Assimilation and Pluralism: From
Immigrants to White Ethnic to White
Americans
Chapter Two
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Assimilation and Pluralism
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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, differences among
groups begin to decrease.
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Pluralism, on the other hand, exists when groups
maintain their individual identities.
 In a pluralistic society, groups remain separate, and their
cultural and social differences persist over time.
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Assimilation and Pluralism
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In some ways, assimilation and pluralism are
contrary processes, but they are not mutually
exclusive.
They may occur together in a variety of
combinations within a particular society or group.
Some segments of a society may be assimilating,
while others are maintaining (or even increasing)
their differences.
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Type of Assimilation
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Melting pot
 A process in which different groups come together
and contribute in roughly equal amounts to create a
common culture and a new, unique society
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Types of Assimilation
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Americanization or Anglo-conformity
 Rather than an equal sharing of elements and a
gradual blending of diverse peoples, assimilation in
the United States was designed to maintain the
predominance of the British-type institutional patterns
created during the early years of American society
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Types of Assimilation
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Under Anglo-conformity, immigrant and minority
groups are expected to adapt to Anglo-American
culture as quickly as possible.
Americanization has been a precondition for access
to better jobs, education, and other opportunities.
But Americanization has also created conflict,
anxiety, demoralization, and resentment.
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The “Traditional” Perspective on
Assimilation: Theories and Concepts
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Robert Park and “Race Relations Cycle”
 Contact
 Competition
 Accommodation
 Assimilation
Assumed that assimilation is inevitable in a democratic and
industrial society
In a political system based on democracy, fairness, and
impartial justice, all groups will eventually secure equal
treatment under the law.
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The “Traditional” Perspective on
Assimilation: Theories and Concepts
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Milton Gordon, Assimilation in American Life (1964)
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Differentiated between:
 Culture
 Social structure
o Primary networks
o Secondary networks
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Gordon’s Stages of Assimilation
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The “Traditional Perspective on
Assimilation: Theories and Concepts
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Human Capital Theory - Explains success achieved by
an individual in terms of individual characteristics and
abilities such as educational level and skills.
More a status attainment theory (High levels of
affluence and occupational prestige are the result of
superior education that makes affluence possible more
so than being born into a privileged status ) than
assimilation theory
 Incomplete in explaining status attainment as it deemphasizes structural factors in favor of individual
factors
 Also assumes fairness in U.S. society
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Pluralism
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Horace Kallen (1915) rejected the notion of Anglo
conformity, which was inconsistent with democracy and
other core American values.
Evidence that full assimilation has not materialized, even
among European ethnic groups
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Interest in pluralism has also increased due to
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Multiculturalism has been and will be an ongoing debate
 Increasing U.S. diversity
 Global conflicts rooted in ethnic differences
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Types of Pluralism
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Cultural pluralism exists when groups have not acculturated and
each maintains its own identity.
Structural pluralism exists when a group has acculturated but not
integrated. That is, the group has adopted the Anglo-American
culture but does not have full and equal access to the institutions of
the larger society.
Integration without acculturation reverses the order of Gordon’s first
two phases
 Enclave establishes its own neighborhood and relies on a set of
interconnected business for its economic survival and
 middleman minorities relies on small shops and retail firms, but
the businesses are more dispersed throughout a large area
rather than concentrated in a specific locale
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English Speaking Generations
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Other Group Relationships
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Separatism goes well beyond pluralism and exists
among groups in French Canada, Scotland,
Chechnya, Cyprus, southern Mexico, Hawaii, etc.
Revolution seeks to switch places with the
dominant group and become the ruling elite or
create a new social order
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Other Group Relationships
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Dominant groups may engage in forced migration or
expulsion, extermination or genocide, and continued
subjugation of the minority group.
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From Immigrants to White Ethnics
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A massive immigration from Europe began in the
1820s
They came as immigrants, became minority groups
upon their arrival , experienced discrimination and
prejudice in all its forms, went through all the
varieties and stages of assimilation and pluralism,
and eventually merged into the society that had
rejected them
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From Immigrants to White Ethnics
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Industrialization and Immigration
 Industrialization destroyed the traditional way of life as it
introduced new technology, machines, and new sources of
energy to the task of production. In response, peasants
began to leave their home villages and move toward urban
areas
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The first wave or “Old Immigration” came from Northern
and Western Europe in the 1820s; the second wave or
“New Immigration” began arriving from Southern and
Eastern Europe in the 1880s
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From Immigrants to White Ethnics
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Northern and Western European immigrants included English,
Germans, Norwegians, Swedes, Welsh, French, Dutch, and Danes.
