American Families, Socialization

American families today appear quite different from the way families existed a century ago. Families continue to be more diverse as the days go by which suggests that the future American society will too diverse. In sociology, the family is considered the most critical agent of socialization ( Kendall, 2013) . The family structure and the type of marriage, the ethnic background of couples and their cultural practices influence socialization of individuals. When people are born into a family, they learn the basic things through their interaction with their older family members. They will adopt certain behaviors depending on the nature of their family, which then affect the way they relate later with other people. For instance, a child brought up in a traditional American family will become more individualistic and refrain from engaging with strange or other racially or ethnically diverse people. A child brought in an immigrant family or in a family where couples have different racial identities will be more accepting and aware of cultural and ethnic diversity in the society. 

Before the beginning of the 20 th century, families were hardly diverse as marriages between people of different races was highly discouraged, especially marriages between whites and blacks. Drastic changes to the American families started appearing after the Second World War. Civilization had occurred, and people were now beginning to accept the fact that all races are equal and that there is nothing wrong with marrying outside one's race or ethnicity. The Jim Crow laws and racial discrimination against African Americans had also been an obstacle to interracial marriages. With the abolition of such laws by the 1970s, the blacks were to interact and socialize with the others in the American society leading to multiple cases of intermarriages. Other factors which have caused diversity in American families include globalization, technology, and urbanization/urban migrations among other factors. However, today the most critical factor causing diversity in American families is the fact that the current generation is more accepting and aware of racial and ethnic diversity. This generation does not have strong attachment or feel highly attached to their various races. 

Marriages today are mostly decided upon by couples themselves without the pressure from external parties. People marry for various reasons. For instance, while others marry for love, other people get married in pursuit of wealth or fame. There are differences in modern marriages and families which are linked to individual factors such as race, class, gender, and choice. A wealthy white man may get married to a low-class beautiful Latino woman. To the man, marrying such a lady could be out of love or personal choice. The lady would agree to marry the white guy for his wealth. Various races and ethnicities are stereotyped to be generally poor and low-class such as the African American community. While efforts to suppress gender inequality have been made in the modern world, there still exists gender differences in the society as well as in the families. 

I strongly feel that the trend towards diverse families is a positive one as it unites people and erases feelings of racisms, racist ideologies, and cases of discrimination. The trend will rise to generations with absolute tolerance to cultural practices and diversity which exist in the American society. This way, the country, will be more united and peaceful. In case the trend changes towards traditional nuclear families, women rights would seriously be affected. The traditional families subjected women to housework, perseverance in oppressive relationships and other backward, wicked indulgences. Going back to the period before World War II would mean that women can no longer be able to leave unhappy marriages or that women can no longer combine work and family. 

Reference 

Kendall, D. (2013). Sociology in our times, 11th. Independence, KY: Wadsworth Publishing. ISBN: 9781305503090