...Assimilation theory refers to the functioning within a society of racial or ethnic minority-group members who no longer possess any marked cultural, social, or personal differences from the people of the dominant group (2016). Racial groups lose their importance through assimilation. The different types of assimilation are cultural assimilation, marital assimilation, and structural assimilation. For example, a Hispanic man moves his family to America and stops celebrating Hispanic holidays such as Cinco de Mayo or Day of the Dead. These holidays are known in the Hispanic community. However, they start celebrating holidays such as July 4th Independence Day. The equation is A+B+C=A. Amalgamation theory or melting pot refers to a diverse individual...
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...explanations for ethnic inequality Functionalists hold the view that ethnic inequality is a dysfunctional for society, and that ethnic minorities need to become more similar to the white majority. This is known as Assimilation theory, which is staunchly criticised by the Marxists who believe racism exists to justify the inequalities that are so wide spread by the Bourgeoisie via Capitalism. Weberianism concurs with Marxists (so they diverge from the Functionalists) to an extent, but they introduce status into the explanation. Postmodernists take a approach antagonistic to all of the afore mentioned approaches, and that is to argue that blanket terms such as ethnicity are no longer relevant in the modern era, where our identities are defined by consumerism and globalisation. Functionalists outline the Assimilation Theory, suggested by Patterson. Patterson believes that the influx of immigrants into Britain in the 1950s disturbed what was a homogenous society with social stability and a high degree of social integration, leading to a value consensus. The norms and values brought in with the immigrants led to a Cultural Clash, where each different ethnicity were seen to be against the norm. This created many stereotypes e.g. boisterous West Indians. Prejudice also came about, buoyed by xenophobia, competing for jobs between ethnicities and a lack of similarity (Assimilation) with foreigners. Patterson continues by arguing this has caused self-segregation, whereby ethnic minorities...
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...This paper will be analysing a newspaper article from The Australian in relation to assimilation and Australian culture. Rintoul (2012) reported in the article that there was support from leaders of multiple faiths in Victoria to install prayer rooms in Australian Rules Football (AFL) venues. However, a former Victorian premier (Jeff Kennett) was against the move, positioning Muslim culture at odds with Australian culture and identity, deeming it incompatible with an iconic part of ‘traditional’ Australian culture. Therefore, this newspaper article may raise the question of whether migrants or Australians of faiths other than Christianity, particularly Muslims, are still expected to assimilate into a “traditional” Australian culture. This is...
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...Assimilation and Multiculturalism Midterm Reena S. Glover SS 310 Herzing University Dr. I. Hunt August 1, 2013 An assimilation and multicultural society that we are living in is taking on new meaning of what was, is, and will be to be an American. At one time, North America was the land of Native Americans who had their own customs that eventually was invaded by the Europeans. A set of people that when they came over to North America, had to be led by the Native Americans and the ways of their land to survive. Once the Europeans began to master the land, they took the land little by little from the Native Americans and changed it to their own way of living. They then incorporated their way of living on the new land, even with slavery. Taking from others what didn’t belong to them, making change and calling it their own. The Europeans are what we call modern day bullies. One particular culture, African was a group that was assimilated by the Europeans. They were stripped of their customs and forced to live the way that Europeans wanted them to live. Africans lost the rich heritage of their color and culture. Their color was assimilated, and the range of the melanin of their skin went from a heavy dark color to have very faint light color and many shades in between. This happened because the slave’s master raped and bedded the African women. This wasn’t an instant change in color, but over time, the color changed. What was meant for bad and pleasure for “the man”...
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...effects. Race shapes the way we view ourselves and those around us. We shouldn’t have an objective knowledge about race. We can know what race is and how it works being aware that regardless of the various shifts in the meaning of race that they have occurred through history and going to occur geographically but this should not lead to skepticism and the destruction of positive social constructions. The understanding race draws upon differences not only in the skin color and physical attributes but also when it comes to language, nationality, and even religion. Race categories are often used as ethnic intensifiers that aim to justify why one group of people is different from the other group. Race has become so difficult in American society that there is no room for people to...
