They are two different regions of people that assimilated into someone’s else society. According to the information given in the book Foreigners in Their own land and the film given in this class assimilation is when someone gradually adopts characteristics of another group. For example, when adopting their culture, language, religion all customs that the other group fallows. As the examples I’ll be providing in the next paragraph, Mexicans adopted Anglos characteristics and the Americans adopted the Mexicans customs. The examples are in two different states far away from each other.
Sara and her family are going through this assimilation process because they believe they will be welcomed by society and adopt American identities. For immigrants’ transitions, and Sara in particular, a reality of independence is strongly desired. She seeks to become independent of her family and her cultural background because she believes that independence is a sign of authenticity and originality. This process is a combination of self-creation and Americanization. English language skills and a method of education are also critical components of cultural assimilation.
Assimilation is the process of adapting or adjusting to the culture of a group or nation, or the state of being. It also is the state or condition of being assimilated, or of being absorbed into something. An example of will be, assimilation of immigrants into American life. Assimilation connects a lot to the novel because Kii Yazhi has to adapt to the ways of Americans when he goes to boarding school and has to act like them. In the novel Code Talkers the author Bruchac perfectly shows and explains assimilation.
A scholar by the name of Roger Cunningham creates a strong example of culture. Cunningham stated that a meaningful systematic structure that implies location to the universe. Due to interaction of systems, Appalachia is continuously restructuring. There is a predisposition to protect Appalachian culture in a secure, inflexible way. The social and cultural aspects are able to change and are not simplified to a few distinct directories (Maloney & Obermiller, 2011).
We see this through the elders and Lishpa mostly who is encouraged to make love medicine by Grandma Kashpaw. On the other hand we see the grandchildren of the Kashpaws wanting to move off the reservations and submerge themselves in to american culture. Albertine goes to school to become a nurse, and eventually a doctor, and King moves to the city to work. And many other children come back form minneapolis and Chicago to attend the funeral of Nector Kashpaw. However, we also see major assimilation from the elders as well.
Throughout assimilation, there was a cultural barrier between the Indians and the teachers. At the core of this barrier was the idea that one culture was more civilized than the other. This idea can be seen in both Native American boarding schools and at St. Lucy’s. As stated in Sarah E. Stone’s dissertation, the teachers at Native American boarding schools were not “culturally familiar” (57) with the students and, as a result, treated them differently. Similarly, at St. Lucy’s the nuns saw the wolf girls as barbaric people and treated them accordingly.
Richard Rodriguez and Gloria Anzaldúa are two authors who both immigrated to America in the 1950s and received first hand experience of the assimilation process into American society. During this time, Rodriguez and Anzaldúa had struggled adjusting to the school system. Since understanding English was difficult, it made adjusting to the American school system increasingly difficult for Rodriguez. Whereas Anzaldúa, on the other hand, had trouble adjusting to America’s school system due to the fact that she didn’t wish to stop speaking Spanish even though she could speak English. Both Rodriguez and Anzaldúa had points in their growing educational lives where they had to remain silent since the people around them weren’t interested in hearing them speaking any other language than English.
Between 1790 and 1920, the United States used assimilation to shift Native-American culture into Euro-American culture. Americanization policies stated that when Natives learned Americas customs and values, they could combine their culture with American culture and have a peaceful transition into society’s majority. However, after the Indian Wars, Native American children were sent to boarding schools where they were forced to adopt the English language and other cultural aspects of the new America and leave their own traditions behind. The question of whether assimilation should be encouraged is still debated today.
Readers also learn about assimilation and acculturation. According to the text, assimilation is “the coming together of two distinct cultures to create a new and unique third cultural form” (Pg. 200). Acculturation “involves taking on the cultural ways of another group, usually those of the mainstream culture” (Pg. 201). In chapter nine, a variety of mental health issues associated with racial groups are discussed, such as: trauma.
Assimilation Essay The beginning of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s were not much different time periods in terms of Native Americans. During both time periods Native Americans are still struggling with the idea of assimilation. At the beginning of the 1800s, which is main focus of The Cherokee Removal, Native Americans are struggling with was assimilation the right path for them to take or not. At the end of the 1800s, which is the main focus of Talking Back to Civilization, Native Americans are struggling with how to gain rights after assimilation; trying to progress in American society.
As time moved forward, the relationship between Europeans and Natives started to change, and with this change came forced assimilation. For the Natives, the Europeans saw the forced assimilation as there way of civilizing them (Lahlum, 22 Feb 2017). One of the main features of forced assimilation was Indian Boarding schools. In these schools, they teach the Native children English and Christianity (Laliberte, Natives, Neighbors, and the National Game, 2010). On the other hand, the immigrants from Germany and Scandinavia willingly adapted there culture to include aspects of Minnesota/ American Culture.
Assimilation is usually meant to indicate what happens to immigrants in a new land. However, “rejection, loneliness, discrimination—these were the byproducts of living in the United States” (Ghymn 37). In Marilyn Chin’s essay on assimilation “How I Got That Name,” the speaker acquaints the readers how she got the American name “Marilyn.” The tension between the two cultures is evident, for the speaker is treated as “Model Minority.” Her race and ethnicity define her; in fact, the stereotypes inscribed with her race restricted and cage her significance in the society.
For many new immigrants coming to America, it is difficult to adjust into the new society. Many come to America without the basic knowledge of English, the new immigrants do not have the ability assimilate to American society because of the lack of possible communication between the immigrant and an native. Non-English speaking immigrants that come to America face harsh challenges when trying to assimilate to U.S. society because immigrants are often segregated into ethnic communities away from natives, Americans do not know basics of words of other well known languages, and the lack of government funding education programs. Assimilation into a new society is difficult enough, but when the society pushes any new immigrants to separate part
Some ways Assimilation can be forced upon minorities or religious groups is by the use of laws and legal boundaries, or by the cultural beliefs and ideas already established. Forced assimilation was very common in the past with the Native Americans. The white minority would set laws and bribe the Native Americans to motivate them to live and resemble the white race. Forced Assimilation is still present today and is most comely seen in immigration. When immigrants move to America some of their culture and beliefs are illegal or viewed as unusual and they are pushed towards or forced
When you get to America some people already think of you as less so it is difficult to obtain a good job or even just natural adaption. It can be hard to flee your country and have to learn a whole new culture as seen by how upset Baba gets in the convenience store. “Almost two years we've bought his damn fruit and put money in his pocket and the son of a dog wants to see my license!” (127). Babe and Amir are used to walking into a store with a stick and the owner carves indentation into the stick to indicate how much Baba owed him.
