Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Pressure to Assimilate: Native Americans and Hispanics in the Southwest
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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page discussion of the pressure to assimilate waged against Native Americans and Hispanics. The author emphasizes that although considerable assimilation has occurred, the manner in which an individual retains and expresses his or her fascinatingly diverse culture varies almost as much as the individuals. Bibliography lists 3
sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: AM2_PPnaSW.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
American Southwest has a long and turbulent history as its backdrop. Once a territory of Spain, the Southwest has a large Hispanic population. This population lives alongside indigenous
populations of various Native American cultures. Each has been subjected to tremendous injustices. Their cultures have been overrun by non-Hispanic, non-Native interlopers to a land that was once
theirs. As would be expected, each of these cultures have been pressured to assimilate into the mainstream. While considerable assimilation has occurred, both Hispanics and Native Americans retain
much of their own culture and stand distinct in the cultural, political and economic landscapes of the Southwest. The situation we see today
in the Southwest emphasizes the fact that cultural assimilation can have a number of impacts both on the culture which is assimilating and on the receiving culture. Cultural assimilation
has been an expected component of the American dream since the very beginnings of this country. We pride ourselves, after all on a melting pot concept, a concept in
which diversity in turned into sameness. The irony of the great American dream becomes quickly apparent, however, when we consider the historic plight of Hispanics and Native Americans in
the Southwest. Even today, in fact, these cultures are too often penalized for clinging to their own cultures. Never-the-less these cultures represent a productive and positive component of
contemporary America. An underlying reality in considering both Mexican American and Native American cultures is that despite the fact that
an individual is placed or even born within a particular geographic and cultural space, that space can be one of ambivalence which can exist equally either in the more isolated
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