Introduction
Every culture has its own influences, cultural norms, expectations, and expressions that
are established by the people. In the movie McFarland USA it took the White family some time
to adjust to the new and very different culture of McFarland. The father of the family, Jim White,
loses his job in Boise, Idaho and takes a new one in McFarland, California. The culture there is
very different from the mostly white, suburban culture that they previously lived in. Not only did
the people living in the town need to adjust to the new family, the family needed to learn to take
in and adapt to the culture of the town. The culture of the town is very Hispanic/Latino. Family
and hard work and very important to the people. The students genuinely don’t graduate high
school and they go to work in the fields. At first the people living in the town did not want to
take in the White family. Due to the family being so different from the people they didn’t want to
let them in. This was very hard on Jim White as he tried to adjust and live in McFarland. After
hard work and learning to adjust and take in the culture, he was able to make friends with the
people and create a new and better environment for his family.
RQ
For the youth of McFarland, in order for them to make friends they need to know that the
others are trying to take in and understand their culture. If they are treated like outsiders, then
they won’t let their guard down. In the movie there aren’t very many non-Hispanic people living
in McFarland. Most of the people there have the same culture. This is what the youth have grown
up with and are accustomed to. So, when a white family moves into town their guard is up and
they don’t want to let them in. The youth are taught at a young age that they need to work hard
and provide for the ones that they love. This work ethic is very important for them and they see it
as a very important trait for other people in their lives to have. If someone wants to be friends
with the youth the need to show that they are willing to work hard too. Once the youth see an
effort in taking on and learning their culture, they will then adjust and learn more about the new
comers in their life.
When Jim White and his family moved to McFarland, they had to adjust to the intense
work ethic and the new Hispanic/Latino values. Jim first became a coach for the football team
but after some difficulty and trials he managed to convince the principle to allow him to make a
cross country team. He selected a few hard working, promising students to run for his team. At
first the students were hard to work with and didn’t want to run but after some time Coach White
managed to earn their respect. In order to earn the respect of the students White had to do many
things such as meet the families of the boys, show that he cared about the team, and put in effort
to learn and understands their culture. Once the boys saw the genuine effort of the coach, they
started to respect him and listen to what he said.
In order for Jim White to earn the respect of the team he needed to do some ethnographic
research. He had to stand back and observe what is important for the boys and for the people if
the town. He saw the importance of hard work and family, what’s the cultural norm for a school
work ethic, and what happens to students after high school. After doing this he was able to adjust
and show an understanding of the culture to his team. White was able to enculturate to the
society of McFarland and become accepted with the people. Once the team respected him so did
everyone else. Some ways that Coach White showed enculturation were by coming to family
dinners, learning to speak Spanish, spending time with the people of the town, offering his help,
working in the field, throwing a quinceañera for his daughter, and more. After doing these things
the town and his team saw his effort to understand them and they let him in.
Conclusion
For the people of McFarland their culture comes first. They don’t change it for other
people. If others want to come in and live with them, they need to understand and learn their
culture. This was very critical for Jim White and his family to do in order to live with and earn
the respect of the people of McFarland. It took hard work but after some time they were able to
develop an ethnography of the people. He was able to move from just observing how the people
lived to understanding their values and taking them in as his own. After he did this the people of
McFarland stepped back and took in the White family and8understpood that while they have
taken in and adapted to the new culture, they need to respect that they still have their own
differences.
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