Perceptions of our Roots

Culture. The one entity that divides yet unites every breathing being in this world. Since birth, we are taught certain ways of life: celebrations, attire, language, and so on. We religiously uphold these traditions until we drift away with the current of travel and the sweet, fresh air of our new home transforms the percpective of our own very roots. In the classic tale The Secret Garden, the main character, Mary Lennox moves from India to a small English town. In her suitcase, she brings only the mannerisms of her old culture; attempting to govern everyone selfishly as she did with her servants back home. As her mind became filled with red robins, secret gardens, and the Moorish air, she realized the unfruitful ways taught to her and evolved into an ordinary and playful ten-year-old English child. When people relocate, they are introduced to a rich profusion of faces carrying differing values, causing an inundation of epiphanies.

This realization forces them to realize the strengths and deficiencies of their own heritage. Whether positive or negative, there is undoubtedly aa lasting crater leading to evolvement of perception. As it happened with Mary, many tend to change their viewpoint on their culture and begin adopting aspects because they begin prizing elements of others. In U.S. history, we can also see a brilliant example of how impression of culture can change for an individual who has departed home. When the United States was founded, four out of every 5 five citizens belonged to the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant group. Being well-educated and skilled, and of similar heritage, they quickly constituted American society and civilization. However, later immigrants from South and East Europe, such as the Polish and Italians, were considered racially and culturally inferior by the WASP group, since they were Catholics and less-educated or skilled, making them seem undesirable.

By the mid-20th century, they had largely been culturally assimilated to integrate into the mainstream or standards during the time. Sometimes, people will relocate and be put into uncontrollable situations where change of cultural perception may be a voluntary process or a forced one, depending on the way in which the communities interact. Such as the South and East Europeans who conformed to ideals set by the WASP group, many individuals who leave their home will voluntarily alter their outlook on their culture and choose to become a part of the majority culture, if they view it as being superior, or providing them with a route to improve their status in society. Even though they are now a piece in the societal jigsaw puzzle, a small switch has flipped in their head and they have begun forsaking and sacrificing their own roots by put their culture in the lowest pedestal. Like a seed in new soil, moving away from the comfort of one’s shelter can completely reshape the standpoint and mindset of the culture we stem from.