2 Ethnic groups and minorities in the usa

Exercise1. Read and translate the text.

The United States is a country of many ethnic groups made up of people who share one or more characteristics which differ them from other groups. They may share specific racial or physical traits, speak their own language or practice a distinctive religion. They are usually bound to one another by common traditions and values, and by their own folklore and music. Some of their activities may be determined by unique institutions, such as a complex family structure or the social practices within their communities.

The Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups lists 106 major groups in the United States today, including Native Americans, Albanians, Afro-Americans, Arabs, Burmese, Chinese, Eskimos, Filipinos, Greeks, Irish, Italians, Jews, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Swiss. In fact, there are really more. For example, there are more than 170 Native American tribes.

For the sake of simplicity, the Encyclopedia treats them as one. In the same way, Syrians, Jordanians, Egyptians and Palestinians are all counted as Arabs.

Most members of ethnic groups long established in the States have lost much of the distinctiveness of their culture. Third generation of Germans, for example, may only speak English and think of themselves as “plain” Americans. Third generation Chinese, however, often retain their language and many cultural and family traditions. They usually define themselves as Chinese-Americans. Members of most ethnic groups are full participants in the broad tapestry of American life, even if they keep alive many of their old traditions. The Irish, the Danes, the Germans, the Italians, the Jews, the Mormons and the Catholics, for example, have moved into almost all social, economic and political sectors.

Some ethnic groups, however, suffer disadvantages which continue to keep them from freely participating in some areas of American professional and cultural life. Poverty and all the deprivation that goes with it often make it more difficult for Afro-Americans and Puerto-Ricans to acquire the social and educational skills needed to enter more desirable and more highly paid occupations. Racial prejudice and discrimination against people with different colour skin has often meant that many members of these groups have been forced to live and work in narrow sectors of American life. Recent Hispanic immigrants, such as Mexicans and Puerto-Ricans, also have encountered discrimination based on their ethnicity.

Those ethnic groups which suffer systematic economic and social disadvantages are called minority groups. About one of every five Americans is a member of such a group. In the past, many minority groups overcame the barriers that confronted them. The Irish, the Germans, the Catholics, and the Jews all faced hostility and discrimination which severely restricted their opportunities for decades. Over time they largely overcame those barriers and became fully integrated into national life. There are many signs today that other minorities are following the same path. This is also encouraged with the help of an official policy of political correctness.

New waves of immigrants have recently begun to arrive from Korea, the Philippines, Haiti, Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe. These groups, following the pattern set by earlier waves of immigrants from China and Japan, are establishing themselves in small businesses, working tirelessly, and investing all of their efforts and money to ensure that their children receive the education and learn the skills necessary to build and prosperous and satisfying life.

Exercise 2. Answer the questions.

1. What do people belonging to an ethnic group share?

2. How many ethnic groups does the Harvard Encyclopedia of Ethnic Groups list?

3. What sort of disadvantages do some ethnic groups suffer today?

4. What groups are called minority groups?

5. What barriers keep some ethnic people from realizing the opportunities in life?

6. Where do some new waves of immigration come from and what are their plans?

Exercise 3. Give English equivalents for:

Исповедовать религию, отличную от других; быть связанными общими традициями и ценностями; коренные жители Америки (индейцы); рассматривать как единое целое; утратить многое из своих культурных особенностей; обычные Американцы; широкий спектр американской жизни; бедность и сопутствующие ей лишения; испаноязычные иммигранты; постоянно испытывать трудности экономического и социального характера; сталкиваться с враждебностью; ограничивать чьи-либо возможности; следовать образцу.

Exercise 4. Give Russian equivalents for:

To share specific racial or physical traits; to be determined by unique institutions; for the sake of simplicity; to retain language and traditions; full participants in the broad tapestry of American life; to acquire the social and educational skills; to enter highly paid occupations; to be forced to live and work in narrow sectors of American life; to encounter discrimination based on ethnicity; to overcome barriers that confronted them; to become fully integrated into national life; to follow the same path; to establish themselves in small businesses; to build a prosperous and satisfying life.

Discussion

• What do you know about ‘political correctness’? In groups do the brainstorming work and write all the associations that come into your mind when you hear the collocation ‘political correctness’ and organize the vocabulary into a mind map.

• Are there different ethnic groups in Russia? Where do they come from? Where do they live? How do they differ from the majority of people in your country with respect to customs, religion, clothing, food, music, etc.?

Exercise 5 . Read the text.