Ever Changing America

Ever changing America

The face of America has slowly, but surely, changed over the course of sixty years. America’s schools, sixty years ago, were predominantly white and most teachers were white as well. If one thinks that America is still mostly white, they would be sadly mistaken with immigration numbers at all time highs. America has become the most culturally diverse nation in the world. With every passing year, it seems immigration numbers continue to rise. As these numbers have begun to rise over the past years it has begun to change the way Americans live their everyday life. Used to when one says an “American” individual you would think of a white person, however this is no longer the case. America is becoming the world’s melting pot with mixtures of all kinds of races, cultures, and religions. Due to the influx of immigrants coming to American schools, schools are facing more discrimination, more of a need for ESL classes, and white students are beginning to feel more like the minority.

America’s schools are very diverse, in the sense that some schools have little or no discrimination while others are full of discrimination. “America is a country of immigrants, but also a country that sometimes hates immigrants”. One would find it rather odd how everyone can trace their family heritage to somewhere over seas, yet most Americans today frown upon immigrants from other countries. Studies have shown that students at large schools and even at some small high schools segregate themselves from other minorities without even noticing. It could be because their comfort zones are only within their own personal races. Also, their cultures and traditions are more alike to people within their own race and it is easier to adapt and be accepted. Even though, discrimination has been looming in America’s school system for years it is slowly beginning to fade.

With the influx of immigrants coming to American schools the need for ESL classes is becoming more of a need to schools. “A child’s age of arrival in the U.S., she explains is crucial” . It is proven that it is much harder for teenagers to pick up on English as a second language, than it is for younger children. “About a fifth of the students now are nonliterate in their native language.”. If it isn’t hard enough for a non English speaking immigrant to learn English, it doesn’t help anything when they are not literate in their own native language. This goes to show that most of the immigrants are not introduced to a good education until they come over to the U.S. The U.S. school system today is almost forced to offer ESL classes because many immigrants are illiterate and cannot speak English. This sparks the debate of who should be paying for these classes for the immigrants. Some find it unfair for American’s tax dollars being poured into ESL classes when many of the students are