more and longer paved roads, the increasing violence in urban centers, and the cheapness of housing. These new single-family houses were usually one or two stories tall, and often were part of large contracts of homes built by a single developer. The resulting low-density development has been given the pejorative label "urban sprawl." This is changing, however. "White flight" is reversing, with many upper-middle-class, empty nest Baby Boomers returning to urban living, usually in condominiums, such as in New York City's Lower East Side, and Chicago's South Loop. The result has been the displacement of many poorer, inner-city residents, in a process that has been called gentrification.
About half of Americans now live in what is known as the suburbs. The suburban nuclear family has been identified as part of the "American dream": a married couple with children owning a house in the suburbs. This archetype is reinforced by mass media, religious practices, and government policies and is based on traditions from Anglo-Saxon cultures. One of the characteristics of living in these suburban communities is the fact that homes are separated from retail districts, industrial areas, and sometimes even public schools. However, many American suburbs are incorporating these districts on smaller scales, attracting more people to these communities.
Gender relations
Couples often meet through religious institutions, work, school, or friends. "Dating services", geared to assist people in finding partners, are popular. The trend over the past few decades has been for more and more couples deciding to cohabit before, or instead of, getting married. The 2000 Census reported 9.7 million different-sex partners living together and about 1.3 million same-sex partners living together. These cohabitation arrangements have not been the subject of many laws regulating them, though some states now have domestic partner statutes and judge-made palimony doctrines that confer some legal support for unmarried couples.
Adolescent sexuality in the United States is frequent; most Americans first have intercourse in their teens. The current data suggests that by the time a person turns 18, slightly more than half of females and nearly two-thirds of males will have had intercourse. More than half of sexually active teens have had sexual partners they are dating. Nevertheless teen pregnancies in the United States decreased 28% between 1990 and 2000.
Marriage laws are established by individual states. Same-sex marriage is currently legal in Massachusetts. Three other states, Connecticut and Vermont, and recently New Jersey allow same-sex couples access to state-level marriage benefits with parallel civil unions. New Hampshire has recently legislated civil unions, which will be issued beginning January 1, 2008. In many states, it is illegal to cross state lines to obtain a marriage that would be illegal in the home state. The typical wedding involves a couple proclaiming their commitment to one another in front of their close relatives and friends and presided over by a religious figure such as a minister, priest, or rabbi, depending upon the faith of the couple. In traditional Christian ceremonies, the bride's father will "give away" (hand off) the bride to the groom. Secular weddings are also common, often presided over by a judge, Justice of the Peace, or other municipal official.
Divorce is the province of state governments, so divorce law varies from state to state. Prior to the 1970s, divorcing spouses had to allege that the other spouse was guilty of a crime or sin like abandonment or adultery; when spouses simply could not get along, lawyers were forced to manufacture "uncontested" divorces. The no-fault divorce revolution began in 1969 in California. No-fault divorce on the grounds of "irreconcilable differences" is now available in all states. However, many states have recently required separation periods prior to a formal divorce decree. The median length for a marriage in the US today is 11 years.
Since the 1970s, traditional gender roles of male and female have been increasingly challenged by both legal and social means. Today, there are far fewer roles that are legally restricted by one's sex. The military remains a notable exception, where women may not be put into direct combat by law. Asymmetrical warfare, however, has put women into situations which are direct combat operations in all but name. Most social roles are not gender-restricted by law, though there are still cultural inhibitions surrounding certain roles. More and more women have entered the workplace, and in the year 2000 made up 46.6% of the labor force, up from 18.3% in 1900. Most men, however, have not taken up the traditional full-time homemaker role; likewise, few men have taken traditionally feminine jobs such as receptionist or nurse (although nursing was traditionally a male role before the American Civil War).
Health
Income has a significant impact on health as those with higher incomes had better access to health care facilities, higher life expectancy, lower infant mortality rate and increased health consciousness. While the United States lacks socialized medicine similar to that found in many other post-industrialized developed nations across Europe and Asia, 85% of the U.S. population were insured in 2005. Yet, discrepancies seem to remain beyond the difference between insured and uninsured. Life expectancy in the US is 78.06 with the upper-class Asian Americans living the longest and the poor urban African Americans the shortest. Furthermore, the United States like other post-industrial nations saw increased health consciousness among persons of higher social status. Persons of higher status are less likely to smoke, more likely to exercise regularly and be more conscious of their diet. Additionally, poor Americans are more likely to consume lower quality, processed foods.
(sources: Wikipedia)
