I intend to discuss in my present blogg about a process that many people tend to mix up with multiculturalism, namely assimilation. As I have already talked about multiculturalism I will make now a brief description of assimilation to have an idea what it is about. Sociology defines cultural assimilation as the taking over of the customs, traditions and the language belonging to a majority by an individual, group of individuals or a minority of people, having as consequence the loss of the characteristic traits of the minority.
Cultural assimilation can be observed very well at the level of the immigrant population. Immigrants get most of the times through a state of change after entering a country with new cultural characteristics, different from theirs. Step by step, either easier or harder, they are assimilated in the society that becomes a new home for them, gaining similar traits with the members of this specific society.
Multiculturalism goes hand in hand with assimilation, being totally opposed to it. Where there is assimilation, there is no place for multiculturalism. Assimilation takes a culture, and makes that culture like your own by following your cultural beliefs, while multiculturalism preserves cultural differences. It has been said that assimilation is something similar with the term ‘melting pot’ because people are changing both cultures into something that they are not. However, many state that assimilation has negative implications, as it contributes to the disappearance, the loss of the distinctive traits of the national minorities and the aboriginal cultures. It is important to understand what the process of cultural assimilation can do to the level of minority cultures because, once we are aware of the destructive nature of assimilation, we can also take a stand and fight against the disappearance of cultural values.
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2 comments:
Good topic to write about. But I have one question. What is your opinion of this subject? I would like to know if you are against assimilation or for it. I dont think you really spoke of it in this paragraph. I think that assimilation is is needed to keep the culture of which immigrants have come to. The whole reason why people come to the U.S. is to escape their old society right? So why the issue of assimilation being wrong?
I wonder if we in the United States want the best of both worlds: we want the culture (see Monique's posts) from entertainment, food, travel and tourism, etc., but then we (I actually don't know who "we" is in this scenario) also want enough of an assimilation from newcomers so that communities can be built based on some sort of sharing of like-mindedness. ...
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