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...Week 1 Discussion 1: Assimilation John Doe Ant101 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology YOUR TEACHERS NAME HERE July 9, 2014 Week 1 Discussion 1: Assimilation John Doe Ant101 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology YOUR TEACHERS NAME HERE July 9, 2014 Assimilation The textbook discusses the process of assimilation. After viewing the film, Indian School: Stories of Survival, answer the following questions: a. What is the definition of assimilation? b. What happened to the Native American children in the film? c. Why did the American government decide to assimilate them into Western culture? d. How did this affect them long term? e. Is assimilating others into another culture ever justified? Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Support your claims with examples from the required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references. Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts by Day 7. The textbook defines assimilation as, “when members of one society become a politically or economically subordinated part of another, as when a conquered group is incorporated into the conquering society or when an ethnic population immigrates into a country with a different culture, the subordinate group may lose its original culture as its members adopt the customs of the larger society.” (Crapo, 2013) In the film, Indian School: Stories of Survival, the Native American children were uprooted from their...
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...Dev Sharma Amy Forrest MCWP 40 21st October 2016 Immigrant Assimilation The question of how to assimilate in a new country is of paramount importance to an immigrant and also to the country they’re moving to. The articles, ‘Should immigrants assimilate?’ by Alejandro Portes and Min Zhou, and ‘Debating Immigration’ by Mary C. Waters, claim the process of assimilation is a complex one and has multiple factors influencing it which can have lasting impact on generations of immigrants. However, Portes and Zhou go into specific details about and case studies Waters claims that the second generation’s prosperity and social status depends on how the first generation assimilates and social situation in which they are in. Portes and Zhou build on this...
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...Portes and Zhou’s article, “Should Immigrants Assimilate?” addresses a question that immigrant academics and immigrants have been argued for a long time about the consequences of second generation immigrants assimilating into American society. Portes and Zhou’s main claim suggests the vulnerabilities and resources second generation immigrants have determines the effectiveness of their selective assimilation. Mary Waters’ article, “Debating Immigration: Are We Addressing the Right Issues?” asserts that Americans have a precedent view and expectation that second generation immigrants have to follow. When these articles are put together in conversation, Portes and Zhou’s main claim that selective assimilation for second generation immigrants is...
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...ate very seasoned food that was unusual for locals. Also the author wrote about assimilating the immigrants by the government. I highlighted the main question of the text: What makes an immigrant a citizen? And I surely know the answer. It is Assimilation, that includes a lot of things. First of all, to assimilate an immigrant must speak local language in his everyday life. Language is the most important part of assimilation. Without speaking local language, like English in USA, an individual is not able to communicate with people around him. Without ability to communicate with others, an immigrant can not get a job, buy anything, ask others for help, etc. People use language to say others what they need, to do any work together, in general to live in society, be a part of it. For example, there are some people in USA who doesn’t really speak English, like people of Brighton Beach, Chinatown in New York City or another “national districts”. People there can not go and do anything outside of their neighborhood. They can’t get a well-paid job in rich neighborhoods like Downtown. So, the first thing an immigrant must do to become a part of the society and assimilate is to learn local language as well as he can. Also, assimilation includes eating the same food as others. To become an American, an immigrant should eat what Americans eat every day. Immigrants of the past century were different. They did not eat American food, so they actually was not Americans. To help them...
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...The answer to these questions would vary based on if ethnic hierarchy, one way assimilation, cultural pluralism, or group separatism were being discussed. Ethnic Hierarchy is when some racial groups think that they are better or held on a higher pedestal then other ethnic or racial groups. For example back in slavery times, African Americans were looked at the inferior racial group. One Way Assimilation is when an individual or group from another culture adapts to one dominant culture as well as that culture’s traditions of that society. The goal of assimilation is to have equality so that everyone can be on one accord. For Instance, many immigrants came from other parts of the world to America. They had to adapt to the American society. For example, when Chinese people came to the US they had to learn a second language. If they did not, no one would understand what they are saying when they start talking. One way assimilation allows everyone to communicate with one another without any miscommunication. Cultural Pluralism is completely different from the first two models of ethnic relations. In this model it states that everyone can be who they want to be, in other words it celebrates all the differences among different cultures. Group Separatism is known when ethnic groups remove themselves from the American society. They remove themselves to bond with other cultural groups from other societies. For example Afrocentrism, was a movement where the African culture was being shared...
