The Culture & Assimilation of Ethnic Groups

Prior to beginning work on this Final Paper, ensure that you are caught up on the textbook reading and review the following resources:

What History Tells Us about Assimilation of Immigrants (Links to an external site.)
How Boarding Schools Tried to ‘Kill the Indian’ Through Assimilation: Native American Tribes Are Still Seeking the Return of Their Children (Links to an external site.)
Chef Marcus Samuelsson Visits Detroit’s Most Exciting Young Pastry Chef – No Passport Required (Links to an external site.)
The New Orleans Convenience Store With Legendary Vietnamese Chicken Wings – No Passport Required (Links to an external site.)
Food Is Not Only Culture, It’s Diplomacy: Leah Selim at TEDxGowanus (Links to an external site.)
Examining how different cultures are incorporated into a single society can offer insight into the ethnic group relations of that society. There are different ways in which ethnic groups experience assimilation, depending on the ethnic group’s origins in society. Many ethnic groups immigrate to a new country—often fleeing conflict in their home country—to make a better life for themselves and their families. Many ethnic groups perceive the United States as a country with greater economic, political, and social opportunities, and therefore, many immigrate to the country. Conversely, other ethnic groups are considered native or indigenous to a country and contact other ethnic groups through colonization: for example, Native American tribes in North America under British colonization. In both cases, ethnic minorities are expected to assimilate to the culture and behaviors of the majority, dominant group.

In the Final Paper, you will investigate the connection between culture, assimilation, and ethnic relations in society. A spectrum of possibilities exists when considering the degree to which ethnic groups assimilate to mainstream society, from completely adopting the new culture to maintaining their own cultural traditions and differences. Meaningful cultural symbols, such as traditions surrounding food, cooking, and eating, play a role in how ethnic groups both assimilate to new cultural norms and maintain their own unique traditions. They also assist in measuring the degree to which assimilation has occurred.

In your paper, include the following sections/components:

Introduction (two to three pages): Define the concept of assimilation and explain what happens to an ethnic group’s culture when they follow a model of full assimilation, evaluate how the degree to which an ethnic group assimilates contributes to and reinforces existing ethnic hierarchies, and explain if mainstream society is more welcoming to newcomers if they assimilate or if they retain some of their own cultural customs.

Body (about four to five pages): Explain how assimilation differs for ethnic groups that immigrate to a new country versus indigenous ethnic groups and analyze how cultural symbols—such as food—play a role in assimilation. The body of your paper should address the following:

In what ways are immigrant groups expected to assimilate to mainstream culture? Why is assimilation to mainstream culture encouraged? In other words, why are ethnic groups encouraged to adopt the culture of their new home rather than maintain their own cultural traditions?
Describe how the United States government forced the assimilation of Native American children. What purpose did this forced assimilation serve and whom did it benefit? What might today resemble if Native Americans had not been forced to assimilate?
Researchers often measure the degree to which an ethnic group has assimilated by looking at cultural practices: things like food, dress, and language. Explain, using the resources provided, the importance of food as a cultural symbol for ethnic groups. Why might an immigrant group resist adopting to the cultural food norms of the mainstream culture? What strategies do immigrant groups use to overcome this? What do the traditions surrounding food (e.g., who cooks it, how it is prepared and served, when and where it is eaten, etc.) reveal about an ethnic group’s culture? How can food, and the customs surrounding it, facilitate greater peace and understanding between ethnic groups?
Conclusion (two pages): Provide an example of your own ethnic or racial traditions surrounding food. Where did these traditions come from? How far removed are you from your ancestors who first immigrated to this country? If you were to move to a new country today, would you want to maintain these traditions or would you be willing to give them up to assimilate to the customs of your new home? What is another cultural symbol that an ethnic group may want to keep rather than assimilate into mainstream culture? To sum up the Final Paper, why are cultural symbols so important to ethnic groups?

The Culture and Assimilation of Ethnic Groups Final Paper

Must be eight to 10 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s APA Style (Links to an external site.) resource.
Must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).

Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic Voice (Links to an external site.) resource for additional guidance.
Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
For assistance on writing Introductions & Conclusions (Links to an external site.) as well as Writing a Thesis Statement (Links to an external site.), refer to the Ashford Writing Center resources.
Must use at least three scholarly sources in addition to the course text. One of these sources must be from the Ashford University Library.
The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.) table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
Must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center’s Citing Within Your Paper (Links to an external site.) guide.
Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. See the Formatting Your References List (Links to an external site.) resource in the Ashford Writing Center for specifications.
Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

ANSWER

The Culture and Assimilation of Ethnic Groups

Introduction

The concept of assimilation explains how a minority immigrant population in a new country is tasked to adopt the values, social characters, and cultures of the majority in the host country. Adapting to this new culture is encouraged through political influence, cultural and social practices of people in the host country (Kim, 2017). However, different people integrate for various reasons such as political relevance, or the expected benefits of being considered a full citizen. It is worth noting that integrating into the culture and practices of the host gives one an upper hand at receiving full citizenship status in the host country; full citizenship comes with other benefits tied to it and is considered an agent of assimilation. On the other hand, other individuals may feel compelled to integrate due to population changes, imperialistic conquest, or immigration. It certainly is not the will of other native newcomers to integrate into the new society. Some may prefer to retain their cultural practices as they identify with these, and choose not to abandon it.

The process of assimilation is gradual and has a varying degree for various individuals. After time in the assimilation process, the immigrant community begins to lose their culture, starting from avoiding their language, religion, rituals, laws and laws (Gordon, 2015). This is to ensure that there is no slight difference in culture between them and the host community. Full assimilation is attained when the immigrants or ethnic groups become indistinguishable from the host members. History observes that immigrants from the 1900s in the US grew less likely to call their children foreign names with the more they stayed there. Full citizenship marks the end of the process of assimilation. At this point, the individual is considered to have attained complete assimilation. As observed above, different people vary in the degree to which they choose to assimilate. The first generation, for instance, does not incorporate to higher degrees as compared to third-generation immigrants. First-generation is observed to be more conservative and hold cultural practices and value higher than the other generations. The degrees to which different ethnic groups integrate comes in levels. For instance, there are levels for language attainment until the final levels of speaking only English and dropping the native language. The language assimilation model is broken down into three generations. The first generation tries to adopt and learn English but is still fluent with their native language. The second generation is bilingual and speaks both English and mother tongue fluently.

On the other hand, the last age can only speak only English fluently and drops the native language. Far from language, research is underway to determine if, during assimilation, the natives also catch up with the hosts’ social-economic status. Intermarriages among the majority and minority groups indicate social integration. Intermarriages further suggest that there are profound and intimate relations between the two groups. They are considered an agent of assimilation because intermarriages reduce the chances of passing forward ethnic cultures consistent. However, the intermarriages are observed to be more common in recent generations that the first generation.

Various destinations have different foods or dishes associated with them. For instance, visiting Italy without trying pasta is pointless. Food and the processes involved in the preparation of food have a lot to say about culture. Therefore, what we cook is a representation of who we are and where we come from. Food is highly tied to our culture and our identity. It can be used as a tool for investigating the extent to which assimilation has occurred. Currently, various governments aim to introduce foreign dishes tot heir countries to preserve the culture of the foreign countries outside their geographical and cultural context. Food is a tool for preserving and sharing cultural traditions. For instance, America is a nation of immigrants has its cuisine continually changing because it is highly influenced by foods coming from outside. Because of this, it is hard for Americans to identify with given food culture.

Over time, there has been an argument that America is racist and is not ready to let other ethnic groups become a part of mainstream American life. However, on the other hand, it is argued that the process of assimilation is insidious and robs the minority groups of their history and self-esteem (Fields & Fields, 2014). For example, in the United States, emigrants become accepted members of the American community if they accept English as their national language, take pride in identifying as Americans, be morally upright, self-reliant, and hardworking. From these, we can observe that mainstream society is more welcoming for foreigners who assimilate than those who choose to retain their native identity. Americans prefer minority communities that take pride in identifying as Americans. Identifying as American involves integrating to American culture rather than sticking to one’s native culture.

Body

The implicit deficit model assumes that immigrants need to be assimilated to make progress socially and economically in the US. In recent years, most newcomers are affiliated to different languages and cultures compared to the European immigrants from the 1800s and 1900s. The speed and degree of assimilation for these newcomer immigrants before they become productive towards their new society raises concerns. Far from this, it is also believed that recent arrivals are less skilled than the immigrants from back in the day. The recent arrival newcomers are believed to be costly to the US society in their early settling stages. However, these costs tend to reduce, and American society begins to feel the newcomers’ benefits after a residence duration keeps increasing and with greater assimilation to the American culture.

