Patel's Immigration: Assimilation And The Measure Of An American?

Assimilation means adapting to a society or culture by learning there ways of life. In this case, for the immigrants based in the United States, assimilation is the key to being accepted as an American. In the early 1960s the U.S had formed strategies that limited the amount of immigrants coming into the country; this mostly favored the Europeans from the North. Later, the Immigration and Nationality Act was approved and this allowed more Asians, Africans and Latin Americans into the U.S. this resulted to an increase in influx of both illegal and legal immigrants allowed in the country. Hanes, in her article ‘Immigration: Assimilation and the Measure of an American’ claims that assimilation can be measured among immigrants and the point at

Another claim almost similar to hers was made by Patel in his article, ‘To Assimilate or to Acculturate’ in which he explains how assimilation can affect the individuality of immigrants. He gives evidence of this by narrating his personal experience, as an Indian national. According to his article there is an upside and a downside in assimilating the American culture. He goes on to say that assimilation can help immigrants to blend in and adapt to the American society but can also greatly affect their own cultural background negatively. Moreover, Patel gave illustrations in his article that described how hard it was for him being an Indian national, to embrace assimilation without affecting his own culture. He writes on how he greatly desired to be ‘part of the crowd’. He experienced the benefits of assimilation first hand when he learned how to relate to his peers. Hispanics and other immigrants have also gained benefits from assimilating such as earning themselves employment and getting admissions into various learning

In his article, ‘One Nation, One of Many’ he claims that lack of shared values in a multicultural society will pose a threat to ‘America’ as an entity. He shows evidence of this by giving statistical data of the number of immigrants who have come into the country over the years. And he has gave data from surveys on the political and cultural fragmentation that have occurred since the influx in the early 1960s. He further supports his claim by suggesting that the elite and popular opinion should find a middle ground so that the immigration crisis can be