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The impact of cultural assimilation
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The impact of cultural assimilation
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The definition of assimilation in culture is “the process by which a person or persons acquire the social and psychological characteristics of a group,” adapting and becoming similar to ones environment (Assimilation, 2005). Countries are requiring immigrants to assimilate to their cultures, yet by doing so they are rejecting the idea of diversity. Assimilation is ripping away migrates identity and handing them a new language and culture as an entrance ticket to a country. Though, assimilation is not a concept required to be a good citizen because values are not taught in a certain language or culture, but are universal concepts. In the 2015 presidential candidate debate on immigration, Marco Rubio stated that his grandfather was immigrant who hardly spoke English, yet he loved America . He taught Marco strong values in Spanish, which made Marco a good citizen. Assimilation is not the best method for promoting cultural integration because it is eliminating opportunities for immigrants to be accepted as an equal in countries. That is why integration has to be a process that is balanced between immigrants and countries, without having a long list of requirements piled on immigrants shoulders.
The word assimilation sounds quite easy, however when one is in the position of having to assimilate, a list of requirements appear. One of the first requirements would be learning the native language of the country in order to be capable of communicating with other individuals. Learning the basics of a language is the main process of assimilating, however, the basics are not sufficient for most countries. Countries prefer individuals who are capable of speaking the native language fluently because it becomes less difficult fo ci...
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...untries should not stay focused on providing a certain image for citizens, but should try to integrate the different cultures in society. Immigrants are experiencing confusion and feeling lost in a new country where they are seen as an outcast. They need to feel safe and have resources they can use when in need of help. Countries must be willing to become diverse in order to expect positive change in their country because immigrants play a huge role in their economies. Yet, many immigrants do not believe they are contributing to society, “[B]ut the lifestyles they(middle and upper class) enjoy are made possible in large part by these mao-dependent migrants,” because they are taking jobs that help society move forward (Loyalka, 2012, p. 19). After all, immigrants are already taking on a tough task by themselves, the least countries can do is offer them a helping hand.
Back to the American history, "assimilation" policy was introduced to the Native Americans during the earliest colonial times. During that time, all American Indians must either adopt the White's lifestyles or perish. With the declaration of the Dawes Act, a goal of destroying all tribal structure and their communal life were summoned. Tribal lands were divided among natives and the Westerners, leaving the natives, a land surrounded by the foreigners. With such acts, the American Indians were slowly assimilated into the White's culture and without their own people around them, they will have to communicate with the Westerners with their language instead of their indigenous languages; they ...
It is true that the more people from different cultures that are in a given area, the more the cultures are diversified. However, with all realities, some claim that immigrants dilute the American culture. Indeed, they cause some changes to the culture. Nevertheless, these changes can bring a wealth of attraction and a source of beauty for the country that everyone should be proud of. It is obvious that every single immigrant in the US has his own culture and way of life. When all these are added together, they form a very rich culture. In addition, they bring various interesting aspects such as food, music, literature, etc. That makes the Americans rich in cultural knowledge. The importance of cultural diversity is that it teaches the people to understand each other’s views, interests, and ideas and helps people view the world in different ways. This would finally lead the society to work towards each other’s interest, mutual goals, and objectives. Tamar Jacoby in his article “Are Today’s Immigrants Assimilating in U.S Society, Yes,” he said that, “Those who are coming now are people who understand cultural fluidity, understand intermarriage and find that a natural, easy thing. This maintains unity and balances in the society” (411). Once this stage is reached, all the problems would be solved. Then it can be said that America has reached a true democracy, echoed by
Firstly to justify why countries limit their immigrations, there should be knowledge of the different types of immigrants as there are different reasons to leave from one country and move into another. In the last 30 years, the number of international immigrants has been estimated 191 million worldwide, two times as before. As ...
Immigrants are defined as people who permanently move to a forgiven country from their origin country. Immigrants can move for the purposes of seeking better living, better education, or in order to avoid any sort of issues in their origin country. Despite the reasoning behind the decision of the movement, an immigrant will be affected by the change of culture, way of life, social system and community. The process of the movement effects each individual differently depending on their, age, gender and their level of connection to their past culture. Having that said, the younger the age of the individual, the more venerable and easily they become to changing their way of life in order to feel a part of a community. Gender however is also related to the race of the person. To elaborate, females and black males are more open to the idea of changing any of their factors to adjust to their ‘new society’. An individual’s connection with their past culture, has a great impact on their personality and their standing and belief in their values, morals and culture. Therefore, the stronger and deeper the connection with their original culture and way of life, the more satisfied the individual becomes. Therefore, they don’t feel the urge to compete with another culture. Therefore, their current standing with their own culture has a strong impact on their future judgment on other culture. The weaker the connection the more prone they are to changing their current culture. Thus, an individual’s stability level towards their culture depends on other factors that are concerned with them. [Different age groups are faced with different situation that leads them to deal with different issues and therefore they are exposed to different kinds of expe...