As the old saying goes, similarity unites people. New immigrants in the US are encouraged to integrate into the American culture mainly to minimize segregation between community, promote economic and social stability. It is self-evident that an assimilated society or one with cultural homogeneity is less likely to be involved in conflicts between various groups. As the diverse groups come together in production and consumption processes, the economy also stabilizes even more. Economic growth is highly dependent on minimized conflicts in society. Generally, assimilation is essential in ensuring the social and economic welfare of the native community. Far from that, new immigrants usually face challenges related to securing employment and income. For example, immigrants that are fully assimilated, for example, those who have full citizenship are at a better position to secure good jobs with the government. Immigrants who not fully assimilated are not very easy to trust with employment considering the identity status. It is argued that culture diversity undermines unity in society because it drifts people from each other. Whereas similarities unite people, the opposite is also true. Differences divide people. For instance, culture assimilation is highly likely to bring harmony to society by improving the mutual understanding between the natives and the locals and reducing hostility.

In the 19th century, the American government adopted policies and strategies to forcefully assimilate Indians into American society to destroy Indian cultural identities. In the 1800s, Native American children, mainly of Indian origin, were coerced to join boarding schools. Although most of these schools were run by religious organizations, they still believed that for the native population to succeed, their traditions, beliefs, and practices had to be eradicated. Native children who attended these schools were barred from speaking their native languages, ideas, and their native identity. They were forced to drop their native names, then leased out to serve as servants at white people premises. It was out of the native children’s parents’ power to refuse their children from joining boarding school. Parents who resisted were imprisoned, and their children enrolled forcibly. However, after an investigative report later in 1900 that indicated that the schools were not in the best interests of the native children, the schools were closed down. The boarding schools had overcrowded dorms, insufficient food, reported cases of mental, inadequate medical care, physical and sexual abuse, among other factors. Above all, it was realized that the schools were involved in exploitative child labour practices.

According to American society, not for the forceful assimilations in the 19th century, Indian culture would be extinct. Although aggressive assimilation practices were done away with, the integration of native organizations continues to date (Surface-Evans, 2016). However, regardless of social integration efforts, the majority of the native Americans are still affiliated to their original communities and often get the sense of not belonging. Several years down the line, regardless of the assimilation in the 19th century, Indians are still addressed and treated just like any other minority ethnic group rather than citizens. However, other Native American tribes are coming up with strategies to evade shifting from their native languages to English. Schools have been established strictly for immersion purposes, and in these schools, a native Indian language is used as the medium of passing instructions. However, these immersion students are most likely to face challenges in undertaking state-mandated tests that are strictly composed in English. American society currently pluralistic society with many ethnic groups. There has been legislation to protect native American communities’ cultural practices, starting from their religious practices.

Another way of experiencing a new place’s culture is by trying out the foods they cook in this new place, firsthand. Various destinations have different foods or dishes associated with them. For instance, visiting Italy without trying pasta is pointless. Therefore, what we cook is a representation of who we are and where we come from. Food is highly tied to our culture and our identity. It can be used as a tool for investigating the extent to which assimilation has occurred. Currently, various governments aim to introduce foreign dishes tot heir countries to preserve the culture of the foreign countries outside their geographical and cultural context. Food is a tool for preserving and sharing cultural traditions. For instance, America is a nation of immigrants has its cuisine continually changing because it is highly influenced by foods coming from outside. Because of this, it is hard for Americans to identify with given food culture.

Some foods are believed to retain their taste if only they are cooked by the people from where they originate. Some food joints initially started in the native land to serve the native communities around. They were more of a common meeting place for a given minority community. However, with time and the reviews made on the food, these joints have expanded to serve more than just the native communities. For instance, the legendary New Orleans store for Vietnamese Chicken Wings started off to help the Vietnamese community in New Orleans over 20years ago. However, it is currently a trendy store serving the Vietnamese community because of its exclusive chicken recipe. The store was passed down from the first generation, and two generations later, the third generation was running the store just fine with a maintained clientele from various communities. At this point, the Vietnamese chicken wing store was already giving back to the United States’ host society. In this case, the Vietnamese community comes out strong to maintain Vietnamese chicken wings generations down the line.

On the other hand, the New Orleans community comes out as very open-minded to have opened up to accommodate the new taste of Vietnamese chicken wings and their culture in general (Goodyear, 2014). From a broader perspective, various other communities have also tried to introduce their multiple dishes into a new society, others with fail, others with success. Depending on the cultural aspect’s strength being presented, a native community can be accepted or rejected. For example, Chinese restaurants are successful in the United States and different populations currently order food from these restaurants. They have introduced their foods, most people both Chinese, and American citizens enjoy having these meals.