These groups were similar to the dominant group in their racial and
religious characteristics and also shared many cultural values with
the host society, including the Protestant Ethic.
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Immigrants from Norway – On a per capita basis, Norway sent more
immigrants to the U.S. before 1890 than any European nation
except Ireland
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Immigrants from Germany – The stream of immigration from
Germany was much larger and German Americans left their mark on
the economy, the political structure, and the cultural life of their new
land
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From Immigrants to White Ethnics
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Assimilation patterns – By and large, assimilation for
Norwegian, German, and other Protestant immigrants
from Northern and Western Europe was consistent with
the traditional views discussed earlier
Immigrant laborers from Ireland and Southern and
Eastern Europe – these “immigrant laborers” came in
two waves: the Irish took part of the Old Immigration,
while Italians and other Southern and Eastern
Europeans made up the New Immigration
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From Immigrants to White Ethnics
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Eastern European Jewish Immigrants and the Ethnic Enclave –
Jewish immigrants from Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe
settled in the urban areas of the Northeast and Midwest; NY city was
the most common destination.
Unlike most European immigrant groups, Jewish Americans became
heavily involved in commerce and often found ways to start their
own businesses.
The enclave economy and the Jewish neighborhoods established by
the immigrants proved to be an effective base from which to
integrate into American Society.
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From Immigrants to White Ethnics
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Chains of Immigration – All of the immigrant groups
tended to follow “chains” established and maintained by
the members of their groups.
Someone from a village would make it to the United
States; the successful immigrant would send word to the
home village; within months, another immigrant from the
village, perhaps a relative, would show up at the address
of the original immigrant
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The Campaign against Immigration:
Prejudice, Racism, and Discrimination
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Anti-Catholicism – Much of the prejudice against the Irish and the
new immigrants was expressed as anti-Catholicism
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Anti-Semitism – Jews faced intense prejudice and racism as they
began arriving in large numbers in the 1880s
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The prejudice and racism direct against the immigrants also found
expression in organized, widespread efforts to stop the flow of
immigration. The National Origins Act established a quota system
that limited the number of immigrants that would be accepted each
year from each sending nation, a system that was openly racist,
allocating nearly 70% of the available immigration slots to the
nations of Northern and Western Europe.
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Patterns of Assimilation
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The Importance of Generations - It takes time to become
completely Americanized.
 First generation (immigrants) - Settled in ethnic neighborhoods and
make limited movement toward acculturation and integration. Focused
energies on family and social relationships.
 Second generation (children of immigrants) - Psychologically or socially
marginalized as part ethnic, part American. Many experience conflict
between school and home worlds which reflected different cultures.
Enjoyed wider choices and opportunities than their parents.
 Third generation (grandchildren of immigrants) - Usually born and raised
in non-ethnic settings. English is their first language. Ethnicity is a
minor part of their self-image. Attain high levels of integration at
secondary and primary levels.
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Comparisons Between Italians and White
Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs)
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Patterns of Assimilation
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Ethnic Succession
 A second factor that shaped the assimilation experience is
captured in the concept of ethnic succession or the myriad
ways in which European ethnic groups unintentionally
affected each other’s position in the social class structure
of the larger society.
 Politics – After a period of acculturation and adjust, the
Irish began to create their own connections with the
mainstream society and improve their economic and social
position
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Patterns of Assimilation
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Ethnic Succession
 Labor unions – The labor movement provided a second link
between the Irish, other European immigrant groups, and the
larger society.
 Religion – A third avenue of mobility for the Irish and other white
groups was provided by the religious institution.
 Other pathways – besides party politics, the union movement,
and religion, European immigrant groups forged pathways of
upward mobility.
o Sports
o Criminal Activity
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Patterns of Assimilation
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Continuing Industrialization and Structural
Mobility
 Structural mobility resulted more from changes in
the structure of the economy and the labor market
than from any individual effort or desire to “get
ahead”
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Variations in Assimilation
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Degree of Similarity – the degree of resistance,
prejudice, and discrimination encountered by the
different European immigrant groups varied in part
by the degree to which they differed from these
dominant group characteristics
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Variations in Assimilation
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The record numbers of Southern and Eastern Europeans
arriving in the New Immigration of the early 20th century
raised fears that U.S. cities and institutions would be
swamped by hordes of what were seen as racially inferior,
unassimilable immigrants
Thus, a preference hierarchy was formed in U.S. culture that
privileged Northern and Western Europeans over Southern
and Eastern Europeans and Protestants over Catholics and
Jews. This hierarchy of ethnic preference is still a part of
American prejudice, although it is much more muted today
 Ex: the FHA
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Variations in Assimilation
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Religion - A major differentiating factor in immigrant
experiences.
