an ethnic stockade, they can't really succeed in America, and if they leave, they are risking their connection with the old culture.
People from traditional cultures with no sense of clock time and languages very different from English have a harder time adjusting than do, for example, the Bosnians, many of whom come here from Germany. Older people have a harder time. Also people who are dark-skinned have a harder time. Because of racism, the darker one's skin, the harder it is to assimilate.
An important aspect of refugee culture is its similarity to American culture in terms of work ethic. Newcomers are more likely to succeed if they come from a culture whose values promote high achievement; these values include sacrifice, curiosity, enterprise, and willingness to take risks and initiate activities.
Generalizations and dichotomies are dangerous. Thomas Friedman divides the world into fast cultures and slow cultures. There are great differences between "slow" or traditional cultures. The Somalis, the Vietnamese, and the Peruvians are strikingly different from one another in many ways. Still, there are distinctions that need to be drawn. All traditional cultures share the closeness of family and neighbors. Traditional cultures value interdependence and cooperation, whereas Americans place a high value on individual autonomy. As D. H. Lawrence wrote, "America is the homeland of the pocket not the blood."
Many cultures value children who respect authority and defer to others. Linh was raised in such a culture. African and Latino children are taught to comply with authority and submerge their own needs. Traditional families tend to be big extended families with multiple adults involved in child rearing. The parent-child bond is primary. The goal of marriage isn't happiness, but rather caring for children and aged parents. Status in the family is determined by age and gender. Men are favored.
Western families are more individual-oriented. Americans want to raise independent children who think for themselves. The emphasis is on self-fulfillment and development. Rules are flexible, and status is gained by individual efforts. Families are run more democratically. The primary bond is the couple. Emotions can be expressed more directly, and in general, women have more opportunity.
In traditional cultures roles are well defined. Families are more authoritarian and there is less direct expression of emotion. Suppression of feelings and self-control are often seen as positive. Traditional cultures are fiercely loyal to insiders and wary of outsiders. They both sustain and constrain their members.
The traditional cultures tend to be much more holistic than modern American culture. There is no mind-body split, no sacred-profane split, not even a work-play split. Life isn't chopped up into neat little compartments and intervals. In fact, to succeed in America, refugees must learn to compartmentalize.
TIME
For newcomers from slow cultures, time is a river that flows through their lives. They have no abstract sense of time. Refugees who have been on sun, seasonal, or Circadian-rhythm time find the change to computer time jarring. One of the first things I teach new arrivals is time management, a very difficult skill to master but one that is essential to success in America. I bring calendars, personal planners, and watches and teach refugees how to make and keep appointments. I tell them, "Americans are very serious about two thingsâtime and money."
Anarchist John Zerzan wrote in the
Utne Reader,
"Time is an invention, a cultural artifact, a formation of culture. It has no existence outside of culture and it is a pretty exact measure of alienation." As I wind the watches and set the alarms, I question whether I am doing the newcomer a favor. Something is gained with schedules, but much is lost. The natural flow of life is broken into units and managed rather than experienced.
Newcomers joke about how we look at our watches to
People from traditional cultures with no sense of clock time and languages very different from English have a harder time adjusting than do, for example, the Bosnians, many of whom come here from Germany. Older people have a harder time. Also people who are dark-skinned have a harder time. Because of racism, the darker one's skin, the harder it is to assimilate.
An important aspect of refugee culture is its similarity to American culture in terms of work ethic. Newcomers are more likely to succeed if they come from a culture whose values promote high achievement; these values include sacrifice, curiosity, enterprise, and willingness to take risks and initiate activities.
Generalizations and dichotomies are dangerous. Thomas Friedman divides the world into fast cultures and slow cultures. There are great differences between "slow" or traditional cultures. The Somalis, the Vietnamese, and the Peruvians are strikingly different from one another in many ways. Still, there are distinctions that need to be drawn. All traditional cultures share the closeness of family and neighbors. Traditional cultures value interdependence and cooperation, whereas Americans place a high value on individual autonomy. As D. H. Lawrence wrote, "America is the homeland of the pocket not the blood."
Many cultures value children who respect authority and defer to others. Linh was raised in such a culture. African and Latino children are taught to comply with authority and submerge their own needs. Traditional families tend to be big extended families with multiple adults involved in child rearing. The parent-child bond is primary. The goal of marriage isn't happiness, but rather caring for children and aged parents. Status in the family is determined by age and gender. Men are favored.
Western families are more individual-oriented. Americans want to raise independent children who think for themselves. The emphasis is on self-fulfillment and development. Rules are flexible, and status is gained by individual efforts. Families are run more democratically. The primary bond is the couple. Emotions can be expressed more directly, and in general, women have more opportunity.
In traditional cultures roles are well defined. Families are more authoritarian and there is less direct expression of emotion. Suppression of feelings and self-control are often seen as positive. Traditional cultures are fiercely loyal to insiders and wary of outsiders. They both sustain and constrain their members.
The traditional cultures tend to be much more holistic than modern American culture. There is no mind-body split, no sacred-profane split, not even a work-play split. Life isn't chopped up into neat little compartments and intervals. In fact, to succeed in America, refugees must learn to compartmentalize.
TIME
For newcomers from slow cultures, time is a river that flows through their lives. They have no abstract sense of time. Refugees who have been on sun, seasonal, or Circadian-rhythm time find the change to computer time jarring. One of the first things I teach new arrivals is time management, a very difficult skill to master but one that is essential to success in America. I bring calendars, personal planners, and watches and teach refugees how to make and keep appointments. I tell them, "Americans are very serious about two thingsâtime and money."
Anarchist John Zerzan wrote in the
Utne Reader,
"Time is an invention, a cultural artifact, a formation of culture. It has no existence outside of culture and it is a pretty exact measure of alienation." As I wind the watches and set the alarms, I question whether I am doing the newcomer a favor. Something is gained with schedules, but much is lost. The natural flow of life is broken into units and managed rather than experienced.
Newcomers joke about how we look at our watches to
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