Conclusion

Coming from the Mexican origin, La Comida meaning lunch is the main meal of the day. One takes the meal between 1:30 pm and 4:00 pm. In Mexico, La Comida is the main meal of the day, and a person is often expected to eat a lot. When serving this meal, there are various meal courses available for them to eat. For example, lunch in the Mexican community consists of a salad or soup that makes the appetizer and the main course. The central system often consists of proteins, vitamins and carbohydrates. The most common La Comida meals include meat or poultry, seafood, rice or beans and the essential meal present is hot tortillas. In addition to the available meals, we are always prepared to chat and get into deep conversations before starting the meals, during the meals and after the meals. We do this because lunch is a leisure meal. Most people never understand how I manage to converse during meals instead of just concentrating on eating. Therefore, during our la Comida meals, our tradition is to have heavier lengthy conversations with family members. Our practice is to have more decadent lunch meals with hot tortillas if not daily, then at least thrice a week.

Hot tortillas have been in the world for many years. The tortilla is unleavened flatbread enjoyed by Mexican origins among Aztec in the early centuries. Tortilla originated from “torta,” a Spanish word meaning round cake (Seena-Saldiva, 2015). The first made tortilla was made as a gift. According to the old story, it was a peasant who invented hot corn tortillas, and he made them a present for a king who was hungry many decades ago. The main ingredients of tortillas are hominy and masa harina. Initially, it came from Mesoamerica. As compared to my ancestors, who first moved to America, things have changed over the years. For example, the first Mexican immigrants were more united than we are today. They visited each other and shared meals and occasions. Today, Mexican immigrants hardly say much to one another beyond “ola.” There was more unity among these groups, but today, we are getting absorbed into the American ways and forgetting our various cultures. We are being absorbed into the American culture trying to fit into their ways while ignoring our own. For example, my parents have the American dream where they want to achieve so much. As a result, they are forced to work double jobs or countless hours; hence we can hardly have our meals together. Since we cannot have family meals, we rarely meet for family gatherings with our extended families; therefore, the bonds are broken.

In case I was to move to a new country, for example, a country in Africa, I would want to maintain the traditions I grew up knowing. I do not wish to give them up and assimilate the customs of the new home. It is so because these traditions are my origin, and they partially define who I am. Therefore, deleting them to assimilate new ones that I do not understand would be like eliminating a part of me; something I would not want to do. These traditions define us and give us a meaning to who we are. As we grow up, they are a part of us, and no one should take that away from us. They are the reminders of our history and shared experience hence should not be erased no matter where we go. Another cultural symbol that an ethnic group may want to keep is religion. For example, a person raised in a Christian family may want to keep those roots with them as they grow up and maybe pass them up to the coming generations. It is so because most people from Christian families are believers, and the only place they get their answers from is from God. Therefore, letting go of the one solution and answer they have for their problems might be challenging.

Cultural symbols are essential to ethnic groups because one, they promote social harmony in the communities. When there is a cultural symbol, people often have peace and harmony as they are governed with the same beliefs. Secondly, cultural symbols offer group preservation. For example, in Christians’ case, the character of Christianity worshipping on Sundays offers the believers preservation. Lastly, it transmits culture and promotes unity.

People with similar cultures are united, as they understand one another better. The symbols help individuals understand and define themselves and their culture. It is so because, during socialization, people come together to learn themselves and to understand one another. During the process, people open their eyes and see a meaning to their interactions with other people.

References

Fields, K. E., & Fields, B. J. (2014). Racecraft: The soul of inequality in American life. New York. Verso Trade. https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/1017476/mod_resource/content/1/barbara-j-fields-and-karen-fields-racecraft-the-soul-of-inequality-in-american-life.pdf

Goodyear, D. (2014). Anything that moves: Renegade chefs, fearless eaters, and the making of a new American food culture. Penguin.

Gordon, M. M. (2015). The nature of assimilation. In Incorporating diversity (pp. 103-118). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315633978-13/nature-assimilation-milton-gordon

Kim, Y. Y. (2017). Cross-cultural adaptation. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780190459611.001.0001/acref-9780190459611-e-21

Serna-Saldivar, S. O. (2015). History of corn and wheat tortillas. In Tortillas (pp. 1-28). AACC International Press. https://www.elsevier.com/books/tortillas-wheat-flour-and-corn-products/rooney/978-1-891127-88-5

Surface-Evans, S. L. (2016). A landscape of assimilation and resistance: the Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School. International Journal of Historical Archaeology, 20(3), 574-588.

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