 Kennedy (1944) found the immigrant generation chose marriage
partners from a pool whose boundaries were marked not just by
ethnicity, but also religion. As children and grandchildren of
immigrants married based on religion but less so by ethnicity
(i.e., a triple melting pot)
 Herberg (1960) - Acculturation didn't affect all aspects of
ethnicity equally. European immigrants wee encouraged to learn
English, for example, but not to change their religious beliefs.
Religion became a vehicle by which immigrants could convey
their ethnicity.
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Variations in Assimilation
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Social class - A central feature of social structure
that affected immigrants.
 Gordon (1964) argued that the U.S. in the 1960s had
not three, but four melting pots, one for each of the
major ethnic/religious groups and one for black
Americans, which were subdivided by class. Believed
the intersection of religious/ethnic and social class
boundaries or "ethclass" was the most significant
structural unit in U.S. society.
 Social class affected structural integration.
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Variations in Assimilation
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Gender - Experiences of women immigrants recorded less than were men's
experiences.
 Many immigrant women came from patriarchal cultures and had less access than
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men to leadership roles, education, and good occupations.
Men immigrants outnumbered women immigrants.
Women immigrants' experiences varied depending on their country of origin.
Women also began the process or acculturation and integration. For example,
many Irish immigrants were young single women who came to the U.S. seeking
jobs.
The type and location of women's employment varied. Irish women, for example,
concentrated in domestic work and factories. Italian women did tasks that could
be done at home such a laundry and piecework. Jewish women usually found
employment in the garment industry when they worked outside the home. Often
they worked in small family-owned shops.
Women's wages tended to be about half of what men earned.
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Variations in Assimilation
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Sojourners – (Or “birds of passage”)
 Some immigrants had no intentional of becoming
American citizens and therefore had little interest in
Americanization.
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The Descendants of European
Immigrants Today
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The largest ancestry group in the United States is German American.
Integration and Equality - White ethnic groups are today on the verge of being
completed assimilated.
The Evolution of White Ethnicity
 Hansen’s principle of third-generation interest: “what the second generation
tries to forget, the third generation tries to remember”
o Ethnic revival – a notable increase in the visibility of an interest in white
ethnic heritage
The Twilight of White Ethnicity?
 Symbolic ethnicity or an aspect of self-identity that symbolizes one’s roots in
the “old country”
 Gallagher proposed addendum to Hansen’s principle: “What the grandson
wished to remember, the great-granddaughter has never been told.”
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Educational Attainment 1990
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Household Income and Families Living in
Poverty for White Ethnic Groups 1990
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Contemporary Immigrants: Does the
traditional perspective apply?
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Assimilation today is fragmented or segmented and
will have a number of different outcomes: some
groups will integrate in the middle-class mainstream,
others will find themselves permanently mired in the
impoverished, alienated, and marginalized
segments.
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Implications for Examining DominantMinority Relations
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Minority group status has much more to do with
power and the distribution of resources than with
simple numbers or the percentage of the population
in any particular category.
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Comparative Focus:
Immigration, Emigration, and Ireland
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Like the United States, Ireland finds itself dealing with diversity and
debating what kind of society it should become.
The number of newcomers entering Ireland increased by 5 times
between the mid-1990s and 2007, to over 100,000, and the number
of people leaving decreased dramatically, to less than 25,000.
These numbers are miniscule compared to the volume of
immigrants received by the U.S. each year, but the percentage of
the Ireland’s population that consists of immigrants (12%) is actually
comparable to the United States (13%)
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Comparative Focus:
Immigration, Emigration, and Ireland
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The immigration is changing the racial composition of Irish society.
Although still a small minority of the total population, the number of
Irish residents of African descent has increased by a factor of 7
since 1996. Similarly, the number of Irish of Asian descent increased
by a factor of 6.
Although many Irish are very sympathetic to the immigrants and
refugees, others have responded with racist sentiments and
demands for exclusion, reactions that ironically echo the rejection
Irish immigrants to the U.S. experienced in the 19th Century.
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Comparative Focus:
Immigration, Emigration, and Ireland
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The rejection of non-Irish newcomers was manifested in the passage of
the “Citizenship Amendment” to the Irish constitution, which was
overwhelmingly supported (80% in favor) by the Irish electorate in June
2004.
Prior to the passage of the amendment, any baby born in Ireland had
the right to claim Irish citizenship.
The amendment denied the right of citizenship to any baby that did not
have at least one Irish parent and was widely interpreted as a hostile
rejection of immigrants.
One poll suggested that people supported the amendment because
they believed that there were simply too many immigrants in Ireland.
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