Americans All, Immigrants AllUnited States. Office of Education
History
Americans All, Immigrants All
United States. Office of Education
Acculturation -- United States; Americanization; Immigrants -- United States -- History; Radio in education
“_Democracy means not ‘I’m as good as you are’ but ‘you’re as
good as I am.’_”—THEODORE PARKER.
Immigration has made the United States the most composite nation on
earth. More peoples of widely different national and racial origins have
been brought together and welded into a single political, economic, and
social system than anywhere else in the world.
What constitutes a race? Does each race have certain hereditary
characteristics which determine its mental life and social behavior?
Is there a racial stock which is superior—physically, mentally, and
morally—to other racial stocks? Just what differences, if any, exist
between those who were born here and those who have adopted this country
as their home land?
There is no such person as a native American, nor was there ever such
a person if we are to be strictly accurate. We are told that even the
American Indian is an immigrant who came from far-off Asia by way of the
Bering Straits and Alaska. Our ancestors may have come on the Mayflower
or in the steerage, we may be descended from immigrants who settled here
generations ago, or we may have come direct from other lands, yet one
fact remains crystal clear—WE ARE ALL IMMIGRANTS.
_Physical Characteristics_
From the physical standpoint, races do have certain very definite
differences that are obvious. One of the most obvious is that of color.
White, black, yellow, red, brown, and yellow-brown are the colors we
usually associate with certain racial types. Some of us are tall, blond,
and blue-eyed. Others are short, dark, and brown-eyed. Some people
have long, narrow heads while others have short, round heads. However,
the same physical differences may be found not only between racial and
national groups, but also between individuals within the nation, tribe,
or family.
_Mental Characteristics_
In answer to the contention that certain racial groups are mentally
superior to others, Franz Boas, an outstanding scientist, says, “No one
has ever proved that a human being through his descent from a group of
people must of necessity have certain mental characteristics.... If
we were to select the most intelligent, imaginative, energetic, and
emotionally stable third of mankind, all races would be represented.”
Hooton, another scientist, is even more emphatic. He declares that “each
racial type runs the gamut from idiots and criminals to geniuses and
statesmen. No type produces a majority of individuals from either end
of the scale. There are no racial monopolies of either human virtues or
vices.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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