Theory Of Assimilation Is Inevitable For Immigrants

“Assimilation is a process in which formerly distinct and separate groups come to share a common culture and merge together socially. As a society undergoes assimilation, difference among groups decrease” (Healy, 43). Assimilation theory argues that racial inequality emerges from the inability to “be like” the dominant group/culture. Assimilationist believes that once we reach assimilation racial disparities will be less prevalent. Omi & Winant also provides a good definition of this theory. The ethnicity paradigm suggested that “racial minorities could be incorporated into American life in the same way white ethnic groups had been and the assumption of a fundamental, underlying American commitment to equality and social justice for racial minorities” (Omi & Winant, 12). It’s an idea of all cultures peacefully simmering in the great “melting pot”.
Nevertheless, assimilation theory fails to recognize that not all cultures/races will

“For groups that immigrate to the United States, acculturation to the dominant Anglo-American culture may include {as necessary) learning the English language, changing eating habits, adopting new value systems, and altering the spelling of the family surname” (Healey, 47). I believe immigrants are forced to assimilate, losing culture and language. “First-generation immigrants, who are most authentically steeped in ethnic culture, tend to throw it away, often with both hands, as they pursue the opportunities that led them to come to America in the first place. Decades later, their largely assimilated children engage in desperate, but usually futile, efforts to recover the very culture that their parents relinquished” (Steinberg in Gallagher 2012, 322). Why must one give up a part of their culture? What are we assimilating into? Does assimilation guarantee racial equality? Do we have to assimilate? What’s so great about the dominant culture that it’s worth assimilating