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.... African American and Hispanics are two immigrant groups that have become assimilated into American society. Assimilation, as referred to in the text, is changing or adopting new customs and beliefs to fit in or become apart of a major or dominant culture. The United States, unlike any other country, has many races, ethnicities, nationalities, religions, and opportunities. Other ethnic groups believe that the only way to advance in life is by adopting new cultures and becoming apart of the norm. A vast majority of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans arrived in America to flee hardship and to find a way to make a living. California and Texas combine for more than half of the Hispanic residents in America (Guisepi, n.d). There are about two thirds of Puerto Ricans that reside in the U.S. who are currently in the New York City area, including nearby New Jersey. Most Cuban Hispanics...
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...1790 – Commentary: This excerpt from 1790 by Eleanor Dark explores the isolation experienced by an Aboriginal woman, Cunnembeillee and her white husband, Andrew. In this excerpt, Dark highlights the hardships, which Cunnembeillee faces through her fraught relationship. Emphasizing her feelings of separation from her tribe and from her husband, drawing out the sadness, which is felt not only by Cunnembeillee but also her husband. Dark explores the condition for women of the time of patriarchal societies through highlighting Cunnembeillee’s treatment she experienced by her husband. This piece is retrospective in the way that it was written at the time of the suffragette movement in Australia with the rise of feminism, which is clearly influential through the focus of the text. Ultimately this text will examine the idea of isolation, patriarchal societies and the use of language to portray assimilation. In this excerpt, the reader is exposed to the social condition in which Cunnembeillee is living in. Dark portrays the severity of isolation that Cunnembeillee experiences through the emphasis of differentiation of culture between her and her husband. When describing how Cunnembeillee “tried to amuse him and make him less heavy hearted by performing a little dance which was one of the most popular comedies of her tribe, he snarled at her and struck her with a stick” Dark utilizes dance as a symbol of Cunnembeillee attempting to express her emotions, a way for her to share a...
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...Eric Liu, the son of Chinese immigrants, grows up learning to downplay his ethnic identity in the mostly white community in America. He is a successful young American, writing speeches for President Bill Clinton after graduating from Yale University, but Liu nevertheless wonders what degree his Chinese heritage has shaped his status and personality in contemporary American society. In order to solve this problem, Liu writes The Accidental Asian in half cultural commentary and half memoir to record the process of racial assimilation. In this book, Liu expresses his desire that race may one day become an irrelevant category for all people in American society, and part of the richness of this book comes from the New York’s Chinatown and some pictures...
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...Name: Institution: Course: Date: Asian Americans in the US Introduction The modern American world and the traditional Asian American world from which their parents originated are the two worlds that the second-generation Asian Americans bridge. The focus of this paper is on the emergence of the second generation Asian Americans, the tension between the second generation Asian Americans and their first generation parents, ways in which the second generation Asian Americans forged their paths (socially, politically and economically), how the experiences of second-generation Asian Americans were shaped by race and lives of second-generation Asian Americans between 1900-1940s. The emergence of the second generation Asian Americans Individuals born in the US whose either mother or father is not a citizen of the US by birth is considered as a second generation American. That implies that a second generation American is a citizen of the US by birth. A unique ethnic identity, which is not yet American and not quite Asian, is what a second-generation Asian American depicts. By the onset of the 20th century, America hosted 120, 248 foreign-born Asian immigrants, the West Coast being their predominant residence. The figure was more than double by 1930. The increase in the population of second-generation Asian Americans is attributed to the growing presence of their parents, who are the first generation immigrants in America. It was more likely for the immigrants (first generation)...
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...Assignment 4 – Where I Stand and Why There are different attitudes and opinions to assimilation. In the text “Where I stand and Why” by LaToya Powel, some different attitudes to assimilation are expressed. The text is about LaToya and her family’s assimilation in New York City. She’s interviewing her grandfather who migrated to New York City from Lumberton, North Carolina, in 1957 to get a job and a better life for his family. Her grandfather, Franklin Powell, and his wife Shirley Ruth Powell assimilated because they were forced to it. All the work was in white America, and if they wanted a job they needed to adapt the culture. The only concern in his life was to work so he could get a better life for his family, and he didn’t think about the forced assimilation. He gave his children everything that the white people had so it would be easier for them to fit in because it meant a lot to him. English was also very important to him, and he got mad when his family didn’t speak correctly because to have a conversation with corporate white people would be the survival in this world. LaToya has another point of view on assimilation. She is against it, and she doesn’t think that anyone should conform others culture. Everybody has their own identity, and nobody should be forced to change themselves. She wants to retain who she is. The white society has a huge influence on the way African Americans are living. African Americans don’t have the same rights as the white. By way of...
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