Meanwhile, multiculturalism in the United States has been part of their history, considering the fact that almost all its populations, including its founders are immigrants coming from different cultural backgrounds (Citrin, 2001). Due to globalization, there is no reason why other immigrants and new ethnic groups could have difficulty assimilating themselves into American life.
Mexicans are not the first group of immigrants to encounter assimilation problems. A newspaper argues assimilation for Mexicans is more successful than many other immigrant groups in the past. Tyler Cowen, a professor at George Washington University, explains that following Mexican immigrant families for 3 to 4 decades gives a clear, concise model explaining how well they are assimilating. The first members of the family to arrive on United States soil assimilate slowly, but each generation after becomes more American through language, salary, and even divorce rates. His article details how Mexicans are on a faster track to assimilate than the Italians, Irish, Polish etc… were in the early 1900’s. He mentions a study that measures variables including salaries, property ownership, family size, crime rate, and languages spoken. When comparing Cowen’s research with Sandra Cisneros’ novel The House On Mango Street many similarities arise including the generation gap between older and younger Mexicans. The study supports this essay’s claim that Esperanza is able to assimilate into the culture without losing her own self-identity or falling into the typical gender roles defined by tradition. The ability to assimilate is more than just speaking the language; assimilation is living comfortably amongst natives and immigrants without feeling targeted or segregated.
Acculturation and assimilation are treated as complex, multifaceted phenomena. The acceptance of new cultural traits or social associations and retention of traditional cultural traits and social associations are viewe...
Assimilation = to take on the traits of the dominant culture; compelled though force or undertaken voluntarily to be accepted into society or simply to survive
Because of the concept of the word race, wars have been started and millions of people have been discriminated against. To me, it appears to be simply another evil in the world that we, as humans, must deal with and potentially overcome. Since the beginning of time, race has done nothing but give people a reason to argue, fight, and discriminate. It gives people reason to not associate with their fellow man. It causes a fear of the out-of-the-ordinary. Without education, race can be a barrier separating us.
...accomplished the assimilation into one race, it consists of people sharing a similar identity. In the words of Richard Rodriguez, ?We are gathered together-but as individuals?we stand together, alone,? thus people will assimilate but as individual ?Americans?.
Thomas Bray, an editor for the Detroit News talks about the recent poll against bilingual education in California in his editorial, Memorial Day and Multiculturalism, in which he presents a strong argument for assimilation, "A nation unsure of it's roots and values may not survive long as a nation- witness how close even `multicultural` Canada is coming to crack up because of the drive by separatist French Quebec to secede and form an independent nation.". (Bray, 3) Bray suggests that to be a strong nation, we need to define what is `American` and everyone should live up to one standard. American culture, beliefs, and values should all be defined. Bray says that if we don't have one standard than how can we be as one nation? How can we be identified as one nation? He emphasizes the need for assimilation, "Assimilation is a bad word these days. But it's a tested method of achieving `E pluribus Unum`. (Bray, 4) Perhaps it need not be harshly administered in the old days, but a country that has no standards to assimilate to is a country without a core and a country deep in trouble." Bray's view is that of many Americans who think that America and American culture should be defined with roots that go deep into British history, and not by it's many other roots around the world. That America can be defined by one mainstream culture that everyone in the country assimilates to. I believe that there are too many different people in the country to think that everyone is the same. The fact is that people are different, and no one can change that.
Culture is a part of everyone's life, whether we choose to express it in our everyday lives or to just be aware of its presence. A major part of one's culture is a defining language. The topic of assimilation versus multiculturalism directly relates to culture in America, and even more specifically to the power of language in American culture. Since language is the basis of communication I think that all immigrants must assimilate to a certain degree by speaking English, while preserving their heritage if they choose to do so.
Teske, Raymond H.C., Jr., and Bardin H. Nelson. Acculturation and Assimilation: A Clarification 1.2 (1974): 351-67. Jstor.org. Jstor.org/journals, Feb. 2013. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
Multiculturalism has become a way for nations to implement foreigners into their lives; however, Malik believes that countries are taking
Immigration is a controversial topic that features conflicting opinions on a global scale. This is because skeptics believe that immigrants are taking away the original culture and traditions of individual societies, whereas, those supporting immigration believe that immigrants in fact enrich the culture of the host countries and provide great benefits to the country overall. This ongoing debate regarding immigration has led to the increased difficulty in gaining national citizenship in some countries, such as Saudi Arabia. Other countries, however, welcome immigrants as they believe foreigners are valuable to society. Immigration around the world should be encouraged as immigrants increase diversity, add to the amount of skills and labor opportunities available to the countries they move to, and improve the economy.