The United States is a multi-ethnic country with great racial differences. There are 3/kloc-0 ethnic groups with a population of more than one million, and there are more ethnic groups with a population of less than one million. Most Americans (about 75%) are descendants of European white immigrants. These immigrants settled in the first colonies at that time, and many of them came to the United States in the "Southern Reconstruction Movement" after the Civil War. Due to the high birth rate of non-white immigrants and ethnic minorities, the proportion of non-Hispanic whites is gradually decreasing. The main European lineages are Germany (15.6%), Ireland (10.8%), England (8.7%), Italy (5.6%) and Scandinavia (3.7%). Many people also come from Slavic countries, such as Poland and Russia. Other immigrants come from eastern Europe, southern Europe and French-speaking Canada.
There are 4.4 million Native Americans, including Indians, and about 35% of them live in government-planned aboriginal reservations. Asian Americans (excluding Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders) are the third largest minority, accounting for 5% in the 2005 census. Most Asian Americans live on the west coast and Hawaii, and the largest group of Asians come from the Philippines, China, India, Viet Nam, South Korea and Japan. Hispanics are the second largest ethnic group in the United States (second only to Germans), accounting for 14. 1% of the total population, of which 66% are immigrants from Mexico, and it is expected that they will continue to grow at a high speed in the coming decades. African-Americans are all over the United States, but the black area in the south is the largest. African-Americans (or blacks), mainly from Africa, were slaves before19th century, and now the number is 35 million (12.5438+02%).
Facing the new situation of cultural diversity, the American government has responded in a series of fields, such as primary and secondary education, university enrollment, enterprise employment, social security, racial rights and so on, which has promoted mutual tolerance and equal exchanges between different cultures.
Ethnic identity is not only a sign of ethnic differences, but also involves the issues of equality and identity. It recognizes both ethnic differences and equality of differences, which makes American ethnic minorities dissatisfied with the previous assimilation model and begin to uphold and protect their own culture, while seeking the construction and protection of group rights. The United States is a country with a profound liberal tradition. It has always believed that the goal of social justice is "equal starting point" and "equal rights", so it advocates giving every citizen universal equal identity and rights in the public sphere.
The difference between multiculturalism and liberalism on the issue of citizenship lies in their different understanding of individual equality-whether equality is equal treatment without considering differences or differential treatment based on recognizing differences. "Difference" is a basic value of multicultural political thought, which not only refers to the personality and characteristics of a minority culture, but also is a way to realize equal rights. Different from liberals who emphasize the equality of individuals and opportunities and ignore the differences of groups and cultures, multiculturalists propose to rely on "difference politics" to correct the defects of universal equality. In the case of group differences in resource endowment, development degree and cultural model, only by taking care of these differences can all groups participate in and be included in the current system without centrifugal tendency.
Since the Kennedy era, successive governments have paid more attention to the equal rights of ethnic minorities and other vulnerable groups. Through administrative, legislative and judicial means, especially the implementation of affirmative action plan, (note: "affirmative action", or translated as "affirmative action measures") began with the administrative order 1 1246 promulgated by the Johnson administration in 1965. The people who directly benefit from the program change with time and place, but ethnic minorities, such as African-Americans, Hispanics, people from Asian and Pacific islands and Indians, have always been classified as special groups.
1967, the program was extended to women, and the disabled and Vietnamese veterans in 1970 were also included. ) help members of various cultural groups overcome cultural barriers to full participation in American society, promote contact and exchanges between different cultures, and strive to eliminate barriers between ethnic groups in American society.
The multicultural policy of the United States is first embodied in the education policy. Although it is not named as "multicultural education policy", it clearly shows its support for multicultural education in a series of legislative guides of government departments at all levels: "According to the systematic policy analysis records of the Science and Education Resources Information Center, there are 39 policies involving the word multicultural education, most of which are state-level decisions, and 34 States have formulated relevant legislation, rules, guidelines or policies to promote multiculturalism.
The green card lottery project is part of the immigration law passed by the US Congress 1990. On this basis, the federal government selects 50,000 green card applicants from countries and regions with a low proportion of immigrants to the United States by lottery every year and issues them green cards. Applicants must obtain at least a high school diploma or meet relevant work experience requirements. The original intention of "green card lottery" is to increase the proportion of immigrants from European countries such as Italy and Ireland. Later, under the guidance of the concept of promoting population diversification, more target countries were gradually included.
The "green card lottery" has been controversial. Charles Schumer, then a member of the Federal House of Representatives and now the leader of the Democratic Party in the Senate, pushed for the abolition of this bill in 20 13, and the relevant bill was passed in the Senate, but was rejected by the House of Representatives controlled by the party. Supporters think it is the embodiment of American open culture, while opponents criticize that there are procedural loopholes in the implementation of this project, which provide opportunities for fraud and endanger national security.