Acculturation and Assimilation

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Dreams are powerful. They are images that flash in our mind as we sleep or goals that define us while we are awake. For centuries, dreams have been the reason for immigrants to come to America. Dreams of hope, love, refuge and a dream of a better job, education and life. America has warmly embraced immigrants and their aspirations over the centuries, but unfortunately today Americans do not graciously except all the foreigners that travel to the Untied States in search of the american dream. Instead America labels the individual’s race and categorizes them into a racial class, which only adds to the difficult trials for immigrants and have the potential to hinder dreams. Today America’s ego has grown and attempts to forcefully assimilate these immigrants rather than slowly let them acculturate. Although the Untied States is a country built on immigrants Americans often categorize and label foreigners, forcing them to assimilate into american culture. As citizens who co-exist in one country it is imperative, to drop these labels and allow immigrants the freedom to blend their own culture and self-image into their new american environment by adapting the ideas of multiculturalism and acculturation.
Forced Assimilation effects immigrants all over the world. In America forced assimilation begins with the labels and stereotypes that are thrust upon immigrants. America is a melting pot that serves as home for many different types of people and that is something every citizen has in common. It doesn't matter if a family has been living in America for 100 years or just 1 year, each family deserves to call America home and have confidence in where they came from. Labels that may seem as trivial as ‘smart asian’ or ‘black’ actually alter ...

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...012. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.
Kymlicka, Will, and Keith Banting. "Immigration, Multiculturalism, And The Welfare State." Ethics & International Affairs (Wiley-Blackwell) 20.3 (2006): 281-304. Academic Search Complete. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.
Patel, Jay. "To Assimilate or to Acculturate?" English Department, University of Maryland. University of Maryland, Apr.-May 2012. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
Skerry, Peter. "Do We Really Want Immigrants to Assimilate?" The Brookings Institution. N.p., Mar.-Apr. 2000. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
Thornton, Bruce. "America's Problem of Assimilation | Hoover Institution." America's Problem of Assimilation | Hoover Institution. The Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University, 24 May 2012. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.
Union, Yale Political. "Should Immigrant Assimilate?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 11 Oct. 2009. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.

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